Earlier this month, there was an intriguing legal case between 1-800Contacts and a competitor, Lensworld. The fight started when Lensworld bought keyword targets ads (such as Google Adsense and the ads that show on the right side of a search result) for 1-800Contacts, 1800Contacts and 1 800 Contacts. It's a common practise, but 1-800Contacts filed a trademark infringement lawsuit. It's not the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
The problem is, the ad networks are set up to allow you to do that. You can purchase any keyword you want, even a trademark name. The opinion is wide and far on whether or not its ethical. Some contend that if you own a trademark and have spent the thousands of dollars to establish that name and brand, no one else should be able to benefit from it. Valid point! I don't want my competitors showing up when someone searches for Aloha Media Group. Their looking for me. But it's a common practise. Searching for brand names in google will easily show, a lot of people don't have ethical questions about purchasing ads for a keyword that is a trademark. And what about the search engines and portals? Where is Google on all this? Silent for the most part. They have built the infrastructure and have not put any restraint in for straining out trademarked keywords. And can you imagine the technological/legal hurdles to accomplish that? It's very thought provoking, and sure makes for great blog material. If you have an opinion about this. Post it now, we'd love to hear.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
"Microsoft.....get out of MySpace!"
The Yahoo soap opera is getting very interesting from the news reports today. The deal is from News Corp's Fox Interactive Media and it's a very interesting merger. They have valued the merger at an estimated $50 billion, a little bit more than the Microsoft offer.
Most of us have little knowledge of who Fox Interactive is and why on earth this deal would be taking place. But with one domain name, you'll get a better idea: http://www.myspace.com/. Yes, they own the infamous and top traffic site of My Space. The major benefit of this potential merger is an advertising powerhouse that would have an astounding 35% market share of online advertising.
This is also a great way to stave off Microsoft. And that is important to Yahoo, as they recently communicated in letter to their shareholders. They implemented a new strategy last year (which has seemed like a great move in my interactions with Yahoo), and they fear the Microsoft bid would destroy their positive direction.
Personally, I'm much in favor of the Fox Interactive merger. I think it allows Yahoo to continue their direction to do something different by continuing their diversity with more online advertising. Many people in the media field are agreeing.
I think it is a brilliant step by Jerry Yang to not only avoid the Microsoft dilemna all together, but also to continue taking his company in the right direction.
Most of us have little knowledge of who Fox Interactive is and why on earth this deal would be taking place. But with one domain name, you'll get a better idea: http://www.myspace.com/. Yes, they own the infamous and top traffic site of My Space. The major benefit of this potential merger is an advertising powerhouse that would have an astounding 35% market share of online advertising.
This is also a great way to stave off Microsoft. And that is important to Yahoo, as they recently communicated in letter to their shareholders. They implemented a new strategy last year (which has seemed like a great move in my interactions with Yahoo), and they fear the Microsoft bid would destroy their positive direction.
Personally, I'm much in favor of the Fox Interactive merger. I think it allows Yahoo to continue their direction to do something different by continuing their diversity with more online advertising. Many people in the media field are agreeing.
I think it is a brilliant step by Jerry Yang to not only avoid the Microsoft dilemna all together, but also to continue taking his company in the right direction.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
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Sunday, February 3, 2008
Google Even Makes Mistakes
Straight from Webpronews.com http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/01/29/a-position-6-penalty:
It could be said pretty fairly that webmasters and SEOers, if dropped a rank or two, automatically assume they've been penalized. A recent development, involving the "position 6" penalty, proved to be a reality.
It's not clear why it was a reality, other than a Google glitch.
Webmasters reported worries about sites that historically had ranked in the top two results for certain keywords had dropped to the sixth position. Dropping to below the top five, or below the fold (below where a person may have to scroll), could mean sudden death in the exposure game.
Though it sounded kind of silly that Google would invoke a four or five-place penalty (for what, a broken link and saying something mean about Sergey maybe?), the number of webmasters reporting the problem added a bit of an urban myth weight to it.
Search Engine Roundtable is reporting that Matt Cutts confirmed a glitch with Google, and that the database is in the process of resetting everything to normal.
There wasn't much explanation other than that. Guess even Google sometimes makes mistakes
It could be said pretty fairly that webmasters and SEOers, if dropped a rank or two, automatically assume they've been penalized. A recent development, involving the "position 6" penalty, proved to be a reality.
It's not clear why it was a reality, other than a Google glitch.
Webmasters reported worries about sites that historically had ranked in the top two results for certain keywords had dropped to the sixth position. Dropping to below the top five, or below the fold (below where a person may have to scroll), could mean sudden death in the exposure game.
Though it sounded kind of silly that Google would invoke a four or five-place penalty (for what, a broken link and saying something mean about Sergey maybe?), the number of webmasters reporting the problem added a bit of an urban myth weight to it.
Search Engine Roundtable is reporting that Matt Cutts confirmed a glitch with Google, and that the database is in the process of resetting everything to normal.
There wasn't much explanation other than that. Guess even Google sometimes makes mistakes
Friday, February 1, 2008
Microsoft makes historic bid to buy Yahoo!
Fresh off the press, it has been verified that Microsoft has made a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo. The specifics still linger, and time will only tell what becomes of this. The story is that Microsoft offered Jerry Yang at Yahoo quietly and he said no. Then, Microsoft harnessed the power of the press and went public with it. It could all be drama with Yahoo declining, but then it could be a very different story.
What does it mean to the rest of us who can't even fathom what $44 billion is like? Well its about more than search. It's probably more about combining resources for online paid advertising and other tools Yahoo has leverage of. Neither of them can really compete at this time with Google on organic search. Although, I will note that Yahoo has made some very positive and dramatic changes in 4th quarter of last year. The problem Yahoo has is getting people to go back to Yahoo. Once clients move away from a service or product, its much harder to get them back than it is to get new ones. Yahoo was once the giant we all used to some degree, and now few of us do. It's a valuable lesson for all of us about paying attention to our clients and users, and the price we can pay when we don't!
What does Microsoft stand to gain in this deal besides a little more of organic search marketshare and online paid advertising?
15.6% combined share of Internet visits (twice Google's)
28% of search (depending on who you ask)
Yahoo adds 35% of the Maps/Local sector (slightly competitive with Google)
10% of online shopping directories
87% of portal front pages
83% of web-based email services (still light years ahead of Gmails numbers)
12% of online news and media
39% of business information content
Flickr would give Microsoft 12% of the photo market
So there is benefit in this for sure for Microsoft. I'm not sure what this means for us but more consolidation in a field very dominated by very large companies. That may not be a bad thing since Google has grown out of control. This would create two mammoth companies who could more directly compete with each other. Whether that will be good or bad is anyones guess.
The problems inherent with search aren't likely to be fixed anytime soon by Yahoo, Microsoft or Google. What we need is more standardized platforming and more intuitive search tools. But what we would hope for is more R&D on organic search results, and more attention paid to users getting the results they are wanting. We have to be fair and say that neither Yahoo or Microsoft has a long history of the latter. We can learn a number of lessons from this. First, that Yahoo paid dire consequences for not paying proper attention to the users of their product. And secondly, a positive note. They diversified and made the best of a bad situation. That is what has kept them going until now.
What does it mean to the rest of us who can't even fathom what $44 billion is like? Well its about more than search. It's probably more about combining resources for online paid advertising and other tools Yahoo has leverage of. Neither of them can really compete at this time with Google on organic search. Although, I will note that Yahoo has made some very positive and dramatic changes in 4th quarter of last year. The problem Yahoo has is getting people to go back to Yahoo. Once clients move away from a service or product, its much harder to get them back than it is to get new ones. Yahoo was once the giant we all used to some degree, and now few of us do. It's a valuable lesson for all of us about paying attention to our clients and users, and the price we can pay when we don't!
What does Microsoft stand to gain in this deal besides a little more of organic search marketshare and online paid advertising?
15.6% combined share of Internet visits (twice Google's)
28% of search (depending on who you ask)
Yahoo adds 35% of the Maps/Local sector (slightly competitive with Google)
10% of online shopping directories
87% of portal front pages
83% of web-based email services (still light years ahead of Gmails numbers)
12% of online news and media
39% of business information content
Flickr would give Microsoft 12% of the photo market
So there is benefit in this for sure for Microsoft. I'm not sure what this means for us but more consolidation in a field very dominated by very large companies. That may not be a bad thing since Google has grown out of control. This would create two mammoth companies who could more directly compete with each other. Whether that will be good or bad is anyones guess.
The problems inherent with search aren't likely to be fixed anytime soon by Yahoo, Microsoft or Google. What we need is more standardized platforming and more intuitive search tools. But what we would hope for is more R&D on organic search results, and more attention paid to users getting the results they are wanting. We have to be fair and say that neither Yahoo or Microsoft has a long history of the latter. We can learn a number of lessons from this. First, that Yahoo paid dire consequences for not paying proper attention to the users of their product. And secondly, a positive note. They diversified and made the best of a bad situation. That is what has kept them going until now.
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