Recently there has been a lot of hype that AOL might switch to MSN search as their paid and natural search results provider, AOL is using Google now, It seems that was the case anymore, Recent reports state Google will remain AOL’s search partner, This is interesting, think google knows if they drop AOL they might loose a lot of search market share,

Microsoft have to wait for the next round probably,

Yahoo launches yahoo answers, Google already has a product similiar to that named google answers. Google answers has been a great help for everyone having questions about any topics they deal with or come across, Now yahoo has launched a product like that,
its named yahoo answers,

http://answers.yahoo.com

this is what yahoo says on what has to be done with yahoo answers

Asking a question
CategorizeWhen asking a question, you categorize it in a topic, making it easier for others to find and answer it.
Open QuestionYour question is open for others to answer for 14 days. You can extend or shorten this time period.
Voters’ Choice for Best AnswerOnce your question is answered, select the best answer, or have the community vote for the best answer

High-flying Internet company Google Inc. and 11 other companies were added Monday to the Nasdaq 100, the Nasdaq Stock Market’s index of the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the market. The Nasdaq 100 is a widely used benchmark for a variety of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. The Nasdaq 100 Index Tracking Stock, better known as the QQQ, is one of the most popular index-linked stocks in the world and is a component of hundreds of mutual funds and pension funds. The trust that runs QQQ has more than $20 billion under management.

more here www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2005/12/12/ap2386241.html

Google has radically disrupted the $100-billion a year global classified advertising industry with its launch of classified listing services in the new user-generated Google Base database, a report from Classified Intelligence claims.
In its study “Classifieds.Google.com: Threat? Or opportunity?” Classified Intelligence states that along with titan companies like Microsoft and EBay, Google poses an increasing threat to traditional classified advertising publishers that have been dealing with intense new competition ever since the advent of the commercial Internet.

More here www.tgdaily.com/2005/12/12/google_base/

Search engine Google is to create 600 jobs in Ireland over the next three years as it expands its European headquarters.
Google employs more than 800 people across Europe. To accommodate the growing workforce, the firm has signed a lease for a further 100,000 square feet beside its current Dublin building.
In a statement, Ireland’s minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin said: “Since its inception in Ireland in 2003, Google’s business has rapidly developed well ahead of expectations. Following this investment, Google will become, in a very short period of time, one of the most substantial business support integration and development operations in Ireland.”More here

software.silicon.com/applications/0,39024653,39155028,00.htm

SEO Company Looks for Partnership with Web Hosting Providers and other Web Businesses

November 21, 2005 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Search engine optimization company SEOguru Technologies (http:// www.searchengine-optimization-guru.com) has announced it is looking for partnerships with web hosting providers and companies in a range of related businesses, including web design, web development, domain registration, web analytics and software development.

“Search engine marketing, be it natural search engine optimization or Pay Per Click (PPC) listing, is one of the most effective marketing tools and any company ignoring it as part of its marketing strategy is severely disadvantaged compared to its competitors. We at SEOguru are committed to provide our expertise to help the clients of our partners achieve better visibility in the search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo! and thereby help in getting more business enquiries and generating greater sales,” said Prabuddha S. Raychaudhuri, CEO of SEOguru Technologies.

SEOguru offers a range of SEO services which include Natural (Organic) top 10 search engine optimization, country specific search engine optimization, search engine position monitoring and ROI/Conversion tracking of SEO campaigns. The company’s customer list has included Fortune 500 companies it claims to have a 100% success rate in implementing required search engine rank.

Google’s Jagger Update Completing Cycles

Ever since Google introduced its latest algorithm update in September, a fair amount of column space has been dedicated to telling webmasters and small business owners to wait until the update is complete. In so much as it can be said that the Jagger Update will ever be complete, the final cycle of the immediate update appears to be playing out.
Jagger was a different sort of algorithm update for Google. Its infamous predecessors, Florida and Hilltop were generally limited shifts in the values Google assigned domains based on content and links. After the immediate punch of previous updates, the search engine results pages (SERPs) would generally return to a stable and predictable state. SERPS generated by Jagger are expected to constantly update themselves with a greater degree of flux and change.
So, what exactly happened during the Jagger Update and what might it mean to your website? Quite a bit as it turns out.
The Jagger Update was introduced for three main reasons. The first was to deal with manipulative link-network schemes, sites generated with scraped content and other forms of SE-Spam. The second was to allow and account for the inclusion a greater number of spiderable documents and file types. The third was to allow and account for new methods of site acquisition beyond the use of the spider Googlebot.
The update made its first public appearance in late September but had its greatest impact in early October. At that time, hundreds of thousands of websites that enjoyed previously strong listings were suddenly struck and sent to the relative oblivion found beyond the second page of results.
Most of those sites lost position due to participation in what Google obviously considers inappropriate linking schemes. This was actually one of the first conclusions we came to in late September based on the experience of a few clients who joined link-networks that had not been recommended or vetted by our link-experts. This is now backed up by discussion in various search engine forums. While most of those hurt by this part of the update are good people running honest businesses, Google put out notice that irrelevant link-networks, no matter how simple or complex, are unhealthy additions to what might otherwise be a good website.
The problem Google faced was some webmasters misunderstood what links are for and how Google uses them to rank documents. For some unknown reason, many webmasters or site administrators participated in wholesale link mongering, bulking up on as many inbound links as possible without consideration of the most important factor (in Google’s estimation), the relevance of inbound links.
Now, Google appears to be applying filters based on historic data it has collected about all sites in its index over time. In other words, Google likely knows a lot more about documents linking to a particular website than the person who placed or requested the link in the first place. SEOs and webmasters should brush up on the “Information retrieval based on historical data” patent application Google filed on March 31, 2005 for highly detailed information.
Google is judging sites on who they link to along with who links to them. Before the update, a link from your site to an irrelevant site was more a waste of time than a waste of opportunity. Today irrelevant links seem to be both. Google’s desire to offer stable and highly relevant SERPS while preventing outright manipulation of those SERPS was the biggest cause of the shift.
The second and third reasons for updating the algorithm at this time is the allowance for indexing documents or information obtained through alternative sources such as Google Base, Froogle, and blogs and other social networking tools. Google’s stated goal is to grow to include reference to all the world’s information. That information is being expressed in multiple places using several unique file formats, some of which are difficult to weigh against others. By checking the file or document in question against the long-term history of documents linking to it, Google is better able to establish its theme and intent.
Mass adoption of blogs, while promoted by Google gave the search engine a number of problems. Webmasters and search marketers will take almost any opportunity to promote their sites, by any means available. Blogs provided ample opportunities and soon issues ranging from comment spam to scraped content Splogs started to gum up the SERPS. By comparing document content with the history of other related documents in its index, Google has become much better at spotting blog-enabled spam.
Google faced problems with forms of search engine spam such as fake directories and on-page spamming techniques such as hiding information in CSS files. The Jagger Update seems designed to deal with these issues by applying Google’s vast knowledge about items in its index against every document or file it ranks. A site that scrapes content, for example, might be weighed against the documents that content was originally published on and the intent of the republisher. One that hides information in the CSS file will similarly trip Google’s memory of how the same domain looked and operated before the spam-content was inserted.
The third reason for the algo update comes from the expansion of Google itself. Google is now much larger than it was when the Bourbon update was introduced in the early summer. Audio and video content is spiderable and searchable. Google’s comparison shopping tool Froogle is starting to integrate itself in with Google Local, just as Google Local and Google Maps are beginning to merge. There is some speculation in the SEO community that Google is preparing to integrate personalized data into the search results served to specific individuals. A strong assumption is that Jagger is part of Google’s movement towards personalization though there is little to firmly point at to support this idea.
If your website is still suffering the lagging effects of the Jagger Update, your SEO or SEM vendor should be able to offer good advice. Chances are, the first thing he or she will do is a point by point inspection of your inbound and outbound links associated with your website. Next, they will likely suggest making it easier for Google to spider various document file types in your site by providing an XML sitemap to instruct Google’s spider cycle. Lastly, they will likely suggest a look at how website visitors behave when visiting your site. Site visitor behaviours will play a part in Google’s view of the importance and relevance of sites in its index. The introduction of Google Analytics provides webmasters with a lot of free information regarding site visitors, along with other information on how the site fares on Google’s search engine. It also provides Google with a lot of information about sites running it. More on the effect of Google Analytics on the SERPS next week.

Former Korean shadow warriors seek benefits

SEOUL — Every morning, Park Bu-seo, 73, enters his office in Seoul. The gray metal desks, coffee table, national flag and wall photos are standard, but above a filing cabinet is something unusual: A bundle of dried fish — a Buddhist charm to keep evil spirits at bay — dangles above a single white candle.

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20060120-103100-8396r

Oneupweb Launches SEO & Marketing Blog, StraightUpSearch

Oneupweb, the trusted leader in search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing (SEM), has announced the launch of StraightUpSearch.com, the company’s blog. StraightUpSearch is a forum for Oneupweb’s SEO and SEM inside experts to provide industry insight and present a clear view of search engine optimization and marketing best practices. The blog is named for its behind-the-scenes, unvarnished perspective, free of puffery. The bright clean design supports the editorial tone.

The blog raises controversial ideas and encourages comments from dissenting points of view. “If there are sacred cows in search, then this is the place to challenge them from a marketing point of view. Don’t come to StraightUpSearch to see typical griping about SEO spammers,” explains Oneupweb CEO Lisa Wehr. “Come to get your creative juices flowing, have a laugh or learn something new.”

“We’ve been writing our blog for ourselves, our clients and partners for months. It’s filled with great ideas and insight. We decided that a broad audience would also benefit from the content,” says Wehr. “We include opinions from people who work in all our departments, delivering straightforward insider info.”

Recent StraightUpSearch posts have involved topics such as the way children search on the internet, the recent proliferation of splogs (blogs consisting of only spam), the short-lived careers of CMOs, Google’s recent Jagger update and Martha Stewart’s SEO needs, written by authors from every perspective of search: paid, natural, research, creative development and even marketing.

“We include those ‘ah-hah!’ moments, the ones you hear in conversations around the coffee machine but that aren’t often presented in industry forums,” adds Wehr.
Recent notable posts include:

Blogs Help Those who Help Themselves addresses the oft-touted strategy of blogging for search engine optimization purposes, why it can work, and why it usually doesn’t.
The Jagger Backlash Myth gives readers Oneupweb’s unique insight into Google’s recent “Jagger” algorithm update and its effect on users’ search engine preference.
Long Term SEO Strategy or just “Fool’s Gold” describes the peril of quick-fix SEO tactics and how the right long-term natural optimization campaign can deliver big ROI without the risks.
Tiny Screen, Big Opportunity and Turn Signals, Window Wipers & Touch Screens discuss recent developments on the mobile search landscape, and things savvy marketers can do to get ready.
Site Promotion And SEO Software Review Chris Crum
As you probably know, web site promotion and search engine optimization (SEO) can be very time consuming and expensive.

That is exactly why companies sell software that help you do these things yourself without necessarily having to hire people to do them. One such piece of software is the Internet Business Promoter (IBP) from Axandra.

This can be especially useful to people that aren’t site promotion and SEO experts. This software can help you get top 10 rankings on all of the major search engines, and provides a variety of tools for optimizing your pages, promoting your site, and tracking your results.
You can check out many of IBP’s features by downloading a free demo version or taking a quick feature tour offered by Axandra.

Among these features are 8 optimization tools, 4 promotion tools, and 4 tracking tools.
Axandra monitors the search engines all of the time, keeping track of the latest search engine algorithms changes, so IBP is always up to date.

SEO in China will never be the same as Google’s James Mi, Adverted’s Stephen Noton and IBM’s Bill Hunt teamed up at Ad-Tech Shanghai For the first time in China both SEO experts and the industry leader, Google, came together for a combined presentation on Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

/24-7PressRelease/ – SHANGHAI, CHINA, November 22, 2005 — Those people who were fortunate enough to attend Ad-Tech Shanghai all agreed that the presentations by Google’s Senior Product Manager James Mi, Adverted’s Senior SEO Consultant Stephen Noton and IBM’s SEO Advisor Bill Hunt were insightful, dynamic and instructive.

The session was considered one of the highlighted sessions at Ad-Tech Shanghai and was rated by many as being one of the more useful sessions at the event. Hank Horkoff from ChinesePod.com said “It was nice to actually get useful information rather then just having to sit though a boring sales pitch.” Added to this the praise is the fact that part of the marketing team from MSN was so impressed by Noton’s speech that they have requested his presentation to use it internally at MSN.

The session was moderated by Mike Grehan and it marks his 32nd event this year that he’s spoken at. Making him one of most well known speakers in regards to Search Engine Optimization and Marketing. Having Mike Grehan lead this elite group of individuals made this session the who’s who of the industry and something that those who attended will never forget.
The session started off with Mike Grehan introducing the speakers and, as he often does, giving a lighter side of himself by thanking the wonderful people in Shanghai for being so kind as to always offer him Rolex watches and massages wherever he went. Brummell had the audience laughing in not time before he handed the floor over to Mi, the Senior Product Manager at Google.

Mi provided a quick overview on Google’s workings in regard to how it crawls and indexes web pages with some focus on the Google PageRank system. He then highlighted the Google webmaster section which ties really nicely with simultaneous official launch of the new features at Google SiteMaps which allows you a peek behind the scenes at Google in how they understand, rank and access your web pages.

The next speaker was Noton who is the Senior SEO Consultant for Adverted. His speech was on an overview of Search Engine Optimization. His presentation went into things like until 2000 SEO was the only way to get a website found at Google and that 76% of all the Google users use the SEO results. “Many people don’t understand the value behind proper SEO as SEM has become so easy to accomplish many simply don’t care that they are losing 76% of their business to someone else” said Noton in post commentary. He also discussed how SEO is geo-targeted and how companies like Yahoo! and MSN are making search more relevant by giving geo-targeted search results to many of its international users.

The finial speaker, Hunt, might just be the most experienced SEO person on this panel because unlike Noton (who headed to Asia to work with more startups and the upcoming corporate elite) is based in the US and works with the current corporate elite including being the man behind IBM’s Search Engine Optimization success. Hunt’s talk involved him showing some of the work he’s done with IBM, which really complimented the other speakers. Hunt showed how changing text in images into pure text and how proper navigation and title tags can make a clients site like IBM grow from being in the top 100 to being #1 within 3 short weeks.

Sadly this talk had to come to an end but there were many off stage talks in
cluding one with eBay who is looking for professionals to aid in its expansion into China. eBay states that they need to tie in with China SEO experts like Noton and hopefully try to whew experts like Hunt to relocate into China, “I can’t do this alone, China needs more SEO professionals,” said Noton.

For those interested in the materials presented at Ad-Tech Shanghai but were unable to attend the conference, Stephen Noton and Bill Hunt are always available for personal meetings. Additionally, Ad-Tech will be coming back to Shanghai, China, next year.
To get more information on Ad-Tech Shanghai visit http://www.ad-techshanghai.com
To get more on what James Mi from Google spoke on visithttp://www.google.com/webmasters
To get more information on Stephen Noton and the Adverted agency in Asia visithttp://www.adverted.com

To get more information on Bill Hunt and his corporate services visithttp://www.globalstrategies.com

Our mission is simple; deliver sales based results for all our clients. You won’t see us winning a Gold Lion at Cannes as we don’t create million dollar campaigns that only result in our profits increasing. However you probably will see us winning multiple Effie Awards as everything we do is based on effective results.