Getting Granular: The DigitalGrit Blog

End of an Era: Danny Sullivan Leaves SES

Shocking news to all in the Search Engine Marketing industry: Danny Sullivan, founder and organizer of Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Strategies, is moving on -- in his own words:

After ten years, I'm leaving Search Engine Watch and almost certainly leaving the Search Engine Strategies conference series as well. My contracts with their owners Incisive Media are expiring, and we've not been able to agree on new ones... [Incisive purchased both SEW and ClickZ from JupiterMedia earlier this year.]

In terms of Search Engine Watch, I'll be serving as editor-in-chief through November 30, 2006. As of December 1, I'm gone, except for an extremely slim chance I might do some columns for them going forward. It's so slim that no one should be expecting that it will happen.

As for SES, I'll still be chairing the SES Multimedia & Mobile Edition show this October in Los Angeles, then the SES Chicago show in December. After that, I'd say there's another extremely slim chance that I might do SES events on a case-by-case basis (again so slim that I'm not expecting it will happen). At the moment, I'm not contracted for any thing beyond those named (I'm currently listed as chairing the SES NY 2007 event, and I've asked that I be removed from the site).

SES has always been the biggest show for SEM and SEO firms, and DigitalGrit has participated in both the New York and San Jose events for many years now.

We're saddened by Danny's departure, and unsure of where the show will go from here. He's been a trusted leader in this space for as long as there's *been* a space, and we wish him well in whatever his next venture is.

...And whatever it is, Danny, count us in for a booth. ;-)

To keep up with Danny Sullivan, grab the feed from his blog, Daggle.

(Thanks to Andy Beal for breaking the news gently!)

Yahoo Pulls Blog Search to "Retool"

Yahoo has pulled it's blog search engine for now, although, according to Micro Persuasion, it is still featuring larger blogs in its news results (Gizomodo, Huffington Post, etc.).

But don't jump to the conclusion that they've acquired Technorati or Sphere (that's where my mind went), per Amit Agarwal and the NewsBlog, they're "retooling" their offering and the disappearance of blog results from the SERPs was only temporary.

So we'll keep our eyes peeled for Yahoo Blog Search 2.0....

[UPDATE: Remember this? Hmmmm....]

Yahoo Pulls Blog Search to "Retool"

Yahoo has pulled it's blog search engine for now, although, according to Micro Persuasion, it is still featuring larger blogs in its news results (Gizomodo, Huffington Post, etc.).

But don't jump to the conclusion that they've acquired Technorati or Sphere (that's where my mind went), per Amit Agarwal and the NewsBlog, they're "retooling" their offering and the disappearance of blog results from the SERPs was only temporary.

So we'll keep our eyes peeled for Yahoo Blog Search 2.0....

[UPDATE: Remember this? Hmmmm....]

Google & eBay in Bed for Ad Alliance Outside US - Click-to-Call Key in Deal

From AP:

In a deal between two of the Internet's most prominent properties, Google will begin selling advertising for Web auctioneer eBay outside the United States and help buyers quickly ring an online merchant to do business.

The arrangement announced Monday promises to introduce "click-to-call" Web site technology to a broader audience and potentially speed its adoption as a means of more quickly connecting online consumers with advertisers. It will allow potential buyers to call eBay merchants or Google advertisers by clicking a link on a Web page.

"We have a chance to create a whole new way for buyers and sellers to connect online and to create what we hope will be a significant revenue stream for both eBay and Google," eBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman said in an interview Sunday night.

While eBay set up a deal a few months back with Yahoo for domestic advertising, Google will now be handling all ads outside the US. Nice of eBay to share the love.

Also note that click-to-call is critical in this deal -- and it's not just a Skype thing. AP reports that both Skype AND Google Talk will be employed:

Last year, eBay bought the Internet phone service Skype. Google has its own messaging and Internet-based telephone service, Google Talk. Both services will be used in the partnership, though details were not disclosed. EBay does plan to rely on Google's international presence to build a worldwide market for Skype.

Promoting "click-to-call" advertising was also part of the deal eBay announced with Yahoo in May. Yahoo also has been testing the concept.

Read the article.

Google & eBay in Bed for Ad Alliance Outside US - Click-to-Call Key in Deal

From AP:

In a deal between two of the Internet's most prominent properties, Google will begin selling advertising for Web auctioneer eBay outside the United States and help buyers quickly ring an online merchant to do business.

The arrangement announced Monday promises to introduce "click-to-call" Web site technology to a broader audience and potentially speed its adoption as a means of more quickly connecting online consumers with advertisers. It will allow potential buyers to call eBay merchants or Google advertisers by clicking a link on a Web page.

"We have a chance to create a whole new way for buyers and sellers to connect online and to create what we hope will be a significant revenue stream for both eBay and Google," eBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman said in an interview Sunday night.

While eBay set up a deal a few months back with Yahoo for domestic advertising, Google will now be handling all ads outside the US. Nice of eBay to share the love.

Also note that click-to-call is critical in this deal -- and it's not just a Skype thing. AP reports that both Skype AND Google Talk will be employed:

Last year, eBay bought the Internet phone service Skype. Google has its own messaging and Internet-based telephone service, Google Talk. Both services will be used in the partnership, though details were not disclosed. EBay does plan to rely on Google's international presence to build a worldwide market for Skype.

Promoting "click-to-call" advertising was also part of the deal eBay announced with Yahoo in May. Yahoo also has been testing the concept.

Read the article.

UXP Rant: Web Server Error Code Copy … Say WHAT????!!!!

A special guest post from Jane-Anne, our "Queen of User Experience."

You have to admire Google. I do, because they gave me an opportunity to talk about something related to User Experience (although really, everything is related to the user experience. See my follow-up post to our mascot blog entry as well for proof!).

Too often, web server error messages are full of technical-ese and don’t tell the user what is going on, what happened or what they should do. And too often, marketers are missing a really nice way to strengthen, or at least keep, the relationship with the user and build upon their brand.

All it takes is a little creativity. Say something in simple, understandable language and if you can, make sure it reflects the tone, style and culture of your organization. The DG employee who received the Google error message said it made her laugh. This is a big change from a user who would get the standard 404 error message and be left confused or worse – frustrated.  Even better, it won’t get ignored like the typical error message will, and you might even get some viral activity around it like this Google one did.

At the very least, we’ll think you’re pretty cool.

UXP Rant: Web Server Error Code Copy … Say WHAT????!!!!

A special guest post from Jane-Anne, our "Queen of User Experience."

You have to admire Google. I do, because they gave me an opportunity to talk about something related to User Experience (although really, everything is related to the user experience. See my follow-up post to our mascot blog entry as well for proof!).

Too often, web server error messages are full of technical-ese and don’t tell the user what is going on, what happened or what they should do. And too often, marketers are missing a really nice way to strengthen, or at least keep, the relationship with the user and build upon their brand.

All it takes is a little creativity. Say something in simple, understandable language and if you can, make sure it reflects the tone, style and culture of your organization. The DG employee who received the Google error message said it made her laugh. This is a big change from a user who would get the standard 404 error message and be left confused or worse – frustrated.  Even better, it won’t get ignored like the typical error message will, and you might even get some viral activity around it like this Google one did.

At the very least, we’ll think you’re pretty cool.

Screenshot: Google Tells Us to "Give our Mouse a Break"

How's this for a Google Error Screen?

One of our AMs got this while trying to access a campaign in AdWords. It's very sweet that Google's so concerned about the well-being of her mouse, isn't it?

(BTW, our "Queen of User Experience" loves this because they've used plain English instead of tech-talk.)

Screenshot: Google Tells Us to "Give our Mouse a Break"

How's this for a Google Error Screen?

One of our AMs got this while trying to access a campaign in AdWords. It's very sweet that Google's so concerned about the well-being of her mouse, isn't it?

(BTW, our "Queen of User Experience" loves this because they've used plain English instead of tech-talk.)

How Search Engines Blog: Ideas and Tips from Google, Yahoo, Ask and MSN (Courtesy of John Battelle)

John Batelle recounts a panel at SES hosted by Danny Sullivan featuring Matt Cutts (Google), Jeremy Zawodny (Yahoo!), Niall Kennedy (MSN), and Gary Price (Ask). Since each of these guys actually blogs, Danny asked them to share their "unofficial" thoughts and views on the topic of blogging.

The whole post is work reading for a lot of reasons, but I found the section on Syndication particularly eye-opening.  Here's a nearly-complete reprint of Battelle's great post.

On keeping perspective:
Gary says he tries to walk the middle ground, blogging about MSN, Yahoo, and Google more than Ask—and the company encourages him to do so. All four say don’t let the PR department hinder them, though they sometimes give PR a heads-up. Also, though they write with independent voices, letting the company know a critical post is coming out will sometimes solicit more candid company updates. Gary says he tries to make Resource Shelf all things to all people—for the search companies, the SES crowd and library/reference professionals.

When company bloggers are the news:
Danny Sullivan asks if they avoid press coverage. Cutts says he just tries to be so monumentally boring and technical that the media won’t cover it, and says he’s been largely successful (though this editor disagrees that engagement quality is the cause). Zawodny says he keeps a news alert on his name, so he can sigh deeply every time a reporter attributes his comments in a Yahoo exposé. Kennedy says his blog has become one more end-point in a 72 million person company—helping people with specific needs connect with the company.

Are they PR guys?
Matt and Gary say no—Matt uses non-Google products (wordpress not blogger, etc) and Gary’s post up today is a positive piece on Google. While Matt says Zawodny is ballsy for listing out failures of Yahoo Finance, Jeremy follows up that indeed in some sense he is a PR guy. Once he let it slip that he hadn’t gone through media training, within a week that’s where he found himself.

“My exercise in figuring out where the line was repeatedly crossing it and then be told that I crossed it. Lawyers have come into my office three times.”— Zawodny.

Syndication
Price says weekly emails are still crucial to distributing blog content, aside from an RSS feed—which is rising but still not familiar to the larger audience. Zawodny likes to schedule postings – rattling-off a few and letting posts distribute automatically. Gary, self-described as not the biggest fan of RSS syndication, says Ask is now playing with displaying the last three updated posts from a related feed above the organic results. Zawodny says he likes the feature and has been using it.

Vlogs, Podcasts
“You can write for 45 min. and say what does and doesn’t work. Or you can talk for five minutes and if you’re lucky someone will transcribe it for you,” says Cutts on the advantage of video (in reference to his recent foray with vlogging). He says there have been 80,000 downloads of Cutts’ random SES video Matt did on a weekend while the wife was away, but he’ll primarily stick with his blog.

Gary says Jim Lazone and he are going to start a podcast. Perhaps one aimed at the SES crowd, and another at the K-12 crowd who need so much help in familiarizing wtih search.