As I noted in our keyword research tool user guide, published last week, the fate of the old Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool had been a bit of a mystery. The mystery is now solved: Yahoo confirmed to Search Engine Land that it has decommissioned that tool once and for all.
What are the most important factors to achieving high ranks in local search engines, such as Google Maps and Yahoo Local? SEO consultant David Mihm recently tried to answer that question by asking 20 local search experts to rank the importance of 47 criteria that determine a site’s placement in local search results.
Online video producer Jim Kukral, of JFK Services, has some interesting thoughts on YouTube and Google Universal Search.
Search competition is not as strong in YouTube as in Google, Jim says. For example, searching “refinance mortgage” in YouTube returns 964 results. Searching in Google returns 11.6 million results. Some other examples:
Google’s hegemony over the worldwide search market is undeniable. Consider the recent report from comScore that estimated Google’s share of the European search market at 79.2%. I think “dominant” is an apt description.
But the more interesting data point from this report is who came in third for European searches: Yandex, the Russian search portal. It bested Yahoo! and MSN to crack the top three, based on its strong pull in Russia and Eastern Europe, where English is less widely spoken than in other parts of Europe.
Search marketing tools are great. They provide answers in an industry where answers are scarce. The thing about tools, though, is they are not always accurate–and the tools themselves can make the problem worse.
At least that’s what I got from a conversation with Wil Reynolds, Founder, Seer Interactive. Wil and I discussed some great SEM tools and how to use them (most of them are free). We also touched on some data flaws he sees while researching.
The first time I’d ever heard about social shopping sites like StyleHive.com, ThisNext.com, and CribCandy.com was when working on a special report for MarketingSherpa.
A source mentioned these sites as an inexpensive way for B-to-C marketers to get their brand name out there as marketing budgets are slashed. It made me question whether these sites are successfully generating leads for marketers in tough times.
