• Google Patent To Broker Knowledge
    What if community members could search for people with expertise in a specific area based on an interest, and use virtual or real money to pay for help? While parts of this description sound similar to LinkedIn, Bill Slawski tells us about a Google patent application published this week that describes how the search engine might set up a system to "broker" knowledge. Perhaps we'll see this in Google+.
  • Google+ Fail Whale
    "Perhaps [Google] can take a page from Twitter and just come up with their own Fail Whale." Frank Watson wrote that in a blog post after Google had to shut down invite requests on Google+ last night in response to an overwhelming amount of people requesting access. On Wednesday, Google allowed those using the social network to invite others.
  • SEO To Manage Online Reputations
    Marketers have heard it before. Tap into SEO to manage a company's online reputation. Sarah Kessler points to an older study from Microsoft suggesting 70% of the nearly 80% of U.S. hiring managers searching for candidates online said they rejected a candidate based on findings in search results. Kessler takes that concept and applies it to managing personal reputations. She tells us how to minimize any potential negative impact using simple SEO techniques.
  • 3 Steps To Integrating Paid, Organic Search Campaigns
    Calling paid search and search engine optimization (SEO) "two sides of the same coin," Matt Lawson describes how to "unify" a search strategy. He serves up three practical steps that marketers can take to begin the integration. The processes include identifying overlap; measuring paid-click percentages; and refining, reviewing and repeating. Since the Web changes quickly, marketers should continually monitor campaigns.
  • adCenter Delivers Upgrades
    Microsoft adCenter received an upgrade, according to Kayla. She tells us about radius targeting, color-coded alerts, quality score optimization, and enhancements to campaign budgeting. For example, radius targeting offers a variety of improvements such as honing in on specific areas and geolocation reports. She said this is all geared toward the idea of making it easier to run and manage campaigns.
  • Search And Social Crime Fighters
    Frank Watson brings up interesting points about the need for law enforcement to use online search and social media tools. Watson provides several examples. For instance, he points to James "Whitey" Bulger. The FBI caught the fugitive after 16 years with methods used by online marketers such as behavioral targeting, Twitter, and Facebook.
  • Search: 4 Unanswered Questions
    Rand Fishkin answers four burning questions that range from social media vs. Web sites to risks in duplicate content. Considering Fishkin's faith in social media, some of the answers may surprise readers. For instance, he would opt for a Web site, compared with social media, when given the chance to launch one platform. It's not that he has little faith in Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, Foursquare or LinkedIn to disseminate information -- but he prefers the flexibility, power, branding and measurability of a Web site.
  • Stepping Through Paid-Search Key Strategies
    What are some key strategies to continually acquire customers? Jacob Shin tells us in the final installment of a three-part series on paid-search marketing. The first two parts detail budgeting to acquire data and explore the metrics. Shin emphasizes that "relevance is a moving target," so he provides a step-by-step account of how to pay attention to the fundamentals.
  • Mastering Seven Metrics
    eMarketer CEO and co-founder Geoff Ramsey and McCann Worldgroup EVP Vipin Mayar outline a framework for how marketers can approach performance measurements. The correct measurement allows marketers to prove the concept. The two detail the seven metrics critical for performance measurement across digital channels, and suggest these are the ones marketers should master.
  • Pitfalls Of Personalizing Content
    Prompted by a seminar Hannah Smith recently attended, she tells us about the ethics of personalizing online content and the potential issues that might come up as a result. One issue centers on not being able to discover new content. If personalizing content for the searcher aims to provide just what she wants, then where's the opportunity to find new things?
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