Bill Hartzer's news roundup includes a number of search-related tidbits from around the Web, with the lead story being CNN's inability to get iReport.com, a site the network paid $750K for, up and running before CNN started driving traffic to the site with commercials. As of press time, iReport.com was still not live, and the situation illustrates just how important it is for the marketing and IT departments to be on the same page when it comes to anything Web-related. Meanwhile, Match.com has seemingly veered off into "gray hat" territory by packing a wealth of text (complete with H1 …

While the Super Bowl is the NFL's biggest game and largest marketing opportunity, Tom Tsinas says that the league has actually mastered the art of search as of late--leveraging the channel for year-round traffic and revenue-generation benefits. The league recently redesigned NFL.com to capitalize on Universal Search, adding optimized multimedia like video and audio clips, as well as including a searchable photo gallery. As part of the revamp, the site also now includes more fantasy football and editorial content, as well as weekly updates and analysis to keep it fresh. NFL.com is the base for all …

Search marketers can use split A/B tests to help choose between specific ad copy and keywords, landing page designs and information-capture forms, among other factors. But the results are only as good as the test--run a skewed trial and you may come to a conclusion that isn't true, or worse, actually miss out on a higher-converting tactic. So Resolution Media's Jeff Campbell lays out the 10 steps for split A/B testing success, starting with choosing just two elements to compare. Pick the two and then determine what the success metric is, how long it should/will take to actually …

Link Counter is a browser add-on for Mozilla Firefox that analyzes and reports on the full breadth of links on a site. Brian Brown waxes poetic on the ease of use of the toolbar, which once installed rests down near the bottom of the screen and displays the total number of in- and outbound links on a given page. For deeper insight, right click on the number and you get a detailed menu, which can tell whether the links are internal or external, which ones are broken or inactive, as well as the number and type of …

Social media optimization (SMO) has become a must-do for Webmasters who want to build up links and snag more traffic--but in the quest to create linkbait, some site owners are doing things that actually drive visitors away. Li Evans lists six reasons why Stumblers, Diggers and other social media darlings will ignore your site, starting with the battle between ads and content. Be careful about drawing users in to a landing page that's too ad-heavy--and try not to make them scroll below the fold to get to the content. Your linkbait (i.e. the article title, blog post …

So your client's site, which ranked in the top three for a group of particular keywords, has now dropped to the bottom of the second page of results. What gives? While there are a potential plethora of reasons for such a drop, sometimes pinpointing the specific causes can be difficult, so Ross Dunn offers a detailed plan for diagnosing the problem. Dunn says to start with retracing your steps for the past three weeks in actions like site updates, design changes and switching hosting providers. Any one of these tweaks could have caused the site to experience …

Some sociologists are dubbing kids born after 1993 "Generation Google"--since they've practically been exposed to the Web from birth, they're supposed to excel at seeking out information online. But according to a study by the British Library and the Joint Information Systems Committee, they're actually not much better at searching than their older (Millennials, Gen-Y, Gen-X, etc.) counterparts. The study found that while Generation Google is "the cut and paste generation" that is "more competent with technology," and is "turning away from being passive consumers of information"-its members are not "expert searchers." They do not "pick …

Google has made another change to the AdSense referral program--this time, tied to the location of a new client. Now, publishers can receive referral credits regardless of where they're located--provided the new AdSense clients they refer come from North America, Latin America or Japan. Referrals that come from any other country will not be rewarded--and yes, this includes the U.K. The giant also decreased the referral credit for getting users to pick up Google Pack and Firefox from $2 to $1. The modifications were framed as part of the continual evaluation process of the referral programs to ensure …

Lee Odden serves up a set of content management strategies that go beyond the basics of SEO, including the need to develop a content promotion plan. By planning content ahead of time (much like magazines do with their editorial calendars) you give the search marketing team time to brainstorm ways to promote those articles, videos and blog posts via social networks, deals with other Web sites in your niche, and possibly even paid search campaigns. Using social media effectively is also key--but so is understanding how each channel works, be it a widget, a Twitter or Facebook account, …

The best way to gain a great reputation with search is to produce great results. So staying away from prospects that you can't generate positive results for is actually a boon to them, and to you. Eric Enge serves up several scenarios for when it would be best to turn a potential client down, starting with a business that's too small. While Enge isn't saying that small businesses can't succeed with search, sometimes the amount they spend for a search firm or consultant will outweigh the potential gains--even if they snag top rankings for all chosen keywords and top …