SpaceTime 1.0 is a new browser that allows users to navigate the Web in a 3D environment and literally grab, zoom in and flip through their search results. "Using a 3-D space is a more natural and faster way to search," said Eddie Bakhash, CEO of New York-based SpaceTime. "It allows people to shuffle through pages like they would through a book." Though a beta version of the application was released in 2007, the newest edition (for PC users only) is now available for free download at http://www.spacetime.com. It includes support for online video, a …

The IAC/InterActiveCorp shakeup continues with major changes at Ask.com. Jim Safka, former CEO of IAC's Match.com dating site, has moved to take the reins as CEO of the search engine. Safka is credited with driving Match.com's 25% annual revenue growth during his three-year tenure. Former CEO Jim Lanzone is taking the VC route as entrepreneur-in-residence at Redpoint Ventures, while Safka will also retain his role as CEO of IAC's investment arm, Primal Ventures. Safka has his work cut out for him as the new head of Ask, as despite an abundance of industry acclaim for …

The German division of European rental car company Sixt decided that its AdWords ads weren't jazzy enough, so their search strategist plugged some ASCII font characters into the body of the ad and wound up with pictures of cars. Users searching for the term "mietwagen" on Google.de were undoubtedly drawn to those picture ads, but it would be interesting to see if they were actually inspired to click (and convert). The ploy was definitely a way to stand out on the SERP, but as David A. Utter says, it's an even more likely way to …

Last year Microsoft began a major push toward becoming the leader in the health search and information space by rolling out HealthVault--a personal medical data aggregator and search engine. But Charles Knight serves up a review of almost a dozen alternative engines vying for the same top spot (not to mention the ever-evolving Google Health), each with its own unique value propositions. MEDgle, for example, is an image-centric search engine--a tool Knight calls "a hypochondriac's dream," as it offers comprehensive info on specific symptoms via simple body part navigation. ZocDoc is a local health search engine that helps users …

As part of the "7 Deadly Claims" series, the Future Now team has deconstructed the use of on-page copy that offers users a "100% Risk Free" guarantee. Webmasters who make such claims on their sites actually run the risk of losing possible conversions, because many consumers have been burned by "30-Day Money Back" guarantees and "Worry-free trials." Often, nothing is risk-free--as users will end up paying shipping and handling charges, or start using a "free" service or tool and find out they can't complete their task without buying the whole thing. Jeff Sexton advises against using …

The New Year's resolution wave continues--this time crashing over your stale, possibly ineffective paid search campaigns. Brad Geddes advises campaign managers to assess their clients' overall goals from '07, measure the effectiveness of the strategies that they used and either tweak them for '08, or come up with new ones altogether. Evaluate the Web site that you're sending traffic to, and gauge whether the keywords you'll be targeting have changed. Did the client launch a new product? Perhaps keywords that weren't strong traffic drivers last year may be more relevant now. Gauge whether your ads are …

Many advertisers have steered clear of bidding on ads within Google's content network, partly because AdSense and other content networks carry the stigma of delivering conversion-poor traffic and a high percentage of fraudulent clicks. But Jeremy Meyes says that you should add AdSense to your paid search mix in '08--specifically because of a number of changes Google made to its content network last year. Google purged the network of its worst-performing sites and provided Placement Performance reports--which gave advertisers a better view of where their ads were running and how to filter out publishers that delivered bad traffic on …

Li Evans is moving forward with reviews of the 2008 presidential candidate's Web marketing strategies--from PPC ads, to social media, to SEO--and sheds light on how BarackObama.com shapes up. With SEO, Obama's site scores low marks for having an opening splash page--as this "sign up" screen can deter users who just want campaign info and don't realize that they don't have to give up any of their own data to access it. Evans advises Obama's Web team to scrap the splash page and give users direct access to the main site, which fares better when it comes to …

The Practical E-Commerce team has logged in the first site review of the year, posting the SEO Report Card for Juvieshop.com, a Los Angeles-based tween clothing store. Juvieshop.com snagged a B- overall, with its balance of "Flash-based hipness," and "the common sense of good contextual content." The site scored an A for indexation--with each of the big three showing more than 1,300 pages (Yahoo had the mostwith 2,130). Juvieshop.com also scored relatively high marks (B) for URL formats and keyword choices, but the site struggled (C-) when it came to adequate use of unique, keyword-rich title tags. …

SimplyGen, Ltd. has rolled out PredictAd, an AJAX-based plugin that pumps ads into a site's search box and displays them when users get search suggestions. For example, a user could be searching for "Xbox cheat codes" on a game enthusiast site and when the drop-down search box suggests various spellings and related terms, it will also serve a contextual ad. Josh Catone has screenshots of the plugin in action, and the model seems viable and non-intrusive. Israel-based SimplyGen has two revenue-sharing models (50/50 for run of network ads and 80/20 on site specific ads), and ads are sold …