The giant has added Google Audio Ads to the roster of products that can be tracked and managed via Google Analytics--moving one step closer to that illustrious dashboard that lets advertisers monitor and control campaign performance and spend across multiple types of media. So what's it got to do with search? Plenty, according to Christian Yee of the Google Analytics Team. "Radio ads can be a major factor in driving conversions on your Web site. When listening to the radio while browsing the Internet, more than half of users search for items they hear about on the air," …

Analytics suites are great for figuring out what users do (or don't do) on a site, but not for understanding why they abandon their shopping carts, stay for an average of 15 minutes, or make a purchase. That's what exit surveys are for, and Avinash Kaushik is recommending the free "4Q" survey from iPerceptions. The survey's four questions include: what is the purpose of the user's visit, were they able to complete their task/purpose, if not--why not, and lastly, how satisfied they were with the overall site experience. The free service includes a wealth of data, …

Just when you thought you had a better grip on the whole AdWords Quality Score thing, Google throws in another curve ball. Landing page load times will now factor into an ad's Quality Score. Makes sense actually--as the length of time it takes for a landing page to show up truly does have an impact on the user experience. Using tactics like interstitials or multiple redirects are bad for consumers who just want to get to the point and find the offer, the product info, or make a purchase. The same goes for slow servers--as pages that take …

Smaller paid search campaigns are easy to set up and often a breeze to manage, but sometimes the simple platform causes marketers to get tripped up when it comes to budgeting, according to this post from the Yahoo Search Marketing team. Say you're launching a new product or want to run a sale on an existing product, and you've come up with the perfect ad/landing page combo. You need to remember to account for the cost of those new clicks in your budget before you run the campaign--otherwise your other, long-standing campaigns might get capped or worse, shut …

Ask's top brass may have tried to make it seem as if the company is still committed to core search, but many in the search community are brushing those statements off as nothing but corporate doubletalk. "If you are going to cut 8% of a tiny workforce, how do you expect to compete against Google or Yahoo or Microsoft--you can't. If you are going to focus your engine in a niche of searchers who are women over 30 who search on health and entertainment, how are you going to compete in the search space as an innovator--you won't," …

They're not scrapping Teoma for Google's search tech, and they're not turning into a "Q&A-style engine for married women"--but Ask is undergoing some changes, according to spokesperson Nicholas Graham. "We recognize that we can't be all things to all people, so we're focusing on our core group of users. We want to build up the kinds of answers those users are looking for, while at the same time remain a strong search site," Graham said. Writer Kevin Newcomb says that it's not about targeting one demographic group (i.e. married women), but tweaking the engine's interface and algorithm to …

Wired magazine's Epicenter blog solicited questions from readers for this quick interview with Matt Cutts, and Google's resident search quality guru spewed answers on everything from the value of SEO, to the future of fee-based Webmaster tools, to the fabled Google Bomb. When it comes to SEO, Cutts said that its works--to a certain degree. "If done responsibly, [SEO] can be a great thing," Cutts said. "Think of it this way: When you put a resume forward, you want it to be as clean as possible. If the resume is sloppy, you're not going to get interviewed for …

Network Solutions, the Web site-hosting company that got slammed for domain name tasting abuse, is promoting its roster of SEO services. The problem is that the Virginia-based company is guaranteeing "Top 10 Rankings on Major Search Engines" in its ads--and breaking one of the first rules of ethical SEO. According to Chris Silver Smith, there are two main reasons why search experts urge business owners to steer clear of agencies that promise top rankings--the first being that agencies don't control the search engines, and as such, they can't guarantee that keyword optimization, good copy or anything else will …

Tim Prier has compiled a list of the plethora of local search and advertising options available, including IYPs and core search engines, along with the various ad models and freebies they offer. The guide includes AT&T's Yellowpages.com and Idearc Media's Superpages.com, complete with mention of the minimum amount a business owner needs to spend to maintain an enhanced listing, and links for setting up a free, generic listing. Prier also segments the local options offered by the core search engines (i.e. Ask and Ask City), with short descriptions of all the available services like Pay-Per-Call, and …

Silobreaker is a news search service that aims to do just what its name says--break the silos around news and put current events in context for users. The engine pulls content from more than 10,000 news, blog, research and multimedia sources on topics including global issues, technology and business and offers a feature-packed interface to sift through it with. For example, the main window lists fresh news stories about the search topic, as well as a news ticker across the top of the screen. The right pane offers multimedia results (a la Ask), as well as a chart …