Using accurate meta tags for images and user-facing tags for videos is par for the course in terms of multimedia search optimization, but we're far from an ideal solution in terms of making rich-media-like podcasts and widgets more SEO-friendly. But as Ellen Keohane finds out, technologists at Yahoo and Pluggd are working to develop solutions to the optimization problem. Pluggd, for example, has developed "semantic concept models that encapsulate meaning," says Alex Castro, the video tech provider's founder and CEO. These models extend the functionality of speech recognition in online video, working to establish statistical relationships between words …

Local online classifieds and Yellow Pages service LiveDeal has inked an extended paid search deal with Yahoo, a vote of confidence in the struggling Web giant, according to Arpana Roy. "The agreement is a continuation of the two companies' current status as sponsored search partners," Roy says. "What is interesting about this new deal is that it is show of confidence from LiveDeal Inc. about Yahoo's future, whether as an independent company or merged entity." Yahoo will continue to power the sponsored search listings for Mesa, Ariz.-based LiveDeal, which in addition to the LiveDeal.com classifieds, includes the IYP …

Crafty companies continue to find new ways to game the engines when it comes to rankings and ads. In the case of Privila, the Chicago-based firm designed Web sites that were able to snag relatively high organic rankings by populating them with keyword-stuffed "articles" alongside text and graphical ads. In addition to drafting unpaid "interns" to write these articles, Privila typically preyed on sites whose original owners had forgotten to renew the registration--capitalizing on the existing domain's authority and possible PageRank. And according to John Leyden, the company promoted its sites like wallofdove.com and soccerlove.com through link exchange …

Now that the DoubleClick acquisition has finally closed, Google's task is to successfully integrate the ad-serving company's technology and cultures with its own. But before the employees start shuffling offices and swapping titles, the giant has got to spin off Performics, DoubleClick's search marketing firm. "Conflict of interest? You bet," says Danny Sullivan. "Even if Performics is kept completely separate from the Google search team, there's the impression that Performics might have some special "in" with Google's non-paid search results. After all, Google owns it!" When coupled with the fact that Google explicitly states that it …

It may not be if you have GoDaddy as your hosting service. The domaining company recently took down a site called RateMyCop.com on grounds that stink of censorship, according to Kevin Poulsen. RateMyCop.com allows users to rate and comment on the uniformed officers in their community, and "GoDaddy unceremoniously pulled-the-plug on the site in the wake of outrage from criticism-leery cops," Poulsen said. In an interview, site founder Gino Sesto said he received conflicting statements from GoDaddy about why his site had been taken down, ranging from alleged "suspicious activity," to a claim that the site had …

Mobile search is still anybody's game, according to Barry Chu, general manager of advertising for Medio Systems. "While it's certain that the major players will have a place at the table, there is yet room and opportunity for others to enter the market and exceed user expectations," Chu says. That's because mobile search differs from online search with everything from technology to user intentions. Chu says that the algorithms and interfaces that the engines use to create a rich online search experience have to change--simply because they're not adapted for the limited screen size that comes with mobile …

AdWords has become so ubiquitous because it's a simple ad platform that provides a clear, quantifiable ROI. But as Jim Hedger says, "The system makes mistakes though and those mistakes are costing advertisers monies that would otherwise be added to their bottom line." One of the solutions to this problem is to go with a third-party auditing service like Enquisite Search Metrics' PPC Assurance, Hedger says. PPC Assurance spots and records mistakes in PPC billings from AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing, and then submits a refund request to Google or Yahoo using the exact details that each engine …

Think you've heard of (or thought of) all the possible link-building strategies out there? Kim Roach says think again. She's compiled a list of over a hundred tips for gaining inbound links--and they don't include any of the regulars like "leverage Digg or StumbleUpon," or "push out press releases on BusinessWire." For example, Roach says try starting an eBay blog. On Jim Boykin's blog, "contextual links within the article include his desired anchor text," Roach says. And these eBay links are followed--so they can pass juice. Creating a unique CSS design and submitting it to any of the …

Competitive analysis is par for the course in search--but Bill "IncrediBILL" Atchison offers up a list of tools you can use to help keep "keep lazy and nosy assed SEO's or other competitors from quickly analyzing all your hard work and simply stealing what you've done." You can block the archive.org crawler, which will keep competitors from scraping your archived pages--preventing them from seeing how your site evolved over time. Add archive.org and the Xenu (a link sleuthing tool) to your .htaccess file and you'll keep snoopers out. You should also block bots, speeding crawlers and other unauthorized …