The next generation of searchers (and possibly, search marketers) is already scouring the Web for help with their homework, as well as product info and random fun Web sites. Ruud Hein digs into the way kids search and why parents (and teachers) need to help them understand how the results are chosen and displayed. "It's not only important to teach that the results of these searches aren't impartial, objective or in some logical order but that they're ranked according to a calculation which combines measures of relevancy and popularity," Hein says. "It's important to show how [the way] this …

"B2B copywriting is tough stuff," says Galen DeYoung. "Instead of, 'Wipes clean with a damp cloth,' you may find yourself trying to simultaneously explain and extol the virtues of some complex mechanical system while being creative and persuasive at the same time." B2B copywriting for SEO is even tougher, so DeYoung offers some tips for getting it done right. Pepper your copy with both branded and generic terms. "Go ahead and use the brand name in copy, but make sure you also include the generic terms just as much, if not more," DeYoung says. "In most cases, B2B …

Adam lists some unexpected questions that you might want to ask your client when it comes time to discuss link-building efforts, starting with whether the company provides scholarships. "There are hundreds of sites listing companies that provide scholarships," he says. "Not only can you land a deep link, there's a good possibility it could be a deep link from a .edu or k12.state.us site." Keeping with the "charitable" theme, ask if the company sponsors any events. "If your client sponsors a 5k race, bike race or adventure race, make sure they're listed on these sites," Adam says. "Up …

Mariana Mechoso serves up the dish on how most hotel franchisees are leaving money on the table by not tapping into the local search market. She argues that while hoteliers often run stellar national PPC campaigns, they can't capitalize on the various flavors of local traffic. For example, there are the people traveling locally (i.e. the drive-in market), people on the hunt for accommodations near local attractions, those searching for a room in conjunction with a sporting event/conference, etc. -- and the list continues. "No major hotel chain can adequately address and capture these local business opportunities via …

You can use AdWords to run quick and dirty market research for a new business idea, or even a brand that's set to revamp, and Aaron Wall tells you how. First, do some keyword research with one of the (many) free tools out there. "Include every keyword term in your Adwords campaign that you expect to rank for in your organic campaign," he says. Then, build a small site made up of landing pages for the ads. "What you want to know are three key pieces of information: actual search volume, response to offer, and competition levels," Wall says. …

According to recent comScore data, in July searchers in the entire Asia-Pacific region conducted about 7.4 billion queries on Baidu. That's about the same amount of searches that U.S. users conducted on Google in August. "If you back these searches out of Baidu's search volume provided by comScore, you will see that these two search heavyweights are almost equal in their respected home countries," says Shane Farley. But Baidu's growth is not just limited to search. "Their Baidu Union ad network now claims more than 1 billion daily ad impressions or around 30 billion a month," Farley says. …

Social media optimization (SMO) has seemingly been assimilated into the search marketing lexicon, and Lee Odden uses this post to examine just how and why social media has affected search from both a user and marketer perspective. First, social media has changed searcher expectations. "Searchers no longer have the sole expectation of searching to find information for a specific outcome," Odden says. "As people spend more and more time connecting, sharing and interacting with the social web, they now often expect to interact with what they find in the search results." Odden also suggests that social …

The latest Google Maps feature is geared toward helping voters get set for the upcoming election. In addition to offering links to info about registration and various candidates, the apps point users in the direction of their nearest polling place. "Being able to generate a driving map for each potential voter to every polling place offers incredible benefit to every 'get out the vote' organization, particularly smaller ones that might not have the resources to gather this information," says Mike Blumenthal. He also notes that the apps are indicative of the greater impact that local information …

Marty Weintraub explains why entrepreneurs should think long and hard about the search pros and cons before they come up with a company name. Using the example of a Minnesota-based company called "Masters Recording Institute," Weintraub shows that it can be difficult to gain organic traction and costly to gain sponsored search visibility with highly common keywords or initials in a company name. "To start: everybody loves initials. From our experience, a good percentage of future direct brand searches could occur on the initials 'MRI,'" he says. "Sadly, searches for 'MRI' result in harvesting all sorts of information …