Bloomberg reports Monday that Google has lost two copyright lawsuits in Germany related to displaying photos and artworks as thumbnails in preview search results. While search engines have made it easier for consumer to share photos and artworks, the decision highlights the need for some sort of governing legislation to protect the works of writers, artists and publishers.

Chaos on Wall Street has broad implications for the economy, but Alan Rim-Kaufman provides a narrow perspective on paid search advertising. Rather than pulling the plug on projects, here are six points to consider when planning your online advertising strategy, such as having clear economic targets, using strong bid management tools, and shifting ad dollars to stronger channels. These suggestions are simple, but strong reminders on ways to drive traffic and protect projects from an early demise. Take notice, even if you're not seeing or feeling the impact on your businesses today. It's better than being caught off …

A SMX East wrap-up, provided by Rand Fishkin, highlights the top six takeaways from a session moderated by Danny Sullivan, where search engineers from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft participated. Some takeaways from the conference suggest it's a bad idea to put session IDs in the URL, sitemaps shouldn't be ignored, and links remain the primary signal for search engine rankings. The Yahoo exec said that while links are not the most important signal by themselves, they're more important, for example, than title tags. Fishkin says the engineers from all three search engines suggest sites often see an …

Is the downturn forcing you to do things differently. Are you measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) or metrics that magnify uncertainties? Microsoft adCenter blogger Mel Carson took that question to readers after providing tips on PPC campaigns. One reader suggests more people are searching on brand names, rather than general keywords. Another says determining a sector's average to accurately measure the market place response as a whole would reassure clients to keep their ad spend online. The post offers valuable suggestion on how to support search campaigns through these difficult economic times.

While Part II defined the meaning of "core term" for search marketing, Part III looks at research steps in finding strong core terms that provide "actionable intelligence" used throughout keyword research processes. For starters, search guru Stoney deGeyter suggests no matter how well you know the content of your site, take time moving from page to page looking for anything that you can use as a core term. Read through the text looking for unique terminology. Certain words will jump out. Many would likely have not come to mind by brainstorming. The areas you most …

Research released this week on click fraud from Ben Edelman, attorney and assistant professor at the Harvard Business School in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets unit, suggests online marketers lack the technical expertise to tell when they're being robbed. Edelman finds online advertising fraud can happen without sophisticated spyware, even to cost-per-action advertisers. At first glance, conversion-contingent advertising (cost-per-action/CPA, affiliate marketing) seems the perfect way to prevent online advertising fraud. By paying partners only when a sale actually occurs, advertisers often expect to substantially eliminate fraud. Unfortunately, he says, this view is overly simplistic and optimistic. …

Stoney deGeyter has put together a series on keyword research to guide you through the process. The step- by-step guidelines should help you to sort and organize your keywords for an effective marketing campaign. It may seem elementary, but deGeyter reminds us to remember the importance of core terms, one-, two- or three word combinations that provide a very broad summary of information on the site. He says two words typically make the best core terms. Don't make them too broad because they need to track targeted traffic, and don't be too specific, which could also drive …

"There's a lot of similarity between fly fishing and search engine advertising," says Charles Thrasher, noting that "trout rise to different insects as they hatch at different times of the year, even different hours of the day. A fly offered at the wrong time or with the wrong presentation is likely to be ignored." Similarly, he notes, give him a code at the wrong time in the buying cycle, and he's likely to ignore it (Simplistic, yet, truer words were rarely spoken.) Thrasher provides other examples of similarities between search and outdoor activities. Noting that search starts with …

Lee Odden posts a Q&A on two SEO topics, noting that these "real questions from Web site owners" reflect the need for ongoing education and updates for anyone involved in marketing through search. For example, one question, regarding the feasibility of using directories Yahoo's Directory and DMOZ.org as logical places places to acquire inbound links, also asks "What if I only submit my website to algorithmic search engines and not directories: Does it really matter?" Odden reminds readers that "submissions to algorithmic search engines are not necessary," going into the basics of how search engines find pages …

YouTube recently rolled out "click-to-buy" ads for music (and gaming) videos that let viewers click over to Amazon.com or iTunes and buy the music (or game) featured in the clips. Unfortunately, the ad units are geared toward YouTube "partners," which typically are larger, more established companies. Smaller businesses seeking to use the video property for e-commerce and search benefits need to try alternative measures, one of which Grant Crowell outlines in this post. "For your YouTube Description field, lead with a hot URL to your Web site," Crowell says. "It serves as a direct call-to-action with good proximity to the …