You can now control what other see when they search for your name on Google's search engine, by creating a Google profile at www.google.com/profiles. Aaron Goldman believes the info will become valuable as a targeting tool for advertisers. Query results offer abbreviated information from user-created profiles that link to full profiles. Google also added links to make it easy to search for the same name on MySpace, Facebook, Classmates and LinkedIn, according to a Google blog post.

Planning a Web site's architecture isn't always the most interesting task when optimizing a site, but Stoney deGeyter calls it "important." In the post, deGeyter answers some questions recently asked on the topic of navigation, site structure, site maps and pages site. When asked if the length of Web pages affects indexing and download times, he explains that while there isn't a rule, it may make it more difficult for search engines if there's more code than content on the page. "Large pages with lots of content generally won't be a problem, but if the content to …

Sometimes graphs speak louder than words. The Silicon Alley Insider has posted a chart comparing clients' spending for Google vs. Yahoo spanning the years between 2004 to 2009, provided by Didit. Microsoft is added for another chart, which shows the first quarter year-over-year share of search spend for 2008 and 2009 for all Didit clients. Nicholas Carlson writes that Didit's clients are 95% in the U.S., 5% international.

Catching the eye of Mother's Day shoppers means having "clean behind the ears" ads. So, Noah Belson provides a "virtual washcloth" of PPC tips for Mother's Day. Belson suggests putting the emphasis on personalization. Here's one tip made for Mom's Day: "Promoting same-day or next-day delivery tends to put flower delivery ads over the top. Even shoppers who haven't waited until the last minute seem to find quick delivery appealing..."

"One of the benefits of an active interactive agency department with multiple PPC experts is that multiple people bring new insights to the table," writes Brian Carter. Input from various interactive areas adds value for clients, he adds. For instance, SEO insights are always part of Web designs Carter's firm, Fuel Interactive, does. And one SEM emloyee's geographical testing helped cut a client's cost per click in half.

Keyword tools, SEO site-grader tools, linking tools, browser toolbars, and other SEO tools are detailed in this beginner's guide to SEO. Jones also provides tips and tricks to manage SEO projects. "You should be aware by now that the number and quality of external links that come to your site are an important factor in achieving good rankings," he writes "You need to be able to see how many URLs have links to your site and their quality, which is measured by its PageRank. A PageRank of 10 is the highest and rarest. You're looking for PR 3-4 …

Tom Critchlow suggests marketers should pay attention to Google Base because the service can help boost rankings. It provides the underpinning to numerous vertical search portals from Google, including Google Products. He serves-up tips on improving rankings with Google Products and Google Base review sites such as dealtime.com and pricegrabber.com. Pay attention to title, price, description, data stuffing and fresh data, he writes, providing examples on the types of information marketers might miss. For instance, Critchlow points to the phrase "buy iPhone." In the example he pulls from the Web, Apple doesn't rank No. 1 in Google search …

The British online journal, "The Register," reports that Britain's Office of Security and Counter Terrorism is training moderate, pro-Western Islamic groups in SEO in order to "flood the Internet" with "positive" interpretations of Islam "in an attempt to drown out extremist voices online." The strategy is being developed despite recent warnings from a group of international experts suggesting it will be "largely ineffectual."

Kerstin Baker-Ash provides some tools and tips for managing multimarket accounts across different countries and time zones. Issues you may have to deal with include seasonality: "If your American clothing company is launching in Australia," using Google Insights for Search,"you can sense-check your keyword inventory against seasonal trends, and tailor your ad copy to audiences who might not be looking for your winter clothing line in January." While the "knee-jerk reaction to rely on automated tools for setting up multimarket accounts" seems quick and simple, the real input, and perhaps success, should come from "your own PPC Guru …

Google has rolled out Similar Images and Google Timeline. Since it can sometimes be difficult to find the right image on the Web by just using words, Similar Images uses "visual similarity" -- that is, "you don't have to refine the text of your search, instead, you can just click on the link of an image you like." "Google News Timeline organizes information chronologically by presenting results from Google News and other data sources on a zoomable, graphical timeline," according to the blog post. "You can navigate through time by dragging the timeline, setting the time scale …