Answering questions about advertising on Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, Carolyn Miller from the Microsoft adCenter Community Team explains Microsoft will not have new advertising units on the search engine results page (SERP) of Bing. Miller explains that advertisers will continue to buy keywords in the familiar adCenter environment and the new presentation of results will have no impact on the way keywords are purchased. There have been numerous improvements to the algorithm -- changes that focus on spelling, current results and core ranking, according to Miller. Among other key points, ad slot availability will not change as …

Here are five free SEO tools you might not know about, but may want to start using. While there are a lot of free SEO tools available across the Internet, most review sites and SEO bloggers profile the same core set, mainly for Firefox. These tools don't get as much attention as they deserve, according to the post. One of the five tools profiled, the Social Media Metrics Greasemonkey plug-in for Google Analytics, can increase the amount of data generated from Google's analysis tool. A screen shot demonstrates the plug-in not only collects data from all major social …

Microsoft released the beta version of its IIS Search Engine Optimization Toolkit earlier this week. Ann Smarty writes that the toolkit boost SEO strategies by allowing Web developers, hosting providers, and Web server administrators ti increase the number of visitors to their Web site. Smarty explains the IIS SEO Toolkit makes site content more search engine-friendly. She describes the benefits from the three components--Site Analysis module, Robots Exclusion module, and Sitemaps and Site Indexes module--that come with the toolkit.

Those who abuse nofollows may have led Google to change policies, but Rand Fishkin remains a little skeptical of Matt Cutt's disclosure of this change at the recent SMX Advanced conference. Fishkin discusses how the change may affect webmasters and SEO best practices. He also examines the "bizarreness" surrounding the decision. Fishkin calls the decision a backward step and says it "casts doubts on whether we can trust future messaging [from Google] around SEO best practices, too." He writes savvy SEOs will revert to old methods of PageRank sculpting that existed long before nofollow, creating links that robots …

Graduate students at the University of California at Berkeley published a privacy study that shows Google leads in tracker technology on the top 100 Web domains, followed by DoubleClick and Microsoft Atlas, according to Barry Schwartz. A couple of charts demonstrate the mix. The study, conducted in March by students at the School of Information, suggests Google's is present on 88% of the top 100 domains. The presence of tracker technology doesn't mean users are tracked from one site to the next.

MarketingSherpa has outlined seven tactics to help measure the impact SEO has on Web sites, complete with advice for monitoring metrics, managing timing, and deciding when to dig deeper into the data. Interviews with execs from Omniture and Range Online Media provide insight into gauging the influences of an uptick after SEO practices are put in place. Among the tactics MarketingSherpa suggests: Separate branded from non-branded keywords, build calendars, tie keywords to key performance indicators, measure offline conversations, and compare search metrics to your total site's performance.

Andrew provides yet another way to improve pay-per-click (PPC) performance through managing bids. Calling it a "critical tactic" to improve mature campaigns, he writes that with proper execution and attention to detail, an alternative bidding strategy can drive up return on investments. Andrew suggests starting the test on a specific day and waiting until the following week to check results. Consider initiating the tests at the beginning of the month to help create a review cycle. He also believes it's important to focus on keywords that generate a lot of traffic. Accumulating large amounts of data from the …

Companies are trying to make the most of marketing dollars. A study released by Forbes suggests 40% of respondents intend to increase budgets for search engine optimization, while 42% intend to funnel digital media dollars increasingly to viral marketing. The research also shows 82% of companies use conversion or sales data to measure the success of online marketing campaigns. SEO, pay-per-click and e-mail campaigns were seen as the top three most effective tools to gain conversions, while ad networks and video ads were cited as least effective.

Yes, there are challenges to restructuring a Web site. When not done correctly, popular sites risk losing visitors among invalid bookmarked pages, broken links from other Web sites, and queries for pages that no longer exist. But Eric Enge believes the proper use of 301 redirects can mitigate risks. He writes that success requires knowing how to map the content from the new site to the old, and building a 301 redirect map that thoroughly links from the old to the new. Enge provides insight on how to prioritize the transition. He suggests starting with Web analytics tool …

Google released a new version of AdWords Editor, version 7.5.1, for Windows and Mac. Austin Rachlin writes that the latest version can save time by allowing the user to download or update select campaigns. Among the changes meant to streamline processes, are the ability to import CSV files in AdWords Editor, and the ability to quickly pinpoint keywords most relevant to the account through the "Search-based keywords" tab. Other changes to the Keyword Opportunities tool aim to make it easier to manage keyword data.