Frank Reed points to a survey by ForeSee Results that tallies about 10,000 online shoppers. It turns out e-mail and search had more impact on site visits, along with brand recognition. Reed runs through some of the details and provides a link to the study.

The best way to keep Web visitors on your site is to "echo and amplify the message that drew the visitor to the page in the first place," according to Stephen Cobb. Providing insights into landing page anchors, he reminds us the message should decrease the likelihood of the visitor jumping ship after the first click.

In an effort to defuse allegations of being a search "copycat," Yusuf Mehdi, SVP of online services at Bing, wrote in a blog post, "we do not copy results from any of our competitors. Period. Full stop." Mehdi says that Microsoft employs some of the best and the brightest and "for a competitor to accuse any one of these people of such activity is just insulting." Then he digs into thoughts about what might really be going on behind the scenes.

Marketers who know Google AdWords should move to other platforms to expand campaigns. That's one bit of advice Julie Batten gathers during an interview with colleague Mike Ott, who specializes in setting up and managing paid search campaigns. The two discuss getting started, available tools, budgets, and more.

Wael Ghonim, Google's head of marketing for Middle East and North Africa, who arrived in Cairo early last week for a conference, hasn't been heard from in nearly a week, according to Sam Gustin, who links to an ominous tweet on Twitter. Gustin describes unconfirmed Twitter chatter that Ghonim had been seized by Egyptian police and dragged away, but reports have not been confirmed.

Stoney deGeyter takes a look at the causes of duplicate content and bad URLs, providing advice on fixing them to gain better search engine rankings. Some elements to watch and fix include poor product categorization, unfriendly links, and session IDs that create duplicate page farms.

Bill Slawski points to a trio of patent applications originally filed in 2007, hinting at how Google may rank social networks. He tells us the factors that help a search engine rank a Web page, details two related patent filings on social network ranking, and surmises how it might look in Google search results. He believes it's possible for some of the features to make their way into the Google +1 social network.

Not all Web browsers are the same. In fact, Aaron Wall believes each has its own special features and functions. He asserts online marketers can increase their efficiencies by using multiple Web browsers depending on the task. Wall names five browsers, explaining the optimal use for each.

When is it appropriate to interlink Web sites? Rand Fishkin explains there's a limit to the number of links a Web site can have before it becomes a hindrance rather than benefit. As Fishkin points out, Google, Microsoft Bing and other engines don't want SEO professionals to manipulate the ranking system. So, he provides examples of best practices to follow.

Dave Harry explains what Google's latest search algorithm change means to SEO professionals and Web sites. Harry writes that there's more to Google's fight against spam than meets the eye. Google's change brings content attribution, syndication and duplication to the forefront. By referencing Matt Cutt's latest post on the topic, Harry also provides insights on what SEOs can expect in the near future.