• Google Search Plus SEO Social Tips
    Marty Weintraub lays out 32 resources aimed at helping marketers learn more about social on the Web through Google Plus Your World, from articles to ebooks. He explains that in the long run, social will benefit the search engines as well as search engine rankings. Until then, Weintraub believes businesses should take advantage of the benefits gained from integrating social into search. And in the not-too-distant future, he believes SEO will change in "radical" ways. 
  • Anti-Phishing Spec Backed By Google, Microsoft, Yahoo
    Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, and other companies providing email services will push for adoption of a new specification designed to eliminate phishing. The spec -- Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) -- aims to bridge shortcomings in existing systems intended to eliminate phishing, according to Paul Mah. It's not clear whether companies that provide email marketing tools will build this spec into their platforms. Mah suggests that popular phishers' targets, such as PayPal, will likely introduce the specs in their platforms.
  • Search Ad Spend To Approach $30 Billion In U.S. By 2016
    eMarketer estimates marketers will continue to invest in search engine marketing with ad spend initially this year boosted somewhat by major national elections and the Summer Olympic Games. Search spending will rise 27% to $19.51 billion. By 2016, search ad spending in the U.S. will approach $30 billion. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL by 2014 will account for 92.1% of all U.S. search ad revenue, and 44.3% of all U.S. online ad revenue, according to eMarketer. That's up from just under 90% of all search ad revenue and 43% of all U.S. online ad revenues in 2011, the research firm explains.
  • Free SEO Tools For Marketers
    Ted Ives has put together a list of free search engine optimization (SEO) tools. The list highlights about 11 of his personal favorites, from Snippet Preview Tools to Rex Swain's HTTP Viewer to LSI Keywords to Xenu Link Sleuth. He tells us, for example, that Xenu is perfect for finding broken links, and Screaming Frog allows marketers to perform a quick site audit.
  • Facebook Flirts With IPO
    Will Wednesday become the day that Facebook files for an initial public offering (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission? Several factors, such as investor demand for social media, the IPO market, and the health of the European economy, will drive the valuation value. The estimates suggest the company will become worth about half of Google's worth and about the same as McDonald's.
  • How To Find Guest Post Links On Twitter
    Ethan Lyon designed a tool that pulls in information similar to an RSS feed. It finds all the URLs, enlarges them, eliminates duplicates based on domain, and presents them in a nice, neat package. He provides a video that explains the tool, guiding us through the process in text. Lyon plans to build out the tool. In the next version, expect to see Google Blog Search, multiple queries and URL analysis.
  • Baidu Seen Integrating Social Signals
    Social signals and content continue to creep into Baidu search results, according to China Internet Watch, which focuses on news about search engine marketing and analysis in China. The news organization tells us the Chinese search engine has been seen testing a thumbs-up icon in search results, similar to Facebook. It aims to represent the +1 icon used by Google. The publication estimates revenue of China's search engine market in 2011 at about 18.78 billion yuan, up 11.7% from 2010.
  • When Rank Becomes Less Of An SEO Metric
    Raven's Jon Henshaw sat down with Eric Covino for a little one-on-one to talk about search marketing trends like rankings, analytics and social signals. Hewshaw believes ranking should become a less important metric, and the focus should turn toward organic referrals because it's the most reliable number marketers can analyze. The theory isn't that popular. There's a lot of resistance to it. The two also share other insights, including trends related to paid search and links, as well as the product road map for 2012, such as a Chrome toolbar that got delayed for months before getting back on schedule. 
  • Forget Search Privacy: Beware Of Data Breaches
    Josh Bernoff points to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' five stages of grief when analyzing how Google will tap into user search and service data. But aside from trying to reconcile that searchers will have little or no privacy online, Bernoff briefly touches on an even more important point that the search, advertising and marketing industries have yet to experience: The increase of serious data breaches.
  • What To Put in A Paid-Search Checklist
    After a full day of training and working through time management issues, Kayla Kurtz shares several best practices learned from the group. Breaking up tasks into bite-size pieces will likely become one of the most productive tips she shares. Aside from being able to gain a better sense of accomplishment with the completion of each task, it also can help to better monitor and explain the campaign's progress to clients.
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