Search Engine “Impression Spam”

Click fraud has been well-discussed among SEMs/SEOs, but Rob McGann runs a good article in ClickZ calling attention to “impression spam.” This occurs because Google considers click-through rate in its sorting algorithm for paid ads. If an ad gets a…

Penenberg on WSJ and Search Engines

Adam Penenberg argues that the Wall Street Journal eventually will become irrelevant because its subscription model (1) makes its content invisible to the search engines, and (2) prevents bloggers from linking to it. I think he’s right. Our assessments of…

Search Engine Strategies Session on Legal Issues

Grant Crowell summarizes the Search Engine Strategies panel on legal issues, including some rather inoffensive quotes from me. I had a lot more outrageous things to say on the trademark topic, but they didn’t appear to make the cut.

Dating Search Engine

Lycos is planning to launch a meta search engine for dating websites.

More on Dutch Search Engine Lawsuit Against Microsoft

Michael Geist’s ILN reports that Microsoft has altered its software and issued an apology in response to the Dutch search engine’s lawsuit over being labeled spyware.

Lawsuit Over Spyware Label

Microsoft sued for characterizing a Dutch search engine as spyware. See my previous post expressing concerns about Microsoft’s anti-spyware tool becoming the standard.

Alan Perkins’ Response on Black Hat/White Hat

Alan Perkins replied to my previous post on black hat/white hat issues in SEM. (I’m quoting his email with his permission). He took issue with my placing search quality responsibility solely on search engines. He writes: “Why hold a search…

The Long Tail

I recently caught up with Chris Anderson’s excellent Wired article The Long Tail from October 2004. This article discusses the consequences of disaggregating copyrighted content from the physical manufacturing/distribution/retailing chain that historically has been required to get that content to…

Google’s AutoLink tool

Google’s AutoLink tool has been in the news. AutoLink picks certain words on a web publisher’s page and turns those into hyperlinks of Google’s choosing. I’m struck by how often this idea has come up. I remember a client pitching…

Black Hat/White Hat SEO

Great description by Andrew Goodman of the Black Hat/White Hat panel at Search Engine Strategies Chicago. (I attended the panel and Andrew captures the event perfectly). You should also read Alan Perkins’ follow-up “Ethical Search Engine Optimization Explained,” where he…