Google CEO Eric Schmidt Speaks Out on Click Fraud
Google CEO Eric Schmidt believes there is a “perfect economic solution” to click fraud: “let it happen.”
PPC Advertisers reeling from bogus clicks in their Google AdWords Pay Per Click accounts are finding little comfort from Google's top brass. Google's stance on Click Fraud remains unchanged for more than (4) years -- "Don't Ask Don't Tell" the work continues on finding a solution.
Google's admission of click fraud and their CEO's stunning admission that nothing will be done to curb click fraud is amazing. It appears that Google's refusal to address click fraud in the AdWords system is rooted in real world economics.
Some Industry sources suggest that Google may not motivated to stem click fraud.
All of this recent press concerning click fraud onlys heightens the importance of organic search engine optimization. Clicks garnered from organic/natural search results are free and serve as an endorsement of a websites content.
To read the full article on Eric Schmidt's AdWords Clcik Fraud Comments from ZDNET visit: http://blogs.zdnet.com/micro-markets/?p=219
In the article, Google CEO Eric Schmidt discussed how the AdWords pay-per-click advertising model is inherently “self-correcting” in regards to click fraud during a Stanford University event last March. Schmidt extolled the enhanced trackability of the online pay per click advertising model versus pay per impression models, while acknowledging “smart but evil” people try to “go around the system.”
According to Schmidt, Google’s auction-based pay-per-click advertising model is inherently self-correcting: " Eventually, the price that the advertiser is willing to pay for the conversion will decline, because the advertiser will realize that these are bad clicks, in other words, the value of the ad declines, so over some amount of time, the system is in-fact, self-correcting. In fact, there is a perfect economic solution to click fraud which is to let it happen".
Schmidt’s “perfect economic solution” analysis for click fraud suggests that any Google charges to advertisers for fraudulent clicks would naturally be viewed by Google advertisers as a “cost of doing business” with Google, to be factored into advertiser ROI calculations.
I discuss such an advertiser acceptance of click fraud based charges as a cost of doing business, rather than as a potentially deceptive business practice, in “Click Fraud: deceptive business practice, or cost of doing business.”
Schmidt indicates, however, that Google engineers think it is “great fun” to try and get ahead of click fraud:
GREAT FUN?
FUN AT WHOSE EXPENSE?
But because it is a bad thing, because we don’t like it, because it does, at least for the short-term, create some problems before the advertiser sees it, we go ahead and try to detect it and eliminate it.
Part of what we do is we try to decrease the time, and increase the rate, at which the auction automatically detects that this is a bad click, naturally.
--
Is Google asking AdWords advertisers to accept "Click Fraud" and factor it into their advertising budgets ?
What long term winning strategy is this?
Is this the best solution that Google, the world's 10th largest and fastest growing company can provide?
Budget for Fraud ?
Eric Schmidt must have been joking or taken completely out of context. Hopefully active Google advertisers share in this humor. Google officical post on Click Fraud and their clarification on CEO Eric Schmidt's (company clarifications of executive statements are never a good sign) can be found here:
(or full link: http://www.googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/let-click-fraud-happen-uh-no.htm)
In summary it appears that Eric Schmidt CEO of Google made these statements:
1) Click Fraud in Google AdWords continues.
2) the value in advertising with Google declines over time.
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Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Google Opens New AdWords Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan
New Google office center to bring 1,000 badly needed high-tech jobs to the state of Michigan.
Google Co-Founder Larry Page a Michigan Native plays key role in selecting Ann Arbor vs. Boston.
Michigan's sputtering economy gets a big boost today when Google Inc., the high-flying Internet search engine giant, announces plans to hire up to 1,000 workers over the next five years for a new Ann Arbor AdWords facility.
California-based Google's decision to expand in Michigan, a state marred by the downturn in the automotive industry and hurt badly by the steady exodus of its best college graduates to more prosperous regions is excited about this timely technology win.
Google plans to create a headquarters facility for its Google AdWords unit. AdWords offers "pay-per-click" ads that are triggered when Google users search using keywords. AdWords is Google's core advertising product and is the primary source of revenue.
Google officials said they will start posting new Michigan SEO job openings for employment positions at the new Ann Arbor facility at: www.google.com/jobs.
The jobs will vary in skill demands and pay. The average salary for new hires is expected to be $47,000 a year.
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm called the new Google Ann Arbor AdWords facility "a tremendous statement about Michigan having a cutting-edge workforce."
We have some of the leading search engine optimization firms in America right here in our before this morning's news conference, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority is expected to approve $38 million in Single Business Tax credits over 20 years for Google, whose development is expected to generate $165 million in tax revenue over that time.
As Google evaluates specific sites, it will work with local communities on other possible incentives to complement the MEGA tax credits.
"I don't know if there's a cooler company in America than Google," said James Epolito, chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. "They're looking for very skilled people at a time when we're trying to keep our kids in the state of Michigan."
The MEDC has been wooing Google ardently for about a year, ever since reports surfaced that the company was looking at Ann Arbor, Boston, Boulder, Colo., and the Phoenix area as possible sites for expansion.
David Fischer, Google's director of online sales and operations, said Monday that the company's focus is on hiring bright, motivated people.
"We worry less about experience than raw talent. We've had tremendous success hiring people straight out of universities, with majors from engineering to art history."
Google cofounder Larry Page, an East Lansing native and 1995 engineering graduate from the University of Michigan, was a major supporter of the decision to locate in Ann Arbor, Granholm said.
Google already has a small AdWords sales office in Southfield. No decision has been made yet on whether Google will build or lease space in Washtenaw County.
Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., began in 1996 as a research project for Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were PhD students at Stanford University.
Today Google has 6,800 workers and is the world's largest Internet search company.
As of July 2007 Google shares are about $127 billion. That's nearly $50 billion more than the combined value of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG. Toyota Motor Corp.'s value is $171 billion.
It's hard to overstate the importance for Michigan of landing a major expansion of a company with the cutting edge cachet of Google. The declining fortunes of GM and Ford, along with the related bankruptcy filings of major automotive suppliers Delphi Corp., Collins & Aikman and Tower Automotive and more have hammered Michigan's economy.
Swedish-owned refrigerator manufacturer Electrolux closed its Greenville, Michigan plant and moved 3,000 jobs to Mexico this year. And along with neighboring Indiana and Ohio, Michigan is among the states with the greatest net loss of its college graduates to other states.
Although Michigan has had some successes during Granholm's first term -- new research operations promised by Toyota and Hyundai, plus the move of auto parts maker Borg-Warner's headquarters to Auburn Hills -- they've been obscured by the bad news.
If Michigan is to shed its Rust Belt image and avoid becoming an industrial backwater in the new global economy, it's clear that the state must diversify and emphasize the strength of its research universities in producing scientists and engineers.
Granholm has pushed those buttons hard in creating a $2-billion 21st Century Jobs Fund, aimed at creating and attracting growth of companies in life sciences, alternative energy and other high-technology fields.
"We see Michigan as an ideal location to recruit the best and brightest workers," said Fischer of Google.
If Google's experience in Michigan meets its expectations, the state couldn't ask for a better testimonial.
Some details above include snippets of a Free Press article in July 2006.
How Google AdWords works
• AdWords began in 2000. It is Google's flagship advertising product and its main source of revenue.
• AdWords offers pay-per-click advertising, where businesses specify the exact keywords that trigger their ads and name the maximum amount they are willing to pay per click.
• Competitors include Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter.
Google at a glance
Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.
Employees: 6,800
Founding: Stanford graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin met in 1995 and worked on a search engine that became Google in 1998. Google went public in 2004.
Mission: Google said its mission is to organize information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Name: Google is a play on googol, which is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.
A look at the men who started Google
Larry Page
Age: 33
Education: Bachelor's degree in engineering, University of Michigan; master's degree in computer science, Stanford University. Graduated high school from Interlochen Academy (www.interlochen.org).
Family: Page is the son of former Michigan State University computer science professor Carl Victor Page, Google's Web site says.
Trivia: While in Ann Arbor, Page built a printer out of Lego bricks.
Sergey Brin
Age: 32 Education: Bachelor's degree in mathematics and engineering, University of Maryland; master's degree in computer science, Stanford University
Family: He immigrated with his family to Maryland from Russia at the age of 6.
Trivia: Brin and Page are converting a used Boeing 767 jet for personal travel, one of the largest corporate jets in the world.
--
New Google office center to bring 1,000 badly needed high-tech jobs to the state of Michigan.
Google Co-Founder Larry Page a Michigan Native plays key role in selecting Ann Arbor vs. Boston.
Michigan's sputtering economy gets a big boost today when Google Inc., the high-flying Internet search engine giant, announces plans to hire up to 1,000 workers over the next five years for a new Ann Arbor AdWords facility.
California-based Google's decision to expand in Michigan, a state marred by the downturn in the automotive industry and hurt badly by the steady exodus of its best college graduates to more prosperous regions is excited about this timely technology win.
Google plans to create a headquarters facility for its Google AdWords unit. AdWords offers "pay-per-click" ads that are triggered when Google users search using keywords. AdWords is Google's core advertising product and is the primary source of revenue.
Google officials said they will start posting new Michigan SEO job openings for employment positions at the new Ann Arbor facility at: www.google.com/jobs.
The jobs will vary in skill demands and pay. The average salary for new hires is expected to be $47,000 a year.
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm called the new Google Ann Arbor AdWords facility "a tremendous statement about Michigan having a cutting-edge workforce."
We have some of the leading search engine optimization firms in America right here in our before this morning's news conference, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority is expected to approve $38 million in Single Business Tax credits over 20 years for Google, whose development is expected to generate $165 million in tax revenue over that time.
As Google evaluates specific sites, it will work with local communities on other possible incentives to complement the MEGA tax credits.
"I don't know if there's a cooler company in America than Google," said James Epolito, chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. "They're looking for very skilled people at a time when we're trying to keep our kids in the state of Michigan."
The MEDC has been wooing Google ardently for about a year, ever since reports surfaced that the company was looking at Ann Arbor, Boston, Boulder, Colo., and the Phoenix area as possible sites for expansion.
David Fischer, Google's director of online sales and operations, said Monday that the company's focus is on hiring bright, motivated people.
"We worry less about experience than raw talent. We've had tremendous success hiring people straight out of universities, with majors from engineering to art history."
Google cofounder Larry Page, an East Lansing native and 1995 engineering graduate from the University of Michigan, was a major supporter of the decision to locate in Ann Arbor, Granholm said.
Google already has a small AdWords sales office in Southfield. No decision has been made yet on whether Google will build or lease space in Washtenaw County.
Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., began in 1996 as a research project for Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were PhD students at Stanford University.
Today Google has 6,800 workers and is the world's largest Internet search company.
As of July 2007 Google shares are about $127 billion. That's nearly $50 billion more than the combined value of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG. Toyota Motor Corp.'s value is $171 billion.
It's hard to overstate the importance for Michigan of landing a major expansion of a company with the cutting edge cachet of Google. The declining fortunes of GM and Ford, along with the related bankruptcy filings of major automotive suppliers Delphi Corp., Collins & Aikman and Tower Automotive and more have hammered Michigan's economy.
Swedish-owned refrigerator manufacturer Electrolux closed its Greenville, Michigan plant and moved 3,000 jobs to Mexico this year. And along with neighboring Indiana and Ohio, Michigan is among the states with the greatest net loss of its college graduates to other states.
Although Michigan has had some successes during Granholm's first term -- new research operations promised by Toyota and Hyundai, plus the move of auto parts maker Borg-Warner's headquarters to Auburn Hills -- they've been obscured by the bad news.
If Michigan is to shed its Rust Belt image and avoid becoming an industrial backwater in the new global economy, it's clear that the state must diversify and emphasize the strength of its research universities in producing scientists and engineers.
Granholm has pushed those buttons hard in creating a $2-billion 21st Century Jobs Fund, aimed at creating and attracting growth of companies in life sciences, alternative energy and other high-technology fields.
"We see Michigan as an ideal location to recruit the best and brightest workers," said Fischer of Google.
If Google's experience in Michigan meets its expectations, the state couldn't ask for a better testimonial.
Some details above include snippets of a Free Press article in July 2006.
How Google AdWords works
• AdWords began in 2000. It is Google's flagship advertising product and its main source of revenue.
• AdWords offers pay-per-click advertising, where businesses specify the exact keywords that trigger their ads and name the maximum amount they are willing to pay per click.
• Competitors include Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter.
Google at a glance
Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.
Employees: 6,800
Founding: Stanford graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin met in 1995 and worked on a search engine that became Google in 1998. Google went public in 2004.
Mission: Google said its mission is to organize information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Name: Google is a play on googol, which is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.
A look at the men who started Google
Larry Page
Age: 33
Education: Bachelor's degree in engineering, University of Michigan; master's degree in computer science, Stanford University. Graduated high school from Interlochen Academy (www.interlochen.org).
Family: Page is the son of former Michigan State University computer science professor Carl Victor Page, Google's Web site says.
Trivia: While in Ann Arbor, Page built a printer out of Lego bricks.
Sergey Brin
Age: 32 Education: Bachelor's degree in mathematics and engineering, University of Maryland; master's degree in computer science, Stanford University
Family: He immigrated with his family to Maryland from Russia at the age of 6.
Trivia: Brin and Page are converting a used Boeing 767 jet for personal travel, one of the largest corporate jets in the world.
--
Monday, July 10, 2006
Advertising Age Blames Search Engines For PPC Click Fraud
Industry trade magazine says click fraud has major advertisers running scared of search advertising and seeking organic seo services.
Click Fraud Cost Advertisers $800 Million Last Year
Study Blames Search Engines for Lack of Vigilance
Original Article By Gavin O'Malley
Published By Advertising Age: July 05, 2006
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Advertisers wasted $800 million on fraudulent clicks last year, according to market researcher Outsell, which conducted a study of 407 advertisers responsible for roughly $1 billion in ad spending. The study found that decreasing confidence in pay-per-click advertising is causing the industry to lose an estimated $500 million in potential pay-per-click spending.
The study was critical of search engines for failing to address click fraud, but Yahoo, MSN and Google insist they have been aggressive in their stance against it.
Slowed and stopped advertising
The study was critical of search engines for not being vigilant enough in stopping click fraud. Outsell found that 27% of advertisers have slowed or stopped their pay-per-click advertising because of suspected click fraud, including 16% who have stopped spending altogether. The average spending reduction is 33% of total pay-per-click spending. These advertisers estimate that 14.6% of the clicks they're billed for are fraudulent, Outsell reports, representing about $800 million in wasted spending in 2005.
Another 10% of advertisers have plans to cut their pay-per-click spending budgets and focus resources on organic search engine optimization, according to Outsell's findings.
Chuck Richard, Outsell VP and lead analyst, was particularly critical of the major search engines for what he sees as their failure to address the problem. "Google, Yahoo and MSN are stonewalling on click fraud, to their own and others' detriment," Mr. Richard stated in the report.
Representatives for Yahoo, Google, and MSN deny such accusations, insisting they have been aggressive in their stance against click fraud.
Google's alternative
Last month, Google began testing a cost-per-click ad alternative that only charges advertisers after their ads generate sales or qualified sales leads. Among other benefits, the new model will likely reduce cases of click fraud, which occur when ads are clicked on repeatedly to paint a false picture of their value. It's no small matter: Google paid $90 million in ad credits earlier this year to settle one click-fraud suit.
Just last week, a federal judge gave preliminary approval to a settlement in a lawsuit that accused Yahoo of not properly safeguarding advertisers from click fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder in Los Angeles approved the settlement whereby Yahoo would pay $5 million in legal fees and offer credit or cash refunds to advertisers shown to be victims of click fraud since 2004.
Industry trade magazine says click fraud has major advertisers running scared of search advertising and seeking organic seo services.
Click Fraud Cost Advertisers $800 Million Last Year
Study Blames Search Engines for Lack of Vigilance
Original Article By Gavin O'Malley
Published By Advertising Age: July 05, 2006
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Advertisers wasted $800 million on fraudulent clicks last year, according to market researcher Outsell, which conducted a study of 407 advertisers responsible for roughly $1 billion in ad spending. The study found that decreasing confidence in pay-per-click advertising is causing the industry to lose an estimated $500 million in potential pay-per-click spending.
The study was critical of search engines for failing to address click fraud, but Yahoo, MSN and Google insist they have been aggressive in their stance against it.
Slowed and stopped advertising
The study was critical of search engines for not being vigilant enough in stopping click fraud. Outsell found that 27% of advertisers have slowed or stopped their pay-per-click advertising because of suspected click fraud, including 16% who have stopped spending altogether. The average spending reduction is 33% of total pay-per-click spending. These advertisers estimate that 14.6% of the clicks they're billed for are fraudulent, Outsell reports, representing about $800 million in wasted spending in 2005.
Another 10% of advertisers have plans to cut their pay-per-click spending budgets and focus resources on organic search engine optimization, according to Outsell's findings.
Chuck Richard, Outsell VP and lead analyst, was particularly critical of the major search engines for what he sees as their failure to address the problem. "Google, Yahoo and MSN are stonewalling on click fraud, to their own and others' detriment," Mr. Richard stated in the report.
Representatives for Yahoo, Google, and MSN deny such accusations, insisting they have been aggressive in their stance against click fraud.
Google's alternative
Last month, Google began testing a cost-per-click ad alternative that only charges advertisers after their ads generate sales or qualified sales leads. Among other benefits, the new model will likely reduce cases of click fraud, which occur when ads are clicked on repeatedly to paint a false picture of their value. It's no small matter: Google paid $90 million in ad credits earlier this year to settle one click-fraud suit.
Just last week, a federal judge gave preliminary approval to a settlement in a lawsuit that accused Yahoo of not properly safeguarding advertisers from click fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder in Los Angeles approved the settlement whereby Yahoo would pay $5 million in legal fees and offer credit or cash refunds to advertisers shown to be victims of click fraud since 2004.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Dell and Google Anounce Partnership
Google Strikes Deal With Dell
reprinted from Wall Street Journal
Google Inc. and Dell Inc. have reached an agreement to install Google software on millions of Dell personal computers before they are shipped to users, said Google's Chief Executive Eric Schmidt.
Under a roughly three-year pact, Google, of Mountain View, Calif., would pay Dell to have its desktop software for searching the content of a user's hard drive and emails, and a Web browser search toolbar installed on the computers, according to people in the industry familiar with the matter. Dell would also set the default search engine for users to Google's offering, one of the sources said. Financial terms are not expected to be disclosed. Talks between Google and Dell were first reported in The Wall Street Journal in February.
PC Makers Team Up With Microsoft's Rivals
02/07/06The agreement would help circumvent some of Google's sticking points with Microsoft Corp.'s new Web browser to be released this year. The Web search company has complained that Microsoft is making it too difficult for users to change the default setting away from Microsoft's search engine. The Justice Department earlier this month said that Google's concerns were not founded.
By expanding its placement on PCs, Google will instantly gain a spot in front of millions of consumers, who industry analysts say are far more likely to use software and access Internet services if they are pre-loaded on PCs. People familiar with Google's thinking have said the deal with Dell wasn't designed exclusively to strike back at Microsoft, but rather to increase use of Google's services. Still, a tussle with Microsoft over the new Web browser settings increased Google's desire to win the Dell agreement, the people said.
For Dell, the agreement is an opportunity to boost revenue from software shipped on new computers. The world's largest PC maker, had set up a competitive bidding process for Internet companies who wanted the right to load their software on as many as 100 million new Dell PCs. Yahoo pulled out of the running, and then Google beat Microsoft, people familiar with the matter said.
Under the agreement, buyers of Dell PCs will have their browser home page set to a co-branded Dell and Google site, according to the industry sources. The two companies earlier this year publicly acknowledged offering that page and distributing Google software on new Dell PCs under a test agreement.
Stay Tuned as the Browser Wars between Microsoft and Google continue to heat up !!!
Google Strikes Deal With Dell
reprinted from Wall Street Journal
Google Inc. and Dell Inc. have reached an agreement to install Google software on millions of Dell personal computers before they are shipped to users, said Google's Chief Executive Eric Schmidt.
Under a roughly three-year pact, Google, of Mountain View, Calif., would pay Dell to have its desktop software for searching the content of a user's hard drive and emails, and a Web browser search toolbar installed on the computers, according to people in the industry familiar with the matter. Dell would also set the default search engine for users to Google's offering, one of the sources said. Financial terms are not expected to be disclosed. Talks between Google and Dell were first reported in The Wall Street Journal in February.
PC Makers Team Up With Microsoft's Rivals
02/07/06The agreement would help circumvent some of Google's sticking points with Microsoft Corp.'s new Web browser to be released this year. The Web search company has complained that Microsoft is making it too difficult for users to change the default setting away from Microsoft's search engine. The Justice Department earlier this month said that Google's concerns were not founded.
By expanding its placement on PCs, Google will instantly gain a spot in front of millions of consumers, who industry analysts say are far more likely to use software and access Internet services if they are pre-loaded on PCs. People familiar with Google's thinking have said the deal with Dell wasn't designed exclusively to strike back at Microsoft, but rather to increase use of Google's services. Still, a tussle with Microsoft over the new Web browser settings increased Google's desire to win the Dell agreement, the people said.
For Dell, the agreement is an opportunity to boost revenue from software shipped on new computers. The world's largest PC maker, had set up a competitive bidding process for Internet companies who wanted the right to load their software on as many as 100 million new Dell PCs. Yahoo pulled out of the running, and then Google beat Microsoft, people familiar with the matter said.
Under the agreement, buyers of Dell PCs will have their browser home page set to a co-branded Dell and Google site, according to the industry sources. The two companies earlier this year publicly acknowledged offering that page and distributing Google software on new Dell PCs under a test agreement.
Stay Tuned as the Browser Wars between Microsoft and Google continue to heat up !!!
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Yahoo Ebay Merger Rumors Running Hot
Wall Street Sources Are Reporting That Yahoo and Ebay Will Join Forces Soon
Reprinted from Reuters with comments.
Speculation is rife on Wall Street that a big internet deal or alliance is in the works, with Google, Yahoo, eBay or Microsoft as possible partners - and a Yahoo-eBay partnership seen as most likely.
"A partnership or merger between eBay and Yahoo! is the most strategically feasible," a report authored by analyst Imran Khan and the JP Morgan internet team said.
"A combined company would have the leading position in auctions, communications, payments, graphical advertising, audience reach, and geographic breadth," the report said.
Silicon Valley insiders, high-tech bankers and financial analysts are giving new credence to potential merger deals, which fly in the face of common wisdom that the internet's rapid growth has always outweighed the logic of consolidation.
But internet growth is slowing and competition among the biggest companies - Google Inc, Yahoo Inc, eBay Inc and Microsoft Corp - is intensifying.
EBay stock is down 30 per cent on the year. Yahoo is off 20 per cent and Google down 10 per cent.
Google, which nearly doubled its revenues last year, is expected to grow 62 per cent this year. EBay is seen growing 30 per cent, down from 50 per cent two years ago, and Yahoo's growth is slowing at a similar pace.
EBay spokesman Hani Durzy said the company works very closely with all the major Web search providers - Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, but he declined to comment on any potential Yahoo tie-up.
EBay is one of the world's biggest buyers of Web search terms. It manages a portfolio of 15 million keywords on different search sites aimed at wooing bidders.
"We don't comment on rumours and speculation," Durzy said.
"We are talking to Yahoo and other companies all the time as part of our normal course of business."
Yahoo was not immediately available to comment.
The 56-page JP Morgan report weighs other scenarios, including the possibility that Microsoft Corp's MSN internet unit would strike a partnership with Yahoo. Google is viewed as likely to sit out big mergers and continue to go it alone, Imran argues, a view that many Wall Street analysts share.
Investors worry that gains by these companies are likely to come at the expense of one another, rather than through internet expansion, driving shares down this year.
Microsoft shares are off 12 per cent so far in 2006, hit by product delays as well as a recent move by the company to step up investment to better compete with Google and Yahoo.
Market share gains by Google are most frequently said to be driving the talk of partnerships or mergers.
On May 3, the Wall Street Journal newspaper carried a story that Microsoft's MSN unit was planning a stop-Google strategy by seeking to buy a stake in Yahoo.
Last week, Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel confirmed that his company had been approached by Microsoft to buy a piece of Yahoo's search business. He ruled out a deal for what he viewed as a centerpiece of Yahoo's strategy to sell Web advertising.
"I will not sell a piece of search -- it is like selling your right arm while keeping your left; it does not make any sense," Semel said in a public forum in New York last week where he was interviewed by The New Yorker magazine writer Ken Auletta.
He dismissed an outright merger between Microsoft and Yahoo, saying, "That conversation has never come up".
"For me the most interesting alignment would be putting together Yahoo and eBay," said analyst Scott Devitt of brokerage Stifel Nicolaus, but he cautioned: "These things tend to be discussed often and rarely occur".
The strengths of Yahoo and eBay are seen as complementary, with Yahoo in media and eBay in e-commerce. Yahoo's foreign strength is in Asia and eBay's is in Europe.
The most compelling scenario is an alliance where eBay uses Yahoo search to drive consumers to eBay auctions, Devitt said.
In return, Yahoo could take advantage of assets such as eBay's PayPal online payments franchise and the vast Skype Web telephone audience that eBay has acquired, he said.
EBay must tread carefully, however, so that it does not cut off ties to Google. As the world leader in Web search, eBay depends on Google search referrals for an increasing amount of its audience.
"I don't particularly find eBay in a position of power," Devitt said.
"EBay needs its relationship with Google."
- REUTERS
Wall Street Sources Are Reporting That Yahoo and Ebay Will Join Forces Soon
Reprinted from Reuters with comments.
Speculation is rife on Wall Street that a big internet deal or alliance is in the works, with Google, Yahoo, eBay or Microsoft as possible partners - and a Yahoo-eBay partnership seen as most likely.
"A partnership or merger between eBay and Yahoo! is the most strategically feasible," a report authored by analyst Imran Khan and the JP Morgan internet team said.
"A combined company would have the leading position in auctions, communications, payments, graphical advertising, audience reach, and geographic breadth," the report said.
Silicon Valley insiders, high-tech bankers and financial analysts are giving new credence to potential merger deals, which fly in the face of common wisdom that the internet's rapid growth has always outweighed the logic of consolidation.
But internet growth is slowing and competition among the biggest companies - Google Inc, Yahoo Inc, eBay Inc and Microsoft Corp - is intensifying.
EBay stock is down 30 per cent on the year. Yahoo is off 20 per cent and Google down 10 per cent.
Google, which nearly doubled its revenues last year, is expected to grow 62 per cent this year. EBay is seen growing 30 per cent, down from 50 per cent two years ago, and Yahoo's growth is slowing at a similar pace.
EBay spokesman Hani Durzy said the company works very closely with all the major Web search providers - Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, but he declined to comment on any potential Yahoo tie-up.
EBay is one of the world's biggest buyers of Web search terms. It manages a portfolio of 15 million keywords on different search sites aimed at wooing bidders.
"We don't comment on rumours and speculation," Durzy said.
"We are talking to Yahoo and other companies all the time as part of our normal course of business."
Yahoo was not immediately available to comment.
The 56-page JP Morgan report weighs other scenarios, including the possibility that Microsoft Corp's MSN internet unit would strike a partnership with Yahoo. Google is viewed as likely to sit out big mergers and continue to go it alone, Imran argues, a view that many Wall Street analysts share.
Investors worry that gains by these companies are likely to come at the expense of one another, rather than through internet expansion, driving shares down this year.
Microsoft shares are off 12 per cent so far in 2006, hit by product delays as well as a recent move by the company to step up investment to better compete with Google and Yahoo.
Market share gains by Google are most frequently said to be driving the talk of partnerships or mergers.
On May 3, the Wall Street Journal newspaper carried a story that Microsoft's MSN unit was planning a stop-Google strategy by seeking to buy a stake in Yahoo.
Last week, Yahoo Chief Executive Terry Semel confirmed that his company had been approached by Microsoft to buy a piece of Yahoo's search business. He ruled out a deal for what he viewed as a centerpiece of Yahoo's strategy to sell Web advertising.
"I will not sell a piece of search -- it is like selling your right arm while keeping your left; it does not make any sense," Semel said in a public forum in New York last week where he was interviewed by The New Yorker magazine writer Ken Auletta.
He dismissed an outright merger between Microsoft and Yahoo, saying, "That conversation has never come up".
"For me the most interesting alignment would be putting together Yahoo and eBay," said analyst Scott Devitt of brokerage Stifel Nicolaus, but he cautioned: "These things tend to be discussed often and rarely occur".
The strengths of Yahoo and eBay are seen as complementary, with Yahoo in media and eBay in e-commerce. Yahoo's foreign strength is in Asia and eBay's is in Europe.
The most compelling scenario is an alliance where eBay uses Yahoo search to drive consumers to eBay auctions, Devitt said.
In return, Yahoo could take advantage of assets such as eBay's PayPal online payments franchise and the vast Skype Web telephone audience that eBay has acquired, he said.
EBay must tread carefully, however, so that it does not cut off ties to Google. As the world leader in Web search, eBay depends on Google search referrals for an increasing amount of its audience.
"I don't particularly find eBay in a position of power," Devitt said.
"EBay needs its relationship with Google."
- REUTERS
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Yahoo to Roll Out New Pay Per Click Ad-Ranking Technology
Organic Search Algorithm Advancements Not Promoted at Yahoo shareholder Meetings.
Paid Search Advertising with new Social Networking factors the focus at Yahoo.
Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet company Yahoo will be rolling out a new paid search search-advertising ranking technology in the fourth quarter of 2006, a move that Yahoo promotes as a Google "monetization" gap designed to pull Yahoo closer with Google in the heated race for more of the search advertising pie.
Terry Semel Yahoo's chief executive says his company is also working steadfast to incorporate "social media" tools that further engage Yahoo CONSUMERS (this classifaction is key as Yahoo seeks to monetize 'consumers' vs. serving 'keyword searchers') so that Yahoo consumers can contribute content to Yahoo sites and hopefully spend more time actually searching Yahoo vs. retreiving email, stocks, news headlines, etc. and quickly departing to Google for search needs.
Yahoo hopes the new paid search advertising advancements will create more advertising dollars from companies worldwide. "We think this area will provide growth for our company," Mr. Semel says of the new social media search advancements in beta.
Yahoo views social media as a way to differentiate its search results from Google and generate paid search market share gains. Jeff Weiner, Yahoo's sr. vp of search and marketplace, says Yahoo will leverage social initiatives -- including Yahoo Answers, where Yahoo users ask and answer each others' questions and also incorporate new technology using the Flickr photo-sharing and del.icio.us tagging technology (both recent Yahoo acquistions) to improve the quality of Yahoo search. By blending human knowledge and content, Yahoo fells it can better answer - keyword search question queries - ex: "top restaurants Detroit".
In Taiwan, Yahoo rolled out a version of Yahoo Answers and was able to increase search advertising market share cutting into Google's dominant PPC pie. Yahoo claims its paid search market share lead in Taiwan jumped to 65%, and Google's fell to 30% in April 2006, compared with 50% for Yahoo and 45% for Google in December 2004.
Yahoo failed to mention that Google was tangled up in negotiations with the government of Taiwan during this time as a new shared portal between google and the taiwanese government is set to launch in 2007.
Responding to a question on how Google plans to compete with Yahoo-Kimo, Lee Kai-fu, Google's vice president of engineering and president of the greater China region, said that instead of putting the emphasis on PAID SEARCH ADVERTISING AND COMPETITION, Google wanted to focus and strengthen its core-competency; ONLINE SEARCH.
Unlike Yahoo-Kimo, Google would not enter the sponsored search result business, Lee said, as this would influence search precision and not serve users with content relevant search results.
Yahoo is focused on developing paid search advertising platforms that "goes beyond the browser" with an aggressive mobile search push. Mobile search is an enormous opportunity because mobile devices outnumber personal computers 2-to-1 and are direct exposure lines into search consumers in global markets like Taiwan, China, Asia, and India.
New Yahoo sponsored search advertising technology will be introduced with a new Pay Per Click search algorithm set to launch this falle in the U.S. The new technology will change how Yahoo sets the position of its "pay per click" text ads. The algorithm will use a quality score that incorporates a mix of factors, beyond bid price to determine advertisier position on Yahoo search results page. To date, Yahoo has ranked Pay Per Click search marketing ads strictly based on bid price alone, an approach that Yahoo feels is preventing them from gaining more of the search advertising dollars.
Yahoo made no mention of new organic search algorithm updates in the works and potential roll out dates.
Yahoo could substanially improve revenues by retaining more users with higher quality organic search results and faster results page delivery times. Yahoo needs to parlay their email advantages and bridge the two most popular actions on the internet email followed by search.
Yahoo is the leader in email and then falls to a distant second in keyword search. If Yahoo could be the first portal to bridge email with higher quality organic / natural search results, market share and search advertising revenues will both explode. The keys to castle as rooted in organic/natural search.
Organic Search Algorithm Advancements Not Promoted at Yahoo shareholder Meetings.
Paid Search Advertising with new Social Networking factors the focus at Yahoo.
Sunnyvale, Calif., Internet company Yahoo will be rolling out a new paid search search-advertising ranking technology in the fourth quarter of 2006, a move that Yahoo promotes as a Google "monetization" gap designed to pull Yahoo closer with Google in the heated race for more of the search advertising pie.
Terry Semel Yahoo's chief executive says his company is also working steadfast to incorporate "social media" tools that further engage Yahoo CONSUMERS (this classifaction is key as Yahoo seeks to monetize 'consumers' vs. serving 'keyword searchers') so that Yahoo consumers can contribute content to Yahoo sites and hopefully spend more time actually searching Yahoo vs. retreiving email, stocks, news headlines, etc. and quickly departing to Google for search needs.
Yahoo hopes the new paid search advertising advancements will create more advertising dollars from companies worldwide. "We think this area will provide growth for our company," Mr. Semel says of the new social media search advancements in beta.
Yahoo views social media as a way to differentiate its search results from Google and generate paid search market share gains. Jeff Weiner, Yahoo's sr. vp of search and marketplace, says Yahoo will leverage social initiatives -- including Yahoo Answers, where Yahoo users ask and answer each others' questions and also incorporate new technology using the Flickr photo-sharing and del.icio.us tagging technology (both recent Yahoo acquistions) to improve the quality of Yahoo search. By blending human knowledge and content, Yahoo fells it can better answer - keyword search question queries - ex: "top restaurants Detroit".
In Taiwan, Yahoo rolled out a version of Yahoo Answers and was able to increase search advertising market share cutting into Google's dominant PPC pie. Yahoo claims its paid search market share lead in Taiwan jumped to 65%, and Google's fell to 30% in April 2006, compared with 50% for Yahoo and 45% for Google in December 2004.
Yahoo failed to mention that Google was tangled up in negotiations with the government of Taiwan during this time as a new shared portal between google and the taiwanese government is set to launch in 2007.
Responding to a question on how Google plans to compete with Yahoo-Kimo, Lee Kai-fu, Google's vice president of engineering and president of the greater China region, said that instead of putting the emphasis on PAID SEARCH ADVERTISING AND COMPETITION, Google wanted to focus and strengthen its core-competency; ONLINE SEARCH.
Unlike Yahoo-Kimo, Google would not enter the sponsored search result business, Lee said, as this would influence search precision and not serve users with content relevant search results.
Yahoo is focused on developing paid search advertising platforms that "goes beyond the browser" with an aggressive mobile search push. Mobile search is an enormous opportunity because mobile devices outnumber personal computers 2-to-1 and are direct exposure lines into search consumers in global markets like Taiwan, China, Asia, and India.
New Yahoo sponsored search advertising technology will be introduced with a new Pay Per Click search algorithm set to launch this falle in the U.S. The new technology will change how Yahoo sets the position of its "pay per click" text ads. The algorithm will use a quality score that incorporates a mix of factors, beyond bid price to determine advertisier position on Yahoo search results page. To date, Yahoo has ranked Pay Per Click search marketing ads strictly based on bid price alone, an approach that Yahoo feels is preventing them from gaining more of the search advertising dollars.
Yahoo made no mention of new organic search algorithm updates in the works and potential roll out dates.
Yahoo could substanially improve revenues by retaining more users with higher quality organic search results and faster results page delivery times. Yahoo needs to parlay their email advantages and bridge the two most popular actions on the internet email followed by search.
Yahoo is the leader in email and then falls to a distant second in keyword search. If Yahoo could be the first portal to bridge email with higher quality organic / natural search results, market share and search advertising revenues will both explode. The keys to castle as rooted in organic/natural search.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Keyword Search Continues to Gain in Popularity.
New Neilsen Keyword Search Numbers Show Growth for the Search Medium in March 2006.
March 2006 Year Over Year Keyword Search Data Shows:
Google Firmly in Lead with MSN Gaining Fast on Yahoo.
Month of March Year over Year Comparisons:
1) Google searches March 2006: 2.9 billion.
2) Yahoo searches March 2006: 1.3 billion.
3) MSN searches March 2006: 643.8 million.
Google alone powered 51% of all searches in March, however when AOL's google powered search results are factored in Google acutally represented 62% of all keyword searches in March of 2006.
The March 2006 Keyword Search Market Share Percentages by Search Engine Are:
Google: 62%.
Yahoo: 22%.
MSN: 14%.
New Neilsen Keyword Search Numbers Show Growth for the Search Medium in March 2006.
March 2006 Year Over Year Keyword Search Data Shows:
Google Firmly in Lead with MSN Gaining Fast on Yahoo.
Month of March Year over Year Comparisons:
1) Google searches March 2006: 2.9 billion.
2) Yahoo searches March 2006: 1.3 billion.
3) MSN searches March 2006: 643.8 million.
Google alone powered 51% of all searches in March, however when AOL's google powered search results are factored in Google acutally represented 62% of all keyword searches in March of 2006.
The March 2006 Keyword Search Market Share Percentages by Search Engine Are:
Google: 62%.
Yahoo: 22%.
MSN: 14%.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Google AdWords Click Fraud A Washington Post Cover Story
Here's today's cover story on Google AdWords click fraud. The national media is beginning to document the lack of controls and seedy underside of the Search Engine Marketing / Pay Per Click Advertising industry.
Peak Positions specializes in Organic search engine optimization and works with leading companies worldwide to eliminate click fraud activity. We encourage our accounts to monitor and assign INTERNAL PPC GATEKEEPERS vs. outsourcing to third party SEM shops for PPC/SEM Management.
Keep in mind that SEM management firms and the search engines themselves have motives and cause to encourage increased pay per click activity. Higher PPC/SEM click activity equals higher PPC/SEM management fees and revenues all around.
The most effective search engine optimization campaigns require strategic organic search engine optimization as the basis with smaller, more manageable, and cost controlled, Pay Per Click campaigns laid in over the top to maximize keyword exposure and market reach all within budget.
History has proven that quality organic search engine optimization is the most effective form of internet advertising and requires proven organic seo specialists to coordinate and implement organic seo solutions that incorporate the unique technical architechture of each website involved and also require a delicate balance of marketing savvy and in-depth technical skill sets.
It is also known that acquiring cost-effective, quality organic SEO skill sets are extremely difficult to acquire.
We encourage any organization addressing search engine marketing through either Organic SEO or Pay Per Click keyword advertising campaigns (either SEO, SEM, or both) that is not experiencing significant return on investment and gains in new business revenues to contact our organic seo firm.
Peak Positions is 100% dedicated to organic seo and delivering premium organic keyword positions for all of our valued clients. We offer years of organic seo experience, the highest level of professionalism, quite possibly the strongest client roster, and most importantly, the highest client retention rate in the Search Engine Optimization industry.
Our client roster serves as our best endorsement in terms of substantiating our seo capabilities and technical skill sets and our clients are the biggest benefactors as they continue to enjoy premium keyword rankings in all of the major search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and more.
If you are looking for real SEO answers and are seeking to sidestep all of the self marketed hype, conjecture, and endless SES/SEM Pay Per Click Promotional Bantering, constant PPC promotional conferences, and the steady stream of outrageous email offers pertaining to Instant Keyword Ranking Dominance and the latest Rags to Riches Linking and PPC gimmicks plaguing our burgeoning SEO industry feel free to contact our firm. Pay Per Click is a dangerous and expensive advertising game. It does provide rewards and can drive serious new business revenues, but not without campaign controls, knowledgeable guidance, experienced partners, and trusted internal management oversight.
Caution: diving into Pay Per Click head first with the "Keyword Rush" blinders on is never a good policy. Test the waters and research the PPC territory, your CEO, CFO, and accounting team will thank you for proceeding steadily and with caution.
Here's the latest click fraud piece from today's Washington Post.
It Pays To Monitor Those Server Logs!
In Game of Click and Mouse, Advertisers Come Up Empty
Reprint of story by Leslie Walker - Washington Post
Thursday, March 16, 2006;
Radiator.com got a jolt this month from the firm it hired to audit the nearly $40,000 worth of sponsored links it buys every month from Google and Yahoo.
It appears that many of the clicks on the Web site's search-engine ads were made not by potential customers but instead by automated programs or people trying to drive up Radiator's advertising bill. Like other advertisers that place links on search engines, Radiator.com pays only when people click on the links.
After analyzing where and when each click came from, auditing firm ClickFacts Inc. estimated that 35 percent of the referrals that Radiator paid Google for stemmed from bogus traffic. Likewise, 17 percent of the leads that came from Yahoo search results were illegitimate.
"They are reporting some very high fraud rates to us," said John Thys, director of Internet marketing for 1-800-Radiator, the Benicia, Calif., distributor that owns Radiator.com. Thys said his firm will present the report to Google and Yahoo next week and request a refund for the invalid clicks.
Such activity, commonly known as click fraud, may be far more common than search engines are willing to admit. Over the past year, click fraud has mushroomed into a problem so thorny that some analysts fear that it could bring the high-flying Internet economy to its knees.
I don't know if the issue is that serious, but I'm convinced that it deserves more attention than it's getting, especially since Google distributes paid links all over the Web and shares ad revenue with thousands of sites.
Think about it: If revenue from paid links suddenly were to shrink or dry up, you could kiss a lot of Web sites goodbye.
Google has repeatedly pooh-poohed click fraud, contending that it is a minor annoyance that it has under control with automated detection technology. At a meeting with analysts two weeks ago, chief executive Eric Schmidt said click fraud "is not a material issue." Co-founder Sergey Brin said such cases amount to "a small fraction" of Google's ad clicks.
But six days later, Google surprised analysts when it agreed to settle an Arkansas class-action lawsuit by setting aside $90 million worth of ad credits to advertisers that can show invalid click charges dating to 2002.
Few other details were released regarding terms of the settlement, still to be approved by the Arkansas court. Yahoo and six other search engines remain defendants in that case.
"We stand firmly by our proprietary click-protection system and look forward to vigorously defending our system," said Gaude Paez, a Yahoo spokeswoman.
Some analysts worry that Google is rushing to establish a legal precedent that could undermine a more serious click-fraud suit pending in federal court in California. That suit, which alleges that Google knows that click fraud is rampant and has not taken significant steps to prevent it, will be considered for class-action status at a hearing in May.
"Google is getting a deal," ClickFacts co-founder Michael Caruso said, referring to the Arkansas settlement. "This is chump change to them."
Google reported $6.1 billion in revenue last year.
Caruso said his year-old firm has seen click fraud rates for Google ad campaigns range from 20 to 40 percent. Other studies have estimated that bogus clicking accounts for 10 to 30 percent of all clicks on sponsored links.
Click fraud is not new, of course. It has plagued pay-per-click advertising ever since Overture Inc., later bought by Yahoo, pioneered the ad model in the 1990s.
At Yahoo and Google today, merchants compete in online auctions to set pricing for keywords that trigger text links on search-results pages. Radiator.com, for example, pays from 80 cents to $1.20 for each click on sponsored links that appear when someone searches for "radiator," "car radiator" or other keyword search phrases.
The two most prevalent types of click fraud are competitive sabotage -- rivals clicking to drive up ad costs for competitors -- and affiliate spam -- affiliates clicking on paid ads appearing on their own sites to boost their share of ad revenue from Google or Yahoo.
Analysts say affiliate spam is more common and really took off after Google launched its AdSense network, which distributes paid links to thousands of non-search sites. They get a share of Google's ad revenue based on clicks, giving unscrupulous publishers an incentive to inflate their clicks.
Yahoo started a similar ad network last summer but limits participation to invited sites to maintain quality and reduce the risk of ad spam, Paez said.
Over the past 18 months, cottage industries have popped up on both sides of this click-and-mouse game.
For $29 or so, anyone can buy fake traffic generator software such as Smart HitBot, Fake Hits Genie and Fakezilla, programs that can send bogus traffic to any Web page or ad.
But click-fraudsters have to watch out because more and more electronic sleuths are trying to catch them. Start-ups with names like Click Tracy, Click Detective and WhosClickingWho analyze traffic and tell advertisers about suspicious activity, such as a surfer in Malaysia repeatedly clicking on ads for a dentist in Baltimore.
Established Web analytic firms are adding fraud-detection capabilities, too. ClickTracks, for example, recently started a service that analyzes 20 variables surrounding each click and compares them with historical data to determine which are legitimate.
Jessie Stricchiola, president of Internet ad consultancy Alchemist Media Inc., said the big stumbling block that search engines face in combating fraud is lack of access to evidence that could prove it -- namely, what customers do after clicking on ads. Bogus visitors almost never buy anything, while a certain percentage of legitimate customers do. Advertisers, however, are reluctant to share sales data with the search engines.
Stricchiola is pushing for standards in Internet ad auditing. She recently teamed with Fair Isaac Corp. to study whether its formulas for detecting credit card fraud might help identify click-fraud.
Cynics fear that the search engines are too afraid of how much revenue they might lose to truly commit to fighting click fraud.
But I can't believe they'd be that stupid. They must know that if they don't find a solution soon, this escalating crisis of confidence could cripple search advertising for years to come.
Amen!!!
Peak Positions organic seo has been helping our clients reduce and eliminate PPC click fraud for years. Here are some available resources that can help reduce or eliminate click fraud.
Peak Positions posted this click fraud collusion story months ago.
Link contains many leading resources in terms of stopping click fraud.
Posted by:
Jack Roberts
Peak Positions, LLC
http://www.peakpositions.com
--
Here's today's cover story on Google AdWords click fraud. The national media is beginning to document the lack of controls and seedy underside of the Search Engine Marketing / Pay Per Click Advertising industry.
Peak Positions specializes in Organic search engine optimization and works with leading companies worldwide to eliminate click fraud activity. We encourage our accounts to monitor and assign INTERNAL PPC GATEKEEPERS vs. outsourcing to third party SEM shops for PPC/SEM Management.
Keep in mind that SEM management firms and the search engines themselves have motives and cause to encourage increased pay per click activity. Higher PPC/SEM click activity equals higher PPC/SEM management fees and revenues all around.
The most effective search engine optimization campaigns require strategic organic search engine optimization as the basis with smaller, more manageable, and cost controlled, Pay Per Click campaigns laid in over the top to maximize keyword exposure and market reach all within budget.
History has proven that quality organic search engine optimization is the most effective form of internet advertising and requires proven organic seo specialists to coordinate and implement organic seo solutions that incorporate the unique technical architechture of each website involved and also require a delicate balance of marketing savvy and in-depth technical skill sets.
It is also known that acquiring cost-effective, quality organic SEO skill sets are extremely difficult to acquire.
We encourage any organization addressing search engine marketing through either Organic SEO or Pay Per Click keyword advertising campaigns (either SEO, SEM, or both) that is not experiencing significant return on investment and gains in new business revenues to contact our organic seo firm.
Peak Positions is 100% dedicated to organic seo and delivering premium organic keyword positions for all of our valued clients. We offer years of organic seo experience, the highest level of professionalism, quite possibly the strongest client roster, and most importantly, the highest client retention rate in the Search Engine Optimization industry.
Our client roster serves as our best endorsement in terms of substantiating our seo capabilities and technical skill sets and our clients are the biggest benefactors as they continue to enjoy premium keyword rankings in all of the major search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and more.
If you are looking for real SEO answers and are seeking to sidestep all of the self marketed hype, conjecture, and endless SES/SEM Pay Per Click Promotional Bantering, constant PPC promotional conferences, and the steady stream of outrageous email offers pertaining to Instant Keyword Ranking Dominance and the latest Rags to Riches Linking and PPC gimmicks plaguing our burgeoning SEO industry feel free to contact our firm. Pay Per Click is a dangerous and expensive advertising game. It does provide rewards and can drive serious new business revenues, but not without campaign controls, knowledgeable guidance, experienced partners, and trusted internal management oversight.
Caution: diving into Pay Per Click head first with the "Keyword Rush" blinders on is never a good policy. Test the waters and research the PPC territory, your CEO, CFO, and accounting team will thank you for proceeding steadily and with caution.
Here's the latest click fraud piece from today's Washington Post.
It Pays To Monitor Those Server Logs!
In Game of Click and Mouse, Advertisers Come Up Empty
Reprint of story by Leslie Walker - Washington Post
Thursday, March 16, 2006;
Radiator.com got a jolt this month from the firm it hired to audit the nearly $40,000 worth of sponsored links it buys every month from Google and Yahoo.
It appears that many of the clicks on the Web site's search-engine ads were made not by potential customers but instead by automated programs or people trying to drive up Radiator's advertising bill. Like other advertisers that place links on search engines, Radiator.com pays only when people click on the links.
After analyzing where and when each click came from, auditing firm ClickFacts Inc. estimated that 35 percent of the referrals that Radiator paid Google for stemmed from bogus traffic. Likewise, 17 percent of the leads that came from Yahoo search results were illegitimate.
"They are reporting some very high fraud rates to us," said John Thys, director of Internet marketing for 1-800-Radiator, the Benicia, Calif., distributor that owns Radiator.com. Thys said his firm will present the report to Google and Yahoo next week and request a refund for the invalid clicks.
Such activity, commonly known as click fraud, may be far more common than search engines are willing to admit. Over the past year, click fraud has mushroomed into a problem so thorny that some analysts fear that it could bring the high-flying Internet economy to its knees.
I don't know if the issue is that serious, but I'm convinced that it deserves more attention than it's getting, especially since Google distributes paid links all over the Web and shares ad revenue with thousands of sites.
Think about it: If revenue from paid links suddenly were to shrink or dry up, you could kiss a lot of Web sites goodbye.
Google has repeatedly pooh-poohed click fraud, contending that it is a minor annoyance that it has under control with automated detection technology. At a meeting with analysts two weeks ago, chief executive Eric Schmidt said click fraud "is not a material issue." Co-founder Sergey Brin said such cases amount to "a small fraction" of Google's ad clicks.
But six days later, Google surprised analysts when it agreed to settle an Arkansas class-action lawsuit by setting aside $90 million worth of ad credits to advertisers that can show invalid click charges dating to 2002.
Few other details were released regarding terms of the settlement, still to be approved by the Arkansas court. Yahoo and six other search engines remain defendants in that case.
"We stand firmly by our proprietary click-protection system and look forward to vigorously defending our system," said Gaude Paez, a Yahoo spokeswoman.
Some analysts worry that Google is rushing to establish a legal precedent that could undermine a more serious click-fraud suit pending in federal court in California. That suit, which alleges that Google knows that click fraud is rampant and has not taken significant steps to prevent it, will be considered for class-action status at a hearing in May.
"Google is getting a deal," ClickFacts co-founder Michael Caruso said, referring to the Arkansas settlement. "This is chump change to them."
Google reported $6.1 billion in revenue last year.
Caruso said his year-old firm has seen click fraud rates for Google ad campaigns range from 20 to 40 percent. Other studies have estimated that bogus clicking accounts for 10 to 30 percent of all clicks on sponsored links.
Click fraud is not new, of course. It has plagued pay-per-click advertising ever since Overture Inc., later bought by Yahoo, pioneered the ad model in the 1990s.
At Yahoo and Google today, merchants compete in online auctions to set pricing for keywords that trigger text links on search-results pages. Radiator.com, for example, pays from 80 cents to $1.20 for each click on sponsored links that appear when someone searches for "radiator," "car radiator" or other keyword search phrases.
The two most prevalent types of click fraud are competitive sabotage -- rivals clicking to drive up ad costs for competitors -- and affiliate spam -- affiliates clicking on paid ads appearing on their own sites to boost their share of ad revenue from Google or Yahoo.
Analysts say affiliate spam is more common and really took off after Google launched its AdSense network, which distributes paid links to thousands of non-search sites. They get a share of Google's ad revenue based on clicks, giving unscrupulous publishers an incentive to inflate their clicks.
Yahoo started a similar ad network last summer but limits participation to invited sites to maintain quality and reduce the risk of ad spam, Paez said.
Over the past 18 months, cottage industries have popped up on both sides of this click-and-mouse game.
For $29 or so, anyone can buy fake traffic generator software such as Smart HitBot, Fake Hits Genie and Fakezilla, programs that can send bogus traffic to any Web page or ad.
But click-fraudsters have to watch out because more and more electronic sleuths are trying to catch them. Start-ups with names like Click Tracy, Click Detective and WhosClickingWho analyze traffic and tell advertisers about suspicious activity, such as a surfer in Malaysia repeatedly clicking on ads for a dentist in Baltimore.
Established Web analytic firms are adding fraud-detection capabilities, too. ClickTracks, for example, recently started a service that analyzes 20 variables surrounding each click and compares them with historical data to determine which are legitimate.
Jessie Stricchiola, president of Internet ad consultancy Alchemist Media Inc., said the big stumbling block that search engines face in combating fraud is lack of access to evidence that could prove it -- namely, what customers do after clicking on ads. Bogus visitors almost never buy anything, while a certain percentage of legitimate customers do. Advertisers, however, are reluctant to share sales data with the search engines.
Stricchiola is pushing for standards in Internet ad auditing. She recently teamed with Fair Isaac Corp. to study whether its formulas for detecting credit card fraud might help identify click-fraud.
Cynics fear that the search engines are too afraid of how much revenue they might lose to truly commit to fighting click fraud.
But I can't believe they'd be that stupid. They must know that if they don't find a solution soon, this escalating crisis of confidence could cripple search advertising for years to come.
Amen!!!
Peak Positions organic seo has been helping our clients reduce and eliminate PPC click fraud for years. Here are some available resources that can help reduce or eliminate click fraud.
Peak Positions posted this click fraud collusion story months ago.
Link contains many leading resources in terms of stopping click fraud.
Posted by:
Jack Roberts
Peak Positions, LLC
http://www.peakpositions.com
--
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
The Wall Street Journal Reports That Google Will Have to Turn Search Data Over To The Government
Here's The Sad Story...
U.S. Court Likely Will Force Google To Turn Over Keyword Search Data
Wall Street Joural - 3/15/06
Google likely will have to turn over keyword search data to government lawyers making a case for a child-pornography law, but a much smaller amount than originally requested, a federal judge said. U.S. District Judge James Ware said he is inclined to require the company to respond to a Department of Justice subpoena seeking the text of search queries and randomly selected Web addresses from Google's index of Internet sites.
During a hearing in San Jose, Calif., the judge said he was persuaded partly by the government's willingness to seek only 50,000 randomly selected addresses and 5,000 search queries instead of the one million addresses and millions of search queries initially sought. The government filed suit in January seeking the information after Google, of Mountain View, Calif., resisted complying with an August subpoena.
"What I've been trying to balance is the interest society has in the litigation with the interest of a private company," Judge Ware said.
The government hopes to use the information to defend its Child Online Protection Act, a law designed to shield minors from sexually explicit materials on the Internet. The Supreme Court blocked implementation of the act and returned the case to district court in Pennsylvania, where the Bush administration is battling claims from the American Civil Liberties Union that it violates the Constitution's First Amendment right to free speech.
The government claims the Google information will help it determine whether filtering software can keep minors from seeing offensive material online or whether the stronger measures of the act are needed. It has received search data from Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Time Warner Inc. Representatives from Time Warner's America Online unit, Yahoo and Microsoft wouldn't comment.
The dispute has drawn national interest to the Google case for signs of how readily U.S. courts will let the government subpoena search data for investigations and surveillance. The judge said he was troubled by the privacy issues surrounding the release of the search queries, where individuals enter search terms into the Google site to locate information and Web pages.
Judge Ware asked government lawyer Joel McElvain if the google keyword search queries couldn't inadvertently reveal personal information such as Social Security numbers, credit-card numbers or the sexual preference of a public figure. Mr. McElvain said the government didn't intend to use any personal information that might show up in the queries. Google Associate General Counsel Nicole Wong said the judge's questions and concerns "reflected our concerns about user privacy and the scope of the government's subpoena request."
Here's The Sad Story...
U.S. Court Likely Will Force Google To Turn Over Keyword Search Data
Wall Street Joural - 3/15/06
Google likely will have to turn over keyword search data to government lawyers making a case for a child-pornography law, but a much smaller amount than originally requested, a federal judge said. U.S. District Judge James Ware said he is inclined to require the company to respond to a Department of Justice subpoena seeking the text of search queries and randomly selected Web addresses from Google's index of Internet sites.
During a hearing in San Jose, Calif., the judge said he was persuaded partly by the government's willingness to seek only 50,000 randomly selected addresses and 5,000 search queries instead of the one million addresses and millions of search queries initially sought. The government filed suit in January seeking the information after Google, of Mountain View, Calif., resisted complying with an August subpoena.
"What I've been trying to balance is the interest society has in the litigation with the interest of a private company," Judge Ware said.
The government hopes to use the information to defend its Child Online Protection Act, a law designed to shield minors from sexually explicit materials on the Internet. The Supreme Court blocked implementation of the act and returned the case to district court in Pennsylvania, where the Bush administration is battling claims from the American Civil Liberties Union that it violates the Constitution's First Amendment right to free speech.
The government claims the Google information will help it determine whether filtering software can keep minors from seeing offensive material online or whether the stronger measures of the act are needed. It has received search data from Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Time Warner Inc. Representatives from Time Warner's America Online unit, Yahoo and Microsoft wouldn't comment.
The dispute has drawn national interest to the Google case for signs of how readily U.S. courts will let the government subpoena search data for investigations and surveillance. The judge said he was troubled by the privacy issues surrounding the release of the search queries, where individuals enter search terms into the Google site to locate information and Web pages.
Judge Ware asked government lawyer Joel McElvain if the google keyword search queries couldn't inadvertently reveal personal information such as Social Security numbers, credit-card numbers or the sexual preference of a public figure. Mr. McElvain said the government didn't intend to use any personal information that might show up in the queries. Google Associate General Counsel Nicole Wong said the judge's questions and concerns "reflected our concerns about user privacy and the scope of the government's subpoena request."
Microsoft Preps For Google Fight
Redmond Claims The New MSN Search Engine is Finally Ready to Battle Google
Software giant arriving way late to the keyword search party.
Microsoft sales executive, Joanne Bradford, spent her early years at Micorsoft wondering if the software giant was truly serious about maximizing keyword search revenues.
When she joined Microsoft in 2001, Micorsoft lacked a search engine of its own and had no clear Web advertising strategy. Google and Yahoo proceeded to make multibillion-dollar businesses of search-related advertising while Microsoft slept.
"I wasn't sure the first couple of years that we were here to stay," said Bradford, Microsoft's corporate vice president for global sales and marketing. "I thank Yahoo and Google for proving that a software company can be a media company and a media company can be a software company."
These days, Microsoft is very serious about grabbing a larger piece of the $15 billion U.S. search market. Micorsoft has revamped the MSN search engine and also developed a new advertising system called MSN AdCenter to sell pay-per-click ads across MSNs Web content and related services.
Microsoft plans to overhaul its entire web presence, consolidating e-mail, instant messaging, online PC security and search at its Windows Live site along with new offerings like an online marketplace in order to increase traffic and create valuable space for advertisers.
However, the company is arriving years late to the keyword search party and faces a steep uphill climb.
Microsoft's MSN Internet unit generated $1.4 billion in online advertising revenue in its past fiscal year, while Google pulled in $6 billion in sales and Yahoo racked up $4.6 billion in 2005.
MSN's strategic push combined with a steadily growing Internet advertising market -- now expected to reach $26 billion in 2009, according to Forrester Research -- should boost Microsoft's online advertising sales.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft could double (its online advertising revenue) in three to five years," said one independent research firm executive.
MSN TUNES-UP SEARCH ENGINE
Analysts caution Microsoft trails Google and Yahoo in producing relevant results from its search engine and unless it can close that gap, it will be difficult to gain market share in keyword search, the largest segment for online advertising.
Like Google and Yahoo, Microsoft lets advertisers, through MSN AdCenter, bid how much they will pay each time a user clicks on their ad. Until recently, all of the Pay Per Click search ads on Microsoft's search service were sold by Yahoo.
Yahoo (Overture) still sells three-quarters of Microsoft's paid search ads, while the company tests adCenter in the United States. It plans a full switch to adCenter in the next few months.
Microsoft officials said MSN adCenter provides advertisers with demographic data to better target customers with projections about the search user's age, sex and location. Eventually, MSN wants to integrate projections about the user's wealth, preferences and online behavior patterns.
Backed by registration information obtained from 230 million hotmail e-mail accounts and 205 million instant messaging users, Microsoft said that database allows it to provide more accurate projections than Google or Yahoo.
Microsoft envisions adCenter to one day be a one-stop shop for search advertisers to gather information as they bid for clicks and sponsor position for pay per click ads listed in MSN search results pages, Microsoft-related sites and services, non-Microsoft sites, mobile phone software or even online Xbox video games.
"We're really starting to see Microsoft gear up. Of course, the company was asleep at the wheel for a lot of years," said a search engine analyst.
One major hurdle is that SEM ads placed on Microsoft's search results reach only a fraction of those from Google and Yahoo.
Google finished January with 66 percent of the U.S. search market, trailed by Yahoo at 22 percent and MSN at 11 percent, according to Nielsen//Net Ratings. Microsoft stressed that online advertising is not a zero-sum game.
"The online advertising market is growing at such a rapid pace and we want to participate in some of that," Microsoft's Bradford said. "This isn't a winner-take-all proposition." MSN's focus is to become a more profitable third player in the keyword search marketplace with aspirations of one day becoming an even more competitive and profitable number two to Google.
MSN made no comment regarding PPC Click Fraud Controls.
Redmond Claims The New MSN Search Engine is Finally Ready to Battle Google
Software giant arriving way late to the keyword search party.
Microsoft sales executive, Joanne Bradford, spent her early years at Micorsoft wondering if the software giant was truly serious about maximizing keyword search revenues.
When she joined Microsoft in 2001, Micorsoft lacked a search engine of its own and had no clear Web advertising strategy. Google and Yahoo proceeded to make multibillion-dollar businesses of search-related advertising while Microsoft slept.
"I wasn't sure the first couple of years that we were here to stay," said Bradford, Microsoft's corporate vice president for global sales and marketing. "I thank Yahoo and Google for proving that a software company can be a media company and a media company can be a software company."
These days, Microsoft is very serious about grabbing a larger piece of the $15 billion U.S. search market. Micorsoft has revamped the MSN search engine and also developed a new advertising system called MSN AdCenter to sell pay-per-click ads across MSNs Web content and related services.
Microsoft plans to overhaul its entire web presence, consolidating e-mail, instant messaging, online PC security and search at its Windows Live site along with new offerings like an online marketplace in order to increase traffic and create valuable space for advertisers.
However, the company is arriving years late to the keyword search party and faces a steep uphill climb.
Microsoft's MSN Internet unit generated $1.4 billion in online advertising revenue in its past fiscal year, while Google pulled in $6 billion in sales and Yahoo racked up $4.6 billion in 2005.
MSN's strategic push combined with a steadily growing Internet advertising market -- now expected to reach $26 billion in 2009, according to Forrester Research -- should boost Microsoft's online advertising sales.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft could double (its online advertising revenue) in three to five years," said one independent research firm executive.
MSN TUNES-UP SEARCH ENGINE
Analysts caution Microsoft trails Google and Yahoo in producing relevant results from its search engine and unless it can close that gap, it will be difficult to gain market share in keyword search, the largest segment for online advertising.
Like Google and Yahoo, Microsoft lets advertisers, through MSN AdCenter, bid how much they will pay each time a user clicks on their ad. Until recently, all of the Pay Per Click search ads on Microsoft's search service were sold by Yahoo.
Yahoo (Overture) still sells three-quarters of Microsoft's paid search ads, while the company tests adCenter in the United States. It plans a full switch to adCenter in the next few months.
Microsoft officials said MSN adCenter provides advertisers with demographic data to better target customers with projections about the search user's age, sex and location. Eventually, MSN wants to integrate projections about the user's wealth, preferences and online behavior patterns.
Backed by registration information obtained from 230 million hotmail e-mail accounts and 205 million instant messaging users, Microsoft said that database allows it to provide more accurate projections than Google or Yahoo.
Microsoft envisions adCenter to one day be a one-stop shop for search advertisers to gather information as they bid for clicks and sponsor position for pay per click ads listed in MSN search results pages, Microsoft-related sites and services, non-Microsoft sites, mobile phone software or even online Xbox video games.
"We're really starting to see Microsoft gear up. Of course, the company was asleep at the wheel for a lot of years," said a search engine analyst.
One major hurdle is that SEM ads placed on Microsoft's search results reach only a fraction of those from Google and Yahoo.
Google finished January with 66 percent of the U.S. search market, trailed by Yahoo at 22 percent and MSN at 11 percent, according to Nielsen//Net Ratings. Microsoft stressed that online advertising is not a zero-sum game.
"The online advertising market is growing at such a rapid pace and we want to participate in some of that," Microsoft's Bradford said. "This isn't a winner-take-all proposition." MSN's focus is to become a more profitable third player in the keyword search marketplace with aspirations of one day becoming an even more competitive and profitable number two to Google.
MSN made no comment regarding PPC Click Fraud Controls.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Google's Big Daddy Seeking Content
The New Google "Big Daddy" Algorithm Update has rolled out and after extensive analysis of Google's new algorithm one thing remains clear...
"Big Daddy's" Hungry for Relevant Content!!!
The Googlebot spider family have had their algortihms updated and are favoring urls based on these Four Factors:
1) Relevant Content
2) URL naming conventions
Database site? ...Dynamic urls?... is your ecommerce portal still struggling after an expensive MOD rewrite?... only Peak Positions dynamic database optimization accounts are privvy to an exclusive inside track with actionable URL naming conventions heavily favored by the googlebots.
3) AdWords Partner URLs receiving favoritism
4) Affiliate Heavy / eCommerce Link Farm Sites falling fast.
Google's "Big Daddy" algorithm updates are throwing away URLs with high outbound link counts. The googlebots are also burying URLs loaded with redirect links, invalid page code, multiple cookies, and sticky web analytics/user tracking codes.
Time to Address Website Content Vs. Linking
How important is HTML text content to Google? Let us first answer this million dollar organic search engine optimization question with another, much more important question in terms of organic website optimization... What else is there? ... Really, why even have a website if you are not making every effort to deliver quality information and relevant content to website visitors?
Websites and companies that understand their purpose and focus on serving their in-market website users with helpful and useful information will always be successful.
Many advertising agencies, graphic houses, SES attendees, and marketing directors read the misleading and endless hype in their emails with offers of immediate organic SEO Success and then mistakenly begin to believe that incoming links from third party websites are the ‘magic silver bullet’ needed to drive their content-light sites into prominent organic keyword ranking positions on Google, MSN and Yahoo-Inktomi.
Don’t fall into the links trap and take your focus off of relevant content.
Links from high ranking, above board, theme-related, quality websites pointing out to your site always play a role and need to be implemented, however they hold very little value if your site is not serving users and spiders with quality content.
Is your site delivering the content that users are seeking? Remain focused on serving users first and foremost with relevant content before reaching out to unknown sites in an attempt to increase your link popularity scores.
Keep some of Google’s basic principles in mind when working on your website.
Don't deceive users, or present unique page content to search engine spiders that is not being made available to users.
Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's link popularity.
In particular, avoid links with web spammers, Free For All Link Farms (FFAs), or "bad link neighborhoods" on the web as your own keyword rankings are often adversely affected by these types of suspect links.
Don't use automated computer programs (Web Position Gold, Submit Wolf, Traffic Blazer, etc.) to submit pages. Automated submission software programs consume computing resources and breach the major search engines terms of service.
When in doubt, remain focused on serving users with relevant content.
Submitting too often using automated submission software programs has more negative consequences with Google than cloaking. Submitting redundant urls also has negative consequences as just badgering Google, MSN, and Yahoo with repetitive URL submissions can get a site/url pulled for several months, sometimes for a full year or more.
Hopefully the truth about Cloaking, Links, PageRank, & Google's Mythical New Site Sandbox, will all someday come to the front again as the SEO grapevine has primarily been cluttered with inaccurate hype on these popular SEO topics in recent weeks.
Especially from the Search Engine Marketing / SES Strategies crowd. So much SEM/SES hype and unfoundeded SEO conjecture (disguised as SEO email newsletters) many with false promises of immediate top keyword ranking offers, including these recent Microsoft Outlook SEO headlines:
1) Why take the time to optimize? buy immediate keyword exposure.
2) Don't take the time to open up your site to the search engine spiders long-term, this takes too long...get out your credit card and sponsor any meaningless, broad-based, off target keyword that you would like today!
3) Outsource Pay Per Click Management and Your Dreams will Come True!!!
4) Pay Per Click and SEM the quickest ways to SEO(?) success.
5) Ignore keyword search preferences (who cares that keyword searchers prefer organic search results 7 to 1 vs. paid search listings) that only reduce SEM/PPC management fees.
6) Gain additional knowledge and insight (?) with the latest exclusive SEO analytics tool (that simply spins and dresses up readily available free data from your own server logs) requiring spider roadblock code that pushes sites further down in the organic results and forces bigger SEM spends!
Instead Let us Suggest That You Keep these key SEO Facts in mind at all times:
1) Pay Per Click Fraud is at an all-time high
2) Pay Per Click Rates Are Increasing Daily
3) Keyword searchers prefer organic search results 7 to 1 !
4) Premium Organic Keyword Positions Serve as Website Endorsements
5) Buying Website Traffic is expensive and leads to poor brand impressions and low conversion rates
6) Quality organic search engine optimization that is above board, ethical, compliant and favored by the search engine spiders is the most effective, LONG-TERM Internet Marketing Strategy Available Today!
The New Google "Big Daddy" Algorithm Update has rolled out and after extensive analysis of Google's new algorithm one thing remains clear...
"Big Daddy's" Hungry for Relevant Content!!!
The Googlebot spider family have had their algortihms updated and are favoring urls based on these Four Factors:
1) Relevant Content
2) URL naming conventions
Database site? ...Dynamic urls?... is your ecommerce portal still struggling after an expensive MOD rewrite?... only Peak Positions dynamic database optimization accounts are privvy to an exclusive inside track with actionable URL naming conventions heavily favored by the googlebots.
3) AdWords Partner URLs receiving favoritism
4) Affiliate Heavy / eCommerce Link Farm Sites falling fast.
Google's "Big Daddy" algorithm updates are throwing away URLs with high outbound link counts. The googlebots are also burying URLs loaded with redirect links, invalid page code, multiple cookies, and sticky web analytics/user tracking codes.
Time to Address Website Content Vs. Linking
How important is HTML text content to Google? Let us first answer this million dollar organic search engine optimization question with another, much more important question in terms of organic website optimization... What else is there? ... Really, why even have a website if you are not making every effort to deliver quality information and relevant content to website visitors?
Websites and companies that understand their purpose and focus on serving their in-market website users with helpful and useful information will always be successful.
Many advertising agencies, graphic houses, SES attendees, and marketing directors read the misleading and endless hype in their emails with offers of immediate organic SEO Success and then mistakenly begin to believe that incoming links from third party websites are the ‘magic silver bullet’ needed to drive their content-light sites into prominent organic keyword ranking positions on Google, MSN and Yahoo-Inktomi.
Don’t fall into the links trap and take your focus off of relevant content.
Links from high ranking, above board, theme-related, quality websites pointing out to your site always play a role and need to be implemented, however they hold very little value if your site is not serving users and spiders with quality content.
Is your site delivering the content that users are seeking? Remain focused on serving users first and foremost with relevant content before reaching out to unknown sites in an attempt to increase your link popularity scores.
Keep some of Google’s basic principles in mind when working on your website.
Don't deceive users, or present unique page content to search engine spiders that is not being made available to users.
Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's link popularity.
In particular, avoid links with web spammers, Free For All Link Farms (FFAs), or "bad link neighborhoods" on the web as your own keyword rankings are often adversely affected by these types of suspect links.
Don't use automated computer programs (Web Position Gold, Submit Wolf, Traffic Blazer, etc.) to submit pages. Automated submission software programs consume computing resources and breach the major search engines terms of service.
When in doubt, remain focused on serving users with relevant content.
Submitting too often using automated submission software programs has more negative consequences with Google than cloaking. Submitting redundant urls also has negative consequences as just badgering Google, MSN, and Yahoo with repetitive URL submissions can get a site/url pulled for several months, sometimes for a full year or more.
Hopefully the truth about Cloaking, Links, PageRank, & Google's Mythical New Site Sandbox, will all someday come to the front again as the SEO grapevine has primarily been cluttered with inaccurate hype on these popular SEO topics in recent weeks.
Especially from the Search Engine Marketing / SES Strategies crowd. So much SEM/SES hype and unfoundeded SEO conjecture (disguised as SEO email newsletters) many with false promises of immediate top keyword ranking offers, including these recent Microsoft Outlook SEO headlines:
1) Why take the time to optimize? buy immediate keyword exposure.
2) Don't take the time to open up your site to the search engine spiders long-term, this takes too long...get out your credit card and sponsor any meaningless, broad-based, off target keyword that you would like today!
3) Outsource Pay Per Click Management and Your Dreams will Come True!!!
4) Pay Per Click and SEM the quickest ways to SEO(?) success.
5) Ignore keyword search preferences (who cares that keyword searchers prefer organic search results 7 to 1 vs. paid search listings) that only reduce SEM/PPC management fees.
6) Gain additional knowledge and insight (?) with the latest exclusive SEO analytics tool (that simply spins and dresses up readily available free data from your own server logs) requiring spider roadblock code that pushes sites further down in the organic results and forces bigger SEM spends!
Instead Let us Suggest That You Keep these key SEO Facts in mind at all times:
1) Pay Per Click Fraud is at an all-time high
2) Pay Per Click Rates Are Increasing Daily
3) Keyword searchers prefer organic search results 7 to 1 !
4) Premium Organic Keyword Positions Serve as Website Endorsements
5) Buying Website Traffic is expensive and leads to poor brand impressions and low conversion rates
6) Quality organic search engine optimization that is above board, ethical, compliant and favored by the search engine spiders is the most effective, LONG-TERM Internet Marketing Strategy Available Today!
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Organic SEO vs. PPC
Google Agrees To Pay $90 Million in AdWords Click Fraud Settlement
Google has agreed to settle a class-action CLICK FRAUD LAWSUIT with an offer to provide up to $90 million worth of PPC AdWords credits to website owners who have been charged for invalid clicks. The click fraud settlement, announced today still has to be approved by the judge.
Rumors are that the judge is also seeking monetary damages and Click Fraud system improvements from Google that could help curb escalating Click Fraud trends in the AdWords Pay Per Click system.
Google willingness to settle only with 'make good clicks' on future AdWords advertising campaigns vs. a cash settlement, and abruptly push the AdWords Click Fraud issue under the rug once again is not pleasing the judge. Hundreds of Google Click Fraud lawsuits are flooding the court system and the judge is receiving pressure from the federal courts to stem the Google click faurd litigation tide.
This new AdWords Click Fraud settlement stems from a lawsuit filed in Arkansas by Lane's Gifts and Collectibles, which presented website server log files that demonstrated they had paid for Google AdWords clicks that were fraudulent. Lnae's sought class-action status on behalf of several other Google AdWords search advertisers.
Google general counsel Nicole Wong (one of nearly 400 litigation attorneys now on Google's staff) claims the companies are "near a resolution."
Under the proposed agreement, Google would allow any AdWords advertisers who believe they have paid for invalid clicks at any time since 2002 to contact the company and apply for reimbursement with AdWords credits. To date, Google required AdWords PPC advertisers to contact it within 60 days of the alleged fraudulent click acitivity for log file review.
Google will offer AdWords credits that can be used to purchase new advertising with Google. "We do not know how many advertisers will apply and receive credits, but under the agreement, the total amount of credits, plus attorneys fees, will not exceed $90 million," Ms. Wong says.
This single case is only the tip of the iceberg as Google AdWords Click Fraud is running rampant.
If your are evaluating Organic SEO vs. PPC click fraud needs consideration and analysis.
If you are outsourcing for PPC/SEM Campaign Management and your monthly invoices are increasing substantially along with your SEM management fees, consider pulling PPC/SEM back in house or at least assign an internal gatekeeper, monitor your website server logs and police your PPC campaigns...it might just save your budget.
Also analyze your organic search engine optimization strategies and contact a proven organic search engine optimization provider that is dedicated strictly to organic seo best practices.
If searchers prefer organic search results 6 to 1 versus the paid advertising (PPC listings) isn't this cause enough for you to address organic website optimization and make a LONG-TERM organic seo investment resulting in real website traffic and new business vs. short-term, leased, expensive, "click fraud riddled" SEM website activity.
Stay Tuned as this Peak Positions Organic SEO Blog we will provide details on many Google AdWords Click Fraud Lawsuits now active and preceeding in the courts in 2006.
Google Agrees To Pay $90 Million in AdWords Click Fraud Settlement
Google has agreed to settle a class-action CLICK FRAUD LAWSUIT with an offer to provide up to $90 million worth of PPC AdWords credits to website owners who have been charged for invalid clicks. The click fraud settlement, announced today still has to be approved by the judge.
Rumors are that the judge is also seeking monetary damages and Click Fraud system improvements from Google that could help curb escalating Click Fraud trends in the AdWords Pay Per Click system.
Google willingness to settle only with 'make good clicks' on future AdWords advertising campaigns vs. a cash settlement, and abruptly push the AdWords Click Fraud issue under the rug once again is not pleasing the judge. Hundreds of Google Click Fraud lawsuits are flooding the court system and the judge is receiving pressure from the federal courts to stem the Google click faurd litigation tide.
This new AdWords Click Fraud settlement stems from a lawsuit filed in Arkansas by Lane's Gifts and Collectibles, which presented website server log files that demonstrated they had paid for Google AdWords clicks that were fraudulent. Lnae's sought class-action status on behalf of several other Google AdWords search advertisers.
Google general counsel Nicole Wong (one of nearly 400 litigation attorneys now on Google's staff) claims the companies are "near a resolution."
Under the proposed agreement, Google would allow any AdWords advertisers who believe they have paid for invalid clicks at any time since 2002 to contact the company and apply for reimbursement with AdWords credits. To date, Google required AdWords PPC advertisers to contact it within 60 days of the alleged fraudulent click acitivity for log file review.
Google will offer AdWords credits that can be used to purchase new advertising with Google. "We do not know how many advertisers will apply and receive credits, but under the agreement, the total amount of credits, plus attorneys fees, will not exceed $90 million," Ms. Wong says.
This single case is only the tip of the iceberg as Google AdWords Click Fraud is running rampant.
If your are evaluating Organic SEO vs. PPC click fraud needs consideration and analysis.
If you are outsourcing for PPC/SEM Campaign Management and your monthly invoices are increasing substantially along with your SEM management fees, consider pulling PPC/SEM back in house or at least assign an internal gatekeeper, monitor your website server logs and police your PPC campaigns...it might just save your budget.
Also analyze your organic search engine optimization strategies and contact a proven organic search engine optimization provider that is dedicated strictly to organic seo best practices.
If searchers prefer organic search results 6 to 1 versus the paid advertising (PPC listings) isn't this cause enough for you to address organic website optimization and make a LONG-TERM organic seo investment resulting in real website traffic and new business vs. short-term, leased, expensive, "click fraud riddled" SEM website activity.
Stay Tuned as this Peak Positions Organic SEO Blog we will provide details on many Google AdWords Click Fraud Lawsuits now active and preceeding in the courts in 2006.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Pay Per Click Rates Skyrocketing
PPC/SEM Click Fraud Also on the Rise.
Keyword prices continues to increase substantially. In recent weeks several well known brands have ripped through their quarterly SEM budgets with little conversion to speak of. Just last week eBay (now sponsoring nearly every possible keyword combination), FTD, and Blue Nile have all publicly groaned their PPC keyword rates have increased more than 50%. Blue Nile blames the PPC rate increase on "irrational behavior" and Blue Nile founder Mark Vadon cites Google AdWords keyword rate increases as the primary reason why his company missed its fourth quarter 2005 revenue projections.
Both Google and Yahoo/Overture have confirmed that their sponsored keyword rates are rising rapidly. The market frenzy and rush to sponsor keywords coupled with rising click fraud corruption is creating a complicated environment and trap-filled SEM lansdcape.
Consider implementation of an comprehensive organic search engine foundation that provides keyword exposure and brand consideration on the search engine results pages as in-depth pay per click research is conducted.
The most sucessful search engine optimization programs involve organic search engine optimization as the basis point and Pay Per Click as an additional layer that is dropped later to augment and compliant organic seo efforts.
Also keep in mind that searchers prefer the organic search results 6 to 1 vs. paid and long-term seo strength can only be accomplished through organic website optimization programs. Make sure that your website and content is open for indexing by the robot crawlers that determine the order of links on the results pages before becoming active in the Pay Per click "open auction" marketplace.
PPC/SEM Click Fraud Also on the Rise.
Keyword prices continues to increase substantially. In recent weeks several well known brands have ripped through their quarterly SEM budgets with little conversion to speak of. Just last week eBay (now sponsoring nearly every possible keyword combination), FTD, and Blue Nile have all publicly groaned their PPC keyword rates have increased more than 50%. Blue Nile blames the PPC rate increase on "irrational behavior" and Blue Nile founder Mark Vadon cites Google AdWords keyword rate increases as the primary reason why his company missed its fourth quarter 2005 revenue projections.
Both Google and Yahoo/Overture have confirmed that their sponsored keyword rates are rising rapidly. The market frenzy and rush to sponsor keywords coupled with rising click fraud corruption is creating a complicated environment and trap-filled SEM lansdcape.
Consider implementation of an comprehensive organic search engine foundation that provides keyword exposure and brand consideration on the search engine results pages as in-depth pay per click research is conducted.
The most sucessful search engine optimization programs involve organic search engine optimization as the basis point and Pay Per Click as an additional layer that is dropped later to augment and compliant organic seo efforts.
Also keep in mind that searchers prefer the organic search results 6 to 1 vs. paid and long-term seo strength can only be accomplished through organic website optimization programs. Make sure that your website and content is open for indexing by the robot crawlers that determine the order of links on the results pages before becoming active in the Pay Per click "open auction" marketplace.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Google Stock Falls Hard Following Slow Growth Announcement
Google Warning on Growth
Unnerves Investors
Goog Stock Plunges Some 13%, Ending Down 7.1%
The Easy Stuff May Be Over
a recap from the Wall Street Journal
Google Inc.'s chief financial officer spooked investors with a warning that the Web-search company's growth rate would slow from its breakneck pace, sending Google shares down almost immediately.
Speaking at a Merrill Lynch & Co. investor conference, Google finance chief George Reyes said that Google is "getting to a point where the law of large numbers starts to take root," referring to the challenge of increasing revenue and profits at the same rate from higher base levels. "At the end of the day, growth will slow," he added. "Will it be precipitous? I doubt it."
Google shares plunged to $338.51 from $397.54 following his comments, as investors and analysts scrambled to figure out how serious Mr. Reyes's warning was. The shares later recovered partially, as some issued research notes saying that Google's sharp selloff was unwarranted, given that Google executives in the past had made similar warnings: that growth will eventually slow and profit margins eventually contract.
Google shares closed down $27.76, or 7.1%, at $362.62 for the day. At that level, they were 24% below than their intraday high of $475.11 hit on Jan. 11. The volume of 38.9 million shares traded yesterday made it the second-most-active day for Google since the company went public in August 2004.
But, for some investors who remained jittery from Google's fourth-quarter earnings shortfall announced on Jan. 31, Mr. Reyes's comments could be taken as the latest sign that Google is finished with the easy stuff. Some believe that the company has entered a new era, where factors such as tax rates, international operations and expenses can weigh more on short-term results than they have in the past. Such factors helped depress fourth-quarter earnings. Google's blowout growth -- its revenue rose 118% in 2004 from the previous year, for example -- has in the past largely masked any such concerns.
Speaking yesterday, Mr. Reyes said that the Mountain View, Calif., company had achieved most of the possible gains from a recent initiative to increase the revenue it generates for each consumer search. "We're going to have to find other ways to monetize our business," he said.
Mr. Reyes said future gains would come from "organic" growth, including by increasing the number of search queries Google handles. He cited Internet services that consumers can access from mobile phones and search services providing results linked to specific geographic locations as also having particularly strong potential. Google also has been pushing its toolbar software as a way to increase usage of its search services.
"I'm not turning bearish at all. I think we have a lot of growth ahead of us," Mr. Reyes said. "The question is, at what rate?" In response to a question, he said his comments weren't prompted by any specific observation about Google's business during the current quarter.
Analysts largely shrugged off Mr. Reyes's warnings. Piper Jaffray & Co. Internet analyst Safa Rashtchy in a research note said the share selloff represented a buying opportunity, saying Mr. Reyes's comments didn't suggest any faster or slower growth than Mr. Rashtchy already forecast. Piper Jaffray has received compensation for investment-banking services or has had a client relationship with Google in the past year and makes a market in Google shares.
Analyst David Garrity at Investec Inc. said in a note that Mr. Reyes "is not distinguishing his tenure through building investor confidence with well-timed statements," but also noted that the selloff possibly presented investors with a good opportunity to buy shares.
Many analysts and investors hope Google will provide more clarity during its annual analysts' day tomorrow. The company has been reluctant to provide specific financial guidance, but the recent earnings shortfall -- which Google blamed on complex tax considerations -- has increased analysts' demands for more details about its prospects.
Google Warning on Growth
Unnerves Investors
Goog Stock Plunges Some 13%, Ending Down 7.1%
The Easy Stuff May Be Over
a recap from the Wall Street Journal
Google Inc.'s chief financial officer spooked investors with a warning that the Web-search company's growth rate would slow from its breakneck pace, sending Google shares down almost immediately.
Speaking at a Merrill Lynch & Co. investor conference, Google finance chief George Reyes said that Google is "getting to a point where the law of large numbers starts to take root," referring to the challenge of increasing revenue and profits at the same rate from higher base levels. "At the end of the day, growth will slow," he added. "Will it be precipitous? I doubt it."
Google shares plunged to $338.51 from $397.54 following his comments, as investors and analysts scrambled to figure out how serious Mr. Reyes's warning was. The shares later recovered partially, as some issued research notes saying that Google's sharp selloff was unwarranted, given that Google executives in the past had made similar warnings: that growth will eventually slow and profit margins eventually contract.
Google shares closed down $27.76, or 7.1%, at $362.62 for the day. At that level, they were 24% below than their intraday high of $475.11 hit on Jan. 11. The volume of 38.9 million shares traded yesterday made it the second-most-active day for Google since the company went public in August 2004.
But, for some investors who remained jittery from Google's fourth-quarter earnings shortfall announced on Jan. 31, Mr. Reyes's comments could be taken as the latest sign that Google is finished with the easy stuff. Some believe that the company has entered a new era, where factors such as tax rates, international operations and expenses can weigh more on short-term results than they have in the past. Such factors helped depress fourth-quarter earnings. Google's blowout growth -- its revenue rose 118% in 2004 from the previous year, for example -- has in the past largely masked any such concerns.
Speaking yesterday, Mr. Reyes said that the Mountain View, Calif., company had achieved most of the possible gains from a recent initiative to increase the revenue it generates for each consumer search. "We're going to have to find other ways to monetize our business," he said.
Mr. Reyes said future gains would come from "organic" growth, including by increasing the number of search queries Google handles. He cited Internet services that consumers can access from mobile phones and search services providing results linked to specific geographic locations as also having particularly strong potential. Google also has been pushing its toolbar software as a way to increase usage of its search services.
"I'm not turning bearish at all. I think we have a lot of growth ahead of us," Mr. Reyes said. "The question is, at what rate?" In response to a question, he said his comments weren't prompted by any specific observation about Google's business during the current quarter.
Analysts largely shrugged off Mr. Reyes's warnings. Piper Jaffray & Co. Internet analyst Safa Rashtchy in a research note said the share selloff represented a buying opportunity, saying Mr. Reyes's comments didn't suggest any faster or slower growth than Mr. Rashtchy already forecast. Piper Jaffray has received compensation for investment-banking services or has had a client relationship with Google in the past year and makes a market in Google shares.
Analyst David Garrity at Investec Inc. said in a note that Mr. Reyes "is not distinguishing his tenure through building investor confidence with well-timed statements," but also noted that the selloff possibly presented investors with a good opportunity to buy shares.
Many analysts and investors hope Google will provide more clarity during its annual analysts' day tomorrow. The company has been reluctant to provide specific financial guidance, but the recent earnings shortfall -- which Google blamed on complex tax considerations -- has increased analysts' demands for more details about its prospects.
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