Following Yahoo’s recent announcement that they intend to buy 10% of the IPO for Alibaba.com Ltd, a company in which they already have a 40% stake, they announced yesterday that they adapted its instant-messaging service for six Asian languages, expanding to a total of 25 countries.

This seems to play right into Yahoo’s efforts to capture the Asian, and more specifically, the Chinese market. Yahoo seems to be moving in the right direction in my opinion. The Chinese market is one of the only remaining markets in which they can compete with and dare I say, possibly eclipse Google. I know I might be getting a bit ahead of myself by saying “eclipse Google” because I cannot see that happening, but I do admire the efforts in which Yahoo is moving forward. With so much market share up for grabs in Asia, the expansion of Asian languages in Yahoo messenger and the Alibaba IPO purchase seem to show Yahoo moving with clear direction.

Wall street has taken notice as well. Last Friday, shares in Yahoo surged as much as 8.5% when the Alibaba IPO news was released. In the month of October, Yahoo shares increased in value by 16%. Seems like things have really turned around for Yahoo, but Terry Semel and their current director, Eric Hippeau did just exercise their options. Maybe they know something others don’t.

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Well, I can admit when I was wrong. And a year ago, I told everyone that would listen that Mark Zuckerberg, the 24-year-old founder and CEO of Facebook, was greedy and crazy to turn down an alleged $1 Billion acquisition offer from Yahoo! I was wrong. He was right.
At that point Facebook was losing ground to competitors, MySpace was continuing it’s domination of the social networking space, and the kid had just walked away from a deal that could have made him worth $300 Million.

Since then, Facebook opened up their network to all users, and last spring launched Facebook Apps, a brilliant model that instantly created an ecosystem of developers seeking ways to expand their reach into the uber-loyal Facebook crowd (MySpace is playing copycat with a developer network of it’s own shortly on the way). They are gaining a million new members a week, and half of Facebook’s users are on the site daily. While it is unclear exactly how to monetize that usage, the potential is clearly enormous.

Combine the explosive growth of Facebook in the last year with the hyper-competitive acquisition market that have sent valuations soaring (DoubleClick bought by Google for $3 billion, aQuantive by Microsoft for $6 billion and Right Media by Yahoo for $800 million), and you end up with the seeds that grew Facebook into an absolutely astonishing $15 Billion valuation.

A valuation growth of $1 Billion to $15 Billion in about 12 months? Not bad, not bad at all…

Well played, Zuckerberg.

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IAC/InterActive Corp CEO Barry Diller says that big media companies have been slow to reap the benefits of the internet and that some just “don’t get it.” Story

Although Barry Diller is referring to companies on a billion dollar scale, we can equate it to smaller media companies, agencies and Search Marketing.

This has been an issue that we have discussed internally for some time. One of the toughest challenges we face is convincing traditional media companies that search is right for them. Specifically, it is most difficult when dealing with those individuals who for whatever reason don’t know or don’t want to know how search works. They have built extremely successful business through traditional advertising and aren’t thrilled to learn that the model they have been perfecting for 30 years has changed dramatically. It is our job to help them understand that search can drastically transform their business and we can do it cost effectively.

Now it is not quite fair to lump all media companies together in this group. We do work with a number of traditional advertising agencies and media companies who have a very good understanding of the power of search. Some of my favorite conversations have been with marketing directors and executives who understand the direction their company is heading and they are making a strategic shift online. They realize that print in dying and that they need to offer their users a better online experience in order to maintain viability, with so many alternatives just a click away. I think as time progresses, these slow moving media companies will catch up and jump into the online arena with both feet, which makes this an interesting market to be in.

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Last week, Benjamin Kuo of SocalTech.com spent some time with Mike Mothner talking about the state of the search engine marketing industry and Wpromote’s rapid growth in the past couple of months. If you have a chance, take a look at the interview and Wpromote profile:

http://socaltech.com/interview_with_mike_mothner_wpromote/s-0011886.html

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The business of search advertising is booming.

Most interestingly, this boom does not appear poised for a reversal anytime soon or even a slowdown. Granted, no boom can last forever and it is always wise to be looking toward the future, however, Microsoft’s recent comments regarding search advertising that, “In the next several years, it will not be as much of a driver [of growth],” seem suspect. Microsoft’s Senior Vice President Brian McAndrews recently stated that the focus of online ads will be slowly shifting away from search and onto more display-oriented ads.

The landscape of online advertising is ever-changing and there is merit that the display market is ripe for expansion, due, in part, to the growing ubiquity of programs like Adobe Flash that provide an excellent vehicle for display ads. Despite all this, though, there seems to be overwhelming evidence that search advertising is here to stay and, at best, will coexist alongside a growing display advertising market. Though the search advertising boom may slow down, the amount of people in the US and abroad using the search engines is likely to continue to expand in the coming years. Additionally, there has yet to be an adequate substitute for the search engines when it comes to finding what you want online, be it information, services or products.
The always even-handed and intelligent guys over at Search Engine Land ask an insigthful question:

“Is this a sign of Microsoft giving up on competing with Google in the search ad space?”

Perhaps Microsoft isn’t counting on the demise of search at the hands of display after all. Could it be that Microsoft is simply waving the white flag in the search advertising arena and touting the inevitable emergence of display advertising in hopes of generating buzz? After all, they do have an advantage over Google in the display advertising market. This is hardly the case in search, where Google bolsters it dominance with every passing day. Is Microsoft just praying that people will buy into this announcement simply because they are Microsoft?

It’s difficult to say for sure, however, I, for one, am still bullish on search. My job does depend on it. Even still, I feel that an objective analysis would rule in concert with me. There is still no viable competitor to the concept of search. At best, display advertising would be complimentary to search ads; there is no reason to believe that the rise of the importance of display ads would supplant the importance of search ads. Couple this fact with the rapidly increasing population of search engine users and search advertising appears guaranteed to remain an important medium of marketing for years to come.

Business may not always be booming, but without search advertising, it will be tough to get your business to boom on display ads alone.

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I’m not sure who J.D. Power or his associates really are, however, they are apparently experts at giving out awards to trucks and search engines, among other things. Most recently, J.D. Power & Associates ranked Dogpile the top search engine in terms of customer satisfaction.

For those who are unfamiliar with Dogpile, it is essentially a search engine that takes results from other engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN, and amalgamates them into one list. Within this list there are both organic results as well as ads. Some might feel that this format tricks users into clicking on ads–thereby making money for Dogpile–that they thought were normal organic links. After all, Google, Yahoo! and MSN all display their ads in blue banners along the top and in a small column on the right. Surely, this is the preferred tactic for the majority of users, right?

Maybe not.

If Dogpile has the highest customer satisfaction rating, it means that Dogpile users are getting what they want more often than do Google, Yahoo! and MSN users. Therefore, doesn’t this suggest that people might actually prefer ads to organic listings in many cases? After all, if you are a shopper, ads will be much more helpful whereas if you are doing researcher, organic listings are probably the way to go.

Online advertising is almost a four-letter word. No, not physically–it’s actually a 17-letter or 18-character word, if you include the space–but it often gets treated as if it were. Tell someone that you work in online advertising and their face will scrunch up as if they bit into a lemon. They’ll follow this with a something on the order of, “Oh no! Not those banner and pop-ups; is that you guys?”

“No, no, no!” I’ll respond. “We’re the good guys. We help you find stuff you’re already looking for.” I promise you that your new acquaintance will walk away unconvinced.

So, thank you, Dogpile, for proving that search ads are probably a lot more helpful than people think. Whereas Google, Yahoo! and MSN throw the ads in locations that very few people ever notice, Dogpile treats search ads as if they were as relevant and helpful as an organic listing. And, according to their satisfied customers, they are making a great argument that they might be right!

Of course, it could be posited that Dogpile’s customer satisfaction rating is so high simply because anyone who’s still stubborn enough to use Dogpile instead of the big three is probably doing so because, for whatever reason, they just really really like it.

But I’d like to think that search ads are just a lot more helpful than people give them credit for, so let’s stick with that!

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I am sure everyone has experienced it, a groggy morning, power failure, late start, late night, nothing to wear, traffic, botched snooze button… whatever the excuse may be, most all of us can run late from time to time. We recently wanted to find a way to motivate our employees to minimize morning tardiness, while providing a fun way of giving back to others.

The solution: Our Kiva Late Fund.

To share with readers outside Wpromote, here is how our new program works. If you aren’t in the office by a set time each morning, you must donate $5 upon entrance to our late fund, each time you are late.  The fund is then collected on a monthly basis and put towards our Kiva fund. For those who are not familiar with Kiva, www.Kiva.org lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. Each time one employee is late and $5 is donated we are 20% closer to a micro loan to help sponsor a developing business in a third world country.

Since we started one month ago, our late fund has allowed us to lend $25 to four different business worldwide. This new program has not only created an incentive for employees to arrive on time, but directly benefits those in need when we arrive late.  Please feel free to view our sponsors.
http://www.kiva.org/lender/wpromote 

We are excited to grow our Kiva profile and truly owe this to our wonderful employees!

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The ills of the American newspaper have been apparent for quite some time, especially as information has become so easily and cheaply disseminated from the myriad sources on the Internet to the ever-more-savvy story-seeking citizen. However, newspapers are still powerful institutions and many have or are owned by companies that have deep pockets and ambitious plans.

Just look at the contract that Alfonso Soriano signed this past offseason with the Tribune-owned Cubs!

It looks like newspaper companies are beginning to use their resources to begin diving into the rapidly developing niche of search marketing. The Washington Post, which showed its ability to think outside the paper box with its acquisition of Internet magazine Slate, has recently purchased CourseAdvisor, a directory of online education and training providers, for an undisclosed price.

The Washington Post has proven to very forward thinking in its venture into the digital age. Whereas other newspapers have struggled with problems of retaining readership, staff and influence, the Washington Post has actually seen revenue growth in recent years. I would proffer that it is no coincidence that this growth is being realized by the newspaper company that has–more so than any of its peers–readily embraced the fact that the future of media may very well be paperless.

I applaud the Washington Post for its recent acquisition and I tip my cap to the folks over at CourseAdvisor for their success in finding a unique and valuable search niche among students looking for information on higher education. Nobody can be sure if this acquisition is going to prove successful, however, the fact that the Washington Post is willing to invest in and later purchase a firm like CourseAdvisor shows that their leadership has both foresight and gumption which are qualities in low supply in the newspaper industry.

By the way, if any newspaper company executives are reading this, that last sentence wasn’t about you, it was about that other executive that you hate. So… what’s your offer for Wpromote?

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On the heels of Mike Block’s post about Ask.com and their 3% market share, comScore Inc’s new study estimates Google’s market share has grown to 60% worldwide and 50% in the United States.

“According to comScore’s qSearch 2.0 service, more than 37 billion searches worldwide went through Google in August. That’s about 60 percent of all searches, higher than Google’s 50 percent in the United States.”

Google however, is not number one everywhere. In China, Baidu.com remains the dominant search engine and their share in the Asian market is enough to rank them in the Global top 5, according to comScore Inc.’s inaugural report on worldwide search patterns.

Clearly the biggest room for market growth for both Google and Yahoo is in China. While Google clearly dominates Yahoo in the US and Europe, Yahoo recently added to their internal push of growing their reach in China by announcing that they will buy 10% of the shares in the initial public offering of Alibaba.com. AliBaba.com is the business-to-business unit of China’s biggest online retailer. Yahoo already owns a 40% stake in Alibaba.com Corp.

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Yesterday, I was having an issue finding my client’s local listings in the Yahoo! search engine. I have experienced similar problems with Yahoo!’s IP targeting in the past, however, I was still concerned that I wasn’t seeing listings for the Los Angeles DMA. In response to my initial inquiry, I received the following email from a representative at Yahoo! Search Marketing earlier today.

Now, let’s play a game of “What’s Wrong with this Picture.”

Keep in mind, this is an actual email and these are the actual screenshots. Only the private information has been censored or altered in any way.

Oct 10 2007 09:38 PT

Hello Mike,

Thank you for contacting Yahoo! Search Marketing regarding your listings for keywords “laser hair removal” and “laser tattoo removal” not appearing on Yahoo! Search. We are happy to assist you.

We were able to locate your listings online (please see attached screenshots for examples). If you are unable to see your listings, this may be due to your computer’s IP address being incorrectly localized. Our geotargeting system specifically looks for users with IP addresses in the specific regions (”DMAs”) you’ve specified and will only serve to users that match your criteria with a high degree of confidence.

We would like to investigate this matter further on your behalf but request that you supply your specific IP address in order for us to do so. This information is needed to replicate a search conducted within your particular geographic location as you are utilizing our Geotargeting feature to ensure that your listings are only displayed for results within those areas. Please reply directly to this e-mail making sure to include your IP address which can be acquired from such websites as www.whatismyip.com.

Thank you for choosing Yahoo! Search Marketing!

Sincerely,

[censored]
Technical Services
Yahoo! Search Marketing

Here are the screenshots provided, our client’s listings are highlighted in blue. Now, remember what game we’re playing?

I know that these images are difficult to read, but if you have been paying attention, you will have noticed that this is besides the point. After all, how would sending me my Google listings help rectify our visibility issues in Yahoo!?

Now, I know that a situation this ridiculous warrants some doubts, and there isn’t a really solid way to prove that a Yahoo! employee sent me Google results to prove the visibility for my Yahoo! keywords, but I thought that the following screenshot my help add to the credibility of this post:

That’s right, it’s my inbox and although it’s a bit hard to make out, you can clearly see the Yahoo! signature right above the Google screenshot. Now, it would be easy to make this mistake under normal circumstances, and this mistake was not made by our Yahoo! representative (who is nothing short of brilliant, to tell you the truth), but doesn’t this seem like the kind of faux pas that would happen at Yahoo! and never a Google?

I mean, really, you just can’t make this stuff up!

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