eCommerce and

Like it or not many retailers are at the mercy of Google and organic search for a significant amount of revenue and traffic. This can be both a good and a bad thing, its free and can represent significant  revenue, but you are also at their mercy and a page drop for a keyword can mean a lot of lost money. There have been many discussions about the changes Google has been making to their search engine results pages recently with Josh even writing about it last year. What interests me is not only how many changes they have made, but what that has done to what is displayed above the fold of those pages. Taking the pages as a whole it may not seem like much has changed, but when you look at the content above the fold I think Google has drastically changed the layout and content displayed. I put together a couple of examples...

A simple search for bathroom faucets has new elements that include: a much more prominent top ad display box with the inclusion of AdWords Ad Extensions such as Ad Site Links, Google instant which will automatically change the results of the page based upon what is being typed, Google Suggest which drops down a box of suggested or alternate search phrases, an altered left hand navigation pane, and a section for related searches which can include other brands, stores or types.

An alternative search for Kohler bathroom faucets shows the actual Kohler website multiple times in the top three organic results as well as having an ad in the top ad unit.
 

A search for shower doors shows more prominent local listings with a map on the right and extended listing of local results further down the page.

What I find interesting, is that over time Google has added more and more elements to their results, given ads a more prominent focus and placement, and in many cases simply over complicated search. Didn’t they used to be known for a simple set of relevant results? Don’t get me wrong, I am a Google fan boy but when looking at the content above the fold on their results pages, I start to get overwhelmed by the number of elements and the amount of ads.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

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The Google ranking mechanism is an interesting topic, as having good organic rankings has become the lifeblood of many businesses. Most people, when searching Google, find what they are looking for on the first page or two, so getting your link at the top can be the most important thing you can do to increase sales. It's always struck me as odd that power over such a large sector of the economy has come to be in the hands of a single company. Not that I think Google is doing a bad job. As a customer, I've always found that Google returns the best search results for my queries. Nevertheless, such a centralized system does have its downsides.

Rather than parsing and ranking sites by hand, an insurmountable task, Google relies on a complex internal algorithm to automatically return appropriate search results. Since this algorithm is at the heart of most of its ventures, Google keeps a careful eye on it, remaining tight-lipped about its internal details and reserving entire teams toward fine-tuning and updating it. Even so, any algorithm can be susceptible to gaming, and the promise of doing so is so great in Google's case that there is no shortage of attempts.

One recent story that's come to light is of a small eye wear company called "DecorMyEyes" that did just that. As it turns out, the owner of the one-man operation did everything in his power to enrage his customers and generate public complaints. Why? Well, there's a saying in show biz that goes, "There's no such thing as bad publicity." It turns out, that saying was literally true online. Many of the posts and articles lambasting the company's service also included a link to its site. Google, noticing the many links but oblivious to the reason for them, happily kicked the site up the rankings until it was near the top. Then visitors, seeing a site near the top of the rankings, would visit and make purchases. It was an ingenious attempt to exploit a loophole in Google's algorithm, and for a while it worked pretty well.

However, due to the additional exposure the company gained through the article I linked, Google itself became aware of the situation. Clearly directing Google visitors to sites that cheat and threaten them is not in Google's best interest, so they quickly set about rectifying the situation. They soon made a blog post announcing that the loophole had been closed. Unfortunately for us, Google remains as tight-lipped as always regarding the details of their solution, mentioning only that they are not specifically blacklisting the site or using some kind of content analysis to detect "negative" links. Presumably, then, they are analyzing the traffic to this and similar sites, and picking up subtle differences from legitimate retailers.

Of course, this is good news for those of us who *are* legitimate retailers and pride ourselves on giving a good customer experience. Presumably this same algorithm should not only eliminate fraudsters, but also lower the rankings of competitors that attempt to maximize volume at the expense of individual customer experience. However, as I said before, any algorithm is susceptible to gaming. This is simply one more step in the fight between Google (who needs to keep visitors coming by serving them relevant and desirable search results) and online businesses (many of whom want to capture as many of Google's visitors as possible, regardless of relevance or desirability). Only time will tell how effective this measure will be, or where the next threat will appear.

Update: After I made this post, one more event in the story has occurred. Vitaly Borker, the owner of DecorMyEyes, has been arrested on counts of fraud and threats. So, as it turns out, there is indeed such a thing as bad publicity for Mr. Borker.

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Google’s unofficial slogan is seemingly being dragged through the mud lately with some pretty serious allegations from three competitors. The complaints caused the European Union to announce on Tuesday that it would be launching an investigation to find out if the search engine giant was guilty of manipulating search results in its favor. The Washington Post is reporting that the E.U. will be focusing on the following areas:

1) Rankings: Google allegedly lowered the ranking of unpaid search results of competitors that specialize in services such as price comparisons. The firm has also allegedly given preferential placement of its own search services in order to shut out competitors.

2) Sponsored Advertising: Google allegedly lowered the 'Quality Score' for sponsored links of competing vertical search services. The Quality Score is one of the factors that determine the price paid to Google by advertisers.

3) Advertising Obligations: Google allegedly forced exclusivity obligations on advertising partners, preventing them from placing certain types of competing ads on their Web sites, as well as on computer and software vendors, with the aim of shutting out competing search tools.

4) Data Portability: Google allegedly restricted services from transporting advertising campaign data to competing online advertising platforms.

In the SF Gate on Tuesday, Microsoft, who went through their own E.U. investigation offered up some advice on what Google should expect.   Here are the highlights:

* The EU will listen to your competitors, but not to you. In the digital media case, the EU seemed to believe what RealNetworks and other competitors told it: that there was a dynamic market for software-based digital media players, if only Microsoft would stop shutting them out. When Microsoft tried to respond by explaining the realities of the market--for instance, PC makers don't want to give customers too many choices of default software because it raises support and manufacturing costs--the EU didn't listen.

* You're dealing with regulators, not techies. The EU seemed to believe that removing the Windows Media Player was as easy as uninstalling any other application. When Microsoft tried to explain that the Player had deep ties within the guts of the OS, and asked specific questions like "which DLLs would you like us to remove?" they were met with meaningless answers or silence.

* The EU will impose a remedy to save face. The order to ship a version of Windows without the Media Player was never going to work--and this employee suspects the EU knew it. The regulators weren't stupid. But after spending years and millions of dollars of taxpayers' money, the EU couldn't just say "pay a big fine and nothing else has to change." It had to impose a behavioral changing remedy, even if it turned out to be ineffective.

* Don't take your eye off the competition. The EU investigation did change how Microsoft does business in some critical ways--the rulings gave the company certain new rules which it now abides by, such as "you must offer consumers a way to remove Windows features" and "no integrating formerly separate products (like Bing search) with Windows without talking to the lawyers." It also showed Microsoft that it needs lobbying power with governments, and couldn't afford the faux-naive "we're just a little technology company" stance that it took in the 1990s. But in the end, competition in the digital media market was restored by competitors, not the EU. One big competitor in particular: Apple. As this employee said "we didn't stop doing PlaysForSure because the EU made us, we did it because we kind of got our butt handed to us.”

Google may want to take that last point to heart since at least two of the complainants have direct ties to Microsoft. You be the judge. Is this just two of the biggest competitors in the tech world using the E.U. to jockey for the coveted top spot in search, or is Google really just being evil?

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The search world is buzzing today with all of the possible changes that could come from Google's morning press event. Yesterday Google started hinting about a change with their creative logo and a quote from a Googler saying "it is fast, fun and interactive, just the way we think search should be."(SER) Today is no different. The current logo on Google's homepage adds color to the letters as you type, hinting at what many bloggers have been reporting on, streaming search results. If you haven't seen this yet, check out the video below from Websonic.nl.




We should know by the afternoon if this is rolling out to everyone, as well as what else Google may have up their sleave, but one thing is for sure, the way we search is changing.

What do you think about this change? Do you like it?

Update: Google announced that the real time search is called Google Instant and should be rolling out to Firefox, Chrome, Safari and IE 8 today. Google said this is being done to help people save the time wasted when typing a search that the user may not even want to begin with. They predict it is normally around 25 seconds, and Google Instant will completly change this.

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When I first started creating keywords for my very first campaign, there were signs everywhere on the internet that said "Don't use broad match!"  A little later I learned about negative keywords and how to use those effectively by running a Google search query report.  So it caught me by surprise when Brad Geddes, for Search Engine Land, wrote a column on promoting the idea of using broad match called Broad Match + Negative Keywords = A Profitable Long Tail.

The Case for Broad Match

Most people have discovered that broad match typically does not have a great conversion rate (many times when using broad match it’s not the point). Historically, because...well, broad match hits everything related to it. It can be a good way just to get your website noticed, create some brand recognition or turn on the traffic hose, hopefully with some good ad text to stem the tide of the more ridiculous clicks. 

Brad Geddes, unfortunately, does not go into a lot of detail about what happens to long tail keywords that are set to broad match or the precise setup of such a campaign?  I think he is being a bit "cagey" so as not to give away his “secret sauce” so to speak. This only means that we have to be smart as marketers, use common sense and pay attention to ad spend and the limitations associated with AdWords accounts.  There is certainly a difference between a long tail keyword set to broad match and a more general one to two word keyword phrases set to broad match.  Brad uses the example:

“Let’s say you sell coffee mugs and you have tens of thousands of words pertaining to coffee mugs in multiple match types. You then run a search query report (a report that allows you to see the actual search query that caused your ad to be displayed) and find that when the search query contains the word “Starbucks,” such as “Starbucks personalized picture blue coffee mug,” your conversion rate is 0%. All those clicks you are paying for are a waste of money. However, “personalized picture blue coffee mug” is already a long tail keyword, and you have thousands of these words, so how do you still use these word in phrase or broad match yet not pay for the clicks when the search query contains ‘Starbucks?’”

Clearly using this example we would make the assumption that your AdWords account has already got some form of this phrase of keywords broken up throughout the account: “blue coffee mug”, “personalized picture mug”, “picture coffee mug”, etc.  We would also make an educated assumption that if you are advertising for products in this vertical that you have similar products and would be able to convert on broad match types associated to these terms.  If not then take heed, there are AdWords users available to help.  AdWords Forum contributor Rob. W has explained broad match to other users, “You need to be careful when broad matching keywords because Google takes extreme liberties in matching that keyword.  A broad match for 'fresh flowers' may cause your ads to show for bath soap, gardening supplies, wedding showers, or cat litter.  Seriously...” So it got me thinking. What is Brad really talking about in his column?

Jog before You Run 

At first, I thought he was talking about setting long tail keywords to broad match and then producing negative keywords for phrases that don't convert.  Further on in his column he is pointing out, based on the extensive explanation of negative keywords in his column, that you set keywords to broad match but specifically create [exact] match negative keywords to counteract any of the more generic searches and higher price terms. You know what users search for because of the Search Query report.  By doing this you are still allowing for a broad selection of searches without the hassle of dealing with the creation of a whole list of long tail keywords.  The critical point is creating those negatives and keeping up with it.  Bam! Long tail keywords that you know have been searched for as long as the user doesn't use the negative keyword in the phrase.

Though, if this is what Brad is getting to, I am not sure what would be cheaper in terms of CPC (Cost per Click): a "constrained" broad match term or a simple long tail keyword.  It seems like broad match would potentially need a higher CPC because it is hitting so many searches and you want to be ranked high enough on those to see a high-quality CTR (Click through Rate).  Then again, you are reducing how many hits you actually make with the negatives, making the broad match term less expensive.  The benefit is not really losing out on other various searches.  As usual though, the bottom line is, does it convert?  Testing this out on your own seems to be the best way to figure this out in your respective industries. 

Without knowing exactly how broad match-long tail keywords, react in search, I can't exactly give a straight up opinion on this idea of Brads.  His method still intrigues me though and I plan on experimenting with this on a few of my better performing campaigns.

I will update you with my results in a couple weeks.

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• As we near the end of the year it is always interesting to make comparisons between technologies, companies and news that have impacted the year.  For many years now Microsoft and Google have been two companies that have been on the list of comparisons because every year they make changes that affect our day to day lives.  This year is no different, and in fact both Google and Microsoft have made considerable updates in 2009 that will continue to impact users for years to come.  Garrett Rogers of ZDNet takes a closer look at the changes made by both companies in 2009.
• Last minute shoppers faced a DDoS attack that took down Amazon, Wal-Mart, Expedia and others on Christmas Eve.
• SEO Gadget posted a Christmas remedy for correcting indexed 404 pages as well as a SEO checklist.  It’s worth the read, “If you’re interested in good housekeeping and getting your fresh new content into search engine indexes quickly and often” as Baxter puts it.
• BNET writer Geoffrey James released the 10 Worst Brand Blunders of 2009.  Among my favorites was Accenture.



As you can see from the screenshot above BNET made their own update to the Accenture logo.

• Finally, check out this video on Microsoft's vision on the future of brick and mortar retailing:

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Yesterday was an exciting day for Google and its leaders alike.  Google announced real time search.  A much awaited feature many users have been expecting since Google and Bing made deals with Twitter earlier in the year.  The new feature hasn’t been released to everyone at this time but can be seen via YouTube and in the screenshot below.

Google Trends was also updated with a new Hot Topics area which is based on real time data.

Meanwhile, Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO who once described Twitter as a “poor man’s email system” was busy attempting to join Twitter himself.  I say attempt because the profile setup didn’t go as smoothly as one would think...

“He first logged on with the handle "eschmidt0", prompting a cyber-diss from high-profile New York tech executive Anil Dash:

As Ryan, the author of the post at Gawker goes on to note, “It looks like Schmidt also received some help from the Poor Man's Email Service's Rich Man's Identity Authenticator, because he's now got a ‘Verified Account.’ Throwing his (semi-)celebrity weight around at Twitter Inc.? Schmidt's starting to get the swing of things.”

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In early November, SingleFeed, a data feed submission and data feed management service which we use, released a new reporting interface.  It is still in beta, but has proven to be quite an upgrade from their previous system.

For those readers who don't know what SingleFeed is, they help online retailers submit, manage, and optimize product listings on top shopping sites through a single data feed. They essentially help you create just one feed that they then optimize and pass onto the comparison shopping engines. The company still seems small, but is growing rapidly. They are one of the few service providers that only charge a flat rate for their services, while others might also charge a percentage of revenue earned. The flat rate is perfect for submitting tens of thousands of products to CPA based or free shopping engines.

The new reporting interface displays more data and graphs a customizable timeline for the data you want to see. In the past, SingleFeed simply had totals and the occasional excel download. That's a little boring and not very useful in the grand scheme of things. Now marketers can see trends and make comparisons between different shopping engines or from product to product(s).  It’s incredibly more efficient and user friendly.

Here is an example of their new interface using sample data:

However, some of the negative points I see in using it are that reports can't be exported to excel, although we have been told that is coming. I know they are working hard on this and other features.  We’ve seen evidence of this in other areas they just recently gave us the ability to export our performance based on engine totals for selected time periods. Needless to say, I can't wait to finally download full spreadsheets of product performance data.

Another negative is the accuracy of data. I know what they have now is much better in terms of what they had before, but accuracy is still just a little off compared to other tracking tools we use, namely Google Analytics. SingleFeed is incredibly useful in keeping our products up to date. But when it comes to using it for its reporting tools, I still trust Google Analytics a little more...for now.

UPDATE

Since this post, SingleFeed has improved upon itself and started to develop new exporting functions.

Right now the exporting function is still in beta and is still limited to only top level data for each engine.  It’s a start and I am told that more report types are being developed in time.  Maybe, some product level and category level exportation?  We can hope!

Another little improvement is the ability to perform SKU suppression for each engine through the new reporting tool. The older method was to mark a field in the feed that told SingeFeed whether or not you wished a product to go to a specific engine.  The newer method uses the new reporting tool.  You have to first activate this function, but once done, you are able to include or not include products for certain engines within the product level report page.

I currently haven’t had to use this function as we only use SingleFeed for the free and CPA based engines. But I can see some great usability for comparison shopping engines such as Nextag or Pricegrabber, etc. If a product is eating up your budget or is simply not performing, you can easily not include that product for that engine and still keep it in others with just a few clicks. Definitely more useful than taking the back channels and altering your feed to not include the product, especially if you have a feed of thousands of products.

I have no doubt that more improvements are on the way for quarters one and two of 2010.  SingleFeed has thus far appreciated our feedback and has been quick to let us know if any improvements were made in regards to our feedback.  

It was a good experience in 2009 using SingleFeed's services.  With new improvements and as far as I have used it...an excellent response time for support issues.

As always, comments or thoughts are welcomed!

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So as most of you know BOTH Google and Bing have announced partnerships with Twitter to add tweets to search results in real time (as well as Bing stating they will add Facebook status updates). While Google’s integration of this is still a while off, Bing has created a beta page for it, but has yet to directly integrate. Bing’s exact description is below:

• “A real-time index of the Tweets that match your search queries in results. This feature makes it easier to follow what’s going on by reducing the amount of duplicates, spam, and adult content.
• Giving you the option to rank tweets either by most recent or by “best match,” where we consider a Tweeter’s popularity, interestingness of the tweet, and other indicators of quality and trustworthiness.
• Providing the top links shared on Twitter around your specific search query by showcasing a few of the most relevant tweets. Additionally, Bing automatically expands those small URLs (like bit.ly) to enable you to understand what people are tweeting about. Instead of showing standard search result captions, we select 2 top tweets to give users a glimpse of the sentiment around the shared link."

Below is an example of the Bing implementation of Twitter. You can see the search for faucets shows my most recent tweet about faucets as well as a shared link posted to the article that is from @SWNeilPlumbing as well.

This is really a cool idea as it somewhat implements a recent “comment” system for websites. Theoretically you can see social trends associated to the keyword you are searching for.  Then below the link you can see what people have been saying about the website that was socializing on the topic or keyword searched, on Twitter.  Google’s implementation of this will likely be integrated into universal search results and will likely feature the keyword searched in regular SERPs as well as any recent tweets with information on the websites.

Reinventing the Way We Search

So what does this mean for the SEO’s out there? Well in the short term, not much, but in the long run it could mean a complete redefinition of the way we do our jobs. As an example, right now having dedicated content that has garnered a lot of links and been well indexed by Google, directly improves the search results. But what happens if Google and Bing start to integrate Twitter posts in the universal search? Twitter posts are news as it is happening, and typically do not carry a long life span. So technically if they are integrated into Google and Bing they could theoretically out rank or draw attention away from websites that have been fighting for the main page for months, when they have only been posted for an hour and received five to ten retweets.

This change will directly affect SEO as you will battle for placement through the continuous posts of content that people deem “retweetable”, thus theoretically allowing your twitter post to be bumped higher on the universal search results. Now my ideas are guesses as to the actual implementation, but one way or another, this is the future. As people start to rely more on Twitter and Facebook (which Bing has confirmed they are adding) for their news, friend connections, and link sharing, we will have to adapt the way we do SEO to accompany that.

What do you think? Will these twitter posts make it into Google’s universal search results, or will they just be a stand alone search such as images and shopping?

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