Symetri Blog

If you have advertised with Yahoo or Overture you will know that there was a minimum of $20 that you had to spend each month. Even if you only spent $10 for instance, Yahoo would charge you $20. Many small advertisers were upset with this policy. So much that Yahoo decided to drop the minimum spend. Check out this post by YahooSarah at the Search Engine Watch Forum.

Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

With all of the video streams and podcasts that have emerged it has become harder to find good content. If you are a content owner, how do you make sure your video streams and podcasts can be found.

Yahoo launched its audio search in August 2005. "We do music specifically, which is a more structured database of content that you can navigate through, such as bios, discographies, tour dates, etc.," said Horowitz." We also do podcasts, which is an increasingly important category of audio on the Web.

Video files can be uploaded to Google at upload.video.google.com. "All you have to do is set up a free Google account, capture the video, and publish it to us," said Chane. "We will even give you the free bandwidth, and your video will be posted and playable."

You can suggest your video and audio files for free inclusion in the Yahoo Video Search index by submitting your Media RSS Feed form at search.yahoo.com/mrss/submit. "You will need to enter the URL of your RSS feed, including the http://," said Horowitz. "Dead feeds will be automatically detected and removed on an ongoing basis. Also, if you don't want your audio and video files crawled, include them in your robots exclusion file (robots.txt)."

Yahoo also offers a paid inclusion program called the Content Acquisition Program (CAP). "Participation in CAP or Site Match does not guarantee placement or ranking in video search results," said Horowitz, "but additional information made available through the direct data feeds may increase or decrease relevance depending on the search query."


Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

There is a great thread in the Search Engine Watch Forum that talks about good reasons to outsource your paid search campaign. One reason is that SEM Firms have software to help automate the process. There is a difference here. Some Firms have their own tools and others use off the shelf tools. Those who have their own tools like Symetri are generally more sophisticated.

Another key benefit is that SEM Firms should have sophisticated tracking capabilities to enable them to understand which words are performing better and why. It is very difficult to get this kind of information on your own.

Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has formed a new group to establish guidelines for search on mobile devices.

The goal is to create a network that is compatible with consumers, advertisers and content providers. Further they are working to develop common models, standards, procedures and interfaces.

Carriers have begun looking for branding solutions from search engines like Google and Yahoo!

In February, the MMA set up committees to create best practices and ROI metrics for the wireless industry. The organization expects to add additional chapters to its international roster early next year.


Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

Just finished our Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Seminar in Greensboro, NC. As our special guests, Neal Wilson from Yahoo Search Marketing came down to help present to a group of marketing professionals and Web site owners. We had over 50 attendees that learned how SEM / SEO fits into the overall marketing mix and specific things they can do to make their Web sites "search engine friendly".

"I came to this seminar not knowing much about Search Engine Marketing and walked away feeling like I knew 90% more than most people", was a comment from one participant.

We are planning about 4-5 more seminars next year in Raleigh, Atlanta, Charlotte and of course another one in Greensboro.


Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

Natural language search is the art of returning search results using terms found in regular speech. An example of a natural language search might be "Who was the fifteenth president of the United States" as opposed to "fifteenth president united states".

PC World recently conducted a review of four major engines (Answers.com Ask Jeeves, MSN Search and Google) in order to determine which engine most accurately answers this type of query.

Their conclusion? None of the so-called "natural language vets" performed significantly better than a regular search engine such as Google.

Of course the sample size was fairly limited and search results change by the second so all this should be taken with a grain of salt. Even so, you'll want to check out the study.


Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

AOL has added some new features designed to appeal to beginning and advance searchers alike. Check out the new tools that are alive today at search.aol.com. AOL says these new features are a result of extensive consumer research.

Most people don't know that AOL Search is powered by Google, therefore it is using Google's massive indexed database. What differentiates AOL Search from Google are features like these that are newly introduced. Some of these features are not found on Google. It is worth checking out.


Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

Yahoo! is adding text ads that appear when people use its search engine from their handsets in Japan, and the company is auctioning off spots on its mobile travel Web site in Britain, Senior Vice President Doug Garland said.

The trials mark Yahoo!'s first experiments with search advertising on phones and may provide an avenue to sell more ads to companies seeking to reach younger consumers.

"The way that Yahoo! is going to stay relevant and essential is by extending our services beyond the PC browser to all devices that consumers use," Garland, who runs Yahoo!'s mobile group, said Wednesday in an interview at a conference in San Francisco. "There will be a paid search market that develops."


Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization