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One of the most common components you can test is sales copy. In today's By the Numbers column, "Writing Sales Copy for Conversions," Tim Ash explains that changing your approach to writing can often lead to a double-digit increase in conversion rates.

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In China, search engines are responsible for the content to which they provide links. This means anytime the Chinese government decides that a certain type of content isn't worthy of its people, they can tell search engines not to list them. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Forget Tibet; Free the Content," Kevin Ryan discusses the Chinese government's ongoing efforts to censor the Internet.

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hakia has updated their Search Box, which is a site search feature you can place on your website. The biggest change is the ability to search multiple domains. Here's a mockup, via the hakia blog:

Another update is the highlighting of the semantic relevant words in the results:

Search box is available for free, up to 30,000 searches per day.

Related Reading:
hakia Launches Personalized Search Feature
Meet the New hakia
hakia Calls for Librarians to Contribute Credible Web Sources

You might remember that online video site Veoh recently had a copyright lawsuit thrown out by a judge. That lawsuit was brought by adult entertainment company IO Group.

But Veoh has other lawsuits it's facing, one of them brought by Universal Music Group. Techdirt reports that one of the main arguments being made by Universal was that Veoh didn't have DMCA safe harbor protection because it changed the format of the video and made smaller chunks than the original.

The judge in the case has now said Universal's argument doesn't fly. The lawsuit isn't over yet, but it's another good sign for Veoh and online video in general.

Related Reading:
Big Music Companies in Negotiations to Form Hulu-Like Site
Viacom and NBC Take Note: Universal Music (and Others) are Making Tens of Million$ on YouTube
Warner Music Not as Thrilled As Universal, Says Goodbye to YouTube

comScore has released the stats for online video viewing in the United States for November 2008. Overall, the number of videos viewed was up 34% from November 2007.

YouTube-fueled Google sites saw almost the same number of visitors as they did in October, which saw 100 million unique visitors. This time, it was 98 million.

Other interesting tidbits:

• 77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
• The average online video viewer watched 273 minutes of video.
• 97 million viewers watched 5.1 billion videos on YouTube.com (52.3 videos per viewer).
• 52.5 million viewers watched 371 million videos on MySpace.com (7.1 videos per viewer).
• The duration of the average online video was 3.1 minutes.
• The duration of the average online video viewed at Hulu was 11.9 minutes, higher than any other video property in the top ten.

If you conduct search advertising through Yahoo, you just got a brand spanking new addition to your search marketing team: Yahoo.

Through an update to their terms and conditions, Yahoo gives itself permission to hijack your search marketing campaigns. Check out the new language:

Sponsored Search 3. OPTIMIZATION. In the U.S. only, for those advertisers not bound by an Insertion Order, we may help you optimize your account(s). Accordingly, you expressly agree that we may also: (i) create ads, (ii) add and/or remove keywords, and/or (iii) optimize your account(s). We will notify you via email of such changes made to your account(s), and can also include a spreadsheet of such changes upon your written request. If you would like any of such changes reversed, please reply to such email within 14 days of the change(s), and we will make commercially reasonable efforts to reverse the change(s) you specifically identify. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you remain responsible for all changes made to your account(s), including all click charges incurred prior to any reversions being made. It is your responsibility to monitor your account(s) and to ensure that your account settings are consistent with your business objectives.

Actually, Yahoo began invading its customers' personal space about a month ago. Al Scillitani was alarmed when he got an email from Yahoo saying they had made changes to his account - after the fact.

Now, it's just official.

This is kind of like a fast food restaurant going into your burger after you've take a bite and removing or adding pickles, ketchup and cheese. Or your cable company going into your DVR and choosing which programs to record.

Have you received the new Terms and Conditions? Has Yahoo made changes to your account? Let us know in the comments!

Related Reading:
Yahoo Snags Search Ad Marketshare Gain at Google's Expense
Yahoo's Conversion Tips: Optimize, Navigate and Track
Yahoo Releases Three Updates to Traffic Quality Center

If search engines want all SEOs to operate in an ethical manner, they should show us that they're penalizing the Web sites that abuse their guidelines, and reward those who follow their guidelines. In today's organic search engine optimization column, "There's No Shortcut to Good SEO...Or Is There?," Mark Jackson explains that anything less makes it hard to justify following the rules.

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Any well-rounded Internet marketing campaign must include a strong e-mail marketing campaign. In today's small business search engine marketing column, "E-mail Marketing Tips for Small Business," Carrie Hill shows how search plays a role when you use PPC or organic search to grow your subscriber list.

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Guest blogger for Yoast Andre Scholten has come up with what I think is the best filter ever created for Google Analytics. He has given us a way to track keyword rankings!

The filter is so good it even has options of how deep to go, a choice between word rank by number or page number. Click now - rush to this one - everyone has to read this.

Bravo mate - this goes down as the Best Damn Google Analytics Filter Ever. Mr De Valk - a truly great guest find.

UPDATE: Was linking to wrong page but corrected.

Hackers usually are smart, but can be really, really stupid. The person who hacked Twitter - not the Direct Message phishing expedition that started over the weekend - could have picked pretty much anyone else on the planet and be less concerned of being tracked down.

This person hacked President-elect Obama's Twitter account! There has to be Secret Service people - like the Diane Laine character in Untraceable - crawling through the internet tracking him/her down. That is if the person has not been quietly killed already (for my conspiracy theorist readers).

Barack's account was one of 33 hacked, according to the Twitter blog.

"This morning we discovered 33 Twitter accounts had been "hacked" including prominent Twitter-ers like Rick Sanchez and Barack Obama (who has not been Twittering since becoming the president elect due to transition issues). We immediately locked down the accounts and investigated the issue. Rick, Barack, and others are now back in control of their accounts," the site stated.

If the Secret Service kill the person during the arrest, I have a nomination for the Darwin Awards.

It's a New Year, but we've got that same old economy from 2008. If you find yourself looking for a job in search, these five resources should be the foundation of your efforts:

1. Indeed.com - Culls results from a variety of jobs sites as well as job listings from company web sites. Searching here keeps you from having to go individually to a variety of sites. You can pull an RSS feed of your job search into your news reader, making your search process even faster. You'll find results from:
   • SEMPO
   • Monster
   • HotJobs (owned by Yahoo)
   • CareerBuilder
   • Dice
   • TalentZoo
2. Twitter Let your followers know you're looking for a job. I once did and had three leads in 24 hours. I got offers from all three. The Twitter community is generally a very compassionate bunch, raising money for good causes. Helping people find jobs is something I think we'll see a lot of in 2009 - 2010.
3. LinkedIn Not only does LinkedIn have its own job listings, but here you can many times find the people who are doing the hiring or at least work in Human Resources at the company you're interested in. Use your network to get introduced and create connections.
4. Craig's List Answering an ad for a Search Marketing Copywriter on Craig's List is how I got my start in search. Well, that and the great Marketing Don taking a chance on me.
5. Search Engine Watch Board - Rounding out the list is a completely shameless plug for our very own jobs board.

What resources do YOU recommend? Leave a comment and let us know!

Related Reading:
The Purple People Collective: Freelance and Job Listings for Laid-Off Yahoos
Yahoo, Zillow to Cut Jobs
Recruiting SEM Employees: Job Boards, Headhunters & Account Planning Boot Camp
SEMPO Institute to Develop Career Opportunities for Young Chicagoans

Execs from Google and Microsoft are ponying up big time for President-elect Barack Obama's big day. On January 20, the former junior Senator from Illinois will become the 44th President of the United States.

Who from search is giving big for the shindig?

From Google:

• Eric Schmidt (CEO) $25,000.00
• Larry Page (Co-founder) $25,000.00
• Marissa Mayer (Vice President, Search Products & User Experience) $25,000.00
• Richard Costolo (former Feedburner CEO) $25,000.00
• Chad Hurley (YouTube co-founder) $25,000.00
• David Drummond (Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer) $25,000.00

From Microsoft:

• Steven Ballmer (CEO) $50,000.00
• Bradford Smith (Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, Legal & Corporate Affairs) $25,000.00
• Craig Mundie (Chief Research and Strategy Officer) $25,000.00
• Steven VanRoekel (Senior Director, Windows Server Solutions Group, Microsoft) $50,000.00

So far from Yahoo, one lone donation, from an attorney:

• Laura Covington $10,000.00

For a full list of donors, click here.

via SFGate

Related Reading:
Vote Obama/Google in '08?
Google CEO Schmidt Will Not Be Obama's CTO
Obama's Link Strategy Fuels Election Victory
Obama is Winning the Internet War

Bloomberg is reporting that China plans to crack down on search engines, among other sites they deem harmful. This certainly wouldn't be the first time.

The reason this time is concerns over pornography. Of course, search engines don't host pornography on their sites, they simply provide links to searchers. If China feels it has a pornography problem, the origination of that problem begins with the searcher, not the engine.

Web sites and search engines that ignore their new found regulations will face penalties and possible closure.

Related Reading:
Chinese Internet Portal Sina Buys Focus Media for $1 Billion
Baidu Responds to Accusations of Questionable Practices
Baidu Launches C2C Site, Youa.com
China's Sohu.com Posts 600% Jump in Profit
1.8 Billion Internet Users by 2012, China to Overtake US Internet Use by 2011

UPDATE: Link to Steve Jobs Letter at Apple Site

Last week, Frank Watson reported to you that Steve Jobs health was in question. If you read a bunch of tech blogs, you've seen the rumors. Jobs once had cancer, and bloggers, journalists and Wall Street analysts have been wondering if it had returned because Jobs had lost a lot of weight.

The good news is that the cancer is not back. According to Fox Business (which I have on in the background, sorry no link yet, but check out the screen shot below) Steve Jobs has released a letter to shareholders acknowledging the weight loss and explaining that the doctors have finally determined that it is a hormonal imbalance. He is being treated and expects to gain the weight back.

Related Reading:
Apple Should Buy Yahoo: Why I'm Now Convinced
Microsoft, Google and Apple Being Sued Over Icon Navigation

This morning, I received a direct message from one of my Twitter friends. It was a very strange message. Check it out:

I clicked on the link, which lead to this:

I checked the Tweet stream of the friend who sent me the direct message. She said she had been fooled into following a phishing scam.

She wasn't the only one. Originally, the blogspot page directed people to another site which looked like the Twitter homepage. They signed in, giving away their user name and password. Of course, this helps spread the phishing scam via direct messages.

What really happened is that a mockup of the Twitter homepage was hanging out at a very bad URL. The good folks at Twitter captured this screenshot of the site:

These phishing scams hit MySpace pretty hard once it got popular. Now, it looks like we have to watch out for them on Twitter.

Phishing schemes kind of took the shine off the once popular MySpace. Looking back, I think it's one of the reasons I stopped hanging out on the social network. I saw so many messages that weren't from my friends even though it looked as though they were. I haven't noticed the same on LinkedIn or Facebook yet.

If phishing hits Twitter consistently, then it might just be their demise.

What do you think? Did you get an unusual direct message? Think phishing could ruin Twitter? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Related Reading:
If You Want To Know When Google Updates Toolbar PR Follow Matt Cutts on Twitter
Twitter Brings Back People Search
Google Friend Connect Adds Twitter
Twitter as a Terrorist's Tool

With six weeks to go before SES London 2009, it’s time to build a business case for going to the definitive event for UK and European marketers, corporate decision makers, webmasters and search engine marketing (SEM) specialists, including pay per click (PPC) advertisers and search engine optimization (SEO) consultants.

Yes, yes, I know there’s a recession on both sides of the pond. I read The Economist. (I loved the article in the print edition on December 30, 2008, which reminded us that Alfred Kahn, one of President Jimmy Carter’s economic advisers, was chided in 1978 for using the “R” word. So, Mr Kahn, in his next speech, replaced the offending word, saying, “We’re in danger of having the worst banana in 45 years.”)

So, how do you make the business case that you need to go to an SEM conference during the worst banana since 1978?

I would argue that it is penny wise and pound foolish to miss SES London 2009 just because we’re in a recession. In fact, it’s probably more important to go now than ever before.

So, what makes Search Engine Strategies London a not-to-be-missed industry event? And what makes it particularly important for people who have attended in the past to make a return visit this year?

First, SES London 2009 is the place where the search industry gathers to chart the year ahead. The pace of change in this industry hasn’t slowed down. This search industry keeps reinventing itself at an amazing pace and last year's cutting-edge program already is dated in some areas. You can’t afford to be left behind.

Second, it’s where you can learn how to calculate the ROI of your search marketing efforts from top search experts. Now, I’m just one of the 48 conference speakers who will be making presentations at SES London 2009. And I plan to share some case studies of how optimized press releases generated:
• $200 million in B2B leads for Symmetricom’s chip-scale atomic clocks,
• More than $2.5 million in ticket sales for Southwest Airlines, and
• Almost 1.3 million searches for “florists” on SuperPages.com.

I’ll also explain how combining blog outreach with press release optimization generated:
• A record 450,000 unique visitors to The Christian Science Monitor in 24 hours,
• A record 88,000 entries into Parents magazine’s cover kid photo contest, and
• A record 1,100 attendees to the Wharton Economic Summit.

Now, I think I’m supposed to say, “Past performance is no indicator of future success.” And I should disclose that SES became a client about 14 months ago.

But check out the list of speakers who will be presenting at SES London 2009. I know most of them. I’ve heard many of them speak at previous Search Engine Strategies conferences. And I know they have similar success stories to tell.

If you want to hear more than 200 of their success stories from 2008, just go to SESConferenceExpo’s Channel on YouTube. Or watch the three SES London 2008 Roundup Reels below.

So, can your organization really afford to skip SES London 2009 just because there’s a recession? Missing a not-to-be-missed industry event would be penny wise and pound foolish. Skipping the event because you went last year would be “bananas.”

Now, you could simply cut your print magazine, print newspaper and other offline advertising budgets. But that isn’t going to grow your business online and it isn’t going to help you weather the storm any better than your competitors.

The only way you can do this is by learning the SEM strategies, PPC tactics and SEO tips that generate a measurable marketing ROI. And then you need to keep learning what's coming next in the constantly evolving world of search, and how you can profit from those changes.

And where can you do that? You already know where I’m headed. You can learn all this by going to SES London 2009.

Time to ring in the New Year with a few search marketing predictions for 2009. In today's SEM agency issues column, "Search Shifts and Predictions for 2009," William Flaiz predicts what another year will hold for Google, the Web and SEO.

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It's been about two years since Google and Yahoo implemented their quality score algorithms. Instead of giving the top ad spot to the highest bidder, search engines now take the perceived quality of the ad's landing page into account. In today's SEM 101 column, "Search Ad Quality Score 101, Part 1," Ron Jones takes a closer look at what affects the quality score.

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Another group at Stanford may have come up with the next big thing. Zunavision is a way to embed video inside video and could lead to true successful video monetization.

Okay it has been out there since midNovember, but it really does have some of the slick tricks needed to ultimately help the video industry develop a working revenue generating model.

The insert can be placed into the background of a video - and people can walk in front of it - so if you had a video and put it on the wall in the background it renders into the video and allows foreground action to continue.

Once they have a clickable solution, video advertising will be officially scalable to true monetization. In the meantime, play with it.

If you want to take some of the same courses the Google and Yahoo founders took, nows your chance and they are even free. Part of the Standford Engineering Everywhere initiative, the courses include all needed sylabi, handouts, tests and access to reading lists.

"For the first time in its history, Stanford is offering some of its most popular engineering classes free of charge to students and educators around the world.," the Stanford website explains.

“We are excited to extend our teaching and learning opportunities worldwide through SEE,” said
Jim Plummer, dean of the Stanford Engineering School. “We hope SEE will enable a broad range of people to learn, to share their ideas and to make their own contributions to knowledge.”
The 10 courses, arranged in three subject areas, include one of Stanford’s most popular
sequences: the three-quarter introduction to computer science. SEE also offers three courses on artificial intelligence and robotics, and four on linear systems and optimization. The address for SEE is http://see.stanford.edu - the university press release explains.

Now if it only came with free time.....