Google Unveils its 10th Anniversary Logo

This is the best image I was able to find of Google's upcoming 10th anniversary logo.

Happy Birthday Google!

For more information check out this post on Vnunet.com - Google Unveils 10th Anniversary Logo

BrainTrack University Index - Google PR 9 Web Directory For Sale!

As unbelievable as it may sound, there is a Google PageRank (PR) 9 Web directory for sale on SitePoint. It is going for $300,000 and the reserve has not been met (yet). It currently, as of today has 29 days left in the auction. This one will be interesting to follow.

Check it out here:
- BrainTrack University Index Hompage
- BrainTrack University Index Auction on SitePoint

Steve Ballmer is Beautiful!

I think we have a candidate for next years - People Magazines 'Sexiest Man Alive' contest! Enjoy...:-)

Americans Expect Companies to Have a Presence in Social Media

Interesting new research has recently been released from Cone that says:

According to the survey, 93 percent of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media, while an overwhelming 85 percent believe a company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media. In fact, 56 percent of American consumers feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment.

What does this mean to average businesses? It means that consumers are not requesting, but expecting businesses to communciate and be involved in online communities if they wish to better communciate with them. The winners will be the businesses that best embrace this concept.

A great example of this was recently discussed on National Public Radio (NPR) when a consumer bought an expensive flat screen LCD TV to watch a specific sports game, but when he went to plug it in it would not configure properly to his cable service. It was after hours for customer service, so he jumped on Twitter to deperately ask friends for help and low and behold someone from his cable company responded within minutes and he later had someone show up for onsite installation help. This example of rapid response and being where the customer is, is the future of communciations if your company wants to be a player in the new media world.

Check out the full research report here - Americans Expect Companies to Have a Presence in Social Media

Monitor Keywords Beyond the Search Engines

SiteVolume is a free new online service that allows you to enter one to five keywords (or phrases) into its interface and see, with a click of a button how many mentions of that keyword appear on any of these sites:

- Flickr
- Facebook
- MySpace
- Digg
- YouTube

This is a great tool to allow you to easily gather insight into keywords beyond the search engines.

You can check it out here - SiteVolume

Google Launches New Website to Help Get Your Content Out to the World (or at Least Google's World)

Google recently announced a new website that allows you a centralized place to upload your content to Google Web Search, Maps, Product Search and iGoogle. Below is a list of what you are able to currently upload:

- Submit a URL for inclusion in Google's index
- Submit a Sitemap through Webmaster tools
- List your business in the Local Business Center
- Upload your products for sale in Product Search


The site is located here - Submit Your Content Website.

In addition, they have also released a new Blog in conjunction with this new site and it is located here - Content Central Blog

Yahoo + AOL = YahAOL?

On Tuesday, Yahoo's new board cleared the way for a new round of talks with Time Warner over the future of AOL, potentially restarting negotiations for a combination of the two businesses that stalled out earlier this year.

This combination would make sense for the two as Yahoo is trying to strengthen its display ad platform and AOL has been in trouble and in need of direction for some time. Early indications say that Yahoo shareholders also agree with the possible merger as the stock has been slightly increasing today.

Yahoo Stock Tracking

The 3 Google Amigos - Larry, Brin and now Hubert?

Recently Hubert Chang has come out of nowhere to claim that he was one of the original Google founders. He claims to have helped Sergey Brin and Larry Page come up with PageRank, Google's business model, and even the name "Google" back in 1997, but chose to pursue his Ph.D at NYU rather than attach his name to the Google project.

Below are some videos that Hubert Chang recently posted (from 9/3/08) that provides additional details:


Google truth, the truth of Google's birth from googletruth on Vimeo.



Larry Page, Sergey Brin, AND Hubert Chang created Google (the original) from googletruth on Vimeo.

Most of the search marketing community is a little skeptical about these claims. True or not, this will be interesting to watch play out and how and if Google reacts or responds.

Just a quick UPDATE!

We have also found the lost inventor of YouTube. In his own words here is what he has to say:

Google vs. Yahoo! vs. MSN in Search Engine Rap Battles

Words cannot do justice to this amusing battle of search engines - you just have to watch this yourself to believe it - very funny (and dead on accurate)!

Click Here to Watch the Search Engine Rap Battles

BOTW + DMOZ = Super Directory?

There has been a lot of speculation and apparent confirmation (as per Shoemoney's recent blog post that Best of the Web Directory (BOTW) may be buying the Open Directory (DMOZ). This would be a big deal that could catapult BOTW into the position of being the Internet's largest web directory (bigger than Yahoo's Directory). This would make sense as AOL currently owns the DMOZ and financially they have been in trouble for quite some time, so why not dump it as it is not a direct revenue generator and it does require a lot of resources to maintain. BOTW is a very successful online web directory and could assume the responsibilities and make it into a profitable venture. This possible merger leaves a lot of questions on the table.

- Will the DMOZ now charge for site reviews (for inclusion)?

- Will Google still use the DMOZ as their resource for their Google Directory?

- Will Google still value the 'link juice' that the DMOZ provides (BOTW was not hit with the Google web directory penalty as many of the other web directories were, so it is possible that Google may still value these links)

- Will the two directories be run as two separate entities or merged?

- Will all current listings remain? Will they be updated? Will the structure change?

- Will there actually be customer service and less corruption (DMOZ is notorious for corruption and lack of customer service)?

There are a lot of questions that will be very interesting to watch as they two giants possibly merge and what new opportunities/repercussions this will provide the SEO community.

For additional information check out this article on WebProNews - Rumor: Dmoz Selling To BOTW

Accurate Google PageRank Checker - Including Subdomains

dlls.info has a great new free Google PageRank (PR) checker that appears to be accurate and updated often. The great part about this PR checker is that it can also check subdomains accurately, which is something that is sometime hard to find as most checkers default to the top level domain.

Check it out here - dlls.info Google PageRank (PR) Checker

Search Fuel Goes Live!

Search Fuel is an incredible new search marketing blog that covers a range of topics covering organic search, paid search, emerging trends and technology, social media and featured articles (which also includes my new post on "Does MSN Live Search Matter").

Click here to learn more - Search Fuel

Additional information from the 'About Us' Page:

SearchFuel is an alternative source for search marketing insights. Our goal is share insights and perspective developed from experiences within our unique environment as the search strategists for some of the world’s most powerful brands and media buyers.

Our team of Contributing Bloggers features talent across Outrider, an award-winning, leading global, integrated search marketing agency and direct-to-client division of GroupM Search, and the agency divisions of GroupM Search, including Beyond Interaction Search, MEC Interaction and MindShare Search. SearchFuel bloggers include experienced executives, strategists and experts across all things search marketing, with a variety expertise across strategies, verticals and cross-channel integration.

The work of the search divisions contributing to SearchFuel has received many distinctions for the path we’ve led in integrating search into the media mix, including awards from Yahoo!, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), MediaPost, and Search Engine Strategies (SES). It is this perspective that we feel is underserved in the marketplace and can be addressed on SearchFuel.

Many blogs exist that report the daily news impacting the search and media industries. SearchFuel is the alternative for deeper insight and discussion among clients, advertisers, traditional and digital media buyers, search marketers, media planners, media specialists and more. Our bloggers strive to provide search perspective that inspires innovative thinking and fuels conversation and debate centered around intent, content and relevancy as it relates to search marketing and its influence in the integrated media landscape.

SearchFuel features regular, relevant posts in categories across paid search, organic search, emerging trends and technologies (mobile search, local, reputation management, etc.), and social media marketing (SMM), as well as features including Global Perspective, Vertical-Specific Posts and Guest Bloggers.

Click here to learn more - Search Fuel