Kate Morris

So Microsoft didn’t buy Facebook, but they made the relationship stronger. Things should get really interesting now. With a good chunk of the SEM world mad at Google for the paid link thing, MSN making moves to improve their search AND tell people about it, and their already dominance on all PCs initially, this could make an interest shift in the search world.

Not one I am particularly happy about (I’m for Ask, the real undergog), but this does prove the already proven point that SEMs are not in danger of losing their jobs anytime soon. The market changes too fast, and if you aren’t keeping up, your website could suffer.

Just in the past 48 hours we have seen many high ranked sites drop because of paid linking practices, and a major buy in social marketing. Not reacting properly to this in certain markets could mean the death of your site in the future.

So I’m with Lisa. I’m not worried about my profession any time soon.

Barry notes today that a number of sites have been wrist slapped by Google for selling paid links. Good for Google. I hate to say it, but Barry is right, Google gave plenty of warning.

Google can do what it wants, what it thinks is best for the end user, not the advertiser. If you want to do well in Google, you have to do what they say. It’s as simple as that. If you want to buy links, go for it. It just won’t help anymore.

Search Engine Watch just posted a rant about paid linking. One of many since SES San Jose (I’m still mad that I didn’t go. Matt told me to, I should have.)

After everyone in the SEM world harking on Google for their initiative to go after paid linkers, I really hope they don’t drop it. Paid linking is the source for many bad sites being ranked just because they have money.

This whole thing is like file sharing. When it’s a random person (or site in this case) doing it, it’s not a big deal. The music industry doesn’t lose a ton of money really. People will continue to buy CDs, but sometimes its nice to get something free from a friend, which is how this started.

Paid linking in general is not horrible, but Google is saying if you do it in excess, and they see that the site is not bringing anything to the end user, those paid links will not count. Guess what, they still count in Yahoo and MSN and Ask. They have not said what Google has said. So calm down. It’s Google’s search engine. They get to do what they want. That may be a good or bad thing, but as with all Web 2.0, if you don’t like it, don’t use it. The mass drop of Google will make them change their minds. Not just bitching about it.

Nielsen recently released results of their trusted advertising survey. Search Engine Watch reported that the results say that the public doesn’t really trust search ads.

Okay, as a search engine marketer I get that. We have all had the experience of trying to explain just what Search Engine Marketing is. And even when you bring it down to paid search (the easy bit to explain), people are still surprised that those things on Google are ads, and that people pay for you to click on it.

So when you survey the population about what they trust … what are they going to pick? The same way they pick people in elections, by former knowledge of the name. People know newspapers and other people. Same thing with magazines. Those are high touch and have been trustworthy in the past.

Do I think search ads are less trustworthy? No, but I know more than the average Joe about Quality Score and it’s determination on what ads show and what ads don’t show. It’s going to take some time to get people to get that not all online advertising is annoying … this industry is still very young.

I went to the 8th Annual Texas Conference for Women yesterday and had a blast meeting such great women. It was empowering hearing from all the speakers, and making such great connections. I’ve gotten a chance now to get my personal website back up, and update my LinkedIn. Sometimes it takes meeting new people to get you going again on your dreams and goals.

I had originally wanted to attend to hear about the scholarships, but then developed a new idea just before the conference. I got a lot of great ideas about how to go about making that new idea a reality, and so much more.

If I got to meet you at the conference and you want more information on search engine marketing, please email or call me. I can’t wait to be a part of your project and get you going on the Internet.