Search Engine Marketing Blog - Blogation

Cybersquating and Porn in One AdSense Ad on YouTube

2009-07-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

How this one got past the AdSense quality team is beyond me . . . And why didn't I think about buying the URL "peeplo" - I gotta get back on GoDaddy and add to my domain collection.

Piss Off One Consumer and He'll Tell 2.5 Million People

2009-07-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

The video "United Breaks Guitars" has received 2.5 million page views on YouTube . . . in the last week. Here's the link:And if that wasn't enough, the story has now been picked up by CNN!Bad customer service in the Internet age, it's a bad idea!

Google Chrome OS - Bad Move for Google, Here's Why

2009-07-07T23:20:00.000-07:00

This is Google's biggest, most controversial move ever - introducing an operating system to directly compete with Microsoft and Apple. I think this is actually a watershed moment for Google - it's either the moment that they finally transcend search and truly move beyond the Company's origins, or its the beginning of the end - the final proof that Google, perhaps like the Roman Empire, has just

Totalitarian Photoshopping: Did Orwell Anticipate YouTube?

2009-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

Josef Stalin may well be the most under-rated dictator in history. Though most people would point to Hitler and Pol Pot as the most brutal leaders of the 20th century, by sheer numbers, Stalin was the worst. Read the Wikipedia summary of his life and you'll see what I mean: "if famine victims are included, a minimum of around 10 million deaths — 6 million minimum from famine and 4 million minimum

I'd Like to Buy a Vowel . . . Buy it On Shopping.com

2009-06-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

Apparently you can now buy parts of the English language on Shopping.com! Today I was doing a search for "buying adjectives" (trying to create a master list of words to use in keyword generation), and here's the first result I get on Google:

Guest Post: Terry Whalen of CPC Search Tells Us Why Rumors of Bing's Ascendance Are Greatly Overrated!

2009-06-22T14:48:00.001-07:00

Though I like some of the features in Bing, I don't have much faith that Bing is going to overtake Google in search market-share, or even put much of a dent in Google's share over the long run. And I'm not alone in this assessment. My good friend Terry Whalen from CPCSearch has graciously agreed to share his perspective on Bing with Blogation's readers. Here's his thoughts: Microsoft’s $100

Twitter Sucks, Postscript - I Am Not Alone!

2009-06-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

It seems there are a lot of Twitter apologists who refuse to listen to anyone with a negative reaction to Twitter. To wit, most of the comments I got on my last Twitter post were from people either accusing me of link bait (I wish I knew how!) or of misunderstanding Twitter entirely.Today, however, a post by Jeremy Liew at Lightspeed VP's blog confirmed at least one thing - I'm not the only one

Twitter Sucks

2009-05-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

I try to stay "hip" to the latest Internet innovations. I use Facebook, LinkedIn, Meebo, Google Latitudes, and yes, I've tried Twitter. After about four months of tweeting, however, I think I understand the Tweetosphere enough to draw this simple conclusion: Twitter, in its current form, will not change the Internet and could indeed be obsolete or replaced within one year.This is a bold

Too Much Targeting + Too Little Fungibility = Minimal Revenue for Facebook?

2009-05-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite panels at last month's AdSpace conference was the discussion on social media advertising. Jeremy Liew - the panel's moderator - wrote a great summary of the learnings from that conference, which I recommend reading. What really stood out to me in this session was the incredible degree of hyper-targeting available to advertisers on social media. For example, Jeremy summaries an

It's Good to be Site.com

2009-05-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

Every now and again I see a test ad showing up on AdWords or AdSense. I found one this morning while surfing my gmail . . .Though I am almost never click on AdWords ads, in this case, I was curious to see whether the novice AdWords user at least sent the destination URL to somewhere interesting. Sadly, the ad takes you to Site.com.This got me to thinking; I bet that sites like "Site.com" and "

Swine Flu - Let the Keyword Buys Commence!

2009-04-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

As I suspected, there's already at least one advertiser trying to capitalize on swine flu mania - see screenshot below!

Phishing for AdWords Logins . . . By Advertising on AdWords

2009-04-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

This is perhaps the most brazen or stupid way to try to phish for AdWords logins - you decide! Check out the first ad on the right frame below:

Spam Poetry Volume ???: Non-Kosher Male Enhancement

2009-04-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

Short and sweet (the antithesis of what they promise). I often wonder whether these things are literal translations fo some foreign slang:She will learn once and for all that your pork steeple is the best!

One Free Ticket to ADSPACE ($450 Value!) Up for Grabs!

2009-04-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I ran a "identify the mystery client" promotion on Blogation. Mike from LA ended up winning the grand prize - a free ticket to ADSPACE. Well, sadly, Mike had to decline the ticket due to scheduling conflicts. But hey, Mike's loss is your gain! I'm putting the free ticket up for grabs again. Here's the new contest. There are eight questions below about ADSPACE. First person to

A New Breed of Contextual Advertisers

2009-04-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

Editor's Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I'll feature some guest contributions from speakers, advisors, and exhibitors participating in AdSpace (April 22 in SF!). The first one is from DOCLIX, a recently-funded contextual advertising network. The company is offering publishers and advertisers a "premium contextual network" called AdSide. As they note in the company description, "AdSide

Kudos to Clickbooth - Leading the Fight Against Flogs

2009-04-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

Got an email today from Clickbooth announcing their new policy against fake blogs (flogs). I suspect that this move may be led by a desire to reduce their legal liability for fraudulent marketing practices, but regardless of the intent, I applaud them for being ahead of the curve on this.By the way, I was disappointed that no one seemed to pick up the fact that my most recent post - dated at

Fake Blogs: Now Moving Into More Categories

2009-04-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

As if it wasn't enough that fake blogs ("flogs") had taken over weight loss, wrinkle cream, and teeth whitening ads across the Internet, it's now apparent that the trend is quickly spreading into new markets.First, for those of you who have not seen a fake blog, here's how it works. Check out the ads (powered by Quigo) on the homepage of AOL.com:As you can see, the entire inventory of text ads is

Wanted: New Headline Writer. Apply at Company Below

2009-03-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

The End is Near (To Save on ADSPACE)

2009-03-25T22:16:00.001-07:00

Friday is the last day to get 20% off the early bird price for ADSPACE. Use code "AdSpaceC" and you get in for $316. Wait until the last minute and pay $595!The list of speakers you'll see at the show is phenomenal - I actually can't believe that we've managed to get all of these people together in one place. So register now or forever hold your peace (or just pay more later). Here's the speaker

How My Internet Marketing Skillz Save Me 50%+ on Groceries

2009-03-25T20:38:00.001-07:00

This post is a bit off-topic, but hey its my blog and I'll blog off-topic if I want to.I've recently started shopping on Amazon.com for groceries and the amount you can save by doing this is amazing. Take a Clif Bar as an example. At Safeway, a Clif Bar costs $1.50. With 8.75% tax here in CA, your total price is $1.62.If you order a Clif Bar from Amazon (note: you have to order 24 at once, so you

Mainstream Media Catches Flog Fever

2009-03-23T21:14:00.000-07:00

Some interesting investigative work by ABC - turns out the Acai berry weight loss model was a $1 stock photo of a German model!With mainstream media raising the alarm, seems like only a matter of time before Google and the FTC say no mas.

Google's March Towards Banner Ads on Google Search Continues . . .

2009-03-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

First Google added "Google Checkout" logos to the AdWords results for participating merchants. Then they offered "product images" for retailers. Today I noticed the latest non-text test on AdWords search - mini logos (or, maybe these are favicons, I don't know). See screenshot below - the keyword I typed in was "project manager degree."I've said this before - why not just go all out and try

What Do Terry Semel, Henry Ford, and AIG Have in Common?

2009-03-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

By 1916 Henry Ford was a rich man: his company was making $60,000,000 of profit a year (in 1916 dollars!) and he was the dominant shareholder. Rich beyond belief, he made a shocking announcement to Ford's shareholders - rather than paying out the profit in the form of dividends, he wanted to invest it back in the company to "employ still more men; to spread the benefits ofthis industrial system

Where's My Stuff? A Stimulus Plan for Start-Ups

2009-03-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

My brother has launched a cool Web site designed to bring the start-up community together in these tough economic times - startupstimulus.org. Thomas Friedman threw out the idea that government bailout money should go to entrepreneurs, not dying businesses like GM, and was roundly criticized by . . . entrepreneurs. Whether you agree or disagree with Mr. Friedman, go over to startupstimulus and

Yet Another Flog Suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder

2009-03-07T22:53:00.001-08:00

I have to believe that it is only a matter of time before fake blogs ("flogs") are banned by Google and/or shut down by the FTC. It seems that the creators of these flogs must agree with me, because they are launching these sites so quickly, they don't even have time to proof-read.While looking for a good recipe on Epicurious, I saw this set of three flog ads, courtesy of AdSense:I probably could