This Week’s Industry Update
Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff
Facebook Ads Now Include Targeting Data From Google Searches
Facebook recently added Chango to its ad exchange, opening the doors for advertisers to capitalize off the search retargeting company’s treasure chest of search information. This wouldn’t be big news, but for one reason: Chango possesses data collected from Google users, meaning Facebook ads can now be targeted to people based on their interactions with Google’s search engine.
Facebook may want to call this a significant life event on their Timeline, as they are now able to offer advertisers an incentive based on access to “intent” data that could help distinguish which users are interested in purchasing a product or service.
Source: Business Insider
Bing Tests Deep Links To Facebook, Craigslist, And YouTube In Searches For Google
Originally labeled a “strange bug,” it appears that Bing is testing a new interface in their search results that displays deep links to well-known websites (such as Facebook, eBay) when users search for Google on Bing. Bing confirmed the test (which has been turned off) with a very Google-esque “We’re testing everything for a better user experience” response.
Basically, Bing is testing this feature to see if they can siphon off some of those searchers who are searching for Google so they can search for Craigslist. I’d imagine Bing wouldn’t be too happy if Google tested this feature for “Bing” queries.
Source: Search Engine Land
There’s A lot Of Piracy On The Web
According to TorrentFreak.com, Google removed over 50 million search results or URLs for DMCA violations in 2012. The RIAA led the way in DMCA requests and take downs with nearly 8 million.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google Ups The Ante In Its Quest To Oust Facebook
Google is using somewhat nefarious tactics in its continued struggle to oust Facebook from its dominant position in social networking. People who set up an account to use the search engine’s other features like Gmail, Youtube, even the Zagat restaurant-review website, are also being set up with public Google+ pages automatically.
This new strategy for capturing more ad dollars is the brainchild of Google Chief Executive Larry Page, who has advocated more aggressive measures to expand Google’s presence in the social networking space. The initiative has been met with mixed emotions within Google, with some employees viewing it as desperate and intrusive and others viewing it as the quickest path to relevancy in social media.
Source: Wall Street Journal
FTC Closes Antitrust Case Against Google
The Federal Trade Commission has officially closed its antitrust case against Google, and Matt Cutts is popping the champagne. The FTC announced that, despite an extensive investigation, they could not prove Google was manipulating search results to bias their own products over other competitors’. The FTC said that the law protects competition, not specific competitors, with the latter still thriving within search results concerning businesses in Google’s vertical.
However, there are three parts of the settlement by which Google must abide: No involuntary scraping of third party content for inclusion in the results, make exporting AdWords campaigns to Bing and other platforms easier, and license Motorola’s “standards-essential” patents and stop using them to block competitor products.
Source: Search Engine Land
House Bill Takes Aim At Twitter Parody Accounts
Everyone has their favorite Twitter account parodying a celebrity, musician, Mars Rover, or athlete. However, if U.S. Rep. Michelle Ugenti (R-AZ) gets her way, these oft-poignant, sometimes superfluous comedy accounts will be outlawed. Ugenti’s bill, entitled House Bill 2004, would make it illegal to impersonate someone online without permission and with malicious intent.
Along with being over-sensitive, this is a pretty blatant violation of the First Amendment that would likely put The Onion on notice. I’m sure even some members of the House don’t want that.
Source: Mashable
Want To Link To This Newspaper? It Will Cost You
If digital media were a New Year’s Eve party, newspapers would be that guy that shows up at 2 a.m. after RSVPing at 1:50 a.m. As papers struggle with different ways to monetize their often valuable content, one Irish newspaper company has come up with an idea worthy of a spot in the Hall Of Dumb.
The National Newspapers of Ireland have announced they will be charging sites that link to their articles, as part of a new licensing program. Basically, they want you to pay for them receiving more traffic, as if its an honor to have linked to a story on the annual end-of-summer Irish Setter Public Pool Bash.
Source: The Digital Reader
Notable Commentary
More Insightful Than Terry Bradshaw’s Football Analysis
A Review Of 2012 In Local Search
Local search and the Google 7-Pak busted out as major news stories over the past year in SEO and beyond. David Mihm at SEOmoz has a great rundown of the different events that encapsulated the year in local search, and how they’ve shaped the landscape heading into 2013.
Analysis By: David Mihm, SEOmoz
Pay Attention To These Digital Marketing Trends In 2013
Every year, we in the Internet marketing world are inundated with predictions about the “next big thing” to hit our industry over the next 365 days. This is one of those articles, although Joanna Lord takes a practical approach that speaks to larger trends within online marketing.
Analysis By: Joanna Lord, Entrepreneur
13 Semantic Mark Up Tips For Local Search
Semantic mark up continues to be one the most underutilized tactics in local SEO. Chris Silver Smith of Search Engine Land offers up 13 semantic mark up tips for 2013 to help remedy the issue.
Analysis by: Chris Silver Smith, Search Engine Land
Top 5 Trends For PPC in 2013
Lisa Raehsler shares what she believes will be the top 5 trends in PPC for the year 2013.
Analysis by: Lisa Raehsler, Search Engine Watch
PR And SEO’s Ever Budding Interrelationship
Public relations role in SEO will expand as Google continues to stress the importance of high-quality content linked to by reputable websites with its latest updates. Ken McGaffin shares 10 reason why SEO practitioners should familiarize themselves with PR tactics in 2013.
Analysis by: Ken McGaffin, Search Engine Watch
Inbound Marketing: 10 Predictions For 2013
Rand Fishkin rehashes his predictions for inbound marketing in 2012, evaluates their accuracy and offers up 10 more new predictions for inbound marketing in 2013.
Analysis by: Rand Fishkin, SEOmoz
Why Do We Write Public Reviews Online?
There’s little financial incentive to write a review on Amazon, Yelp, Foursquare, etc. (unless they pay you to do so). So why do we do it? Venture capitalist Mark Suster attempts to answer that question in a Quora post, offering up more than a few acceptable reasons that fall outside of the standard “money” argument.
Analysis By: Mark Suster, Quora
What Does Paid Search Tell Us About Predicting Elections?
With the books officially closed on the 2012 election season, pundits and analysts are continuing to pick through data, hoping to find the biggest factors that led to a Barack Obama victory. Gregg Hamilton chooses to analyze how each party used search engine marketing, and why Democrats had a much better overall strategy in the online arena.
Analysis By: Gregg Hamilton, Search Engine Watch
Andrew Sullivan Is Opting For Subscriptions Over Ads For Revenue. Here’s Why.
Andrew Sullivan is one of the most popular political bloggers on The Daily Beast, and he’s looking to parlay that success into a return to his roots as a solo blogger. Sullivan is redirecting all his old Dish articles to www.andrewsullivan.com, and charging a subscription fee. In this post, he explains why this is the right thing to do and why he was averse to including ads on his new site.
Analysis By: Andrew Sullivan, The Dish
‘Compelling’ Doesn’t Do This New York Times Article Content Layout Justice
The New York Times has an incredibly unique article on people caught in a mountain avalanche in the Northwest. The writing itself is good, but the way it’s presented makes it so much more newsworthy. Just click-through, read, scroll, and enjoy the new definition of “compelling content.”
Analysis By: John Branch, New York Times