The Rank Magic Blog

Google Site Links

August 28, 2006 ::: You may have recently noticed a difference in how the first result in the search engine results pages look on Google.  In addition to the normal listing information, there appears a listing of 3-5 other links within the website - with a snippet about each item in the list.

This is only done for the #1 listings, and seems to be limited to searches on a company name or brand name. Search Marketing Gurus has more on this. What a great way to get the top 4-6 listings on Google instead of just #1!

August 23, 2006 ::: Good old YaGoohoogle.com is gone, and up steps GahooYoogle! Like YaGoohoogle before it, GahooYoogle pits both of the major search engine results, displaying them side by side for comparison. Some of the search results were shocking. For instance, with a search of "Google", you may be shocked at some of the differences. For instance, Yahoo directs you to search using Yahoo as the first result, while searching for "Yahoo" in both browsers displayed proper search results in Google. In the image search category, Yahoo displayed no images for the recently unveiled "blackberry pearl 8100", while Google images were overloaded with them.

Ask the Small Business Professor

August 17, 2006 ::: On July 26, Ask The Small Business Professor, a column which is syndicated through the Scripps Howard News Service to hundreds of newspapers nationally, answered a small business owner's question about helping customers to find his web site. The column was entitled "Tips on driving customers to your Web site", and as part of the Bruce Freeman's (the Small Business Professor's) explanation, he included some quotes from Bill Treloar, owner of Rank Magic.

<Read the article here.>

Are You Paying Per Click Fraud?

August 16, 2006 ::: Click fraud has become the greatest threat to the rapid growth of the paid search marketing sector. The Interactive Advertising Bureau estimates that 20 to 35 percent of ad clicks are fraudulent. According to SiteProNews, click fraud threatens an entire business model: one that generates billions of dollars every year.

At this point, it's hard to tell whether pay-per-click advertising will stand the test of time, or line up for the chopping block. Just today I received an  official legal notice that I'm part of a class action suit against Yahoo over click fraud. Many of the search engines are actively -- should I say frantically? -- looking for solutions.

<Read the entire story here.>

Google Says Googling Is Inappropriate

August 15, 2006 ::: Concerned over the word "Google" becoming a noun in such common usage that they lose their trademark on it (like "escalator" which used to be a trademark of the Otis Elevator Company), Google is objecting to certain uses of their popular name. An article in WebProNews discusses it and cites the original article in The Washington Post, which was apparently taken to task by Google's lawyers.

Funny Letterman Spoof on Bill Gates

August 12, 2006 ::: After Microsoft chairman Bill Gates announced he'd be leaving the software giant in the next two years, night-time talk show host David Letterman created a "farewell video" of the famous übergeek.

The video didn't go entirely smoothly, though. It has a few problems, known to one and all as Windows. The show aired a few weeks ago, but the clip is still hilarious. Watch the video.

Phishing Filter Prevents E-mail Identity Theft

August 10, 2006 ::: Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have figured out a way to almost entirely detect and filter out phishing e-mails. These findings have a tremendous potential to reduce identity thefts.

Phishing is the practice of sending emails that look like they come from a familiar financial institution and direct you to confirm your user name, password, or PIN. In fact, these emails direct you to a phoney site that harvests the information you type in in order to steal your identity.

Brian Livingston has an interesting column on the in Datamation.

Click Fraud Continues to Grow

August 8, 2006 ::: According to ZDnet, the publishers of PC Magazine, "The amount of click fraud taking place on search giants such as Yahoo and Google has increased since the beginning of the year, despite efforts to curb the practice."

"The greatest percentage of click fraud, over 88 percent, originated from North America. Unwanted click activity originating from India increased by 26 percent between April and June 2006."

Click fraud has been growing rapidly and is a serious source of concern for those using Pay per Click ads. We've discussed it numerous times in our blog: starting way back in May, 2005, but also in March, 2006 (twice), May, 2006, June 2006, and July, 2006.

<more here>