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Wednesday, November 23, 2005

The SEM Challenge - Part II

A few weeks back I posted an entry regarding an SEO challenge / bet that I am involved with and if any of you have been following along... today is the day that bet comes to an end. Let me refresh your memories (or inform you if your hearing this for the first time) of what that bet was.

Back in early September, the GM of All Web and I made a bet as to which of our personal websites would rank higher for the term "Search Engine Marketing Consultant" in Yahoo!, Google, and MSN. The rules at that time were simple... who ever is ahead of the other on the 23rd of November (which just happens to be today) - meaning whatever website was first in a particular search engine would win that engine, and 2 out of 3 engines would win the bet. For more information on this please refer to my initial entry here: http://blog.karlribas.com/2005/09/sem-challenge.htm

Since then the bet has been changed to include a stipulation where if our website does not rank in the top 30 than it doesn't count for that engine. I am not sure as to where this addition came from, but some how it was worked in.

In either case, I did the research and found that I can't loose this bet (that is as long as the search engine positions don't start dancing around within the next few hours). In the first scenario I would win as I am placed before him in 2 of the 3 engines and in the second we'd tie because we'd both have 1 engine a piece.

I've been tracking my positions each day for the past week and a half and it's been a real roller coaster ride. I've seen my website in the top 30 positions one day and not in the top 200 the next. I was even at one point above my opponent in all 3 engines while attaining top 30 positioning.


My positions are as follows:
#1 in MSN
#74 and #80 in Yahoo!
#100+ in Google

Michael's positions are as follows:
#11 in MSN
#100+ in Yahoo!
#28 in Google

I went toe to toe with the GM and held my ground. We'll decide a bit later which method we are going to use for determining the winner, but as I mentioned before.. I didn't loose... and it's a real relief. You'd understand why if you new the aspects of our bet! All in all, it was a great fight and one that I've enjoyed participating in.

posted by Karl Ribas
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
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Friday, November 18, 2005

Google Offers Free Web Analytics

Raise your hand if you remember an analytics company by the name of Urchin? "Memmer?... You memmer!" They're the company that hides the "Easter-Egg" in your badge at the Search Engine Strategies conferences and when you present them with it at their booth they give you a free shirt. "Memmer?... You memmer!" Well, back in March of this year, Google acquired the San Diego-based Urchin, slapped the Google logo on it, renamed it to Google Analytics, reduced the price from $495 a month to $199 a month and continued to hammer out the popular analytics service.

This past week, Google took another step forward in the website statistics / analytics direction and launched a free version of their Web analytics service, one that will let companies see exactly how visitors interact with their website and how their advertising campaigns are faring. In fact, Google Analytics will allow website owners the ability to see exactly where visitors are coming from, what links on the site are getting the most traffic, what pages visitors are viewing, how long people stay on the site, which products on merchant sites are being sold and where people give up in multi-step checkout processes. A truly amazing package if I don't say so myself and best yet... it's free!

To top it off, Google Analytics will be integrated with Google AdWords and will offer a new interface within existing AdWords accounts. Google Analytics will include a feature that automatically imports the cost data for return on investment (ROI) reports into the Google Analytics program so advertisers can see how much they're paying for keywords compared with how much money they're making off them. In addition, Online Marketers will be able to use the service to track banner, e-mail, non-paid, and paid search advertising campaigns from other ad service providers.

I have not yet had a chance to play around with the new Google Analytics program, but I'm betting that it's going to be a remarkable product. I feel comfortable saying so because it's Google who is putting it out there and as we all know anything that Google touches turns to both Gold and Greatness, similar to what happened King Midas in his fiction story. Heck I bet that Google's personnel could take turns crapping in a box, label it Google, and it too would fly off the shelf of your local retail store. Ok... maybe that was pushing it, but my point is that Google is vastly becoming a true trustworthy household name and for good reason... they strive for and achieve greatness on each of their business ventures. I see this venture as being no different.

In my opinion, Google made all the right moves at all the right times. They purchased a great product at the beginning of the year and are now using it to their advantage. Not only are they offering the service for free, but they are literally putting the squeeze on companies like Web Trends, Web Side Story, KeywordMax, and Click Tracks whom all seem to focus on the small to medium-size business market. It should be interesting to see what those companies are bound to come up with in order to compete with Google Analytics.

Click here to check out Google Analytics.

posted by Karl Ribas
Friday, November 18, 2005
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Friday, November 11, 2005

Yahoo! and TiVo Team Up

Have you ever planned on watching something on television that you saw advertised a few days before? Better yet, have you ever done so and forgot about it and remembered after you've already left the house. Well, Yahoo! and TiVo have your solution. In a move that further blurs the lines of television and the Internet, Yahoo! and TiVo have partnered to schedule downloads to TiVo boxes from any Internet connection.

For those of you who are unaware of what TiVo is (not sure of how that's possible... it's literally everywhere) it is a digital video recorder which uses built in hard drives to store large amounts of content, specifically television programs. TiVo users can pause live shows and program their systems to record TV broadcasts and even skip commercials.

Starting soon, consumers (those with valid Yahoo! and TiVo accounts) will have the ability to schedule recordings of TV shows on their TiVo box from a special Yahoo! portal. A Yahoo!/TiVo user can simply log into the special Yahoo! section, view an updated episodes page, and click a "Record to my TiVo box" button to transmit the request to their home TiVo box. TiVo then follows through and records your request. I for one think that this is a great idea and one that both parties and their customers / users can benefit from.

In addition, I am betting that both companies have future plans of some how integrating and sharing web related content, such as weather, user photos, or even search listings. Imagine being able to search Yahoo! through your TiVo recorders and TV... very nice! Apparently talks are already taking place to create a service which would enable consumers the ability to search for videos across the web and then watch them through their television / TiVo connection.

All in all, this partnership agreement carries some very positive elements. Both Yahoo! and TiVo are household names and coming together like they have provides a truly incredible user-experience.

posted by Karl Ribas
Friday, November 11, 2005
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Friday, November 04, 2005

A Microsoft Take Over?

While Microsoft's new "live" software push is mainly seen as an effort to compete with rivals such as Google and Yahoo!, there are a number of smaller companies that suddenly find themselves in Redmond's competitive crosshairs.

As
part of its broad announcement on Tuesday, Microsoft revealed plans to offer for free a number of things that its rivals charge for, including services such as virus scanning and Internet-to-telephone calling and Web hosting.

On the telephone side, Microsoft showed off the ability to call any traditional phone number from within the new Windows Live messenger client. While instant messaging programs have had voice chat for some time, Microsoft's move would be broader by allowing free calling to traditional phone numbers as well.

On the security front, Microsoft went beyond its already announced plans for the subscription OneCare service. In addition to that paid program, Microsoft plans a new Windows Live Safety Center--a free Web-based program that allows on-demand scanning and removal of viruses. This addition is a great idea and one that will no doubt prove to be beneficial for many.

On a side note, is it just me or does it seem as if Microsoft is trying to take over the world? They are competing on so many fronts that taking over the world seems like a logical explanation. Let's review:

- Microsoft's Windows runs on like 98% of the worlds PCs.
- Microsoft's Office is no doubt used in every office in the world.
- Microsoft's Internet Explorer is the #1 Internet browser.
- Microsoft's IM is one of the most popular messaging programs.
- Microsoft's MSN is one of the top search engines on the net.
- Microsoft's Xbox is one of the top videogame consoles.

Let's face it; they should probably rename earth to Microsoft. What other company could stand to go toe-to-toe with such competition as Apple Macintosh, Netscape, Mozilla (FireFox), Norton, MacAfee, American Online, Yahoo!, Google, Ask Jeeves, Sony, and finally Nintendo all at the same time. These are all leaders in their own respective markets and yet Microsoft makes headway in each. It's truly a scary thing. Kudos to you... Microsoft.

posted by Karl Ribas
Friday, November 04, 2005
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