Archive for » November, 2008 «

Thursday, November 20th, 2008 | Author: Kate Field

Now you can show up at the very top of YouTube for any keyword you want. Yes, that’s right! YouTube Pay Per Click advertising is now available. Advertisers can now pay to have their videos appear at the top or on the right hand side of the search results on YouTube. Why do it?

With the explosion of video on the web and how it has revolutionized professional websites, it wasn’t long before professionals wanted to utilize YouTube as an additional source of free traffic to their website. But, even though YouTube is free, how can you get all of that additional traffic if your video is buried under your competitors’ video? Previously you would have had to have thrown your hands up in the air and admit defeat. But now, you can dominate video too. You can place yourself on the front page, at the epicenter of Internet video. How does it work?

Sponsored Videos work the same way as Sponsored Links. You bid on keywords, set daily and monthly budget limits, etc. You only pay when a user clicks to watch your video, and you show up at the top of potentially hundreds of video results. Is it worth it?

Because this newest sensation in Internet marketing is still so new (Sponsored Video debuted on November 12th, 2008) it is still too early to say whether Sponsored Video will become as beneficial to businesses as Sponsored Links. However, based on what information is available right now, Sponsored Video will most likely become one of the most beneficial ways of marketing on the web.

Check out the following Videos about Sponsored Video:

YouTube “Sponsored Video” Overview

“Sponsored Video” Case Study

Thursday, November 06th, 2008 | Author: Kate Field

WARNING!

Firefox’s Report Web Forgery feature lets you report suspected web forgeries to Mozilla and its third party service provider(s) for the web forgery protection feature when you encounter a suspected malicious “phishing” or fraudulent website that is impersonating a legitimate website.

Firefox’s Report Web Forgery feature lets you report suspected web forgeries to Mozilla and its third party service provider(s) for the web forgery protection feature when you encounter a suspected malicious “phishing” or fraudulent website that is impersonating a legitimate website.


Recently, a slew of emails have been sent out asking people to follow a link and fill out personal and/or financial information.

This kind of email is called “phishing” because the perpetrator is phishing for your personal and/or financial information. This email is currently targeting clients that have campaigns with Google AdWords, but whether you have an AdWords account or not any emails asking you for sensitive information should be suspect.

Google will never ask you through email to fill out credit card or any other personal information. If you have any questions about an email that you receive from Google, don’t click on the link in the email. Instead, log into your account the way you normally do. If there really is a problem with your billing or other information, you or your PPC specialist will see alerts within the account.

To the untrained user (or if your not paying attention), this scam could easily get the best of you. The redirect address incorporates a sub domain string that initially leads you to think you are going to google.adwords.com, but if you look closely or move your mouse over the link, you’ll see that the link is directing you to a different URL address.

Here are 4 different scam emails being sent out (although MANY different variations are circulating so be suspecous of all emails from Google Adwords ):

http://www.boxcarmarketing.com/images/uploads/adwords_phishing.jpg

http://www.retaildatasecurity.com/assets/news-googlescam.gif

Google AdWords Phishing Scam

More Google AdWords Scams

If you suspect that you have received an email scam please notify the company that your account is with as well as the Federal Trade Commission. However, if you recently recieved a similair email and filled out credit card information, call your credit card company immediately and make sure that you have not been victimized by this scam.

Google AdWords Resource: https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=93198

If you would like more information about “Phishing” or how to report a scam, the following link will take you to the government site dedicated to online fraud:

http://www.onguardonline.gov/phishing.html

Category: News and Updates  | Tags: ,  | 6 Comments
Thursday, November 06th, 2008 | Author: Kate Field
Google and Yahoo Deal is No More

Google and Yahoo Deal is No More

Internet pioneer or not, Yahoo is quickly losing gusto in its attempt to hold on to its prominent second place in internet search. Will this latest news truly be the final nail in a coffin crafted for them at the beginning of the year?

When Yahoo was born there was nothing to stop it from dominating internet search. But as most things do in this technological era, Yahoo aged quickly. When Google arrived on the scene with a bigger, better system, the search engine had little trouble in taking the lead in internet search and advertising. And despite its continuing efforts to update and expand, Yahoo has faced consistent obstacles that have kept it from making much progress.

At the beginning of the year Yahoo founder and chief executive Jerry Yang and his company’s board rejected a deal that would have merged Yahoo and Microsoft. Microsoft takes a distant third place in search traffic and there was speculation that if the two companies merged, that combined they might be able to overtake Google. The merger rejection came as a big blow to Yahoo shareholders, who were counting on Microsoft to pay the promised $33 a share.

Yahoo promised shareholders that an advertising alliance with Google would deliver bigger rewards. The deal would have allowed Yahoo to show Google ads, and reap some of the revenue brought in by those ads. Google and Yahoo could have dominated the markets in display and paid search advertising, and the US Department of Justice warned that it would block the alliance if pursued.

Google simply walked, leaving Yahoo to wonder about its fate. Yahoo insisted that it could alter the deal, but Google said in a statement that it did not want to pursue a lengthy legal battle and “damage [the] relationships with valued partners”.

For Yahoo, this failed deal could be the final nail in its coffin. With a serious lack of revenue and shaky shareholders, Yahoo is facing a dire situation. In order to survive Yahoo will have to find cash quickly in order to stay competitive, and it is unclear how long Yahoo’s shareholders will hold out.

But Yahoo is not buried yet. Resurrection or re-incarnation are still possibilities, but in either case Yahoo will probably never look the same.

Category: News and Updates  | Tags: ,  | 4 Comments