Search Engines Hate Sites with Contextual Ads

 

Major Search Engines Caught Penalizing Sites Displaying Contextual Ads, According to RankingMeasures.com Survey

Reverse engineering software discovers undeniable negative ranking correlation for sites displaying contextual ads from the search engines' own advertising networks. Sites displaying these Pay Per Click (PPC) ads consistently rank lower than those monetizing their web properties through other means.

Raleigh, North Carolina (PRWeb) November 16, 2006 -- RankingMeasures.com has just finished conducting a monthly study of nearly a million search engine results for 15,000 popular keyword phrases. The most notable finding concerns a strong negative correlation discovered in the big three search engines.

Sites displaying contextual PPC advertising are consistently ranking lower than similar sites without these ads. These ads are taken from the search engines' own advertising networks -- the same sponsored ads displayed along with traditional search engine results. When such ads are clicked, the website owner is given a cut of the profits.

RankingMeasures.com has found that for over 75% of searches, sites with contextual advertising from the search engine network are more likely to rank lower in the natural results. For example, on one major search engine 816 sites with contextual ads were found in search engine ranking position one while 1,356 sites were found in rank position 20.

"If the search engines providing the contextual ads are distancing themselves from the revenue stream, webmasters might want to do the same," advises RankingMeasures.com founder Chris Crompton. "To the search engines, one warning sign of a 'spammy' website is the presence of contextual advertising."

The amount of spam websites has been increasing exponentially from the time search engines made it simple for site owners to capitalize on PPC advertising. A sure sign of a spam website is junk content with PPC ads everywhere. Could it be that to preserve the relevancy of searches, the big three search engines have introduced a negative hit to websites displaying contextual ads? This certainly appears to be the case.

About RankingMeasures.com
The full data is available as part of a complimentary report recently released by RankingMeasures.com.

RankingMeasures.com hosts software designed to find ranking correlations on an increasing number of factors. To learn more visit Ranking Measures SEO Software.

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Press Contact: Chris Crompton
Company Name: RankingMeasures.com
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 919-633-5783
Website: http://www.RankingMeasures.com

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SEO Firm Trouble: Yes and No

Times Are NOT Troubled For SEO Firms

 

by Joshua Palau, Friday, November 10, 2006

 

I WOKE UP MONDAY MORNING to find it was 2001 and the bubble was bursting again. Panicked, I updated my resume, prepared to reach out to my clients to try and get to the safe haven of corporate America, and finally dusted off my good interview suit.

 

What sent me into this tail-spinning panic? An article titled "Troubled Times for SEO Firms."

 

Disclaimers:
--I do not know, nor have I ever met, the author of that article. This is not a personal attack on him or his company.
--This article is the opinion of Joshua Palau (yeah, I went third person). The views expressed here may or may not be shared with my company.
--These are not the ramblings of someone who is simply trying to protect the underworld of SEO. I advocate being engaged in both paid and organic search.

 

The "Troubled Times" article references the just released Search Marketing Guide and speculates that SEO firms are in trouble because clients believe SEO:
--Is not rocket science;
--Is a once-only-and-then-done solution;
--Can lead to penalties if you push the envelope.

 

"There are 3 kinds of lies--Lies, damned lies, and statistics." Homer Simpson once told a reporter "People can come up with statistics to prove anything. Forty percent of people know that."

 

The benchmark guide is exactly that--a guide--and the data delivered can be interpreted in different ways. If you simply look at year-to-year growth, the numbers look flat, but that doesn't tell the whole story. The report says "getting a handle on SEO spending is unusually inexact... the costs of SEO are hidden inside of other budget items... assuming SEO takes only half their time, 40k - 50k doesn't sound free." (p. 35). Based on this and my experience, I don't think the number is as flat as it appears in a bar chart.

 

Nothing is rocket science, except rocket science. I work with smart clients who have more acronyms at the end of their names then I do. They are capable of comprehending and executing an SEO strategy. Yet when you add SEO to a list that includes additional responsibilities, employing a specialist makes sense.

 

I've watched an SEO engineer reads patent filings to see what can be learned about possible algorithm changes. I've seen him look at two clients in the same industry, pinpoint the issue and devise a solution that worked. Web development, usability, paid search, and creative development are not rocket science, but there is value in leaning on a resource that plays in the space full time.

 

SEO--set it and forget it. This only works for Ron Popeil and his incredible Rotisserie Oven. Still, I agree with it to varying degrees. A one-time solution may work for a small site or one that is very niche because of its limited keyword universe. Since clients continue to tweak their sites, I think that SEO needs to be in the conversation. If you have a page that ranks but does not convert, you may add more conversion words. This tweak may alter your keyword density and thus compromise the rankings.

 

This idea also assumes that everyone understands all the factors that affect your results. Many are aware of keywords and content, but what about changing your CMS, appending URLs with tracking tags, or changing web servers? Taking this a step further, how many of these decisions are the sole responsibility of the marketing department?

 

The SEO penalty box. If it's not rocket science, it's not that hard--so I should know the boundaries, right? There certainly are penalties that exist--which underscores the importance of an expert.

 

I applaud the "troubled times" article for pointing out the factors that lead people to shy away from SEO. I swear there is not some conspiracy to make SEO too ambiguous and difficult, but in some ways it just can be--just like paid search, usability, and all the other marketing tactics. We just need to work with clients to help them understand what aspects of SEO make sense.

 

So fear not, SEOers. The world is not as bleak as described--at least not today. 

 

Joshua Palau is strategic search manager at Avenue A | Razorfish.

 

Search Insider for Friday, November 10, 2006: http://publications.mediapost.com/
 
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[ Editor's comments:

 

Business has never been better for our company... :-)

 

(hris ]

Microfinance Award Winners Announced

 

Grameen Foundation Announces Microfinance Award Winners

The annual Knowledge Sharing Roundtable coincides with the Awards dinner; panel features honorees.

New York City, NY (PRWEB) November 9, 2006 -- Two leading microfinance institutions and a program that develops innovative models to measure how the lives of microfinance clients have changed are the 2006 winners of Grameen Foundation's Microfinance Awards.

LAPO of Nigeria will receive the Excellence in Microfinance Award and Pro Mujer Bolivia will receive the Pioneer in Microfinance Award on November 9, 2006, at Grameen Foundation's annual Microfinance Awards Dinner at the Terrace in the Sky Restaurant in New York City. A third award will be introduced and presented to the Ford Foundation's Asset Building & Community Development Program.

"Our partner microfinance institutions are the bedrock of our efforts to empower the poorest people around the world to escape poverty through entrepreneurship," said Alex Counts, Grameen Foundation president. "We are proud to honor LAPO and Pro Mujer Bolivia for their pioneering work and resourcefulness."

Microfinance is a proven poverty reduction strategy. Very poor people, mostly women, receive very small loans to start income producing businesses. The income allows them to improve their lives and help their families overcome the ravages of severe poverty.

Grameen Foundation's Microfinance Awards honor those who fight global poverty through microfinance. The program celebrates excellence and ingenuity in the industry, fosters knowledge exchange among those expanding the frontiers of microfinance and advocates for innovation and creativity. The awards dinner was first held in 2000 and has been held annually since 2002.

The Excellence Award recognizes established microfinance institutions that have distinguished themselves as industry leaders for their overall achievement in outreach to the poorest, financial performance, and innovations that benefit their institution and the broader industry.

The specific objective of Excellence Award recipient LAPO is to promote self-employment through access to microfinance. LAPO's clients are among the poorest people in the urban and rural areas where it operates. While microfinance is its lead program, LAPO believes that for meaningful impact, the provision of financial services should be supplemented with social development programs, such as health programs and programs that confront social injustice.

"A staggering 34 of the world's 48 poorest countries are in Africa, and over 40 percent of Africans live in abject poverty," said Counts. "LAPO has been a powerful advocate for making microfinance a key weapon in the fight against poverty on the continent, and a key driving force in making financial services available to more than 65,000 poor Nigerians. It is this drive and commitment that has earned them the 2006 Grameen Foundation Excellence in Microfinance Award."

The Pioneer Award recognizes emerging programs breaking new ground as innovators or working in regions that have been traditionally underserved by quality microfinance programs.

Pioneer Award recipient, Pro Mujer Bolivia, is the first and largest affiliate of Pro Mujer International, a microfinance network dedicated to empowering Latin America women to lift themselves out of poverty through access to microfinance and health services.

Pro Mujer Bolivia is Pro Mujer's flagship program, and the foundational model on which all the other country programs have been built. Ranging in age from 18 to 67, most clients have four to six children, and are often single parents. They typically have been excluded from educational opportunities beyond elementary school. A majority of clients reside in small cities and engage in commercial activity, very often in local markets or selling goods produced in home-based businesses.

"As the flagship affiliate for Pro Mujer International, Pro Mujer Bolivia has been a pioneer in showing how microfinance can be an important vehicle for social change," said Counts. "Through its unique model of centralized centers, it is helping impoverished women access not only financial services, but also essential health care and social services for their families. Their work is an inspiration to others and Grameen Foundation is proud to recognize them with our 2006 Pioneer in Microfinance Award."

This year, Grameen Foundation introduced a new award, the Innovation Award, which recognizes outstanding organizations whose innovative approach to a microfinance industry challenge helps the entire movement.

The recipient of the first Innovation Award is the Ford Foundation's Asset Building & Community Development Program, which helps strengthen and increase the effectiveness of people and organizations working to find solutions to problems of poverty and injustice.

In conjunction with the Microfinance Awards Dinner, Grameen Foundation will host its annual Knowledge Sharing Roundtable. The Roundtable, which takes place earlier in the day on November 9 at Columbia University, presents a thoughtful and compelling exchange on issues, developments and trends that are advancing the microfinance sector as a major tool in bringing balance to the world economy.

This year's theme is Microfinance, Innovation and Technology … Tackling Global Poverty.

Roundtable participants include Grameen President, Alex Counts; Board of Directors Chair, Susan Davis; recipients of the 2006 Microfinance Awards; and Columbia University's Microfinance Working Group.

Media Contact:
Michelle Tennant
828.749.3200
www.GrameenFoundation.PressKit247.com
www.GrameenFoundation.org

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Press Contact: Michelle Tennant
Company Name: Wasabi Publicity, Inc.
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 828-749-3200
Website: www.grameenfoundation.org

Update on efforts to catch the "Mike Burch" Bobcat / Triumph scammer

I've been in contact with the scammer that is mentioned here and also with the author of the email. This scammer is real and still operating and has taken in a number of people. The lesson is not to trust ANYONE you don't know on the Internet.

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard

 Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 7:10 PM
Subject: update on efforts to catch the "Mike Burch" Bobcat / Triumph scammer

Hello everyone:

 

As many of you know, there has been quite a bit of work directed towards catching/stopping this guy. 

 

So far, though, he is continuing with his scam.  I know this because people see my Craigslist warnings, then call me and write me, telling me about their near-misses, or their sad -$9,000 experiences.

 

I would say that we are in a holding pattern with this fool.  Some people are avoiding him, others are still getting burned.

 

In an effort to increase the pressure, I just put up this website.

 

Check it out > > http://crimefool.com

 

The goal is to catch him.  I'm hoping somebody, somewhere, will recognize his voice. 

 

Let me know your thoughts on this, if you have any ideas, etc.

 

cheers -

 

Richard

 

p.s.

1) Assuming he is in Texas (many people think his accent is Texan, and that he live in Texas), do you have any ideas on how to contact people in the trucking/freight industry?  People have speculated that maybe he is in some way involved in that field.  A company email list, etc., would be great.

 

2) if you have any feedback on how to improve the website, let me know

===================================== 

 Google has many listings you will find here:

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22mike+burch%22+scammer