LB's Rambles

Pandora Opens the Box

Pandora, in this case, is ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which has voted to open up top level domains to just about anything that just about anyone might want.

That means that in addition to the established top-level domains, such as .com, .net and .org, and the additional domains opened up fairly recently, such as .tv, you will soon be able to open it up to just about any three-letter-or-more word or abbreviation you like.

Sell a lot of tchotchkes? Maybe you want to open up /MyBrand.tchotchkes/ for yourself. Of course, anyone else who wants to use that top-level tchotchkes domain may have to negotiate rights with you. But that's just the beginning of the potential headaches.

So before you get in line, take a look at comments by Rob Garner, strategy director for iCrossing, on MediaPost's Search Insider blog. If you're an established brand, you may want to think a bit before rushing out to make your brand a new top-level domain - because it will have a tremendous impact on your search visibility, especially if you already have your brand out there, building up its great position on Google.

Garner's post - and the comments on it - might give you some fairly sober second thoughts about the whole process. We live in interesting times. And there's a reason why that is generally considered a curse...

Making SEO More Relevant

Jeff Jarvis has a thought-provoking post on BuzzMachine today, questioning the future of Search Engine Optimization as Google becomes more sophisticated about tailoring search results to the individual needs of each searcher. Those of us who encourage that sort of thing by making our search histories available to Google are getting much more relevant results pages when we search.

But does that mean that SEO is finished? I don't think so. As several of the commenters on Jeff's thread point out, it's more likely that we'll see a shift in the way SEO is done, to optimize it for as many potential customers (users, readers, whatever) as possible. It may get more difficult for marketers to game the system - and that's a plus, as far as I'm concerned. But marketers and site designers will have to use increasingly sophisticated SEO techniques to try to ensure that their sites wind up on the first page of my results - and the results of people with similar needs but different preferences.

"Googlewiki Vs. Ajaygoogle"

Over at Search Insider, David Berkowitz honeymoons in India and discovers that there is still much to be said for a non-electronic version of search...

Using Search to Stop Scammers

Over at MediaPost's Search Insider blog, David Berkowitz, director of emerging media and client strategy at 360i, has a fascinating article on what seems to me to be an ingenious use of both social media and SEO to stop a particularly nasty real estate scam.

Briefly, a friend of Berkowitz got some suspicious emails from a scammer who was using CraigsList real estate transactions as a way to try to cheat people out of thousands of dollars. Berkowitz basically took the story, along with the complete email exchanges, and posted them on his blog. He did so not for regular readers of his blog, who might or might not ever run across these scammers, but for four "readers" in particular: Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Ask. He figured - correctly - that if the search engines "saw" his posts, then, in time, other people, who might be searching for information about suspicious real estate deals would see his postings as well - and be warned off. And, he says, that's exactly what happened.

As I say, it strikes me as a great use of social media, to spread the word about the scam - and a terrific way to use SEO beyond the normal site/product marketing. The comments on the Search Insider blog (see that link above) suggest that he's struck a nerve here - and I say, good for him!

On the Way Home, Pick Up Some SEM at the Store?

Is Search Engine Marketing an art or a science? While we're having that debate, we should probably consider one fact: SEM is now a commodity - and, as Search Engine Journal tells us, it's on sale at Wal-Mart's bulk stores, Sam's Club. Small businesses are encouraged to buy some kind of SEM program via Sam's Club's "LeadConnect" program. For somewhere between $25 and $100 a month, they get submission to various search engines (for whatever good that may do) plus a few other simple techniques.

SEJ's editor, Loren Baker, wonders if this is a good or bad thing for the SEM industry as a whole. I'm not sure, but I think it's more proof that an awful lot of businesses out there still don't understand the tremendous changes taking place in the business world as a result of our improved communications skills and techniques. These are the same companies which, only a few years back, were still wondering whether they really needed to be on that Internet thing. Now, they are wondering why they need an experienced search marketing firm to help them when they can buy "the same services" from Sam's Club for $25 or so every month, not that it  seems to be helping them much.

The commenters on SEJ have it right. There will always be bottom-line types who care only about the price. SEM needs to be sold on the value, not the price. It's all part of the long, slow educational process. As communicators, most of us have a long way to go to help others understand.

Hat tip: MediaPost

eMarketer Weighs In

We continue our efforts to become Prediction Central by passing along eMarketer's view of the coming year.

Media Predictions for 2008

As noted in the last entry (immediately below this one), it is the time of year when we usually see lots of news stories that consist of (a) ten-best or ten-worst lists - maybe just "ten"-lists, and (b) crystal-ball gazing for predictions of the year ahead in (insert any topic here).

That said, there's an interesting list over at MediaPost's Search Insider from Mark Simon, VP of Industry Relations at Didit, called "Ten Media Trends to Watch in 2008." It's an interesting collection, ranging from a further decline in television quality and profitability, not to mention a possible recession, to increasingly intrusive advertising and the likely demise of some web companies. Worth a read.

Is "Do Not Track" the Answer to Anything?

There's an interesting conversation going on over at the Search Insider blog about the proposals for "Do Not Track" legislation akin to the "Do Not Call" legislation which at least theoretically reduces the number of junk phone calls we receive. "Do Not Track" would require users to opt-in before marketers and/or publishers could use cookies to track their activities on particular websites. Is "Do Not Track" the answer to privacy concerns?

Aaron Goldman, the Director of Client Strategy and Development for Resolution Media, part of the Omnicom Group, argues - persuasively, I think - that the answer is a flat out "No." As he says, the problem isn't that people are getting too many tracking cookies - their problem is with advertisers showing them too many irrelevant ads. That's a different problem entirely.

In the comments, Tim Walters from Fatwire makes what I think is a key point: "It’s not a matter for Do Not Track, it’s a matter of Do Not Abuse." I think it's clear, though, that marketers are going to have to come up with non-intrusive ways of reaching out to their potential customers - ways those customers are willing to accept, and ways that don't give them the feeling that somebody has been peering over their shoulder.

Comparing SEO and SMO

There's a good post from the folks at Vandelay Website Design comparing Search Engine Optimization with Social Media Optimization. It's a good side-by-side primer, and it concludes - rightly, I think - that the two techniques for increasing your reach work together, rather than against each other. Worth reading.

Hat tip: MediaPost

No Comfort at the Inn

Megan McArdle is a blogger and journalist who currently blogs for Atlantic. She had a really bad experience this week at the Comfort Inn in Jamaica, Queens near New York's Kennedy Airport - bad enough to inspire a full online rant.

As readers of this blog know, I believe that customer service outweighs almost all advertising in determining what people think of your product or services. You may have the world's greatest ad campaign, but, as surveys have shown, in today's search-friendly world, a bad customer review carries a lot of weight.

I've seen (and heard) lots of commercials for Comfort Inns. I'm sure there are a lot of good inns in their chain. I'll accept the fact that this story may have been only an exception to the rule.

But I travel a lot. And when I'm choosing my next hotel, will I be thinking of Comfort/Quality's ads? Or will I be remembering the unhappy story of a very dissatisfied customer?

Businesses that can't figure out the answer to that question may not stay in business very long.

(Hat tip: Instapundit)