Danny Sullivan Delivers SMX West Keynote
The SMX West conference began today, and Danny Sullivan, its co-chair and the editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land, gave the keynote to truly kick things off. Sullivan took an all-inclusive look at the search industry, touching on current standings, trends, and also what he’d like to see happen.
Gmail Lets Users Share Their Location With Recipients
Perhaps you’re a hard-charging businessperson who wants clients to know their questions will be answered even if you’re on the beach. Or maybe you’re just someone who feels a need to quietly brag about vacationing overseas. Either way, Google’s got you covered with a new "add your location to your signature" Gmail feature.
Yahoo Doesn’t Seem Worried About Gmail
Gmail is growing rapidly. Yahoo has long dominated the race against Microsoft’s Hotmail and Google’s Gmail, but Gmail is on pace to overthrow the other two. I got in touch with Yahoo Mail’s VP John Kremer to try and find out some expectations Yahoo has for Yahoo Mail.
Measuring Search And Offline Marketing Success
The session "Measuring Search & Offline Marketing Success" touched on the importance of tracking offline conversions that start through search.
(Coverage of SMX West continues at Murdok Videos. Keep an eye on Murdok for more notes and videos from the event this week.)
Is Google Quietly Laying Off Engineers?
It’s tough to keep things quiet these days, especially with all that Twittering. Unnamed engineers drowning their overhead redundancy woes over the weekend passed on the news—with documentation—to a Berkeley grad student Bay Area executive that Google was trying to keep engineer layoffs out of the press.
Getting Ranked In Google Maps
In the session "Up Close with Google Maps & Local" the panel focused on factors that influence what appears and how it is ranked.
Online Radio Grows 37 Percent
Online music radio and track play listening hours increased 37.6 percent to 6.67 billion in 2008, while in-stream audio sold against ad -supported cumulative hours rose by 46.1 percent to $74 million over the 12 month period, according to a report by AccuStream iMedia Research.
The report, "Online Music Spins and Media Spend: 2003 – 2012," found that AOL’s Shoutcast platform remains the most popular destination for online music, accounting for 52.5 percent of total time spent listening, followed by Clear Channel sites with 7.8 percent.
Is Yahoo Looking to Offer SEO Services?
A patent application filed by Yahoo is causing a bit of a stir within the SEO community. The patent is for an "Automated System to Improve Search Engine Optimization on Web Pages." The abstract for the patent reads as follows:
Twitter Hot in UK, Overshadowed by Plurk in Singapore
Twitter has entered the top 100 most visited websites in the UK according to Hitwise. It came in at number 91 beating out Expedia UK, Gumtree, easyJet, Digital Spy, and Money Supermarket, which Hitwise research director Robin Goad refers to as "online heavyweights."
Twitter traffic has multiplied by 27 over the last year, and this is only the main site. It doesn’t take into account access via third party applications or mobile phones.
Liquor Locator Helps You Find Your Favorite Booze
Some are very, very particular about their liquor, but maybe only a few are so selective they would employ interactive iPhone app magic to find out who carries a certain brand. Nonetheless, Proximo’s Liquor Locator both reinforces a brand image all liquor sellers push—that their customers are a selective, discerning, elite who never settle—and demonstrates how the era of the web app can be strikingly useful to marketers.