She goes on to say that marketers also need to utilize the recently combined Yahoo and Microsoft adCenter. Operating as one, “Binghoo,” as Churchill calls it, has approximately 30 percent of the paid search market share. Although Google AdWords is established and has great tools, there is still value in “Binghoo.”

“Keep advertising on Google, but don’t give up on adCenter. I think that it will prove in the long-term to be a beneficial thing because it gives us another opportunity to get in front of potential customers,” she said.

For those marketers who still need to embrace adCenter, Churchill offers an easy tip. She suggests that marketers download their Google accounts into the AdWords Editor tool, which is free. Marketers can then export the information into an Excel spreadsheet. Although marketers will need to do some tweaking especially regarding negative keywords and geo-targeting, this step saves a lot of time when beginning an adCenter campaign.

In this interview with WebProNews, Churchill also discusses several basic, older tools that are still relevant today. For instance, Xenu’s Link Sleuth is still very effective for checking links.

In addition, she talks about recent changes to Google’s keyword tool. The search engine changed the data source from Google.com and its partner sites to just Google.com. Google is also looking at commercial words as opposed to informational words. Churchill personally believes this was a bad move on Google’s part since 80 percent of searches on the Web are informational.

“I think Google is doing a real disservice to users by doing that,” she adds.

What are your thoughts on adCenter and Google’s recent changes to its keyword tool?

Specifically, she talks to WebProNews about Google AdWords for mobile. She says that if you’re not in the top 4 positions, you’re not going to show up at all. Typically, users do not get past the first page in mobile search results.

For advertisers doing a WAP ad, she points out that they have fewer characters to work with. Android phones, iPhones, and some other smartphones have the same number of characters, but they can include phone numbers that are clickable. This is important because it means that people do not have to have website or mobile site in order to do mobile PPC.

In other words, mobile PPC can send phone traffic just as easily as it can send website traffic. Mobile PPC can also send traffic to app stores to help promote applications. Since many app developers do not realize that app stores are essentially search engines, they do not optimize their app for search. By doing mobile PPC, these app developers can overcome some of the problems of how their app is listed and can still drive traffic.

Are you taking advantage of mobile PPC?

Taylor Pratt of Raven Internet Marketing Tools talks to WebProNews and offers some advanced advice regarding keyword research. First of all, he explains a trick that users can do with the Google’s AdWords tool. He tells users to conduct a logged out Google search, copy the url, and paste it into the AdWords tool. This will then scan the top 10 results and provide keyword recommendations. Pratt says users can take it even further and use this trick with Amazon, Wikipedia, eBay pages, directories, and more.

Unfortunately, many people often become biased toward certain keywords and, essentially, push for them to win even when they are not performing. Pratt suggests that users take the keyword list from their analytics package, export it, and then block out all the keywords. By doing this, users will only be able to see the metrics, which will determine the keywords that are converting and performing.

Many times, the C-level suite is guilty of showing partiality toward particular keywords. To reach them, Pratt says marketers should talk to them in a way that they understand. In other words, tell them if a long tail term is the one that is bringing in the money and traffic as opposed to the one they simply like.

Pratt also discusses another trick users can do with Google analytics. He says if users look at their keywords, there is a second drop-down menu. From that menu, if users select the “landing page” option, they will see a list of landing pages from which a specific keyword visited their site. This will also show how the keyword is performing. With this information, users can determine what they should be targeting.

In regards to advice for marketers doing mobile paid search, Pratt believes marketers should find out which action terms people are searching for. He goes on to point out that marketers should think about the user, since mobile users know exactly what they want when they search.

Are you taking your keyword research to the next level?

One change Blum addresses is Google’s AdRank algorithm. He says this is a metric that is equal to the product of what you are wiling to pay. In other words, it is your maximum bid and quality score.

Problems arise because it is possible that users could have multiple keywords for the same quality score, which would prompt the same query. This means that you could be competing with yourself and, ultimately, increasing what you have to pay.

According to Blum, an ideal ad combination exists, but you have to find it through research and analysis. Once you find it, he says you can force impressions to go the right keyword ad combination through siloing. In the end, your cost-per-click (CPC) will go down, as your click-through-rate (CTR) goes up.

To do this, Blum advises advertisers to have organized accounts with relevant ad groups. He again stresses the importance of having the right keyword ad combination. After these elements are in place, he says advertisers can utilize negative keyword applications.

In this interview, Blum also discusses the differences in accounts on PCs and mobile devices. He believes the biggest difference is in user behavior and explains how to leverage it.

Are you applying this knowledge to your ad campaigns?

Ads have traditionally consisted of three lines of text, but Vallaeys indicated that they would soon be changing. Google advertising has to keep up with the company’s organic side and integrate platforms such as universal search, images, video, and more, into ads.

He said, “We really can’t have the advertising product lag behind and not be as visually appealing, if you will, and as a result, maybe have advertisers not get as many clicks as they could’ve.”

Vallaeys also predicted changes to come in regards to advertising for mobile devices. In the past, the ad text had to be shorter for mobile devices, but as mobile technology has developed and advanced, the text can now simply be enabled to fit. In addition, ads can be specifically targeted and relevant for mobile needs.

In an announcement last week, Google revealed that it acquired mobile ad firm, AdMob. With both Google and AdMob working together, Vallaeys said users could expect interesting and useful results moving forward.

1.    Can we go beyond keywords?
2.    Can we go beyond text ads?
3.    Can we go beyond cost-per-click (CPC)?

Fox suggests that instead of “guessing” on keywords, matching the advertiser’s actual business objectives directly with the action the users are trying to do. For text ads, why not change the ad format to include items such as maps, video, directions, and more since users are accustomed to those enhancements in their searches.

To go beyond cost-per-click, Fox advocates the idea of cost-per-acquisition or pay-per-conversion systems. Advertisers do not simply want visitors to their site, but instead, want to see business results such as sales and relationships. Google’s Conversion Optimizer is one step in moving toward this direction.

While keywords, text ads, and cost-per-click have all worked well in the past, there is always room to boost the experience for both the advertisers and the users.

What direction would you like to see search advertising take in the future?

The majority of the well-respected patriarchs in the industry are self-taught. Although this speaks highly of these individuals, it also raises a problem. The industry lacks an educational program. A curriculum for SEO has not been developed for universities to use. In her experience, Watlington has noticed that she spends a lot of her time training others. Many times, her trainees include well-educated people, and not merely new-comers. There is a severe lack of fundamental knowledge. The fundamentals are not mainstream anymore. Large businesses are making mistakes as a result of this lack of education.

According to Watlington, there are two types of spam. The first type is intention-based. As long as there are rewards such as AdWords around, the incentive for intention-based spam is still present. Watlington believes it will be around for some time. The second type of spam is unintentional. It is produced when people make silly mistakes that could have been prevented with more education. This type of spam can be remedied. Education will come a long way with sitemaps and Webmaster central helping it out.

The SEO industry is an area of constant learning. It’s a fast-paced developing industry. Search marketers need to pay close attention because as the industry evolves, technology evolves, and the consumer even evolves. The consumer’s behavior is crucial because its influence is so powerful. Watlington believes that although search engines taught consumers how to search, now consumers play a role in impacting how search engines operate. It’s an exciting industry, and with all the developments, it is a good time to be a search marketer.

Google now lets Canadian corporations become Google AdWords qualified. Search Engine People reported that the decision reversal came from phone calls, emails, protests, and a phone call with Canadian Business Magazine’s Andrew Wahl. Search Engine People’s President Jeff Quipp said companies must participate as a member country in the program. Quipp becomes excited about the race to become the first Canadian Google Adwords Qualified Company. Google provides the quickest way to find important information on the Internet.

Microsoft works on a combined search user interface intended to destroy Google Desktop and hinder Google’s business software services. Microsoft’s web site refers to the latest application as One-View or the code name “Casino.” The new program presents one user interface for searching across the desktop, intranets and the web. Several solution providers see the Casino application as not ready yet, but expect Microsoft to incorporate it with Windows Vista and Windows Live Search. Softpedia’s online news reported that Microsoft considered releasing Casino with Windows Live, but chooses to rename it Windows Search Four. Several Microsoft partners expect Microsoft to release Casino as an add-on to Vista and eventually become integrated into the operating system.

Analysts suggest that Microsoft should purchase Yahoo to lend a hand to the software companies failing Internet future. UBS advises five options for Microsoft. First, press the issue. Second, join joint ventures or partnerships. Third, return to Yahoo and remember Microsoft before adCenter began. Fourth, purchase Yahoo; although analysts advise the time to buy Yahoo came when the stock remained under 23 dollars a few months ago. Yahoo’s stock raised from 25 dollars and 30 cents a share late December to more than 32 dollars a share earlier this week. Finally, UBS analysts recommend if all else fails, keeping the status quo. UBS analysts think Microsoft needs to make the business bigger and online advertising will do that. UBS estimates online advertising will grow around 20 percent to 43 billion dollars in 2009.

Ideally, sources appearing in Google News US are US-based sources with high authority and page rank. Not too long ago, Google tweaked its algorithm to make it more difficult for low-authority blogs and low-quality rewrite sites to make into the Google News index. Either the algorithm is not as tough on foreign sources as it is US sources, or someone’s gaming the system.

Take Playfuls.com, for instance, a Cypress-based publication. Playfuls has close to 8,000 listings in Google Entertainment News, exceeding even long established paper of record the New York Times.

Or how about Spirit India dot com, which held the top Health News spot for it’s article about the effect of dairy products on fertility, trumping nearly 300 other sources, including Fox News, Bloomberg, and Atlanta Journal Constitution. Intermixed with those sources are publications out of Belfast and even China.

So which is it? Is Google’s algorithm simply not tight enough? Or Is Google getting gamed for traffic?

The click fraud debate should get rolling again, now that Google has made a detected click fraud rate available. Danny Sullivan reported this as less than zero point zero two percent. That refers to clicks that make it past Google’s multiple layers of detection and have to be refunded to clients. The actual percentage of clicks that are detected as invalid, whether caught by Google or refunded later, is somewhere between one and nine percent. Third party companies have reported much higher rates of click fraud, which had caused a number of advertisers to question Google’s effectiveness in stopping them.

If search engines want to reject advertisements from would-be clients, a federal judge in Delaware said they are free to do so. A lawsuit filed by Christopher Langdon against Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft claimed his rights to free speech were infringed. But a U.S. District Court judge said search engines were free to reject his ads as part of their First Amendment rights. The court also found that existing communications law supported the search engines’ right to filter objectionable content. Langdon had wanted to run ads criticizing politicians in North Carolina, and the Chinese government.

YouTube has been put in the penalty box again. This time it’s the NHL having issues with how their video clips are shared. You can still see those hockey clips on YouTube, but the league no longer allows them to be embedded in other websites. If you want to see a clip, you have to go to YouTube to watch it. Mark Phillip, founder of AreYouWatchingThis.com, said the NHL just doesn’t get it:

“They’re putting their videos on YouTube, but they don’t understand why they’re putting their videos on YouTube.”

If you have to go in for surgery, you might want to ask your surgeon how good he is at video games. A New York study of twelve surgeons and twenty-one surgical residents found that the gamers were better at performing certain surgical skills. The gamers made fewer errors and finished faster than the rest of the group when doing simulated surgery that they would do in real life with the help of a TV screen. That doesn’t mean marathon sessions of Halo will get you into medical school. You still have to study, too.

A music critic accidentally found another use for iTunes recently. The software turned into a musical detective and revealed works by a late British concert pianist as a hoax. Joyce Hatto died in 2006, leaving behind a number of recordings of her piano mastery. But when the critic put one of her CD’s in a computer, iTunes identified it as the work of another performer. Further investigation proved her recordings were those made by other people. Hatto’s husband produced the CD’s, and he says he has no idea how this happened. Sounds like his story is a little off-key.

The New York Post reports that Getty Images is considering a purchase of digital image rival Jupitermedia Corp .

Over the last few years Jupitermedia has become a major player in online imaging by acquiring more than 25 online subscription image sites including Comstock and Photos.com.

According to the article, “…it is unclear how much Getty is willing to pay for Jupitermedia, but sources close to the deal said the image company could fetch more than $11 a share, or more than $450 including debt”. That amounts to a $165 million premium over Jupitermedia’s market cap on Nasdaq.

Jupitermedia CEO Alan Meckler recently announced a major shift for his company back into the tradeshow and online content business. Could selling his Jupiterimages division be part of that strategy?