Interactive Advertising Revenues to Reach US$147 Billion Globally by 2012

Interactive Advertising Revenues to Reach US$147 Billion Globally by 2012, According to The Kelsey Group’s Annual Forecast

During the forecast period, global directional advertising revenues, comprising local search, print and Internet Yellow Pages, will grow to US$41.4 billion

Princeton, NJ (Feb. 25, 2008) -- The global advertising market grew to just over US$600 billion in 2007, according to The Kelsey Group, the leading provider of research, data and strategic analysis on directional and interactive local media. The firm expects global ad revenues to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.7 percent and reach US$707 billion in 2012, propelled in large part by considerable growth in the interactive segment.

According to “The Kelsey Group’s Annual Forecast (2007-2012): Outlook for Directional and Interactive Advertising,” interactive advertising revenues will increase significantly from US$45 billion in 2007 to US$147 billion globally in 2012, representing a 23.4 percent CAGR.

“It’s no surprise that the global advertising industry is experiencing a full-scale shift to mixed-media platforms, with interactive driving a significant share of overall industry growth,” said Matt Booth, senior vice president, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group. “We see Internet development—including increased subscriber/user access and broadband penetration—as a driver of both interactive advertising revenue as well as migration of traditional ad spending to new media platforms.”

Interactive advertising, which comprises search (including local search), display advertising, classifieds and other interactive ad products, grew its share of global advertising revenues from 6.1 percent in 2006 to 7.4 percent in 2007. By 2012 Kelsey Group analysts expect the interactive share of global ad spending will reach 21 percent.

During the forecast period (2007-2012), the United States will see interactive advertising revenues grow from US$22.5 billion to US$62.4 billion (22.6 percent CAGR), with interactive revenues in Canada increasing from US$1.3 billion to US$3.3 billion (21.3 percent CAGR).

The Outlook for Directional Advertising
The Kelsey Group forecasts directional advertising, which comprises local search, print Yellow Pages and Internet Yellow Pages (IYP), will grow from US$33.3 billion in 2007 to US$41.4 billion globally in 2012 (4.5 percent CAGR). The global outlook for each of the three key segments of the directional media market during the forecast period (2007-2012) is as follows:

• Local search revenues will grow from US$2.1 billion to US$6.6 billion (25.5 percent CAGR).

• Print Yellow Pages revenues will decline from US$27.5 billion to US$25.6 billion (-1.4 percent CAGR).
  
• IYP revenues will grow from US$3.7 billion to US$9.2 billion (20.1 percent CAGR).
  

“We expect printed directory revenues to decline in most global markets over the forecast period, though print will remain the most important source of leads for small businesses,” said Charles Laughlin, senior vice president and program director, The Kelsey Report®, and managing editor, The Kelsey Group. “For directory publishers to succeed, they will need to invest time, energy and resources in both channels to minimize the decline in print and maximize the opportunity online.”

During the forecast period (2007-2012), the United States will see directional advertising revenues grow from US$16.4 billion to US$18.8 billion (2.8 percent CAGR), with directional revenues in Canada increasing from US$1.4 billion to US$1.9 billion (5.8 percent CAGR). Canada is one of the markets in which The Kelsey Group expects growth in the print Yellow Pages segment, forecasting a 1.8 percent CAGR for print directories in Canada during the forecast period.

Metrics Key for Winning in the Downturn

FEBRUARY 27, 2009

“Slash it!”

With the economy struggling and budgets being reduced, US marketers are focusing on quantifiable tactics to get their messages across.

iMedia found that the majority of marketers were dedicating their firms to measurable, ROI-driven strategies. While some were keeping plans the same, even fewer were abandoning new marketing initiatives.

“With the current economic recession, digital marketing professionals are holding out hope that some of the budget dollars originally slated for traditional marketing will move into the cheaper, more measurable digital medium,” wrote iMedia analysts.

What is preventing marketing executives from moving more funding into the online space?

Respondents to the survey said that dependence on traditional measures, corporate culture, departmental inertia or fear and a lack of metrics were the largest roadblocks to further allocation.

GLEN ON IAN FERNANDO :: YouTube - Genrally Speaking with MediaTrust

YouTube - Genrally Speaking with MediaTrust
GLEN PAGAN of Ian Fernandos video in the MT office

Searching for New Customers in the Recession?

FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Hiding in plain sight

It makes sense when you think about it. As tough times force many customers to buy less—and to be pickier about what they do buy—search is becoming ever more important to marketers.

“The recession is driving marketers to concentrate on gaining new business, even more than on customer retention objectives,” says David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Search Marketing Trends: Back to Basics. “Search is the ultimate online acquisition tool, and therefore is positioned to do relatively well in this economy.”

The four basic search options are paid search, contextual advertising, paid inclusion—all three are types of advertising—and search engine optimization (SEO).

All four options will experience increased spending through 2013. By then eMarketer estimates total US search marketing outlays will surpass $23 billion.

“While paid search traditionally has gotten most of the attention and money,” says Mr. Hallerman, “as they seek to acquire new customers, marketers are increasingly turning to SEO.”

There are key differences between paid search and SEO.

“Paid search’s effects are immediate, but marketers need to spend consistently for sponsored-link ads to appear in search queries,” says Mr. Hallerman. “SEO takes time, and marketers need to constantly maintain their Websites to sustain high organic results.”

As marketers better understand the purpose of Website optimization in their overall campaigns, compared with the other three types of search marketing, SEO spending will grow at a higher yearly rate.

“Customers are going to search engines because they are looking for better deals,” says Mr. Hallerman. “And marketers are going to search engines because that’s where the customers are.”

Online Ad Spending Seen Shrinking

Internet advertising could fall by 5% in the first quarter of 2009, the first contraction in online ad spending since the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, market research group IDC said Wednesday.

IDC analyst Karsten Weide also said the U.S. Internet ad market could get worse in the second quarter before the situation improves in the second half of the year.

Mr. Weide said his latest estimates suggest the low double-digit growth rates that most industry forecasts assume for 2009 may be too optimistic. IDC itself had previously forecast a 10% growth in online ads for 2009.

The research group's estimates highlight the challenges that Internet giants Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. face as their core revenue streams continue to deteriorate amid a deepening global recession.

Mr. Weide said IDC's revised outlook reflects results from the group's upcoming fourth quarter Internet ad report. It concludes that while world-wide Internet ad spending continued to grow at a muted pace, fourth-quarter U.S. Internet advertising sales were much worse than anticipated -- up just 0.4% to $7.13 billion.

Mr. Weide said growth in fourth-quarter search ads was only barely able to offset losses in display and classified spending. He forecast that while first-quarter search ad revenue will not collapse, growth will continue slowing -- and display and classified ads will most likely show worse declines than in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Google's dominance of the search advertising market has made it more resilient to the downturn than struggling Yahoo, which depends much more on display advertising.

The Powerful Potential of Permission-Based E-Mail

FEBRUARY 24, 2009

The majority of customers who receive e-mail from a company have a more positive image of that company.

Really?

According to “Beyond the Click: The Indirect Value of Email,” from Epsilon and ROI Research, 57% of consumers had a more positive impression of companies they had purchased from when they received e-mail from them—and 40% said such e-mail made a future purchase from the company more likely.

Getting consumers to sign up for permission e-mails may be difficult, but the effort is worth it when 84% said they liked receiving e-mail from companies they had registered with—and more than one-half saved the messages for later review.

Even when consumers have to wade through hundreds of spam messages, they appreciate receiving relevant information.

“E-mail builds loyalty and brand awareness and drives on- and off-line behavior,” said Kevin Mabley, senior vice president of Epsilon Strategic Services.

To test this thesis, Epsilon looked more closely at one particular category in its “Flying High: Measuring the Value of Email Marketing for the Travel Industry” report.

“In the travel industry where so much activity has moved to the online arena, it’s crucial that companies communicate effectively and efficiently with their customers,” said Mr. Mabley.

In fact, recipients of travel e-mail showed even higher loyalty than retail, consumer packaged goods, pharma or finance category recipients, with 63% saying in October 2008 that they were more likely to buy from companies that sent them e-mail.

A whopping 92% of respondents who received travel e-mail thought it was a “great way” to learn about new products and offerings.

More importantly, consumers often took easily measurable actions such as booking online, clicking links and downloading coupons after receiving e-mail from a travel company.

Marketers Make Deeper Cuts

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

The ad outlook has worsened.

Marketers are undertaking more drastic cost-cutting measures now than they projected even six months ago.

According to an Association of National Advertisers (ANA) survey, 93% of responding marketers said they were now making budget cuts—versus 87% in July and August 2008.

Nearly 37% said they plan to reduce budgets by more than 20%. Back in August, only 21% expected to cut that much.

The January–February 2009 survey found that 77% of marketers plan to cut advertising campaign media budgets; 72% plan to cut ad campaign production budgets; and 68% have mandated that agency partners identify additional cuts.

In the summer 2008 survey, 53% of marketers projected their advertising budgets would be cut in the next six months. Fast-forward six months and 71% report budget decreases. While 38% of those polled earlier predicted their budgets would remain the same, only 23% now say their budgets actually stayed level.

“I’m not surprised, given what’s happened to the economy over the past six months,” said Carol Krol, eMarketer senior analyst. “With so many marketers chopping their budgets, traditional media—such as print and TV—will see additional dollars flow online.”

Ad and media agency executives seemed poised for belt-tightening in August, when 63% of them told Reardon Smith Whittaker that the economy had already had a “somewhat negative impact” on their agency, and 14% took an even darker view.

They were right to be gloomy.

Clearly, agencies are feeling the pain. According to analysis by Advertising Age based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US advertising and media sector cut 18,700 jobs in December alone.

Coupon Sites Grow at a Fast Clip - eMarketer

Coupon Sites Grow at a Fast Clip - eMarketer

Coupon Sites Grow at a Fast Clip

FEBRUARY 18, 2009

Recession drives consumers to the Internet for savings

In a rough economy, frugal shoppers are turning to coupons. comScore’s “State of the US Online Retail Economy: Q3 2008” report said that 62% of responding US consumers who were decreasing their shopping expenses in October 2008 were using coupons more often to do so—the third-most-popular strategy.

But don’t reach for the scissors just yet. Coupon Websites that find deals in a few keystrokes or clicks are both easier to search and tend to have more savings. According to comScore Media Metrix, coupon sites were the fastest-growing online category in November 2008, up 32% from October to 35.6 million visitors.

Coupons.com, a site that allows consumers to select and print coupons that can be redeemed at stores offline, had 8.5 million visitors in November 2008. Compete has since reported the site receives over 14 million unique monthly visitors.

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“Our network is 72% female college-educated homeowners with kids at home,” Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons Inc.—which runs the site—told eMarketer. “About 0.5% of the coupons sent in the Sunday paper are redeemed, whereas 17% is the average number of coupons printed to redeem off our network. There are typically anywhere between 85 and 120 offers, depending on when in a month you go [to Coupons.com].”

As consumers—most of them female—turn to the Web for coupons, they’re still finding deals in more traditional ways. In an October 2008 survey of 2,000 female Internet users ages 18 and older by SheSpeaks, 76% of respondents reported sharing offline coupons found in magazines, direct mail or newspapers with their friends. Of the same group, 66% shared online coupons that could be printed and then used in stores.

“The rough economy has motivated consumers to become more resourceful in how they use the Internet to research potential online and in-store purchases,” said eMarketer senior analyst Jeffrey Grau. “The future looks bright for coupon sites as financially strapped consumers rely on the Internet to stretch their dollars.”

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The Real Problem With Display: A Glut Of Inventory

By Tameka Kee - Tue 17 Feb 2009 02:25 PM PST

Display ad revenues were down 25 percent for AOL, down two percent at Yahoo, and down so sharply at the New York Times Co. that it decided to shift About.com to a cost-per-click model in Q4. But don’t blame it all on the economy: the WSJ has a story today arguing that the cratering display market has actually been buckling under the weight of too much inventory for some time now, and the economy has just further diminished demand.

Even if the economy rebounds in 2009, it doesn’t look like the situation will improve because premium and mid-tier publishers are just creating too much content. When you add in the continuous stream of lower-quality user-generated content and social media inventory, the Journal says: “The Web is likely heading for a shakeout on a scale unseen since the dot.com bust.” More after the jump.

Well, at least the ad industry can feel good about the local online market, right? Not really. That slice of the market, which had been going strong last year, is starting to feel more of the pain, Business Week reports. The post piggybacks on Borrell Associates’ report from November that said there would be “little or no growth” in local online ad spending in 2009, and here’s how it shakes out: independent classifieds like Craigslist (which monetizes just one percent of its traffic) and review sites like Yelp will find it harder to maintain operations, local businesses will pull back on spending with third-party services like OpenTable, and, of course, local newspapers will continue to sink deeper into a hole.

If there’s one bright spot, it’s the fact that marketers are steadily increasing their online ad budgets at the expense of more traditional means. That pool of cash could fuel demand for both display and local online ads over time.

• The Local Online Ad Locomotive Slows; Little Or No Growth In ‘08, Borrell Says

Eyeballs Are Great, but Revenues Would Be Better

FEBRUARY 12, 2009

Online video sites rack up traffic numbers

Google sites enjoyed more than 100 million unique online video viewers in December 2008, according to comScore Video Metrix. Google’s closest competitor in the online video arms race is Fox Interactive Media, which owns properties such as MySpace and Photobucket, the online photo- and video-sharing site.

Some 5.9 billion videos were viewed on Google sites, with its YouTube property accounting for nearly 100% of the total, according to comScore.

Nice traffic. But marketers want to know how online video hubs can generate revenues from all the engagement they are receiving.

“It’s misleading trying to equate numbers of video viewers with opportunities to make money,” said David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer.

“YouTube may have the most visitors, but the vast majority of videos that people view on the megasite are not the kind of trusted content that attracts the typical brand marketer. The mindset of these marketers is protective, and placing ads against content they’re unsure of does not play out too well.”

Mr. Hallerman added, “Most YouTube streams are short-form content, generally less than 5 minutes. These brief streams can at best support only 15-second ads, or even shorter. Longer-form videos, such as full TV shows, are a more hospitable environment for the bulk of advertisers willing to spend for online video advertising.”

YouTube has made deals for longer-form, professionally created content. But even that might backfire, Mr. Hallerman cautioned.

“While the vast amount of available videos continues to attract a large audience, those short clips also create more clutter and more distraction, which takes away some of the potential value of that professional content,” he said. “In contrast, the relative simplicity of a video site such as Hulu creates a more direct connection among audience, video and advertiser.”

eMarketer projects advertisers will spend $850 million on video ads in 2009—a modest total, particularly considering that an estimated 84% of Internet users will watch online video this year.

Economy Calls For Online Lead Generation

MediaPost Article 2/10/09

Economy Calls For Online Lead Generation by Christopher Petix, 1 hour ago

In the current climate, budgets are definitely a top priority for marketers.
As a result, marketers must make the most of their spend--and they must account for every penny. Any marketing method they choose needs to be extremely targeted, measurable and result in high conversion rates.

This is where online marketing really excels. With offline marketing efforts, marketers often rely on estimates and educated guesses--for example, "an outdoor billboard was seen by around 10,000 people walking by every day and we presume half of them were women" or "last night's marketing event really created a big hype." However, with online marketing, marketers get all the hard facts: How many people saw the ad, how many times each person saw it, whether they reacted--clicked through on it--or whether they signed up for the newsletter, for example.

As a result of this measurability, many online marketing solutions are offered on a performance-based pricing model, which ensures that marketers are getting what they pay for. A company wants their target group to read a specific message--so it pays per-click and redirects the customer to a landing page containing that specific message, without using expensive billboards that people may or may not see.

However, the ultimate goal for marketers is increasing sales--and it is here where Online Lead Generation is the fastest and most sustainable of online marketing efforts. With traditional data houses, clients will usually pay for a bundle of leads--say 10 or 20 thousand. However, with OLG, clients can opt to pay on a cost-per-lead basis for new and unique leads--and if they have already obtained the lead from another source, they can reject that lead in favor of a new one, be it a telemarketing lead, a newsletter sign-up or a trial subscription for a product.

The leads can also be sent immediately after sign-up--which is what many marketers need in a climate where they cannot afford anything less than maximum return on their marketing spend. This flexibility means that OLG is very cost-effective, as marketing managers are only paying for the leads that they use.

With OLG, marketers are guaranteed to be getting new, fresh data and they don't have to worry about its relevance--it is guaranteed to be up to date. As the data is brand-new and unique to them, it won't have been sitting in a database for years while the person could have moved their house, changed telephone numbers or even changed their name. And due to the rigorous data-cleansing processes of Online Lead Generation, every lead is guaranteed to be fully contactable--there are no "dead leads," and all the contact details are fully checked.

Because of the higher quality of the data provided, there is also less of a waste margin, so companies can ask for less leads initially. They may get the same number of conversions from 5,000 leads collected via OLG as they would from a 10,000 lead bundle from a traditional data house.

The highly measurable nature of an Online Lead Generation campaign and its ability to suit any budget is what makes it attractive--especially in the current climate--and it also fits easily into a larger, complete marketing campaign by complementing other methods such as television, print and other online methods that are already within a company's marketing mix.

Ad Declines in Mass Media Seen as More Than Just Economic

By NAT WORDEN

With dire forecasts, multibillion-dollar write-downs and widespread job losses piling up throughout the industry, media companies are watching their life blood -- advertising -- erode at a rate not seen in a generation.

And this week, titans of media acknowledged the possibility that when the economy finally recovers, advertising dollars may never return to major media outlets in full force as the rise of the Internet leaves audiences increasingly fragmented and less accessible to mass marketing.

For example, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger told analysts Tuesday that some of the entertainment empire's businesses, like its broadcast television network, are feeling "signs of secular change as competition for people's time is increasing and the abundance of choice is allowing consumers to be more selective."

Mr. Iger's comments raised eyebrows because he was suggesting that something more than just the worldwide economic downturn was behind Disney's 32% drop in fiscal first-quarter earnings and 8.2% revenue slide. Media stocks, like other industries, are at multiyear lows, but Mr. Iger's comments -- echoed by others -- indicate the challenges facing media companies.

"We don't believe the changes we are seeing in consumer behavior can all be attributed to a weak economy, and we feel it is important for us to address them as more than just cyclical issues," Mr. Iger said.

His counterpart at News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, acknowledged the heightened threat posed to the ad business by digital distribution.

"I recognize that we may never return to record levels, but we do believe [News Corp.] can recapture a large percentage of the advertising that does return," Mr. Murdoch said. "It's why we continue to believe in newspapers and their brand extensions and television and film as mass media."

For that reason, News Corp. continues to invest in its businesses.

"We have never bought in to the pervasive fear that all is lost when the business hits a recession, that advertising is gone [and] never to return, that consumers won't pay for entertainment," Mr. Murdoch said. "Sure, there's reason to be concerned, and we are running our business to respond to that concern, but historically, every time we've seen a recession, mild or major, we've endured this panic and come out better."

News Corp.'s results underscored the reasons for concern. The company swung to a loss for the quarter totaling $6.4 billion thanks in part to an asset impairment charge of $8.4 billion stemming from the 70% drop in its stock price over the last two years. Its revenue was down 8.1%.

"Despite management's optimistic view of the earnings recovery potential, we believe the challenges News Corp. is facing are secular," JPMorgan analyst Imran Khan said.

"The company's management believes that newspaper and television earning power will return after the economy bottoms," Mr. Khan said. "We, however, think that advertising-supported industries are undergoing a structural shift and, as such, think that newspapers and local TV revenue base will continue to face significant challenges."

News Corp. wasn't the only media company to record massive impairment charges. Time Warner Inc., with its stock down 56% over the last two years, logged a $16 billion quarterly loss on Wednesday with asset write-downs totaling $24 billion as its magazine publishing and online media segments suffered sharp declines.

CBS Corp., which will report its fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 18, recorded a $14.1 billion charge in November amid an ongoing slump at its broadcast radio and television businesses. Its shares are down 73% over the past 12 months.

Analysts say the big write-downs reflect poor capital allocation on the part of media companies over the last decade and a recognition that declines in the value of their businesses are likely permanent.

Recently, media companies have invested heavily in digital media assets to keep pace with technology, but most of these deals have yet to bear financial fruit and some have been disastrous.

Most notable is Time Warner's infamous merger with AOL, which is still plaguing the company as it struggles to unload the shrinking Internet business. Meanwhile, Google Inc. is trying to cash out of its AOL investment, having written down its 5% position by more than 70%.

News Corp.'s Murdoch conceded that players in the Internet search advertising business, like Google, are "on to a very good thing," and he noted the difficulties facing News Corp.'s digital media business, comprised mostly of the social networking site, MySpace, which focuses on display advertising.

MySpace was the toast of the traditional media industry when News Corp. acquired it for $580 million in 2005 to be its new media growth engine. In its latest quarter, however, ad revenue at Fox Interactive Media, which includes MySpace, was flat, and its division posted an operating loss of $38 million.

News Corp. also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

JPMorgan's Khan said he expects more headwinds for MySpace amid increasing competition from sites like Facebook, making it "more difficult to reach meaningful profitability." He also sees trouble for MySpace when its search deal with Google ends next year, "creating additional pressure on profitability."

Sites with user-generated content -- like MySpace, Facebook and YouTube -- are struggling to drive advertising revenue growth for their owners despite rapid audience growth. Mr. Murdoch said News Corp. has adopted an "underlying philosophy" that online media businesses will shift to subscription models, but outside of a few notable exceptions, like Apple Inc.'s iTunes, a culture that demands free access to information and entertainment dominates the Web, leaving advertising as the key revenue source.

"The problem is that there's an almost infinite increase in inventory for Web sites and for display, so there's constant downward pressure on the [ad] rates you can get," Mr. Murdoch said. "We have to find new ways to monetize our huge audiences."

US Search Ad Spending Falters?

FEBRUARY 6, 2009

Report shows quarterly decline, but that’s only part of the picture.

Search advertising used to be reliable and solid, but growth is slowing even in this stalwart segment of the online economy.

US search advertising spending fell 8% year over year in Q4 2008, according to search marketing firm Efficient Frontier. The company said it was the first quarterly decline on a year-over-year basis since it began monitoring search ad spending.

Reductions among smaller companies that spend less than $50,000 on search ads per month were even more profound: Efficient Frontier said such firms cut their spending by 23% year over year. Advertisers that spend more than $200,000 on search monthly cut spending by 9%, while those that spend between $50,000 and $200,000 held relatively flat.

Search ad spending among financial advertisers fell 20%, and automotive spending dropped 15% for Q4 2008 versus Q4 2007. Retail advertisers increased spending 9% in Q4.

“You need to read between the lines when examining the new search data from Efficient Frontier,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst. “Even though the SEM company says US search ad spending fell by 8% in Q4 2008, reported earnings from the major search companies counter that data.

“For example, Google’s US net search revenues in Q4 were up by 17% year over year. And over 65% of the US search market belongs to Google. Furthermore, Yahoo! reported that its US search revenues in Q4 were up by 18%—and that portal has an 11% market share.

“One must conclude that the Efficient Frontier data, based as it is on its own client base, reflects the particular financial problems of those verticals. Those include financial services, travel and entertainment, retail, and automotive.”

While US search advertising is still expected to grow 14.9% in 2009 to $12.3 billion, that rate is down from 21.4% in 2008, according to eMarketer. For 2010 through 2013, search ad spending growth estimates are choppy.

US Search Ad Spending Falters?

FEBRUARY 6, 2009

Report shows quarterly decline, but that’s only part of the picture.

Search advertising used to be reliable and solid, but growth is slowing even in this stalwart segment of the online economy.

US search advertising spending fell 8% year over year in Q4 2008, according to search marketing firm Efficient Frontier. The company said it was the first quarterly decline on a year-over-year basis since it began monitoring search ad spending.

Reductions among smaller companies that spend less than $50,000 on search ads per month were even more profound: Efficient Frontier said such firms cut their spending by 23% year over year. Advertisers that spend more than $200,000 on search monthly cut spending by 9%, while those that spend between $50,000 and $200,000 held relatively flat.

Search ad spending among financial advertisers fell 20%, and automotive spending dropped 15% for Q4 2008 versus Q4 2007. Retail advertisers increased spending 9% in Q4.

“You need to read between the lines when examining the new search data from Efficient Frontier,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst. “Even though the SEM company says US search ad spending fell by 8% in Q4 2008, reported earnings from the major search companies counter that data.

“For example, Google’s US net search revenues in Q4 were up by 17% year over year. And over 65% of the US search market belongs to Google. Furthermore, Yahoo! reported that its US search revenues in Q4 were up by 18%—and that portal has an 11% market share.

“One must conclude that the Efficient Frontier data, based as it is on its own client base, reflects the particular financial problems of those verticals. Those include financial services, travel and entertainment, retail, and automotive.”

While US search advertising is still expected to grow 14.9% in 2009 to $12.3 billion, that rate is down from 21.4% in 2008, according to eMarketer. For 2010 through 2013, search ad spending growth estimates are choppy.

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Chantelle White
Advaliant

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http://www.dmconfidential.com/backissues/2009/02/05/newsletter.02052009.html

@ AlwaysOn: Despite Economic, Display Woes, Social Media Provides A Rationale For Ad Net M&As

By David Kaplan - Wed 04 Feb 2009 07:54 AM PST

After reminiscing about the frenzy of ad network deals in 2006 to 2007, how do things look now? Speaking on a panel at day two of the AlwaysOn NYC media conference, moderator Jay Rand, partner Manatt, Phelps & Phillps, noted that it used to be “ad networks were the bomb.” And now, some appear to be bombing as display prices continue to shrink.

Lance Maerov, SVP, corporate development for WPP Group, said that he expects this is a time when the clear winners and losers will be settled. The winners will tend to fall into distinct vertical niches, added Steve Fletcher, managing director at GCA Savvian. Taking a different view, Paul Kwan, managing director at Morgan Stanley, said the real difference as display tanks, said that the focus of ad networks is showing a different shift. Those who can serve the buy side—through offering analytics and related tools—will find real success.

More after the jump.

—Thinking of starting an ad net today?: Jay MacDonald, partner DeSilva + Phillips, said that a few years ago, all you needed to start an ad network was some relationships with advertisers and technology. That’s not the case anymore. “Are you solving a problem or are you doing something better? If someone can do better targeting, that’s the foundation of a viable business,” said Michael Montgomery, president, Montgomery & Co.

—It’s a big world: It’ll be a long time until the IPO market comes back as well. But in terms of acquisitions, there will still be a lot of activity in other parts of the globe. Kwan: The best option would be to situate yourself as the object of a bidding war between Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT). But we’re not back to those days yet. We look at the IPO market and it’s tough. To compare, in 2007, we did 22 IPOs; last year, we did one. Still, comparatively, our market share in that space was up. Fletcher: There are other buyers outside the US and we should look to other countries as potential acquires of ad networks.

—What would Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) do?: Yahoo just said that it’s not going to serve ads to RSS feed. Does that mean that business is a dead end. The panelists’ general response was “hardly.” Maerov: Trying to understand Yahoo in this environment is a little like trying to understand the Kremlin in the middle of the Cold War. Montgomery: I wouldn’t judge this business by what Yahoo does.

—Social media will drive M&A: There’s so much inventory out there on social networking sites, Maerov noted, someone has to come along and solve it. The companies that provide that answer, also provide the rationale for continued M&A activity. Still, as Rand asked, and then answered, when will more M&A deals happen? Like a fan whose team failed again, there’s always next year. Lead gen is another category that is ripe for acquisitions, as companies that can help drive more customers quickly are seen as more valuable—despite the disrepute lead gen had after a number of high profile cases of fraudulent marketing accusations.

—The early days: On WPP’s $25 million investment in analytics firm Omniture last week, Maerov said that the stake plays to where the ad industry is headed and represents the kind of deals it will pursue. Namely, companies that complement existing services—such as those offered by 24/7 Real Media, which it bought in May 2007 for $649 million: How many people click on a banner ad? It’s about 30 percent. We’re still in the early days, and all media will be primarily on a digital platform in the future. Companies like ours need to understand why advertising online is working and why it’s not. And that desire to understand that aspect of marketing will drive purchase decisions.

Posted in: Advertising, Marketing, VC+M&A, Mergers & Acquisitions, Conferences

Job Search Category growing FAST!

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=99492

comScore, Inc., in a study of Americans' usage of the job search category, the fastest growing content site category in 2008, found that the category has seen the number of visitors grow 51% to 18.8 million visitors, as millions of Americans find themselves seeking new job opportunities. The final months of the year were some of the most heavily trafficked months of 2008.

CareerBuilder.com Job Search led the category with 9.1 million visitors, up 78 percent versus year ago, followed by Monster.com Job search, Yahoo! HotJobsJob Search, and Indeed.com Job Search. SimplyHired, Inc. had the strongest growth rate of the top ten sites in the category, growing 161%.

Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore, said "While much of the U.S. economy is suffering, job search has performed significantly better than average web site during these challenging times... Americans are turning online for this assistance now more than ever."

The consumer profile reveals that demographic segments in the job search category were disproportionately affected in 2008 by the current job market. Interestingly, the share of minutes spent by women in the category grew substantially, up 7.2 percentage points versus year ago.

Mr. Flanagan added "It's possible that women are being either disproportionately affected by job losses, or... playing a more active role in the job searches of their spouses... we could be seeing a phenomenon of more households needing to have dual wage earners... amidst a sharp reduction in the value of their assets and net worth."

Other demographic segments accounting for a substantially higher share of the time spent on job sites in December 2008 than in 2007 include people between the ages of 25-49, households making at least $75,000, households without children, and those in the South Atlantic and West South Central census regions.

A Boost in Online Money Courses

By ALINA DIZIK

Since September's financial meltdown, community colleges and universities offering free personal-finance courses online have seen a sharp increase in enrollment.

Many people are turning to the more than 180 business courses offered through the OpenCourseWare Consortium -- a group of about 250 universities world-wide, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California-Irvine. These courses aren't exactly classes, but they offer free access to online syllabi and study materials, along with lecture notes and exams.

Associated Press

An MIT initiative called OpenCourseWare offers business courses online.

One course, "Fundamentals of Financial Planning," has seen a 27% increase in traffic since September, according to the school. With 48,000 viewers, it has become the most popular of the University of California-Irvine's OpenCourseWare offerings, the school says. Class takers are given worksheets and assessments to help them negotiate topics like college planning and retirement savings, says Gary Matkin, dean of continuing education. "It's a cross between a reference and a learning experience," says Mr. Matkin. As more people are affected by the downturn, he expects the number of course takers to grow.

Other OpenCourseWare business offerings, like those provided by MIT's Sloan School of Management, have also seen an increase, says Steve Carson, external relations director for MIT OpenCourseWare. The most popular courses are those that focus on economic theory and the latest developments in the financial world, he says. Mr. Carson says he's seen a 30% attendance increase in a number of business-related courses. Starting in October, about 225 users daily downloaded several of the school's macroeconomics courses, up from about 150 a day before that, says Mr. Carson.

Finance 101

Groups that offer low-cost or free courses:

www.credabilityu.org A quick dose of budgeting advice through podcasts and webinars

www.money-wise.org Provides training modules and reading materials about banking and homeownership

www.ocwconsortium.org A directory of OpenCourseWare materials with hundreds of business courses from top universities

www.360financialliteracy.org Focused on solving personal finance dilemmas at all life stages

www.financiallit.org Low-cost programs on family financial management, budgeting, debt management, and bankruptcy.

Vakul Talwar, an IT project manager at GE Capital, a unit of General Electric Co., in Melbourne, Australia, says he finished reading the required materials for an MIT course on real-estate economics several weeks ago after seeing how the "real estate market was going rock bottom in the U.S." Mr. Talwar, 27 years old, likes the open courses, which he found several years ago through an Internet search.

Financial literacy courses in other formats are also gaining ground. Some 43% of the course traffic for the year came in the last three months of 2008 for free webinars from the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta, according to spokesman John McJosh. Popular courses included those on reducing spending, and ways of saving and creating a priority spending plan. And 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy, a free online financial literacy Web site run by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, saw a 43% increase in traffic for 2008, says media relations manager Mitchell Slepian.

Apopka, Fla., resident Paul Seago recently paid $99 for David Ramsey's Financial Peace University, a 13-week video-based financial literacy program that was offered at his church. Mr. Seago, 38, says participants had to break into two groups because of over-enrollment. He says the course helped him learn how to stay out of debt. "When you hear about all these layoffs, it's really nice to have a plan that we're working towards," says Mr. Seago. Nationally, demand for the David Ramsey programs increased 37% over January of last year.

Clare Stenstrom, a principal with Bourne Stenstrom Lent Asset Management, helps oversee a pro-bono financial planning course at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. She says the class sizes have almost doubled since spring of 2008. And Ms. Stenstrom has noticed that many who attend the free twice-per-month course, covering subjects like investing and retirement, are staying late to ask questions and asking friends to tag along.

Click Fraud Climbing

FEBRUARY 4, 2009

Idle fingers…?

They say that in bad economic times crime rises.

If online click fraud rates are any indication, they could be right. (Click fraud occurs when an automated computer program imitates a legitimate user by clicking on a search ad to generate a bogus charge.)

“Just as more street crime has been reported over the past few months, as the recession has deepened, so has more online ‘street’ crime, such as click fraud,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst. “Hard times make for more illegal activity.”

In fact, according to Click Forensics, click fraud is at an all-time high.

The firm’s “Click Fraud Index,” now in its third year, shows that the overall industry average click fraud rate grew to slightly more than 17% for Q4 2008, up from 16% in the previous quarter.

“The online advertising industry is not immune to the growing tide of cybercrime during this recessionary period,” said Tom Cuthbert, president of Click Forensics, in a statement. “Both the overall click fraud rate and the rate of click fraud originating from botnets were the highest ever in Q4 2008.”

The US was responsible for most of the current cybercrime wave, but Canada (originating 7.4% of total click fraud), Germany (3%) and China (2.3%) also contributed to the rising click fraud rate.

Mr. Cuthbert cautioned, “Advertisers should pay close attention to their online campaigns throughout the year.”

BIGLIST SEO Blogs | Online Marketing Blog

BIGLIST SEO Blogs | Online Marketing Blog

Welcome to the BIGLIST of SEM and SEO blogs!
Below is a collection of over 400 blogs maintained by the staff at TopRank Online Marketing. This edited list includes blogs that cover a range of internet marketing topics ranging from SEO (search engine optimization) and PPC (pay per click) to blog marketing, marketing with social media and online public relations. Watch this list each week as we’ll be updating it every Friday along with the OPML file. If you’re listed, you can add a Big List badge to your site.

Save or Share this Page!
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How do you get on the list?
It wouldn’t hurt to link to the list first. Otherwise, we find most of the new blogs when reading blogrolls of other BIGLIST inductees or SEM social news sites. Rarely do we add a blog based on a direct request. Two fundamental requirements: Your blog must cover search marketing and it must post weekly at a bare minimum. Other considerations include, blog design, usability, writing style and quality.

How do you get off the list?
No one has ever asked how to get off this list, in fact, many have gone out of their way to get ON the list. However, we do drop anywhere from 70-100 blogs off the list due to a variety of reasons ranging from infrequent blog postings, off topic postings, site not longer working or on occasion, sites that get bought and turned into splogs.

Making Changes
Our goal is to provide a useful and accurate list of actively SEO. Managing such a large list over time means we may not catch every change. Common changes include moving from a third party hosting service to a domain name or sub-domain address, writer changes and topics covered. If you have changes that need to be made in your BIGLIST entry, then contact TopRank using the web form.

BIGLIST

• 10e20 - Chris Winfield and team blog about search marketing, social media and design.
• 11Marketing Blog - The team at a Vancouver BC based social media consulting agency blog mostly on social media and offer a social network marketing ebook.
• 123 Social Media - Barry Hurd promises to educate business professionals on how to maximize the best in online marketing and technology.
• 3net Search Engine Marketing Blog - Online marketing articles on blogs / blogging, internet advertising, search engine marketing, social media, and web design / development.
• 5 Star Affiliate Programs Blog - Linda Buquet blogs about affiliate marketing, contextual advertising and marketing online.
• 97th Floor SEO Blog - Chris Bennett and Mat Siltala of 97th Floor offer up their personal insights on search marketing which is refreshing as there are plenty of “SEM news”� blogs out there already. The blog is well optimized and integrated into the main web site and likely contributes as an effective lead generation tool.
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• About: Web Search - Wendy Boswell covers the search engines for About.com.
• Accessible Web Design - Minnesota based Joe Dolson on accessibiliy.
• AdCenter Blog - The official blog of Microsoft adCenter.
• AdCenter Community - This is Microsoft”s official support blog for AdCenter advertisers.
• Advanced Web Metrics - The now ex-Googler web analytics guru Brian Clifton is the author of Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics and this is his blog. Note the blogroll for analytics bloggers.
• AimClear Search Marketing Blog - Another Minnesota based blogger makes the list with Marty Weintraub blogging about paid search marketing and organic SEO with the purpose of demystifying common topics that come up in his interactions with clients.
• Alibi Productions Blog - Drew Stauffer’s blog about marketing online.
• Alister Cameron - Blog consultant, web designer and father of four blogs about blogging and search marketing.
• All Things SEM - Marios Alexandrou titles his blog All things SEM and you’ll see when visiting it’s very much about SEO with posts ranging from the latest updates on Google to Black Hat SEO.
• Altogether Digital - A group blog from the team at London based search marketing agency Altogether, which is a result of the merging of eyefall, DC Interact & Meme, blogs about SEO, PPC and affiliate marketing.
• Always be Testing - Andy Edmonds, the Chief Scientist at StomperNet blogs about ecommerce analytics with useful how tos and several interesting tools like the Transaction Funnel Explorer or the Analytics UI Section Link Tagger. What would be even better is if Andy posted more frequently.
• Amplify Interactive Blog - Ben Lloyd, Christian Bullock and Kristin Wall write about fundamental search marketing tips, SEO, PPC as well as industry events.
• Andrew RH Girdwood - A self titled blog and self described blogger, “digital marketing, search, gaming geek”� works for a SEM agency and blogs about Google, SEO, social media and many other SEM related topics.
• An Internet Consultant Speaks -Scott Hendison covers a range of topics rooted in SEO but including general web marketing topics to PR to blog marketing tactics.
• Antidote - Smart Internet marketing advice from Singapore with Antidote.
• Apogee Weblog - Richard Ball of Apogee Web Consulting blogs about search engine marketing, small business growth, web analytics and pixel advertising.
• Ask Kalena - Kalena Jordan offers search engine tips and advice.
• Audette Media Blog - Adam Audette has a new blog for his internet marketing consulting business and while it’s a new blog, we’re adding it to the BIGLIST because if it evolves into anything like what Adam does on LED Digest, it’s sure to be a hit. Check out the link building primer.
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• Baron VC - Sam Baron writes about social media.
• Beanstalk SEO Blog - Dave Davies blogs about news in the search engine and online marketing industry.
• Being Peter Kim - Previously with Forrester Research, Peter Kim now works with an Austin based strategic consulting practice that is developing an enterprise class Social Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) suite. He continues to blog about social computing, social media marketing and insights of high value to internet marketers and business leaders.
• Ben Wills - While Ben doesn’t post as often as many other blogs on our list, his analytical, strategic, and pragmatic focus on online marketing is worth the read.
• beu blog - As well as being very active in the SEM industry, Brian Ussery is an Atlanta based SEO known for his expertise with Flash and SEO, writes a wide range of topics but mostly focuses on search engine optimization and Google related topics.
• Beyond the Paid - Melissa Mackey who is a Search Marketing Director for MagazineLine and recent winner of a free pass to Search Marketing Expo blogs about search engine marketing.
• BIG marketing for small business - Rajan Sodhi’s fairly new blog on common and uncommon marketing tactics for small businesses.
• Big OAK SEO blog - Shell Harris blogs about all angels of SEO.
• Bill Hartzer - Bill has redone his site and blogs about a wide variety of topics ranging from the search marketing industry to linking to monetizing web site content.
• Biznology - IBM Distinguished Engineer Mike Moran’s blog on search.
• Blizzard Internet Marketing - Group blog and newsletter from the team at Blizzard Internet Marketing.
• Blogation - David Z. Hawk provides unique tips on Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing and affiliate marketing.
• BloggerDesign - Thomas McMahon’s blog (aka TwisterMC) on blog design, usability and marketing.
• BlogStorm - Popular UK blogger Patrick Altoft offers an abundance of tips on internet marketing and SEO.
• BPWrap - Barry Welford’s blog about internet marketing.
• Brent Csutoras - Brent uses a blog as his web site where he writes about social media, search and viral marketing.
• Britopian - Michael Brito, formerly with HP then Yahoo and now with Intel, writes about social media and marketing online.
• Bruce Clay Blog - Lisa Barone performs her blog magic covering the search marketing industry.
• Bulletpoints - New Zealand based Nicholas O’Flaherty blogs a familiar mix of reputation management, online PR and search engine marketing.
• BusinessOnLine Blog - Ray “Catfish”� Comstock and Benj Arriola write a nice mix of SEO tips and industry observations on this company blog.
• Buzz Marketing for Technology - Paul Dunay offers innovative Ideas to accelerate demand generation marketing.
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• Caged Ether - On the whole, Daryl Pereira blogs about corporate blogging and search marketing topics with a recent flurry of session posts from Wordcamp and SES San Jose. Nifty page layout changing option too. I didn’t like the side bar on the right so I moved it to the left. Cool.
• Cam Balzer Web-Cite - Google/DoubleClick/Performics’ VP of Emerging Media writes about 2.0 topics, search and marketing along with a few ranted items.
• Capture the Conversation - Internet Marketing Methodologies from Room 214, Inc co-founders James Clark & Jason Cormier.
• Cartoon Barry - Barry Schwartz’s pseudo personal blog. Also includes links to posts from his work at Search Engine Roundtable and Search Engine Land.
• Cesar Serna - If you’re yearning for more on the technical/coding side of SEO, then Cesar’s blog can deliver with posts on tools including the Soxialize Twitter marketing tool. There’s also a “Black Board” Friday series of posts worth checking out. Cesar used to work with Greg Boser at Webguerrilla and is now focused SEO/SEM windows application and Wordpress plugin development.
• Charlene Li’s Blog - Previously a Forrester Analyst, this blog that also covers social computing and digital marketing topics.
• cgm - Pete Blackshaw, the CMO of Nielsen BuzzMetrics blogs about consumer generated media.
• ClickEquations Blog - Craig Danuloff writes this insightful paid search product blog from Commerce 360 on PPC, analytics, and internet marketing in general.
• Clickfire Blog - Emory Rowland blogs about Google, webmaster issues, SEO and related topics.
• Clicky Media Blog - This UK Agency blog uses cool images with each post, something that does a great job of attracting your attention. Topics range from agency and industry news to internet marketing tactics.
• ClickZ News Blog and ClickZ Experts - The newly designed ClickZ web site continues to offer first class coverage of the search and interactive marketing industry as well as insight from leading industry experts.
• Clix Marketing Blog - PPC Expert David Szetela posts a variety of tips and experience based insights on paid search advertising.
• CLM Blog - The folks at Closed Loop Marketing share their thoughts on search marketing, usability and conversion.
• ClearSaleing Blog - I came upon this search marketing agency blog indirectly and found it to be chock full of great posts with practical advice and clear insight from people who know what they’re talking about without all the pomp and circumstance you see on the prima donna SEO blogs. Well done!
• Comparison Engines - Brian Smith’s popular blog on comparison shopping engines.
• Commerce360 Blog - Craig Danuloff posts about search marketing and analytics.
• Compete Blog - Online trends and insightful findings from the team at Compete.com.
• comScore Networks - Feed for comScore press releases.
• ContextWeb Internet Advertising Blog - John Ebbert writes about online and contextual advertising with info for publishers and advertisers.
• Conversation Marketing - Long time internet marketer Ian Lurie pulls together search, design, development and more with this compliment blog to the free online book, Conversation Marketing.
• Conversion Rater - Pat McCarthy shows you how to make the web convert for your goals.
• Copyblogger - Brian Clark’s most excellent blog on copywriting and marketing.
• Cornwall SEO blog - Lyndon Antcliff’s SEO & social media blog.
• Cre8pc - The lovely and super smart Kim Krause’s blog on usability and holistic search marketing.
• Cre8tive Flow - Cre8asiteforums group blog.
• Create Business Growth - Christine O’Kelly writes about blogging, copywriting and small business marketing online.
• Cruces - Michael Myers, COO of FreshCurrent, blogs smart about social media and marketing online.
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• Daggle - The man, the legend, Mr. Danny Sullivan: Hero of search marketing.
• Daily Blog Tips - As it’s name implies, this blog with a huge number of subscribers is about blogging but also has a robust category for SEO and internet marketing related topics.
• Dan Zarrella - Dan is a self described, “Social Media and Viral Marketing Scientst”, and a web developer who blogs about the social media, viral marketing and SEO focused research he does and tools he’s created like the Link Attraction Factors tools and the recent Tweetbacks blog plugin.
• Daver’s Blog - Dave Rohrer blogs a mix of personal commentary and online marketing topics.
• David Dalka - Professional conference blogger Dave Dalka blogs a lot about what other bloggers/people say as well as biz dev, marketing, local and mobile search marketing and of course, Chicago.
• Dave Fleet - Dave says he’s exploring the intersection of communications, marketing and social media with this blog and that’s exactly what he does with a nice mix of opinion and tips with a decidedly social media flavor.
• David Naylor - DaveN, a favorite UK based search marketer who isn’t afraid of wearing a black hat from time to time.
• Dawud Miracle - Dawud Miracle is a web designer who blogs about, yep you guessed it, web design. But the reason his blog is on this list is that he also touches quite a bit on online marketing including components of SEO such as copywriting, linking, social networking, blog marketing and many other topics which gives a different perspective than most SEO-only blogs.
• Dellanave - With a ton of success doing development and monetizing web sites, Shoemoney associate and fellow Minnesotan Dave Dellanave is making another go of the blogging thing writing mostly about tech but also SEO, SEM and related experiences.
• Digerati Marketing - UK based Mark Cook writes a mix of short personal posts mixed with longer SEO articles.
• Digital Biographer - David Petherick’s passion for social media and web 2.0 benefits us all through his commentary on new social media tools and ways to use them.
• DigiTales Blog - Microsoft’s UK man in the know, Mel Carson blogs for BrandRepublic on all things related to digital marketing. Unfortunately, Brand Republic has decided you must login to see the full posts.
• Diva Marketing Blog - Toby Bloomberg’s blog on marketing with blogs.
• Dosh Dosh - This anime spotted blog written by Maki, a Political Science and Philosophy student in Toronto Canada, is all about making money online and along with that comes posts about professional blogging, affiliate marketing, get-paid-to programs, advertising networks and social media monetization.
• Dream Systems Media Blog - Mat Siltala, David Mink and Andrew Melchior “blog” in the true sense of the word, about their experiences as an internet marketing agency as well as a range of web marketing topics and tips ranging from SEO to social media marketing.
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• eCommerce Blog - Ethan from Baltimore based Groove eCommerce posts on this newer blog about industry and company news followed by topics ranging from SEO to analytics.
• Economics of Selling Online - Catherine Carey is a professor of Economics teaching “Economics of E-commerce” and the “Economics of Advertising” in addition to posting this blog with researched and cited posts on topics related to online marketing and commerce.
• eConsultancy Internet Marketing & News - Group blog from the team at eConsultancy.
• E-Marketing Performance - Stoney deGeyter and the team from Pole Position Marketing offer up search marketing information to render your competition powerless.
• Emerson Direct Marketing Observations - Tech blogger Marc Meyer writes an interesting mix of social media marketing and direct marketing, or “digital response marketing” as he likes to describe it, for Emerson Direct.
• Endless Plain - Here we have the re-branded blog from Nan Dawkins and her team from Serengeti Communications, (previously RedBoots Consulting). The continues to offer a very good collection of practical insight about search, social media and search engine reputation management as well as serving as a lead generation tool for the agency.
• EngineWorks Blog - Here we have a blog with a clean design working seamlessly with the company web site from EngineWorks, a search marketing firm out of Portland Oregon. Posts are for the most part written by Sean McMahon and Kent Schnepp focused on general search marketing topics, news, Google and SEO.
• Enquisite Search Metrics Blog - While this blog name carries a “metrics”� label, the past month’s entries have actually been interviews with interesting search marketing people ranging from to Greg Boser to Josh Stylman. The blog is from Richard of Zwicky of Metamend, the company that created the Enquisite free search metrics software.
• Eric Lander’s Blog - A “jack of all trades” in-house marketer for ADP, Eric writes about content monetization and contextual advertising as well as the usual SEO, pay per click and search engine topics.
• ExperienceCurve - Karl Long’s blog on marketing, social media and customer experience.
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• FantomNews - A long time blog written by Ralph Tagtmeir who’s known to have some serious black hat, ip delivery (cloaking) skills, also includes a weekly fantOon or cartoon about search marketing.
• Fathom SEO Blog - SEO news, trends & analysis from Mike Murray and the team at Fathom SEO.
• Finding the Sweet Spot - Scott Clark, a web marketer from Kentucky blogs about a variet of personal and professional interests including SEO.
• Find Resolution - Here we have a good example of a big agency blog so the emphasis is on industry observations, agency news and positioning.
• Flyte Blog - Rich Brooks writes about web marketing for small business.
• Forrester Blog for Interactive Marketing - Excellent group blog from Forrester on various aspects of interactive marketing from B2B social media to search marketing to research and industry news.
• Freshblog - The team at Fresh Egg, Ammon Johns’ UK search marketing agency post about work, search marketing and industry observations.
• FroggBlog - Not to be confused with, umm ribbit, the “Frog Blog”� from U.S. based Did-It, this blog belongs to the team at LeapFrogg, a UK based which aspires to writing opinions, original ideas and personal observations about SEO, paid search and social media.
• Frye / Wiles Blog - This is a fun agency blog on web design and internet marketing that proves images can do a lot for a blog post. Topics range from news and observations/opinion to design tools to search engine optimization tips.
• Fuel Interactive Blog - This agency blog written in a personal voice by Brian Carter covers the gamut of search and social media marketing topics including sage advice on metrics, tactics and strategies.
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• Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog - The team at Vancouver BC based Elastic Path, an ecommerce platform, blog all angles of conducting tansactional business online ranging from general marketing to usability to social media. There’s are also a series of podcasts from last summer worth checking out.
• Google Blogoscoped - Phillip Lenssen’s blog about mostly Google.
• Google Code Blog - Google API’s and more.
• Google News Inside - Jonathan Dingman covers all things Google with his personal perspective.
• Google Operating System - Ionut Alex Chitu offers uUnofficial news and tips about Google.
• Google Watch - Steve Bryant from Ziff Davis watches Google.
• Google Webmaster Central blog - Posts from the Google Webmaster Central team including wisdom from Vanessa Fox and Adam Lasnik.
• Google’s Blogs ‘n More - Mix of official Google feeds from Google Blogscoped.
• Googling Google ZDNet - Garett Rogers from ZDNet blogs about what Google is up to.
• Got Ads? - John K. blogs about advertising revolving around Google.
• Graywolf’s SEO Blog - Michael Gray blogs about social media and grayhat SEO.
• Great Finds - iCrossing company blog about marketing online.
• Grokdotcom - Group blog from Future Now. Also includes a nifty search marketing blogs aggregator feed.
• Gypsy Bandito - Media maven CT Moore (Chris Moore) posts lots of video and on a variety of topics ranging from PR, Marketing, Advertising and some SEO.
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• High Rankings Advisor Archives - SEO legend Jill Whalen’s newsletter available via RSS.
• HitTail - Mike Levin blogs about Connors Communication’s tool HitTail.
• Hitwise Intelligence - The HitWise team posts tasty insights about search trends.
• Hobo SEO UK - Shaun Anderson writes about a variety of search engine optimization related topics for his agency based in Scotland.
• Holistic Search Blog - UK based Peter Young blogs mostly about internet marketing topics with an emphasis on tips, commentary and insights related to SEO, PPC and online marketing.
• Hubspot Marketing Blog - The team at HubSpot writes about internet marketing and online lead generation for small business.
• Hyperlink Guerrilla - Orlando based Jim Hathaway provides a shared exploration of culture and business on the web through annotated links posts.
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• Ignite Social Media - Ignite is a social media consultancy with the company web site running as a blog. Topics logically emphasize social media with some optimization flavorings. More information on the post authors and a fix to the 404 on the job openings page would be nice.
• I Hate Google.org - Dan Kramer writes about sSearch engine optimization news and tidbits.
• I’m Not a Doctor - Stephen Peron blogs conversationally about SEO from San Diego and you’ve gotta love the SEO-inspired license plates.
• IncrediBILL’s Random Rants - Bill Atchison on, “Stopping scrapers and spammers and a whole lot more”�.
• Industrial Search Engine Marketing Blog - Minnesota based Ecreativeworks blogs about search engine marketing from a B2B, industrial and manufacturing perspective.
• Influential Interactive Marketing - Rohit Bhargava, VP Interactive Marketing for Ogilvy Public Relations on marketing online.
• Inside AdSense - Official blog for Google AdSense.
• Inside AdWords - Official blog for Google AdWords.
• Inside the Marketers Studio - David Berkowitz’s blog on internet marketing.
• Internet Marketing Blog - Chris Garrett of Performancing fame.
• Internet Marketing Blog Prospect MX - Agency blog for Prospect MX.
• Internet - martinibuster - Roger Montii is back with his hard won wisdom of link building and SEO.
• Internet News - A general internet marketing and search news blog by Gwen Harris.
• IR Thoughts - Dr E. Garcia offers an array of posts covering news, papers, and theses on information retrieval, data mining, and search engine technology with a penchant for dispelling myths about Latent Semantic Indexing promoted by sinister SEOs.
• Irish Wonder’s Black Hat SEO Blog - A blog about blackhat, general SEO issues and other things related to the life on the web.
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• Jaan’s Search Marketing Blog - Jaan Kanellis, aka “IncredibleHelp”�, blogs mostly about SEO with a few rants about the industry here and there.
• Jacob Morgan - A nice mix of social, viral, SEO and marketing strategy from the founder of the SF Search Marketing Salon.
• Jeremy Zawodny’s blog - Famous or infamous? Yahoo employee.
• JLH Design Blog - Fellow Minnesotan John Honeck really wants you to buy him a beer and along the way, this designer blogs advice about search optimization with an emphasis on all things Google.
• John Battelle’s Searchblog - Famous co-founder of Wired magazine posts about the search engine industry. I just wish he’d write about search marketing once in a while.
• John W. Ellis SEM Blog - John writes mostly about PPC, analytics, SEO and social media marketing with a bit of sports, travel and Nashville sneaking in from time to time.
• Jon Myers Search Blog - Jon is the head of search and Associate Director at MediaVest in the UK writing about his views of the search engine marketing world.
• Johnon.com - John Andrews on competitive webmastering and SEO.
• Jonathan Mendez’s Blog - Branding, usability, paid search and analytics.
• Junta42 Blog - Joe Pulizzi takes his own advice and provides great tips and advice on marketing and retaining customers with content which is really spot on if you subscribe to the “give to get” principles of social media marketing.
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• Karl Ribas - Blogs mostly about search engine news, pay per click and tools.
• Kelsey Group Blog - For all things related to local search marketing and online yellow pages, this blog is an excellent resource on industry news and observations from the team at Kelsey Group.
• Klik Marketing Blog - New agency founder Eric Fransen has started a new blog about Internet marketing topics for small businesses.
• KoMarketing Associates SEM Blog - A group/company blog covering SEO, PPC, events, industry news/trends, tips and a lot of personal insight. These folks are clearly involved in, and have an opinion on, what goes on in the industry.
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• Latitude Group - This UK based search marketing agency blog posts the gamut of internet marketing topics including Affiliate, Email, PPC, SEO, Social Media and Analytics. Company news and case studies can be found as well.
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• Leveraging Ideas - Sam Huleatt, a Brooklyn-based Internet entrepreneur & strategy guru writes about the social media space, strategies and entreprenuership.
• Liberate Media Blog - This UK based agency blog with Andy Merchant, Tim Greenhalgh and founders Lloyd Gofton and Wendy McAuliffe covers emerging trends, industry observations, social media and digital PR topics.
• Lies, Damed Lies - Microsoft’s Ian Thomas, who leads Microsoft’s new web analytics solution effort, blogs about online marketing and web analytics.
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• Link Building Best Practices Blog -Link building and site promotion expertise from Vertical Measures is shared in this blog covering a variety of linking and web site publicity tactics.
• Linkworth Blog - Need to know your way around text link ads, paid blog reviews and the like? This blog might be for you.
• Live Search Webmaster Center Blog - Official blog of the Live Search Webmaster Center team with just a little bit of a bias with SEOmoz and Search Engine Land as the only other blogs they link to.
• LocalMN Blog - Paul Jahn writes about local search marketing from Minnesota.
• Local SEO Guide - With Andrew Shotland it’s all about local internet marketing and he blogs it well.
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• Manhattan Marketing Maven - Danny Flamberg blogs about all aspects of marketing including marketing online.
• Mannix Marketing Blog - This agency blog focuses mostly on SEO, web design & Internet marketing as well as agency news and involvement with industry events.
• Marketer Insight - This is an agency blog from the team at WebSiteBiz covering “current thinking and strategies related to improving online marketing” with search, social media and analytics focused posts from Eric Dudley, Kyle Bumgardner and Tom Dressler.
• Marketinghackz - Plenty of search, social and internet marketing hackz.
• Marketing Experiments Blog - Real-time data, insights, answers, and advice from Flint McGlaughlin’s team at MEC
• Marketing.fm - Lee Jones Eric Friedman post about online marketing and advertising. Labs.
• Marketing Logic - Matt Bailey, one of my favorite conference speakers, blogs about search marketing, analytics and usability.
• Marketing Pilgrim - Andy Beal’s super stupendous blog on search engine industry news.
• Marketing Profs Daily Fix - With managing editor, Ann Handley, this group blog posts on all things marketing with participants ranging from Eric Ward to Stephan Spencer to BL Ochman.
• MarketingVOX - Previously Marketing Wonk, this post I-Search publication founded by Tig Tillinghast.
• Marketmou SEO Blog - Copywriter and MBA undergraduate Patricia Skinner writes a blog for writers and marketers that want to learn about search engine optimization and online branding strategies.
• Matt Cutts - Google’s famous engineer and search spam fighter dispels wisdom, insight and squashes SEO myths.
• MaxRoy Blog - Need to know about search marketing in Central and Eastern Europe? This very new company blog from Poland offers a best effort at English to explain the importance of search marketing.
• Media Buyer Planner - Online media publication from the same folks that bring you MarketingVox.
• Mediadonis - Germany based Marcus Tandler writes about his search engine industry and often hilarious personal experiences - mostly in English but sometimes in German.
• MediaVision Blog - This is an agency blog with numerous contributors writing about online marketing and search engine industry news, observations and malarkey.
• MEGO - “My Eyes Glaze Over”� blog is Marketing Communications Manager, Michelle Kostya, who is also a mommy blogger, writing about advertising, web tools, social media and her work.
• Metamend SEO Blog - Without question, one of the most prolific and talented writers in the SEO space is Jim Hedger who also consults with the Metamend agency in Vancouver.
• Micro Persuasion - Steve Rubel from Edelman PR on new and social media, web 2.0 and marketing online.
• Mike Grehan Says - Old school SEO Mike Grehan blogs about his world travels and the SEO column he writes for ClickZ.
• Mikkel deMib Svendsen - I have no idea what this blog is really� about because it’s in Danish and my 9 months in Denmark 14 years ago isn’t helping any. What I DO know is Mikkel from many, many search marketing conferences in his signature bright, and I mean bright colored suits talking about some serious online marketing, not just black-gray-white hat search engine optimization. If you do speak Danish, I’m sure you’re in for a treat. Tak!
• Modern B2B Marketing - Jon Miller of marketo blogs about BtoB marketing online.
• Monica Wright - A long time internet marketer in Portland, Maine Monica blogs about Internet Marketing, SEO, Social Media and other topics that come to mind like Karate, kids and Zima.
• MoreVisibility SEM Blog - The team at MoreVisibility cover industry news & events, online advertising, CPC, analytics and updates on the Search Engines.
• Morrison - Observations about the search marketing industry from Liam Morrison in Ireland.
• MSN Sandbox - Where MSN posts beta applications for testing.
• Muhammad Saleem - Moved his mu life blog over to this new destination writing mostly about marketing with social media.
• Multilingual Search - Andy Atkins Kruger and friends around the world blog about search engines and search marketing news happening outside North America.
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• Nate Moller - Nate, of Prosper, Inc, blogs about ecommerce for small businesses & startup consulting.
• Natural Search and Mobile SEO Blog - Get your mobile SEO on with Bryson Meunier from Resolution Media and his Mobile SEO blog.
• Neoformix - Jeff Clark does some really interesting work with graphing and illustrating patterns in data. This whole topic presents some very interesting insights, especially if you study the social nature of how language, words (keyword phrases to all you SEOs) and document analysis can be used in social marketing.
• Net Business Blog - Matt Coddington writes about affiliate marketing, CPA, PPC, SEO/SEM, eBooks, domaining and web development.
• NewspaperGrl - Janet Meiners writes about internet and affiliate marketing.
• Nic ‘n Cher - Nicola Young from Scotland and Cheryl Clark from Canada are thoroughly enthusiastic about SEO and PPC and the writing shows.
• Nielsen Technical Services Blog - Another long-time Minneapolis based SEO blogs about the search engine marketing industry.
• NLC Internet Marketing Blog - A light posting group blog from the folks at non linear creations.
• No More Landing Pages - Started as a mock protest of ad:tech San Francisco, Justin Talerico, Scott Brinker, and Anna Talerico blog about landing pages - the good, bad and everything in between.
• NVI Blog - You’ve got to love both the tag line, “professional, technical and a little bit twisted” and the RSS Icon (guy sitting on a toilet) of this Montreal based web design agency blog that also covers search and social marketing.
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• Occam’s Razor - Avinash Kaushik offers quantitative and qualitative insights into online marketing.
• Official Google Webmaster Central Blog - Official blog from Google’s Webmasters.
• Online Business by Brian Mark - Emerging trends & technology for online businesses.
• Online Marketing Mavens - Minnesota based Lisa Raehsler, a SEM guru, and Sarah Zielie, an Interactive Media enthusiast, join forces to study and share insights, secrets, and tips in their respective fields.
• Online Marketing :: Robin Good - What you need to know about online marketing.
• OnlineMarketerBlog - The catchy tagline caught my eye on this blog, “If Copyblogger and JaffeJuice had a bad-ass baby” and serves as a living resume of topics, insights and thoughtful experiences for David Francis. The ads are a bit much though.
• Online Marketing Blog - Lee Odden and TopRank team members blog about search marketing, social media as well as interviews, reader polls, SEO blog reviews, marketing tips, guest posts from industry leaders and SEM conference coverage.
• Original Signal - Transmitting Marketing - A little bit of everything from Peter van der Noord, Patrick Huisinga, Tako Steinz and Gert Goet.
• Original Signal Transmitting SEO - Aggregation of the 15 most popular SEO blogs and web sites ranging from Search Engine Watch to Search Engine Land and TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog.
• Own Page One SEV Blog - Ann Arbor, Michigan based search marketing agency Pure Visibility runs the gamut of search marketing topics on this company blog ranging from PPC to local to SEO and even has a category just for Twitter.
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• PalatnikFactor - Pablo Palatnik blogs SEM. SEO. Social Media. Branding. Marketing and News.
• Pandia - Internet searching blog from Per & Susanne Koch of Norway.
• pepperjamBlog - The team at Pepperjam blogs about search and affiliate marketing along with search engine industry observations.
• Performancing.com - Community site/blog about making money through blogging.
• Peter Norvig - Technical papers, essays and other materials from Peter Norvig.
• Phil’s Blogservations - The perso-professional PR & media blog from Phil Gomes.
• Phil Bradley’s Blog - Internet searching, web design & search engine developments for librarians.
• Post-Click Marketing Blog -This is the official agency blog for ion interactive (doesn’t anyone capitalize anymore?) and covers very detailed information about landing pages, optimizing and converting.
• PPC Advice - Garry Przyklenk blogs on tips and insights into pay per click marketing.
• PPC Blog - Giovanna Wall publishes this self titled sister site to Aaron Wall’s SEO Book site covering all things pay per click including each major ad platform, affiliate, contextual and local search. There’s also a nice collection of PPC focused tools.
• PPC Discussions - Jeremy Mayes writes about paid search with particular emphasis on Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter.
• PPCPROZ Blog - Pay per click tutorials, tools and opinions from Dan and Elan Perach.
• Practical Blogging - Adsense, affiliate advertising & general blogging help from Robyn Tippins.
• ProBlogger Blog Tips - Darren Rowse helps bloggers add income to their blogs.
• Pronet Advertising - Started by Neil Patel and now written mostly by Muhammad Saleem, this blog doles out SEO and social media optimization wisdom daily.
• PushONline Marketing - Great blog from the UK doing the full social media thing: images, videos, MySpace and some nods to Twitter. Not without a dose of good humor, check out the videos, “Number One on the Google”�, or even better, “Bitch Got Wide Feed”. Brilliant.
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• Ramblings About SEO - I was very suprised to see that Eric Enge’s blog, which covers a wide range of topics related to search engine optimization, was not on our list yet, but that’s fixed now.
• Ranked Hard SEO Comic - Get your funny on with this quality SEO comic about the mythical “Ranked Hardâ€� SEO agency, from folks at Big Oak.
• Raven SEO Tools Blog - Jon Henshaw and Lee Smith-Bryan of Nashville based Sitening blog mostly about SEO tactics along with the ususal fare of search industry topics and commentary.
• Read/WriteWeb - Next generation web technology from Richard MacManus.
• Reel Video SEO and SEM - Need to know about optimizing video for search? This is the place to find tips, tactics and information on all things related to optimizing and marketing video online written by Mark Robertson.
• ResourceShelf - Gary Price & Shirl Kennedy’s observations on news in the information & web industry.
• ReveNews - Publisher Jim Kukral and friends blog about the affiliate marketing industry covering topics from ecommerce to analytics to blogging.
• RKG Blog - Alan Rimm-Kaufman of the Rimm-Kaufman Group blogs about various online marketing news items and tips along with his own commentary.
• Rob Garner - Big agency search marketer Rob Garner from iCrossing blogs about his industry involvement including conferences and the contributions he makes at MediaPost’s Search Insider. He’s also one of the few blogs with the guts to publish an agnostic SEM/SEO blogroll.
• Rothman Marketing Blog - Israel Rothman writes about internet advertising.
• RSS Ray - Offers articles on internet marketing and also hosts an online radio show.
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• Saad Kamal - This is a very nicely designed SEO blog that covers industry news and tools with commentary/opinion, hot picks, and tips with a focus on search marketing for bloggers and small business. Saad lives in Malaysia but works for a SEO agency based in Toronto.
• Sazbean Blog - Sarah and Aaron Worsham post about a wide range of internet marketing topics including strategy, marketing, design, and technology in this well written blog that also includes a nice “Morning Edition” collection of links post.
• Screenwerk Greg Sterling - Greg Sterling’s musings on offline & online media.
• Search Anyway Blog - Chris Ridings? and Sanjay Mayar blog about search and affiliate marketing.
• Search Brains - Excellent “river of news” site on SEO offered by the good people at WebProNews.
• SearchCap: Daily Search Engine News Recap - Search is completely covered by Danny Sullivan, Barry Schwartz, Chris Sherman and Bill Slawski.
• Search Cowboys - Bas van den Beld has assembled an impressive crew of internet marketing experts to write for this online newspaper style blog with regular columns, tools, book reviews, video and events info emphasizing the search and internet marketing industry in Europe.
• Search Engine Guide Blog - Group blog about search engine optimization.
• Search Engine Journal - Excellent search engine news site by Loren Baker and friends.
• Search Engine Land - Danny Sullivan group blog about search engines and the search marketing industry.
• Search Engine Optimization Facts - Weekly SEO news from Axandra.
• Search Engine Optimization Journal - With roots in old school direct marketing, Nick Stamoulis has been involved with internet marketing for over 10 years and writes specifically about SEO.
• Search Engine People Blog - Based near Toronto Ontario, the SEP team blog about a wide range of search marketing topics with an emphasis on SEO, social media and opinion.
• Search Engine Roundtable - Barry Schwartz aka RustyBrick and friends cover the search engine forums.
• Search Engine Smarts - A blog about small business search engine marketing for AllBusiness.com.
• Search Engine Tigers - Simon Heseltine’s search engine blog.
• Search Engine Watch blog - Group blog let by Kevin Newcomb posting news from Search Engine Watch and around the web on search engines and marketing online.
• SearchEngineWorld - One of several sister sites to WebmasterWorld, this long time search marketing site has been reinvented and active in the past few months featuring news posts by Lane R. Ellis as well as conference coverage and video posts with Brett Tabke and Vanessa Zamora.
• Search Engines - Topix.net - Search engine news from all over the net in one place.
• Search Insider - David Berkowitz, Aaron Goldman, Rob Garner, Gord Hotchkiss, & Bill Wise give the inside of search marketing for MediaPost.
• Search Light Digital - Pete Wailes and Teifion Jordan blog a mix of SEO topics about twice weekly ranging from coding tips to content creation to multivariate testing.
• Search Marketing Gurus - Li Evans, Greg Meyers, Dan Kavanaugh cover everything from viral marketing to web development to affiliate marketing.
• Search Marketing Sage - Sage advice on SEO and pay per click from the team at Search Mojo.
• Search Perspective - tmp directional marketing, the world’s largest Online Search & Yellow Pages Marketing Agency, publishes this group blog focusing on tmp’s “Point of View”� as well as SEO, SEM and industry conferences. The blogroll is a bit sparse though.
• SearchQuant - Chris Zaharias writes about the paid search and search engine advertising industry.
• SearchRank Blog - David Wallace blogs about search marketing from Arizona.
• SearchReturn - Detlev Johnson’s revival of the I-Search discussion thread.
• SearchViews - Company blog for Reprise Media.
• Searchwritten - Netherlands based Ramon Eijkemans started this new blog as a study in content SEO, a topic that’s near and dear.
• Seer Interactive Blog - Wil Reynolds and his team from Seer Interactive blog the gamut of Internet marketing topics ranging from SEO and PPC to branding and social media. Many posts are in-depth and very useful.
• SemAngel - Gary Angel, President and CTO of Semphonic, writes about all aspects of web analytics for search marketing. This is a great example of a thought leader and subject matter expert blog.
• SEM Insights - Laura Callow and on occasion, Mike Tighe, offer some excellent SEM agency insights along with commentary, practical how to’s and news on this new blog that helps promote the SEM Canada Conference.
• SEMpdx Blog - The Portland Search Engine Marketing Professionals group promises to be the voice of the Portland search marketing community and uses the blog to publish association announcements, events, industry participation and observations. This is an excellent example of a Regional SEM Community.
• SEM Blog ineedhits - If you’ve been in the search marketing game for a while, you may remember ineedhits who now online marketing news, releases, industry trends and great DIY tips and advice.
• SEM Geek - Besides contributing at SMG, Greg Meyers writes an awful lot about paid search marketing including specific PPC platforms, analytics and overall marketing on the internet.
• SEM Scholar - David Temple of Neo@Ogilvy Asia Pacific promotes the various training programs for search marketing along with industry news and event commentary.
• Semvironment - Shane Snow and James Zolman write this agency blog about Google centric pay per click, analytics, conversions and other online advertising venues plus they even have their own little BIGLIST of PPC blogs.
• SEO and Tech Daily - The Daily Scoop on SEO, SEM, PPC Trends, Analytics, Web 2.0 start-ups and more!
• Seoaware Blog - Freelance writer and web designer Melissa Fach blogs about her thoughts on search marketing and points to many articles of interest.
• SEO BlackHat - Covering blackhat seo, linkbait, & link spamming.
• SEO Blog - Bob Mutch writes about link building through directories and social bookmarking.
• SEO Book - Aaron Wall’s popular blog that also offers his SEO book for sale.
• SEO by the SEA - William Slawski provides Internet marketing & search engine optimization research & services.
• SEO Chicks - Julie Joyce, Lisa Ditlefsen and Anita Chaperon are women, or as they prefer to be called, “chicks”� who know SEO and PPC. They decided after a few beers during a London conference that it was time to get some female attitude into the SEO & SEM blogosphere and here they are with lots of great photos from the recent SMX conference.
• SEO Copywriting - Let’s celebrate the launch of SEO and wordsmith guru Heather Lloyd-Martin’s snappy new blog about the magic of writing for users and search engines.
• Seocracy - Take a step over to the dark side (toursists only please) for SEO advice from Rob: A self described “craven, obnoxious, immoral individual” on all manner of news, scripts, downloads, theory and tactics.
• SEO Design Solutions Blog - You don’t see too many practical tips blogs these days and that’s why it’s nice to see Jeffrey Smith blogging all manner of tips on SEO from WordPress optimization to organic vs PPC.
• SEOish - Insight into the world of learning search marketing with a sense of humor by Patrick Sexton, aka “feedthebotâ€�.
• SEOptimise PPC & SEO Blog - Patrick Altof blogs his observations on the major search engines as well as topics related to search engine optimization, social media and PPC.
• SEO ROI Blog - Gabriel Goldenberg wears his opinions on his blog sleeve and that makes for some interesting and informative reading on all things SEO from keyword research to “greyhat SEOâ€�.
• SEO Scoop - Donna Fontenot, aka DazzlinDonna, discusses everything seo.
• SEO Smarty - SEO Smarty, aka Ann Smarty, whips up a froth of SEO, viral and branding goodness.
• SEO Theory - Michael Martinez focuses on search engine optimization theory.
• seoTunes - Internet marketing pro, Matt Davies gives us a blog title that pretty much explains the content in a nutshell: SEO and Music.
• SEO’Brien - An online marketing blog by Paul O’Brien.
• seogadget- London based Richard Baxter’s Ubuntu, SEO and geek stuff blog with plenty of screen shots and how to posts.
• SEOidiot - Paul Madden is a cartoonist, designer, salesman, blackhat, & SEO.
• SEOmoz - News, tips & highlights from the search marketing industry.
• SEOPittfall - In-house SEO Stephen Pitts writes about a nice mixture of search engine optimization, paid search, social media and blogs.
• SEOptimize - Kevin Gibbons offers a well rounded blog about pay per click and natural search optimization.
• SEOspace - Jody Nimetz of Enquiro thoughts on organic search engine marketing with a B2B twist
• SEO Speedwagon - Intrapromote company blog about search engine optimization.
• SEO Writer - David Leonhardt of the Happy Guy Marketing blogs tips for better SEO , social media, marketing and of course, a bit about Google.
• Seth’s Blog - Seth Godin’s blog about marketing.
• Shimon Sandler - SEO, PPC & other Internet marketing tactics
• Shoemoney - Jeremy Shoemaker’s very popular blog about making money online.
• Shoestring Branding - Mario Sanchez blogs about internet branding through blogging and social networking.
• Shop.org Blog - Group Blog from Shop.org
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• SitePoint’s Search Engine Marketing Blog - company blog for SitePoint.
• Skelliewag - Skellie hails from Melbourne Australia and writes about the cornerstone of good online marketing: “creating content your site’s visitors (and search engines) will fall in love with” with a very nice emphasis on creating viral content.
• Slightly Shady SEO - At a sprite 19 years old, XMCP writes about black hat SEO with white hats as the audience on topics that range from adsense/affiliate to cloaking to a curious category called, “Grow Some Balls”�.
• Small Business SEM - Matt McGee offers insight about search engine marketing for the smaller businesses.
• SmartKeywords - A journal of the search industry provided by Frank Watson.
• Snydey Sense - David Snyder writes about his interests and experiences with SEO, tools, analytics and search engines as a search strategist and marketer for JRDunn, an online jewelry web site.
• Sochable - Another new blog on social media. This one is from James Rucker covering the gamut of Digg, MySpace, YouTube, Reddit, Facebook and more.
• Social Blog Roll - This is a cool tool from Nick Wilsdon of e3internet that enables you to stay on top of what’s happening in the search marketing world by polling the blog rolls of popular search marketing blogs and ranking them based on the number of votes they get.
• Social Desire - Super Sphinner and web designer/master Shana Albert blogs her desire to learn everything social media and web 2.0.
• Social Marketing by Michelle MacPhearson - Michelle explores how web 2.0 tools can be used for marketing and documents her findings, such as the hotly anticipated social marketing checklist.
• Social Media Club - Official blog for Social Media Club written primarily by Chris Heuer and Kristie Wells for the social media community and those seeking to learn more about social media. Promotes sharing best practices, establishing ethics and standards, and media literacy.
• Social Media Mom - Social media consultant Kristen Munson sports some nifty red pumps on her avatar and in between doing mom things also blogs about, you guessed it, social media!
• Social Media Podcast and Blog - JD Lasica blogs about new media, social networks and computing.
• Social Media Group - Maggie Fox blogs about everything from social media optimization to advertising.
• Social Media Optimization - David Wilson covers the gamut of marketing with social media.
• Social Media Top Tips - With their roots in search engine optimization, this corporate blog for London based Weboptimiser, emphasizes the use of social media within search marketing and general online marketing.
• Somewhat Frank - Frank Gruber writes about Web 2.0 applications, technology and a bit about online marketing.
• Sphinn - A true nod to social media, Danny Sullivan’s search marketing community resource on topics and discussions related to search and online marketing. This Digg style site based on the Pligg platform, allows readers to register and create profiles, submit, comment and vote on stories.
• SpinThicket.com - Scott Baradell created one place to promote news stories related to PR, marketing and more.
• Stepforth SEO News Blog - Since 2003 the Stepforth blog has covered a range of search marketing industry news and sets a great standard for SEM blog writing. Kudos to Ross Dunn for a great job.
• Stephan Spencer - The CEO of Netconcepts gets himself re-included in the BIGLIST this week with a flurry of recent posts on a variety of search and web marketing topics plus a few personal observations.
• Stephen Espinosa - This is Stephen. He’s addicted to local search. He lives in Socal and is a huge Chicago White Sox fan. Stephen hates the Cubs. He blogs mostly about his addiction (local search) as well as Google and conferences. Enjoy!
• Straightupsearch - OneUpWeb’s company blog for anyone in advertising, marketing and pr.
• Stuntdubl - All around SEO guru and independent consultant Todd Malicoat’s blog about SEO, social media and the business of search marketing. Occassional guest posts from “Mr. Ploppy”�.
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• Tamar Search Blog - This isn’t the superwoman blogger Tamar you’re probably thinking of, it’s the Tamar Search Conversion Agency based in London and Capetown with blog topics ranging from search and social media marketing to usability and conversion analytics.
• TechCrunch - Michael Arrington’s popular web 2.0 blog.
• techipedia: anything tech. - Posts about internet marketing, seo, social networking & more from self-appointed tech geek, Tamar Weinberg
• Techmeme - Gabe Rivera’s software agent that covers all the news in technology in one location.
• Technology Evangelist - A group blog focusing on technology.
• TellinYa - This blog is on because of the interesting design but I’m not so sure about the tactics. Self described as: “Black hat, white hat and shady hat SEO and web design related Elucubrations by 5ubliminal”� who is apparently very much against paid links but ok with scraping and other dark art search manipulation.
• The Adventures of PPC Hero - Now here’s a fun blog from Amber, Joe and John of Hanapin Marketing that doesn’t take itself too seriously and covers the realm of pay per click marketing quite nicely.
• The Altimiter - Charlene Li’s social and emerging technologies blog for her new consulting practice, the Altimeter Group.
• The Agency Blog - The personal blog of Giovanni Gallucci.
• The Big Wave Blog - Vikram Singh, Ronnie Soud and Melanie Korn contribute their insights on everything from online branding to events to SEO/PPC/Social Media marketing.
• The Future Buzz - The persistent Adam Singer, Director of Digital Strategy at Pierson Grant Public Relations, blogs about blogging, social media and internet marketing.
• The Invesp Blog - Khalid Hajsaleh writes about marketing online with a focus on improving conversion rates.
• The Jungle Map - Charlotte, NC based Hippo Internet Marketing guy Corey Creed writes this agency blog with a fun design about SEO, PPC and business in Charlotte.
• The Leading Edge - PR and social media guru Sally Falkow has her own blog on this list already, but also shares her insights on trends in PR technology for popular PR industry publication Bulldog Reporter. Sally’s advice includes online PR, social media and search marketing.
• The Link Spiel - Debra Mastaler’s blog about link building and search marketing.
• TheMadHat - Aaron Chronister is the TheMadHatter and make no mistake, his hat is black with forays into all types of Internet marketing ranging from SEO to arbitrage to autogen content sites.
• The PPC Book - Jeff Hudson, who works as a client side search marketer, blogs about Pay Per Click marketing.
• The Search Insider - Not to be confused with MediaPost’s “Search Insider”�, this blog from Wpromote’s Mike Mothner provides insight into pay per click and the business of search marketing.
• The Social Media Marketing Blog - Scott Monty’s perspectives on B2B & social media.
• The WebMarketCentral Blog - Minneapolis based B2B marketer, Tom Pick, writes about all aspects of marketing on the internet.
• The Woah Factor - Brad Shorr and Jeanne Dininni write this insightful company blog (Whoast) about search engine marketing topics, especially SEO.
• Things of sorts - SEO, PHP, HTML, AJAX, JS, and life
• THINKing - With trends toward media creation, optimization and promotion the thoughts that Harry Hoover, Mark Harrison and Brant Waldeck publish about advertising, creativity, marketing & PR become very relevant for the next generation of search marketing.
• TigerTwoTiger - Nancy Williams of the London based Tiger Two agency writes this comprehensive blog about all topics related to online reputation management.
• Tim Nash - Very nice UK SEO blog from Information Architect Tim Nash on topics ranging from advanced SEO to programming with several good articles on SEO basics, snake oil SEO tricks to watch for and SEO training courses.
• Tony Adam - As a SEO practitioner that also focuses on social and viral marketing, Tony blogs his thoughts and opinions as well as tips about search engine optimization, evangelism of SEO and social media.
• Tradedot - Eddie Choi is a digital marketer that blogs about marketing, technology and entrepreneurial experiences from Hong Kong.
• Traffick - Andrew Goodman writes one of the oldest blogs on search marketing.
• Traffikd -Steven Snell of Vandelay Web Design promises practical, useful information for social media marketers and bloggers with posts on all aspects of marketing socially on the web.
• Trail of the Fire Horse - Another excellent Canada based search and social media marketing blog comes this time from the very smart/savvy Dave Harry aka “the Gypsy”�.
• Treehouse SEM Blog - A newer blog offering a mix of commentary on industry news and original articles.
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• UKGimp - Richard Young on search and usability.
• Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search - The title of this blog by Mike Blumenthal says it all.
• Unofficial Google Analytics Blog - ROI Revolution’s take on Google Analytics.
• Unofficial SEO Blog - Navneet Kaushal posts news about the SEO industry.
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• Vanessa Fox Nude - Gets your attention doesn’t it? This self titled Googler’s blog is about a number of things and yes, SEO topics slip in often enough to be included in our fine list and no, there are no nude pictures. It’s nice to see another webmaster-famous Googler blogging, not that we’re bored with Matt Cutts or anything. Vanessa writes with mixture of humor and just a touch of geek, which is perfect for the SEO loving crowd. Read the inspiration for the blog title from Dave Naylor.
• Vinny Lingham - A serial entreprenuer and search marketer, Vinny is now the CEO of Web 2.0 startup Synthasite and writes his observations on industry news and news on his company.
• VIZION Blog - Search Engine Watch columnist Mark Jackson and his team at VIZION blog about a wide range of SEO topics, worth subscribing to for sure.
• Volusion’s eCommerce Blog - Articles and resources to boost your online business.
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• Web Analytics Book - Daily web analytics news from anonymous, who grew up in Germany and now lives in NYC.
• Web Analytics World - Manoj Jasra from Enquiro shares his wisdom and observations about analytics and search marketing.
• Web Chameleon - Belinda Jackson of Australia based Web Chameleon agency blogs about a mix of online marketing topics ranging from web site marketing to blogging to email marketing.
• WebConnoisseur - Dustin Woodard’s thoughts on search, web analytics and the web in general.
• Web Ink Now - David Meerman Scott helps innovative marketers use digital information effectively.
• Web Marketing Watch - Sage Lewis provides a daily video web marketing show.
• WebmasterRadio.FM - Our friends from WebmasterRadio.FM have joined the cool kids and started a blog. Jody from WMR posts that you can now watch the live video stream, chat with all the other WebmasterRadio.FM listeners, listen to the live audio, and interact with your favorite shows - all on the blog.
• WebmasterWorld - News and discussions for the Web professional.
• Web Metrics Guru - Marshall Sponder of IBM writes about web analytics and the search marketing industry.
• WebPro Blog - Internet business & marketing trends from WebProNews.
• Website Content Strategy - Sally Falkow blogs about online and new media public relations and search marketing
• Website Magazine Blog - A group blog from the publishers of Website Magazine which covers the search engine industry as well as general topics related to online marketing.
• Web Strategy by Jeremiah - Jeremiah Owyang provides web tools to help connect with customers.
• We Build Pages Blog - As the search marketing industry has evolved, so has We Build Pages with a new blog that includes posts from WBP staff, CEO Jim Boykin and the excellent writing style of Lisa Barone.
• What’s Next - BL Ochman’s blog about marketing online and life in NYC.
• WhoisAndrewWee.com - Andrew Wee on blogging, affiliate marketing & social traffic generation.
• Widget Blog - Sexy Widget - Lawrence Coborn’s blog about using widgets to market online.
• Wiep SEO and Link Building Blog - Netherlands based Wiep Knol writes about link building, social media and other link marketing related issues.
• Winning the Web - There’s plenty of “make money online”� sites out there and some are puff and some offer a few good nuggets. Many search marketers focus on content optimization and links, neglecting the need to promote content. This blog by agency SEO Gyutae Park provides site promotion tips and ideas ranging from contests to usability tips.
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• Yack Yack Long time developer and SEO Rob Watts blogs on a variety of SEO topics.
• Yahoo! Search blog - Official blog about the Yahoo search engine.
• Yahoo! Search Marketing blog - Official blog for Yahoo Search Marketing.
• Yoast Tweaking Web sites - This blog from Joost de Valk covers web design and SEO from the Netherlands.
• Yodel Anecdotal - Yahoo! company blog.
• Your SEO Mentor - Working from the comfort of home, Garrett Pierson endeavors to share his search engine optimization knowledge with the world through this blog containing a mix of SEO tips, resources and even a SEO baby contest.
• YPN Blog - Official blog for the Yahoo Publisher Network.
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There is no way to get on this list by “submittingâ€� or requesting. I must notice your blog, read it and like it. It’s totally subjective and not an attempt to be a comprehensive resource, but one the we’ve found to be useful at TopRank.

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