Its the start of a bright new year, and rather than give you my personal thoughts on what I thought the new year holds, I thought I would get a couple of friends to join me in sharing their thoughts and opinions on what the new year holds. Due to the sheer nature of the beast, we have broken these down to a regular series of posts which we will be releasing over the coming days.

To get a more holistic picture I asked a number of people from across the search spectrum to get involved including:

• Shaun Anderson – HoboWeb – The most influential SEO in the UK according to a recent poll on Holistic Search and the Telegraph (the Greenock Telegraph that is)
• Paul Reilly – Now Search Director for Mydestinationinfo.com however met him during his days at StickyEyes and have always enjoyed hearing his opinions and thoughts on SEO and the sector as a whole
• Nichola Stott – the Media Flow – Nichola spoke at our recent Sascon Manchester SEO event and as well as being one of the most intelligent people I know is also one of the best laughs
• Ben Bisco – Brilliant Media – My colleague at Brilliant – however hugely knowledgable and a laf to boot
• Andy Redfern – Hitsearch – Someone I have known round the digital scene for a while and MD of search agency Hitsearch.
• Judith Lewis – Well respected in the industry and conference scene, and highly talented to boot.
• Andy Beard – Where do I start, Andy wows me with some of his comments during the Dojo chats, and talks in a language few dare to speak. Highly respected in the industry and very pleased to have him involved
• and last but certainly by no means least David Harry – someone who I was very pleased to have involved in this post – founder of the SEO Dojo and Search News Central. Hugely knowledgable – and one of the people I personally have learnt a hell of a lot of this year.

Do you think a viable competitor to Google will emerge in 2011?

David Harry

And then there were 2. Yup, we lost Yahoo last year so it’s just MS (Bing) left in the game. Unfortunately they will have to do something pretty innovative to make any inroads as far as I see it. Or Google will have to falter in some way. Throwing money at the marketing dept. just doesn’t seem to be cutting it. Will we see someone out of the blue show up and take a chunk of the search market? Not bloody likely. I suppose MS’ relationship with FaceBook might turn into their biggest asset in the search and social game. We shall see…

Ben Bisco

I don’t think there will be a competitor in the traditional search space. Instead, we should think about how search may evolve and look for competitors there.

For instance, Facebook. Google are obviously twitchy about them and this is ostensibly because they trumped Google on traffic and have a more interesting display offering. However, more scary for Google is what would happen if FB strayed towards search territory. We have already seen a tendency for consumers to turn to FB for answers and it the information contained within Facebook is becoming increasingly varied (company pages, fan pages, interest groups etc. And have you noticed how Wikipedia information pages are making an appearance?) so this isn’t that far-fetched.

Also, the growth of really clever remarketing technology using intelligent attribution modelling (Ad Exchanges and Demand Side Platforms etc) will mean that Display has the potential emerge as one of the best ways to reach consumers when they are in the market to buy specific products.

These aren’t so much competitors to Google, as competitors to Search as a whole. I’m not sure what this will mean for search specialists, but it’s great news for us as an integrated agency.

Paul Reilly:

Google own Search, and I don’t believe they will be beaten although the alliance between Yahoo and Bing have made “advertising elsewhere” much more palatable, I do however believe the we’re now in the dusk of the Search Era at least in the sense we’ve know it to date, and I also believe that the dawn of the era of discover is well and truly upon us.

How well Google fair in these new days is likely to depend on how they position themselves over the coming months. They’re already in a very enviable position with Android and are clearly winning the smart phone war, you could argue that they are well positioned to dominate location and hyper local due to the integration with Maps, Latitude and Places.

In terms of threats to Google, Facebook is an obvious one, but we’re living in accelerating times and there’s nothing to stop a threat from gaining adoption from absolutely nowhere and throwing the online world a curve ball.

Nichola Stott

Nope. Not in 2011.

Judith Lewis

Yes and no. I think Bing is a seriously good search engine in the US but it rather sucks in the UK (sorry Bing). I feel if Bing could roll-out world-wide the kind of valuable data in search that it has in the US it could become a contender but unless you start looking at search volumes in Facebook I don’t think 2011 will be the turning point for Google.

Andy Beard

Yep… it is called Google – they are their own enemy now.

Andy Redfern

A viable competitor to Google core search function? No – but in other areas like mobile search, news aggregation, PPC, local advertising will all face increased competition. Google has competitors on many fronts and whilst Google is looking to grow the “mobile” arm of its business in a growing market – other areas will no doubt lose focus. I predict that Google will remain the dominant search engine in the UK (Predictable, Never!) , although Bing and Yahoo will claw back up to 2% of the market share through the course of the year.

Shaun Anderson

Facebook is obviously a big question mark – what FB does this year will probably impact search in a big way but I actually think people are going to get annoyed very quickly with Facebook – I know I am – perhaps falling out of love with it in 2011/2012 because of privacy issues etc. I think Google is the most valuable traffic in the world for the types of clients I work for, and I’d be surprised to see that changing much in 2011. There are other ways of driving traffic to a site, but for me, the main focus for most businesses in 2011 should be and will be Google. I will compliment that by using Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin – oh and Bing.

Peter Young

In my opinion, no. We may however start to see the likes of Bing start to take an increasing stake out of the Google market share both here and across the pond however at this stage Google are still in control of their own destiny to a certain extent. Google’s main concern however will be to see search market share translate into domination elsewhere – perhaps mobile, social or TV. The spectre of Facebook still looms large however I can’t help thinking some further form of consolidation with the likes of Bing may see greater breakthrough within the industry.

We have been doing a number of these search engine analysis pieces over the last 12 months or so, and many have highlighted the significant strides made by Bing into the UK market share. The UK search engine marketplace is one heavily dominated by Google and has for while now topped over 90% of market share (for searchers using either .co.uk or .com). As a result both Yahoo and Bing have been fighting to a large degree for the scraps off Googles table.

Many recent pieces have suggested increased marketshare for Google however this month would suggest a quite different picture for Google, suggesting a drop of around 2% since our analysis on search engine market share back in August. During recent times, much of the market share increases were as a result of Bing taking markeet share off Yahoo , however the latest Hitwise data would seem to suggest that 2% drop has come out of Google’s market share, rather than off each other.

Bing in the same period did see a nominal increase of around 0.06%, however it was Yahoo who claimed around a 0.5% increase in their market share (one must add this is Yahoo UK searches only and we could add around another 0.5% on for other Yahoo based searches as well).

Much of this may be down to seasonality, certainly figures from early last year were around the same sort of region (90%), so we are very much back to early 2010 figures in terms of like for like analysis. We must remember however that during this period we have seen extensive marketing campaigns from the likes of Bing, plus additionally the evolution of the Yahoo/Bing search alliance. The rise therefore in Yahoo market share is a slightly surprising one given this additional caveat.

Whilst these are fairly small increases in market share, I think its good that we are at least saying some bites into Google market share. Market domination is often not a good scenario and despite this being a fairly nominal figure it may serve as a reminder to Google to keep on their toes.

Its only been a week or so since we saw the first of Google Hotpot, so the timing of Yahoo’s local search announcement probably shouldnt be too much of a suprise. The announcement of a suite of local and search products aimed at personalising your search experience will be announced at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

A couple of the features of the new Yahoo toolset include:

New and Improved Sketch-a-Search: New to the desktop and iPad, and improved for the iPhone, these first-of-their kind apps will allow you to zero in on where to eat by drawing on an area map and filtering restaurants by cuisine, ambiance, and ratings. The latest iPhone and desktop versions will even show you reviews of Zagat-Rated restaurants in the location you’re investigating.

OpenTable Application: The new features will allow you to book a reservation without leaving the Yahoo! Search results page through Yahoo!’s new partnership with OpenTable, a leading online provider of real-time restaurant reservations.

Further to these new features a number of other potentially very interesting tools have also been announced:

Restaurant Comparison Quick App: Aggregates key comparison points like price, distance, cuisine type, atmosphere, and ratings into a single side-by-side view.

Rich Search Assist: Yahoo! will start testing a beta version of a more intelligent and content-rich Search Assist (a technology Yahoo! pioneered). Whether you’re looking for a game score, the closest Starbucks, or even a new digital camera, the answers – or direct links to them – will be available in the new Search Assist window as you type (Thing Google Instant)

Yahoo! Clues Beta: Yahoo! Clues lets you see what the masses have on their minds by allowing you to search the searchers. You can view and compare aggregate data, such as gender, location, and income level, with graphs, detailed maps and other metrics that tell you exactly who’s searching for specific topics. More details can be found on the Yahoo blog post on Yahoo! Clues beta.

I have to admit, I actually like a lot of the new functionality announced by Yahoo over the coming days, and the integration of Bing results should help improve somewhat the quality of the search results previously found. In my opinion, these improvements to the search interface will pull some people over (and I do think some of these may significantly improve the mobile volumes however search engines live and die on their results and it is these that are bread and butter of any search engine. This is where Google in my opinion still have the advantage, however there is no doubting that from a usability perspective, there is still some significant life in Yahoo yet…..

Strangely enough I was in a meeting with Bing yesterday, where this question was one of the questioned asked. Just as strangely the reps from Bing were kind of shady on the details of any deal, so its good to hear details that the Bing/Yahoo deal is now closed.

Officials in Canada and Australia have already had the deal signed off, so the fact that the US is now a step closer to regulatory approval would suggest getting this signed of in Europe should follow (however I guess one shouldn’t count their chickens before they hatch). This comes on the same day that Google announce yet another major change to their search engine results in the guise of personalised search for all – Co-Incidence? A sceptic amongst might suggest that

In a statement issued by the companies

Microsoft and Yahoo! believe that this deal will create a sustainable and more compelling alternative in search that can provide consumers, advertisers and publishers real choice, better value, and more innovation.

Yahoo! and Microsoft welcome the broad support the deal has received from key players in the advertising industry and remain hopeful that the closing of the transaction can occur in early 2010.

I know Bing have aggresive expansion plans, certainly Steve Ballmer’s forecast is well ahead of time in terms of being the number two player in the market, but getting number one is going to be a hell of a lot harder than an ailing Yahoo.

To read the full press release please click here

It would appear that the long mooted Microsoft/Yahoo search deal has now been concluded according to a number of high profile publications such as TechCrunch and Search Cowboys. The official  press release goes as follows:

Microsoft, Yahoo! Change Search Landscape
Global Deal Creates Better Choice for Consumers and Advertisers

SUNNYVALE, CA and REDMOND, WA — 29 July, 2009 — Yahoo! and Microsoft announced an agreement that will improve the Web search experience for users and advertisers, and deliver sustained innovation to the industry. In simple terms, Microsoft will now power Yahoo! search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.

For Web users and advertisers, this deal will accelerate the pace and breadth of innovation by combining both companies’ complementary strengths and search platforms into a market competitor with the scale to fuel sustained development in search and search advertising. Users will find what they care about faster and with more personal relevance. Microsoft’s competitive search platforms will lead to more value for advertisers, better results for web publishers, and increased innovation and efficiency across the Internet.
Under this agreement, Yahoo! will focus on its core business of providing consumers with great experiences with the world’s favorite online destinations and Web products.

“This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development,” said Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz. “Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides. Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities, and mobile experiences.”

Providing a viable alternative to advertisers, this deal will combine Yahoo! and Microsoft search marketplaces so that advertisers no longer have to rely on one company that dominates more than 70 percent of all search. With the addition of Yahoo!’s search volume, Microsoft will achieve the size and scale required to unleash competition and innovation in the market, for consumers as well as advertisers.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the agreement will provide Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, the scale necessary to more effectively compete, attracting more users and advertisers, which in turn will lead to more relevant ads and search results.

“Through this agreement with Yahoo!, we will create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company,” said Ballmer. “Success in search requires both innovation and scale. With our new Bing search platform, we’ve created breakthrough innovation and features. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there’s so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.”

“This deal fits the long-term strategic direction of Yahoo! to remain the world’s leading online media company and Carol Bartz has the full and unanimous support of the Yahoo! Board behind this deal,” said Roy Bostock, chairman, Yahoo! Inc. “This is a significant opportunity for us. Microsoft is an industry innovator in search, and it is a great opportunity for us to focus our investments in other areas critical to our future.”

The key terms of the agreement are as follows:

- The term of the agreement is 10 years;

- Microsoft will acquire an exclusive 10 year license to Yahoo!’s core search technologies, and Microsoft will have the ability to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its existing web search platforms;
Microsoft’s Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! will continue to use its technology and data in other areas of its business such as enhancing display advertising technology.

- Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. Self-serve advertising for both companies will be fulfilled by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, and prices for all search ads will continue to be set by AdCenter’s automated auction process.

- Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force.

- Yahoo! will innovate and “own” the user experience on Yahoo! properties, including the user experience for search, even though it will be powered by Microsoft technology.

- Microsoft will compensate Yahoo! through a revenue sharing agreement on traffic generated on Yahoo!’s network of both owned and operated (O&O) and affiliate sites.

- Microsoft will pay traffic acquisition costs (TAC) to Yahoo! at an initial rate of 88% of search revenue generated on Yahoo!’s O&O sites during the first 5 years of the agreement.

- Yahoo! will continue to syndicate its existing search affiliate partnerships.

- Microsoft will guarantee Yahoo!’s O&O revenue per search (RPS) in each country for the first 18 months following initial implementation in that country.

- At full implementation (expected to occur within 24 months following regulatory approval), Yahoo! estimates, based on current levels of revenue and current operating expenses, that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual GAAP operating income of approximately $500 million and capital expenditure savings of approximately $200 million. Yahoo! also estimates that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual operating cash flow of approximately $275 million.

The agreement protects consumer privacy by limiting the data shared between the companies to the minimum necessary to operate and improve the combined search platform, and restricts the use of search data shared between the companies. The agreement maintains the industry-leading privacy practices that each company follows today.

The agreement does not cover each company’s web properties and products, email, instant messaging, display advertising, or any other aspect of the companies’ businesses. In those areas, the companies will continue to compete vigorously.

The transaction will be subject to regulatory review. The agreement entered into today anticipates that the parties will enter into more detailed definitive agreements prior to closing. Microsoft and Yahoo! expect the agreement to be closely reviewed by the industry and government regulators, and welcome questions. The companies are hopeful that closing can occur in early 2010.

The companies have established a website at http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com to provide consumers, advertisers and publishers with additional information about the benefits of the agreement.

According to the live Conference Call which is taking place as I speak, both companies can focus on core areas something which could mean each taking a greater interest in a specific niche. Certainly for a long time Yahoo’s focus appears to have been primarily display focussed and such a move could mean Microsoft taking a much greater role in the development of the search product, although it would appear that Yahoo technology would be behind much of the search functionality of both search engines (Quote @searchcowboys twitter stream)

Yahoo technology will be integrated with Bing and search both networks

The inevitable question will thus be raised. Is the new Microhoo a viable competitor to Google. When considering this question one should consider this outside of merely the US and even more so Western Europe. Many South-East Asian countries have a far high number of Yahoo (vs Google) userbase and as such, this deal can only serve to establish both brands even more in those markets.

What it will however allow is greater potential traction within the valuable dare I say first world countries where advertising revenues via search are far more valuable, and allow them a more competitive alternative to that of the seperate Yahoo and MSN brands.

As much as I would like to think this is going to compete, any immediate impact is unlikely as be totally completed before 2010. Further this any increased traction within the search markets is going to be hugely down to Microhoo’s ability to innovate – something which I personally think has always set Google apart from many of its competitors.

Its certainly an interesting development – however I can’t help thinking it may be a little bit too late…

There have been a number of tweets going round Twitter over the last hour or so relating to combining a PPC and SEO strategy and figures for employing such a tactic. Google and Yahoo for obvious reasons will highlight the benefits of such a tactic, however there are a number of such studies in existance, and the evidence is quite compelling.

99% of C-level executives use the web at work.

52% of executives consider the Internet the most important source of information on business.

C-level execs are online somewhere between 115 minutes and 137 minutes per day.
Source: Harris Interactive & GartnerG2 Study, March 2005

Yahoo have one such example where the following evidence regarding holistic search marketing was producted
Source: Yahoo

Google have a similar bit of research published however whilst the original Yahoo research targeted impact on clickthrough, the Google study was more involved in terms of brand perception and brand association.

Further research by Enquiro and Google continues to reinforce the benefits of a combined PPC/SEO strategy and the effect it has in terms of consumers willingness to purchase following engagement.

The full Enquiro/Google research whitepaper can be found via the Enquiro website (Highly recommended reading).

There are obvious niches where such tactics may not work, and it is often a case of testing (refining and testing again) however I would always advise caution when deciding to blanket turn off PPC once organic traction has been obtained. As the research above suggests, it may not always result in the best ROI.

In the lastest of Matt Cutts’ videos on SEO he addresses the issue of the priority field in the XML sitemap, following a question from a Google user. The user asks whether having the same priority will be penalised.

For those who may be concerned you will be glad to hear that Google will not be penalising your site any time soon, instead where priority has been set at the same level (or not provided at all), Google will look to determine the priority of the pages themselves

Yahoo’s market share has been somewhat volatile recently, andaccording to some experts a continuing decline is to be expected, particularly if some reports from the Dow Jones are to be believed. According to a report by the Web Street Journal Yahoo’s share may decline by around another 3% and lose around 12-18% of its current search volume. Much of this can be attributed to the loss of partnership deals with major computer hardware manufacturers such as HP and Acer.

A secondary impact of the loss of such deals is probably more notable, particularly when you consider the lack of ‘competition’ in the sector. Lose Yahoo and you only really have  a choice of three – in realistic terms two search engines to choose from namely MSN and Google. Given Google’s dominance in the market, I would suggest there is only one suitable competitor and that competitor happens to be your nearest rival in terms of market share.

It is indeed further noticeable that Microsoft have indeed been quick to exploit these opportunities. Partnerships with HP (replacing previous engine of choice Yahoo) and Dell will have given Microsoft some added impetus – and the potential to immediately target around 55% of PC shipments in the US. With Google continuing to dominate the search landscape it is increasingly becoming a race for second place, something neither engine has managed to make a clear move on.

Yahoo have been quick to suggest that the loss of such parternships shouldn’t affect market share as much as the above report would have us believe suggesting “consumers will continue to use Yahoo search even if they buy a new computer pre-loaded with a rival’s toolbar.”. I personally would suggest the only engine that could guarantee that level of loyalty would be Google, and that taking that for granted in the current climate is possibly a bit foolhardy – particularly given the apparant focus on search from Microsoft, and even the rise of channels such as Twitter as a search engine of sorts.

Whilst the US search engine market is very different to that of the UK, the share of Google being far higher in the UK, I would suggest this could still have some significant knock on effects. With Google still taking nothing for granted, in a continual drive towards further relevance (and lets face it increased revenues), the other two need to continue to be innovative in order to attract both advertisers and searchers alike to utilise them more. Lets be brutal both of them could do no worse by starting at:

• Looking further afield. The world doesn’t end at the US, new products are generally slow at moving to foreign markets (if at all).
• Giving users value add. I am always disappointed by the relevance of a number of searchers on both engines – and whilst I personally use them more than most – it comes through a requirement of considerable data mining more than anything
• Giving advertisers value add. In my opinion natural search battles is continually ongoing. Monetising and ‘Management’ or organic search and digital asset value adds would seem to be natural progression
• Hitting new channels hard. Google in particular seem to be pushing mobile hard. The other two need to be hitting this – harder!!

Search engines can’t take anything for granted. Lets just take a look at Altavista. They have to continue to evolve – otherwise things can change and change very quickly. I personally would expect a very different landscape in 5-10 years, but I guess only time will tell.

Firstly, I should highlight much of the rationale for this post comes from an earlier post from Bigmouthmedia’s Andrew Girdwood who highlighted the use of search in the current MVA (Thats Monsters vs Aliens) trailers currently doing the rounds on the television here in the UK.

In the final frame of the ad, the viewer is prompted to search for ‘MVA’. Now I am a big fan of prompting viewers to integrate with search for four main reasons

1. Many browsers ‘multi-task’ . That is they watch television whilst browsing the internet.
2. Search phrases are often easier to remember than domains
3. Potential for greater interaction with potential browsers – PPC, Organic and Blended search results
4. Ability to track the influence of the advert.

However the implementation of such campaigns is done very badly, and sadly Monsters vs Aliens is no different. There have already been a number of posts regarding its implementation on Google primarily, mostly regarding the PPC, however it is the lack of organic placement that is a secondary concern. With a rough 75% (organic)/25% (paid) breakdown it hugely suprises me that organic is often a forgotten channel in these campaigns leaving these types of campaigns open to cannabalisation from competitors (albeit limited in the MVA example) and limited impact.

And talking of limited impact, I would add that I would suggest that is exactly what the MVA implementation will be having. Whilst there is no doubt it will inspire users to search…

… What about those searches on Yahoo

Monsters vs Aliens advertising on Yahoo - erm Where??????

and MSN

Monsters vs Aliens on MSN

Now admittedly Google is the majority shareholder as far as search volumes in the UK is concerned however that doesn’t mean Yahoo and MSN should be ignored, particularly if the premise of the campaign is to encourage people to search for the campaign. After all by ignoring the other two engines, surely you are getting a slightly inaccurate reflection of the impact the ad has had on search engine traffic?

It should also be noted the impact it appears to have had as far as searches are concerned.

Impact on search trends

Just imagine the impact it could have had if:

• They had complimented the paid search ad with an organic ad
• They had thought better through the PPC creative
• They had run the ad on multiple engines.
• Considered the impact of blended search. Video search optimisation should have been a given….

Many of these campaigns are still in their infancy, with many organisations still in early rollouts, however one would suggest they may want to think about what they want to get out of the campaign – and develop a campaign best suited to maximising those targets.

At present too many of these campaigns, appear half thought out and half implemented and as such I would suggest are only getting half the returns they could be getting. Moving forward greater integration (and greater thought) is required – if these integrated campaigns are to be a fully effective marketing strategy.

It is not long ago, that Yahoo ruled the world, well the search world anyhow. One often forgets that to a certain extent, without Yahoo, we may not have seen the rise  (and rise and rise) of Google, and it is thus sad to see the current state of the Yahoo search product. Whilst it continues to try and elolve its online advertising product set it is the Yahoo Mail product that continues to gain traction, something according to an article on ZDNet that hasn’t been lost on new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz who is quoted as saying

“Yahoo Mail is becoming increasingly critical to the company. Yahoo Mail has a billion emails pass through its servers every day and it’s critical that the company enables better photo sharing and other features”

This is further reinforced by some recent data from Hitwise. Yahoo Mail accounts for around 36.71% of visits to Yahoo properties, followed by the portal homepage and quite significantly further back Yahoo Search.  Other Yahoo properties such as Yahoo News and My Yahoo! were in a close knit group back around 3%.

Source: Hitwise

Whats more the Yahoo Mail continues to see growth – 3%, whilst not as big as GMail (88%) still significantly better than that of Windows Live Mail which saw a loss of over 20%. Whilst search continues to struggle against strong competition from MSN – which I must say have a number of interesting new products looming – it is good to see some significant growth from the Yahoo camp.

Many people expected Yahoo’s results to be low. However I would suggest the figures announced beat even the some pessimists forecasts and expectations: A couple of the ‘highlights’ from their financial results included:

Full Year 2008 Financial Results

• Revenues for 2008 were $7,209m ( a 3 percent increase up from $6,969m in 2007)
• Marketing services revenues were $6,316m for 2008, a 4 percent increase compared to $6,088m for 2007.
  • Marketing services revenues from Owned and Operated sites came in at $4,046m for 2008, a 10% increase from $3,670m in 2007.
  • Marketing services revenues from Affiliate sites were $2,270m for 2008, down 6% compared from 2007.
• Fees revenues were $892 million for 2008, up 1% compared to 2007′s figure of $881m.
• Revenues excluding TAC were $5,399m for 2008, a 6 percent increase compared to $5,113m for 2007.
• However the biggest stand out figure was…operating income for 2008 was $13m compared to $695m for 2007.

Q4 Specific reading

• Operating loss for Q4 2008 was $278m in comparison to operating income of $191m for Q4 2007.
• Revenues were $1,806m for Q4 2008. In real terms this was a 1 percent decrease compared to $1,832m for the same period of 2007.
• United States segment revenues for the fourth quarter of 2008 were $1,338 million, a 2 percent increase compared to $1,313 million for the same period of 2007.

Source: SearchEngineLand 2009

In terms of outlook for 2009, CFO Blake Jorgensen suggested this remained uncertain as ‘Yahoo has “less visibility” than it did a year ago on the “advertiser pipeline”‘. Certainly MSN appears to have gained some traction in certain markets – primarily at the expense of Yahoo, however I would suggest much of this is down to the reduction in ‘Premium Display Advertising’ as advertisers reduce branded advertising in the current economic climate

I would suggest though it is new CEO Carol Bartz’s feedback that is particulary interesting, in particular in the fact she does not seem to be definitively saying that the search side of Yahoo will stay Yahoo. The following comments in particular may shed some light

• Am I immediately planning to sell the Search business? I didn’t come here with any preconceived ideas about what to do.
• Re integration of search and display: Search is like a house with different rooms; all of it is part of a complex that allows users to search and us to get money. Some parts of it are easy to break apart and others are not. This is an important asset for the company. It’s important for us to invest in it if we’re going to keep and get the most value for it if we’re going to sell it.
• On the Yahoo brand: Should stand for the best information site on the internet. The problem with some of the many [Yahoo] properties is that they can distract from the core products

I would suggest no body is in any doubt as to the huge job head of Carol Bartz at Yahoo. It is obvious that the continuing evolution and popularity of Google is hurting revenues (searchwise), and with potential rollouts from MSN in the pipeline there is still the considerable threat from MSN, and other potential competitors from overseas (Naver etc) . I would add this is unlikely to reduce the amount of rumour regarding Yahoo search over the coming weeks and months. Now is the time when many of the engines are innovating and rolling out new services and solutions. Whilst Yahoo have rolled out some innovative solutions, they are playing catchup to Googles considerable inventory – and I do have my doubts as to whether Yahoo’s existing inventory is in the right places to best exploit the current climate.

So where now for Yahoo? I think there is a common thought that 2009 is going to be make or break for Yahoo not just in terms of search but I would suggest Yahoo as a whole. I personally believe Yahoo have too much to make up in terms of becoming a serious competitor to Google, particularly as it currently stands, and I do believe the search product is going to have to evolve or merge in order to pose any serious short to medium term competition.

More information

• Yahoo Earnings Release
• Yahoo Q4 Shows Operating Loss; CEO Bartz: ‘This Is Not A Company That Needs To Be Pulled Apart And Left For The Chickens’

As the second part of the Twitter series here on Holistic, I thought I would suggest some of the people I am, and would recommend following on Twitter, and being a SEO in the UK, obviously all these are UK based.

Dave Naylor (DaveN)

Company: Bronco

WHO?: One of the ‘big dogs’ of UK search marketing, Dave started working in the SEO industry over 10 years ago.

WHY: Hugely popular, highly respected and well worth following

WHERE: http://twitter.com/DaveNaylor

Company: MediaVest/MVi

WHO?: Head of Search at MediaVest. Industry veteran (sorry Jon)

WHY: Widely respected and a regular speaker on both the SMX and SES speaking circuits. Amongst other things – he’s my boss.

WHERE: http://twitter.com/JonDMyers

Company: BigmouthMedia

WHO?: Head of Search at Bigmouthmedia.

WHY: Hardcore Search Marketeer – and ‘face’ of Bigmouthmedia (erm ). Passionate about all things search, and if that bores you, theres always his gaming.

WHERE: http://twitter.com/AndrewGirdwood

Company: Blogstorm/Branded3

WHO?: Director of Search at Branded3.

WHY: Been a magic year for Patrick and the Blogstorm blog.

WHERE: http://twitter.com/patrickaltoft

Company:

WHO?: Marketing Expert @ jimsmarketingblog.com

WHY: Hugely experienced marketeer and VERY well connected (Over 16000 followers on Twitter)

WHERE: http://twitter.com/Jimconnolly

Company: Altogether Digital

WHO?: SEO and Social Media Director at Altogether Digital

WHY: Entertaining blogger, and if that fails theres always the music commentary.

WHERE: http://twitter.com/ciaranj

Company: SEOptimise

WHO?: Director of Search at SEOptimise

WHY: Some great posts coming out of SEOptimise at the moment. Worth following for that alone.

WHERE: http://twitter.com/kevgibbo

Company: Microsoft/MSN

WHO?: Microsoft Adcentre’s Community Manager

WHY: Works for Microsoft apart from anything else (Who would turn down the chance of winning an ‘I’m a PC tshirt). Apart from that his regular commentary is hugely entertaining

WHERE: http://twitter.com/MelCarson

Company: Distilled

WHO?: Founder of Distilled with Duncan Morris

WHY: His involvement with SEOMoz is well known, however the site itself is a wealth of information.

WHERE: http://twitter.com/willcritchlow

Company: Ayima Search Marketing

WHO?: One of the Ayima Gang

WHY: Entertaining Blogger, and hugely entertaining twitter read not just in terms of latest on hangovers….

WHERE: http://twitter.com/evilgreenmonkey

Matt Sawyer – DataDial -Online Marketeer, SEO and Social Media Junkie – http://twitter.com/mattuk

Rob Watts – Latitude – SEO – Stephen Pavlovich – Bonytoad – http://twitter.com/bonytoad

Jane Copland – SEOMoz/Ayima – Only here as she isn’t 100% in the UK yet- http://twitter.com/coplandmj

Judith Lewis – I-Level – Search Director at I-Level – http://twitter.com/JudithLewis

Lisa Ditlefsen – Base One – Head of Search at BaseOne – http://twitter.com/LisaDitlefsen

George Hopkin – Johnston Press – SEO Evangelist – http://twitter.com/GeorgeHopkin

Paul Walsh – Various – http://twitter.com/PaulWalsh

Nikki Pilkington – http://twitter.com/nikkipilkington

Dave Davis – RedFly Marketing – http://twitter.com/daveredfly

Dan Alderson – Amaze PLC – http://twitter.com/pinje

and the final one

Peter Young

Company: MediaVest / Holistic Search

WHO?: SEO Manager at MediaVest.

WHY: Why not?

WHERE: http://twitter.com/peteyoung

Thats just some of my recommendations, Please feel free to add yours…

For the second year running, Britney Spears has topped the Yahoo Top 10 searches.

Britney tops Yahoo searches for 2008

When comparing the list to 2007, you will actually notice it hasn’t actually changed that much with other stalwarts such as WWE and Jessica Alba also featuring prominently

The top 10 list for 2008

1. Britney Spears
2. WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment)
3. Barack Obama
4. Miley Cyrus
5. RuneScape
6. Jessica Alba
7. Naruto
8. Lindsay Lohan
9. Angelina Jolie
10. American Idol

(Bold Italic denotes visibility in 2007)

I, like many have been following the recent events in the US election, with the fight for the White House. It was therefore interesting to see the influence online has played in the campaign. Two recent articles have really struck a cord as a result.

Firstly, Sage Lewis highlighted the importance of online (and in particular Search and Social Media) played in Obamas rise to the White House. In his article, Sage mentioned a number of interesting statistics, namely:

• There are nearly 2 million links to Obama’s website, nearly twice as much as those pointing to John McCains website.
• According to statistics released by Rubicon Consulting, “Democrats are more active online than Republicans. Democrats are more likely to participate in online communities, and say they’re more heavily influenced in their voting decisions by information they find online.”
• Obama’s campaign had social media at its heart, not just in terms of the site itself, but also in terms of the personnel involved. The involvement of Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, shows the importance of social media within the strategy.

The second article of particular interest to search was Kate Kay on Clickz. In the article, Kate highlighted that Obama’s campaign spent nearly $8 million through October to Google, Yahoo, Facebook, news Web sites, ad networks, and in-game ad firm Massive (which I talked about at the recent Interactive Marketing show in Manchester). In particular it is interesting to see where the money was spent.

• Just over $4 Million on Paid Search – roughly broken down $3.5 Million to Google, with Yahoo accounting for about an eighth of that, with $673000.
• Nearly $8 million spent on online ads.
• Interestingly, the spend on Social Media comes to the fore. Nearly three quarters of the social media budget used in September alone, with Facebook taking the lions share.
• The use of MSN owned Massive Incorporated (well worth a look) was interesting alone. The campaign placed ads pushing an early voting message in EA games, including a racing game called “Burnout Paradise,” targeting them to players in 10 battleground states.
• Ad networks were a particular focus with more than $600,000 was paid to a variety of networks throughout the year, including AOL’s Advertising.com, Collective Media, Undertone Networks, Burst Media, Quigo, DrivePM, Pulse360, Specific Media, and online video networks Broadband Enterprises and Tremor Media.
• Local online media targeting also saw significant spend with around $100000 being spent.

Politics is an area many people have an opinion about, and it is therefore suprising it is often not integral to modern day political campaigns, however it is encouraging to see more and more focus given to Online. In particular key channels such as Search (inc Online PR/Blogging), Display Online Brand Management (and monitoring in particular), should be a fundamental part of any modern day political framework.

Given the noise that has been generated on Twitter by many of my search colleagues with regards to the US Elections, it is suprising that McCains camp didn’t use online as a bigger battleground, and I personally think this is the first of a more digitally focussed policital landscape moving forward, as even we in the UK start using online as part of the political juggernaut.

Looking around doing a technical audit for a client, I had to go into the Yahoo Directory to explain why they should consider using page specific robots management to alter what was displayed on organic Yahoo searches.

In doing so, I stumbled across front page of the Yahoo Directory, something I will be honest I havent been to directly for a good while. On the front page, was a blog article as follows (something I will be honest I hadn’t seen before):

Yahoo Directory Blogs - PR8

Now I may have missed something here, but the Yahoo Directory front page is a PR 8 page (yes I know PR is by default a stale method of measurement but still). The links are not nofollowed, there is no page level robots management and the robots.txt file does not appear to be including any reference to the directory itself, thus I would suggest those links in question carry significant weighting.

It was also interesting to notice Yahoo’s apparent use of Google Webmaster Tools verification on the Yahoo Directory, certainly as neither uk.yahoo.com or us.yahoo.com portals seemed to use it

Yahoo source - notice the verify-v1 tagging

Maybe just me, but could this be further evidence of closer Google/Yahoo relationships…

I have been involved in a number of discussions as to the merits/demerits of .co.uk vs .com visibility primarily with Google. With the ongoing evolution of the algorithms, with localisation and relevancy being at the heart of it, its important to understand how this impacts on searchers. For this reason, understanding where such users are searching is very important.

Hitwise are one of the best aggregators of such data. Interestingly enough, they have recently published an overview of the leading search engines for August 2008, with the results as follows:

• Google.co.uk (Google UK) – 73.13%
• Google.com (Google Global/US) – 14.20%
• uk.search.yahoo.com (Yahoo UK) – 3.37%
• www.uk.ask.com (Ask) – 2.69%

Given many UK companies target UK customers, it is essential that your SEO strategy should at least pay reference to localisation of search. Google in particular rewards efforts to target your site to your local market by using metrics such as domain extension and hosting location to determine best fit.

If you aren’t thinking local – isn’t it about time you did.