TalkBiz News publisher Paul Myers recently addressed this question in his newsletter...
TalkBiz News
Issue for Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Hi, folks...
Take a look at this news story from Internet.com:
http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2210551
A quick summary:
Well known spammer Ronnie Scelson appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee today, Wednesday, May 21.
What's most interesting about this appearance is that Scelson claimed, as part of his testimony, the following:
"... that AOL gladly sold him the company's entire
customer directory. Given the opportunity to deny
that, Leonsis, vice chairman of AOL, did not."
....
Failing to deny a claim is not the same as admitting that it's true, of course. The rep couldn't possibly be expected to know every detail of every transaction made by a company the size of AOL.
Still, while it's hardly an open and shut case, there seems to be some reason to suspect that this one may well be true.
First, Scelson could be courting a fairly serious libel suit if the claim could not be proven.
Secondly, I have a hard time picturing anyone setting themselves up for the kind of problems you can get by lying to a Senate committee just to take a poke at AOL.
....
It will be interesting to see AOL's official response to this.
Did AOL sell their user directory to a spammer? If so, when? And for what price?
If not, what will their response to Scelson's claims be?
Something to keep an eye on.
Feel free to pass this around. This isn't the sort of thing that should be discussed only in Senate Committee hearings.
Paul
To subscribe to TalkBiz News, send an email to mailto:subscribe@talkbiz.com
Copyright Paul Myers, 2003
US Digital Media Universe Audience Reach
Home & Work Users, January 2003
![nrcurrent[1].gif](http://www.mecgroups.com/mec_study_log/archives/nrcurrent[1].gif)
KEY: GG=Google, YH=Yahoo, MSN=MSN, AOL=AOL, AJ=Ask Jeeves, OVR=Overture (GoTo), IS=InfoSpace, NS=Netscape, AV=AltaVista, LY=Lycos, ELNK=EarthLink.com, LS=LookSmart
Often, website owners will register multiple spellings of their primary domain name in order to protect themselves from mispellings from users who manually enter their website address. Other times, a company may change its primary website addess for any number of reasons. The alternative spellings or old domain names will then be configured with a simple meta-refresh tag to direct users to the correct location.
But how do you track these domains that simply redirect users to another location? Unlike incoming hypertext links, meta-refresh pages do not show up as "referrers" in server logs or statistical programs.
The answer is pretty simple if you use ProLinkz, which we reviewed in a previous entry.
In your meta-refresh code, instead of simply using the correct domain name, send the users to a ProLinkz URL first. This will track each visit as a hit and then forward them to the correct location.
This enables you to go back at any time and measure how many visitors your alternate or old domain names are capturing. If the time comes to renew the domain name and you're not sure if it is worth the money, this is a quick and easy way to measure your investment.
Panel Bio:
Dr. Flint McGlaughlin's Abbreviated Bio
The Marketing Experiments Journal is published by Digital Trust Inc.(DTI). Dr. Flint McGlaughlin is the Director of DTI.
Dr. McGlaughlin is a pioneer in strategy and communications. His primary research is focused on discovering the most effective means to market intellectual assets across the Internet.
Dr. McGlaughlin has advised more than 1500 companies including, AT&T, The Federal Reserve, Pitney Bowes, and Merrill Lynch. He has conducted over 2000 hours of keynote speaking. He has directed the development of more than 20,000 web pages.
Dr. McGlaughlin currently serves as the Co-Executive Producer of the new FOX Family series: "Courage" - hosted by actor Danny Glover. He also serves as a senior advisor or board member to eight growing companies, and four charitable foundations.
His writing and television production activities have, thus far, won two Tellys, an Edwin Murrough, and an Emmy.
Cliff Rainer
Cliff Rainer is an expert in functional web design. He has developed more than 20,000 web pages and he serves as MEC's Web Engineer. Cliff's work is supported by a small, highly effective group of programmers and developers.
Aaron Rosenthal
Aaron Rosenthal is an Analyst with MEC. He holds dual degrees in Finance and Economics. He oversees Metrics and ROI analysis.
Brian Alt
Brian Alt is a pioneer in online research. He was the founder of Ezine-Tips and the Email Publishing Digest. He served as the Vice President of List-Universe.com before joining the staff at MEC. Brian oversees the Publishers Lab.
Sean LeBoeuf
Sean LeBoeuf has a degree in Business (and is also enrolled in Seminary). He is the Administrator of the MEC Labs and is responsible for managing the research calendar, relationship management, and other support activities.
Web Conference Agenda
(A.1) Preliminary Analysis
I. Site popularity check
A. Use Alexa.com
B. Use the Google toolbar
C. Use touchgraph
II. Site compatibility check
A. Use net mechanic
III. HTML check
A. Use Dr. HTML
IV. Functional display check
A. Use forum
(A.1) First Stage Tactical Analysis (Top Five Ways To Find More Revenue)
I. Insufficient value proposition statement
A. Show etw.com
II. Insufficient e-mail capture
A. Show Infopia
B. Show HRNext
III. Insufficient eye path
A. Bargain.com
IV. Insufficient click appeal
A. Bargain.com
V. Insufficient credibility indicators
Tools We Will Use Today:
http://www.alexa.com
Alexa provides some interesting traffic statistics.
http://www.touchgraph.com/TGGoogleBrowser.html
Touchgraph displays a visual of who is linking to your site.
http://www.netmechanic.com/login.htm
Netmechanics displays the browser compatibility of your site.
http://www.doctor-html.com/RxHTML/
Dr. HTML will run your pages through a variety of useful tests.
http://toolbar.google.com/
Googles Toolbar
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=macromedia.dreamweaver&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en
Dreamweaver's Forum
Netmechanic Log-in Instructions:
http://www.netmechanic.com/login.htm
1. Log-in
Account Name: sean7777
Password: beach2003
2. Look for the heading, "URL Table of Contents"
3. Select URL address
4. Click on "View Your Photo Sessions" -- it is the 3rd link from the top
5. Click on "view"
6. Presto!
Let us look at some of the site compatibility conflicts for each of the following URLs:
With each of the following photos, we are able to see that visitors may miss some of the key conversion components on the site, for instance:
For photos #4 & #12, we are able to see that visitors may never see the free shipping, or customer giveaway offering
#4 Macintosh IMAC, Netscape Navigator v6.1, 1024*768 or
#12 PC with Windows, Netscape Navigator v4.7, 800*600
For each of the following five photos, we are able to see that a visitor may miss the customer giveaway offering, or skateboard.com's guarantee.
#6 PC with Windows, Internet Explorer v4.0, 800*600 or
#9 PC with Windows, Internet Explorer v5.5, 800*600
#11 PC with Windows, Internet Explorer v6.0, 800*600
#13 PC with Windows, Netscape Navigator v6.1, 800*600
#16 WebTV Console, WebTV, 1024*768
With photo #15, we are able to see that an error occurred with Opera
#15 PC with Windows, Opera 5.0, 800*600
Some of Variety's Company History
Variety History
Recognized and respected throughout the world of show business, Variety is the premier source of entertainment news. Since 1905, the most influential leaders in the industry have turned to Variety for timely, credible and straightforward news and analysis -- information vital to their professions. And, since 1933, unchallenged industry leader Daily Variety has been required reading for key showbiz players, delivering breaking news, exclusive scoops and must-read features.
Industry vanguard Variety is the sum of a number of information products. Daily Variety Gotham uniquely delivers same-day national and global entertainment news with expanded coverage of New York's entertainment market. Variety's Internet site also serves top industry professionals with a wide array of tools and up-to-the-minutes data sources.
Variety brings you the week in show business with in-depth news, exclusive reports, industry trend stories, essential box office information and comprehensive production charts, delivered with global perspective imperative to our readership representing 84 countries.
With the largest entertainment news-gathering team in the world, Variety is the information link between every showbiz center in all parts of the globe, including Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Rome and Tokyo.
Positioned as the industry leader by more than 145,000 key players worldwide, Variety is preferred reading among top-level professionals everywhere in entertainment, and the most widely circulated broad-based entertainment business magazine.
Daily Variety delivers more stories, breaking news, incisive reviews, exclusive scoops and must-know information than any other entertainment news source.
The trade paper of record since 1933, Los Angeles-based Daily Variety's same day coverage spans Hollywood to New York and features local market coverage, vital global reports, domestic box office charts, reviews, plus must-read features and columns from Peter Bart, Army Archerd, Michael Fleming and others.
Launched in 1998, Daily Variety Gotham provides same-day showbiz news to industry decision-makers first thing in the morning. Positioned as the most authoritative, widely circulated trade publication serving the East Coast, Daily Variety Gotham presents global, national and regional entertainment news with expanded coverage of New York's show business marketplace. This vast arena includes local film and television production, network and cablenews, Wall Street, Madison Avenue, Broadway and legit, international box office, advertising, post-production, publishing and new media. Each Gotham edition issue includes the must-read columns, numbers and reviews that make Daily Variety indispensable.
Variety extended its brand with the launch of its state-of-the-art web site, Variety.com, in 1998. Variety's cyberspace home contains the entire contents of Daily Variety and Variety. Variety.com targets the entertainment industry professional. Updated daily with content available the night prior to the print edition hitting the street, the web site is a must for those serious about staying on top of the industry.
Variety.com additionally offers searchable archives, interactive box office charting, international box office grosses, a credits database, film and television production charts, in-depth industry calendar, and Variety reviews, some dating back to the 1914.
www.variety.com
#4 Macintosh IMAC, Netscape Navigator v6.1, 1024*768
#16 WebTV Console, WebTV, 1024*768
#9 PC with Windows, Internet Explorer v5.5, 800*600
#11 PC with Windows, Internet Explorer v6.0, 800*600
#12 PC with Windows, Netscape Navigator v4.7, 800*600
#13 PC with Windows, Netscape Navigator v6.1, 800*600
This particular website has one primary objective, "feed hungry children across the world." As a visitor we are able to clearly see this on every browser with the exception of #12
#12 PC with Windows, Netscape Navigator v4.7, 640*480
Important Point
According to the March 1st, 2003 edition of Browser News, 47% of all users, conduct their operations on monitors with a screen resolution of 800*600.
Announcement (s):
Page Rank
4 Articles We Think Will Help You:
Home Page Design 1
http://www.marketingexperiments.com/members/retailers/site_design_pt1.cfm
Home Page Design 2
http://www.marketingexperiments.com/members/publishers/site_design_pt2.cfm
Order Process
http://www.marketingexperiments.com/members/publishers/order_process.cfm
Site Compatibility
http://www.marketingexperiments.com/members/publishers/site_compat.cfm
E-mail Capture
http://www.marketingexperiments.com/members/retailers/email_capture_popups.cfm
Example Sites Worth Noting:
www2.hrnext.com/
They have a great e-mail capture using the "HR Challenge; In an approximate 3-4 month period, their e-mail capture grew from hundreds, to more than 20,000!
www.etw.com
They do a good job quickly communicating why a visitor should shop with them.
Reference Notes:
How can we improve your site’s integral appeal?
1. Is the site focused around one, clean objective?
2. Has a clear problem/solution process been communicated?
3. Does your home page have a strong enough “hook” to seize a prospect’s attention within five seconds?
4. Is there a sufficient incentive for every action you are asking the prospect to take?
5. Are you offering successive degrees of involvement for a prospect who is not yet committed to the full process?
6. Have credibility indicators been subtly placed throughout the site?
7. Are there any subconscious “flags” being created in the mind of the prospect by your choice of words?
How can we improve your site’s inherent clarity?
1. Are there too many options being presented?
2. How much information is the prospect required to “absorb” in one screen?
3. How is the information being grouped on the screen, itself… is it being correctly clustered in “digestible” bits?
4. Is your information flow natural and intuitive?
How can we improve your site’s eye path?
1. Is the prospects attention being focused on the right components, in the right order?
2. Are your design elements competing with one another?
3. Has each section of the page been successively “weighted”?
4. Are you deliberately using color, size, placement, motion, and shape to distribute visual impact?
5. Have your graphics achieved optimal compression?
6. Is the site configured, with the new standard, for maximum load times and minimal resolutions?
7. Are there too many “clicks” between the purchase decision and the product delivery?
How can we improve your site’s HTML code?
1. Are your metatags individually coded for the target search engines?
2. Are your titles, descriptions, alts, and headings synchronized with your key word choices?
3. Is your JavaScript placed where it won't interfere with the search spiders?
4. Do you have keywords repeating “back-to-back”?
5. Have you provisioned for mirror pages with simultaneous SE registration of customized pages.
6. Have you developed your pages for efficient modification as the SE's algorithm's change?
To begin to get an idea of how Google PageRank works, download the Google toolbar from:
The toolbar will install into your browser and will show you the PageRank of sites as you surf the web. This is a good indicator of which sites are desirable as link partners. Find relevant websites that are similar to your own site without competing. The higher their PageRank, the more valuable a link from that site to yours will be. So approach these webmasters nicely. Not only will you receive traffic from the links themselves, but the PageRank of both sites will be boosted within Google.
For more on Google PageRank, see these resources.
The following resources will be helpful in optimizing your website for Google PageRank:
Google PageRank Explained:
http://www.google.com/technology/
How Does Google Rank Pages?
http://www.google.com/webmasters/4.html
Google Toolbar:
http://toolbar.google.com/
WebWorkshop: PageRank Explained:
http://www.webworkshop.net/pagerank.html
The Google PageRank Algorithm and How It Works:
http://www.iprcom.com/papers/pagerank/
Understanding and Building Google PageRank:
http://www.topsitelistings.com/advanced-seo/googlepagerank.htm
The Handy Dandy Google PageRank Figurin' Guide:
http://www.searchnerd.com/pagerank/
A Survey of Google PageRank:
http://pr.efactory.de/
Google's PageRank - Calculator:
http://www.webworkshop.net/pagerank_calculator.php3
Google's PageRank:
http://www.searchengineguide.com/pagerank.html
Google Pagerank Explained, Defined, Best Reference Resources:
http://www.masternewmedia.com/issue24/google_pagerank.htm
Google PageRank Penalties:
http://www.highrankings.com/issue029.htm
The Weight of Google PageRank in Ranking:
http://www.topsitelistings.com/searchengines/google_pagerank_weight.htm
The Road to Link Popularity:
http://www.clickz.com/search/opt/article.php/891831
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Google...
http://www.clickz.com/tech/lead_edge/article.php/2168731
The World of Google:
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2204151
The Second Eigenvalue of the Google Matrix:
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2175131
Google Sued Over PageRank Decrease:
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2165111
SearchKing Pursues Google Lawsuit:
http://www.searchking.com/news/sknews.htm
Google Asks Court to Dismiss Lawsuit:
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2161601
Search Engine Link Popularity:
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2159711
Is Aggressive Linking the Only Search Engine Optimization Strategy You Need?
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2175161
131 (Legitimate) Link Building Strategies:
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2160301
Anatomy of a Search Engine: Inside Google:
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2161091
Danny Sullivan recently covered this topic for SearchEngineWatch.com. Included in Yahoo's most recent changes are a new streamlined look, enhanced yellow pages searching, and new searching shortcuts.
Sullivan writes: "Overall, Yahoo described the latest changes as part of an 'evolution' to improve its search service. It's a good word to use. Yahoo essentially had its revolution back in October, when it shifted to crawler-based results. The latest useful changes add but don't interfere with those previous changes. That's welcomed."
The full article is available at: http://www.searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2201931
Google is currently testing a new PageRank Algorithm. So what does this mean for us? Old tricks like guestbook and forums signature links will be eliminated. Backlinks will be facing a far stricter set of criteria before being considered for PageRank votes. Links that could be considered "spam" or irrelevant are becoming less important, as are (possibly) affiliate links.
Primarily, it appears that Google is leaning more towards a system where similarly themed websites will have far more weight than links that could be created by the webmaster (guestbooks/forums signatures) or are paid links (text ads/affiliate links).
Until the update is complete, no one is sure if it will be this update or not, but it has come out that Google intends to do exactly that.
- Pagerank is based on a "voting system" in which pages linking to yours "donate" a portion of their rank to the linked page.
- Vote value is based on pagerank of linking page.
- Internal rank can be manipulated via selective linking of site's pages.
- All pages have an arbitrary value of 0.15.
- Pagerank functions on a page-by-page basis, NOT by site.
- Google doesn't penalize pages for incoming links from inappropriate sites UNLESS they determine a target site was involved.
- Pagerank is not the end-all. SEO is still required.
- Vote value is spread over all outgoing links, so getting pages with very few links to link to your site is the best way to maximize gain.
- Allow deep linking.
- Minimize non-reciprocated links. It reduces the value of your vote, which is what sweetens the deal when trying to gain inbound links.
- Links should be descriptive. Have the linking site display a description instead of a URL. ie http://www.bobicusPhoto.com should say "Bobicus' Photography Techniques and Supplies." Apparently, this will increase Google's perception of how relevant your site is. Basically, it's remote SEO.
- Avoid link farms and irrellevant niche engines.
- Dmoz and Yahoo are good. Google places great value for participation in them.
- Submit specific pages to niche engines and sites relevant to each page. If you have a site with multiple subcategories, try to submit individual pages when possible.
- Rank will spread through the site. An easy way of looking at it is each tier is an additional -1. So if the main page is 6, the second level of pages will be 5, the 3rd 4, etc.
- Participating in link farms can get your site banned. Other search engines as well may penalize you for such tactics.
- Write each link request individually; Webmasters tend to delete form letters as spam.
- Compile a list of people in the same market as you that are not direct competitors. Manufacturers, carriers of complimentary merchandise, niche engines, reviewers, and such. Find ways to get listed with them.
- Watch pagerank of various sites. If they have good rank, get linked, if they have low rank or are greyed out, stay away. Greyed out may mean they're banned.
- When you visit related sites, sign their guestbook. If they have a forum, post a message, and include your URL in your signature.
- Create a links page of desired sites before you contact sites requesting a link. If they see that you've already added their URL to your links page, they'll be more likely to return the favor
- Write testimonials of related products, and sign the testimonial with your name and URL. Many companies love to place reviews on their sites and will use your name and URL for credibility.
eBay's pricing structure for their eBay Store program is available here:
http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/pricing.html
Store listings differ from auction listings as follows:
- Store Inventory Listings are fixed-price listings that only appear within your eBay Store, and will not appear in eBay Search or Listings. But, buyers can search and browse within your Store to find these items.
- The insertion fee covers any quantity for a single listing, whether you list 1 or 1,000 of the same item. The fees vary based on the duration of your listing.