Introduction to Search Engine Strategies
Search Mecca. Next week the search engine industry's descending on Chicago for a three day convention called Search Engine Strategies . With experts like Danny Sullivan, Jill Whalen, Andy Beal, and Shari Thurow, along with representatives from Google, Overture, and AskJeeves, this conference promises to blow the lid off of search marketing.

First Live Report - Day 1, 11:30 AM (EST)
I'll be reporting live all day today and for the next two days from the Search Engine Strategies Conference. Please continue to check back today for updates and feel free to make any comments or ask questions you may have. You may also get more information at the official website

Link Building - Day 1, 4:00 PM (EST)
I'm back with a live report on the Advanced Link Building session of the Search Engine Strategies Conference.

Danny Talks Google - Day 1, 4:36 PM (EST)
The session on Search Engine Research just wrapped up, and I spent some time talking with Danny Sullivan , editor of SearchEngineWatch .

Search Term Research - Day 1, 6:15 PM (EST) I just attended the Search Term Research forum, which focused on helping understand which search terms to optimize for. Key phrases. According to Andy Beal, VP Search Marketing, KeywordRanking.com and ProRanking.com , WebSourced, Inc , "78% of searchers use 1-3 search terms at a time." For example, if you want to get windows on your house, you would search for the phrase "house windows," not just "windows" because a search for windows would most likely bring up a Microsoft site!

What I've Taken from Garrett's First Day
Invaluable. That's what I would call Garretts first day at the Search Engine Strategies Conference. I am currently rebuilding my HTML pages and what I have taken from his postings are.

Spam on Google is Getting Worse
I am very disappointed with Google and the amount of spam lurking within the top 10 of search results for many branded terms. Personally, I hope a new search engine enters the market place which cares about great search results and users don't have to sift through the irrelevant, spam and porn currently found on Google results.

Adwords, Froogle & Google - Day 2, 11:20 AM (EST)
Link Arrangements. I attended the Advanced Link Building Forum, where Debra Mastaler, owner of http://www.Alliance-Link.com, told us, "Get to know your stats. Find out who's visiting you, visit those markets and get link arrangements." Thanks for the advice, Debra!

Are You Addicted to Google? - Day 2, 12:00 PM (EST)
Are You Addicted to Google? Go ahead, admit it. You're an addict, too. This morning, Danny Sullivan's Keynote speech was titled "Google Anonymous" -- the joke is many people seem to be addicted to Google. He had a step-by-step process to help people overcome this "addiction."

Google vs. Overture - Day 2, 3:30 PM (EST)
I have spent the last half hour talking with experts from Google and Overture about paid and organic advertisements. Richard Holden, Product Marketing Manager at Google , gave a presentation that was basically just an advertisement for Google's Adwords. Afterwards, I took a few moments to talk to Richard, who works with the Google engineering teams to build Adwords tools, and I asked him a few basic questions.

Engines as Media Providers - Day 2, 4:00 PM (EST)
The Search Engine Race. After the Buying Search Engine Advertising session, there was a crowd of people waiting to interview the gentlemen from Google and Overture. I noticed that very few people were really paying any attention to Dave Roth, Director of Media Strategy at eonMedia, LLC . Google and Overture both send representatives to this guy's company to train their employees to serve clients better by learning to write better copy for search engines. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to interview him.

Clicks Count! - Day 2, 5:00 PM (EST)
Wow, what an event this has turned out to be! It's so cool because everybody here is so into their industry and so intelligent, it's a pleasure just talking to them. Getting to know people in the industry who are really trying to understand what's happening in the search engine world at the moment is exciting.

Getting Local - Day 2, 5:45 PM (EST)
I spoke with Richard Holden, the product manager for Google Adwords, about the new algorithm. He said Google always tries to stay one step ahead of what people are doing to optimize on Google.

We Love to Hate Google, Day 3, 10:30 AM (EST)
I interviewed a few poeple at the Overture party, but accidentally left my notebook there when I left. I asked one of my fellow attendees to take some pictures, though, so I should have eight or nine snapshots to share once I get in contact with him.

An Exclusive Google Interview - Day 3, 11:30 AM (EST)
Looking for ways to boost your Google ranking? Speaker Marissa Mayer, the Director of Consumer Web Products at Google, said during one of her speeches, "Have unique useful content. Have sitemaps. Make your site easy to reach with a text-based browser. Give your site a hierarchal structure. Have a single domain with mini-sites within, rather than having lots of sites."

Google Apologizes - Day 3, 3:30 PM (EST)
This just in - Google has apologized! That's right, folks. There's been a lot of anger and frustration since the Florida Updates but apparently Google understands the fact that people's businesses rely on their results. For what it's worth, Craig Nevill-Manning, Google's Senior Research Scientist, said, "I apologize for the roller coaster. We're aware that changes in the algorithm affect people's livelihoods. We don't make changes lightly." Well, at least that's good to know.

Google or Not to Google?
having been hit by the recent changes that Google have made and looking at the quote that has been received through Garret. (well done!) It would appear that we should stop griping and listen to the advice. I was hit last year and managed to get back up and I have been hit really hard this year. To me the question is not what have those stupid b********s done but what should I do to ensure that I can overcome it.

Danny Sullivan Explains Google Penalties
Sparks of Controversy. There was a substantial amount of controversy in the WebProWorld forums regarding what Marissa Mayer, the Director of Consumer Web Products at Google, told me at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago last week. She said, “If you dropped in rankings, go back and look at who you linked to and who's linking to you. If any of these people are using spam techniques, they're the reason your site no longer appears on Google.”

Search is Media - a Hot New Trend?
A Hot New Trend? It appears that a new trend may be developing in the search engine world. In his Keynote speech, Jim Canzone of AskJeeves said, "Search is everything." Jim said he's been noticing that search is taking users away from other informational mediums, such as newspapers, radio, and television, because it provides information so quickly and efficiently. It's not surprising that search is the number one web activity.

Does Anyone Bet on Amazon?
Dear visitors, dear reporters, dear SE specialists, Google is all the talk and everyone speculates about Microsoft/MSN getting in to the search engine business. Then there is Yahoo, which everyone remembers and wonders, what they are going to do with all the technology they bought (Inktomi, Overture).

Is LINK Rel the Missing Key?
It almost sounds cryptic the way all of the Google Guru's keep saying the same two things over and over. "Have well structured sites" & "Get back to the basics". This kept running round and round in my head and while I was editing some code for my phpBB board I noticed something in the code that I never make use of.