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SearchWrite SearchNews
Caching Better Results in Search Marketing
Vol V, Issue 043 12.8.05
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CACHING THE LATEST RESULTS IN SEARCH MARKETING....

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Yahoo Answers Goes Live
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Yahoo has officially launched the beta version of Yahoo Answers, a new service that combines social networking in an online community with a question and answer motif.  How's that exactly? The service allows any registered Yahoo user to ask just about any question and hopefully get an answer from another member of the question answering community. 

The motto of Yahoo Answers is "Ask--Answer--Discover."  The system is built on the company's social search technology with a focus on answering day to day like Where can I buy..., What's a good show to see..., etc.  It organizes those queries into a more structured info base with the use of several features including 23 top-level categories like:

* Auto & Transportation * Business & Finance * Computers & Internet
* Consumer Electronics * Dining * Education & Reference * Food & Wine * Health & Beauty * Local Businesses * Love & Romance * News & Events * Politics & Government * Pregnancy & Parenting * Science & Math * Society & Culture * Travel

and sub-categories in each group. At launch, Yahoo Answers will be promoted on Yahoo's Web Results pages. A user might see a link to seek an answer to their info need on Yahoo Answers. Access to Yahoo Answers is free.


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"Windows Live Local" Arrives With Cool Aerial Imagery
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Windows Live Local, the new local search + aerial imagery service, goes beginning at 9am PDT today, Thursday, December 8.

The new service, located at http://local.live.com contains a range of new capabilities., the most visible of which is a new 45-degree bird's-eye view of major U.S. cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Las Vegas. Covering about 25 percent of the U.S. by population, these bird's-eye images are captured by Pictometry International Corp. via low-flying airplanes and then integrated with road and satellite maps to simulate 360-degree panoramas that can be viewed from four compass directions.

Users will be able to point to anyplace on the map that interests them and immediately calculate directions to it. Now, even if the user doesn't know the address or name of a place — such as a park, shopping mall, parking garage or other spot that is hard to identify by address or name — he or she can simply point, click and get directions to that location.

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Keyword Prices Following Downward Trend
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Keyword prices in November averaged $1.46 per click, 11 percent less than the $1.64 in November 2004, continuing their recent downward trend, reports MediaPost, which cited Fathom Online's latest keyword price index. 

The average keyword price increased only 1 percent from October to November, from $1.45 to $1.46, whereas last year the average price increased 29 percent from September through November as marketers prepared for the holidays. Month to month, the greatest decreases were in the wireless (10 percent), broadband (8 percent), and finance/investing (8 percent) categories.

The greatest year-to-year declines came in the Consumer services and retail categories (29 percent and 25 percent, respectively) and finance/mortgage keywords (22 percent).


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Ingenio Increases Pay Per Call Distribution Network
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PPCall provider Ingenio is adding both InfoSpace and, in a more limited deal, 1-800-FREE411 to its distribution network. This means that the Ingenio network now includes Miva, AOL, AOL Mobile and Interchange’s Local.com (with Yahoo! testing). InfoSpace is also working with Jambo.

PPCall faces some of the same challenges that PPClick advertising does in penetrating the local market, except that it’s conceptually easier to “comprehend” and service businesses are eager to receive calls vs. clicks. The product is rolling out at an accelerated clip.

The Kelsey Group has estimated that PPCall could reach $1.4 billion or more by 2009.


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Links to RSS Feeds and Podcasts from the U.S.Government
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If you're looking for RSS feeds and podcasts from U.S. Government, FirstGov <http://www.firstgov.gov/> offers a couple of useful directories with links to both types of material.

+ U.S. Government RSS Library
<http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/RSS_Library.shtml>
Browsable by topics that include health, business and economics, and science.

+ Podcasts from the U.S. Government
<http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/Podcasts.shtm>
At the moment, 11 podcasts are listed.


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SEO Tip of the Week: Usability Strategy and SEO
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Usability is a critical component of successful online ventures. With the advent of Google's free stats package, Google Analytics, user-activities and behaviors are playing an increasingly influential role in search engine rankings. 

In March 2005, Google filed a patent titled, “Information retrieval based on historical data“. The patent application outlines the historic record Google keeps on every document and file in its index. One of the items mentioned covers user behaviours touching on the following points:

    * how much time an average user spends examining a document,
    * the entry and exit paths of users,
    * if users store reference to the document in bookmarks,
    * how users access the document (via search engine, typing URL, link from other document, or bookmarks),
    * an evaluation of search traffic driven by Google and related keywords the document was found under

Each of those points should lead webmasters to think about how visitors use their site. Website marketing is not solely about search engine placements. It is about using your Website as a marketing tool. In the context of website marketing, usability is about moving visitors from the entry point to the goal line and off again to another compellingly relevant website experience.

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