Friday’s Food for (Search) Thought

By Brooke Nichols

I have been well aware since joining Resolution Media that I am increasingly and enthusiastically becoming a Search nerd. I definitely enjoy reading and learning about the industry, attending conferences, sitting in with the engines while they introduce new products – but my belief was solidified when I caught myself chuckling at the Search in Pictures (see below). I hope you get as much enjoyment out of the following articles as I did. Have a great weekend!

Search in Pictures: Yahoo Hippies, Protesting Via Google, Vint Cerf with Ask
In this week's Search In Pictures, you can find the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.
If this stuff makes you laugh, congratulations – you’re a Search geek. Welcome to the club.

Perspectives of the Search Engine Activist
Search engine marketing tactics and strategies can be used to potentially change and confront the way we think about causes, philosophies, and ideas. But considering their use of multiple tactics, including SEO, blogging, link development and paid search, it is apparent that there’s conceptually much more to what they are doing than just “Google bombing,” ”advertising” or “marketing” alone.

In order to shed light on the thinking behind search activism campaigns, noted bloggers and online activists, Ethan Zuckerman and Chris Bowers shared their perspectives on the value and impact of search to their own causes and initiatives.

Yahoo Big Investors May Back Microsoft
Most of Yahoo Inc's top institutional shareholders may be more interested in making sure Microsoft Corp does not overpay for the Web pioneer, because they have more money invested in the bigger software maker, a research report said on Friday.

A shareholder that owns both the target and an acquirer will be more interested in the net benefit of a deal, RiskMetrics said. Shareholders with more money invested in Microsoft than Yahoo will most likely urge Yahoo not to push its case too hard.

Online Marketers See High ROI from SEO
While paid search is still the top tactic for internet marketers, more competition and higher costs has dampened enthusiasm. However, SEO (search engine optimization) is more popular with marketers because of its lower cost and high returns.

“SEO continues to increase in popularity. Its low costs and high returns make it a leader among more than half (57%) of the marketers surveyed. Those numbers were 45% in 2006 and 33% in 2005.”

That’s according to MarketingSherpa’s 5th Annual ad:tech Survey. The survey received 421 responses from top internet marketers. These marketers decide how to spend large marketing budgets for well-known brands.

Nielsen: YouTube is from Mars, Streaming Video is from Venus
There is a gender split when it comes to preferences in online video, according to new data from market research group Nielsen Online. While streams of network TV shows have proven to be pretty popular among women, men seem to take more interest in user-generated video sites (such as YouTube). Viewers tend to view the two types of sites at different times, too—data that could help online video advertisers better target their audiences.