You'd think Google would have more respect for links. This is the 'don't be evil' company. This is the company that got famous (and rich) because links used to be a recommendation one person made to a lot of others. Of course, their success has led to an internet full of bogus and manufactured links (and pages), but that's a problem I've already discussed.
But now we have Google Toolbar 3.0beta. Here's what Google says about it:
AutoLink: Whenever users see a U.S. address on a web page, one click on AutoLink automatically links the address to an online map. For example, if users are reading a review of a new restaurant, clicking on AutoLink will turn its address into a link to a map, complete with directions. AutoLink also links package tracking numbers to pages displaying that package's delivery status and other useful information, such as Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) and Publication ISBN numbers.
So Google has gone from counting links to adding them to web pages automatically. As Bob Dylan said, 'Sometimes the devil comes as a man of peace'.
The 'net is abuzz with comments and complaints, some thoughts and diatribes, as well as arguments and discussions (plus a thoughtful condemnation).
My view is that users do have the right to modify pages as seen in their browsers (remove ads, ad links, turn the background purple, whatever). But users should have to intentionally and specifically desire/install the feature that makes these changes. Bundling such a feature into an otherwise useful application is how the rest of the scum-lords poisoned our computers. So this isn't the method Google should use.
Make it a stand alone feature with a very clear description of the functionality, add more user control over which links go where, and I think everything would be fine. Bundle it so most people don't even mean to get it, turn it on by default, put some potential links in and leave others out, don't provide ways for users to add new link targets, and don't clearly articulate what you'll be autolinking in the future and what you will not, and we all have ample reason to worry.
For now, if you have a web site and don't want Google putting links on your page that you didn't want there, some fine folks have created scripts to stop Google AutoLink.
Years ago I read a book called "Who Will Tell The People" in which William Greider explained how the worst polluters in the world came to control the US 'SuperFund' that selected and targeted polluted sites for clean up. It was a sad story.
Now we have the chief privacy officer from scumware/spyware kings Claria (aka Gator) on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee.
What's next? Jose Conseco on the Sports Ethics and Drug Abuse Council?
When two of our partners announce a partnership we take note. And today LinkShare and Omniture announced the following:
LinkShare and Omniture Announce Integration of SynergyAnalytics(TM) with SiteCatalyst(TM) Suite
Powerful Online Analytics Solution to Provide Deeper Analysis for LinkShare Channels
NEW YORK, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- LinkShare Corporation, a leader in performance-based marketing solutions, and Omniture, the largest provider of on-demand online analytics, today announced a partnership to seamlessly integrate LinkShare's SynergyAnalytics solution with Omniture's SiteCatalyst Suite thus expanding each company's ability to measure the performance of a client's affiliate marketing channel. This partnership is one of the first in the performance-based marketing industry to provide true integration and show affiliate channel performance against other marketing channels, even on an individual campaign-by-campaign basis (e.g. email, banners, SEM, etc.), through a direct link into LinkShare's reporting environment for deeper analysis and direct management of their LinkShare affiliate programs.
Omniture's SiteCatalyst Suite provides both on-demand and historical, in- depth, actionable analysis and reporting to measure and optimize online marketing initiatives, driving increased revenue from online business. Clients using the SiteCatalyst Suite will be able to leverage the comprehensive, in-depth clickstream data to analyze and address the factors that affect customer behavior, conversions, lifetime value, etc.
Unlike other partnerships that may pass and share a single piece of data, Omniture will be able to provide in-depth channel-specific data directly through the LinkShare account interface to reveal a much deeper view of their channels, when requested by joint clients. Among other things, these clients will also be able to share this deeper level of information with their affiliate partners in order to facilitate greater innovation of unique or better ways to drive revenue.
"We selected Omniture for their leadership in the web analytics industry. This partnership will not only provide overall managers with a view of cross channel information but channel managers will now be able to go even deeper into the programs that they manage through LinkShare," stated Stephen D. Messer, Chairman and CEO of LinkShare. "Our approach provides a seamless interface to users, and much deeper data analysis than any single interface can offer."
This partnership brings best of breed technologies together to create a customer-centric, 'outside-in' approach that will allow marketers for the first time to analyze LinkShare channel data both before a customer clicks through to a website, as well as after. Looking at what happens before a customer gets to a marketer's website is just as important, if not more important, than what happens while the customer is at the website.
"More than ever before, enterprises depend upon a variety of online marketing tools to measure, manage and track the performance of their initiatives. The SiteCatalyst Suite provides a robust platform for unifying and providing actionable analysis from these various online marketing solutions," said Josh James, CEO and co-founder of Omniture. "We are pleased to add LinkShare to our impressive group of online-marketing solution partners, a group of technology leaders that allow our clients to most effectively understand and manage their marketing campaigns."
A new study estimates the split of searches amoung the major search engines:
Google is the world's most-used search engine, increasing its share from 56.4 percent to 57.2 percent in the past eight months, a new study found. OneStat.com, a Web analytics firm in Amsterdam, also reported yesterday that Yahoo's global usage share is holding steady at 21.3 percent. Google and Yahoo are the largest search engines, followed distantly by MSN Search with 8.6 percent usage and AOL Search with 3.5 percent.
* Searchers who ultimately purchased a product online conducted some 13 searches before ever making the purchase. This means that for every single converting search term, there were 12 prior nonconverting searches -- searches that today, most PPC search advertisers would never consider bidding on due to poor post-click conversion performance. The implication is nonconverting terms have a greater value than search marketers currently ascribe to them. * The majority of searchers in the study who ultimately purchased began by searching broader terms. Yet most search advertisers still believe they should primarily buy product-specific terms to reach buyers. * The study indicates we may also need to rethink our paid search time horizon. A significant increase in conversion rate was witnessed after a searcher had been investigating a product for over four weeks. According to Rinaldo, "It's a long buying cycle. If companies abandon a broad keyword prior to four weeks, they lose a quarter of their audience."Certainly there is a lot to learn about search patterns and bidding strategies from these numbers. There should also be something to learn about web site design and the content / conversion rate abilities of these sites. People don't do 13 searches just because they're still doing research or can't make up their minds. They do 13 searches because the results they get don't satisfy them.