Well it appears that I’m just not going to be going to any sessions, and that’s a good thing. 
Today has been spent networking and interviewing some excellent guests. Let’s cover the interviews first:
Rand Fishkin From SEOMoz.com:
Anyone involved in SEO either does or should know the name Rand Fishkin. Whether it’s as one of the most notable SEO’s in the industry or as the man who ruined it for the rest of us by proposing to his fiance in arguable one of the most romantic manners every (come on Rand … how can us mere mortals top that?) his name has become synonymous with Internet Marketing.
For those who don’t already know, Rand purchased some commercial time on Veronica Mars (his fiance’s favorite show. Here it is:
Want to know how she reacted (gee, is there even a doubt whether she said yes? 
See? Now how the heck do we compete with THAT??!!!???
Congratulations Rand.
Other than a little lecture on toning it down a bit Rand and I discussed a number of SEO issues. We discussed the movement by Google towards personalization, the benefits this has for some searchers and the issues it’s causing (such as when you’re referring to a resource by it’s position in the results (“just enter “blue widgets” into Google and click on the first result” … “no, not that site” …. “ugh, OK – what do you see in position 4?” … and so on). it’s also an issue for SEO’s who send ranking reports for the same reason.
Rand and I also discussed Google’s 0.02% claim regarding click fraud (we agree, that’s a bit low Rand is also friends with a number of the fine folks from the major engines, I just had to ask him how he can openly state that purchasing links is alright when it is in clear violation on the engine’s guidelines. The the client is your client, not the engines. Again, we agree.
Of course we covered more. I was supposed to try to keep the interview to 5 to 7 minutes at the request of Webmaster Radio but it likely lasted closer to 15 to 20. Rand, you’re a great interview and thank you very much.
I’ll post the podcast as soon as it becomes available.
John Marshall From ClickTracks:
After Rand I had another great pleasure in chatting with John Marshall from ClickTracks. Despite being sick he was a trooper, showed up, and was great to chat with.
John and I discussed the future of analytics and some of the enhancements that were likely to come over the next year to ClickTracks and other analytics tools. The main point here was beginning to track individuals differently using scripts so repeat visitors and monitored and (I’l inferring here) patterns among types of users will be tracked.
We also discussed some of the recent enhancements to ClickTracks which I haven’t had the chance to install yet. The goal is to make reports easier to read for the layman. From the sounds of it, mission accomplished but most of our clients have no problems reading the current set.
We went on to discuss a variety of other issues (sorry WMR team, I just can’t keep it to 5 to 7 minutes when I’m interviewing people like this). You’ll have to wait for the podcast to hear it all. I’ll post a link as soon as it’s available.
Jon Kelly From SureHits.com:
Jon and I had some fun chatting about SureHits.com, and insurance and loans focused CPC agency. We discussed Click Fraud (it’s a CPC engine after all – I couldn’t resist), the processes they have in place for detecting it (I have to admit, they’re pretty good) and the hurdles they face as tey try to expand into the UK market with different regulations in their industries.
I’ll post a link to the podcast as soon as it becomes available.
The Party:
Last night I didn’t get to attend the party, I did however get to ride the bus to-and-fro (I’ll post pics as soon as I get them off my camera) complete with the Bruce Clay team, the Google Webmaster Tools presentation team (very nice folks though I couldn’t get a card out of them
After the party ended (that I only got to ride the bus to) I had the opportunity to hop back on it to head to a night club (Club 320 if you care) and then on for more resulting in a 4:30am bedtime and a sigh of relief in the morning that I switched to water at around 2am and stuck with that decision for the remainder of the night.
A picture is worth a thousand words an these pics might be worth more. The bus was amazing with TV’s, laser lights, music, beer of many varieties and great company. I had a great time with the host of the bus Ken Jurina and Epiar. Thanks Ken – it’s awesome and I’m glad I had a chance to chat with you and your team through the night.
So, that’s “it” thus far aside from business development and networking issues that don’t really need to be blogged about.
But stay tuned, there are more great interviews and parties to come. We’re only half-way through day 2 of 4.
SEO news blog post by Dave Davies, CEO @ 1:28 pm
I just stumbled on a very good article by Donna Bogatin on the ZDnet site I felt was timely and definitely worth sharing. In the article she rebutes claims made by Google that the click fraud rate sites in the single digits at roughly 2%. She quotes Google point-man Shuman Ghosemajumder and his definition of a fraudulant click:
According to Google, its advertisers are charged for “valid clicks,” but not for “invalid clicks.” A straightforward analysis of Google’s accounting for clicks, therefore, ought to start with definitions: What is the definition of a “valid click” and what is the definition of an “invalid click.”
Clarity is difficult to come by, however, as Google often publicly defines the two terms simply in relation to each other.
I asked Google for the definition of an “invalid click.” Google’s base response: “Any click Google doesn’t charge for.” A “valid click,” in Google’s view, therefore, is one that Google charges for.
Hmmmmmmmm. This reminds me more of a conversation with my kids than a real justification. In my world it goes something like this:
Me – OK bud, time to clean your room.
Kid – But I don’t want to clean my room.
Me – Well you have to.
Kid – But why? It’s my room.
Me – Because it’s a mess and I don’t want to look at it.
Kid – Then don’t go in there. You don’t have to.
Me – Alright how’s this: because I said so.
Not the most intelligent arguement I can make but sometime your kids catch you off guard. I don’t have to feel so bad about my lack of brilliant counter-point as I’m dealing with cleaning a room, Google is dealing with billions of dollars of advertising revenue.
You can read Donna’s full article here.
SEO news blog post by Dave Davies, CEO @ 4:23 pm
For any of our blog readers who also listen to our weekly segment on Webmaster Radio to keep informed on the latest goings-on in the search engine world you’ll know that Jim Hedger has been promising a big story for the past couple weeks. Well it’s finally out there and as promised, he doesn’t disappoint.
Allegations of Click Fraud, inadvertent terrorist funding and more add smatterings of a Hollywood drama to the tech world in what could well be one of the biggest stories since Google was first developed. Even Matt Cutts (Google engineer and quality control guru) is in on the action with multiple blog posts attacking the claims).
An interview with Clarence Briggs of AIT sparked the investigation that has been going on for weeks and involves many independent and involved personalities.
As I’m closely tied to Jim as a co-host of the weekly radio show I’m going to keep my personal impressions aside and simply provide some important links for your viewing/reading. These are links to the original interviews, press conference at SES Chicago as well as some posts on the issue. For anyone involved in PPC or the search engine world this is important news. I also need to mention that the story has only been released as part one (as noted on the Webmaster Radio site). There is more coming and as it becomes available we at Beanstalk will be sure to keep you informed.
The press conference – The press conference at SES Chicago where this all was brought to light.
The interview – The interview with Clarence Briggs that sparked the investigation.
Matt Cutts‘ initial response – Matt Cutts responds to the allegations. I notice he’s been numbering his posts on it so there’s surely more to come.
Matt Cutts‘ second response – Matt posts again on the topic 13 minutes later.
Article by Kevin Newcomb – An article on the subject on ClickZ.com.
A post by Jim Hedger – Jim Hedger describes the story and how it’s being taken by the press, SEO’s and public.
Keep watching, we’ll be posting more as soon as new information becomes available.
SEO news blog post by Dave Davies, CEO @ 2:27 pm
For any of our blog readers who also listen to our weekly segment on Webmaster Radio to keep informed on the latest goings-on in the search engine world you’ll know that Jim Hedger has been promising a big story for the past couple weeks. Well it’s finally out there and as promised, he doesn’t disappoint.
Allegations of Click Fraud, inadvertent terrorist funding and more add smatterings of a Hollywood drama to the tech world in what could well be one of the biggest stories since Google was first developed. Even Matt Cutts (Google engineer and quality control guru) is in on the action with multiple blog posts attacking the claims).
An interview with Clarence Briggs of AIT sparked the investigation that has been going on for weeks and involves many independent and involved personalities.
As I’m closely tied to Jim as a co-host of the weekly radio show I’m going to keep my personal impressions aside and simply provide some important links for your viewing/reading. These are links to the original interviews, press conference at SES Chicago as well as some posts on the issue. For anyone involved in PPC or the search engine world this is important news. I also need to mention that the story has only been released as part one (as noted on the Webmaster Radio site). There is more coming and as it becomes available we at Beanstalk will be sure to keep you informed.
The press conference – The press conference at SES Chicago where this all was brought to light.
The interview – The interview with Clarence Briggs that sparked the investigation.
Matt Cutts‘ initial response – Matt Cutts responds to the allegations. I notice he’s been numbering his posts on it so there’s surely more to come.
Matt Cutts‘ second response – Matt posts again on the topic 13 minutes later.
Article by Kevin Newcomb – An article on the subject on ClickZ.com.
A post by Jim Hedger – Jim Hedger describes the story and how it’s being taken by the press, SEO’s and public.
Keep watching, we’ll be posting more as soon as new information becomes available.
SEO news blog post by Dave Davies, CEO @ 2:27 pm
