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At SES San Jose? Check Email, Tweet & Catch up on SearchFuel @ Blogging Centers

by ~ August 11th, 2009

It’s hard for me to mention the city of San Jose without the sports fan in me wanting to jump to my feet and shout (in an unsportsmanlike kind of way) as I would at a game featuring one of my favorite hockey rivalries – the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks.  (Go Blues.)  But for a moment, I’ll put my biases aside and admit — great things are brewing in the Silicon Valley this week.

SES San Jose 2009 is underway at the McEnery Convention Center, where optimization, search of the future and metrics seem to be important topics to marketers this year. Don’t miss the chatter – stop by one of the two Blogging Centers at SES, brought to you by SearchFuel and search marketing agency Outrider, featuring computer stations with free internet access to check your email, post to your blog or send off a few tweets.

While you’re at it, feel free to shoot us a note to searchfuel@gmail.com.  Send us your feedback on SES and the discussions taking place, and we’ll feature a few of your postcards from the edge here.

Oh. And weather.com is reporting gorgeous weather on their hour-by-hour forecast. I’m jealous you’re there and I’m here, living vicariously through our bloggers & co-workers on the ground at SES. If you don’t mind me suggesting, why not step outside with a laptop for a little sunshine and fresh air, catch up on all the stories on SearchFuel and join the conversation – your comments to our posts are welcomed by our writers and help fuel further search discussion.

Enjoy SES and your stay in San Jose!

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What is Ethical SEO?

by ~ August 6th, 2009

EthicsWe all know there’s a line that separates acceptable SEO techniques from those that are unacceptable. One might consider this to be an ethical issue, but the reality, in fact, is much more black and white. When a search engine algorithm or human reviewer analyzes your SEO technique, there are only two potential outcomes: acceptable or unacceptable.  The consequences of using unacceptable SEO techniques range from a mild slap on the wrist, such as lower ranking in the search results, to a full ban from the search engines and removal of all your pages.  Therefore, the fundamental ethical issue pertaining to SEO is if your SEO marketing company knows that a technique is unacceptable but decides to implement it anyway in the hope that it will go unnoticed or will achieve short term gain.

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The Code Of Advertising: Like Car Buying OR Home Buying?

by ~ August 3rd, 2009

This post was written by Chris Copeland, CEO, GroupM Search – The Americas, and published in MediaPost’s Search Insider, Friday, July 31, 2009

Copeland Post - Value of house increase V2Warren Buffet prides himself in being a shareholder. When he buys an interest of whatever size in a company, he intends to hold onto that interest by and large for an extended period of time. His goal is not the quick flip, but rather to buy smart businesses with good leadership and see through the thick and thin towards a better long-term reward. In his eyes, shareholders make businesses, not share traders, because they have a mutual long-term interest in success.

In advertising, this was for a long period of time “The Code”: an often unspoken agreement between advertiser and advertising agency, that together, through thick and thin, each side would respect and value the contributions being made and the economic climate under which events occurred, ensuring that everyone gained in a proportionate way to their stake in the partnership. Well, at worst, that code has been erased; and at best, it’s no longer a viable staple, even for those who might still recognize its necessity.

More and more, we are in a business that delivers disproportionate value against compensation. Procurement departments exist to maximize return for businesses at the expense of value. In an increasingly digital world, the concepts of value, trading and efficiency all become debatable points. This is a column with few answers, rather an open forum for dialogue about the issues facing the space. Continue reading >>

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