Archive: December, 2007

So back in mid-November MSN launched their own Webmaster Center Blog. As with the Google Blog this should provide a peek into some of the inner workings of the their own team of Engineer/PR/Evangelicals as they parade new MSNbot nuances to the throngs of awaiting enthusiasts. After sniffing around the blogroll today I noticed that one particular items was just put to bed. Having threatened to post about this ages ago, my procrastinating ways have lead me to the end of the saga without having weighed in until now.

The ‘Question’ related to the rash of bizarre search referrals that MSN was spreading around earlier this year.

The question was pretty much ‘where the heck is all of this search traffic coming from suddenly?’. Okay, suddenly meaning towards the end of August of this year, just like everyone else. So for an SEO Firm getting hits for the keyword ’search’, this could appear pretty flattering. Did I do something magical to suddenly send the MSNLive Bot into heat? Did someone hijack a PPC campain and we’re going to get a nasty bill from the folks at MSN Adcenter? After playing with those ideas for three to four seconds, it became brutally obvious that this was just bogus bot traffic masking itself with a search referral, thus triggering an entry into our Search Metrics. If I didn’t know any better I could possibly call that cloaking… The plot thickens. After spending some time reflecting on our Enquisite data a few items still didn’t ad up.

What is the difference between a sub-domain and a sub-directory? In the electronic eyes of GoogleBot, not much though one is easier for the bot to deal with and the other is (in certain circumstances), easier for a webmaster to deal with.

A sub-domain prefixes the domain-name at the host level as such: ppcassurance.metamend.com/. A sub-directory is a set of files that are seen as a suffix to the domain-name such as, metamend.com/blog/.

Up until a couple of months ago, a general piece of SEO advice was to separate distinct topics addressed under the same URL to sub-domains. This was done to help search-spiders differentiate between topics and also so search-spiders would treat the information at a sub-domain as they might a unique website. Using sub-domains, SEOs could conceivably capture a far larger number of Top10 placements under the same keyword phrases for different parts of the same company. In that way, SEOs could offer five or six (or more) of ten first page placements as opposed to the more frequent two front page placements under the same phrase.

If you’re reading these words in Canada, I can only guarantee that they were true to my writing as I typed them. Chances are nothing has changed but for the record, if you are reading these words in my home and native land, I can no longer pass any assurance to you whatsoever that the site I write to is exactly the same as the site you are viewing. Huh?

Earlier this week, Canada’s largest high-speed Internet Service Provider, Rogers Communications, began an experiment in which the company hijacks and alters other websites in order to deliver messages through its new Internet Subscriber Notification Service. In the specific case mentioned at Net Neutrality expert Lauren Weinstein’s blog, the familiar Google homepage was altered to add a message from Rogers which was sponsored by their corporate search partner Yahoo!

Using deep packet inspection technology, Rogers monitors every page delivered to its clients with the ability to insert its messages into the content stream when it feels it necessary. The messages note when each client is passing the 75% mark of the monthly bandwidth caps Rogers applies to client accounts.

One always worries when the tradeshow floor appears smaller.

Have you ever wondered how much money it takes to throw a large convention like Search Engine Strategies or WebmasterWorld’s PubCon?

While the actual cost for both events are closely guarded business secrets, experienced observers have come up with estimates ranging from, “… more than you’ll ever earn” to “… a hell of a lot”. Either way, staging these conventions can run into a seven figure spend as there are always hundreds of major and minor details demanding the kind of attention that can only be lavished with cash.

The next question is obvious. How does the organization throwing such an event recoup its costs or make enough of a profit to make the endeavour worth the effort?

When dealing with enormous outlays of cash, it is important to have an assured base of income. That’s where the tradeshow part of industry conventions comes into play. The majority of the money comes from the rental of space on the tradeshow floor by vendors and sponsorships paid by advertisers. That’s why one always worries when the tradeshow floor space appears slightly smaller. Fewer vendors means lower income and a lower income means a tighter bottom line.