tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109738722011-12-14T21:57:25.351-05:00seo humor: documenting the lighter side of seo and search engine marketing since 1990semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.comBlogger491100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1144435422006942752006-04-07T13:53:00.000-04:002006-04-07T14:43:42.060-04:00

Fresh from SEM | Antics Labs, the results of a minutes-long research project.While it doesn't have the majority, at just over 6 million, Blogger certainly owns the plurality of Internet musings, coming in at just under 14% of total. In the following figure, the top portion is pulled from a site-specific search, and the bottom portion is pulled from the general Google index:Typepad shows a rather

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1144094000532391922006-04-03T15:43:00.000-04:002006-04-03T15:53:20.556-04:00

"We view the integration of Google Base and conventional search results as a means to drive traffic to Google Base."--Piper Jaffray stock analyst Safa RashtchyHmm... Search results as traffic driver? If only we'd thought of that.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1144004630299145662006-04-02T14:52:00.000-04:002006-04-02T15:03:50.333-04:00

In what we figure is fair turnabout for Search Engine Watch discussing the salaries of SEMs (based on the ClickZ article of the same name), Alan Meckler decided he'd tell us exactly what Danny's bringing home:more money than most CEOs throughout the world.Alan's never been one to put too fine a point on it.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1138111527370171082006-01-24T09:53:00.000-05:002006-01-24T09:52:52.753-05:00

Sunnyvale, CA -- In a surprise move today, search giant and internet information portal Yahoo! restated its business goals for 2006. The company's new prime directive?Bring back Steve Rubel.Due to Yahoo's stunning admission that they're content with being #2 in search, media blogger Steve Rubel declaredThat's it, I am no longer using Yahoo Search. I have no interest in using a product that the

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1137691065377516012006-01-19T23:05:00.000-05:002006-01-19T23:50:27.130-05:00

In his cautionary tale "Bush Administration Demands Search Data...," Danny asks an astute question:Do you know every variation of a term someone might use, that you're going to dig out of the hundreds of millions of searches you'd get? [...] If you do, from talking with the head of a child porn fighting group in the UK, my understanding is that many euphemisms and code words are used that won't

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1137449301837139662006-01-16T16:43:00.000-05:002006-01-16T17:09:42.753-05:00

As we alluded to earlier, we're ready to roll out our new SEO/SEM information delivery system. What's behind the curtain?SEO Haiku.Who has precious minutes to waste reading blog after blog? Why download a podcast when all you need to know is contained up in 17 little syllables?Remember that the haiku form of Japanese poetry offers us insight into the world in shades of gray. Where you seek

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1137444813023107672006-01-16T15:09:00.000-05:002006-01-16T16:11:00.960-05:00

SEM | ANTICS was founded on the notion that in SEO/SEM, there's far too much yin and far too little yang. Too many of us read Sun Tsu, and too few read Lao Tsu.This is a big industry, and making sense of it is difficult. But we often err by thinking that to understand more, we need to consume more.To that end, we're unveiling a new SEO information distribution system beginning later today. It is

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1136529498352449252006-01-06T01:08:00.000-05:002006-01-06T02:53:52.126-05:00

SEO, Web 2.0, New Media, Social Computing ... all peas in the same fetid pod, we figure. Each exacts the same tyrannical toll on its adherents: computational myopia, social withdrawl, and over-consumption of hydrogenated oils.Without further delay, SEM | ANTICS presents a dozen signs that this whole "nanoculture" thing might be a little too much for you to handle. Why a dozen? Why, one for each

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1133152323071770622005-11-27T22:39:00.000-05:002005-11-27T23:32:03.096-05:00

Via Barry (and first spotted by Nick), Search Engine Blog points out that Jeremy has the early summary of something hinted at last week by Matt Cutts in reference to an earlier comment by Danny:"Nothing much happened today."Gary has the full writeup.(Thanks to Philipp for noting that the hat tip goes to Battelle.)

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1128461261675267302005-10-04T17:11:00.000-04:002005-10-04T17:27:41.686-04:00

Grand act of performance art, or tough times in Idealand? Seth Godin seems to have caught some sort of virus, but not the kind that sells books or consulting gigs. More like, the kind that sells (gasp) insurance.Seth, we beg you: Even a tip jar is more dignified than this. At least save yourself for a company who doesn't insert whizzing cars across that beautiful, clean-shaven forehead.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1128282252459126952005-10-02T15:40:00.000-04:002005-10-02T15:51:24.926-04:00

We couldn't be happier with the sudden and unbridled success being enjoyed by the Million Dollar Homepage. We heard about it a month or so ago, shortly after launch, then one of Nick's threads reminded us again at the end of last week. Anything this original and ridiculous deserves our full support.In the buying guidelines, however, we did find one particular request that stood out:Images must

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1126902648325055592005-09-16T16:44:00.000-04:002005-09-16T17:48:21.683-04:00

To piggyback onto Stuntdubl's excellent rant (at SEW, as spotted via SERoundtable - got all that?), we'd like to throw our two shiny pennies into the pot of SEO Contradictions. From Stuntdubl's original list, this pirates a bit of #2, 5, and 14, but we hope he'll forgive us.Clearly, you need incoming links to rank well at Google. In fact, Google recommends that you "have other relevant sites

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1126733477730685232005-09-14T16:33:00.000-04:002005-09-14T17:31:17.800-04:00

Three polarizing cases sure to affect long-term SEO practices:1. Google v. Geico2. Microsoft v. Google3. Michael Martinez v. E v e r y o n e

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1126626605509534122005-09-13T10:50:00.000-04:002005-09-13T11:50:05.543-04:00

SEO Speedwagon has a clever little post dissecting the pathology of Matt Cutts' legion of fans. It's nice that someone has taken the time to disambiguate the various levels of neurotic sycophancy that swarm around the Googleplex like gnats on a fallen pear.The descriptions are all on the mark, although we wish the Wagoneers had added one additional type:The Ambitious Understudy: Those who are

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1124709446144943202005-08-22T07:02:00.000-04:002005-08-22T07:17:26.153-04:00

If they're anything like us, most readers of Alan Meckler's blog read his posts for the cake (a true insider's take on how media companies are formed and operate) as well as the icing (his elephantine memory, typically presented in a refreshingly curt, cane-waving, "you kids get outta my lawn" format).So after a sugar-deprived weekend of upgrading the SEM | ANTICS server to a slightly used Acer

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1122347939664213612005-07-25T22:34:00.000-04:002005-07-25T23:30:36.193-04:00

Never before has a simple press release so swiftly and thoroughly made our day. For the next week or so, you'll find us sitting around the warm, two-liter bottle of Diet Cherry 7-Up that serves as the SEM|ANTICS snack bar, trying to decide which word in the following paragraph is the most entertaining:Graphic artist and website developer Karl Ribas publicly announced his intentions of stepping

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1121891275831892282005-07-20T16:19:00.000-04:002005-07-20T16:31:07.696-04:00

Yes, by now, you've all seen (or read about) the release of Google Moon, just in time for the 36th anniversary of the first moon landing.But damn it, some of those Google interns nearly ruined the whole thing for Larry Schwimmer, the guy who wanted this thing so badly in the first place. We've unearthed (so to speak) an exclusive shot of the site, as it appeared yesterday, with just minutes to go

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1120073273017060362005-06-29T14:53:00.000-04:002005-06-29T15:46:51.136-04:00

It was big news when the "Google Will Eat Itself" project surfaced some time ago. The basic premise, if we understand it (and it's quite possible we don't) is that the GWEI site will use Adsense revenue to purchase shares of Google stock, thus using Google to eventually finance GWEI's purchase of Google. Google, in effect, eats itself.Just this morning, we uncovered a shocking new version of this

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1119866557163764112005-06-27T06:01:00.000-04:002005-06-27T06:02:37.190-04:00

We're a little surprised that no one has brought up the most recent High Rankings Newsletter, in which Scottie Claiborne decides that when migrating to a new domain, a 302 followed by an eventual 301 redirect is the new way to go:Conventional wisdom will tell you to redirect the old domain to the new domain using a 301 "permanently moved" response ... However, if you follow this usually accurate

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1119335305080911672005-06-21T01:14:00.000-04:002005-06-21T02:28:25.086-04:00

Now this is just plain fun: The "Talk" section of Wikipedia's entry on Search Engine Optimization. What could be more entertaining than watching the blue-haired, ruler-thumping uber-grammarians of Wiki meet the urine-soaked, medallion-wearing lounge lizards of SEO?Of special interest is the Q&A that ensued when one opinionated chap decided to take Wiki's section on Search Engine Optimization and

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1118839456211918002005-06-15T08:30:00.000-04:002005-06-15T08:44:16.216-04:00

Gary Price over at Search Engine Watch already noted on Monday about how Yahoo News scooped Google News in the Jacko trial results.Last night, Yahoo did it again - this time with the California earthquake. The following picture shows Yahoo's early reporting of the quake:While over at G News, it appears no such sleuthing took place:It's like they're not even trying anymore...note: yes counselor,

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1118263445874507552005-06-08T16:28:00.000-04:002005-06-08T16:50:33.593-04:00

The last six months have taught the SEO industry a great deal. First, many webmasters have found that taking Allegra and washing it down with bourbon can have some devastating effects - so bad, in fact, that no matter how great you think you are, you might wake up one day and be completely unable to find yourself. And that can make you vewy, vewy angwy.Is there a sandbox or not? Do scraper sites

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1118182840521248782005-06-07T18:20:00.000-04:002005-06-15T08:30:15.783-04:00

You already know the basics. In its quest to test its SERP relevancy on humans, Google hires the closest thing to humans it can find: college students. But that's only the beginning. Most of the real story here is buried in the forums, where members let their guards down and leak some of the most groundbreaking information imaginable. That's the real 411 on Google Eval.This this page at

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1117723312050607082005-06-02T10:29:00.000-04:002005-06-02T10:41:52.060-04:00

Turns out Google's secret relevancy weapon, like Soylent Green, is people.(Note to Google: Remember, college students say they'll work hard, but sometimes they just take your money and never finish painting your house!)

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1117055560259819442005-05-25T17:11:00.000-04:002005-05-25T17:12:40.263-04:00

We're quite happy with today's performance on Rand Fishkin's SEO Quiz at SEOMoz. Checking the leaderboard, we're right up there with 22 correct answers out of 32. Granted, a 69% won't get you far in high school (outside the United States), but there were some toughies in there.Although the integrity of this blog is surely unquestioned, you have our additional promise that we didn't cheat. We

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1116972625202770122005-05-24T18:08:00.000-04:002005-05-24T18:10:25.206-04:00

Clint, among others, seems upset.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1116971598843332852005-05-24T16:59:00.000-04:002005-05-24T17:53:18.846-04:00

Down at the bottom of Roger Ebert's review of Star Wars III, suntimes.com runs the following Google ad (among others):So we're left wondering ... is this a genuine ad for an illegal download of copyrighted material? Or is it a simple case of ad copy that is totally misleading? Either way, the Adwords team needs to address it before 20th Century Fox's legal department or the MPAA buries them

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1116427944870072312005-05-18T10:22:00.000-04:002005-05-18T10:52:24.876-04:00

You are using Whois Source for all your WHOIS queries, right? If not, get with the program. Where else could you easily find out that CNN.com has 231,782 DMOZ entries? (Maybe the Corrupt DMOZ Editor could explain that one to us, if she'd get off her ass and make another post.)If nothing else, I'm drawn in by their innovative use of META tagging:meta name="jedi-mind-trick" content="You will

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1116277629143224642005-05-16T15:46:00.000-04:002005-05-16T17:07:09.156-04:00

Yes, Google bought Dodgeball. You probably read all about it and quickly pretended to know what Dodgeball is - namely, one of the most efficient methods of involuntarily burning through your text message allotment ever conceived, all wrapped up in a quirky, retro domain name. ("Hey Alex, I just bought dodgeball.com - want to start a business?")Be sure to stay tuned as the other engines play

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1115755424436460112005-05-10T15:26:00.000-04:002005-05-10T16:03:44.456-04:00

Everyone here at SEM | ANTICS more or less agrees that while Alan Meckler is about as pioneering and techno-omniscient as they come, he certainly could use a little more sleep.Straying from his typical 4:25 am "I predicted this [merger/sale/internet media trend/tectonic plate shift] would happen back in '96 and now it's happened, and you should have believed me" post, Meckler exposed his softer

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1113857398938677842005-04-18T15:14:00.000-04:002005-04-19T15:19:37.800-04:00

The Link Exchange Digest is, without a doubt, one of the more unintentionally funny publications out there. A haven for both the contemporary internet marketer as well as those who have taken up permanent residence in 1998, its threads represent a smorgasboard of topics ranging from the tightly honed (such as concerns over sharing IP C-blocks with spammers) to ... well, more "broadly" focused

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1113403020637024092005-04-13T10:16:00.000-04:002005-04-13T10:37:00.636-04:00

Well, there's both good and bad news for Bladam. He found out that GenieKnows is serving up even less relevancy that we had previously shown for Adwords. So the good news is that he knows about one more PPC engine that probably isn't worth his time.The bad news is that in so doing, he found out that just about everyone knows more about his penis than he does.So what is it called when the Internet

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1113235865745615242005-04-11T11:19:00.000-04:002005-04-11T12:11:05.753-04:00

On April 7, Ask Jeeves celebrated its birthday. The Ask Jeeves Blog posted a nice retrospective on Friday, but we weren't just weren't satisfied with the depth of the article, so we decided to follow up. Following is an interview* with Ask Jeeves. [* the rules: interview questions were posed in the Ask.com search box exactly as shown here. The "answers" are the relevant portion of the first web

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1112885100123213352005-04-07T09:45:00.000-04:002005-04-07T10:45:00.123-04:00

We're a little surprised that no one (else) with a warped sense of filial piety has mentioned Fredrick Marckini's "Local Search: Convert and Win" from ClickZ.The article is as one might expect: A paragraph or two of sensible material cushioned in enough whipped cream to hit the 750-word target, all topped off with a nice opportunity for Fredrick to give his dad's company a fat, direct text

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1111428984014213372005-03-21T13:01:00.000-05:002005-03-21T13:16:24.016-05:00

The raison d'etre of SEM | ANTICS is not simply finding silly Google Adwords bids and trying in vain to come up with witty accompanying captions.But when they just keep serving up high fastballs right over the plate, how can we refuse?The following ad may be, we gather, an eBay Lenten special, but we can't confirm.Now a note to Mom. Look, I know I said you should get on the Internet, but geez...

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109950358176318882005-03-04T10:14:00.000-05:002005-04-10T20:36:33.376-04:00

Google's well known and oft-chided internal mission is "Don't be evil." Oh, would that eBay felt the same. We recently showed that the world's largest online auction house found its inventory of despair worthy of advertising via Adwords. So we decided to perform further testing, with the results shown below. Turns out that six of the seven deadly sins are readily available - some through

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109949101475572332005-03-04T10:11:00.000-05:002005-03-04T10:11:41.476-05:00

Never, ever, pay retail for your anger items.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109948092207455622005-03-04T09:54:00.000-05:002005-03-04T10:14:09.030-05:00

Sigh. I wish I could sell envy on the web.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109947986474750282005-03-04T09:53:00.000-05:002005-03-04T09:53:06.473-05:00

Ah, this takes me back to the classifieds in the old hometown Gazette...

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109947696109893482005-03-04T09:48:00.000-05:002005-03-04T09:51:20.350-05:00

"Greed is good." - Gordon Gecko"Used greed is a better value" - eBay

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109947083697201802005-03-04T09:38:00.000-05:002005-03-04T09:38:03.696-05:00

Pride (Not the U2 kind)

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109946759324938442005-03-04T09:32:00.000-05:002005-03-04T09:32:39.323-05:00

And finally, Sloth.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109837339293635102005-03-03T03:08:00.000-05:002005-03-03T03:08:59.293-05:00

It could be worse. I hear BizRate hasn't had Despair for months.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109837533908878022005-03-03T02:51:00.000-05:002005-03-03T03:14:02.373-05:00

Regarding the eBay post above, a few notes. Finding junk results in AdWords is starting to be as simple as finding ... well ... junk results in natural Google listings. But we found this particularly distressing.Questions for the seller: Do you offer a Buy It Now special? How do I know this is real dispair? My brother thought he was buying dispair and it turned out to be ennui. What sort of

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109360065515644432005-02-25T14:29:00.000-05:002005-02-25T14:34:25.516-05:00

SEM | ANTICS is happy to announce our new VP of Worldwide Marketing, so please stop sending us resumes. All we really wanted was someone who could say "hello" with such global flair. After that, we're certain our product speaks for itself.Thanks to the Yahoo Search Blog, as found at Yahoo! Video Search.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109351314098741942005-02-25T12:05:00.000-05:002005-02-25T12:56:53.616-05:00

People are always experimenting with ways to further decrease the traffic to their sites. If you don't have time to wait for Google to ban you, you can always just ban yourself.

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109191909301868312005-02-23T15:28:00.000-05:002005-02-23T15:51:49.303-05:00

Last week we started watching a thread at WMW called "Inclusion in the Google Index," in which several members (who currently exclude googlebot from their sites via robots.txt) claimed to have received emails from Google encouraging them to open up their sites to Google.The thread quickly turns into yet another "Google sucks" thread, with some criticisms that seem quite legitimate, and others

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109097196612079342005-02-22T12:41:00.000-05:002005-02-22T13:33:16.656-05:00

We keep a pretty close eye on the forums at Search Engine Watch and most of the other reputable SEO sites. We're not really in the business of rehashing the same tired debates (the forums do a pretty good job of that themselves) for you, but we do like to tell you when things take an interesting turn.At SEW, like with most of them, it's never the wrong time to explain ethical SEO. Just when one

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10973872.post-1109017384737790052005-02-21T15:22:00.000-05:002005-03-03T03:27:48.423-05:00

That's right. 1990. That's how long we've been keeping an eye on search engine optimization.Well, maybe not that long. Actually, the reference is a tribute to a link reciprocation request we just received, from a man who has, shall we say, a lot of experience in SEO.Shortly after requesting a link to his Resources page (which, btw, returns a 404), here's what he had to say about his experience

semanticisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12090297961340180648noreply@blogger.com0