Ask.com Evolving Q and A
December 2, 2009 by Daron Babin
Filed under Episodes
Bruce expresses concern over how Ask.com identifies an expert. What qualifications must be met by experts? How can webmasters and SEOs optimize their odds of being considered expert? Ask.com President Doug Leeds then joins the program to answer those very questions and to explore the need for evolving technology in the question and answer space.
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CNN’s SEO and Redesign
November 4, 2009 by Daron Babin
Filed under Episodes
The third quarter of 2009 is over and many companies have released their quarterly results. Bruce Clay, Susan Esparza and Virginia Nussey examine the results reported by Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and IAC for a measurement of the health of the search engines and a reflection on consumer behavior. Google reported revenues of $5.94 billion for the third quarter, an increase of 7% compared to the third quarter of 2008. Yahoo!’s net income nearly tripled to $187 million in the third quarter. Microsoft Corp.’s stock fell 14% to $12.9 billion, topping analysts’ forecasts of $12.3 billion. IAC, which owns Ask.com, reported a year-over-year revenue growth of -9%.
Topher Kohan, SEO Coordinator at CNN, then talks to Virginia about the news organization’s newly redesigned Web site. One of the most notable enhancements to the design is the prominence of video, and Topher shares his thoughts on why video is such an important site element today. He also gives his tips on how to involve SEO in online initiatives from the ground up as well as how he has been able to evangelize on behalf of SEO within the large media organization.
While CNN is one of the first to focus on video integration on the site, they aren’t the only one that has prioritized videos online. TurnHere, an online video advertising and production company, recently conducted a survey on trends in online video among brands and marketing agencies. Susan doesn’t take the survey at face value because TurnHere provides online video marketing services. However, useful lessons are contained in the insights about top reasons brands develop online video and what prohibits some companies from creating online videos.
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Semantic Search Technology
July 8, 2009 by Daron Babin
Filed under Episodes
Semantic Search Technology is on topic as Bruce, Susan and Virginia discuss Ask’s clear commitment to the advancement of search, and what the engine could do to better support the SEO and webmaster communities.
Virginia then talks to Tomasz Imielinski, executive vice president of technology at Ask.com. Tomasz explains the effort he’s leading at Ask to continually develop their proprietary semantic technology.
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