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For webmasters, e-marketers and e-merchants...

Although our newsletter is a bit late this month, it has definitely been worth the wait, especially if you are interested in reading about the changes in Google rankings. As usual, we have also included the headlines of some of the most interesting articles that were published over the last two months for you to enjoy.

Another important note is to expect significant changes in the listings of MSN sometime this month when they will drop results provided by LookSmart. See our previous newsletter for details on that change.

Happy New Year and best of luck on all of your endeavours in 2004!

- Jason Campbell

Search Engine Navigator

Google's Florida Update On November 16th, Google did a major overhaul of its results. Many legitimate sites that were basking in the sun at the top of Google results plummeted down the rankings into a dark abyss of countless other results. Many webmasters and search engine optimizers went into shock, as they saw their Christmas sales sink like a stone in the water. Many people got angry. Many people wrote letters and participated in forums. Many people complained, and many people wept. Basically, anyone who wasn't a multinational conglomerate or an educational institution felt the pangs of rejection. Google shook the Internet… again. This Google update has been nicknamed the Florida update in honour of the Florida election fiasco in 2000. What changed? On average, about 50% of all results in the top 100 have now fallen below the top 500. These changes only apply to certain terms, usually the terms that are related to commercial searches. You can see if your site has fallen at www.google-watch.org/scraper.html by typing in your keyword and looking for your site. This site compares the old Google results with the new results and counts how many sites are missing from the new top 100. Google is currently trying to block these results by blocking Google-watch.org's IP address, but as of the writing of this newsletter the site is still in operation. The Theories There are many theories about what Google did and why. One of them is that Google removed commercial sites from their free listings in order to get the merchants to buy more AdWords. I disagree with this theory. I don't believe they did it to monetise. I think that Google's intention was to diversify the types of sites in the top results in order to provide better results to users. I think the profit they will make from this change just happens to be a happy side effect for Google. One thing is for sure, there are much fewer commercial listings in the top results than ever before. Many have been replaced by educational, governmental, or directory listings. The top ten in many results are now a mix of informational, authoritative commercial, and directory listings. This gives searchers more of a choice in the kind of site they want. The commercial sites that survived tend to be the leaders in the industry. Here are some of the theories about the changes at Google: www.webworkshop.net/florida-update.html searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3286101 www.searchengineguide.com/hotchkiss/2003/1215_gh1.html www.searchengineguide.com/terry/2003/1205_tv1.html www.webpronews.com/wpn-4-20040108GoogleRumorsThatNeedToBeStopped.html What to do Since the big update, many sites that were dropped have been crawling their way back into the top results. It seems to be a slow and painful process. Google's Senior Research Scientist Craig Nevill-Manning actually apologized for the update, saying: "I apologize for the roller coaster. We're aware that changes in the algorithm affect people's livelihoods. We don't make changes lightly." The good news is that if a site has a lot of good content, then Google seems to care. The more content you have, the better Google seems to like you. Many search engine optimizers are frantically making changes, but until we understand more about what motivated the update, such a reaction becomes the equivalent of thrashing and flailing about in the water. Right now the best thing to do is to continue adding good quality content to your site, make sure you are not using spammy techniques, and continue getting links from quality sites and directories. Hold the boat steady, and you will weather the storm. Shawn Campbell is the co-founder and Chief Search Engine Optimizer at Red Carpet Web Promotion, Inc.

Stay on Top Each month we review articles from leading industry magazines and newsletters. The following articles are the most interesting out of all the articles that were reviewed in the last two months. Click on the links below to read the full articles. Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2003 http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20031222.html Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox - December 22, 2003 - Sites are getting better at using minimalist design, maintaining archives, and offering comprehensive services. However, these advances entail their own usability problems, as several prominent mistakes from 2003 show. Prepare to be Monetized, Punk: Google Plays Sheriff with Commercially-Oriented Search Listings http://www.traffick.com/article.asp?aID=152 Traffick.com - December 1, 2003 - Google recently made far-reaching changes to the way it ranks search results, and the search marketing community has been abuzz with tales of woe ever since. Has Google composed a hit list of terms that are commercially valuable, and changed the way it ranks sites on those terms? Try a few queries on the new Scroogle tool that lists how many sites on a given query have dropped out of the top 100 since the last index Google Tweaks AdWords, Froogle http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/3289461 Internet News - December 15, 2003 - Google has made changes to improve its advertiser experience and brought Froogle into the Google.com search mix. It also lined up some new high-profile distributors, with Newsweek, Forbes.com and The Economist now displaying AdWords. How to Improve Search Engine Placements with Content http://www.isedb.com/news/index.php?t=reviews&id=599 ISEDB - December 15, 2003 - For maximum effectiveness, content should be: unique, fresh, relevant and visible. Other suggestions include: 1) do not use frames, 2) do not create a site totally in flash, 3) provide alternative navigation options. See details in article. Shoppers Ring Up $8.5B in November 2003 http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3287571 Internet News - December 10, 2003 - Shoppers got busy during November 2003 by spending 55 percent more online than they did in the same period last year. Among the most popular items consumers spent their $8.5 billion on were videos and DVDs, books, music, and toys and video games (hardware and software). Yahoo! Pushes New Shopping Tools for Holidays http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3112821 Internet News - November 24, 2003 - Comparison shopping has become one of the hottest segments of the online marketing space, as e-tailers pay for placement or rank on one or another of the ever-growing list of sites offering comparisons. Yahoo! launched product search back in September, just a few days after DealTime relaunched itself as Shopping.com. Google has long had Froogle, though the site is still in beta. Most recently, Ask Jeeves added product search to its capabilities. Lycos Wants to Give You a Second Opinion http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/3113471 Internet News - November 25, 2003 - Side Search, originally released in July, appears in a box on the left-hand side of the browser when people search on popular search engines, giving them alternative results for their search terms. Now, searches at e-commerce and comparison shopping sites will also activate Side Search. The tool displays relevant product results, delivered through Lycos' revenue-sharing partnership with BizRate.com. AOL Buys Singingfish, Rolls Out More Search Changes http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3110961 Search Engine Watch - November 19, 2003 - AOL has acquired Singingfish, a multimedia search engine providing access to audio and visual files from across the web. Terms of the deal were not released. Coinciding with the purchase announcement, AOL unveiled additional features to the AOL Search service designed for its members. Search tabs include: "web', "images", "audio/video", "news search", 'in your area" and "people search".

Announcements The Can Spam Act took effect on January 1, 2004. It is a new US law intended to curb the rising level of unsolicited commercial email. The law imposes certain requirements for the delivery of commercial email including the following: message must contain an opt-out mechanism, message must contain a functioning return e-mail address, message must contain a valid subject line indicating it is an advertisement message must contain the legitimate physical address of the mailer. You can read the new law in its entirety at www.spamlaws.com/federal/108s877enrolled.pdf.

Letters to the Editor Send your questions and comments for our next issue to news@redcarpetweb.com. Be as specific or general as you want -- other subscribers are probably wondering the same things you are. You should also let us know of any promotions, sales or new products on your web site.

Next Issue - New feature article - More on how Search Engines work - Stay on top: Articles from industry newsletters and magazines - And more... To subscribe to the Promotion Press, go to the subscribe page and fill in your email address. To unsubscribe from the Promotion Press, go to our unsubscribe page and fill in the address you subscribed with. This Newsletter is produced and published by Red Carpet Web Promotion, Inc. © 2000-2004