As I reported back in late-March, there has been a new crop of phishing scams now targeting both Google and Yahoo advertisers.

Google finally officially responded this week by posting “How to avoid getting hooked” on their official Google Blog as well as emailing apparently all Adwords advertisers with an email which refers people to this article as well as notification that there have been reports of phishing attempts that falsely appear to be from the standard Adwords email address.  Google reminds advertisers that Google’s AdWords team would never send an unsolicited message asking for advertiser’s password or other sensitive information by email or through a link sent via email.   They also ask that advertiser’s report any phishing email to them completing their Report Phishing Form.

Google’s post goes on to include tips on how to avoid phishing- whether you are a Google advertiser or not, I highly recommend you follow these steps to protect yourself from any phishing attempts.

Another cool service from Google.  Free 411 services from any phone!

Just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (that’s 1-800-4664-411) to find business numbers and addresses or even get a list businesses in a particular category.  Extra bonus features- get connected for free or have Google text message the contact information to your cell phone for later use! 

I think this is a pretty handy service particularly since alot of phone companies like to charge a buck or more to get this information.

Of course, it is automated, so if you are looking for a business with an unconventional name-ohh, say “YNot Web”- it can’t figure out how to find it since it is using algorithms based on phonetics.  Oh, and you need to pay attention to the returned listings because sometimes it does say them in a funny way.  “YNot Web” (why-not-web) comes out “e-nut-web”.

Nielsen released their search engine usage statistics for December 2006 and I thought I’d share the results.  Nielsen//Net Ratings gathers data from over one million Internet users in the United States with Nielsen tracking software installed on their home and work computers that records every site visited. Measuring three unique metrics, these statistics provide a view of actual search engine usage.

According to Nielson//NetRatings, an estimated 3 billion searches were performed at Google Search in the U.S. during the month of December 2006, representing nearly 51% of all search queries performed in the U.S. during that month.  This is up from 49.5% of searches for the month of November.

Rounding out the Top 10 are:
Yahoo: 23.6%
MSN/Windows Live Search: 8.4%
AOL: 6.1%,
MyWay: 2.4%,
Ask.com: 2.1%
Earthlink Search: 0.5%
Dogpile.com: 0.5%
Comcast Search: 0.5%
NexTag Search: 0.4%

Keep in mind that this statistic specifies the number of queries conducted– NOT the number of unique visitors to the site.  However, Google now ranks #2 for unique audience, surpassing Yahoo in the list of Top 10 Parent Companies in percent reach with nearly 95 million unique visitors on the home panel and 47 million on the work panel using the Google suite of sites and tools.  Yahoo fell to just under 94 million visitors (home panel) between November and December.  Still dominating the internet in terms of audience is Microsoft, with over 103.5 million unique home visitors and 51 million office workers (a whopping 88% reach in the workplace) in December 2006.  A notable addition to the Top 10 on the work panel is Wikipedia, with a 33.5% reach.

You can find more monthly data at Nielson//NetRatings.

Ever since Microsoft launched their new AdCenter back in May, they have been increasing promotion to try to lure advertisers to use the system to place pay per click ads on the MSN and Live Search networks. If you’ve thought about adding pay-per-click methods to your marketing plan, now is the time to act on AdCenter. Microsoft has distributed a promotional code worth $200 of free advertising, but its only good for a limited time.

If you’re a past or current client of YNot Web and would like to create a new account at the AdCenter, drop me a line or give me a call and I will provide you with the discount code. You can step through their self-serve sign-up process or request that YNot Web sets up your ad campaigns, but either way, this is a good way to check out the pay-per-click arena and determine whether Microsoft’s ad network effectively reaches your target audience.

Ok, in attempt to even out my comments between Yahoo and Google advancements, I decided to check out ‘Yahoo Answers after I made the post about Google Answers.

Wow, these two couldn’t be more day and night. Where Google Answers has pre-screened researchers to answer your question, Yahoo leaves it open to the masses– even encouraging multiple people to answer the question by awarding points to the answer either deemed ‘best’ by the asker or by an open poll (note, I did not say ‘right’, I said ‘best answer’).  Also, since Yahoo doesn’t charge for asking a question and the only requirement is that you have a Yahoo id, there are an overabundance of inane, jokingly asked questions.

I will say, it did hold my attention for a long time.  Perhaps my desire to ‘help’ people (I found myself saying “wow, these are HORRIBLE answers” alot and adding my own comments), makes this a place I actually need to avoid so I don’t waste hours on end.  Just now I found myself compelled to answer someone who was asking “what is there to do in Sacramento?”
I do see some potential for market research opportunities but the quality of answers could be all over the board, depending on your niche.  I’d say check it out at your own risk (or if you’re looking to kill two hours).

Google provides yet another set of valuable educational resources at its Conversion University. On this site (marketed mostly to Google Analytics users), you will find loads of articles about creating a website that converts visitors into customers and helps retain your existing customers.

My favorite article found here was “Monetizing Non-Ecommerce Sites.” No, its not yet another article about how you can Get Rich with Adsense–it is an editorial on how you can measure the value of a non-Ecommerce site, such as a website that promotes a service-oriented business. Not only will the ideas presented help the average business-owner understand the important connection between their website and sales, but it also emphasizes the importance of tracking for determining your ROI (Return on Investment).

If you need a website that includes more conversion techniques, YNot Web can help. We also provide our own article section on Conversions, for those who want to investigate and test out ideas on their own.

Windows “Live” is live – in beta – at http://www.live.com (okay, how much did THAT domain cost?)

Its going to take me a while to check out all the features- my first peeks were at Live Local: http://local.live.com (maps, directions, “Where am I”, local Traffic! etc.) and Live Messenger (an expansion on MSN and Windows Messenger). One of my friends already sent me Live Messenger games from a Pirates of the Caribbean theme. Pretty nifty.

I’m just wondering how I’m going to keep up! I’m still testing the Microsoft AdCenter (like Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing) which went live in May.
I’ll keep you posted as I can, but check it out if you get a chance.