Search Engines Hate Sites with Contextual Ads

 

Major Search Engines Caught Penalizing Sites Displaying Contextual Ads, According to RankingMeasures.com Survey

Reverse engineering software discovers undeniable negative ranking correlation for sites displaying contextual ads from the search engines' own advertising networks. Sites displaying these Pay Per Click (PPC) ads consistently rank lower than those monetizing their web properties through other means.

Raleigh, North Carolina (PRWeb) November 16, 2006 -- RankingMeasures.com has just finished conducting a monthly study of nearly a million search engine results for 15,000 popular keyword phrases. The most notable finding concerns a strong negative correlation discovered in the big three search engines.

Sites displaying contextual PPC advertising are consistently ranking lower than similar sites without these ads. These ads are taken from the search engines' own advertising networks -- the same sponsored ads displayed along with traditional search engine results. When such ads are clicked, the website owner is given a cut of the profits.

RankingMeasures.com has found that for over 75% of searches, sites with contextual advertising from the search engine network are more likely to rank lower in the natural results. For example, on one major search engine 816 sites with contextual ads were found in search engine ranking position one while 1,356 sites were found in rank position 20.

"If the search engines providing the contextual ads are distancing themselves from the revenue stream, webmasters might want to do the same," advises RankingMeasures.com founder Chris Crompton. "To the search engines, one warning sign of a 'spammy' website is the presence of contextual advertising."

The amount of spam websites has been increasing exponentially from the time search engines made it simple for site owners to capitalize on PPC advertising. A sure sign of a spam website is junk content with PPC ads everywhere. Could it be that to preserve the relevancy of searches, the big three search engines have introduced a negative hit to websites displaying contextual ads? This certainly appears to be the case.

About RankingMeasures.com
The full data is available as part of a complimentary report recently released by RankingMeasures.com.

RankingMeasures.com hosts software designed to find ranking correlations on an increasing number of factors. To learn more visit Ranking Measures SEO Software.

###

Press Contact: Chris Crompton
Company Name: RankingMeasures.com
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 919-633-5783
Website: http://www.RankingMeasures.com

---

The Best Free Search Engine List
http://www.Best-Free-Search-Engine-List.com
______________________________________________
FREE 1 Year Tech and Business Magazine Subscriptions!
http://consultant-directory.tradepub.com/
______________________________________________
Free lists of expired domain names
http://www.bizprolink-internet.com
____________________________________________
Promote your consulting business with a free listing
in our http://www.Consultant-Directory.com
____________________________________________
Grow the value of your domain name investment at
http://www.DomainIncubation.com
____________________________________________

SEO Firm Trouble: Yes and No

Times Are NOT Troubled For SEO Firms

 

by Joshua Palau, Friday, November 10, 2006

 

I WOKE UP MONDAY MORNING to find it was 2001 and the bubble was bursting again. Panicked, I updated my resume, prepared to reach out to my clients to try and get to the safe haven of corporate America, and finally dusted off my good interview suit.

 

What sent me into this tail-spinning panic? An article titled "Troubled Times for SEO Firms."

 

Disclaimers:
--I do not know, nor have I ever met, the author of that article. This is not a personal attack on him or his company.
--This article is the opinion of Joshua Palau (yeah, I went third person). The views expressed here may or may not be shared with my company.
--These are not the ramblings of someone who is simply trying to protect the underworld of SEO. I advocate being engaged in both paid and organic search.

 

The "Troubled Times" article references the just released Search Marketing Guide and speculates that SEO firms are in trouble because clients believe SEO:
--Is not rocket science;
--Is a once-only-and-then-done solution;
--Can lead to penalties if you push the envelope.

 

"There are 3 kinds of lies--Lies, damned lies, and statistics." Homer Simpson once told a reporter "People can come up with statistics to prove anything. Forty percent of people know that."

 

The benchmark guide is exactly that--a guide--and the data delivered can be interpreted in different ways. If you simply look at year-to-year growth, the numbers look flat, but that doesn't tell the whole story. The report says "getting a handle on SEO spending is unusually inexact... the costs of SEO are hidden inside of other budget items... assuming SEO takes only half their time, 40k - 50k doesn't sound free." (p. 35). Based on this and my experience, I don't think the number is as flat as it appears in a bar chart.

 

Nothing is rocket science, except rocket science. I work with smart clients who have more acronyms at the end of their names then I do. They are capable of comprehending and executing an SEO strategy. Yet when you add SEO to a list that includes additional responsibilities, employing a specialist makes sense.

 

I've watched an SEO engineer reads patent filings to see what can be learned about possible algorithm changes. I've seen him look at two clients in the same industry, pinpoint the issue and devise a solution that worked. Web development, usability, paid search, and creative development are not rocket science, but there is value in leaning on a resource that plays in the space full time.

 

SEO--set it and forget it. This only works for Ron Popeil and his incredible Rotisserie Oven. Still, I agree with it to varying degrees. A one-time solution may work for a small site or one that is very niche because of its limited keyword universe. Since clients continue to tweak their sites, I think that SEO needs to be in the conversation. If you have a page that ranks but does not convert, you may add more conversion words. This tweak may alter your keyword density and thus compromise the rankings.

 

This idea also assumes that everyone understands all the factors that affect your results. Many are aware of keywords and content, but what about changing your CMS, appending URLs with tracking tags, or changing web servers? Taking this a step further, how many of these decisions are the sole responsibility of the marketing department?

 

The SEO penalty box. If it's not rocket science, it's not that hard--so I should know the boundaries, right? There certainly are penalties that exist--which underscores the importance of an expert.

 

I applaud the "troubled times" article for pointing out the factors that lead people to shy away from SEO. I swear there is not some conspiracy to make SEO too ambiguous and difficult, but in some ways it just can be--just like paid search, usability, and all the other marketing tactics. We just need to work with clients to help them understand what aspects of SEO make sense.

 

So fear not, SEOers. The world is not as bleak as described--at least not today. 

 

Joshua Palau is strategic search manager at Avenue A | Razorfish.

 

Search Insider for Friday, November 10, 2006: http://publications.mediapost.com/
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If this issue was forwarded to you and you would like to begin receiving a copy of your own, please visit our site - www.mediapost.com - and become a complimentary member.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We welcome and appreciate forwarding of our newsletters in their entirety or in part with proper attribution.
(c) 2006 MediaPost Communications, 1140 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001

---

[ Editor's comments:

 

Business has never been better for our company... :-)

 

(hris ]