Google Adwords is in the process of introducing a new bidding option. The bidding option will be called “Preferred Cost Bidding” and will act in pretty much the same way that “Position Preference” does except with bids.

Basically, instead of setting only a final “Maximum” bid you can set a “Preferred” bid and let Google auto-optimize for you. The system will try various positions and try to deliver an average CPC (or CPM) as your preferred bid. Both of these bid options (Max & Preferred Bids) should help SEM managers to fine-tune their accounts even more.

Facebook was originally envisioned as a social network for students and yesterday saw them return to their roots in a way no one could have imagined possible.

According to the Reuters AlertNet article Facebook becomes bulletin board for Virginia Tech:

Some 236 groups related to Virginia Tech have been set up on Facebook, a sign that Internet social networks are beginning to replace e-mail and cell phones as the preferred method for spreading information quickly among younger generations.

and some of the students have posted a black ribbon with the school logo over it on their own profile pictures.

Ms. Dewey is a frontend to Microsoft Live Search (and is produced by Microsoft).

It contains over 600 actions which were filmed over a 3 day period.

Some actions are chosen at random, some are based on specific words; a little bit of an Easter Egg principle.

We, the female staff, caught the SEP guys doing extensive research (…) on how to get Ms. Dewey to say what. While they’re now back to *serious* work, here’s there list.

1. Make Ms. Dewey think you’re a sensitive guy
   Easter egg: dance
2. Make Ms. Dewey dance like a robot
   Easter egg: robot dance

Here at Search Engine People we spend hours doing serious research, testing hypotheses, tracking their outcome, etc.

Occasionally we come across a GG (Google Glitch) which either makes us smile or frown.

Read these travel directions from Toronto to Paris – and pay attention to step #26.

How about…

• adding a third of the young, upward and mobile Internet users — those aged 24-34 and with a spending power of several billions of dollars?
• adding up to an estimated 32 million Internet users for whom the Internet is a much needed life line?

You can do that…

• and make SEO virtually built into you site
• and dramatically lower your cost for all future web improvements.

No sales copy - here’s the answer

Now I’m not selling anything here so there’s no need for long, drawn-out sales copy and a “30 days money back” graphic. I’m not going to keep you on hold for the next 200 words or so but will give you the technique and the answer right away:

Recently Search Engine People has been given the oppourtunity to participate it the new Pay Per Action Beta from Google. The following is a list of things to keep in mind when structuring your PPA campaings. Screenshots follow. 

Top 5 Things to Keep in Mind When Building PPA Campaigns.

1.  Your campaign should revolve around one central theme.

2. Keep in mind that each Ad Group within the campaign should target a single product or service.

3. When naming the product or service, make sure the name is accurate as it will be shown to publishers who want to choose your ads.

Ka-Ching!

Of course Doubleclick has to be happy with the recent news that it’s sale brought in 50% more than anticipated by The Street.

Microsoft, not so much. Having been shut out of the the game, it’s now urging regulators to look at the impending Google/Doubleclick deal, according to The New York Times. And AT&T has joined them in the cry.

But it’s not just Doubleclick and Google that are benefiting.

Aquantiive, 24/7 Real Media and Valueclick have also witnessed upticks today, and not insignificant ones.

Well, day four of the New York Search Engine Strategies conference has passed, and it was another full schedule. Three panels yesterday (Linking Strategies, Link Baiting and Viral Search Success, and CSS, AJAX, Web 2.0 & Search Engines) then the 8 hour drive back to Toronto (someone forgot to renew his passport).

One of the interesting tidbits I was reminded of today (in the Bookmarking session) and had meant to blog about earlier was the fact that Google had “quiet launched” Google Bookmarks late last year. Such a launch would not normally be cause for excitement, but I think the implications merit some discussion, as they are certainly likely to impact Google’s search results. Accordingly, this blog posting is not to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Google BookMarks versus Del.icio.us, but rather how Google is likely to use this bookmark information.

As a friend discovered this week, not all Google results are the same.

A search from Toronto and a search from New York will usually resulting in a different set of organic results appearing.

To be clear, using Google.com as your base search and not Google results from Google.ca or Google.ca Canadian specific results will show variations depending on where you search from.

To borrow from George Orwell’s Animal Farm; All searches are equal but some are more equal than others.

The difference of course is about server location, IP and all of that. I’ve long maintained that this is, while probably an algorithm oversight, nevertheless a shortcoming of the search engines.

Last month I found a friend back. We had lost touch and before you know it there is no way to contact that person.

One evening you chat with some good friends when you suddenly think “what ever happened to…”.

Enter search engines.

Finding lost friends, looking for a distant family member, searching for people you know or knew; it can be very easy with search engines.

1. Search for their exact name
   Put it between quotes to make search engines stick the words together. Example: “john doe”