Weekly Rap-up of Search Engine Industry News – 2/12 – 2/16

A summary of search related news items that occurred this week including Yahoo’s expansion of their mobile phone advertising to 18 nations, Loren Baker writes up an excellent guide to buying links, Google will start displaying AdWords Quality Score to advertisers, Moment Magazine provides an in-depth look at Google Co-founder, Sergey Brin, and finally, Google’s latest acquisition is an in-game (video) advertising company.

Monday

• Yahoo! Expands Mobile Phone Advertising in 18 Nations - CNet reports that Yahoo has signed up top corporate advertisers to use its advertising system to run brand ads on mobile phones in 18 countries, marking a major diversification beyond computers. This move clearly shows that Yahoo! is seeking to become the early mover among Internet companies in mobile phones, racing against Google which over the past two years overtook Yahoo in ad revenues the two companies receive in the overall market for Web search. Major advertisers include Hilton’s Embassy Suites, Infiniti, Intel, Nissan, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble Asia-Pacific and Singapore Airlines.

Tuesday

• Loren Baker’s Guide To Buying Links - Loren from Search Engine Journal provides a concise guide on buying links from directories such as Yahoo and Business.com, link brokerages such as Text Link Ads and Text Link Brokers, and paid review services such as PayPerPost and ReviewMe. He goes on to point out that there are many other ways to purchase links such as emailing sites directly and offering payment for a links or simply requesting them for free. The success is in the persistence, technique and approach.

Wednesday

• Google To Display Quality Score To Advertisers – The Inside AdWords blog announces that they will be releasing an optional Quality Score column within AdWords that shows the minimum bid for all of the keywords within an ad group as well as a Great, OK, or Poor quality label for each keyword. The announcement also provides information on a quality score algorithm improvement that will be occurring next week. First, they will be improving the way that minimum bids are set for keywords where they have limited data. Secondly, they will be improving the Quality Score algorithm to make it more accurate in predicting the quality of all ads.

Thursday

• An Inside Look at Google Co-Founder, Sergey Brin – Moment provides an in-depth look at Sergey Brin, co-founder of the world’s leading search company. It is a pretty lengthy article but well worth the read. Here’s a short excerpt – “Trim and boyishly handsome, with low sloping shoulders that give him a perpetually relaxed appearance, Sergey bounces around the Googleplex with apparently endless energy. He has dark hair, penetrating eyes and a puckish sense of humor that often catches people off guard. A typical workday finds him in jeans, sneakers and a fitted black T-shirt, though his casual manner belies a serious, even aggressive sense of purpose. This intensity emerges during weekly strategy meetings, where Sergey and Larry—who share the title of president—command the last word on approving new products, reviewing new hires and funding long-term research. Sergey also holds sway over the unscientific but all-important realms of people, policy and politics. Google’s workers enjoy such family-friendly perks as three free meals a day, free home food delivery for new parents, designated private spaces for nursing mothers, and full on-site medical care, all of which recently led Fortune magazine to rank the company as the #1 place to work in the country.” grab a cup of coffee (or a beer) and visit Moment Magazine to read the article in its entirety.

Friday

• Google’s Latest Acquisition, AdScape – Red Herring reports that Google has agreed to pay $23 million for Adscape Media, a company that offers in-game advertising for video games. Can you guess the next place we will see Google AdWords? Sources familiar with the in-game ad business said the Adscape acquisition gives Google little beyond a few potentially interesting patents. “There is a whole world of difference between the form of advertising done by Google and Madison Avenue,” one source familiar with the in-game ad business said, comparing Google’s familiar text-based ads to the rich media used in videogames. “While everyone appreciates the dollars Google can throw around, when it comes to [in-game ad] experience they just don’t have it.” While Adscape officially launched in February 2006 with $3.2 million in funding, they have yet to announce any game publishers as customers yet. Still, Google must have some plans to be interested enough to buy them.