Weekly Rap-up of Search Engine Industry News – 5/7 – 5/11

A summary of search related news items that occurred this week including MySpace to acquire Photobucket for $250 in cash, Google Analytics launches with new interface and enhanced reporting, Google rolls out Print Ads in the AdWords management console, SEOmoz releases their Web 2.0 Awards for 2007, and finally, Yahoo! has an “Ultimate Connection Contest” going on where the winner can earn $25,000 in advertising from Yahoo! Search Marketing, among other things.

Monday

• MySpace Looking To Acquire Photobucket for $250 Million - A week does not go by without the announcement of another major acquisition. This time what started out as a rumor has been confirmed – MySpace will acquire Photobucket for $250 million in cash. Apparently Photobucket has been looking for a buyer since March, when they hired Lehman Brothers to help sell the company. They were hoping for $300 million or more. After an earlier dispute that involved Photobucket videos being blocked on MySpace, the two companies have been in serious acquisition discussions.

Tuesday

• Google Analytics Launches New Interface and Enhanced Reporting - Andy Beal has a first look at the some new features launched in Google’s Analytics program. New features include a new design, customized reports, email reporting and a “plain language” approach to labeling, all while still keeping the product free of charge. Brett Crosby from Google Analytics says, “This new version of Google Analytics is designed to help get the right data to the right people at the right time so they can make the right decisions.” Check out Andy’s full post for further details including several screen shots.

Wednesday

• Google Rolling Out Print Ads in AdWords Console - Once again, Andy Beal had the jump on this story complete with screen shots. It is not widespread as of this entry but many advertisers can now see an extra tab within the AdWords management console that says “Print Ads.” From there you can select a date range to run your ads, select how much you want to spend each week, and select from hundreds of newspapers as well as see their schedule and circulation. I don’t see the option yet with any of our clients but expect that it will be included shortly. Check out the screenshots at Marketing Pilgrim.

Thursday

• SEOmoz Launches 2007 Web 2.0 Awards - SEOmoz has launched their 2nd edition to the popular Web 2.0 awards. The project includes over 200 web sites in 41 categories. Also included are 14 interviews with founders of some of the winning sites. Check out the Zeitgeist for more information on the who, how and whys behind the project. Finally, you can nominate a web site for next years awards but make sure you follow the criteria given to ensure the site qualifies as a genuine Web 2.0 site.

Friday

• Yahoo!’s Ultimate Connection Contest - Yahoo!’s giving away a $25,000 advertising budget with their Yahoo! Search Marketing product as well as other items in an Ultimate Connection Contest. Participants must submit a 500-word essay focusing on what their business needs to be successful, and how winning the “Ultimate Connection” contest can help achieve that success. Additional prizes include an “Ultimate Connection” power lunch in New York City with the up-and-coming entrepreneur winners and top-ranking marketing stars, mentoring from a legendary marketing expert throughout the year (wonder who that might be), access to a Yahoo! Search Marketing expert throughout the year, and a website makeover, courtesy of Yahoo! Small Business and Web site development firm FastPivot. The deadline to submit essay entries is May 25, 2007. Yahoo! will then select five finalists from the entries. Members of the Yahoo! community will be invited to vote for their favorites beginning on June 11, and contest winners will be announced in July.