Komodo Online Marketing

Professional Web Development and Online Marketing

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Google AdWords Display URL Policy Update

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Google’s AdWords blog, Inside Adwords, has posted an advance notice of new changes to their display URL policy. According to the post, redirects, vanity URLs, and certain uses of tracking URLs will no longer be acceptable. This new policy will go into effect on April 1st and will be strictly enforced. The blog post gives a brief example of what will still be allowed in regards to tracking URLs and sub-domains.

I don’t think most advertisers will be unduly affected by this new policy, but I encourage you to read up on the new policy so you aren’t caught off guard.

Komodo Links: It’s all about Microsoft and Yahoo

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It’s the end of the week so that means it’s time for Komodo Links. Yes I’m still in the office on a Friday night. We’re heading out for the IFA annual convention tomorrow so we’ve been tying up all the loose ends today. This week’s Komodo Links has a laser focus. It’s all about Microsoft and Yahoo.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Google News Gets Local

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Google News launched a local news feature late last night. Simply enter the city and state or the zip code in the local news section and Google will populate it with news pertaining to that locality. I took a look at it and so far I like what I see. I have used Google News for quite a few years and it is one of my go to destinations for news stories. It’s great having a local section right there in the mix, so that I can quickly see what’s going on without having to go to individual local sites.

The Google News blog post briefly (and generally) describes how their local feature works and how it’s different from other local news aggregating sites.

While we’re not the first news site to aggregate local news, we’re doing it a bit differently — we’re able to create a local section for any city, state or country in the world and include thousands of sources. We’re not simply looking at the byline or the source, but instead we analyze every word in every story to understand what location the news is about and where the source is located.

Below is a screen shot of the local news section for Miami Beach. (click to enlarge)

As you can see…it’s a pretty slow day in Miami Beach today. But the weather is nice. 😉

Yahoo is Feeling the Pressure from Microsoft’s Bid

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Yahoo! is feeling cornered after Microsoft made its takeover bid last week. The Yahoo! board said it would take its time to review the Microsoft bid. They haven’t acted on the bid yet.

The New York Times posted an article reviewing the current situation with some great commentary from Wall Street analysts. The article also explores some other options open to Yahoo! if they decide to decline the Microsoft bid, including an advertising partnership with Google, courting other buyers, or forcing a leveraged buyout to take the company private.

Some highlights from the article:

But if Yahoo spurns Microsoft, analysts believe it probably will have to swallow its pride and forge an advertising partnership with Google if the alliance could win antitrust clearance.

Under this scenario, Yahoo would rely on Google to run its search engine while joining thousands of other Web sites that depend on the Internet search leader for a steady stream of ad revenue generated from text-based links that produce commissions with every click.

But getting Google’s advertising help probably wouldn’t be enough to trump Microsoft’s offer by itself. To placate shareholders, Yahoo probably would have to line up enough money to pay a special dividend or perhaps even take the company private in a leveraged buyout.

The list of so-called ”white knights” willing to come to Yahoo’s rescue appears to be dwindling. Several of the most logical candidates, including News Corp., AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp., reportedly have no interest in trying to top Microsoft’s bid.

Yahoo’s board conceivably could even turn down Microsoft on the grounds that the current offer grossly undervalues the company, given its stock traded as high as high as $34.08 in late October.

If Yahoo assumes that stance, it might provoke a showdown at its annual meeting in a few months. Microsoft has until March 13 to nominate its own slate of directors if it tries to seize control of Yahoo’s board.

What do you think Yahoo should do? Should they take the Microsoft offer, partner with Google, or something else? Let us know.

I personally like the suggestion made by the Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post, who “believes Yahoo should dangle the prospect of a Google partnership to persuade Microsoft to raise its bid and then accept the higher offer.” Microsoft could call their bluff believing that either Yahoo won’t approach Google or that regulators would deny the partnership on anti-trust grounds. I don’t believe they would call the bluff though. I think Microsoft is just too eager to get this deal done.

Komodo Links: Anonymous Google Bomb, Open Access Wireless Spectrum, and G-phone by Dell?

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Introducing Komodo Links, stories and posts from the news world and blogosphere that we found interesting. Yes I know posting links is nothing new and that pretty much 99% of blogs do it. This is just our version. We will probably start out posting links to our favorite stories once a week to start. It could be more than once a week real soon, just don’t hold me to it. So without further ado….our Komodo Links for this week: