Facebook and Microsoft announced recently that the two companies will expand their advertising partnership with Microsoft taking a $240 million equity stake in Facebook’s next round of financing, a $15 billion valuation. Under the strategic alliance, Microsoft will be the executive third-party advertising platform partner for Facebook and will sell advertising for Facebook both domestically and internationally.

The two companies first announced a US alliance back on August 22, 2006. At the time, Microsoft was named the exclusive provider of standard banner advertising on Facebook, using Microsoft’s digital advertising solutions and the Microsoft^® adCenter platform. In early 2007, the terms were extended to 2011.

Facebook continues to experience strong growth in both the US and international markets; almost 60 percent of Facebook’s users are outside of the 50 states. With an average of 200,000 new users registering each day, Facebook also continues to be one of the most-trafficked sites on the web, with 50 million active users performing approximately 600 million searches monthly.

The growth of this alliance has created speculation that MSN Windows Live search functionality may be on the horizon within the confines of Facebook. The site’s current functionality is limited to on-site search.

Facebook’s search engine provides results from content stored in the following site-wide applications: photos, groups, events, and marketplace listings. Additionally, the social site contains search capabilities to assist users in locating friends by AIM screenname and desired networks by location, school, or work. Logic dictates that the next site update may include external search querying for Facebook users.

With increased search options both a possibility and necessity for Facebook, Microsoft may find Live Search increasing in relevancy and value. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to familiarize 50 million users with Microsoft’s search engine. Alliances aside, however, that decision is still up to Facebook.

Article by Brian Wensel

According to a recently released comScore study, search engine marketing could become one of the most successful tactics for the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. The study challenges the attitude that consumers do not have enough interest in packaged goods to perform searches or visit brand websites.

Many believe that when confronted with purchasing decisions consumers use search engines for researching and purchasing items such as electronics, vacations, or household items. Yet the study concludes that consumers exhibit similar behavior for items such as toothpaste and shaving cream, as 44 percent of traffic to CPG sites originated from searches.

The comScore study found that of those that search for CPGs, 73 percent were seeking information and help, while only 40 percent visited the brand site for promotional deals. Moreover, ComScore reported 71 percent of its surveyed searchers expected to see a major brand when they perform a search – emphasizing the importance of branded searches.

CPGs, however, lack sufficient coverage of key terms. For example, Procter & Gamble’s Oil of Olay did not appear in the top paid or organic listings for the search term “anti-aging,” despite its position as the biggest media spender in this segment. Lacking presence provides an opportunity for a competitor to gain a marketing advantage. Despite not being the category leader Neutrogena was number one in Paid Search in several instances.

This study underscores the simple truth that CPG companies can no longer ignore search as an opportunity to reach their audience. CPG Brands must strategically position themselves in the search landscape in order to take advantage of consumer demand. And tailoring landing pages and search copy to consumer product knowledge needs can provide a major marketing edge. The early adopters have an opportunity to fill a void and gain significant advantage over the competition. By embracing search, CPG marketers can deliver what their audience wants, and possibly increase offline sales in the process.

By Emily Orrell

As part of Google’s second PageRank update this month, many websites are reporting drastically lower PageRank. The speculation, of course, was that declining numbers are a result of Google's continuing public relations campaign against paid linking. And the rumors turned out to be true.

Google engineer Matt Cutts confirmed in an email to Search Engine Journal that the update was indeed a response to the influence of paid linking and ad linking on PageRank. Cutts explains:

“The partial update to visible PageRank that went out a few days ago was primarily regarding PageRank selling and the forward links of sites. So paid links that pass PageRank would affect our opinion of a site.

Going forward, I expect that Google will be looking at additional sites that appear to be buying or selling PageRank.”

The PageRank update has sent shockwaves through the search community. For once, sites big and small are both taking a hit. A few of the PR 7 casualties include the Washington Post (PR 5), Forbes (PR 4), and the Chicago Sun-Times (PR 5).

The PageRank fallout has left many wondering what sort of effect the update will actually have on link selling. Bloggers were quick to point out all the obvious link sellers that were overlooked in the update, and many have grumbled over the lack of differentiation between fully disclosed sponsored links and more surreptitious paid links.

In light of all the changes, the old debate arises: is PageRank still relevant? Suffering from inconsistent updates and now decreasing the authority of major online players (Search Engine Roundtable was dropped to PR 4), PageRank may lose face in a real world evaluation. Certainly a lower PageRank will not affect brand awareness of Forbes.

For most search marketers, link popularity and relevancy remain the main focus. With Google holding the keys to the proverbial search engine castle, however, only time will tell how the PageRank update will impact the future.

By Ron Sansone

Oh Those Spooky Search Engines

Now that Facebook has joined up with Microsoft, Google’s is readying a rival product called Maka-Maka…at least it doesn’t have the word Google in it.

Rob Aronson (VP, SEO Product Development) talks about Shopping Engines in his latest article.