Yahoo Gets Fishkin In Water, Gmail Theater Links Info, Bury Brigade of Digg

3 Comments

Yahoo Search managed to get SEO professional Rand Fishkin in hot water with his fiancee. Rand’s lady searched Yahoo for “Vanessa Fox” and according to Rand she was not very pleased when an alternate search suggestion for “Vanessa Fox Fishkin” popped up on the page. Rand said his fiancée exact words upon showing him the search were “do you love her?” Yahoo’s Search team offered an olive branch on their blog as an apology. We have to offer Rand one as well. The reason why “Vanessa Fox Fishkin” comes up on Yahoo Search stems from a video Rand and Vanessa did for WebProNews during the SES Chicago conference last December. Sorry, Rand.

Google has been testing video AdSense ads that stream directly from YouTube. The Gmail Theater videos showing up on AdSense network sites are the first samples of that test. Google may be giving people a little too much information about this ad campaign, and here’s why. Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspiration said the Links feature in YouTube shows which websites link to a video, and how many clicks come from that site. It’s easy to see the number of clicks that come through the AdSense program. Google may choose to turn off the Links feature for future campaigns.

Fears of a bury brigade running rampant on Digg have been exaggerated. Digg founder Kevin Rose blogged about the controversy that started when Pronet Advertising claimed to have proof that a number of Digg users acted together to bury stories critical of Digg. That argument lost some strength when David LeMieux acknowledged the data he used, which was cited on Pronet, was inaccurate. Rose followed that up by saying Digg has spent two and a half years making sure that diverse groups of people vote up or bury stories. That would make claims about a ‘bury brigade’ unfounded.

(No Ratings Yet)