Marketing Pilgrim

I’ve given iProspect their fair share of digs over the years – something Rob reminds me of everytime we catch-up.

So, today, for once, and maybe the only time, I’ll be very nice….[deep breath]…congratulations guys on your 10th anniversary!

Ever since Ask Jeeves announced they were tweaking the image search results offered by their partner Picsearch, we have suspected they were working on their own technology.

Today, that becomes a reality with Ask’s launch of their own proprietary image search technology.

With the new image technology, Ask Jeeves is also expanding Image Smart Answers, which appear at the top of the search results page for queries such as “pictures of Mount St. Helens� from the main Web channel. All picture results can be saved to users’ MyJeeves by clicking the ‘save’ link under each image. MyJeeves is a personal search service where links to web pages, images and selected Smart Answers can be stored, organized, annotated, searched and shared.

It’s probably not too late to register for Frost & Sullivan’s 2nd Annual Internet Marketing Strategies 2006, this Thursday and Friday in Phoenix. The event has a good line-up of sessions and I’ll be offering my 2 cents on the “Organic & Paid Search Strategies: Which to Use and When” panel.

If you plan on attending the event and would like to get together for a chat, I’ll be offering one-on-one consultations and demo’s of SEMLogic. Drop me an email if you’d like to get together.

I had a chance to chat with PRWeek for their recent issue. In it, they look at the future of SEO and how personalization, tagging and Google Base might change the way search marketers think.

Looks like this news is posted just about everywhere, but just in case you missed it – Google retakes first place in the 2005 global poll of most influential brands.

ClickZ has details of a new study that suggest more marketers are shifting marketing dollars from mass branding to targeted online channels.

Winterberry Group found since 2003, above-the-line (ATL) spending has grown an average 5.5 percent per year, while below-the-line (BTL) spending, led by search, e-mail and online advertising, grew 7.8 percent annually. These growth rates are expected to continue through 2007, the study predicts. The annual growth forecast for the entire industry between 2003 and 2007 was 6.9 percent.

CNet has a round-up of stories discussing Google’s refusal to hand over search data to the government.’

I don’t think the data itself is anything to worry about – although the precedent that would be set, is something to be concerned over – still I bet Microsoft and Yahoo wish they hadn’t already complied.