SEO Hong Kong | HK Search Marketing and Optimization Blog

Contextual advertising is a form of advertising where ads are displayed on a website based on its content. These ads are served by automated systems which try to display them on relevant pages.

Google AdSense is one example, where ads are related to the words found within the content of a page. This type of advertisement is praised by publishers because having relevant ads placed next to a piece of content, the click-through rate is high. But this also attracted controversy, just like how people thought that the placement of ads related to messages in Gmail is a breach of privacy. The issue has been settled already but it’s not the only one related to contextual ads. When publishing news content, ads served by automated systems instead of humans can become subject of controversy. The recent death of Dennis Hopper on the news was an example.

We may always assume that top ranking results on search engine queries get more exposure. And that’s not just guess work; heat map studies show that search engine users are likely fixated towards top results that are located towards the top left section of search results. (Sometimes, its proximity can vary as maps, news, images, PPC ads and other properties may also occupy the same vicinity.)

The infamous AOL data leak has opened up ideas on how much advantage is a number one ranking is going to enjoy over #2 ranking , or a #2 ranking over a #3 placer, and so on. SEO Scoop posted a breakdown on how much percentage each rank position is getting; it seems that being on top spot brings almost half of all traffic.

Search has become one of the mainstream uses of the Web. Better search result accuracy and diverse choices through blended search are among the reasons why more people use search engines (15.4 billion search queries as of March 2010 in the U.S.) to find information.

This trend is coupled with the proliferation of WiFi network that offer even more convenience to mobile search engine users. But the problem with Wi Fi networks is that it opens up risks for security breach. Just look at what role WiFi played in the unplanned gathering of unnecessary information by Google’s street car while mapping many cities in the globe. And it’s not just Google that’s capable of snooping on our website traffic and stealing sensitive information. While we could assume that an unsuspecting search query at Google is not a concern, think again.

Another visible sign that Google is out to diversify its services was out today as the search engine giant announced that it will launch Google TV in autumn (or fall, whatever suits you).

Obviously, Google thinks television is one important aspect of entertainment that refuses to die, and therefore continues to be one source of opportunity. Google cites that 4 billion people watch television, and an average American spends five hours staring at the television set every day. The idea behind Google TV is that as entertaining as television shows are, viewers are still at the mercy of schedules that lifestyles are sometimes altered to suit a TV show time slot. Think of it as similar to “I need to go home now since Seinfeld is up in 20 minutes” or “we need to move our dinner after ‘America’s Got Talent’”.

Revamping a website is an exciting time. For a company’s online presence, it’s an opportunity to portray a new look and follow a new brand direction. But it is also a time to be reasonably nervous as bugs, misspelled words or malfunctioning forms can arise anytime. In SEO, there are also things we need to pay attention to. Some are done way before a website relaunch takes place; others need to be performed at the very moment the site goes live.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/studio5/

I guess a common question asked by webmasters and website owners is “I have a new website revamped, what must I do to ensure I don’t lose my search engine rankings?” If you are about to embark into a website revamp or about to sign off that redesign project, here’s a simple checklist for your guidance.