No, I don't mean Blogger makes bloggin' fun. It's still giving everyone headaches, me included. It's you, the incredibly tolerant and talented Traffick readership, who still make it worthwhile. (Although you still don't write enough comments. You know, maybe you're aiming too high. We'll accept dumb comments around here!)
So to prevent myself from posting too much more this month, I thought I'd cap off the year by trying to review a year in search engine industry news (and related stuff), by picking one and only one Traffick post from each month that will hopefully be reminiscent of the highlight or "a" highlight of the month. In months where it's just too hard to pick one, I'm allowed up to two honorable mentions.
January: Traffick looks at an early version of Google Video, and offers its thumbs-down and "what the?" Later that year, Google waves white flag and buys YouTube for 10 figures.
Hon. mention: Chris Sherman quips about an analyst's projections for GOOG stalk, I mean stock.
Feb.: In the true spirit of forgiveness, Google welcomes back blackhats from BMW after three days in the penalty box. I'm guessing a maker of cheap, ugly cars might've faced a longer hiatus. But then what would Google know about cheap, ugly cars?
Mar.: Holy light news month. But still managed, using a minimum of words, to stick it to the jokers at Kinderstart, for suing Google.
Hon. mention: Signs of Web 2.0 jumping the shark: irritating 1999-like jargon.
Apr.: Not too much going on, other than Yahoo dragging its heels on getting rid of poor publisher partners under the YSM platform, and (yaaawn) Google posting blowout earnings.
May.: Although it might not have come through fully in my lengthy posts, I had the time of my life at the mesh conference. And I didn't even attend any parties! Amazing job by Stuart MacDonald, Matthew Ingram, and Mark Evans, organizing this groundbreaking conference. Evans has since left the National Post to take a position as VP Operations at b5 Media. Based on the month-long hangover from Search Engine Strategies Toronto (it was April 25-26) and our afterparty at The Boiler House, this will also be known as the month I officially went crazy, so it's lucky Gnarls Barkley was around all summer to commiserate.
Jun.: Some gentle props for MSN adCenter Labs.
Jul.: Google announces a hiring spree in Michigan. I believe this is newsworthy.
Dishonorable mention: Yahoo announces a delay in the Panama rollout schedule. Later, when the launch happens, we are surprised to find that they barely missed their timetable, so it's a shame they had to take so much flak from Wall Street about it.
Aug.: We return from a much-needed summer vacation to discover Danny's leaving Search Engine Strategies and Search Engine Watch!!!
Cheeky diversion: My Googlebomb of woefully out-of-touch Globe and Mail business reporter Patricia Best succeeds. In it own self-indulgent, unassuming, inconsequential way.
Sep.: Yahoo starts sharing forthcomingg Panama features with select folks, and at month end alludes to ad testing and a quality index in its advertiser newsletter. Same month: lots of site owners grappling with pages getting into Google's "Supplemental" index. Chatter about "BigDaddy" is ongoing.
Oct.: A gaggle of influential bloggers get a full run-through of Panama at Yahoo Search Marketing's Burbank headquarters. We hold a conference call to catch up on old times in the purple haze, and to reflect on how the new features will affect advertisers.
Nov.: Everything happened this month - the busiest month for posts and news this year. Thanks to Nick Fox for clarifying many details about Google's evolving process for assessing ads quality. Google Slap? Not something most advertisers need to worry about. Users are happier.
It's a dry heat: My first Pubcon won't be my last. What a blast! Unfortunately, if you know how to search the web, you'll notice that what happens in Vegas doesn't stay there. Goodman, Fishkin, and RustyBrick on a revolving bed? It's just in bad taste. Gord Hotchkiss jokes about people always misspelling Bellagio: priceless. Danny's keynote: timeless. Great fresh sessions on topics like viral marketing: guileless (OK, not really - often shameless). Rooftop banter with complete strangers: witless. And everything in between. This is what marketing conferences are all about: meeting new people and making new connections.
Dec.: Danny Sullivan, along with Chris Sherman and two others, forms a new company, Third Door Media, announcing a first Search Engine Expo conference for Seattle in June 2007.
The Notorious Young JC: Calacanis gets invited to keynote-chat with Danny at SES Chicago, and comes out with "SES is bullshit," and calls Valleywag "slime." He also comes up with some admirable insights about protecting the quality of online content. Whispers in the background cast aspersions on the quality of most of the content he oversaw at Weblogs, Inc.
Happy holidays!
Posted by Andrew Goodman
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