Being an SEO means being self-conscious about your own actions and the actions of others on the Internet. At least it does for me, possibly because it’s semi-universal, or possibly because I am a freak with [...]]]> …or, “Just use the internet to do illegal downloads and porn like the rest of us,” says my pal Jawa.

Being an SEO means being self-conscious about your own actions and the actions of others on the Internet. At least it does for me, possibly because it’s semi-universal, or possibly because I am a freak with a degree in literature and in navel-gazing fiction writing.

A friend posts to their personal blog about the ‘worst online shopping experience ever’ and links the offending retailer? I comment and explain how to no-follow — because even if you go for negative anchor text, there’s still some link equity to it for the site targeted.

I like a book, or a restaurant, or buy a shiny new bike part? Well, I can post about it and no-follow, or post about it and not link it because I like it, but not in THAT way, kind of like being in junior high and liking my square dance partner but not like boyfriend-like, just in that ok-as-a-square-dance-partner and this-phys-ed-unit-is-stupid way.

My mom reads an online review? I do a text analysis to determine if it’s real or totally bogus, written by the owner, and then I tell her about inherent bias in user-supplied reviews.

A friend posts a picture of their cat? I suggest taking it to a LOLCat generator, or using the video feature on their camera phone to help further pollute the electrons of the universe with more grainy video/image of pets.

My bike club has web site hosting problems? I look at the domain headers and sigh a lot.

Life would sure be simpler if I did something sane for a living, like garbage collection.

There’s a Salon blog post today on the reliability of online reviews. Here’s a choice bit:

Online ratings are beset by one main flaw, something pollsters call “response bias.” Because people are more likely to rate products that have moved them in some way — either positively [...]]]> This one’s for the Funk King of Minneapolis, Paul Jahn.

There’s a Salon blog post today on the reliability of online reviews. Here’s a choice bit:

Online ratings are beset by one main flaw, something pollsters call “response bias.” Because people are more likely to rate products that have moved them in some way — either positively or negatively — ratings for most items brim with extreme opinions. On Yelp everyone is above average; company CEO Jeremy Stoppelman told me that 85 percent of local businesses on the site get a three-star or better average rating.

The article is pretty good, so I won’t rehash it here. One thing that notably isn’t mentioned is ‘business owners posting wretchedly fake reviews in some mad faux-SEO urge.’ I’ve seen some awful, awful fake reviews — no real human writes like these reviews, or would say these things about a business such as that reviewed.

The visual range depictions discussed in this article won’t do much about those written reviews, although they’ll show the bias in the starred reviews a little more strongly. On the other hand, Paul and I have discussed that if a reasonable person found these fake reviews, they’d make a sane reader less likely to go to a business. Even though there’s massive response bias in even real reviews, at least they’re real.

I think highly focused ads are the answer. The benefits of local search are clear: it allows you to find customers in your area [...]]]> Attached to an image touting the standard array of designer pharmeceuticals, I give you today’s assortment of weird text snippets, suitable for reading at a poetry slam or even your next SEO pitch:

I think highly focused ads are the answer.
The benefits of local search are clear: it allows you to find customers in your area who are willing to purchase from your company. Yesterday, Google released a new service with the name Google Analytics. ’s iTunes music service. com Do you want to be mentioned in this newsletter?
Just tell us why you switched from another SEO tool to IBP and how IBP helped you to improve your web site. Should you use Google Analytics or should you stay away from it? The more Google knows about you, the better they can get your money.
What should you do now?
Get high quality incoming links with the right link texts.
When Google entered the market, incoming links seemed to be the trick of the trade.

The first isn’t truly a privacy concern, but it crosses [...]]]> The latest round of privacy (and other) concerns of various types are now hitting Google Earth:

1. Salon discusses how the alleged plot against JFK airport was being plotted with the images on Google Earth.
2. CNN discusses the ick factor of finding nosepickers in action on Google Earth imagery.

The first isn’t truly a privacy concern, but it crosses over into the concepts of how reliable GPS is set up to be, and government oversight (or wish to borrow) the data streams collected by a search engine.

The second does get into privacy. CNN itself covers it. If a picture is at the wrong time, we can identify people getting medical treatment, etc. Now, sure, they’re walking into a public door. But there’s still a sense of that being a moment, and not captured in an image to be searchable for a long time. There’s a lot to be said for people’s sense of moment vs. memory — I did entire papers on such subjects as an undergrad lit major, and the reason it’s so thematic in literature is because it’s a truism of the human condition.

It’s interesting to see how more broad-market publications are starting to look at these issues. It makes me wonder when they’ll hit more of personalized search.

Consider:

True fact: I have purchased bathroom advertising in my past, including, ahem, [...]]]> My pal Paul Jahn, Local Search Geek Extraordinaire — and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune — have revealed that talking urinal cakes were placed locally to discourage drunk-driving on a very drunk weekend in the Cities (St. Pat’s and the WCHA Frozen Five will do that).

True fact: I have purchased bathroom advertising in my past, including, ahem, light-up, audio urinal cakes.

This was not a proud moment in my life.

On the plus side, it did give me something entertaining to discuss on blind dates in that period of time. One of the people I told about this stuck around in spite of my part in such shenanigans being revealed over a cheeseburger. He has NOT insisted on a pre-nup that says ‘no talking urinal cakes ever,’ but I bet it shows up in the vows.