I’m sure you’ve heard about Yahoo acquiring Associated Content. I’m having a kick-myself moment because I was on the verge of setting up a similar service way back in the olden days when I owned one of the most popular literature sites in the world. I figured instead of printing calls for submissions, which is what we were doing at the time, we’d just match writers with paid work.

Some of my work is on Associated Content, so I’m kicking myself only medium hard. But since I can’t articulate the significance of this move without cursing, here’s a video from Yahoo with Luke Beatty, Co-Founder and President of Associated Content.

Bing.

Where do I even start?

I mean, as we know, though I used to love Google, I’m not exactly enamored of them now. My feelings about Google are mostly – they’ll do until something better comes along.

And I actually hope that they will be that something better. I’ve seen a bit of hope for that.

But we’ll talk about that later.

I don’t hate Microsoft, just as a preface. (With the exception of Microsoft Windows Explorer, which I hate with a passion.)

There are some Microsoft products I simply adore, if for no other reason than the fact that I owed my entire IT career at the International Monetary Fund, and later, the MGM Mirage to them. Outlook was my first email love, and I’d pay a fortune to have it run natively on a Mac. (MS Entourage me no likey.)

So, Microsoft and I are at minimum, cordial, and some days downright sweethearts.

But I’m not a fan of Bing. No, sir.

I especially didn’t dig them acting like they were hot shit, and so much better than Google when they’re advertising on Google for traffic.

WTF? Have you NO pride?

And I really find the offline marketing plan is moronic, and feel like it assumes that I’m a moron. I despise those commercials with the whole search overload nonsense.

Then again, I’ve always thought any advertising program that puts the emphasis on how bad the other guy is, tragically stupid. Why should I go with you because the other guy is bad? How do I know you’re even 1% better if you barely talk about yourself? How about selling me what’s great about your car instead of what’s bad about the other guy?

Smear campaigns often backfire simply because you are putting your competitor in the mind of your prospect. Classic 1.0 mistake. Bing might as well just mimeograph me a memo that they’re completely obsolete. And no, the integrated Twitter search or the special Bing and Twitter site did not make up for it.

Hello??? The name of your search engine is “Bing”.

As in the happy noise my microwave makes when my food is done.

Why not wrap a campaign around something pleasant? Maybe say something less daft than that you’re a “decision engine”?

So to recap, when it comes to Bing:

I would not could not in a boat, I would not could not with a goat. I don’t like Bing or its plans, I do not like them, Sam my man.

(Apologies Dr. Suess, please don’t spin in your resting place.)

So you can imagine your shock when you find out that I am darn near giddy about their union with Yahoo.

Oh wait, I did that wrong. Because it says in the title…

Well, what would an article written by me be if you couldn’t laugh at my shenanigans at some point, amirite?

Anyway, to continue with my story, you read right. I am over the moon about the fact that Bing and Yahoo are joining forces There’s not much you can do to convince me that this isn’t fantastic news, even if they fail miserably.

These are my reasons.

1. Neither Yahoo or Bing were going to be any real competition to Google on their own. Not that I want Google to fall, as they aren’t hurting my life. But…
2. Even with only a combined 30% market share, over time they may become a real threat to Google at least in the area of search, which I hope will..
3. Focus more of Google’s energy back on where their strength is, indexing and organizing the… world. Yes, the world, not just search. The browser is okay, the idea of a Google OS is neat but Google’s really starting to feel like it’s spreading itself too thin to me. Competition with Microsoft from Anyone would be good, but only if they remain the best at search.
4. Even though I like Yahoo’s current results better, it says something to me that although I’ve done Nothing – not even the bare minimum – in promoting to Bing whatsoever, I’m already ranked well there are receiving more traffic from them than Yahoo. Which means, since I do the same things for my site that I teach, all my Evergreen folk should be getting the same results.
5. The Microsoft-Facebook alliance. I’m still in deep thought about how this is going to factor into the Bing deal, but no matter which way you imagine it, people who have leveraged Twitter and Facebook intelligently may have an upper hand with Bing, and perhaps with Google too, because…
6. Even though Bing’s execution of Twitter integration was weak at best, the fact that they did it at all speaks volumes. And so many areas are moving closer to real time search, that Bing’s move may force Google’s hand, and we could live in a world where….
7. There could be a head to head battle between Google and its social media allies against Bing and its social media allies. And if you’ve been brushing up on your social media involvement like I’ve been telling you to for the past two years? Will favor you as an aged entity, first mover, or simply already being in position to benefit.

I have a few more reasons, but on pain of death I can only reveal those to my Traffic Reality members this coming weekend. Sorry. )

Seriously guys.

Can’t you keep the web the way it was when I left it for TWO weeks? Who is sleeping on the job? All I ever asked you guys for was to make sure nothing major happens when I’m gone.

But it never fails. The instant I go on vacation, eleventeen different things change (or threaten to change, or start to change) about the web and I come back to an Inbox full of questions.

Says my protégée. I don’t do email anymore.

Anyways, so here’s the short list of the news I’m going to add my own analysis today.

• Yahoo adopts Bing for search, and the mixed reaction to the ten year deal and how it will affect search engine optimization.

  Wasn’t there a major search engine that started out like this… starts with a G… hm… maybe I’ll remember later.

  Folks are saying they are giving up on search… but isn’t that what was said about their alliance with… what was it? Oh yeah I remember GOOGLE.

• Facebook buys FriendFeed and expands their search into the News Feed. Has Facebook set their sights on search? Or wasn’t that the plan all along? And aren’t they really cozy with Microsoft? That just made Bing? Who just hooked up with Yahoo?
• Twitter has a denial of service attack and Network Solutions’ merchant account service gets hacked.

  We’re going to delve more into that, how I believe we all missed the point of the news, and for the second, the horribly uneven coverage in the press tomorrow.

  With the disclosure that I’m on Networks Solution’s Social Web Advisory Board, which makes me kind of an even bigger deal than you thought I was, but, as you’ll read, does not influence what I write about. Unless of course they can afford to pay me $2 million.

  Yes, I can be bought. But I’m not cheap, and I will tell EVERYONE when it happens…. lol…

• Google debuts Google-On-Crack, better known as the Caffeine public beta. They’re asking for your input. I’m asking you to pay attention.
• Tr.im is Gone. Blames Twitter. Tr.im is Back. Still Blames Twitter. … Wait. WTF is Tr.im?

Okay, you got me. I have no intention of covering that in my upcoming news analysis. I just don’t get the business model for a URL shortening service that ….

Okay I don’t get the business model for ANY url shortening service. There are things along the lines of bit.ly that I would pay for. Because how is tr.im different from is.gd?

That rant is for another day maybe. It took me three hours to do this much. My back is just killing me today.

Back on the topic though. In the upcoming articles, I solemnly swear that I’m not going to just tell you what everyone else said. I just did that – you’ve got a mouse, click over and read the reports.

But if you want to know how some of these events might change your life or at least your business or why you shouldn’t care, or just want to hear me speculate, then stay tuned. As usual, I’m going to tell you how the news will affect you, the business owner building a web presence , between tonight and tomorrow.

News and Clip ==> Yahoo’s getting a new home page, and someone has a screen capture.

The biggest change is the customizable left nav bar featuring Yahoo properties that now allows people to add or edit links to outside sites through an “application gallery” that opens up via tabs at the top and bottom of the section.

Link ==> Yahoo Readies a New Home Page – PC World

Screenshot of Yahoo’s Alleged New Homepage at Mediapost.

Important? ==> This could be the first of many changes designed to make Yahoo more competitive with Google, who is dwarfing the former King of Search at the moment. A decade ago, we didn’t know what a Google was, remember, and Yahoo has somehow survived all its competitors, and though it should be all but crushed by Google, is still around. Don’t bank on a TKO yet. As long as Yahoo continues to fight for search dominance, it’s not over.

And until then, whatever traffic Yahoo can bring you is good for your business. So don’t abandon a Yahoo search strategy just yet.

We haven’t had one in a while. For those of you joining us in the years since we practiced this tradition, I used to have a column originally called “Google Tuesdays” and later renamed “Search Engine Tuesdays”. It so named because it was on Tuesdays of each week that I:

• where I  gave you a business summary of news I found that week, as well as a few sentences about its relevance to business owners,
• showed you which resources, tools and sites to trust, and,
• gave you one or more of my search tips to help you get more results

I stopped doing it for a while for 3 reasons 1- my failing health 2- lack of time and 3- I didn’t want to fill the echo chamber with noise.

I’m told it’s a missed feature so we’re going to bring it back for this week we’re doing on search. Your responses via Retweets, page views, comments and trackback will determine whether or not it stays.

For those of you following us on Twitter, there’s simply too many articles for all of them to go in my main feed. So after this article, I’m pausing our RSS updates for the day.

If you still want to see them on Twitter, you can follow my Twitter link feed @tinustuff.

This eXtreme edition is a fully skinned version which will make it look exactly the same as the screen shot no matter what OS you are using, Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT/2000, Windows XP, MAC OSx, or Linux. It will change most elements in Firefox.

To access Theme Option, goto : Tools –> Add-ons –> Themes –> [Right click on "Noia 2.0" Theme] –> About Noia 2.0

MorganLighter

So you’ve added your site to Yahoo Directory, maybe paid the fee for a fast response. But now you have a question about your listing. Think you have to wait to get an answer via email? Think again!

Now, before I tell you what cool thing the Yahoo Directory team is doing on Twitter to help you, please remember the following. I will highlight it for emphasis, as it comes directly from the person behind this Yahoo identity on Twitter:

the quickest, most effective way to get a site reviewed for listing in the Directory is here – https://ecom.yahoo.com/dir/submit/intro/

Please don’t tweet them requests for inclusion. Because if I find out, I will personally shame you in public. And no, you won’t get a link out of it. Nothing but embarrassment and shame.

Okay, with that out of the way, follow Yahoo Directory on Twitter for updates, @ them for help. Oh, and if you don’t know how to use Twitter effectively, reply and I will make you guys a list of free resources for learning.

Who else have you encountered on Twitter doing awesome customer service?

So last week?

Started with a flood in the basement.

With my computer down there. Then the phone was down. Then a power outage. Brief but ill timed. Gees Louise.

I was totally offline for a minute, then a frayed power cord really knocked me out. I threw up my hands, then went ahead and took my weekend from the evening of the 30th until the morning of the 2nd.

Throw in Halloween, and the California fire aftermath (Some friends were evacuated but no one was hurt, thank God) and it made for a hectic week.

And what do I come back to?

Not only do I have to play catch up all weekend.

But there are now new Google Phone rumors. Supposedly they’ll say something today. If past records are any indication, it will be when everyone is looking at something else, say around 9 pm Eastern.

What I really want to know is, what will Google Phone mean to me?

And, isn’t it funny how much Google deals with press the way Michael Jordan did?

But I ain’t one to gossip. So you ain’t heard that from me.

I also heard on Google’s blog that they’ve teamed up with the rest of the social world except Facebook (and Yahoo but not really), to start Open Social.

And one of the first apps out the door was hacked within 45 minutes. Everyone‘s talking about Open Social.

The big question? Of course, it centers around Facebook. Will they or won’t they? Meanwhile, did anyone ask me if I wanted my social to be open? Of course not.

From what I hear, open might not be the word for it anyway.

But I ain’t one to gossip. So you ain’t heard that from me.

And then there’s the whole announcement of this Yahoo HeadSta KickStart thing.

Dammit, Yahoo. You’re where I keep my alter-ego, entertainment blogger/poet/writer personality. All this… functionality is going to make me have to come out of the “I don’t use my real name on those other blogs” closet. Which I will hate, because I don’t want all those cuss words to come up under a search for my name.

Oh wait, I don’t have to because LinkedIn already exists. And if I wanted to socialize with those people, or share news in an automated fashion, rather than connect on a strictly professional level?

Facebook already exists.

It’s like this. I’m sitting in the living room to watch the game. I’ve got my cozy recliner chair. All my beverages in the cooler next to me. Dinner tray loaded with snacks/goodies. Remote in my hand.

Someone brings a new chair into the room. Maybe a better chair. Am I going to jump up, turn off the game and move to a new chair?

Are you kidding me? I’m already in the chair I like, the chair I know, the chair I sit in every week. My stuff is already set up the way I like it. If I like this seat? Unless your chair can walk on water, I’m not getting up.

If you want me to leave Facebook, take a note from the Godfather: make me an offer I can’t refuse.

I may rant more on this topic later. But for now, let’s just say that I heard that these moves by Google and Yahoo are being seen by some of even the least savvy consumers as that punk move known as, if you can’t beat ‘em , copy ‘em.

* cough* “‘em” = Microsoft/Facebook * cough*

But I ain’t one to gossip. So you ain’t heard that from me.

Their employees are hitting each other in the faces with balls. Which I guess is better office conduct than the other way around, but it’s still a scandal.

I’m not kidding. It was leaked on one of their blogs. Click the image below to learn more.

Wanna know how your website ranks?

This tool will check if your website is in the top 100 results of the four major search engines, namely, Google, Yahoo, MSN and Altavista.

Give it a lash.

MorganLighter

Here’s a nifty little tool that’ll let you know how many pages of your website have been indexed by the search engines thus far. A tool that will give you an indication of your traffic patterns. Neat or what?

This tool supports all major search engines – including – Google, Yahoo, MSN, Alltheweb, AltaVista and Hotbot.

“See me, feel me, touch me, heal me”. The Who, Tommy, 1969.

MorganLighter