Paid Search to Grow Almost 50%

According to the New York Times today, Forrester Research expects search-based advertising spending in the United States to grow 47 percent to $2.8 billion next year from $1.9 billion in 2003, which is faster than any other form of online marketing. Two-line ads work wonders.

This is what I have maintained: SEO = advertising. It’s just more effective — and measurable. Doesn’t it make sense to be there when your prospects are actually looking for what you sell? Of course it does.

Many companies that sell B2B are starting to catch on to the fact that in almost every single major buying decision (software, hardware, products and virtually any service) medium to large-sized companies use the Internet (mostly Google) to research vendors. Even if they learn about your product or service from one of your sales people, they are going to research your competitors online. Even if it’s just a “quck search” t make sure there’s “nothing else out there.”

Coming up high on Google should be among the top priorities today for any B2B company.

Many Google watchers have commented on Google’s apology (see Saturday 12/20), but for the most part, Google doesn’t want to talk about Florida. At the recent search engine conference in Chicago, eyewitnesses noted that all Google wants to talk about publicly are AdWords and AdSense.

Who can blame them? It’s pretty well-settled in many SEO circles that the Florida update was a disaster and delivered less — not more — relevant search results.

And only the wildest conspiracy theorists really think Google would mess with their search-side algorithm just to force web site owners to buy more ads from the ad-side revenue team. Pretty much anyone raising this issue is kind of like Howard Dean floating the theory that George W had prior knowledge of 9/11. It just gives him something, albeit dumb, to talk about.

Now, though, comes a very interesting theory that I think was first raised in a jimworld forum. In a nutshell, the theory is simple:

1. Google does not own the patent on their core PageRank algorithm. Stanford University does.

2. Google wants to go public (IPO) and not have to pay a fortune to Stanford.

3. Google is trying to “design around” the patent so they can go public and put the maximum number of billions in the shareholders’ pockets.

See “In the Crosshairs” for the entire discussion.

Today, I left my computer for a few hours to get behind the wheel of some serious computing power — a Boeing 777. I got my pilot’s license over a year ago, but flying this $19 million simulator was the coolest thing ever. I got to take off and land a 777, and it’s hard to describe how realistic it is. I actually made a pretty smooth landing in Hawaii. Here’s me in the co-pilot seat:

“How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, his precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.”
                                                                                                  — Benjamin Franklin

The biggest news of late that cracked me up was a de facto spokersperson for Google actually apologizing for google crushing so many small business owners before the holidays. Apparently, Craig Nevill-Manning, Google’s Senior Research Scientist, said, “I apologize for the roller coaster. We’re aware that changes in the algorithm affect people’s livelihoods. We don’t make changes lightly.