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For those of you familiar with the many “pools” Google dips their toes into - you may have heard of GOOG-411.  Those of you who dont know, might like to try it out.  Bascially it’s a free telephone information service that will give you a phone number, an address or even send a map to a location to your cell phone.  I’ve used it once or twice and it’s pretty handy.

The most interesting aspect of Goog-411 is what Google is actually USING it to accomplish.  I hadn’t thought about there being an alterior motive to a platform that didnt seem to have any money making potential for Google, until now.

I read today over at Garret Roger’s blog “Googling Google” what the real “motive” is behind Goog-411 - they’re using to to train a voice to text software.  Now - in and of itself that’s not earth shattering news.  But if you know anything about online VIDEO - then you’ll know the search engines arent able to index the CONTENT within a video - and they dont even attempt to index video on an individual’s website.  Right now the only way to get your video included in Google’s index is to have it submitted to a search engine that FEEDS video to the big “G.”  So - with spoken word to text technology - any video can be turned into a text transcript and therefore indexed.  This would be a huge breakthrough for Google and they are probably a lot closer to having to work than anyone else.

 I went over to Bill Slawski’s SEO By The Sea blog to see if I could find any Google Patent Filing information on this technology.  For those of you unfamiliar with this blog but interested in how Google develops their technology - you must give it a read.  Bill has a great way of breaking down patent filings and giving us practical and real-life answers to questions we have about what the search engines are up to.  I didn’t seem to get very far looking for video indexing patent information.  That doesn’t mean it’s not there but I couldnt find it in 5 minutes or less - which means I’ll keep looking and let you know what I find.  I imagine if there ISN’T a patent filing already, we will see one very soon.

Rogers quotes an interview with Google’s VP of Search Products and User Experience, Marissa Mayer, over at InfoWorld wherein she reveals the real “meat” of what Google hopes to accomplish with GOOG-411:

“Whether or not free-411 is a profitable business unto itself is yet to be seen. I myself am somewhat skeptical. The reason we really did it is because we need to build a great speech-to-text model … that we can use for all kinds of different things, including video search.”

She then goes on to elaborate on the process of building a robust video search engine:

“The speech recognition experts that we have say: If you want us to build a really robust speech model, we need a lot of phonemes, which is a syllable as spoken by a particular voice with a particular intonation. So we need a lot of people talking, saying things so that we can ultimately train off of that. … So 1-800-GOOG-411 is about that: Getting a bunch of different speech samples so that when you call up or we’re trying to get the voice out of video, we can do it with high accuracy.”

So what does this mean NOW?  Well for you and I it means that SOMEDAY Google (and eventually the other search engines) will be able to index the spoken word in our videos.  Today the best way to get a video indexed is to have it added to one of the Video search engines - YouTube, Yahoo! Video, MetaCrawler and the like.  As far as ranking your site for what is IN the video - embed the video on your site and add a FULL TEXT transcript wrapped around it.  Use good metadata in your video is key to having it ranked in the video engines.  Learn more about how to build an optimized video in our whitepaper on Optimization for Images and Video

Image citation
why? from e-magic’s photostream.

Like Mary indicated previously, Content was King at Pubcon this year. That applies when you’re building your brand online. The more pages you can rank in top positions for your Brand Name, the harder it will be for negative comments to infiltrate and cast doubt.

Negative publicity was embraced as an opportunity - more than a crisis. How do you handle your negative publicity? Do you take the opportunity to show your customer service by interacting with that disgruntled customer/guest? You look better to a prospective booker if you’ve handled any problems that have arisen professionally and fairly - turn that negative press into an opportunity to convert future shoppers.

Matt Tuens of Content Kings Media Group had a great point - which basically boiled down to “Don’t Debate the facts - CARE about your customers.” He also indicated that building content behind your brand will:

• Extend Exposure
• Deliver Customers
• Deliver the Message.

Communicate your message to develop real estate in the SERPS and maximize impact.

Lauren Vaccarello from Forex Capital Markets spoke about Defending yourself against negative press. I found some really great takeaways from this presentation:

• Respond to Negative Publicity IMMEDIATELY
• Build a community not just a website
• Combat negative press with a single authoritative voice (CEO, VP, General Manager)
• Dont get sucked into a debate
• Empowering your loyalists and partners to help you out (affiliates, partners, area chambers, etc.)

Tony Wright from Wright IMC used the “Brand Management is War” angle to great effect. Tony was in charge of PR for AmericanAirlines during 9/11 - the one scenario they didnt have in their playbook was a terrorist attack - but being prepared for many other scenarios did help them get the ball rolling afterwards.

Know your Battlefields

• Monitor sites where negative comments might come up such as Tripadvisor, your own blog, area chamber sites, etc.

Avoid War at all Costs

• Practice good Customer Service
• Be conscious of the relationships you have with partners or ex-employees
• Admit you’re wrong

Train Soldiers

• Have a Reputation Management plan in place to combat any negative publicity IMMEDIATELY
• Tell all of your employees what is going on so they’re not blindsided about questions regarding the issue
• Practice - prepare yourself and your staff for the fact that something will happen eventually.

Know your Friends & Enemies

• Monitor ex-employees and ex-partners
• Watch your customers and be ready to respond
• Avoid confrontation at all costs - have a conversation - not an argument.

So - how does all of this apply to the travel industry? Many of our clients are concerned about review sites like Tripadvisor.com and the implications a negative review can have. Taking action against negative reviews is key to combating the publicity. OWNING your brand in the online space (i.e. having great search engine results rankings and owning all of page 1 for your brand name) is key to keeping unfavorables away from a potential guests eyes. YOu’re not always going to be able to quash the negative, so have a plan in place to combat and alleviate concern should a negative review pop up. One word comes to mind when I consider the steps involved- BLOG! If you dont alreayd have a blog on your website, consider adding one to make sure you’re ready to respond and add content to your site at a moment’s notice.

Be prepared is the Boy Scout’s motto - and it should be yours too. Have a plan of action should someone post a negative review or comment somewhere - be ready to have an authoritative voice respond immediately and don’t dissolve your discussion into an argument or mudslinging - is it really worth it? Making the customer happy immediately will have returns far into the future.

Christmas is coming and so are the….rankings! TopSeos has ranked Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc. as one of the top 30 optimization companies in the world, yet again. December marks the fourth consecutive month in which Blizzard Internet has made itself known through this prestigious list.
This month, 2000 companies were evaluated, and only 80 were chosen. Each company was evaluated on specific key factors such as the ones listed below. Read how Blizzard measured up:

What are the company’s competitive advantages?

• Blizzard Internet specializes within the hospitality industry and has ten years of experience in proving online marketing solutions that are innovative and successful.
• Blizzard’s industry expert’s travel to approximately 25 hospitality related conferences and tradeshows each year as featured speakers.

What is the average response time-to-resolution?

• Within one business day.

What sets the company apart from its competitors?

• We have a team dedicated to research and development to stay on top of what’s going on, and to keep our client’s sites fresh and ahead of their competitors
• We are focused on internet marketing within the hospitality niche
• We value our customers and strive to give excellent service. We enjoy our jobs and it shows
• Every service is tested and proven before implemented

What level of customer service does the company provide?

• We deliver a high quality service which produces results
• We know that our customers’ success ensure our success
• We recognize that quality customer service pleases customers
• We seek customers who share our vision and wish to work in a partnership

With more than a decade of vigorous testing and research, Blizzard has built a reputable organization for developing websites and marketing plans which produce results. We thank our valued clients who keep us going strong!

Day one is winding to an end here in Las Vegas - well - an end for the Marketing World anyway.  Co-editor Mary Bowling and myself have tickets to see Mystere at Treasure Island tonight - courtesy of WebmasterWorld working out a deal to get free tickets to bloggers that promise to review the shows.  We’re REALLY excited.

Takeaways from today?  Social Media is the next Internet Marketing Darling - and with good reason.  The best result you can wish for from a great viral campaign is a ton of links.  Yes, links - not bookings.  Historically social media campaigns drive traffic, but very low conversion rates…so why bother?  Let me tell you why you should bother!  Links, links and more links.  A great article that’s targeted to a specific audience that makes the homepage of Digg can garner 100’s of links.  THose links drive search engine rankings - great Google rankings drive traffic - EUREKA!

More on that later!  Have a great week and we hope to blog more!

Topseos.com, a trusted and well respected resource for evaluating Internet marketing vendors, has announced the inclusion of Blizzard Internet in the November 2007 list of Top 30 Best SEO Firms at number 20. Since 2002, topseos.com has evaluated the leading Internet marketing services giving companies a trusted resource for locating the right online marketing vendors. Published each month, the top 30 list of the best SEO firms will feature Blizzard Internet and is expected to reach more than 500,000 people.

“Blizzard Internet has demonstrated that it is a leader in its field, showing superior service levels and performance for their clients,” commented Bill Peden, of topseos.com. “Blizzard Internet is a standout amongst the many Internet marketing vendors in the $5 billion plus search marketing industry.”

Topseos.com evaluates candidates based on a rigorous selection process. Each Internet marketing firm, consultant, or service is evaluated in terms of its:

• Competitive advantage
• Superior services and pricing
• Customer and technical support
• Response to client problems
• Innovations that set it apart from the competition
• Overall efficiency
• Overall performance

Using CommunityWalk.com to take advantage of search engine friendly and interactive mapping techniques.

The experts at Blizzard Internet Marketing are pleased to announce their latest whitepaper, available free for download from the Blizzard website.

Have you ever spent time on the phone with a customer giving directions to your front door only to have them show up and say they got lost along the way? Placing an interactive and feature-rich map within your website is a great way to offer turn by turn directions to your front desk, without having to explain the same steps over and over again.

But wait, maps aren’t just for directions. You can create a conversation with your website visitors by allowing them to comment on your map points, showing them where the best restaurant is or the best fishing charter. Create multiple maps on your site to show dining, beaches, fishing, biking, or even a mixture of all three.

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Don’t miss the online interview of Blizzard’s Carrie Hill at Search Marketing Gurus today. Along with Danielle Winfield of 10e20, she’s featured in the Women of Internet Marketing series that appears every Wednesday on their website. Learn what makes Carrie tick, tick, tick …