Okay, I was mistaken in my last post. Both of these are being announced from the CES Show in Las Vegas. Looks like good stuff is in the mix. I’ll have a commentary on these, hopefully, later today!

Intel and Google Announce Plans to Bring Video Search Technology to the Living Room on new Intel(R) Viiv(TM) Technology Platforms

Planned Technology Collaboration Would Enable Consumers to Quickly and Easily Search, Manage and Consume Video in the Digital Home

INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, LAS VEGAS - Jan. 5, 2006 - Intel Corporation and Google today announced plans to work together in bringing Google Video to the new Intel(R) Viiv(TM) technology platform. This planned collaboration is intended to give consumers an easy way to search, manage, and consume the huge amount of video information available on the Internet from the comfort of their couch.

The technology involved makes it possible to combine the power of Google Video with Intel’s expertise in digital home interoperability specifications, allowing Google Video users to consume video on their television and on portable devices wherever and whenever they choose. Intel Viiv technology is designed to enhance and manage digital entertainment in the home. PCs based on the Intel Viiv technology platform will be able to support high-definition video, surround sound and many other exciting features for the consumer that demands more from their entertainment experience.

“Google looks forward to working with Intel to bring Google Video to consumers who use the new Intel Viiv platform,” said Susan Wojcicki, vice president for product management at Google. “Both companies believe open standards are critical to provide rapid growth in digital entertainment. Our goal is to work closely with Intel to make Google Video content available on new digital devices in the home.”

“With the explosion of digital entertainment choices, consumers will need simple, easy ways to locate the content they want and easily play it when they want,” said Intel’s Kevin Corbett, vice president, Digital Home Group and general manager, Content Services Group.

“Intel Viiv technology has been designed to make it simple for companies like Google to offer compelling new media platforms incorporating digital rights management and search technologies that work on open interoperability specifications. This combination would provide consumers with the best of Google search and Viiv simplicity enabling new TV experiences.”

The introduction of Intel Viiv technology today marks an effort by Intel to enable a broad choice of entertainment and information from around the world so that consumers can more easily download, view, manage, store and enjoy their content anytime and on a variety of devices. Systems based on Intel Viiv technology are available today from various computer manufacturers, go to www.intel.com for more information.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com. Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.

Intel and Intel Viiv are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

Google is a registered trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may
be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

Okay, this is just one of two new press releases that I received today from Google. I am not 100% sure, but I am believe it is to correspond to their appearance at CES today:

Motorola and Google Align for Mobile Search

Motorola enables users immediate access to Google on millions of Motorola handsets worldwide

Las Vegas, NV - 6 January 2006 - Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), a global leader in wireless communications, and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced a global alliance to enable users easy access to Google on Motorola handsets.

Motorola will integrate a Google icon onto select devices so that users can connect directly to Google anytime, anywhere at the click of a button. These mass-market, Internet-optimized handsets will be distributed from early 2006 to select Motorola customers worldwide.

“Many of our customers have been asking for mobile devices integrated with their consumers’ favorite online search services. By featuring Google on Motorola handsets for those customers, we are making it easier for consumers to connect to the information they need when they need it,” said Scott Durchslag, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Global xProducts for Motorola’s Mobile Device business. “Our relationship with Google provides an opportunity for us to offer a high quality mobile search experience - one familiar to and loved by millions of users across the globe.”

“Access to information is imperative for people on-the-go. Whether checking the local weather or locating the restaurant of their choice, consumers today require personalized search services that are tailored to their needs,” said Nikesh Arora, vice president, European Operations, Google Inc. “With immediate access to Google, millions of Motorola users worldwide will be able to quickly and easily find information that’s important to them.”

Motorola handsets with the Google icon are expected to be available to consumers starting in Q1 of 2006.

About Motorola

Motorola is a Fortune 100 global communications leader that provides seamless mobility products and solutions across broadband, embedded systems and wireless networks. In your home, auto, workplace and all spaces in between, seamless mobility means you can reach the people, things and information you need on the go. Seamless mobility harnesses the power of technology convergence and enables smarter, faster, cost-effective and flexible communication. Motorola had sales of US $31.3 billion in 2004. For more information: www.motorola.com.

About Google Inc.

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com.

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office.
All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.
Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners. (C) Motorola, Inc. 2006.

Google is a registered trademark of Google Inc. All other company and product names may
be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

As you know, every year is always rocked by a plethora of changes in the search engine marketing world. The acquisition of smaller companies by the Big 3 changes the marketing landscape as we know it every month and with every update to the index that is made, we hold our breath and hope that we come out better (if not, the same) in the end. So when it comes to the new year, there are many things that we should look out for to stay on top of the rankings.

1. Quality Content: I say this so often and I cannot overemphasize this enough: Content is KING! Search engine spiders, crawl the net to find what? Content! Your site has information (hopefully) that you want the spiders to see and include in their index. By the creation and publication of quality content, you give the search engines more reason to return. You are feeding them what they want. In 2006, you should be finding creative ways to get your content noticed and viewed as well as finding creative ways to publish fresh content on a regular basis. A very good way this is done is through the use of message boards (hosted on your site) and by blogs (enabling you to publish more frequently).

2. Don’t Overextend Your Link Exchange Structure: Backlinks were a popular way to increase your rankings fast in the search engines. The tradition holds: find a PR7 website and trade backlinks and you’ll be indexed in Google within 24 hours. That strategy still holds true and is beneficial for new websites.

But in my opinion the days of tremendous link-swapping are coming to an end. Many websites have been founded with the purpose of allowing you to exchange links with other websites. This has caused a massive influx of webmasters who want to exchange a ton of links with the hope that it will help them in the search engines.

But what really matters when it comes to links is the amount of quality one-way backlinks that direct users to your website. You want the balance of links to be in your favor, that is what leads to success.

Also, there has been talk of search engines taking notice of these “link-farms” and penalizing those who take part in them. So if you do take part in link exchanges, please be moderate in respect to the number of exchanges you take part in.

3. RSS and XML: Two new technologies that have begun to take center stage especially in 2005 include a programming language that has been around for several years called XML. XML is shorth for extensible markup language and is a derivative from HTML. The main difference is your ability to create descriptive tags for your data.

This has led to the advent of RSS or real simple syndication. RSS is a way for you to publish your data to an XML file hosted on your site. Users subscribe to your RSS feed via the XML file and whenever you make a changes to your XML file they are notified. It’s become a major technology used by news agencies and bloggers alike as a simple method of publishing your information across a wide variety of platforms.

XML has also proved useful with the Google Sitemaps program, newly released in 2005. The optional tags available with the XML sitemap allow you to be descriptive about the individual pages on your site including dates the individual pages were modified. There are some small things you need to pay attention to when creating this: namely you have to follow the Google xml schema, and you have to be diligent about tracking and fixing errors in the code. But if used correctly, it is a great way to help Google index the hidden pages of your website due to javascript or flash.

4. Stay away from Flash and Javascript for the time being: Flash and Javascript are very powerful tools for creating dynamic and eye catching websites. The most prominent problem with the two technologies is that the spiders can’t index through them (at least not yet). This limits your ability to have the search engines index portions of your site. Many have speculated that the Big 3 are working on solving this problem, but for the time being, avoid or limit your use of these technologies.

5. Avoid Unethical SEO: There are a lot of programs out there that help you to acheive maxmum linkback ratios in a very short amount of time. Some of them are good; some are bad. In fact, some of them will waste your effort trying to post trivial comments on blogs or trying to maximize your link exchanges. In my opinion, you should seek success in SEM the right, ethical way. Seek out honest web companies to exchange a moderate amount of links with. Post only relevant comments to forums and blogs because that behavior leads to lasting link backs. Also, don’t try to manipulate your website to make it appear to have a higher PR than you really do. Google sees that one!

6. Last, but not least, Articles: There is a little bit of controversial talk about whether it is right to post articles for free use in directories. In my opinion, you are providing a well needed service to webmasters and I don’t see this one as a potential loss for 2006. Information is valuable. And websites that need content (especially fresh content) desire what you do to make their efforts a success. So it is natural for your website rankings to benefit through backlinks from those articles. It’s a win-win situation.

One other thought on this subject. Right now, the search engines can punish websites for having duplicate content, and that is an argument that many will propose. But, the search engines will usually only punish you if the html format of a web site is similar, not a couple of articles. So posting articles is safe for now.

But be cautious. Many lucrative methods of ethical SEO can be turned into a problem when too many people attempt to abuse the technology.

So that’s it. Short, but informative. SEO is both an art and a technology that we have to use correctly for the right type of success. Who knows what the year ahead may bring, but playing your cards right, you can acheive success and avoid any pitfalls that may come.

I have to admit, I too get caught up in the New Years cliche’s. Kissing your loved one within the first minute, making resolutions, changing yourself and what you do. Call it crazy, but life just isn’t the same without them.

I don’t know what your resolutions were for the upcomoing year, but I doubt they include anything to do with your search engine placement or web design, or should they. While the oft quoted “lose weight” resolution can seem daunting, making small changes to improve your rankings can seem almost too easy.

Attempting to change your SEM strategy is often so simple and powerful that a couple of small changes could affect the outcome (positive or negative) for the entire year and beyond. So while you are putting together those lists of to-do’s and setting goals for another year, make sure to examine your search engine marketing strategy and make that a resolution. It may be easier than you think to have success in this area.

So here’s to another prosperous and successful year!