Marketing & SEO Discussion List - LED Digest

 
LED Digest 2303: Sitemaps for Search Engines? Print E-mail
==================================================
                 The LED Digest
             Moderated Discussion List
     "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997"

      Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom

         pair Networks: The LED's Web Host
Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader
  pair.com for Hosting  |  pairNIC.com for Domains

==================================================
List Moderator:                     Published by:
Adam Audette                          LED Digest
adam, led-digest.com     http://www.led-digest.com
..............................................
December 7, 2006                   Issue no. 2303
..............................................


            .....IN THIS DIGEST.....


====== NEW ======================

        <Moderator Comment>

        --== Sitemaps for Search Engines or Users? ==--

                ~ Sintari
"Can you argue that this service is not
specifically for [Google] and that it's for the user?"


==== CONTINUING =================

        --== The Email Crisis ==--

                ~ John Smart
"...we do not want to put any blocks between
potential clients and us..."

                ~ Reg Charie
"One thing I DO like is Project Honey Pot."

                ~ Al Toman
"Email the webmaster of the U.S. Senate
using their 'mailto' tag..."


==== BILLBOARD ===================

        --== My Kanoodle Experience ==--
                ~ Karl L. Baldwin

        --== Looking for a PPC Expert ==--
                ~ Carol Simicich


========== NEW ===================================

<Moderator Comment>

Today I had someone comment on a thread from earlier this year. It's
called "The Value of Site Maps" and is located here:
http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/531/54/ . An interesting
point is made and, I think, one worth exploring further.

This basically comes down to the "Google compliance" issue Dirk
Johnson hinted at recently, but with a twist (see issue 2297 for
Dirk's post: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1381/55/ ).

Some marketers are concerned that giving Google access to too much
analytical information can hurt them competitively. For example, if
you're using Google Analytics (which is tied into AdWords), you
could be giving Google access to your best *converting* search
phrases; these may then be recommended as suggested keywords to
competitors. Arguments against Webmaster Tools follow related logic.

Others contend that complying is okay because Google is to be
trusted (remember, Google goes by "don't be evil").

I'll let you read Sintari's comments (below) in response to Lee
Roberts. Thoughts / comments are appreciated.

-Adam

-------------------------

From: Sintari
Subject: SiteMaps for Search Engines?

> Site maps are great tools often mis-used. Sitemaps are and
> should be considered first and foremost as a map to the areas
> that will help your clients find the information they seek faster...
> Site maps are not for listing every single page within a Web
> site in an effort to get your pages indexed...
        - Lee Roberts, "The Value of Site Maps"
        - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/531/54/

Okay, but what about the sitemap Google provides in Webmaster Tools?
Can you argue that this service is not specifically *for the search
engine* [Google] and that it's for the user instead?

Granted this is being picky, but G's sitemap is not even displayed
anywhere for users - it's a (often compressed) XML file sitting in
the root directory waiting for googlebot.

What does this have to do with users? Nothing - you have to create a
separate user site-map if you want to use it on your site.

Sintari


======== CONTINUING ===============================

From: John Smart
Subject: Email

Another tool in the spam fight is one of those non OCRable images on
the screen, so the person has to type in those squiggly letters. Of
course, we do not want to put any blocks between potential clients
and us, but a simple explanation helps. Then to be used as spam, the
spammer would have to enter every spam by hand. Why do that when
there are easier ways?

John Smart
InternetDesign.com - A Human Touch in a Digital World


-------- new post - same topic --------

From: Reg Charie
Subject: Email

I hate spam. Cleaning it out, setting up filters, and email
management wastes a lot of my time.

I have been online since '94 and have a lot of email addresses
published in various venues, a lot of which have been visited by
harvesters. Like John Barendrecht, I too have a "friend" named Lucy
trying to sucker me into their scam.

John's idea about the subject line code is good but I see where it
would not work for something like LED Digest which is set up on a
list. One could whitelist their subscriptions, but that would mean
extra steps every time a new subscription was made.

One thing I DO like is Project Honey Pot.
(http://www.projecthoneypot.org)

Their site states:

---------------------
"Project Honey Pot is the first and only distributed system for
identifying spammers and the spambots they use to scrape addresses
from your website. Using the Project Honey Pot system you can
install addresses that are custom-tagged to the time and IP address
of a visitor to your site. If one of these addresses begins
receiving email we not only can tell that the messages are spam, but
also the exact moment when the address was harvested and the IP
address that gathered it."
---------------------

They also say that they "work with law enforcement authorities to
track down and prosecute spammers." Stats about the IP addresses and
frequency of harvesters / spammers caught is also available.

Reg Charie
www.dotcom-productions.com


-------- new post - same topic --------

From: Al Toman
Subject: Email

> ... a study has just been release that claims
> nearly 90% of all email is spam!
        - Moderator Comment, LED Digest 2302
        - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1391/55/

... and 97% of all spam comes from web pages.

source:: https://www.WindowsSecrets.com (ref: FTC)

You can spend $9.95 and buy a copy of the report or you can go to
http://studio9.ws/scripts/email-me.php and close the door on spam
right now (for free).

Need help?  Just ask.

Still today, I come across the infamous "mailto" tag on a regular
basis.  Saddly, even on those web sites owned by 'professional' web
designers who design web sites for the (U.S.) government who also
sport "mailto".  And we are paying the FTC, why?  The door is wide
open.

Do I know why this is?  Nope.  Haven't got a clue.

Email the webmaster of the U.S. Senate using their "mailto"
spammer targeted tag and ask the U.S. Senate.

They don't know either.

Scabbed images, obfuscation, and paragraphs of how to email the web
master are neither necessary nor effective.

If you're a web master, follow the W3C and those who build upon it.
If you do, we'll only have 499,999,999 more web masters to speak
with.

Al Toman
studio9.ws


==== BILLBOARD ===================================

<Moderator Comment>

Karl CCd me on a few emails between himself and the ad network
Kanoodle. Read on and check out Karl's cited page for the
conversation he had with their staff. Is this suspicious? Your input
is appreciated.

-Adam

------------------

From: Karl Baldwin
Subject: My Kanoodle experience

Hi Adam,

Thanks for your follow-up and interest. I think the following link
(end of this email) pretty much covers my discourse with Kanoodle to
the completion thereof. I believe the conversation speaks volumes in
and of itself, so much so that I want very much to expose this but
not to inject any additional interpretation for whatever audience I
can provide this to.

I therefore wish not to edit this down to an article, but I want to
avail it to all interested readers.

I have put this email exchange up on a page on my website to offer
it up to any LED-Digest readers that would be interested in this
apparent larceny. It is at www.mountain-lodging.com/click_fraud.htm
and I would request that you offer a link to this page in the led
digest. It is by design presented in reverse chronology.

Best Regards,

Karl L. Baldwin

MountainLodging

Vacation Cabin Rental Listing Service
http://www.mountain-lodging.com


-------- new post - new topic --------

From: Carol Simicich
Subject: Looking for a PPC Expert

Hi All,

I'm a long-time lurker - thanks for the many years of education!  I
have a client who wants to set up a PPC campaign for his new web
site. I have no experience with PPC so we would like to hire a
specialist.  I will welcome your suggestions and recommendations.

Best,

Carol Simicich
artege.com


-------------------------------------------------------
The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks:
pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains

Copyright 1995-2006 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Web 1.0 was all about connecting people [...] I think Web 2.0 is of
course a piece of jargon, nobody even knows what it means. If Web
2.0 for you is blogs and wikis, then that is [...] what the Web was
supposed to be all along. - Tim Berners-Lee