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| The Axandra newsletter archive - 10 February 2004 |
| Welcome to the latest issue of the Search Engine Facts newsletter.
This week, we're taking a look at the CAN-SPAM ACT and how it affects linking campaigns.
In the news: IBM sets out to make sense of the web, and Google's service Orkut might not respect your privacy.
Table of contents:
We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that it helps you to get more out of your web site. Please pass this newsletter on to your friends.
Best regards,
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| 1. Facts of the week: The new anti-spam law and linking campaigns |
As you know, a new anti-spam federal law has been adopted by the United States. The CAN-SPAM ACT of 2003 has taken effect on January 1. The CAN-SPAM ACT provides definitions and appropriate penalties for misleading commercial email communications.
Some webmasters fear that it might not be legal anymore to contact potential link partners by email. Of course, that's not the case. Contacting webmasters to ask for a reciprocal link is perfectly legal with the new law.
The new legislation makes it illegal for spammers to send misleading emails. It also makes it easier for legitimate email marketers to comply with a single set of laws.
Here are the most important points of the new law:
- All commercial email must not present misleading information in the From field or header information.
- All commercial email must include a link for (and, of course, honor) unsubscribe requests.
- All commercial email must conspicuously state that all commercial, promotional mail is an advertisement, unless all recipients have opted in.
- You must not use deceptive subject headings.
As you can see, it's perfectly legal to send link exchange messages. You only might have to consider a few points.
When sending link exchange email messages to potential link partners, don't sell any product in your email message but ask the webmasters for a reciprocal link. Of course, you must use your real email address when asking for reciprocal links.
A significant change to you is that this new legislation requires that you include a valid, physical mailing address in all email campaigns.
This means that you should add your mailing address to your link exchange email messages, for example in your signature. If you read the tips and tricks we gave in this newsletter in the past, you already know that complete contact information in your email messages improves the response rate to your link request messages.
To be on the safe side, do the following in your link exchange messages:
- Add your full mailing address to your link exchange messages.
- Add a "Remove" part to your link exchange message.
You can do all this in your email signature, for example
John Doe
Your Company, 123 Your Street, New York, NY 10013.
www.YourWebSite.com, Phone (123) 456 7890, Fax (123) 789 4567
If you do not wish to receive e-mails from me, just drop me a line.
The new CAN-SPAM ACT can make life easier for all of us. If you want to learn more about the new law, visit this page. Further information on how to write an effective link request email message can be found in our free ebook.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice. Contact a lawyer for legal advice. You might have different laws in your country or state.
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| 2. Search engine news of the week |
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VeriSign reconsiders search service
"A company [VeriSign] that plays a key role in managing the Internet's domain system is considering whether to restart a controversial search service that makes money off Web users' typos, a move that threatens to reignite a debate over who controls key segments of the Internet."
FindWhat.com signs Espotting deal
After nearly nine months of delay, FindWhat.com signed an amended agreement to acquire European paid listings provider Espotting for about $170 million.The purchase price is higher than in the original deal struck in June, thanks to FindWhat's soaring stock price. FindWhat closed at $19.44 yesterday and reached a 52-week high of $27.94 in September. FindWhat's stock was priced at under $15 in June.
IBM sets out to make sense of the Web
"Enter IBM, which would like to see its WebFountain supercomputing project become the next big thing in Web search. Along with competitors [...] Big Blue hopes to foster demand for new data-mining services that ferret out meaning and context, not just lists of more-or-less relevant links."
Search engine Mamma.com launches advanced functionalities
"Mamma.com now supports search math, a form of advanced operators used to refine a query with quotations, plus and minus signs."
Lycos offers office space for lease
"Web portal Lycos is offering for lease space at its Northern California offices in what could be a sign of further cost-cutting at the company."
LookSmart beats street, but lowers 2004 guidance
"Paid search listings provider LookSmart exceeded Wall Street estimates for the fourth quarter, but the struggling company Thursday predicted a net loss for 2004 at the low end of analysts' expectations."
FindWhat posts quarterly profit
"The pay-per-click search engine company -- a distant competitor to Yahoo!'s Overture Services and Google, the paid-search advertising leaders -- reported $21 million in revenue for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. That number was up 57% from the prior year and $700,000 ahead of the guidance it gave analysts Dec. 10."
Search engine newslets
- The new search engine FindSounds.com specializes in finding sounds on the Internet.
- Google might drop Open Directory Project categories.
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Google revives discredited Microsoft privacy policy for Friendster clone
"Can you trust Google's Friendster clone Orkut? The search engine behemoth certainly has ambitious plans for your innocent musings. And be careful about any business ideas you express there.
If you've been thru the Orkut registration process, you know that it attempts to collect a ton of data about you. The kind of demographic data that marketing folks drool over. [...]
Orkut's cookie now nests cosily alongside Google's cookie, set to expire in 2038, which in itself suggests that Google plans to be in the data mining business for a very long time."
Online search engines help lift cover of privacy
"Cybersecurity experts say an increasing number of private or putatively secret documents are online in out-of-the-way corners of computers all over the globe, leaving the government, individuals, and companies vulnerable to security breaches."
Microsoft not ready to battle with Google
"Microsoft's latest assault on the Web search business is just getting under way, but already a familiar elephant may be ambling toward the doorway.
The software giant's announced intention to dominate search — its third such quest in recent years — is being depicted as a crusade against Google, the default Web search leader."
Revamped MSN search beta previewed
"There is a new choice for those of us who sift and scour through millions of sites just to find the one page we seek, and it comes from a surprising source.
Setting its sights onto a basic function of the Web, Microsoft is busy readying a new algorithmic search engine engineered to take on competitors such as Google and make relevant search results its number one priority."
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