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In This Issue:
Overture Signs Deal With
Gator
Overture signed a
three-year deal with Gator to display its paid search listings on Web
pages that pop under those of rival and partner Web sites. This deal
has upset many webmasters because Gator is known to open annoying pop
up windows and to install spyware programs.
Gator has been implicated
in a questionable practice some are calling "drive-by-downloads". In
this scheme, a normal banner or popup ad will attempt to install
software (executable code) on the user's PC. Depending on the
browser's security settings, the software will either download
silently and without any user action, or present an install dialogue.
Novice users may choose "Yes" thinking the browser is asking to
download a legitimate page-display plugin.
Gator is a software
product that can automatically fill in passwords and other
form-elements on Web pages. But its main purpose is to load an
advertising spyware module called OfferCompanion, which displays
pop-up ads when visiting some Web sites. Gator boasts that since it's
software is always running, it can spam users with "Special Offers"
and other ads anywhere they go--even competitors' sites--with
remarkable targeting capabilities, since it can spy on what sites the
user is visiting.
PPC Under Investigation
The Office of Fair Trading
(OFT) has been called on to investigate the search marketing sector
after a second major player doubled the minimum price of buying a
keyword on its network.
When Overture raised its
minimum bid price from 5p to 10p in February, rival Espotting said
it wouldn't follow suit. But Espotting also raised its minimum bid
price to 10p this week. Now there have been complaints to the
Government that Overture and Espotting are abusing their dominant
positions.
Link
Check Your Competitors
Take advantage of free
services like
www.linkpopularitycheck.com to find all the sites that link to
your competitors. Click the Details link to view the list. If your
product or service is stronger than your competitor, then consider
visiting some of these sites and approaching them in regard to linking
to you as well, or as a replacement to your competitor depending on
the situation. These sites have already demonstrated an interest in
linking to Web sites similar to your own, so many will be ideal
candidates.
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