WoW and Google Maps

I love mashups…and as a now retired World of Warcraft player (70 dest lock on Undermine), I love this… http://mapwow.com  

The map utilizes the Google Maps API and therefore behaves just a like a Google Map. Clicking on the controls on the left side of the map will let you zoom in and out. Dragging the map around lets you scroll the map and view different areas. It’s that easy.

Use the menu to the right of the map to select resources and labels that you wish to display. Currently you can display herbs, ore, treasure, zone names, and city names. There are over 15,000 data points covering 69 resources with their exact map location in our database. The bottom of the menu provides quick links to popular locations in the game. Found a great area that you want to share with your friends? Go to the location on the map, click on the “Link to this Location” and then copy the URL.

Utah Rethinks Ban on Advertising on Trademarks

By: Jeff Buechler

Utah seem to be rethinking its position on trademarked terms and paid search after a meeting between lawmakers and representatives from Google, Microsoft, eBay, AOL, Yahoo and Utah based, Overstock.com.

 Court challenges to the Utah law have some legislators thinking they “bought a bill of goods”. (obviously generic goods)  While the law will go into effect as planned, the actual implementation will be put on hold.  

That’s a good plan you got there….ahh, Utah tax dollars at work.

Googlebomb test

This is a test of the Emergency Googlebomb System — this is only a test….in the event of a real googlebomb, your results would skyrocket…this is only a test. 

THE ALGORITHM CONSTANTLY FINDS JESUS

THE ALGORITHM KILLED JEEVES

THE ALGORITHM IS BANNED IN CHINA 

THE ALGORITHM IS FROM JERSEY

Zunch Communications Files For Bankruptcy

By Jeff Buechler

Following on the downfall of MSI/Websourced/KeywordRanking and Reprise, Zunch is the latest SEM firm to take a nasty tumble. Zunch is claiming that the loss  of a number of key executives lead to this.

“Essentially, Zunch Communications never fully recovered from that split. Zunch Communications fell further behind both in paying its obligations and in servicing its clients,” Zunch Worldwide spokesperson, James Sadler said. Zunch Worldwide has bought the assets and took on some of the debt of Zunch Communications in October 2006, and that company finally filed for bankruptcy last week.

The other side:Tony Wright, VP of client services at Dexterity Media and one of the original six to leave says, “We left because we saw the company was doing some things that we didn’t agree with. For them to infer that the bankruptcy is the result of us leaving is absurd.” Dexterity Media is thriving according to Wright.  For an interesting time line, follow the link: http://searchengineland.com/070427-085646.php

Edit: I debated over including  this, but since I have not read it anywhere else: MSI and Zunch both had the same VP of Sales, Chadd Lomoglio. From my understanding, Chadd left Zunch a month before its bankruptcy and left MSI about a year before its downfall. 

Baidu Q1 Income Up 142% Year over Year

Chinese Internet search provider Baidu Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU) announced 2007 first quarter results after market close on Thursday. Total revenues hit US$35.7 million, up 2.5 percent quarter-on-quarter and 103.3 percent from the first quarter of 2006. Net income was $11.1 million, down 29.3 percent from $15.7 million quarter-on-quarter, but up 142.6 percent from the first quarter of 2006. Baidu also said in its earnings announcement that company COO David Zhu has resigned for personal reasons.

Oh Canada! $1 Billion Spent in Online Marketing; Still No Sharks with Freaking Laser Beams on Their Heads

For the first time, online advertising has broken the $1 billion dollar mark according to The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. IAB president Paula Gignac predicts that spending will increase a further 32 per cent in 2007 to $1.4-billion, this on top of another 32 per cent this year.   Spending on online classifieds and directories showed the fastest growth, up 120 per cent to $273-million in 2006, according to the IAB. E-mail marketing grew 82 per cent to $20-million; search marketing grew 79 per cent to $353-million. And display advertising – the most mature online ad medium – grew 58 per cent to $364-million. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070430.RMARKETING30/TPStory/Business

 

Microsoft Online Ad Revenue up 23%

From ClickZ

“While Microsoft announced strong revenues of $14.4 billion for the quarter ended March 31 amounting to a 32 percent increase over the same period last year, its Online Services unit experienced more modest growth. The unit, which encompasses search, MSN and its adCenter ad management platform, delivered revenue gains of 11 percent and an operating income loss of $200 million, compared to a $24 million loss the year before.”

http://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625701

Online Poker Making a Comeback?

By Jeff Buechler:

Poker is an avid interest of mine. I’ve played in hundreds of tournaments and 1000’s of cash games in the past 20 years. I had a brief flirtation with online poker, but found the experience wanting.  Then 6 months ago, GWB, signed a law prohibiting online gambling. (never mind that poker is a game of skill, not chance…and is recognized as such in many jurisdictions) Now, Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat from
Massachusetts and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, on Thursday introduced a bill that would replace the current broad prohibition with strict regulations, including criminal background checks and financial disclosure, imposed on companies that seek to offer legal Internet gambling.  Enforcement would be provided by the Treasury Dept.This is a much more reasonable position: ensure the legitimacy of the games and prevent minors from playing. Sounds like a winner to me.

More Suing

 From Wired:

“A New Jersey building contractor is suing consumer-complaint site The Rip-Off Report for hosting a customer’s negative feedback about him, and he’s going after Google for indexing the criticism and returning it in search results.

The top Google hit on construction firm RSA Homes is the company’s website, where the face of owner Raffi Arslanian beams beneath a glowing photo of a pink, cottage-styled McMansion. The second hit is less rosy: it’s a 2003 post on The Rip-Off Report penned by a former-customer named “Hiedi,” and involving gruesome allegations of artificial stucco, a swinging light fixture, floors that pop and squeak, bulging walls, and a fireplace mantel that’s moving on its own, among other money-pit horrors. “

Hit the link for the full story: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/04/building_contra.html

Trademarks, Dating and Diamonds

by Jeff Buechler

Trademarks and Diamonds  Trademarks and their use in paid search has long been a perverse interest of mine. To bid or not to bid that has been the question. Courts have held that bidding on trademarked terms  does not transform action into use of the trademark under law. Zale’s Jewelers has been sued by John Hamzik, who holds a trademark for “The Dating Ring”. Hamzik alleged that Zale jewelry company violated his trademark by purchasing the keywords “dating ring” for purposes of advertising via paid search. 

Other plaintiffs have lost on trademark infrigement cases involving the purchase of keywords using their trademark. However Hamzik’s case differs because the trademark was used in the ad copy“In this case there may be facts demonstrating that plaintiff’s trademark does appear on the displays associated with the good or documents associated with the goods or their sale,” Judge Thomas J. McAvoy, U.S. District Court New York, said.  Also last week, U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel in
San Jose, Calif., refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by American Blind & Wallpaper Factory that alleges that Google’s AdWords pay-per-click advertising system violates trademark law by allowing rivals of a company to buy ads that appear when people search for information on American Blind & Wallpaper Factory.