Robert Scoble thinks they do but is that enough to solidify the idea? Of course, any service that creates backlinks and can help generate buzz can be gamed for search engine purposes, but does that mean companies like PayPerPost exist only to create false link buzz about a site or product? Only if the blogger being paid intends to use them that way.

However, this gray area hasn’t stopped Wordpress from announcing they will ban members who take part in the PPP service, something they touch on in their TOS page. Wordpress has also sent out warning emails to members they suspect have posted entries for PayPerPost, informing the blogger they are either to remove the offending posts or their blog will be removed.

The reason for this warning, at least in Scoble’s mind, is because Wordpress doesn’t want their service to a haven for spam bloggers; something Google’s Blogger service has been fighting for sometime.

While Wordpress’ stance is understandable and even commendable does that mean these paid post services are the search engine spam sanctuaries they are being made out to be? Again, it all depends on the user involved. If the person’s intent is to spam, then they can use services like PayPerPost to do so but that doesn’t mean every post generated from these services is malicious.

Over at SEOBook, Aaron Wall has differing point of view from Scoble’s:

Because I have been involved with ReviewMe, many people have told me that they thought ReviewMe was just an SEO tool, but I realize that links / rankings / SEO in general / brand building / trust building / sales are all just a side effect of getting exposure and satisfying market needs. The benefit of reviews from a network like ReviewMe is that you get exposure in active channels that people trust and are paying attention to.

Feedback, direct sales, direct relevant link equity, secondary citations, new readers, branding and awareness… buying reviews from ReviewMe could pay for themselves many ways over, if you create things worthy of exposure.

Jake Baillie has announced he will be leaving TrueLocal.com to pursue other opportunities. In an email to WebProNews, we were informed Baillie, along with additional TrueLocal employees, would be forming an Internet funding business called STN Labs.

The purpose of the company is to evaluate and fund up-and-coming Internet media and technology-related companies.STN Labs will provide funding in the $50-500 thousand range.

Baillie reveals that managing a company like this has always been a dream of his and he feels now is the time to pursue it. He also indicates his transition away from TrueLocal will last until January.

Expect further news concerning Jake’s departure as it becomes available.

The team working on Yahoo Mail has added several new features, and partially addressed the slowness of the service for users.

(more…)

This is a joke, right? Since Nick Douglas was unceremoniously booted from the tech gossip rag, it’s pretty much gone down the toilet.

First off, the new layout is, well… it’s God awful. The courier-esque font that’s plastered all over the site makes my brain hurt, and the snot-green font color could only appeal to fans of the Garbage Pail Kids or maybe booger enthusiasts.

The reporting? With Douglas gone, it lacks that socio-maniacal humor that followers of Valleywag have come to know and love. Now it’s just little more than grudge-mongering slam pieces aimed at those determined as enemy combatants by the ‘wag. Where’s the fun in that? Make fun of EVERYONE, that’s how Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have built a satirical media empire!

Finally, we come to the new logo

It reminds me of a heart monitor, except that a more accurate representation would look like a flatline.

Is there a doctor in the house?

Joe Lewis
Staff Writer | WebProNews

What do you get for the relative that has everything? How about an all-expenses paid, no strings attached, custom rape fantasy, courtesy of Second Life.

That’s right! You too can be manhandled (or womanhandled, if that floats your boat), beaten, bloodied, violated, humiliated, sexually assaulted in ways I’m sure that haven’t been invented yet for the bargain basement price of $220 Linden dollars.

It’s a small price to pay for such a heartwarming gift that truly captures the spirit of the yuletide season for that special someone.

When you think about it, nothing says “Merry Christmas” like a personalized sexual encounter that’s forced upon you against your will.

What will those crazy geniuses at Linden Labs think of next?!

Hopefully they’ll manufacture some virtual decency for themselves.

Joe Lewis
Staff Writer | WebProNews

Fellow writer Jason Lee Miller celebrates his 30th birthday today. Go ahead and mock him mercilessly in the comments; if you need some help giving him grief, he was out yesterday with a bad case of Tsunami Butt.

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery and if that’s true, Google flattered the heck out of Yahoo and thanks to a post by Yahoo’s Jeremy Zawodny, the flattery can be seen first hand. Oddly enough, the imitation focuses on mutual rival Microsoft, or at least their Internet Explorer 7 browser.

When IE7 launched, Yahoo developed an “optimized for Yahoo” version and thusly created a page celebrating this development (screenshot). Now Google has joined in the “optimized for” project and they too developed a page informing users of their intentions. The problem? Google copied - almost to a “T” - the same page layout used by Yahoo, graphics included (screenshot).

As indicated, Jeremy Zawodny pointed out Google’s imitation and evidently it had such an effect, Google decided to change their IE7 page so that it no longer resembles Yahoo’s. However, thanks to the power of the Internet (and screenshots), Google’s efforts have been captured and preserved for your enjoyment.

Update:  Google’s Matt Cutts has responded to Jeremy’s post.  He apologized for Google’s transgression, however, he also pointed out a couple of instances where Yahoo copied some of the layouts used by Google AdWords.  Matt indicates he was going to ignore Zawodny’s post but Robert Scoble convinced him to do otherwise.

I’m sure many of you have heard and experimented with MSN’s Live.com interactive search engine Ms. Dewey, featuring the incredibly attractive Janina Gavankar in the role of Ms. Dewey who acts as a commentator concerning the search queries being entered. Well, thanks to a post from Matt Cutts, we now know a little bit about the background of the Ms. Gavankar and I can tell you being a search guide was not her first gig.

Before becoming the most attractive thing about MSN Search, Gavankar was pleasing crowds using another method - soft-core movies… you know, the ones you find on Cinemax during their late-night viewing schedule. According to Cutts’ post, Ms. Dewey appeared in a movie called Cup Of My Blood, and judging by the screencaps (NSFW) Gavankar is not a believer in the “no nudity” clause so many actresses include in their contracts nowadays.

This revelation certainly adds something to the appeal of good ole Ms. Dewey… now we have the ability to quantify what that appeal is.

Is Google spamming AdWords members with auto dialing technology? According to a WebmasterWorld post pointed out by Threadwatch, it certainly appears as if that’s the case. The poster in question, who happens to be an AdWords member, received an automated phone call from the search engine that won’t quit (the caller ID said Google), saying:

“Please press 1 if you spend less than $5000 per month, Please press 2 if you have the budget to spend $5000 or more per month and are interested in our Premium Services. Please press 3 if you are interested in job opportunities.”

The poster selected the second option and was then transferred to a voicemail service. Next, the poster selected 0 in order to talk to the operator and was transferred to Google’s Chicago office and was again prompted to leave a voicemail. 5 minutes later, the process was repeated.

Does this mean Google is using auto dialers to solicit their AdWords clients? If so, what does this say about the company that’s supposed to abhor spam in all forms? Are telemarketing tactics really necessary for Google to entice AdWords members to spend more? I would think the size of the PPC campaign would dictate that much more than an unwanted automated phone call… but what do I know?

As most of you know, the WebProNews crew was in Chicago last week providing mad amounts of coverage, video and otherwise. Like the Vegas PubCon, the “theme” of Chicago’s SES had to do with social media optimization or SMO (there’s another acronym for the list) and linkbait. The sessions covering topics like how to make your site more appealing to the linkbait/SMO crowd (write compelling content) were always full.

However, linkbait and SMO wasn’t the only sessions with packed houses. Of course, whenever there is a block of sessions devoted to link building strategies, they are always full - although I only attended two of these. Another topic I was happy to see covered was multimedia optimization. Explaining how to make your online video or podcast search index-friendly is very valuable information, especially when you consider just how much these areas are growing.

Another area I was pleased to see covered was mobile search optimization. Thanks to a informative presentation by Cindy Krum of Blue Moon Works a great deal of ignorance surrounding mobile SEO was cleared up quite nicely.

While there were indeed some quality sessions, the prevailing mood from a lot of attendees was of the “meh” variety. Many felt the sessions could have been more advanced instead of repeating the material from sessions past, something I completely understand. I would, however, remind people that not everyone attending these conferences are experts. The crowd’s interaction with the panel during the link Q and A helps proves this thought quite effectively.

All in all, I had a good time at Chicago’s SES, but I think that had as much to do with the people there as much as it did the conference sessions:

Lee Odden - just a quality, quality individual who does some really good work with his blog and his company. Lee also has a great deal of SES coverage, including a number of video interviews done with his Sony Cybershot camera. The video quality of his interviews is surprisingly good, considering they came from a digital camera.

Rand and Rebecca - I had to opportunity to hang out with a couple of the SEOMoz folks for a few hours after the conference wound down on Thursday and these two are some of the best people you can meet. Both are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. I’m really glad I got the opportunity to get to know these two a little better… even if Lee prevented us from eating sushi. And hey, Rebecca’s an Arrested Development fan, something that pretty much guarantees an individual’s coolness.

Abhilash and Ben Wills - Abhilash might be the most charismatic individual I’ve met in some time - not only that, he has the knowledge and experience to go along with it. Speaking of knowledge, Ben is something of a wunderkind himself. I’ve known Ben for a couple of years now and that’s something I’m really thankful for. These guys are two of best people you could meet (check out Ben’s video interview discussing the video optimization session).

Brian Mark - Brian’s an admin at WebProWorld and it’s always nice to see your “co-workers” give excellent presentations, something Brian did in the shopping search session. I didn’t realize leveraging these comparison shopping engines was that complicated.

The above list is certainly not comprehensive… in fact, I forgot to mention Paul Fischer (thanks for sharing the cabs and hanging out with us, your company will be missed) and Becca Anderson; two quality people I’m certainly glad to be friends with. Be on the look out for my video interview featuring these two. It should be up in a week or so.

All in all, I had a great time in Chicago and I still managed to learn some new things about the search industry. Keep up with social media optimization. It can do wonders for your site marketing efforts. Also, it would be wise to embrace the mobile industry. More and more people are using their mobile devices to surf the web, which means more and more people will be using these devices to search. Having a site optimized for the mobile user will only help your cause.