SalesForce, Google Partnership Missing The Boat?

Okay they have been talking... hell for that matter I have been talking about this partnership for over a month.

Smart move on the part of SalesForce CEO Marc Benioff I originally thought - he sees the future of Google Analytics and wants to integrate with them to provide the offline to online conversion metric. The integration of Visual Sciences - formerly known as WebSideStory - with SalesForce was one of the reasons we chose it. We can pass the lead level info into our CRM and when it converts we can make informed decisions on our marketing spends.

But it also gives us the ability once we have that information to make our sales process more efficient by giving the more valuable leads to the right sales people.

The marriage of two major players in the on demand space was ideal.

I had heard SalesForce was launching a Content Management part some time later this year that would help their users sell the content or network it or do whatever they need with it.

Plug AdWords into this and you can see why Google was ready - but when does SalesForce get the big return? It comes by being the CRM part of Google Analytics... it was why I thought they were talking in the first place.

But as the press release states:

Salesforce Group Edition featuring Google AdWords, is a robust offering that combines the power of Salesforce on-demand CRM applications with the Google AdWords™ platform to achieve integrated sales and marketing success. This joint solution provides businesses of all sizes with the same tools used by larger enterprises to successfully attract and retain customers.

Rand Versus Shoe

Funny I know both of these guys and always knew they did not have the same business model. Guess they thought there was only one so the other must be doing the same thing.

If you have not seen this I am amazed you found my blog - as theirs get much more traffic.

But for a summary of the Rand versus Shoe debate those links will help.

Where do I stand... funny I think both of them will think I am on the other side.

Personally I think there is some form of benefit from any blog. Whether it is ego stroking (mine) or altruism (Rand's) or monetization (Shoe's), there is an ultimate motivator. I have ignored my personal blog because I have been doing work for Search Engine Watch. I figured I would get more exposure - combine that with I am too lazy to do the post it here and then reference it there stuff that many others are famous for...

Should every blog have a prominent disclosure text on the homepage? Sure why not... I guess we could make the About Us link the "About our blogging motives" link.

Must admit both parties have had a fair amount of traffic from this little crossfire. If I didn't know better I would almost think it was staged.... but while both would have thought about it, only one of them would have gone for it! (at least in the harsh light of day)

If only disputes about algorithms or PPC methodology received as much debate.

Elisabeth Osmeloski Leaving SEW

Elisabeth you will be sorely missed. You definitely increased the overall beauty quotient of SEW (sorry folks but it is true), but more importantly, also improved the intelligence levels.

You epitomise our industry: friendly, helpful and a lot of fun.

So even though you will be off conquering the travel vertical, we will expect you to keep your hand in and give us more photo ops....

Zonder got the new hire of the century.

I consider you more than a friend. We are mates! And I expect to keep asking for your help for years to come.

Best of luck on the new adventure.

Google Blogs Reflect Real Priorities

Funny Google may seem to be saying all the right things, but I noticed something earlier today and spent a little time checking my theory against other blog posts made in the various Google blogs.

Basically what I caught first was the order in which a Googler listed mentioning a penalty for promoting clicks of your AdSense ads.

Many of you may remember our December post on the placement of images near ads. In that spirit, we'd like to remind you of a general policy issue: encouraging clicks. As many of you know, our program policies prohibit any means of encouraging users to click on Google ads or bringing excessive attention to ad units. For example, sites may not contain phrases such as "click the ads," "support our sponsors," "visit these recommended links," or other similar language that could apply to the Google ads on your site. In addition, publishers are not permitted to label the Google ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements."

In light of this policy, you may be wondering if you're allowed to recommend your referral products to your users. As explained in Dan's post from February, unlike with AdSense for content ads, you can endorse your referral products by calling attention to the button or text link.

If you believe in the quality of the product that you're referring, feel free to let your users know. Generally, visitors should only click on Google ads if they're interested in the services being advertised. Encouraging them to click on your Google ads, either directly or indirectly, can lead to inflated advertiser costs -- and can cause an account to be disabled. If you'd like to improve the performance of your ad units and attract more interested users, check out our Help Center's optimization tips to take full advantage of what AdSense has to offer.

So it's okay to say whatever you want to get people to sign up for AdSense but not to click an ad. Oh, and "inflated advertiser costs" is a priority over accounts being disabled... what about the refunds to the people whose ads were clicked?

Since ads rotate it would be hard to work out... well not really since any clicks attributed to this partner should be refunded (never happens that way though). And while it is nice to hear the concern about 'increased advertiser costs' once the accounts are disabled the money should go back to the advertisers... though I have a tendency to think it is just money Google lumps into the rest of their overfilled pockets....

Or this condescending gem: Still, making sure that your site stays squeaky clean policy-wise can sometimes take a little more mental effort than most of us might be willing to spare.

I hate when someone makes themselves as stupid as they are calling everyone else...

I know I am not that dumb... I may be able to convince you that you are, but sooner or later you are going to come around and then just feel sorry for the 'dumb' person who thought you were part of the dummies.... meanwhile they have you until it clicks and any time they gain is a plus for them.

Google's "Do No Evil" matra is wearing thin just like that. But they had a good long run where everyone belived in it... guess they will ride that one into the ground.

Greatest Living American

Okay Rand anything to have some fun. Stephen Colbert is the Greatest Living American.

Now you have to help me find the guy who owns SEOLoser.com - have a whole other campaign in mind for that one - DaveN watch out (though would gladly sit numnber 2 for that one with you).

Search Conference Chaos

No, this is not going to be a post about the after hours activities at NYC SES. What happens at SES stays at SES.

The search conference chaos I am referring to is the fast growing list of conferences and the chaos it will be creating in the near future.

There has always been the two major conferences - SES and PubCon and other fun smaller events like WITS. But now we have so many more players in the space including Danny Sullivan and crew's SMX premiering in Seattle, SEO Class - starting with a free event for non-profits, SEO Days with its array of All-Stars and the other star-studded Elite Retreat.

Every continent seems to be getting into it...

Like any good marketing effort, the sponsors and exhibitors will test the various venues and develop ROI analysis.

PubCon and SES will be going head to head in December - should be interesting... attendees will have to choose, as will speakers.

The landscape is getting crowded and chaotic, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. The small events meet a needed niche, whether through better one on one assistance, stronger teaching sessions or specific information about a particular vertical, the increased interest in these events is reflective of the growth of the search industry.

What is unfortunate is the impact on the social dynamics of the older events.... for example, Aaron Wall, part of Elite Retreat, used to be a regular attender of SES but has been missed at recent ones. The timing of the December PubCon will have a larger impact.

Free Web Analytics Class

The guys over at ClickTracks have a couple of web analytics gurus Jennifer Laycock and Matt Bailey giving a free online class Monday March 26th or Tuesday March 27th.

Free education is something I love....

I also this week did a panel for the EcomXpo. Fun to see how these things are done. We talked about the Future of Search... they should have it in their library if anyone is interested.