Search Engine Optimization News Blog

Yahoo is reportedly filing a definitive proxy statement with the SEC along with the accompanying white proxy card, in an attempt to solicit proxies for the upcoming shareholders meeting in late July.

Carl Icahn, in the wake of the failed deal with Microsoft earlier this year, had informed Yahoo’s chairman and board that a number of shareholders had asked him to lead a proxy fight to attempt to remove the current board and to establish a new board which would attempt to negotiate a successful merger with Microsoft.

His letter stated that he had ” purchased approximately 59 million shares and share-equivalents of Yahoo…and formed a 10-person slate which will stand for election against the current board.”

Yahoo is advising stockholders to read the statement for important information, and urging them to use the white proxy card to vote for the 9 members who were nominated for re-election. This comprises the current board, less one member who is retiring.

Icahn started a proxy battle by buying up over a billion dollars of stock in Yahoo in order to be able to try for a overturn of the seated board and / or force Yahoo to reach an agreement with Microsoft. He claimed that the deal with Microsoft had been ‘bungled’ and warned that an agreement would have to be reached to avoid a proxy fight.

Many shareholders are still undecided, and apparently Yahoo hopes that the time bought by postponing the stockholders’ meeting will give them time to reassure their members that Yahoo can do just fine alone.

The shareholders meeting is scheduled for late July, and there have been a flurry of white and gold proxy cards that represent not only Yahoo’s recommendations, but Carl Icahn’s proposed roster and several other prospective board nominees as well.

Yahoo released a statement to its shareholders reminding them that they can still change their vote, saying in no uncertain terms that:

“We do not believe that election of the Icahn Entities’ nominees to our Board of Directors is in the best interests of our stockholders. You may receive proxy solicitation materials from the Icahn Entities or other persons or entities affiliated with them, including an opposition proxy statement and proxy card. OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE FOR THE ELECTION OF ALL OF THE BOARD’S NOMINEES ON THE ENCLOSED WHITE PROXY CARD AND URGES YOU NOT TO SIGN OR RETURN ANY PROXY CARD SENT TO YOU BY THE ICAHN ENTITIES. Even if you have previously signed a proxy card sent by the Icahn Entities, you have the right to change your vote by using the enclosed WHITE proxy card to vote by telephone, by Internet or by signing, dating and returning the enclosed WHITE proxy card in the postage-paid envelope provided. Only the latest dated proxy you submit will be counted. We urge you to disregard any proxy card sent to you by the Icahn Entities or any person other than Yahoo!.”

The intent seems plain; Yahoo is determined to remain as is, and will bitterly fight any attempts at hostile take-overs whether they are initiated from without or within.

The drop-and-drag feature is probably the coolest, at least from the outside looking in. You can drag a picture off a web page and drop it straight into Flickr, and crop and rotate it with a click of a button. Like-wise, you can drag files straight in from your desktop.

There are multiple features you can request, and they’ve taken into account the problem of “I’m in the middle of a project, and this or that tool would be really handy right about now…but I don’t want to have to restart!”

With Browser Plus there will be no need to restart or close and reopen your browser when adding new features. You can imagine how appealing that will be when building your next website! Images are the next big thing for SEO, so take advantage of this easy way to add them to all of your pages. 

Another cool thing is that the application will only run when you are visiting sites where it is approved (right now that will only include Yahoo or partner owned sites), and shut off when you leave. Also it will only open one copy even across multiple browsers, so slow down will be negligible if it exists at all.

Yahoo is encouraging people to check out the browser application, and leave them feedback. This product is expected to go fully public soon and support third parties as well.

Random internet users were asked how long they study the results and how far down the list they normally go before clicking on a result. An overwhelming majority don’t continue searching beyond the first page, and a healthy chunk never even make it past the fold!

The numbers have steadily been climbing since the survey was first run in 2002.
 
68 % said they only look at the first few results or possibly the first page. That’s up from 48% five years ago. The number of searchers that make it past page three has dropped by more than half.

It’s obvious that being in the very first listing for any search result is becoming more and more important. We can expect to see this trend progress, as well – people are going to continue to expect yet faster service and patience will continue to dwindle.

So shore up your site, work on organic link building and other good SEO tactics to increase your visibility There’s going to be fierce competition to stay on top of the hill!

For those of you lucky enough to make the trip, the SMX Advanced Conference will be held June 3rd and 4th at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle.

An evening reception on June 2nd is planned at the Olympic Sculpture Park to kick of the event, then the expo hall will open at 10:00 the next morning after a 45 minute keynote speech by Microsoft’s Kevin Johnson.

The schedule for June 3rd is jam packed with everything from link building to search marketing and conversion optimization. It culminates in another 45 presentation, this one delivered by the longtime Googler and spam fighter Matt Cutts.

SMX After Dark will allow mingling and networking to continue at the Odyssey Maritime Museum until 9:00 PM.

June 4th will be ‘developer day’, with seminars on organic and paid search continuing throughout the day and a heavy emphasis on website evaluation and review.

For those unable to make the trip, news on the event will be available here next week!

There was a rush to the Google Webmaster Blog last week as rumors were flying that Google was discussing its algorithms.

With over 450 tweaks last year and a multitude of adjustments so far in 2008, we have seen quite a bit of activity indicating changes in the search engine giant’s inner computations.

The Page Rank has bounced, the SERPs have gone wild. New penalties have sprung up and inexplicable ‘manual’ visits from Googlers have spooked several up and coming web entrepreneurs.

No wonder people want answers! Alas, the secrets seem as locked away as ever.

Udi Manber, Google VP of engineering in the Search Quality division posted a lengthy announcement that touched on the various facets of Google’s attempts to improve search results, broaden international markets and provide new avenues for search as well as better results for all searches.

However, he admitted that Google has been reluctant to disclose its Ranking procedure and algorithm secrets. He said, “…if we make our ranking formulas too accessible, we make it easier for people to game the system.”

Manber went on to assure everyone that Google was constantly working to eliminate spam, fine tune their requirements, and provide the best experience for consumers and webmasters alike.

Nothing was mentioned of the rumored Google Backup Tool, but hopes are still high that an announcement will be made soon.

In the meantime, the secrets of the tweaks remain a mystery!