It's Universal Search Time!
I've been managing my Hot Topics through Google Alerts. A very cool service for a number of applications.
Since the initial launch of Universal Search back in March of '07, I've heard my alert come on from 3-5 times per week.
That is, until October of last year. That's when it started popping.
Then Danny Sullivan began making a big deal of it. And Universal Search made the top 10 list for bloggers and search marketers and managers.
The tipping point.
Now my Universal Search alert goes off from 3-14 times PER DAY. P.S. The Search Results indicated 329,000 in October. Lots happening here.
Years ago I was in the USAF. And I wanted to start a company. I spotted the cover of TIME magazine, and it had an illustration of the first Test Tube baby.
So, as an aspiring marketer, I called my stepdad and asked for some "venture capital" for my idea of making and selling Test Tube Babies. Once he picked himself off the floor, he told me "no"... but asked for my address.
A week later I received a few cases of test tubes (2,000 test tubes in stainless racks) and a note "Dear Mark, here's your startup funding. Good luck! Jack".
I won't cover the rest of the story here, but please ask... it's both hilarious and amazing. (And it ends on a high note).
Back to the story: I am a voracious reader. 30+ magazines a month. 100 newsletters. Over 100 web pages a day.
Back in 1984, print publications were everything. And a trend I noticed is that when a story made TIME, it was about 30 days until the same story migrated to another top-tier periodical. And on and on it went, until it finally made it to The National Enquirer or Star.
From credible to incredible.
Well, it's not on the cover yet. But it's easy to find "inside" (see cover below).
Universal Search-related technologies made 3 spots on the top 25 Trends for 2008.
Universal Search is with us, my friends. And we've been studying how to optimize multiple media types to help users gain online visibility for more than 4 years. We didn't know. But the handful of little links above the search field was sort of a clue.
The next post will get into something very interesting in regards to following threads. And a hint at a new tracking interface we're integrating in Q2-Q3 of this year.
And if you're interested, I'll also post the Test Tube Babies story. Just ask.
To your Universal Search Success,
Mark Alan Effinger
CEO & Lead Vocals
BTW: Tamar Weinberg has written a list of the top 250 Blog Posts for search marketers for 2007. A must read. Thanks Tamar!
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