Posts filed under 'How (Not)-To's'November 16th, 2009
Anti-Phishing RemindersDefend yourself from scammers looking to steal your account
You may receive an e-mail that looks like it came from Yahoo!, taking you to something that looks like a Yahoo! Search Marketing log-in page. But in reality it can be a phishing scam from somebody who is trying to duplicate our login page to get your user name and password to hijack your account. Well, don’t fret. To help combat these phishing scams, we have installed what’s called a “sign-in seal” on our log-in page. Already in use by many financial institutions, a sign-in seal is a cookie-based secret message or image that is displayed on your computer only. (That is, the machine you use to log in to your account.) If you use more than one computer, you’ll need to set up your seal for each. You can create your own custom text message to use as a seal, or upload your own image. If you do not see your custom seal—and you haven’t cleared your cookies on your browser—when signing into your account, the site you’re on may be a “spoof” site designed to hoodwink you into giving up your valuable personal information. We encourage you to create a customized sign-in seal for your Yahoo! Search Marketing account today, then look for it every time you log in. You can set up your seal from your Yahoo! Search Marketing log-in page (the real one). How to recognize a scam email Don’t give out account or personal info to anyone Another way to help tell the faux from the friendly is by looking at the sender’s email address. Most of the official communications we send you will come from an address that looks like this: solutions (at) ysm.yahoo-email.com. If you get an email from a yahoo.com address asking you for info, it’s a good bet that it’s a fake. If you think you’ve been “phished” for info, please let us know by emailing phishing (at) cc.yahoo-inc.com, or forward the email in question to that address. To learn more about how you can keep from getting reeled in by “phishermen,” and how to guard against other Internet-based scams, visit these resources: — The Team December 23rd, 2008
Worst Gifts for the 2008 HolidaysRun, don’t walk, to take these back to the mall
Off Brand Electronics iGarbage Novelty Holiday Items Something Practical Limited Edition Darth Vader Bronze Statue Honorable Mention — Noah Belson, Content Quality Analyst/Regifter Photo courtesy of Flickr user Lola Geek. September 9th, 2008
Don’t You DareWhat not to do with your search account We’ve already nagged you plenty about the things that successful advertisers should do—and it isn’t just cleaning your room or taking out the trash. But sometimes knowing what not to do is just as important. When it comes to creating and managing your ads, avoiding certain mistakes before you make them can save serious time and headaches down the road. Here’s a quick breakdown of the pitfalls to avoid, which should help you realize a better return on your investment, and help our users see better search results. Content Titles and descriptions URLs Page Quality and Unacceptable Content By following these rules (or, depending on how you look at it, by not following them) you’ll help your account to have relevant keywords, targeted ads and URLs that lead users right to what you offer. It may be one of the few times in life when not doing something can have such positive results. — Noah Belson, Content Quality Analyst January 14th, 2008
The Three Biggest Mistakes in Search MarketingKnowing What Not to Do is Important, Too Editor’s Note: Here on the Yahoo! Search Marketing blog we usually like to “accentuate the positive,” as Johnny Mercer would say. But in search marketing, knowing what not to do can be just as vital as knowing what to do, especially when you’re just starting out. Veteran search marketer, Mike Moran author of Search Engine Marketing, Inc. and Do It Wrong Quickly: How the Web Changes the Old Marketing Rules, offers us some useful tips on how to avoid some of SM’s biggest pitfalls. Search marketing is becoming mainstream (as opposed to sidestream, I think), but I still find people drowning in that stream. They forget that search marketing is more about marketing than search, because the search technology piece seems so new and different. Woe to the search marketer who misses the marketing part—they’re likely to make one or more of these mistakes: 1: The Rank Amateur Error Search engines are personalizing more and more search results, so that different searchers get different results for the same keyword. If you focus only on rankings, soon you’ll wake up to find that only the search engines themselves know your rankings. Rather than slavishly reviewing your rankings, your time is better spent finding another metric that best captures the business value of your marketing efforts. 2: The Traffic Report Error Instead of studying traffic reports, focus on conversions—the sales that result from your search campaign, whether online or offline. Very often, search keywords that send heavy traffic to your site convert at low rates, while less popular keywords drive more revenue. Focus on the keywords that drive sales, not just traffic. 3: The 24/7 Sales Pitch Error However, that information targets people who already know they need to buy something—folks who know that your product (or your competitor’s) solves their problem. What about the people who know they have a problem, but have no idea what to do about it? Do you have the kind of problem-solving content that those customers are looking for? If you do, figure that some of those people will appreciate the information and stick around to buy from you. As you gain experience in search marketing, focusing on content across the entire buying cycle (including problem-oriented content for folks not ready to buy yet) will provide you with the widest net with which to snare searchers and turn them into customers. And you’ll be measuring just how many of them buy, instead of tracking only rankings or traffic. By avoiding these big three mistakes, you’ll be ready to make a few lesser mistakes—or maybe even get it right. —Mike Moran is an IBM Distinguished Engineer for IBM’s OmniFind search and analytics products October 26th, 2007
Beware “Phishing” ScamsFraudsters are Out There, Angling for Your Private Information We don’t want to cause a panic, but the fact is that bad guys who want your passwords are roaming the Net—and, they’ll grab your credit card and social security numbers, your home address, your date of birth and your mother’s maiden name, too, if they have the opportunity. These days, “phishing” scams are commonly received in just about everybody’s email. Usually, the phonies look just like the emails from large companies that many of us already do business with, like Amazon, eBay and Yahoo!. They even have official-looking logos and language that sounds like a typical, legitimate email. Fortunately, there are usually clues in these emails that should raise red flags as you read them. How to Recognize a Scam Email Recent Phishing Attempt Aimed at Our Advertisers
With a few changes, a scam artist then turned the above into the email below and randomly sent it out to thousands of recipients:
Don’t Give Out Account or Personal Info to Anyone Another way to help tell the faux from the friendly is by looking at the sender’s email address. Most of the official communications we send you will come from an address that looks like this: solutions(at)ysm.yahoo-email.com. If you get an email from a yahoo.com address asking you for info, it’s a good bet that it’s a fake. If you think you’ve been “phished” for info, please let us know by emailing phishing(at)cc.yahoo-inc.com, or forward the email in question to that address. To learn more about how you can keep from getting reeled in by “phishermen,” and how to guard against other Internet-based scams, visit these resources: —The Team
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