I use my.yahoo as my homepage and I noticed over the weekend that they had implemented the nofollow attribute to all of the links. I use Firefox with the Search Status extension that will automatically highlight all nofollowed links on a page in pink; so when I logged in on Saturday my yahoo homepage looked like a big bucket of strawberry ice cream.

It was said early on when nofollow came out that although Yahoo supposedly wouldn’t pass any link popularity through nofollow’d links; they would still follow the links. Has this changed? As far as I could tell (although I never tested it), MyYahoo wasn’t passing any juice so I don’t really get why they’d do this. Maybe they were. (Damn! I should’ve taken better advantage of it if that’s the case.)

I guess I really don’t care about this one way or the other, but unless I want to turn off my SEO add-on, I now hate my homepage. Maybe it’s time for a new one…

*****UPDATE****** 8/28/08

Yahoo must’ve heard about my threats because they have removed the nofollow attribute from MyYahoo. I feel so loved.

Obviously LinkWorth is here to make your link building step much easier, however, it should never stop here. In a perfect world you can hire your own staff and have them do all of the leg work for your company and find great links for your site.

I’ve been wanting to make a very educational post on this topic but after doing some digging around, I found one of the more well thought out and informative posts that says it all. For those that aren’t familiar with SEOmoz, Rand is one of the more well known public figures of SEO and often speaks at the search related trade shows. He published his presentation from a recent show and it says everything I would have said and more. When you have a little time, read his “Give It Up” presentation.

Finally…a real trade show. Bring it on! After a fairly rigorous travel schedule on the conference circuit last year, this year has been pretty quiet. And to be quite honest, I’m going stir crazy!

We’ll be out in force for SES San Jose (Aug. 18-21) and hope to see as many of you out there as we can. Stop by our booth and grab some of those annoying-yet-addictive sizzle magnets or a limited-edition LinkWorth t-shirt…we’d love to chat. While you’re there, don’t forget to enter to win a dream date with the one and only Jeffrey Marek!

We have updated our Terms of Service, section 8, Price Schedule and Payout. This update is mainly applicable to Advertiser accounts.

This change will also bring future offerings that will benefit both Advertiser and Partner accounts. Look to see something announced within the next month.

I’m not sure why I didn’t look at the dot com while researching my last blog about Knol, but something made me think of it today. Pretty interesting move by using the name “Knol”, since someone named “H Knol”, from the Netherlands, has owned and operated Knol dot com since November of 2002. (whois source)

After translating this page correctly (Yahoo absolutely sucked at it!), presumably ‘Knol’ him/herself, discussed the recent launch of Google’s Knol,

Google is working on “Knol”
UPDATE 24-7-2008 UPDATE 24-7-2008

On various Web sites (including nu.nl, Google Blog, Blog Hosting 040) is now officially read that Google now has its own wikipedia started with the name Knol. There are articles by professionals and put these can be appreciated by readers.

And that we move google can appreciate Clearly, the focus on, especially our domain, is again grown considerably.

It needs no explanation that we are not here to follow up, as in december.

NOTE: We sell steam cleaning equipment and don’t sell our domain !!

Friday 14 december:
On a blog from Google published an article which reported that Google was working on Knol. This is a kind of combination of Wikipedia and Encyclopedia personal paginabouwer Squidoo. Advertising revenue goes to the Internet to share with the authors.

Knol is an abbreviation for “knowledge”, speaking of “nol”
Now you will think what that has to do with Tuberous Stoomreinigings Systemen?

Well, from that Friday there is immediately a true run in areas that had the word “Knol” in itself, as also the domain knol.com.

This has resulted in tens of thousands of visitors who came to take a look at the website of Knol.com! In a short time we had received visitors from more than 130 countries from around the world.

Fortunately, the website was able to be able strongholds and the site remained in the air.
But that was not in, we were also alleman by Jan and asked if we wanted to sell the domain. Unfortunately, we have to disappoint everyone, how beautiful their offerings sometimes has been.

In short, it was a special experience …

So imagine that. You sell steam cleaning products in the Netherlands operating under your last name, then one of the world’s wealthiest companies comes along and chooses your name to run one of its future products under. Would you sell? Or would you remain as is and constantly have huge bandwidth bills due to Googler’s constantly hitting the wrong site?

I checked to see what trademarks there were listed at the USPTO.gov and the only thing that came up with Google’s registration in December of 2007. I dealt with a trademark dispute many years ago in another business and can see where the original Knol owner wouldn’t have much of a dispute, other than keeping Google out of the geographic region where Knol products are sold. But how likely is that!

There are also a couple of previous owners of knol dot com that might be kicking themselves in the rears for letting the name go. Looking on Archive.org for knol dot com, it would appear a company named Knoll and Company, Inc had ownership back in 1999 & 2000, then another company called the KnollGroup ran the domain for 2001 and most of 2002. Think they wish they had a do-over? There are also 72 Whois changes for the domain, so I’m sure there are probably more.

Just a little further insight into Google’s new Knol.

For some reason, the name reminds me of the old “Gary Gnu Show”. “No Gnews is Good Gnews!”

As defined on the front page of Knol:

A knol is an authoritative article about a specific topic.

Of course, if you look at the top left of the page, where the logo is, it defines it as:

A unit of knowledge

Maybe the 2nd one is their slogan and the 1st is the actual definition. Just to make sure I understood it completely, I do what I always do and went to my trusty online dictionary and did a quick search to define knol. There is only 1 result, but it links to some acronym finder site and this is what it tells me:

Knoll (postal suffix)

😐 . . . I’m confused now.

I have always thought ‘Google’ was a very creative and clever name. The story of how they came to the spelling of their name is a fun read, but armed with this knowledge it makes me wonder where ‘Knol’ came from. Maybe someone has some insight to this and can enlighten us.

Anyhow, Knol is going to be the new wikipedia. You submit articles about a topic and I’m sure that after a few years, it will be the predominant top listings in their search results. The only problem I have with Wikipedia and possibly Knol is the fact it can be slanted towards whoever controls it. For example, in Wikipedia there are people who govern different categories and ultimately have control over what is allowed and what is not. I see so many times where a business about “Widgets” is listed as a resource, but if another business about “Widgets” tries to provide a link to their site, it’s rejected. If the person rejecting has ties to the first business, is it really fair to the second business trying to add their link? There are good editors, but all it takes is one bad apple to ruin the whole thing.

What does this all mean? Go to Knol right now and start adding good info about your site while the service is still new.

The SES San Jose show is right around the corner, August 18th through the 21st. We wrote a blog entry a couple of months ago talking about this show, along with a SES coupon for anyone interested in attending.

This is just a little reminder the show is only a month away. If you have yet to make plans and are going to attend, you might want to jump on the plans since hotels fill up.

LinkWorth will have a booth and we would love for any customers to stop by and say hi. The show is always one of the best of the year being right next to the Google campus. Along with the show, the Google Dance is worth the trip alone. With billions of dollars, you can imagine how cool of a party you can throw!

Hope to see you at SES San Jose.

TechCrunch is definitely a site to keep up with since they seem to get all of the news related to new businesses, funding, mergers & acquisitions, along with anything else. They’re definitely one of the feeds I pay attention to. Where else can you find out about startups and new videos by Radiohead!

Today a headline caught my attention about executives in Silicon Valley hopped up on Provigil. I was familiar with the prescription drug name, but I was unfamiliar with what it is prescribed for.

Luckily, Arrington did a great job, as always, explaining everything about it. Or did he? It’s a drug used to keep you awake. Maybe like speed, but without apparent side effects that come with most other drugs. At least this is how Arrington is selling it on his website, Tennessee suboxone doctors can help you recovering from drug addiction.

I thought I would do a little digging around to see if this really had ‘no side effects’ and this is what I found:

The most commonly observed adverse events ( ≥ 5%) associated with the use of PROVIGIL more frequently than placebo-treated patients in the placebo-controlled clinical studies in primary disorders of sleep and wakefulness were headache, nausea, nervousness, rhinitis, diarrhea, back pain, anxiety, insomnia, dizziness, and dyspepsia. (Source)

While these aren’t really that bad, it does show there “ARE” side effects. Of course, I wanted to get the information directly from the Provigil site to see what they say. I was a bit shocked at what I read:

PROVIGIL may cause you to have a serious rash or a serious allergic reaction that may result in hospitalization or be life-threatening. If you develop a rash, hives, sores, swelling, or trouble swallowing or breathing, stop taking PROVIGIL and call your doctor right away or get emergency treatment.

PROVIGIL is not approved for use in children.

If you experience chest pain, depression, anxiety, hallucinations, psychosis, mania, thoughts of suicide, aggression, or other mental problems, stop taking PROVIGIL and call your doctor right away or get emergency treatment.

PROVIGIL does not replace sleep and may not stop your ES completely. Do not drive or do other dangerous activities until you know how PROVIGIL affects you. Avoid drinking alcohol while taking PROVIGIL.

PROVIGIL has the potential to be abused or lead to dependence. Please use only as directed.

Tell your doctor if you have: history of mental health problems (including psychosis), heart problems or had a heart attack, high blood pressure, liver or kidney problems, a history of drug or alcohol abuse or addiction, or are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding.

Women who use hormonal birth control may have a higher chance of getting pregnant, while taking PROVIGIL, and for one month after stopping. Talk to your doctor about other birth control methods while taking PROVIGIL.

Common side effects of PROVIGIL are headache, nausea, nervousness, stuffy nose, diarrhea, back pain, anxiety, trouble sleeping, dizziness, and upset stomach. (Source)

WHAT!! There should be a large spike in Silicon Valley children in around 9 months! Seems Arrington should have put a little more research into a post about drugs. This quote from his site shows he gives the complete opposite facts about it being habit forming:

There are few side effects to Provigil compared to stimulants and it is supposedly not habit forming. That, of course, doesn’t mean it’s safe to take it just to be able to stay awake for 20 hours a day.

I doubt he meant to peddle drugs, but after I read it, I was like “Hmm, maybe I should check it out.” I’m sure I’m not the only one. The people who think Arrington walks on water will probably have a script in hand by the end of the day.

The rare to see, but always fun, Hall of Shame Award is being handed out to a new person today. Although there are potential winners daily in my email box, I try to make this award hard to win because it only makes those who do win that much more special.

Today we would like to extend the virtual trophy to someone named “Brian Scott”, or as he refers to himself on his non-CAN SPAM compliant unsolicited email, “Mr. Googling”. It is time to see the winner at work now:

Where have all the customers gone?

How come my phone has stopped ringing?

Have you been asking your self these questions?

I know why!

The answer is Google If you are not advertising on Google you are not reaching your customers.

Google is the new Yellow Pages.

Google’s PayPer Click advertising program AdWords is the place you need to advertise your business. I can help you get your business listed on the first page of Google. Do you only do business locally? I can target your Google AdWords campaign to only show ads in the areas you service.

To learn more about how I can help you get more business, email me at mrgoogling@gmail.com or visit my website at www.GetYourBusinessOnGoogle.com

Or call Brian Scott @ 813-506-8142.

I debated on whether or not to list the contact info, but I guess he is blasting it out to everyone, so if he doesn’t have a problem with it, why should I, right? If the email is not convincing enough to win such a coveted award, let me present what sealed the deal. Here are some screenshots of Mr. Googling’s website:

A nice design is always a way to start:

Next is some text that these guys might be interested in:

How do you follow up stealing someone else’s content? Follow it up with even more content theft compliments of this site

How in the world can someone follow up two examples of content theft? How about stuffing the rest of your page with keywords:

Then a close up view of the nice job of plain view keyword stuffing:

Mr. Googling has apparently figured out the next evolution of the Yellow Pages. Why else would he go through all this trouble to try and earn my business? He can obviously get you listed in the AdWords section of Google, but what will he do to your natural listings? Stealing others content, keyword stuffing and email spam is definitely not the way you don’t want to “Get Your WebSite Noticed”! But thank you Mr. Googling for being a deserving winner.

That’s right, folks, eComXpo (July 9-10) is nigh upon us and I want to extend an invitation to all LinkWorthers to stop by our “booth” and say hello. It’s free…convenient…and we’d love to chat!

We participated in this virtual trade show last fall and although it’s a far cry from a “real” trade show, it was an interesting experience. We’ll be completely staffed up both days so I encourage you to come by. It’s a great opportunity to put a virtual face with a real name!