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This is a bizarre story from Search Engine Land.

It seems Yahoo has struck a deal with Google, to have the option to show google results and adverts in the Yahoo results, (again), a deal it already has in place with Microsoft owned Bing.

You might start to wonder what the point of Yahoo is these days, as they no longer seem to be an independent search engine, and have a variety of different products of varying quality such as Yahoo answers, and have closed previously popular products such as Geocities and the Yahoo Directory.

It looks like revenue is key, as they will be entitled to a share of Google advert revenue, but are Yahoo still considered a player in the modern search world? Interestingly, they will keep their deal with Bing, meaning you could see results from Bing and Google.

It looks like they have a way to go before any deal is finalised, with anti trust issues in the EU and India, plus requiring scrutiny from the American Department of Justice, which I'm guessing will be like our monopolies commission.

Story source: Search Engine Land

Do you optimise your site for Yahoo or worry about Yahoo traffic? I suspect not, no doubt like us you optimise for Google and any Yahoo traffic is a bonus. But maybe you are a Yahoo fan or get a significant portion of your traffic from Yahoo?

If sending out a marketing newsletter, make sure your website is working!

At least it's reassuring to know that even the big boys have problems, and they use wordpress!

More importantly, has anyone's central heating packed up yet? This has to be silly season for plumbers and heating engineers!

Watching the breakfast news this morning and there was representative of the steel industry who gave his take on what could be done, and what he wants the government to do.

His argument is that the UK Steel industry is being decimated by unfair trading practices with the market being flooded by heavily subsidised Chinese steel. He doesn't want any government subsidies, just a level playing field.

If the EU stopped the unfair and uncompetitive practice of cheap government subsidised imports, then commercial steel plants across Europe would be economically viable. Apparently the UK steel plants are optimised and efficient, but it must be hard to compete if your competition is heavily subsidised. Allegedly it takes the EU 12 months to debate and come up with a decision, where as the USA can debate and decide in a matter of weeks, as cheap Chinese imports seems to be a global issue.

An interesting point was made about UK business rates, and any new investment in plant, machinery etc, actually means a heavy increase in business rates, putting off investment and expansion in industry.

It all seemed a fair argument and if true, a crying shame if we are losing manufacturing capacity due to unfair overseas trading practices?

I suppose this could fuel the anti EU argument, but in my mind, it would be nice if we started protecting our some of remaining manufacturing capacity before it's lost forever

I done really good theres nuffin I dont know about grammar

no comment.....

Welcome aboard Susie, and congratulations on your new business venture 

Hope you don't mind, I moved you over to the Start up forum as you've asked a great question.

Network marketing can take many forms and is hard work, seen as a chore or necessary evil. There's nothing worse going to breakfast or network meeting groups and been sold to death, with everyone talking at you and not listening. But a lot of people enjoy them and it can vary widely depending on the group you join, and the number of people that go.

Cold calling a contact list is horrible if you're not used to it or lack a direct sales background. I hate the telephone and am the worlds worst salesman. But as much as we all moan about cold calling, it remains a highly effective way of generating leads if you can master it (I never did!)

This is why I'm such a fan of online forums and communities. You softsell via things like your forum signatures and profiles, but actually interact with people. I get most of my suppliers from forum interaction, as you form a picture about the person you are dealing with.

You also have the opportunity to become known as someone of authority if your particular field, so people will naturally come to you for advice, and then they are a hot sales lead.

Main thing about lead generation, from cold calls, emails or face to face networking is to not go straight for the sale. Few products and services can be sold on a first contact, unless you happen to hit people who are in a buying decision mood for your service.

This is where things like PPC campaigns or targeted Facebook campaigns come in, but that's a different post!

Thing to remember is you're no the only one who feels apprehensive, most of us have been in your shoes, and there are various ways and means of conquering network marketing and making it work for you.

Hopefully we can entice you to become active here! Here is a good place to start for some general marketing topics, but feel free to dive into any discussions or start new ones

Watched episodes 1 and 2 of the latest Apprentice last night. Judging by the number of muppets, I'd say most of them were actors or struggling drama students

Mind you, I did like to see Claude as the new right hand man, who spends most of the time trying to keep a straight face and looks like he is about to burst into hysterical fits of laughter as soon as the cameras stop 

Bizzarre! definitely is also a word I struggle with. I wonder why so many people have a problem? Maybe too many "i"s?

Also have some weird ones,

change

fuel 

and one on the list which I can't spell for love or money, maintanenece 

Got forwarded an email this morning which was marked as suspicious.

At first glance, assumed it was genuine. Mail looks ok and not the usual phishing type emails, it's for some cheap web hosting and we do have various test accounts set up. But 5 minutes digging soon set off alarm bells, and is indeed a phishing email with a nasty macro virus in the word attachment for those unfortunate enough to open it.

But a little more digging out of curiosity made me realise that the actual company was also a victim (hence why name concealed). They are in the process of damage limitation, which for a hosting company is a bit embarrassing if you have perceived to be hacked!

But it looks like it is an email spoofing attack, ie people faking a genuine businesses email address and claiming to be them. With a respectable web page and social media presence, the theory is more people are likely to be suckered.

Unfortunately their Facebook page is taking a bit of a battering.

So the poor old business owner is currently knee-deep in reputation management crisis mode. I'd question the effectiveness, as it appears earlier posts were being dealt with by a standard response from a colleague/friend or supplier.

But it seems the company is now responding directly and fire fighting the negativity.

You have to be sympathetic, and shows it can and does happen to anyone. But if the worst does happen, be prepared.

If the same thing happened to your business, 2 questions.

• How would you respond/deal with it?
• How would you know it had happened in the first place? 

If you don't the answer to one or both questions, then it's time to start planning, rather than a headless chicken approach if the worst does strike.

• Response is down to your customer service and social media skills. Be upfront, honest, don't argue, don't be confrontational, sound knowledgeable, sound in control, sound like you have a plan. Plenty of time for panic and alcohol later!
• Be aware of your social media accounts. If you use them infrequently, have notification emails when someone leaves a post, comment, etc. If soacial media accounts are not used, delete them! One thing less to worry about. Set up alerts such as Google Alerts looking for brand mentions or any trigger keywords you feel are appropriate. maybe " feedback"

Be interesting to see how this particular example pans out, and I hope they get a handle on it. Unfortunately this kind of thing can now make or break a small business.

Have you had any reputation issues you want to confess to, or situations you had to manage delicately. Tell me yours and I'll tell you mine