Yahoo has published a paper discussing how a search engine algorithm can consider an entire website into a hierarchy, according to SEO By the Sea.

I find this discussion interesting because search engines provide results on the best individual pages referencing a search term as opposed to the best sites. So if you are looking for an "internet book store" you get Amazon.com as the first result, but also a mixture of links to "deep" pages from sites that aren't nearly as popular as the most trafficked book stores.

The web quickly moved from directories to search, but considering the depth of a topic as part of the search algorithm could swing things back towards recommending the most comprehensive sites on a subject rather than keywords on individual pages.

Another approach could be Google's integrated search could provide tabbed results for "category" along with its search results. It's time search engines to consider the whole as the some of its parts.

The increasing number of TV viewers watching programming online is forcing the networks to develop integrated marketing programs that drive audiences in both directions.

There are tough questions to be answered -- What are the best ways to use the web to complement TV programs, and how can the Internet be used to get more people to watch shows live rather than stream them later?

For most folks viewing encompasses both media simultaneously -- 78 percent go online while watching TV, according to a Harris Interactive poll conducted for search engine blinkx. Only 25 percent go online to see Intenet content related to the show they are watching, which can't please network execs. This is partly because many shows don't promote related content during the shows, with the notable exception of the USA network.

However, 40% of those who are looking for related material are searching for products/services  that appeared in or were advertised during the program they're watching. Perhaps more shows should promote interactive chats during or immediately after their broadcasts featuring someone - actor, writer, producer -- who works on the show. Getting people to talk about the show keeps the interest going and gives even more topics for discussions when people return to the office the next day. I've often thought that sporting events are ripe for interactive chats. Imagine the taunting between Red Sox and Yankees fans while those games are being telecast!

Another survey says that the number of people who watch TV shows online has surged from 25 to 43 percent over the last year, according to Solutions Research Group. The survey also found that 20% of the American online population watches TV on the web on a weekly basis -- more than the 14% who watch 's video-on-demand on cable.

Also disconcerting to the networks looking to tie up advertisers -- of viewers 18-34, one-third who had seen a prime time show during the past day saw a time-shifted program. In households with a DVR, 55% of the leading 20 shows were time-shifted. Prime time is no longer must see TV.

The networks should find some contests or promotions that rely on live TV watching. Only reality shows that are water cooler fodder have the luxury of expecting the majority of their audience to watch live, so networks need to give away promotional items or reveal some information that compels people to watch live.

Local content companies CitySearch and Marchex have teamed up to share content and ad revenue. According to Adotas, Marchex will integrate CitySearch content into its network of 150,000 local sites and will generate revenue from CitySearch's ad network.

While the companies remain separate, this type of consolidation is not unusual as smaller companies look for ways to compete with search giants Google and Yahoo who are increasingly paying attention to this space.

The local market remains highly fragmented, but the opportunity is huge and largely untapped. From media companies (TV and newspaper) to directories to the search engine, everyone want a share of the local businesses who are slowly moving online.

There can be great tension when the folks who are responsible for search engine optimization are far from the power centers that control website design and make the final decisions.

The goal of garnering traffic is often at odds with the design of a website, and in-house SEO experts often lose the battle with the company owner on implementing changes. Occam's Razor has a killer post about how to use analytics to convince upper management of the importance of SEO in meeting objects.

Numbers often speak louder than words, and that's a language that even the webd esign department can understand when put into nice graphs and charts. What looks good might not be what attracts an audience or gets people to stick around. Letting the data speak for itself rather than relying on the power of persuasion is a great strategy.

A TV show rejected by ABC that moved to the web is now coming to TV on NBC. Quarterlife, a semi-successful program about post-college artsy urbanites (it could be called 20something) has been running as short webisodes on MySpace, YouTube and Quarterlife.com.

Quaterlife's strange journey to the small screen happened primarily because of two factors -- the writer's strike left the networks bereft of new content, and because it is was developed by Thirtysomething creators Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick who have a track record of success in movies and TV. 

While we shouldn't expect a flood of Internet content to make it to prime time, if Quarterlife finds success, perhaps other web shows will follow. If Cavemen from a Geico ad can make it to ABC, then there's hope for independent video producers.

The series premiere tonight at 10 pm should also boost the Quarterlife community, a website that is looking for web programming that could be suitable for a TV audience. It's a great tie in to get the TV promotion for the website, which is looking for real versions of the fictional Quarterlife folks.

Video search engine Blinkx signed a deal with consultants/innovators Denuo Group to help the company develop best practices for targeting video advertisements. Blinkx has the broadest and deepest archive of professionally crafted video, and the company has brought in Denuo to help it best monetize the content, according to MediaPost.

Among other things, the companies said they would collaborate on projects that would explore how the ad industry can deliver online video advertising campaigns that map to the right audience, are delivered in the right context, and run in the most appropriate form.

This agreement points out that we're still in the early growth phase for online video. Despite YouTube and the continued growth of video streams, the marketing and advertising mechanisms needed to make it profitable are not yet in place. There will be blood spilled as the online video and video advertising industries consolidate, and as advertising models such as pre-rolls get shaped or shuttered.

Blinkx has created an affiliate program for sharing embedded videos where referring publishers keep half of they ad revenue. Syndication is key for Blinkx to gain market share.

Blinkx still has the change to become the Google of professional video search. The company says it will launch a broadband TV channel later this year.

Nobody knows maps and local destinations like the people who live their. Mobile vendors and mapping companies are tapping into the social lives of users to provide up-to-date information.

ABI Research says user-generated content will improve online maps and provide timely content to mobile handsets. The User-Generated Digital Maps and POIs report cites examples of mapping company TomTom and mobile software company GyPSii as trend-setters in using users to supplement "professional" content.

"As connected PNDs, handset-based pedestrian navigation, and location-based services begin to emerge, user-generated location content will become a key component that permits companies to enhance their services with real-time information in a cost-effective way that strengthens their communities and brand names," says ABI Research principal analyst Dominique Bonte. "Initiatives like GyPSii may ultimately reach a status comparable with existing social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace."

Wow, those are pretty strong words. Maybe Twitter is a more analogous future path for GyPSii, but you get the point.

Ad agency Avenue A | Razor fish reports that it is spending more on larger focused buys while moving away from portals and smaller ad networks. The agency said its spending on portals dropped 5 percent in 2007 while vertical sites now constitutes 39 percent of its spending. CPMs on verticals rose by 30 percent, 10 percent more than average.

Agencies such as Avenue A are streamlining their purchases by going with networks that can provide a targeted audience, and we can expect that trend to continue. The agency said it spent 50 percent more with the top 5 ad networks but spending elsewhere remained at the 2006 level.

Our billings with ad networks grew 34% year over year, with nearly all of this increase in spending directed toward the top five networks. The top five saw an increase of more than 50% over 2006, while total billings for all other networks were flat.

Portals are the long hanging fruit of advertising, and while they continue to attract large followings, they'll have to do a better job at targeting if they want to raise their CPMs and please the largest agencies.

Via MediaPost