Q&A: Dennis Mortensen on Yahoo Analytics

Dennis Mortensen has worked in the analytics, optimization and online marketing industry since 1996. He is an Associate Web Analytics Instructor at the University of British Columbia, the Author of data driven insights with Yahoo! Web Analytics, and a frequent speaker on the subject of analytics and online marketing.
Mortensen joined up IndexTools in 2004 and worked as COO until the company was acquired by Yahoo! Inc., in May 2008. Today he is the Director of Data Insights at Yahoo! and sits on the Board of Directors at the Web Analytics Association. He also writes the popular analytics blog, VisualRevenue.com/blog.
I caught up with Mortensen to discuss the current state of analytics, how Yahoo fits in and why people should stop comparing Yahoo's analytics product with Google's.
Search marketing stats round up
Here's a selection of recent social media stats, taken from a range of sources, including Econsultancy's Search Marketing Statistics document, which forms part of the Internet Statistics Compendium, and other reports...
Will funding flow to the UK media sector in 2010?
The Great Recession has hit the UK startup scene especially hard. Funding has all but dried up for startups and just a few short months ago Jonathan Kestenbaum, CEO of the National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts said that many startups faced an "unimaginable dilemma" in trying to survive.
But are things looking up for UK companies, especially those in the media sector? According to accounting and business advisory firm Grant Thornton UK LLP, the answer may be yes.
Google fights scammers with one strike and you're out policy
Malicious ads are on the rise and just as AdWords is an appealing platform for legitimate advertisers looking for a massive audience, Google's self-serve ad service is a juicy target for scammers looking for the same.
From ads that hawk scammy get-rich-quick products to ads that lead users to web pages infested with malware, malicious ads pose a significant threat to Google. After all, if users come to fear where Google's results (paid or unpaid) might lead them, Google risks losing one of its most valuable assets: the trust and confidence of its users.
3am site goes from swearing off SEO to keyword stuffing in 3 months
The Daily Mirror's 3am.co.uk gossip site has gone from disavowing SEO and promising to concentrate on building a loyal audience - to stuffing its HTML titles with as many keywords as it can think of. And then adding some more. Before finally making sure Britney is in there.
Time tackles technology with Techland
It's a blogger's world and print publications just live in it. Thanks to the power of internet self-publishing, mini media empires have been built by small companies and passionate individuals working from their homes. Increasingly, these online mini media empires have complicated the picture for print publications whose online presences have been forced to compete on less favorable terms for a more fragmented online audience.
In an effort to stay relevant, print publications are trying to sup up their internet efforts. The latest example of that: Time's new tech/geek blog, Techland.

The market for paid news: does size really matter?
How much is the news worth? It's a question that's weighing on the minds of many news media execs these days as they grapple with the challenge of figuring out new business models.
Paid content looks to be a big part of those new business models, but there's one question that still dogs execs: just how big is the market for paid news?
Why newspapers need brand managers
It's a subject that turns the stomachs of most journalists. After all in journalism, "marketing" and "branding" are dirty words. But given the media fall out as a backdrop for the global recession, it's time that newspapers, and the journalists who write for them, realise that the masthead of their paper is a brand.
Knowing what people think and feel when they see your newspaper's brand is more important than ever.
Can Tim Armstrong make AOL king of content by 2010?
AOL's new CEO Tim Armstrong has been quickly buying up talent and increasing AOL's media properties in the lead up to the company's tkt from parent Time Warner later this year.
At the Roosevelt hotel in New York today, Armstrong went into AOL's continuing strategy.
AOL's CEO announced that online content can be "much better."
"That's why we are making such a big bet there," he said during a keynote appearance at the annual Media and Money conference, hosted by Nielsen and Dow Jones.
It's true that content online has a long way to go. But is AOL the one to make it happen?
Q&A: Pluck's Stephanie Himoff on social media for publishers
Pluck provides social media platforms for brands and publishers, including News International, The Guardian, and Trinity Mirror.
I've been talking to Stephanie Himoff, who directs Pluck's European sales, about the company's social media tools, and how publishers can use UGC to drive traffic and increase engagement...
