Today I'd like to debunk a handful of myths related to paid inclusion, specifically Yahoo Site Search Submit.

In an attempt to ease the daily burden of countless search marketers, I offer the following suggestions for an SEM Custom Rules plug that would automatically take the following actions in Outlook's inbox.

Last Friday, a federal district court judge ruled that the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) may file a class action suit against a major retailer with a strong e-commerce presence. The claim is that the company's Web site lacks the basic coding attributes that are required to enable blind customers to access the site. There is another question from the search strategy perspective: Why did this company omit these basic design elements? Doing so not only limits accessibility, but decreases performance on search engines.

Maybe it's the name connection, but I'm much more used to playing David than Goliath. I was the shortest kid in my grade well into high school, I root for the ever-underachieving Mets, and, until recently, I worked in an industry struggling to gain a seat at the grown-up table. Mercifully, some things change. I grew taller, the Mets have the best record in the Majors, and more and more, search engine marketing is finding a seat where it belongs.

This week, MSN rolled out behaviorally targeted display ads. MSN monitors audiences for Web page views and search history; it serves up relevant ads accordingly across the MSN network. And with that rollout, MSN has done a lot more than just offer a new app for advertisers. It's blurred the lines that divide display ads from search.

It seems like every week a new study is released touting the continued growth of paid search advertising and the shift of marketers' ad dollars from traditional ad media to newer channels such as search engine marketing. This news is obviously of great interest to me and our industry. But what does it mean to Madison Avenue?

Much of what little strategy exists in search marketing is aimed towards the first click from a results page (also called a SERP). The position, the messaging and the landing page experience all assume that we've captured that all-important first click. But what about the subsequent clicks?

In a world where all media are digital and all content is available on demand, search becomes vital for consumers, publishers, and marketers alike. In trying to determine how advertising can best fit into this new environment and how search professionals can best prepare for this convergence, I think we need to do a deeper dive into why paid search work so well today.

You think tagging's a game? A plaything? Something people do for fun? So does Google. In other words, you should take this game very, very seriously.