Global Warming and the Internet - 5 Online Finds

August 2, 2007 at 8:37 am · Filed under Global Warming, Keyword Experiment

I thought my first keyword specific article on Global Warming would explore the relationship between the web and this (excuse the bad pun) hot topic.

Due to my recent dealings with Mahalo I decided to start there to see what resources and information on could find on Global Warming.

1. EPA.gov Basic Information. One of the Mahalo Top 7 was an entry for the EPA’s website on climate change which included a primer on the basic science and belief about global warming. The sections included are; Science, U.S. Climate Policy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health and Environmental Effects and What You Can Do. Here’s a small snippet:

The Earth’s climate has changed many times during the planet’s history, with events ranging from ice ages to long periods of warmth. Historically, natural factors such as volcanic eruptions, changes in the Earth’s orbit, and the amount of energy released from the Sun have affected the Earth’s climate. Beginning late in the 18th century, human activities associated with the Industrial Revolution have also changed the composition of the atmosphere and therefore likely are influencing the Earth’s climate.

2. Bush on Global Warming. This video is of course not THE George Bush but a rather popular and hilarious impersonator most people might recognize. I found this little gem on Google Video after doing a search for “global warming”. After watching the video for a little while I started to hunt for the embed code. It took forever to find it (bad Google).

THE CONVENIENTIST TRUTH - Watch more amazing videos here
3. The Convenientist Truth by Stephen Colbert. I have to give a shout out to my favorite TV personality Stephen Colbert and his video about global warming. Unlike Google, Metacafe actually make’s it easy to find the embed code.

4. GlobalWarming.org Myths of Global Warming. A search in Google brought me many of the same Mahalo results with the exception being that Global Warming dot org was listed at #2, and for those of you unfamiliar, the site is on the opposite side of the climate change debate and has been fighting this theory for about 10 years. Their meta description says it best:

Dispelling myths of global warming by exposing flawed economic, scientific, and risk analysis. Coalition members will also follow the progress of the international Global Climate Change Treaty negotiations and the Kyoto Protocol.

Whether or not you agree is up to you, but I noticed that the website is really bland and doesn’t engage the visitor at all. Mostly text, and mostly news feeds and other boring material I would think if Global Warming dot org wants to sway the Internet public they should focus a little on their presentation and pitch online.

5. An Inconvenient Truth. A blog posting about global warming wouldn’t be complete without a reference to Al Gore and his quite controversial Movie/DVD An Inconvenient Truth. The clip above is not the full movie but rather a 3 minutes trailer.

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Car Insurance Keywords Pay Really Well

July 20, 2007 at 3:15 pm · Filed under Car Insurance, Keyword Experiment

While I was recently researching search arbitrage (yes I know I’m 6 months late) I spent a lot of time in front of keyword discovery and bid level tools looking at terms like car insurance. What I found was a huge variation in keyword bid levels, and it got me thinking; using bid $ levels to guide content creation could speed revenue generation for an AdSense blog like mine.

Which explains why I’m talking about car insurance and not some other high paying keyword or more “tech” related topic. In fact I do have a lot to say about car insurance, and this article should have a decent change to rank for the term. If not the secondary keywords usually still demand a higher price and are much easier to rank for.

I have the wonderful privilege of living in Massachusetts, which means I pay 1 amount for my auto insurance no matter which insurer I choose (I just choose an “agent”). All those glorious (and costly) car insurance commercials on TV from Geico, State Farm, All State, AIG, Progressive, and Esurance are useless on me as I can’t save any money, and their services don’t matter to me in a state where the price is regulated. It’s all explained better at the DMV.org site.

I also need to point out that advertising auto insurance on price alone, isn’t a great idea for the consumer unless they are in dire need of the cheapest coverage available. You want to make sure you’re protected in case of an accident, and that might mean slightly higher premiums to cover hospital expenses and possible injury to other occupants. Which depending on how you look at insurance in general, may be worth it for you (head of household primary source of income anyone?).

The second item I wanted to discuss was the search results in Google for the term “car insurance”. It’s completely dominated by the commercial players in this market, and Wikipedia is no where to be found on page 1. Interestingly the results over at Mahalo paint a much different picture. Not only are the large national providers listed (with a simple link), but also Car Insurance Tips and Buying Guides, Car Insurance Company Comparisons, Car Insurance News & Articles, and information on Car Insurance Scams & Fraud. This is an area where the consumer and one could argue the insurance companies are better served by human search. But I digress.

Coming back full circle, I’m going to track just this post (using AdSense Channels) to see how it pays out over time, and compare it with the average for my more tech focused and misc topic posts.

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