AOL "keywords" in Europe

causing seo confusion?

[rcjordan]

As AOL makes headway outside the US, I've noticed some of our Euro members questioning the term "AOL keyword" -probably having seen it being advertised in other media. (Billboards have been mentioned, I'm sure it's on TV over there by now as well.) I'm not on AOL, and perhaps someone more familiar with them will have something to add, but it's my understanding that the term "AOL keyword" denotes a quick, short-cut word that can be entered and the AOL member will be taken directly to the related page. In short, it's a SPONSORED word not a keyword in the usual sense used here when discussing search engines.

AOL has been using that phrase here for years, so we tend to dismiss it. Also, given the types of firms we see advertising it, my guess is that this is very high-dollar marketing -not something that is bid by the phrase like Overture or even Google's adwords.

[Rumbas]

Where I'm from AOL is not on the map, so I can't say much about.

However another form of "keyword" advertising is being pushed strongly by some companies. It's related to the adressbar in IE. You can probably figure it out.

The way these products are being sold is frightening. The sales people scare the potential costumer that if he does not buy his own company name, the competitor probably will. Hmm. Companies not buying this product will in some cases have their site hijacked in a frame showing the keyword company on top. Horrible!

A lot of marketing people confuse this stuff with SEO and many of them fall into the trap. It has nothing to do with a keyword in SEO terms, so I guess it is similar to the AOL keywords?