Search Engine Strategies New York Conference, Day One

The well-attended Search Engine Strategies New York got off to a low-key start today. I am covering the conference for MarketingProfs, MarketingVox and Expert PR.

There was an interesting session this afternoon with the lofty title "Dynamic Attitude Analysis: Making Opinions Measurable and Actionable for Marketing."

50 Percent of Consumers Research Online
Noting that more than half of consumers do deep research online before making a purchase, and that, true to the Cluetrain prophesy, consumers have increasingly greater confidence in other people than in corporate messages, moderator Gary Stein led the panel in an exploration of the impact of consumer generated media like blogs. For corporations, he said, this new media are tools for listening to customers.

Today, more than 25 percent of search engine results are consumer generated, and algorithms now allow measurement of both the quality and quantity of these posts.

A dissatisfied customer is not only a force to be reckoned with, but also possibly an early warning on potentially larger problems.

Bloggers Won't Be Liable for Libel
Blogs are consumer generated media, the panel agreed, and the size of their audience is far less important than the range of their influence.

Panelists predicted that bloggers will become less liable for libel as time goes on because other bloggers rise to their defense and ultimately can do more damage to the company.

The consumer is increasingly in charge, the panel insisted. Panelists included Buzzmetrics president Jonathan Carson, Bloglines VP Mark Fletcher, Intelliseek CEO Mike Nazzaro and Steve Rubel of CooperKatz.

Conference Notes
The box lunch was pretty crummy, and there were no snacks during snack times – kinda lame for a $400 a day event. This reporter simply doesn’t lug a laptop around. There were no computers or phones in the press room, but organizers provided me with a computer when asked.

I 100 percent disagree on that blogs will not be liable to libel. We will begin seeing more and more lawsuits, and while bloggers may come to each other's defence, how many of us have the deep pockets to fight off a libel lawsuit.

Yes, I know there are groups that are together for legal defence, but how many lawsuits can they handle at once?

The blogosphere is the Wild West, with no Sheriffs.