By Brent D. Payne [Andy's note: Want to know what Brent did before lunch? Check out part 1 here .] 1:00pm â€" 1:30pm â€" Get some type of food Don't forget to eat. Yeah, that's about all I have to say on that. Other than don't down a bunch of food that's going to leave you lethargic later in the day. You need to stay motivated, your day is only half way done.

What an awesome week! The Aloha Social Media Summit was a huge success-that's what attendees told us-and even my head is buzzing from all the great ideas shared this week. If you couldn't make it, here's a photo of one of our discussion huddles. How many events have you attended that have comfy sofas and video arcades? We'll announce the next Aloha Summit early next year, so stay tuned. Now for today's Picks: What do top tier bloggers earn? RWW takes a look .

You know me; always on the lookout of examples of why it's so vital to maintain a positive business reputation. So, I'm probably the only person that gets excited by the complete and utter collapse of a company that was generating $2.2 billion in annual revenue! The Bill Heard Organization was the country's 11th largest Chevrolet dealer group and in 2005 was named one of its "Dealers of the Year" by GM. Despite that,

There's no doubt that the current economic meltdown is hurting a lot of businesses. At the sharp end of the Wall Street collapse is Yahoo-its stock is down 34% since the beginning of August. With its partnership with Google destined to be delayed for eternity, some Yahoo investors are hoping Microsoft might be willing to catch a falling knife. Actually,

By Brent D. Payne [Andy's note: This is a long, but interesting post. So, we'll divide it up and you'll get to read the second part of Brent's day after lunch] This year there was a session at SMX East about the day in the life of an in-house SEO. Most of the session can be summed up in the following bullet points. You need upper management buy-in.

Google is launching plenty of new features this week, and now they have even more. As spotted by CNET , Google Maps are now sporting text ads below the map results. Check out this result for [copies near san francisco, ca]: Like the snippets above emails in Gmail, these are one-line link and description ads appear on a green background with additional ads available via < and > buttons )because who doesn't want to look at more ads?(.

I'm thrilled to be asked to return as a speaker at Pubcon Las Vegas and I want all of you to join me! Pubcon is one of my "must attend" marketing conferences of the year and it never fails to disappoint. Just in case you've not yet reserved your spot, I have a very special 20% discount )worth at least $180( to pass on to all of you. Use "be-48020" when registering and you'll get an instant 20% discount. I'll have more Pubcon updates to share soon,

Yes, we're facing tough economic times-a recession even-and, yes, Google's going to feel the squeeze just like the rest of us. Still, it seems that some Wall Street analysts simply don't understand what makes Google, Google.

By Brent D. Payne As most of you have probably heard at this point, the IM Charity event was an all out blowout event in more than one way for me. I had the opportunity to meet several people that I had only met previously on Twitter, via SEOmoz, via IM, or via email. As part of this experience I had several that offered to buy me shots, strong drinks )beer and other drinks were free to attendees(, etc. and I accepted their generosity.

Here we go again. The Interactive Advertising Bureau released the numbers for online marketing performance for the first half of 2008 and the verdict is in. Once again double digit growth sucks and everything is going to hell in a hand basket. I just thought I would let you know this so you can stop doing business in an industry that continues to grow. The take on these numbers comes from the LA Times this time .

What's so deluxe about today's linky goodness? It's not the quantity, it's the quality. Rumors have flown for more than a year, and now it's really true: Yahoo Web Analytics Officially Launches Want to get into in-game advertising? Google AdSense is doing video game advertising now . And because I know you really want to get in there, Wikia Search has released a third party search enhancement platform . I'm guessing that's like Search Monkey.

Yet another monetization tactic from YouTube: click-to-buy . Through partnerships with companies like EMI and Electronic Arts, YouTube is adding links to iTunes and Amazon )DRM free( to download music and video games, with more options to come. The links appear below videos from participating partners )such as this perennial classic from OK Go(: And Google says there's lots more to come: This is just the beginning of building a broad,

We bring you some linky goodness We bring you some linky goodness We bring you some linky goodness So you'll have the news! All hope is not lost for Yahoo! As long rumored , they're in merger talks with AOL . Oh, wait. That probably does mean all is lost. Oh that's what it's forFacebook's Sheryl Sandberg points out that the social utility network is a big opportunity for branding online . And more Facebook newsas promised ,

I'm pretty sure this is one idea that started as an April Fool's joke, but new in Gmail Labs is a filter to prevent you from sending out drunken, late-night or otherwise ill-advised emails. When you send an email during your specified time, it prompts you with various mathematical equations which you have to solve before it will send out your email. If you're too out of it to fire up the calculator, your email will have to wait till another day. Oh,

File this in the "science confirms common sense" folder " although this may be a surprise to many ad agencies. University of Missouri researchers found that advergames that have a thematic connection to the brand work better to create a relationship with the consumer. In the study, participants played two advergames, both with either high or low thematic connection to the brand. ' For example, the travel company Orbitz designed a game, "Find Your Hotel,

'Rick Galan, who's following suggestion was selected at random' "Build website popularity tools into the interface - allow tracking URLs with these tools as well as search terms." Rick was one of a few smart entrants who realized that the contest allowed multiple entries-so long as they were up to par-and so increased his chances of winning the Acer Aspire One. Thanks to all who took the time to provide feedback about Trackur .

Tokoni , is social network started last year by former Skype President Alex Kazim and former eBay execs including Mary Lou Song and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. It's also backed by eBay. The site has been picking up content, building up to a formal launch this week. The social network gathers people's stories. Tokoni is a Tongan word for "help," and the founders hope that reading other people's life will help enhance your life.

Linky linky goodness, readers, dear Linky links will come to you all year If I had one wish, then it would be A post full of good links to you from me. Oh, look, my wish came true! Do text ads still work online? Oh yeah. In fact, simple text ads are still the most clicked ad type online . Far less popular? Banner and video ads. More commercials are coming to online television . I love Ad Age's opening here: Want more ads with your free web video?

Hot on Ask's heels , the semantic search engine Hakia launches a redesign today, too. Aside from the new SERP layout, Hakia is testing the use of peer-reviewed "credible sites" and a personal start page. As a tab on the redesigned SERP, Hakia offers an option to refine your results to sites that have been peer-reviewed to meet strict noncommerciality and credibility standards. The results from credible sites , however,

When auction revenue falls, eBay decides to bank on payment processing and online classifieds . eBay is buying online bill pay service Bill Me Later and two other companies which are based in Denmark. They're also spending quite a bit of cash - around $1.3 billion including Danish companies Den Bla Avis and BilBasene . Total spend comes to about $1.3 billion. Bill Me Later is an online layaway program where you can make payments on a purchase.