Someone pointed out to me that a book I recommend has now become out-of-date due to changes to Overture (or as it is now known, Yahoo Search Marketing).

When I was first introduced to keyword research in early 2005, the tool to use was the Overture Keyword Selector Tool.

You typed in a couple of keywords and clicked “search” and the tool would give you a list of searches made on Yahoo for the previous month along with a count of how many times each search was made.

It was pretty useful and most people seemed to think it was very accurate – accurate enough to base important marketing decisions on anyway…

As it turned out, the Overture Tool disappeared a while ago – not sure why but it was up and down for a bit and now it seems to have gone for good.

The other tool this vigilant reader told me about was Nichebot – which used to be free to use but is now a paid-for only resource.

Well, I saw the author of the book over the weekend and he said that he had realised that both the Overture Tool had disappeared and that Nichebot was now charging visitors.

He suggested that, until he can update the book and provide the update to customers, you should use Wordtracker’s free keyword suggestion tool at:

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

Just make sure to remember that results provided here are for DAILY searches, rather than monthly…

I got an email the other day from Wordtracker saying that my membership had expired. I’d forgotten I had access to it to be honest. Anyway, looking back I don’t think I ever really used it for anything useful but I paid £140 for a year’s access. What a waste of money when I rarely used it!

A good friend (John Sikora, the marketer behind the excellent http://www.GuruDAQ.com) told me that he uses Wordtracker occasionally but not enough to warrant signing up for a year’s access.

His tip?

When you need to use it, get a 1 Week Pass for Wordtracker and hammer it over a week. That way you only pay £15 and you can judge whether a full year would be worth the expenditure.

Sound advice if you ask me, especially after I’ve just checked the Wordtracker site – the annual subscription is now £165 a year…