... and Terrence leaves for China tomorrow.

His going away party was a success, particularly since some former Zunchers stopped by to help celebrate and to wish him good luck.

In just a few days, Terrence will be back in China, although he won't be alone for long. John Sanchez, our CEO, will be joining him there this weekend and the two of them will begin a whirlwind tour that has them crisscrossing China to meet with clients and prospective clients throughout the country.

Their journey begins in Hong Kong early next week, and we'll give you daily updates on their trip, hopefully including a few photos now-and-then.

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Terrence Ou, our expert on China, is about to hit the road again for China. Only this time, he's going to be gone for a long, long time.

You see, China is proving to be a major source of potential business and many Chinese businesses prefer being able to have face-to-face meetings to e-mails and long distance phone calls.

And after his recent book signing tour and stint promoting Zunch in China, it just made sense that Terrence should move to China (Beijing to be exact) and operate from there. Besides, Terrrence has wanted to relocate to China for some time, so it's not like we had to twist his arm to get him to do it.

So soon, when you see Terrence's posts both here and on the Zunch China blog, they'll be originating from China, rather than the home office in Dallas.

And tonight we're throwing a going away party for Terrence as his send off for the Far East. Should be a fun time for all.

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Who says the search engiens ignore the advertisers that they derive so much income from?...well, maybe its kinda true on the click fraud front.

Google Adwords has added a new page for Adword users called "Keyword Anaysis Page."  You can read all about it here.

With this tool, you can get more information about the Quality Score for keywords being used in advertisements. While it's not perfect, it could be a key tool for Adword users to make use of in crafting their campaigns.

Hey, Google is even asking for feedback on the tool, so try it out and let them know what you think.

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Apparently, Microsoft has a breaking point. After spending hundreds of millions fighting anti-trust allegations in Europe (including some hefty fines), they've finally decided to give in.

Read about it here.

After a nine year fight, Microsoft has finally seen the writing on the wall. This should mean both lower prices and faster development of new software.

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Click fraud just won't go away. In fact, despite repeated promises by Google, Yahoo! and others, it continues to be a growing problem.

Read all about it here.

If you're concerned about this problem that the search engines apparently can't or won't do anything about, check out Zunch's own Click Fraud Detective for your solutions to this pervasive problem.

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A recent survey by Forrester Research tells us that are three things visitors want when they come to your website. And if you do these things, the odds of having them stick around, and become a client or customer (if you happen to be offering a service or product) increase tenfold.

The top three things website visitors seek:

1. High-quality information: Content is the biggest influence on a visitor's decision to return to a website. If they don't see anything of interest, they're out of there. Sometimes in as little as five seconds

2. Ease of use: The site architecture should be simple and intuitive. Basically, I (an extremely technically challenged type) should be able to find what I'm looking for without a lot of work.

3. Quick to download: Visitors hate lag time as a site downloads. They get frustrated if they have to wait more than a few seconds for a page to download. and most will abandon your site in less than five seconds if they are forced to wait.

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While we can't quite spill the beans yet, we've got some major announcements upcoming regarding Zunch China.

As you know, Terrence recently returned from there. We're finalizing a few details now, so watch for the announcement in the coming week.

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Hey, Terrence just walked in the door. Fresh off a very long flight home from China.

And he comes bearing gifts. He just handed me a copy of his book, SEO Unlocked, and a hand fan.

I'm guessing the fan is for my wife and kids. Make that my wife, the fan is really cool and my kids would probably manage to tear it up in less than 24 hours.

After he settles in and shares some details of his trip, I'll update you on how things are going in China.

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...good luck finding a parking space at your favorite restaurant. Even in the North Dallas area.

The Red River Shootout is the annual meeting between Oklahoma and Texas. I've never attended one, although I did once make the mistake of attending the State Fair of the Texas on the day of the game.

You see, the game takes place on a Saturday in October and is played at the Cotton Bowl, which just happens to be in the middle of the State Fair of Texas. And attending the State Fair on Texas-OU day is not a good thing, because the already packed State Fair has another 80,000+ crazed fans dumped on the grounds. Being there is kind of like being a sardine that can move around in the can, but can't really get anywhere.

So, since then, I've avoided the Fair Park area, where both the Cotton Bowl and the State Fair are located, on the Saturday on the Texas-OU game.

However, the Red River Shootout also brings thousands of Ut and Oklahoma fans to the area. And they apparently are no longer content to eat in Dallas city proper.

I decided to eat at Snuffer's in Addison for lunch (one of my favorite restaurants).

When I got there, I couldn't find a place to park. in fact, I ended up in parking a few blocks away. The restaurant was as packed as the parking lot. And everywhere i looked, I saw either burnt orange or crimson. The UT-OU fans have moved north of downtown Dallas, invading Addison in general and Snuffers in particular.

Worse, I had to wait on a table and then it took forever to get my order. A very un-Snuffer's like experience, since usually the staff falls all over themselves to serve you.

Now I love college football. And the Sooners are my second favorite college team.

But can't we pass a rule banning UT-OU fans from wandering north of the Dallas city limits during the Red River Shootout?

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Hey, I just realized that our state-side readers, both of them, porbably haven't seen Terrence's hot seller-- "SEO Unlocked."

So here's your first look. Unless you're fluent in Mandarin, I kind of doubt you'll understand most of it--

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Terrence, our man in China, is quietly preparing for his return to the US. In the meantime, he's been visting with Chinese businesses, introducing them to Zunch, and probably offering to sell them a copy of his book SEO Unlocked..

I'm not sure if there's a Chinese version of the business book best seller list, but if there is, I'm betting Terrence's book is on it.

We'll get a full update from Terrence upon his return.

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