April 2007: Search Engine Land’s Most Popular Stories
Below are Search Engine Land’s 10 most popular stories from April 2007:
From The Isn’t It Ironic Dept: Google Product Search’s Results Show Up In Google
Remember how Google said recently that it might crack down on listings pages that are simply search results themselves? Readr Michael Nguyen dropped an email today to point out how, ironically, Google is now listing pages from its own Google Product Search service exactly as it has warned others not to do. OK, settle down […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 30, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Google To Merge Personalized Services To “iGoogle” Brand
Today is Google Personalization Day at Google, where reporters and bloggers have been invited to learn more about Google’s moves to personalize its services. Our own Greg Sterling is there and will be providing coverage out of the event later. However, some news is already flowing out now. For one, Google steps up personalized Web […]
Comcast Partners With Yahoo For Online Display & Video Ads
Yahoo and Comcast have struck a multi-year deal where Yahoo will provide the online display and video advertising for Comcast.net. In this deal, the advertising sales organization at Yahoo will will market and sell the display and video ads on Comcast.net’s behalf. Comcast hopes to utilize Yahoo’s “ad-serving, targeting and inventory management capabilities to enable […]
Google Checkout’s Title Goes Missing On Google
Something look odd in the search results for google checkout? Yes, that’s the official Google Checkout home page listed first, but it’s most definitely NOT the right title for the Google Checkout page. That’s got folks at Digg wondering if Google Checkout has been hijacked, sparked from Jon West’s original post here. No. It’s […]
Can You Spot The Paid Link?
In Time For Google To Give Up The Fight Against Paid Links? last week, I wrote about Google’s second major war against paid links that’s now underway. Today, I came across two examples that illustrate why this is such a difficult war for it to fight. How do you spot the paid link hidden among […]
Google Transit Sends Upset User Superman Cape
Adam Darowski blogged about getting some really bad advice from Google Transit, specifically asking him to “cross an eight-lane highway on foot.” So how did Google respond? Joe Hughes of Google Transit sent Adam a Superman cape and a letter apologizing for the inconvenience. Here is the letter:
Just Imagine: Local Search Without Maps
Imagine a local search site without maps. Sounds outrageous, doesn’t it? Most local search sites are dominated by maps. Google, Ask, and Live even begin my experience with a big map of North America. Correct, yes, but now what? Many sites incorporate technically impressive features to make their maps even more elaborate. But imagine taking […]
Google Agrees To Return Chilean City It Borrowed For Argentina
Chile asks Google to fix map gaffe from the Associated Press reports that Google has mislabeled Villa O’Higgins, a town in Chile, as being in Argentina. The above image is a screen shot I took just a few minutes ago using Google Earth, for a search on “Villa O’Higgins,” which confirms that the mapping error […]
Wikipedia’s Double Standard On Nofollow Rule
Techcrunch discovered that Wikipedia was giving special treatment to their own properties, in terms of using standard, non-nofollowed, links to Wikia, “Wikipedia’s for-profit spin off.” Back in January, Wikipedia nofollowed all external links from the site, in an effort to reduce Wikipedia spam. If you visit the Wikipedia page on Wikia, you may notice some […]
Reuters Buys Search Mining Tech; Former AOL Search Chief Campbell To Lead New Search Group
Via PaidContent, news that Reuters is to acquire text analytics company Clearforest, part of creating a new strategic group around search. Leading that group is Gerry Campbell, the former long-time head of AOL’s search efforts: As part of its drive into this space, it has created a new strategic group within Reuters and appointed former […]
Google Responds To Click Quality Council’s 8 Principles For PPC Improvement
Shuman Ghosemajumder, Google’s business product manager for Trust & Safety at Google, has responded via his blog to the Click Quality Council’s Cornerstone Principles for Pay-Per-Click Quality Improvement (PDF file) that were released last week. The response is basically what you expected to see. Shuman lists out all of the points in the 8 principles […]
Yahoo Search VP Andrew Braccia Resigns
Yahoo loses VP of consumer search, to Accel Partners from VentureBeat reports that a major Yahoo asset has left to join a venture capital firm named Accel Partners. Andrew Braccia was Yahoo’s vice president of consumer web search. He worked under Jeff Weiner for six years and was responsible for Yahoo Answers, the integration of […]
Utah Says Oops About Law Regulating Trademarks & Search Ads
Via TechDirt, High-Tech Execs Meet With Lawmakers Over Web Search Keyword Law from the Associated Press covers how Utah might not enforce its new law banning ads linked to trademark terms. The law is set to go into effect today. We covered various issues with the law earlier this month. Now Utah lawmakers appear to […]
Yahoo Launches ‘Be A Better’ Ad Campaign
Yahoo is initiating an ambitious new — and expensive — brand advertising campaign titled “Be a Better . . .” The campaign will feature distribution across multiple ad media: TV, print, radio, online and cinema. It will focus especially on Yahoo mobile oneSearch and Yahoo Answers but also showcase other content (e.g., Travel and Sports), […]
The Coming Link Apocalypse
I just finished reading “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, hence the title of today’s column. If you’ve read it then you understand. It’s a bit dramatic, but then again drama, controversy and hyperbole is LinkBaiting 101. Sadly I add. The apocalypse I speak of is related to link building, and what I mean by it […]
How Search Engines Handle The Nofollow Attribute
Loren Baker at Search Engine Journal has a nice write up on how the search engines handle the nofollow attribute now just over two years since it was introduced. Ask.com still does not follow the tag, so here are the takeaway for Google and Yahoo: Google won’t follow the link, Yahoo will (note) Google and […]
Yahoo To Acquire Right Media; Joins Google In Buying, Rather Than Building, Display Ad Network
Yahoo has announced it will acquire Right Media, which operates an auction-based display ad exchange called Remix Media. The move is widely seen as Yahoo fighting back against Google’s recent plans to acquire DoubleClick, which itself is seen as Google jumping more firmly into the display ad network game. Both moves to me underscore how […]
Google Helps States Surface Government Information
Google has announced an initiative with state agencies in Arizona, California, Utah and Virginia to help expose government information to web search engines. Often, government information is stored in database systems that are difficult if not impossible for search engine crawlers to access and index. Google is working with technologists from the state agencies to […]
Networking Events At SMX Advanced
This is a special message for our SearchCap newsletter readers and anyone who visits Search Engine Land, regarding Search Engine Land’s first conference: Search Marketing Expo Advanced. It happens in Seattle this June 4th and 5th. In 9 Reasons To Attend SMX Advanced that I posted last week, I explained that we see networking as […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 27, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Search In Pictures: A Yahoo Journey; Google Job Offer & Paper AdSense
In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more.
Microsoft’s Online Ad Unit Revenue Increases 11%
Microsoft announced their first quarter earnings for 2007. The Online Services Business unit, which is comprised of adCenter and other MSN properties, noticed an increase in revenue of 11%, earning $623 million. However, they due to significant investments, the Online Services Business unit lost $200 million this past quarter, which is $176 million more than […]
EconSM Conference: Social Media Sans Search
Yesterday’s Economics of Social Media (EconSM) conference in LA, the first event from the team at PaidContent, was an impressive debut, both in terms of attendance and the range and “quality” of speakers on the stage. I’m not going to attempt to summarize all the individual sessions; rather, I have some general observations and interesting […]
Google To Build Data Center In Belgium
Google reportedly to build data center in Belgium from MarketWatch reports that Google is going to spend 250 million EUROs (about $341 million US) on a data center in Belgium.
Searcharazzi: Touring the SEM Graveyard
Let’s just get it out there: it appears that Zunch Communications, a Dallas-based SEM, has filed for bankruptcy. While some might call this an isolated incident, some speculative minds suggest that a correction is on the horizon for SEM agencies. Indeed, Searcharazzi is dumbfounded by the hundreds of firms that have grown and multiplied during […]
Google To Give Google China More Freedom
Google Aims to Make Gains in China By Giving Units Greater Autonomy from the Wall Street Journal reports Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, saying that Google plans to give Google China more autonomy. Mr. Schmidt said, “Google China is run very autonomously. We want to increase that … China is growing very quickly … so it’s […]
Q&A With Google Personalization Gurus Sep Kamvar and Marissa Mayer
Last week I had the chance to talk to Marissa Mayer, Google VP, Search Products & User Experience, and Sep Kamvar, engineering lead for personalization at Google, about the inclusion of Web History into personalized search. On the face of it, this is another beta announcement from Google that will impact a relatively small number […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 26, 2007
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
Portfolio.com Releases Executive Profiles Of Search Execs
Gary Price reports that Portfolio.com released a database of top executives profiles, and part of that list includes many of the top executives from our beloved search engines. Here are quick links to some of those profiles of interest:
Yahoo News Moves Images & Video News Results To Top
Greg Jarboe reports Yahoo has added images and videos to the top of some of the Yahoo News search results. For example a search on apple options returns both image news results and video news results at the top of the news search page.
Settings For Google Personalized Homepage Disappear For Many
Philipp Lenssen reports that dozens if not hundreds of Google Personalized Home Page users have lost their personalized settings. As of now, I currently see my customized and tailored Google home page but literally hundreds of people are commenting at Google Blogoscoped, Digg.com and Google Groups about this exact issue.
Google Revisits Historical Data Ranking Factors
One of the biggest stirs of 2005 in the search marketing field was caused by the release of a patent application from Google titled Information retrieval based on historical data. It introduced time as a dimension of ranking pages, with changes in content and linking and advertising and topics as factors to be considered, as […]
Oklahoma, Where The Google Comes Sweepin’ Down The Plain
From California, Google has spread out across the great land of the United States. New York! Washington! Arizona! And now which of the fifty nifty United States is Google heading to next? Oklahoma! Below, some news of Google’s plans for the Sooner State and well as a recap of what other states it has conquered […]
Meet Your New Employee: Writer, Marketer, Evangelist
We’re getting to the time of year when many small businesses are thinking about hiring summer help. Kids and young adults will be finishing school and looking for work, and there’ll be plenty of openings behind cash registers and at empty desks with a telephone. Most of these are temporary hires that make everyone happy: […]
SuperPages Changes Algorithm To Factor Clicks Into Ad Rankings
SuperPages, like Yahoo! before it, has decided to factor in click-through rates in determining the order of sponsored ads. Bid price now becomes one of several considerations in arraying search results (geography and category obviously remain critical). VP Robyn Rose told me that the majority of the consumer traffic coming through the site uses the […]
What Is Google PageRank? A Guide For Searchers & Webmasters
PageRank. If you do SEO or are involved with Google or search, you’ll come across this topic at some point. You’ll also likely be confused by what exactly PageRank means. To solve that, here’s a guide to PageRank, designed for searchers and site owners alike. Google’s Definition: PageRank As Votes Let’s start with what Google says. […]
iCrossing Finds High Demand For Search And Local Content Among Mobile Users
Search marketing firm iCrossing just released the results of a mobile Web usage survey with 1,001 US residents over the age of 16. The study found that about 30 percent of mobile users access the Internet, but among that population 75 percent used search. Assuming the survey methodology is sound and statistically valid, the findings […]
Industry Group Proposes Eight Principles To Ensure Click Quality
The Click Quality Council, a group of online advertisers, advertising agencies and click quality monitoring firms formed to propose and help establish standards for search advertising quality, has proposed eight principles for ensuring industry-wide click quality. The principles are the result of a six month effort by independent members of the ad-hoc group to identify […]