Google is now heavily testing a new top bar color, that color is black. Google began testing this back about a month ago, as reported by Google Operating System but now Google seemed to have stepped up those tests. So much so, users are complaining that their custom Google home page designs look bad because of the new black bar. Last week we reported Google was testing a grayed out design interface. As you know, Google constantly tests new designs, features and layouts - so this comes with no surprise. As a side note, Google is also testing a black YouTube player. Related [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: User Interface

One of the hot topics at SMX Advanced in Seattle this June was the best way to handle paginated sites. It seemed like the topic that would not go away, as it came up in panel after panel. The reason this happened is that it is a complicated topic. There are two major scenarios that we will examine, including a look at the potential solutions and the choices that publishers can make. No Place For Rel=Canonical The "The Really Complicated Technical SEO Infrastructure Issues" panel at SMX Advanced started with controversy when REI's Jonathan Colman said that REI.com benefitted from using rel [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Enterprise SEO | SEO: General | SEO: Tagging

Run your own business? Work for a large agency or an enterprise brand marketer? Manage an e-commerce website? If you are responsible for attracting new customers and driving conversions, then you can’t afford to miss the actionable tactics and best practices shared at Search Marketing Expo – SMX East, September 13-15 in New York City. Register for SMX East by July 16 and you’ll get the lowest available Super Early Bird rates. Register today! Or keep reading to learn more. Minimum Investment, Maximum Return Tactical & Thought Provoking Presentations: SMX East speakers are selec [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SEM Industry: Conferences | SEM Industry: Search Marketing Expo - SMX | SMX & DMD Alerts

For those of you expecting me to make good on a promise from my last column to continue the theme of how mobile is changing SEO with regard to link building, look for that next month. Since Google’s Inside Search event had a mobile theme, I think it’s more important to address the implications of what was said this month. If you’re not already aware, on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, Google held an Inside Search event in which they introduced several new features to desktop search, including voice search and search by image, released several new mobile features, and gave general statistics [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Mobile | Mobile Search | SEO: Mobile Search

There’s an old adage that goes "It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it that counts." Having been married for 31 years next month, I can attest to the simple, powerful truth of that statement. I feel the same way about the differences between Google and Microsoft’s approaches to quality score. For the most part, what Google and Microsoft are saying to us through their quality scores, is that they want us to understand how important selecting highly relevant keywords, creating relevant ads and sending searchers to relevant landing pages is to a successful paid search camp [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Paid Search

In May 2011, the mantle of the most-trafficked food site according to comScore passed to Food Network from AllRecipes, who had held the position for over two years. What was its secret recipe? Buying an audience through the AdOn network – a recipe that apparently didn’t ultimately taste right to comScore. They determined the surge was due to "invalid" traffic and revised the numbers, putting AllRecipes back on top. Why comScore Numbers Matter So Much In today’s world of digital content powered by online advertising, advertisers and publishers alike keep a close eye on the numbers. Web [...]

Related Topics: Business Issues: General | Channel: Strategy | Features: Analysis | Stats: comScore | Top News

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Health To Be Shuttered On January 1, 2012Google Health, the company’s attempt to improve health care by letting consumers move medical data online and control who can access it, is shutting down. The service will be retired on January 1, 2012. In a blog post announcing the news, Google says the product didn’t catch on as it had hoped: Google Health is [...] How To Read & Use Facebook Analytics For Your PageForget the 1-800 nu [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Google Health, the company's attempt to improve health care by letting consumers move medical data online and control who can access it, is shutting down. The service will be retired on January 1, 2012. In a blog post announcing the news, Google says the product didn't catch on as it had hoped: Google Health is not having the broad impact that we hoped it would. There has been adoption among certain groups of users like tech-savvy patients and their caregivers, and more recently fitness and wellness enthusiasts. But we haven't found a way to translate that limited usage into widespread [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Health | Top News

Forget the 1-800 numbers, the info@ email addresses, and don’t bother hooking up that fax machine anymore. Facebook business pages are an essential customer and business/brand communication tool that are beginning to replace traditional mediums of customer service and communication between brands and businesses. The ability to keep an audience engaged, updated, and responded to so consistently and easily is a tool that many are, and if not they should be, taking advantage of. However, using the page is one task, but monitoring that use and the users is quite another and can be a bit ov [...]

Related Topics: Beginner | Channel: Analytics | Facebook | How To | How To: Facebook | Search & Analytics

What should you do if you are stepping into a role as the new "SEO Manager" of a website? This is a question you could ask yourself either as an in-house employee at a company, an agency taking over an account from another agency, or moving into the role from one account to another within your agency. Truth be told, I imagine that if you are at an agency, and simply taking over an account from someone else, much of the account transition will go smoothly, so you may not need to do as complete a discovery as I am suggesting below. Think of this checklist as a way to get up to speed as [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search | Search Marketing Toolbox

The leading cause for website or software application failure is not having a requirements document prepared and shared with everyone attached to the project. Typically, business and functional specifications, along with possible web design guidelines are gathered. What do most requirements documents miss? The purpose of a formal requirements document is to be sure that everything that appears on the website or application is supposed to be there. In cases such as ecommerce or application driven sites, there’s a better chance that managers from several departments, plus content writ [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content | Search & Usability

As expected, the Federal Trade Commission has begun its formal investigation of Google's business practices. In a blog post today, Google fellow Amit Singhal wrote that the company yesterday received formal notification from the agency that it would be conducting an inquiry. Though Singhal writes that "it’s still unclear exactly what the FTC’s concerns are," reports in recent days have pointed to Google's core search advertising business as a concern. According to the Wall Street Journal, the investigators will look into whether Google somehow is unfairly dominating the sphere, at the e [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Legal: Regulation | Top News

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. Google China's 2009 Music Event: Google Search Cupcakes: Google Wall Of Heros: Yahoo Gay Pride Month: View From Google's New Dublin Office: [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Search In Pictures

Yesterday we had a Dilbert cartoon telling us to say no to black hat SEO and today we have a Dilbert cartoon telling us to say no to paid links: The comic reads: Employee: "Google found out that we use fake links to boost our search rank." Employee: "Now our website only shows up when someone enters the search string "dung for brains."" Boss: "They won't get away with this!" Computer [aka Google]: "Shut your pie hole." That is two in a row from the Dilbert cartoons on the topic of SEO. Related Articles Dilbert Cartoon Says "No" To Black Hat SEO Those Special Go [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | SEM Industry: Community | SEM Industry: General

A UK based study by Hitwise analyzed data from the top 100 retailers to find how much additional web traffic was generated by each Facebook fan.  The metrics showed that each fan of a Facebook page produced an extra 20 visits to the website.  In order to generate this number, Facebook traffic was analyzed and compared against Facebook Page data from Techlightenment. The study also found that brands utilizing Facebook the most saw increased brand searches on Google, Yahoo! and Bing.  A top UK retailer, Topshop,  saw brand searches  increase by 54% after a visit to Facebook.  Th [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Facebook

Google is finally rolling out the ability to target ads to users by interest -- based on their previous browsing activity, or behavior -- to all of its advertisers. The company first announced a beta test of this capability more than two years ago, back in 2009, and it has slowly been introducing it to larger groups over time. The company says the capabilities are available today. The announcement marks Google's full entrance into the world of behavioral targeting in AdWords. The system looks at the types of pages that a user visits, considering how recently and frequently the person [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Googleopoly: The Definitive Guide To Antitrust Investigations Against GoogleWe’re another step closer to the US Federal Trade Commission launching an expected antitrust investigation of Google. If it does, the FTC will join the EU and Texas in doing broad investigations. But Google’s been examined for antitrust issues many times before this and mostly come through OK. Here’s our comprehensive guide to Google and [...] FTC’s G [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Searching for the right PPC software platform? This free guide and checklist will help you determine what you should be looking for in a software provider. After reading this guide, you'll be able to answer key questions like: Is PPC software worth the investment? How could the right platform help you increase ROI? What areas of your campaigns need extra help? What kinds of tools would address your specific needs? Download now! Sponsored by Wordstream [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

We're another step closer to the US Federal Trade Commission launching an expected antitrust investigation of Google. If it does, the FTC will join the EU and Texas in doing broad investigations. But Google's been examined for antitrust issues many times before this and mostly come through OK. Here's our comprehensive guide to Google and antitrust actions, over the years. December 2007: FTC Approves Google Purchase Of DoubleClick Perhaps Google's first real antitrust challenge, it had to fight for approval to purchase DoubleClick. Plenty of opponents lined up against the deal, but Google won [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Antitrust | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Top News

The seemingly inevitable antitrust investigation of Google appears to be taking another step forward, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the US Federal Trade Commission is "poised" to serve the company with subpoenas as part of a probe. Google may receive the FTC demands within days, and other companies may get similar requests asking for information "about their dealings with Google," the paper reports. The investigation seems likely focused around Google's search ads and whether Google has somehow exercised unfair dominance of that area. From the WSJ article: The new inquiry, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Legal: Regulation