Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Confirmed: Google Panda 2.4 Update Arrived This WeekGoogle has confirmed that the latest iteration of its Panda algorithm update is live. Based on our tracking of the algo changes, this is update 2.4. Google declined to share any specifics about what types of sites, pages or content this update targeted, instead only sharing the company’s default statement: We’re continuing to iterate on [...] Google Shows “Helicopter View” Of R [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Google has confirmed that the latest iteration of its Panda algorithm update is live. Based on our tracking of the algorithm changes, this is Panda Update 2.5. Google declined to share any specifics about what types of sites, pages or content this update targeted, instead only sharing the company's default statement: We're continuing to iterate on our Panda algorithm as part of our commitment to returning high-quality sites to Google users. This most recent update is one of the roughly 500 changes we make to our ranking algorithms each year. WebProNews reported this morning that the updat [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Panda Update | Panda Update News

Google will now allow you to take a virtual aerial trip in Google Maps/Earth along a contemplated route. They've informally called it "helicopter view." It's a pretty cool feature, although perhaps not as "useful" as traffic information. You plot a route ("Get Directions") between two points and click a button and the animation takes over. Here are some shots from a San Francisco to Los Angeles driving trip I laid out: After you've picked two points, you initiate the "helicopter tour" by clicking a "3D" button adjacent to the routing information. This also works in Eur [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Earth | Google: Maps & Local

Setting up Analytics accounts has evolved beyond installing "generated" scripts on pages and calling it a day. What started with the advent of software that told us how many "hits" we got a day has evolved into a sophisticated decision assistance engine, and keeping up on the new and cutting edge offers full time employment for many people across the world. As part of our website designs, many of us feature various graphic "buttons" or images on our site that either link to interior pages, booking paths, or even lead users off-site. We embed video, or have image links to our social media [...]

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

While the US government accuses Google of, in part, favoring its own properties in search results, Yahoo appears to be doing the same thing on download-related searches. And, in the process of offering downloads of popular software, Yahoo is also offering searchers additional downloads including the Yahoo Toolbar. This was first spotted by GFI Labs, which showed how certain download-related searches always presented Yahoo's download site, downloads.yahoo.com, at the top of the results page, ahead of the official website. That alone isn't unusual. Google and Bing both often show their [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Top News | Yahoo: Search | Yahoo: Toolbar

Years from now, when we're comparing the number of Google, Apple and Microsoft branded stores around the world, let's remember that, for Google, it all began in late September 2011 with a small retail mini-store in London. According to the Evening Standard, Google's mini-store is called "Chromezone" and is located inside a PC World store. It's only 285 square feet and sells Google Chromebook computers along with related accessories. In the article, Google UK head of consumer marketing Arvind Desikan says that the mini-store is just the start of Google's retail plans. It is our first f [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Chrome OS | Google: Marketing | Google: Stores

Autobidders. Every SEM management tool has one. The promise is powerful: simply input the performance you’re trying to achieve and sit back, have a sody-pop, and smile as the little robots make your job easy. Ha! If it was only that easy! Most of you reading this post have used one in the past. Have they worked well for you? Listen to any paid search veteran and you’ll hear stories of autobidders gone wild and delivering varying results. I know that in the past, I’ve recommended in this column to just use auto optimization technology on your tail terms and manually optimize the [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search | Search Marketing Toolbox

If you only had 30 seconds to explain search engine optimization (SEO) to others, how would you do it? Would your explanation be different for user experience professionals? Here’s how I explain it.

Related Topics: Channel: Content | Search & Usability

Mark Zuckerberg at F8, the Facebook developer conference held last week, exhorted people to "tell their life story" on Facebook via its new Timeline feature. Facebook also promoted new Open Graph apps integration and so-called "frictionless sharing." But frictionless sharing is already creating a great deal of friction for Facebook in privacy circles and with regulators. In practice frictionless sharing means that once you authorize an app, your subsequent actions through that app are shared on your news feed or the new Ticker. This includes songs you listen to, news stories you read, movi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Facebook | Legal: Privacy | Legal: Regulation

Saying that it wants to help website owners prioritize their work, Google has added a new "site health" view to the Webmaster Tools home page. The next time you visit Webmaster Tools, Google will show the sites in your account sorted with those in need of work at the top. Here's a screenshot of Google's sample WMT account: Google is currently using three issues/concerns to determine when a site is in poor health: when malware has been detected when important pages have been removed via Google's URL removal tool (as RipoffReport.com did last month) when important pages are blo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Webmaster Central | Top News

A  recent post from developer Matt Mastracci uncovered a variety of potential features from the Google+ source code. He stumbled upon these findings when scanning code looking for early access to the circle sharing feature.  Here are some of the items he found: Google+ Wall One of the smaller features that Matt found was the existence of an item similar to Facebook's wall.  Basically this looks to  allow direct commenting on profiles rather than the roundabout current format of tagging a single user in a post.  Instead of user A posting on their own timeline about user B this new feat [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Google: Google+

Don't be alarmed the next time you use Google Maps: Yes, pretty much everything looks just a little bit different than it did yesterday. There's not a single, major change; instead, almost all of the individual pieces of the Google Maps interface have been updated: the red marker pins, the navigation controls, the Satellite/Earth/Traffic/etc. widget boxes, the Directions and My Places links and more. Google announced the changes late Thursday in a blog post on the also-redesigned Google LatLong blog, which also sports a new Blogger template (with a terrible user interface, in my opin [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Google: User Interface

Wondering if some celebrity is Gay, Lesbian, Straight or Bisexual? Plenty of people do and turn to Google to find out. But the search engine just stopped offering direct answers about these questions, after they became more noticeable. Google's "Best Guess" About Sexual Orientations Here's an example of one of the answers that were being shown, in response to a search for is anna paquin gay: You can see that Google provided a direct answer: "Best guess for Anna Paquin Sexual orientation is Bisexual." This worked for Paquin and other some other celebrities up until a few hours ago, when [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Analysis | Features: General | Google: Suggest | Google: Web Search | Search & Society: General | Search Features: Shortcuts

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing’s New Airport Maps Aim To Make Air Travel EasierFinally, some good news for air travelers: Flying gets a little bit easier with Bing’s launch of detailed U.S. airport maps. Much like the previously announced shopping mall maps, Bing’s airport maps take searchers inside the airport to see things like gate locations, stores and restaurants on each concourse, restroom locations and more. Searchers will [...] Google Analytics Premium [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

(Guess what, it's not you…) Read more: The Smarter Consumer Also available: Meeting the Demands of the Smarter Consumer The State of Marketing 2011 11 Key Marketing Trends for 2011 Marketing Technology Adoption 2011 Download for free, at Search Marketing Now [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

Finally, some good news for air travelers: Flying gets a little bit easier with Bing's launch of detailed U.S. airport maps. Much like the previously announced shopping mall maps, Bing's airport maps take searchers inside the airport to see things like gate locations, stores and restaurants on each concourse, restroom locations and more. Searchers will find the airport maps when they come across one of the 42 available U.S. airports on Bing maps. They're accessible more quickly by searching for the airport name or code (i.e., SEA for Sea-Tac International Airport). And Bing has als [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Travel

Today Google launched a paid version of Google Analytics that processes higher volumes of page views and provides additional support. The general feature set and user experience remain the fundamentally the same as the standard product. This comes as an important addition to the enterprise set of tools that Google offers. The new version audience is mainly enterprises that receive a high amount of traffic and need a certain commitment from Google's part on data collection, up-time, and support. The new Google Analytics premium is not about features, as shown below there are few capabilities [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Features: General | Google: Analytics | Top News

Google Analytics just announced a new set of reports called "Real Time." They will be seen in the new interface of Google Analytics (available to all users), under the Dashboard tab; according to another recent announcement, this tab will soon be renamed the Home tab. This new feature does not require extra tagging. According to Google, full roll-out could take up to 1-2 weeks, but in order to get the new feature sooner than later you can signup for the beta by filling the form at https://services.google.com/fb/forms/realtimeanalytics/ Google Analytics Real Time will show the number of [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | Top News

It sure took a long time, but Flickr has finally launched its first Android app. Flickr has had an iPhone app for more than two years. The new Android app appears to offer several features not available on the iPhone version -- including filters to help edit photos before publishing, and additional sharing options. The Android app has been described as taking "a few cues from Instagram," which is also expected to launch its first Android app soon. Flickr's Android app is currently available is close to three dozen countries, which are listed on Flickr's help pages. Flickr Phot [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Search Engines: Photo & Image Search | Yahoo: Flickr

Driving back from work today, my lovely wife mentioned that she can’t wait to have a pumpkin spiced latte and then proceeded with the list of holiday gifts that she would like to receive. This can only mean one thing: holiday season is around the corner. For most people, holiday musings bring to mind family, time off work and abundant amounts of food. For those of us in the digital advertising industry, its the time of year where every day brings a different level of excitement, where revenue goals are achieved and when long days in the office become the norm. With proper planning, cor [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Retail | Search & Retail