Google received a procedural setback today in the long running litigation over its book-scanning project. Presiding Judge Dennis Chin ruled that the Authors Guild and a parallel trade organization for photographers could represent their members collectively against Google in the class action. Google had wanted to remove these organizations and deal individually with authors and their legal representatives. The decision today (order embedded below), though procedural only, may have an impact on the outcome of the case. That's because it effectively gives the authors and photographers more le [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Book Search | Google: Legal

Oh, Google, you slay me. And it might slay you, too. Go do a search for "lionel richie" (or just click here) and -- if you've been alive long enough -- you'll get a kick out of the joke that shows up in the Knowledge Graph box. That, for you youngins, is a reference to the lyrics of Richie's "Hello," one of the sappiest songs ever, and one of Richie's biggest hits, too. The video just oozes cheese, in ways that few 1980s songs could ever hope to match. We're pretty certain that Google must have more jokes built-in to its Knowledge Graph (just like Apple's Siri has numerous funny [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Easter Eggs | Google: Knowledge Graph | Google: Web Search

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 To Chinese Searchers: Your Search Interruptions Are Not Our FaultGoogle announced on their blog that they have noticed an increase in complaints from searchers in mainland China. The issues they are reporting is that Google.com and searchers are not coming up, as if Google.com is down. So Google investigated their servers and operations and noticed no issues with anything on Google’s side. So they [...] 5 Ways To Capture Brand Equity [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

With so many marketing channels now available to reach consumers, what's a marketer to do? Whether it's juggling across the new channels like mobile and social, or just trying to incorporate the more 'traditional' marketing channels like display and search -- it's not easy. Learn all about the challenges -- and opportunities -- in cross channel marketing, and how today's agencies are succeeding. Download it for free. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

Google announced on their blog that they have noticed an increase in complaints from searchers in mainland China. The issues they are reporting is that Google.com and searchers are not coming up, as if Google.com is down. So Google investigated their servers and operations and noticed no issues with anything on Google's side. So they ran some tests and were able to confirm that many queries lead to Google acting as if Google is unreachable. They produced a video showing this in action, where one query would work but then another query would lead to a response of either "This webpage [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google & China | Google: Outside US | Google: Web Search | Legal: Censorship | Legal: Regulation

Last week, I read David Rodnitzky’s Enterprise SEM column on brand term bidding, and I loved it! Even better, it got me thinking about search and affiliate marketing again. While I think David made some excellent points, as I consumed his endless wit and wisdom, I kept thinking: All that brand keyword goodness, it’s almost too much for one advertiser! See, I’m a bit unorthodox when it comes to brand terms and their keyword space. I read a lot around here about how search marketers should deal with brand keywords – don’t buy, don’t allow them to be bid on, don’t include brand t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Enterprise SEM

Google Product Search is getting a new name, Google Shopping, and a new business model where only merchants that pay will be listed. It's the first time Google will decommission a search product that previously listed companies for free. The company says the change will improve the searcher experience, but it will also likely raise new worries that Google may further cut free listings elsewhere. "This is about delivering the best answers for people searching for products and helping connect merchants with the right customers," said Sameer Samat, vice president of product management for Goo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Analysis | Google: Product Search | SEO: Paid Inclusion | Top News

As Google becomes more mainstream you hear random people in coffee shops, the grocery store, church and even kids in elementary school talking about Google's updates. Google's head of search, Amit Singhal, tweeted early this morning that he was at a local Starbucks and overheard a conversation that proved to him that Google's latest updates were doing their job. He tweeted: Overheard next table at Starbucks, "With Google Panda and Penguin our tricks don't work." Glad they didn't recognize me. — Amit Singhal (@theamitsinghal) May 31, 2012 Search Engine Journal has a story from Gl [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | SEM Industry: General

The Negative SEO conversation has truly been re-ignited and has everyone debating its affect again. Conversations are exploding with claims of lawsuits, paying people to remove backlinks, and just blowing up the site and starting all over. Fair enough. But the way I see it, there is really a simple solution to this issue. Disavow Links I wrote this in a comment on SERoundtable and Barry Schwartz beat me to the punch recently. Danny also addressed it in passing in a Q&A with Matt Cutts, but I wanted to elaborate on this even more. Think of this as an open letter to Google, or just [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: SEO | Google: Disavow Links Tool

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has once again come out swinging at Google, saying the company isn't doing enough to fight copyright infringement online. But it may be that the RIAA itself is guilty of that charge. In a blog post this week, RIAA Executive VP Brad Buckles shares what the organization calls "clear facts" about Google's efforts to remove infringing pages from Google's search results. A week ago, Google announced the addition of Copyright Removal Requests to its Transparency Report, but Buckles says "Google's data misleads." In a series of five "facts," [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Legal: Copyright | 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: 5 Ways Conversion Takes Market Share Like Candy From A BabyThey are out there, and they are not nice. They seek to take food from the mouths of your children and to put your career at risk. They are your online competitors, and they won’t think twice about leaving you crying helplessly as they eat your ice cream cone. In every industry, at least one [...] Google Sending 51% Less Traffic To Facebook Pages Since “Search Plus Your World& [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

They are out there, and they are not nice. They seek to take food from the mouths of your children and to put your career at risk. They are your online competitors, and they won't think twice about leaving you crying helplessly as they eat your ice cream cone. In every industry, at least one business is embracing conversion disciplines and dominating their marketplace online. Extra Space is doing it to Storage, Inc. and someone is making the move in your industry. Is it you? These stone cold sharks are refining the online formula that works best with their prospects -- and yours. They [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Search & Conversion

This January Google launched "Search Plus Your World (SPYW)," a service that drastically customized search results based on social connections while bolstering visibility of Google+ products. While the new changes absolutely increased visibility for Google+, there was concern that SPYW would negatively affect other social networks.  Five months into the SPYW, traffic to Facebook Pages is down. However, it's also down from Bing, suggesting that SPYW isn't to blame. PageLever, a Facebook analytics company, uncovered a significant drop in traffic post SPYW launch. The company studied 50 [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search | Google | Google: Search Plus Your World

One of the most important aspects of increasing online conversions (particularly for B2B focused sites) is speaking to prospects at all stages in the buying cycle. A prospect doing research on a topic is at a different place than one who is looking to hire a company, and each prospect must be met at the stage where they are. Below, I describe four proven content assets and incentives to reach business buyers at all stages in their purchasing process. 1.  White Papers & Webinars White Papers and Webinars are great for B2B prospects at the very beginning of their buying cycle. Pros [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Keywords & Content

I was shocked by the widespread, deeply negative reaction to the introductory paragraph of my column last month, in which I described beginning every interview with a math problem.  The response is probably best typified by EricM: Despite missing the entire point of the article (that you can use simple free tools to calculate confidence intervals for A/B split tests), Eric did raise an interesting challenge:  "are you going to let them go online and use this tool at the interview?" The answer? Of course I am. Why the hell wouldn’t I? I wouldn’t expect anyone to do their job with [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search | In House Search Marketing

Value, like beauty, is usually in the eye of the beholder. In online advertising, the relative value of various campaign metrics has been subject to much debate. For brand marketers, well-designed banners shown to targeted consumers on high quality sites are perceived to have high value. Similarly, clicks and high click through rates (CTRs) that drive targeted consumers to the advertiser’s site are often seen as very valuable to brand marketers. However, in the world of performance display, where high return on advertising spend (ROAS) and/or return on investment (ROI) is the goal, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display | Search & Display

Google has a special logo on their home page today for Peter Carl Fabergé, a Russian Jewelry artist, know for creating easter eggs made of jewels, gems and high-end metals. These eggs were known as Fabergé Eggs. Peter Carl Fabergé was born today 166 years ago in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His family was in the Jewelry business and he eventually took over the family business in 1882. Then in 1885 he was given the title House of Fabergé where he created these Fabergé Eggs for Alexander III and Nicholas II of Russia. The eggs created for them were known as Imperial Fabergé eggs, b [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos

When Google+ and Google+ Pages for business were introduced a little less than a year ago many people in the local search arena began anticipating the day when Google would merge or integrate Google Places and Google+ Pages. Well, today is that day. Google Places pages have been entirely replaced by new Google+ Local pages. As of this morning roughly 80 million Google Place pages worldwide have been automatically converted into 80 million Google+ Local pages, according to Google's Marissa Mayer. It's a dramatic change (for the better) though it will undoubtedly disorient some users and b [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Features: Analysis | Google: Google+ | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Top News

Searches are up in the two weeks since Google launched Knowledge Graph, its database of facts that adds context to a variety of search results. Although the company didn't share specific numbers, Google Fellow Amit Singhal told the Wall Street Journal that "people are interacting with it [the Knowledge Graph] more" and "doing more [search] queries." Those comments were made Friday, and Google spokesperson Jason Friedenfelds told the WSJ on Tuesday that internal stats show that users are still "doing more searches as a result" of Knowledge Graph. That makes perfect sense since the Knowled [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Knowledge Graph | Google: Web Search | Search Features: Direct Answers

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 Releases Penguin Update 1.1No matter that it’s late Friday night on the start of a three-day holiday weekend in the U.S., Google has just pushed out the first update to its recent webspam-fighting Penguin algorithm. Let’s call it Penguin 1.1. Google’s Matt Cutts announced the news a short time ago on Twitter, calling it a “data refresh” that [...] Microsoft: Yes, We Do Send Takedown Requests To Bing, TooMicros [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap