Today is Google's 14th birthday and to celebrate Google has a special animated logo of a cake with 14 candles being eaten up. We have a copy of the Google Birthday logo, aka Google Doodle, on the right side of this page. For the past ten years, Google has posted birthday logos to celebrate their birthday. Here are the past birthday logos from Google: Google’s 13th birthday logo: Google’s 12th birthday logo: Google’s 11th birthday logo: Google’s 10th birthday logo: Google’s 9th birthday logo: Google’s 8th birthday logo: G [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos

Google has confirmed that there's a hidden benefit to having authorship status: If a user returns to the search results after reading an author-tagged search result for a certain period of time, Google will add three additional links to similar articles from the same author below the originally clicked link. Say what? A couple visuals will help explain what this is, so follow along. If I do a Google search for "marketing land feedburner," Google shows one of my recent MarketingLand.com articles in the top spot, and it includes my authorship status -- name, avatar, Google+ information, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Analysis | Google: Authorship | Google: Rich Snippets | Google: SEO | Google: User Interface | Google: Web Search | Top News

Popular social news site BuzzFeed, has uncovered a stash of images that allegedly leaked from an internal meme generator within Google intranet. The majority of the images appear to be pro-Google and rib at rivals Facebook, Yahoo! and former Google exec Marissa Mayer. All of the images were sent in from a tipster who stated that they were from "memegen," a meme generator found within Moma, the Google intranet.  Buzzfeed pointed out that a few Googlers have mentioned memegen previously in social media. The majority of the memes were in good clean fun and most touted Google's servic [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search | Google | Google: Employees

As the adoption of smartphones increases, consumers are becoming comfortable using their smartphones and tablets to buy goods, transfer money and perform many different kinds of financial transactions. A new study by comScore reports 80% of U.S. smartphone owners accessed mobile commerce sites and apps in July (85.9 million total). According to Google’s Our Mobile Planet: United States, penetration is currently 44% of the U.S. population, and 66% access the Internet daily. Retailers can engage these always-connected consumers by adopting a mobile strategy that includes having a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Retail | Search & Retail

Just in time for those on iOS 6 wanting missing Google Street View photography, Google is bringing its street-level pictures to the mobile web version of Google Maps in two weeks. That also means, as best I can tell, these will come to the web versions of Google Maps for Android and other smartphones, too. The news came as part of a scorching review of Apple's new Maps dysfunctionality by New York Times tech writer David Pogue, who writes in part: In short, Maps is an appalling first release. It may be the most embarrassing, least usable piece of software Apple has ever unleashed. Ouch. O [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Maps | Channel: Mobile | Features: Analysis | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | 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: How Search & Social Engines Are Using Semantic SearchThe term "Semantic Search" is certainly not new. However, it has taken on a new dimension and implications in both search and social engines today. In addition, it has had a strong impact on targeted semantic advertising. This special series of forthcoming articles on semantic search will take a look at the history behind the [...] How Location & Small Screen Size Impact Search Behavior [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

The term "Semantic Search" is certainly not new. However, it has taken on a new dimension and implications in both search and social engines today. In addition, it has had a strong impact on targeted semantic advertising. This special series of forthcoming articles on semantic search will take a look at the history behind the development of semantic technology and why it has now become so commercially viable and topical. It will also take a look at how the technology enables "answer engines," rather than simple search engines, to improve the user experience. For example, look at the dire [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features | Features: General | Schema.org | Search Features: Direct Answers | Search Features: Enhanced Listings | Search Features: Natural Language | Series & Special Topics

It is no news that mobile devices are rapidly taking over the Web! Latest estimates peg the share of mobile traffic from 10% to 20% of the total Web traffic. Popular websites like Quora and Facebook are claiming that about one quarter of their traffic comes from mobile devices (including tablets). With more and more people having their primary Web experience on mobile devices, this platform cannot be ignored. In fact, companies that innovate specifically for mobile devices are the ones who will have an early lead for the next couple of years. Eventually, every company will have to have a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Search & Conversion | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines

It's a marketing tactic that's about as old as time itself: When a competitor stumbles, you turn it into opportunity for self-promotion. That's certainly been the case since the Apple Maps app stumbled out of the gate a week ago on iOS 6. Bing is the latest competitor to call for attention. The company published a new blog post today touting its Bing App for iOS -- not because it has any new features, but because "you may be holding a brand new smartphone and wondering which apps have the essential search and mapping functionality you need." Bing wants everyone to know that its existi [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Maps | Channel: Mobile | Features: Analysis | Foursquare | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Mobile | Top News

The latest twist in the tale of Google Maps coming back to the iPhone and iOS 6 devices is that Google apparently didn't anticipate that it would be dropped by Apple as a mapping data provider. As a result, it's lost time needed to create its own app. If true, that's a pretty surprising lack of foresight on Google's part. Time On The Contract Clock We reported last year that Google had renewed its deal with Apple to be a search and map data provider for iOS devices. The term of that deal, as with all deals Google's done with Apple, weren't revealed. But it was pretty likely to be a multiyear [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Maps | Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Top News

Welcome to Part 2 of the "A Bird’s-Eye View of the Search and Display Lumascapes." In Part 1 last month, we covered two main topics: There is no à la carte targeting data in SEM Display is not catered to the long tail My third topic is an important one; it encompasses both the defining similarities and differences in the operation and infrastructure of search and display landscapes: display looks like search. This is an extension of my last point in the previous article, which explained that display is not catered to the long tail. However, since search caters to the long tail, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display | Search & Display

Google's decision to eliminate free product listings in favor of paid Product Listing Ads (PLAs) for Google Shopping has reverberated through the ecommerce world. One consequence: online marketplace Etsy has decided to pay for its U.S. sellers' products to be listed in PLAs through the rest of the year. The ecommerce company, known for facilitating the sale and purchase of handmade and vintage items, fears the impact Google's change would have on traffic over the holiday season, and doesn't believe sellers would place such ads themselves. In its blog post, Etsy said it would be spending mor [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Google: Product Search

Under the sea Under the sea Darling it's better down where it's wetter Take it from me - from The Little Mermaid Every so often, the Google Street View service does something cool enough to make you forget about the WiFi data collection screwup, and this is one of those things -- at least for me. With photographic help from The Catlin Seaview Survey, Street View now has underwater imagery from six coral reefs, all of which are available on Google Maps at maps.google.com/ocean. (Take that, Apple Maps.) The locations include the Great Barrier Reef near Australia (shown in the i [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Street View

The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation has written to the major US search engines of Google, Yahoo and Bing asking them to examine how some moving services are using "bait-and-switch" tactics on customers who find them through search results. Moving Ripoffs Each search engine received the same letter, covering how a committee investigation found that consumers are doing searches for topics relating to moving services and encountering companies with names that seem similar to large, reputable brands. Consumers pay what they believe to be a moving deposit but [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Analysis | Google: SEO | Legal: Regulation | Microsoft: Bing SEO | Top News | Yahoo: SEO

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Eric Schmidt Floats Idea Of A Yahoo-Google Search PartnershipApple, Google and mapping apps weren’t the only thing that Eric Schmidt spoke about today in Tokyo. Forbes is reporting that Schmidt also floated the idea of a Google-Yahoo search partnership. Dow Jones reporter Kenneth Maxwell was at the event, and shared this statement with Forbes: Yes, I can confirm, Eric Schmidt definitely said they’d [...] The Good & Bad Scenarios Ab [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Apple, Google and mapping apps weren't the only thing that Eric Schmidt spoke about today in Tokyo. Forbes is reporting that Schmidt also floated the idea of a Google-Yahoo search partnership. Dow Jones reporter Kenneth Maxwell was at the event, and shared this statement with Forbes: Yes, I can confirm, Eric Schmidt definitely said they'd be interested in working with Yahoo US. He also said nothing doing for the time being, but they would be interested. It was also mentioned to him that there is new management at Yahoo US with a Google connection. But he played it pretty straight…. He al [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google & Yahoo Ad Deal | Google: Business Issues | Microsoft & Yahoo Search Deal | Top News | Yahoo: Business Issues

Today, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt said his company hasn't done anything yet to bring Google Maps to iOS as a standalone app. That seems to contradict Google's statement last week about wanting this to happen, as well as the company's central mission. But negotiations and contract issues yet to be revealed might be a "good" reason for the delay. The bad reason would be if Google's doing this to promote Android. Let's look at them both. How We Got Here Last week, Google Maps disappeared from being the brains inside the Maps application on the latest version of Apple's mobile opera [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Maps | Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Top News

This whitepaper will provide mobile marketers with the simplest, best, and most useful mobile marketing tests, experiments, and case studies so you can learn from companies (large and small) that have had success. Download now! [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

A client asked me the other day why we were optimizing his software for Los Angeles, when he’s located in Raleigh, NC. In explaining the reason to him, I realized that a basic guideline for optimizing pages is long overdue. I’ve developed the following flow chart and explanation in response. Theming Content The first question you need to ask yourself when optimizing a page is, What is the Page About? If you can’t answer this or your answer is a keyword, then maybe you shouldn’t be building the page. Seriously. You need the page to be about something in order for it to have value [...]

Related Topics: Beginner | Channel: SEO | How To: SEO | Keywords & Content | SEO: General | SEO: Titles & Descriptions

Google has always banned the use of duplicate landing pages for AdWords sitelinks extensions. It just hasn't been particularly aggressive about ensuring compliance, until now. This because the company has noticed many advertisers including two or more sitelinks that go to the same landing pages, or different pages with substantially the same content. Starting this week, any new sitelinks that are added or changed will be checked to ensure they comply with the policy. In the next few months, Google will be going back through all sitelinks for currently-running campaigns to check for duplicat [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Top News