Google CEO Larry Page met with representatives of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday, according to a Bloomberg report, as the company engages in antitrust-settlement talks to avert potential litigation. The article also says that formal settlement discussions have been going on for about a week. The Bloomberg piece also reports that the FTC "has told Google it won’t accept a resolution short of a consent decree." However Google doesn't want this outcome apparently because of the ongoing enforcement authority it would grant the agency. Neither Google nor the FTC truly want [...]

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

A security bug in Google Webmaster Tools has given users access to old accounts and websites that they're no longer supposed to be able to access. The problem was discovered Tuesday and reported on several SEO blogs and news outlets -- including (first, I believe) by Dave Naylor -- and was discussed pretty heavily by search marketers on Twitter. We asked Google late Tuesday afternoon to comment on the bug reports, but have not received a reply. What's happening in some, not all, Webmaster Tools accounts is that users are finding themselves with sudden access to accounts that they once ha [...]

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

Ask.com's 100 million users remain almost as loyal as Twihards, prompting us to ask if searchers are on Team Jeeves or Team Diller when putting in their queries. For the 2012 installment of the series in hot searches, Ask added a new twist to the searcher saga, layering in a thicker plot and seeking a more satisfying end to the year by putting context around searcher motivations and perceptions about the most popular headlines. For the first time ever, the top asked questions are accompanied by select insights from an online survey, 2012: What’s on America’s Mind?, conducted within [...]

Related Topics: Ask | Ask: General | Ask: Web Search | Channel: Search | Search & Society: General | 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: Seeking Maps Fix, Apple Fires Mapping Team Manager And Asks Outsiders For HelpAccording to a widely cited Bloomberg report published earlier today Apple has fired another executive in connection with its mapping woes. The article says that Eddie Cue, who’s now running the software division, ousted Richard Williamson who managed the mapping team. The same report says that “Cue . . . is seeking advice from outside [...] Search Engine L [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

According to a widely cited Bloomberg report published earlier today Apple has fired another executive in connection with its mapping woes. The article says that Eddie Cue, who's now running the software division, ousted Richard Williamson who managed the mapping team. The same report says that "Cue . . .  is seeking advice from outside mapping-technology experts and prodding digital maps provider TomTom NV to fix landmark and navigation data it shares with Apple." Bloomberg reports that "Cue wants to install a new leadership team for the group." Anecdotally I've noticed improvements in [...]

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

SMX Social Media Marketing begins next week! Join us for two days of tactic-packed sessions on paid, earned and owned social media, invaluable networking events, and much more. Don't miss the dynamic keynotes from Del Harvey, Twitter's head of trust and safety and Vic Gundotra, head of Google+. All Access & Workshop passes available. Register now! [...]

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

Last week, Bill Hunt asked readers to decide what would be the most important task they could perform in 60 minutes -- a great question which also set me thinking. No matter how many times I thought about the question, I have kept returning to the same answer -- improving the knowledge of our people. It's actually one of the beefs I have about automated tools (only one of many, I might add); namely, that if a tool does it automatically, no one ever really learns what matters. And, no one really knows if the tool's advice if correct, either. Dig Carefully To Find Accurate Information First [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Multinational Search

If you don’t measure what you’re doing in search and social media, how do you know if what you’re doing is working? How do you know if you’re helping or hurting your business—or having no effect whatsoever? How do you know that all those hours and/or wages aren’t being wasted? How do you know you’re getting positive results? At the end of the day, how do you know what you’re doing is worth it? Answer: you don’t! Measuring your SEO/social media successes and failures are the only way to improve — and to confirm that your strategies are helping your business mo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Search & Social

What is it about SEO that makes people stop acting like people? Sure, it has your fair share of data mining in dark corners, but the SEO industry is brimming with personality, sometimes too much of it. So why is it that when it comes to link building, that personality is left to the wayside? The best links come from the best relationships, and the best relationships take the most effort to create, foster and maintain. The Future of Online Marketing - Newport August 2112 from Eric Enge If you want to get success and sustain it, stop thinking about building links and start thinking ab [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Link Building: General | Link Week

Google dodged a bullet in Germany this week as prosecutors in Hamburg decided, after a lengthy investigation, not to pursue criminal charges against the company over Street View WiFi data collection. Essentially prosecutors found that Google lacked the requisite "criminal intent" to justify prosecution. Google faces another, arguably more daunting legal challenge in Germany however. It's now confronting a proposed "ancillary" copyright rule that could go into effect early next year and effectively eliminate Google's ability to index German news sites without licensing their content. France [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Google: News | Google: Outside US | Google: Street View

Oh baby, baby, baby oh... Sorry Biebs, you better believe you just got Kanye'd off the top searched celeb spot by Kim Kardashian. Ouch. But if you were her boyfriend... oh never mind. Let's get on to the good stuff that Bing announced earlier this evening, the big list of 2012 Bing Trends. Bing's biggest list to date includes nineteen categories, nearly doubling their hottest search topics in 2011, which was already a marked improvement over just two main celebrity search categories in 2010 and in 2009, which was Bing's very first list of year-end top searches. This year, the Bing sea [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Microsoft: Bing | Search & Society: General | Top News

"What's the use of PRWeb?," tweeted Megan McCarthy of Reuters, trying to digest how that service ended up circulating a fake Google acquisition story. Come along, Megan and others, and I'll explain one of the sorriest uses, getting crap into Google News and out into news sites. For those who somehow missed today's big tech news, PRWeb ran a press release saying that WiFi provider ICOA was being acquired by Google for $400 million. Plenty of outlets carried the news, until denials from both parties started circulating. Instead, the release appears to have been written by someone trying t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content | Features: Analysis | Google: News | 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: Auto Industry Benefiting From Growth In Mobile SearchApproximately one-third of all search traffic for auto industry related terms comes from mobile devices. This underscores why it is critical for auto manufacturers, local dealerships, reviewers and local automotive resources to render their sites properly for nearly half of their current traffic, but to also be at the forefront of getting higher visibility for [...] Examining Real World Uses Of [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Approximately one-third of all search traffic for auto industry related terms comes from mobile devices. This underscores why it is critical for auto manufacturers, local dealerships, reviewers and local automotive resources to render their sites properly for nearly half of their current traffic, but to also be at the forefront of getting higher visibility for an ever-increasing share of mobile searchers. Automotive Mobile Search Data Just before Thanksgiving, in partnership with Nielsen data, Telemetrics released an insightful study on car-related mobile searching. The study revealed [...]

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

Semantic markup is becoming more and more popular in conjunction with large scale SEO. Adding rich snippets to send rich signals to alert search engines as to the relevancy of your content − whatever vertical they may appear in − is not only a wise move, but an SEO best practice. Included below is an illustrative guide highlighting currently available Chrome extensions, which you can leverage to both test on-site markup as well as expose any information regarding your competitors. An example is illustrated below, and what follows is a guide to getting the information.   Installi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Enterprise SEO | Google: Rich Snippets | How To | How To: SEO | Intermediate | Schema.org | Search Features: Enhanced Listings

It's been about two months since Google launched a "news keywords" meta tag for news publishers. How's it going? Why didn't Google the standard meta keywords tag? The company's not saying, but it did shed a little more light on how to use the tag. Google launched the news keywords tag in September, designed as a way for news publishers to work around the fact that often the key terms they want their stories to be found for don't make it into the story headlines. The primary reason for this are two-fold. First, it can sometimes be awkward or make a headline lengthy to ensure the most rele [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Analysis | Google: News | Google: News Keywords Tag | Google: SEO | SEO: Writing & Body Copy | Top News

It can seem odd that people search for "Google" on Google, but they do. And for those who do within Google News, the company has been running ads encouraging them to make Google their homepage. I noticed this happening in the middle of last month, and you can still see it happening today: The ad says, "Make Google Your Homepage" with the message "Access Google Conveniently By Setting It As Your Browser Homepage," as you can see in close-up below: I've seen at least one other variation, pitching "Google At Your Fingertips," as shown below: Clicking on the ads takes you to a special [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Google: Marketing | Top News

Two weeks ago, Foursquare launched a new version of its homepage which Greg Sterling touted as "taking on Yelp" by adding a search box. Naturally, my first reaction was to figure out what Foursquare's new SEO plan. Imagine my surprise when I discovered there was none... First a bit of data. According to SEMRush, Foursquare's organic traffic has been growing aggressively since July of 2011: This traffic growth appears to have been the result of the launch of Foursquare's "Self Serve" pages for Business. Clearly, the growth of mobile and Foursquare's profile, created a lot of incentive for b [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Foursquare | Local Search

One of the worst ways of testing ads is: Writing new ads Turning on one of Google’s ‘optimize’ features Letting Google serve your ads Writing new ads Let Google serve your ads repeat… However, I find this is a very common testing method. There’s a big problem with this method: there’s no delete. Just by deleting ads, you can increase your account efficiencies significantly. I recently saw a few accounts where just by picking winners, their traffic and conversions increased from 30% to almost 300%. That’s right, hitting the delete button was the best optimizati [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Paid Search

Today is the 90th birthday of the late Charles Schulz, the man who invented the comic strip Peanuts. To celebrate his life and contributions, we have a special logo from a beloved search engine. No, not Google, it is from the up and coming DuckDuckGo. Duck Duck Go has Snoopy looking over the shoulder of the Duck in their logo. When you click on the logo, you are taken to a search result listing for Charles Schulz. Charles Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and died at the age of 77 in Santa Rosa, California. The Peanuts comic strip ran for 50 years with more than 18,000 s [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | DuckDuckGo