Earlier this year, Bing announced a new featured named Bing Linked Pages, that feature is now named Bing Tags. The feature allows you or your friends to "tag" web pages and documents in Bing's index as being related to you or your friend. The purpose is to make the search results for you and your friends more personalized as well as richer. Now, instead of going to bing.com/linkedpages, you go to bing.com/tags and tag the pages related to you and friends. Also, Bing renamed how it looks in the search results. From saying "linked to" to saying "tagged." A Before Shot: An After S [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Bing: Linked Pages | Top News

For the fourth straight year, "facebook" was the most common search term in the U.S. this year -- part of an increase in navigational searching that saw one-word searches rise 16 percent in 2012. That's according to Experian Marketing Services, which announced its list of 2012's top search terms today. The data covers search activity on more than 60 search engines and website visits between January and November of this year, but doesn't include mobile searches or traffic. Experian says "facebook" accounted for 4.13 percent of all searches, a 33 percent increase over 2011. Other Faceb [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Facebook | Features: General | Stats: Hitwise | Stats: Search Behavior | 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’s Policing Of Duplicate Ad Sitelinks Extensions Misses Apparent Violator — ItselfAdWords advertisers know that Google has plenty of policies by which you must abide, like Ad Sitelinks extensions can’t have two links that point to the same page, and sitelinks can’t have the same destination page as the text ad’s headline. These rules seemingly apply to everyone except… Google itself. The rule-breaking was spotted [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Today you can get rich details about all aspects of your digital marketing efforts, including intelligence not only on your web leads but also on anonymous visitors to your site. In Optify's white paper "5 Killer Ways B2B Marketers Can Use Visitor Intelligence To Drive More Business", you will learn how to identify new business segments, improve your keyword list, optimize your content and develop winning marketing campaigns. Download Now » [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

AdWords advertisers know that Google has plenty of policies by which you must abide, like Ad Sitelinks extensions can't have two links that point to the same page, and sitelinks can't have the same destination page as the text ad's headline. These rules seemingly apply to everyone except… Google itself. The rule-breaking was spotted by SEER Interactive's Francis Shovlin, who noticed some pretty blatant examples on ads for certain search terms, and wrote about it on the company's blog. Marketing Land has been able to replicate some, but not all, of what Shovlin described. Search for "ad [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Features: Analysis | Google: AdWords

Apple Insider is reporting, based on a study by investment firm Piper Jaffray, that Siri today (iOS 6) relies on Google considerably less than it did in iOS 5. That's partly a result of the switch from Google's local data in Maps to Apple's own mapping data. However another part of the change is probably the addition of more non-Google sources of structured data to support Siri. In Piper Jaffray's previous study it found that Siri used Google or Google data to answer 60 percent of queries. Now that number has dropped to 30 percent. The chart below (via Apple Insider) illustrates who "w [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Maps | Apple: Siri | Channel: Mobile | Features: Analysis | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search | Top News

Back in September, I wrote about the Product Listing Ads transition from free to paid clicks in Google Shopping. The PLA transition is now complete, and with holiday shopping in full effect, it’s worth taking a look at the evolution of the PLA transition, and more importantly, the impact of PLAs on the bottom line of big and small businesses alike. Before getting into some results and the impact on marketing efficiency, I received several comments in response to my last post surrounding how consumers behave within PLAs. Personally, I do not think of PLAs as ad placements like paid search [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Retail | Search & Retail

No matter what level your paid search program is operating at, whether small business or enterprise, inevitably some campaigns will outgrow the daily budgets that were set to sustain them. Aggressive keyword expansion or increasing CPCs due to competition could be two contributing factors. Until these budgets can be expanded, your campaigns will be limited. Optimizing a campaign that’s limited by budget is one of the toughest tasks for a search marketer. A limited budget not only eliminates opportunities to expand on keywords and campaigns, but can hinder the execution of other crucial [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Enterprise SEM | How To | How To: SEM | Intermediate

[caption id="attachment_141998" align="alignright" width="267"] Image via Shutterstock[/caption] SEO tactics have morphed again over the past year, including the many Google updates we've seen. For nearly any type of business, keeping up with these changes can be a challenge, but if you prioritize the tasks necessary for success in search and social media marketing, the efforts can pay large dividends. Below are my picks for the top SEO tactics to focus on in the coming year. These tactics can bring you more relevant traffic and conversions for improving your bottom line in 2013. [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: SEO | Schema.org

Google's home page, worldwide, features a special interactive fairy tale like logo for the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. The Doodle lets you click through some of the more recognized fairy tales and it eventually will take you to a search result for [Brothers Grimm]. That result contains the Google Knowledge graph on the right hand side, where you can learn more about the topic and see additional images. Here is a video of the logo in action: It is a very animated, colorful and fun looking Google Doodle. Other Google Logos: The Thinker Google Dood [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos

Time is running out! Search Marketing Expo - SMX West Super Early Bird rates – the lowest offered – expire end of day this Friday. Register now for an All Access pass. Here’s what you get: Exceptional content: 3 days featuring 50+ tactic-packed sessions, keynotes and clinics. Invaluable connections: Meet others like you and the expert speakers pre-show and in-person at our many networking events. Essential conveniences: stay productive and comfortable with hot lunches, all-day snacks, and Wi-Fi in session rooms. Check out the agenda for SMX West, March 11-13 in San Jo [...]

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

Foursquare has made a quick response to Monday's announcement of Facebook Nearby, with its own announcement today that Foursquare Explore is cranking up its personalization. The irony? It's going to use Foursquare activity from a user's Facebook friends to improve the recommendations in Explore. Think of it as Foursquare judo: It's using Facebook data to battle against Facebook itself. Touché! Here's Foursquare's explanation of how it's using Facebook to turn up the personalization dial: When your Facebook friends do public things on Foursquare, like write a tip, like a place, or ta [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Facebook | Foursquare | Search Engines: Location / Checkin Services | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines | Search Features: Search History & Personalization | 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: Apple Vs. Google Maps: Reality Check TimeGoogle Maps new app is terrific app — although initiating navigation isn’t as intuitive as it might be. But I’ve found that Apple Maps is as good or nearly as good, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have not had a chance to test maps apps side-by-side in other regions. Here’s what [...] Finally, You Can Search All Your Tweets Via TwitterIt’s been one of the biggest pr [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

Google Maps new iOS app is terrific -- although initiating navigation isn't as intuitive as it might be. But I've found that Apple Maps is as good or nearly as good, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have not had a chance to test maps apps side-by-side in other regions. Here's what can be said from my experience of the comparison this past weekend: Google Maps offers more local data on the map when doing a category search. It also does a somewhat better job with the "local search" experience overall when the map is the entry point Google's local business profile pages offe [...]

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

It's been one of the biggest problems Twitter has had for years, that it's difficult to find your own tweets on the Twitter. The new Twitter Archive service that Twitter launched today goes a long way in solving this issue. Step-By-Step: How To Download All Your Tweets With The New Twitter Archive Service is our story on our Marketing Land sister-site that covers how the new service works. Here on Search Engine Land, we'll focus on the search aspect. After you've downloaded your tweets, you can hunt through them in one of two ways: browsing by month or by keyword search: Browsing [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social | Features: Analysis | Google: Real Time Search | Topsy | Twitter: Search

Google has decided to take on the decades-old Santa tracking service that NORAD offers with its own "Google Santa Tracker." It comes in the wake NORAD booting Google out as a partner in favor of Microsoft. NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps How NORAD Began Tracking Santa Since 1955 First some history, then what Google has in store. When I was a kid (I said history, right?) back in the 1970s, I remember listening to the radio to get NORAD updates about where Santa's lo [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Features: Analysis | Google: Santa Tracker | Search Engines: Santa Tracker | Top News

Following its acquisition of travel software provider ITA, Google's flight and hotel search products have offered isolated useful features but have largely failed to live up to Google's promise of "innovation." Consumers have mostly failed to notice Google's travel innovations so far as well. There are now indications that Google's travel sites and content are becoming more integrated into something more interesting and useful for travelers and not simply "me-too" products -- as they mostly have been to date. A Google blog post today provides a review of recent upgrades to Google Fligh [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Google Now | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Travel Search | Google: Web Search | Top News

The most common misconception over the past year has been the commonly heard statement, display looks like search. While we have all heard this a number of times (albeit it might be partially true) it’s largely based on one main factor: the rise of the auction-based marketplace in display. However, there are a number of reasons why I see this reason as misleading... read on: Display Is About Audiences & Reach The growth of ad targeting has actually led to display becoming more audience-driven than ever before. Behavioral advertising and search retargeting both focus on mid to upper [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display | Search & Display

There is nothing more important to your search success than your value proposition. Go ahead. Click away. I know you probably don't spend much of your time on such things. It's all keywords and copy, copy and keywords. Yet, keywords and ad copy only get you so far. For your visitors, these answer the question, why am I here? The value proposition answers the next question, why should I stay? In the context of a webpage, your value proposition will be effective if it has the following characteristics: 1. Easy to grasp 2. Relevant 3. Clearly presented I sometimes call t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Search & Conversion

Google has long asked searchers to provide feedback on the quality of its search results, and often runs a number of tests aimed at encouraging such feedback. The latest such experiment, which seems to have been live for at least a month or so, is a bit different because it asks searchers for feedback only on certain results. Eli Schwartz recently shared with us a screenshot after doing a search for [product synonym]. As you can see below, Google is using the open space on the right of the results page to ask "Which result do you prefer?" What's most interesting is that Google isn't [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Features: Analysis | Google: Web Search | Top News