April Fool's Day is pretty much like a national ... err, international holiday for everyone that works for Google. It seems that nobody else on the Web takes the tradition of pranks and jokes as seriously as Google does -- just see our coverage from the last few April Fool's Days for proof: Google's Gags Go Worldwide For April Fool's Day 2012 It's Over: Google Has Already Won April Fools Day 2011 Google Books, Google Maps Get 3D View – But Only For April Fool's Day April Fools' Day 2009: Google CADIE & More From Search Industry It may still be March 31st for me, and maybe [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Features: General | Google: Analytics | Google: Docs & Spreadsheets | Google: Gmail | Google: Internet Access | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Marketing | Google: Street View | Google: Trends | Google: Wallet | Google: YouTube & Video | Search & Society: April Fool's | Top News

If you visit Google today, on Easter Sunday, you will see a logo for Cesar Chavez. Cesar Chavez, who died in 1993, would have been 86 years old today. He is most well known for his work as a Latino American civil rights activist. He was also co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association and a labor leader. Chavez was a Roman Catholic who had major influence and respect throughout America and the Latino community. On his 86th birthday and on Easter Sunday, Google pays respect to his contributions with a Google Logo, aka Google Doodle. I must say, some are not happy not to see [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos

Google is well-known for its lighter side, including things like whimsical logos, april fools' gags and more. In the spirit of the Easter holiday, here's a big list of "easter eggs" that Google engineers have hidden for enterprising searchers who take the time to hunt them down. Easter eggs? "A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message, in-joke, or feature in a work such as a computer program, webpage, video game, movie, book, or crossword," according to Wikipedia. A classic Google example: An animated, rotating graph of a 3D easter egg (click the link to see the animation). [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Easter Eggs | 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 Simple Ways To Debug Your Google Analytics Installation As you might guess, we QA a lot of Google Analytics installs. It is often a maddening task that makes you want to “gaq.” However, there are some nice tools that go a long way toward making life easier. If you are questioning the data you’re getting out of Google Analytics; if your e-commerce reporting [...] Search In Pics: Google Easter Eggs, Google Surf Board & Solar Cars In this we [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

As you might guess, we QA a lot of Google Analytics installs. It is often a maddening task that makes you want to "gaq." However, there are some nice tools that go a long way toward making life easier. If you are questioning the data you're getting out of Google Analytics; if your e-commerce reporting doesn't match your sales; if you really thought there'd be more downloads of your whitepaper on the fonts used in movie credits; then you can use these tools to find out if Google Analytics is broken or if the error lies somewhere else. This is how we do it. Things That Go Wrong Typos [...]

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

In this week's Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the Web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more. Google Easter Eggs: Source: Google+ Google Solar Car: Source: Google+ Google Sun Glasses & Ball: Source: Google+ Google Surf Boards: Source: Facebook [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Search In Pictures

Findings from a new study show the visibility of Google Shopping in Google's "Universal Search" results dropped significantly after the search engine implemented a new paid inclusion model. Video content also dropped but still remained by far the most dominant source mixed with web page listings. Searchmetrics, a provider of search and social analysis software, conducted the study by analyzing millions of listings to evaluate Universal Search results for videos, images, maps, shopping and news. Google implemented Universal Search in 2007 to offer an improved search experience for users [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Video | Google: Images | Google: Maps & Local | Google: News | Google: Product Search | Google: Universal Search | Google: YouTube & Video | Top News

If job listings are any indication, Apple remains committed to improving its iOS Maps app. As the iDownload Blog spotted, Apple currently has seven job listings for what's called a "Maps Ground Truth Manager." The positions are based around the world -- U.S., Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Middle East/Africa. The job description explains that these Ground Truth Managers will be responsible for improving and ensuring the accuracy of Apple Maps. The Maps team is searching for a manager for the team responsible for regional map quality and ground trut [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Maps | Channel: Local | Features: Analysis | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines | 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: Report: PPC Tablet Spending Up 112%, Smartphones Up 113% The new IgnitionOne Digital Marketing Report for Q1 finds that overall paid search spend in the U.S. was flat for the quarter, while mobile and tablet growth remained strong. Tablet spending rose 112% and smartphone spending jumped 113%. The study suggests that the growth in tablet and mobile is coming from a reallocation from existing [...] Google Tests Orange URLs & Light Blue Titles On Ta [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

The new IgnitionOne Digital Marketing Report for Q1 finds that overall paid search spend in the U.S. was flat for the quarter, while mobile and tablet growth remained strong. Tablet spending rose 112% and smartphone spending jumped 113%. The study suggests that the growth in tablet and mobile is coming from a reallocation from existing budgets for Desktop/PC ads, rather than net new spend.                   While the gap is smaller than when the report last looked in Q3 2012, the report found a clear differentiat [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords: Enhanced Campaigns | Search Ads | Search Ads: Mobile Search | Stats | Stats: Spend Projections

Google is apparently testing a new tablet interface, according to a video by tecnonet. He captured three different tests on the Google Tablet search interface: (1) new search tools, (2) light blue colored titles and (3) orange URLs. Here are static pictures of the color changes followed by a video showing the search tools option test. As always, Google is regularly running numerous tests to its user interface and not all of them get approved for wide rollout. Google users may see as many as 12 tests every time they do a search. Related Entries Google Testing Android/Chrom [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Mobile | Google: User Interface

[caption id="attachment_83846" align="alignright" width="240"] Image via Shutterstock[/caption] The in-house versus agency debate is largely over because for 90% of businesses, it is no longer possible to run a significant (large budget/large volume) online marketing program without agency help. Since I'm an online marketing agency CEO, it'd be fair of you to accuse me of bias and self-interest in making this statement, but please put away the rotten tomatoes until you have at least heard my argument. For what it's worth, it's an informed one; I spent eight years as an in-house SEM and [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Enterprise SEM

This white paper discusses: 2013 plans for 700 top digital marketers Making personalization valuable, not intrusive Balancing inspired content with smart algorithms Download now » [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

We may have seen the end of CPC stagnation. Covario's Global Paid Search Spend Analysis for Q1, released today, suggests that the cost-per-click trends of the last six quarters have reversed with CPC prices rising 7% from the previous quarter and 23% year-over-year. Overall paid search spend grew 9% quarter-over-quarter and 33% year-over-year. The following chart shows global paid search activity for Q1 ‘13:                   Google CPCs Rise 39% Year-Over-Year The study suggests that rising CPCs on Google a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Microsoft: Bing Ads | Search Ads: General | Search Ads: Mobile Search | Search Marketing | SEM Industry: Stats | Stats: Spend Projections

Google Webmaster Tools can be a powerful ally. But, if you make a mistake or put this power in the wrong hands, it can mean trouble for your search engine optimization. In this post, I provide a basic SEO Guide to Webmaster Tools to help get you started if you aren't taking full advantage of WMT yet. It is very important to point out that some of these things are more detrimental than others. Also, there could be multiple articles written about each of these tools and reports. This SEO guide to Webmaster Tools is a simple overview with a little insight. [caption id="attachment_153210" al [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Beginner | Channel: SEO | Google: Webmaster Central | How To | How To: SEO

Super early bird rates for SMX Advanced expire end-of-day Friday, March 29. Register now for your ticket to the only conference designed exclusively for experienced search marketers. Cutting-edge tactics and networking with internet marketing thought leaders make SMX Advanced the must-attend conference of the year. Check out the agenda and then join us June 11-12 in Seattle. SMX Advanced has sold out every year since it was created in 2007. Register now to get your ticket and take advantage of our lowest rates before they expire Friday! Helpful SMX Advanced links: Want to send [...]

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

Google announced they can now tell you the name of the actors in a movie when you are unsure of the name of the actor or actress. The Google Play TV or Movies Android App specifically for U.S. based Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and higher tablet devices can give you the answer. For a person like me, where I am always a bit embarrassed when it comes to not knowing actor names or even movie names - an app like this can come in handy. This way, I can see the name of the stars in the film, what other movies they had a role in and a little bit about their history. Google will displa [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Knowledge Graph | Google: Mobile | Top News

News publications having "sponsored content "deals are on the rise, and Google's apparently concerned enough that it's issued a warning today that publishers should keep such content out of Google News. In a post today on the Google News blog, the company writes: If a site mixes news content with affiliate, promotional, advertorial, or marketing materials (for your company or another party), we strongly recommend that you separate non-news content on a different host or directory, block it from being crawled with robots.txt, or create a Google News Sitemap for your news articles only. O [...]

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

Bing has added a search filter that gives users the opportunity to limit search results to three recent time periods: Past 24 hours Past week Past month The options appear directly below the search box on Bing's search results page. It's a welcome addition, but one that Google has had for a long time now. In fact, Bing's time filter comes up a bit short of Google's in a couple regards: on Google, you can set a custom date range (but not on Bing) and, after limiting search results on Google to a specific time frame, you can also sort them by relevance or date. Bing's filter ap [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Bing User Interface

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Need A Google Alerts Replacement? Meet Talkwalker With Google Alerts coming under fire as being broken, an impressive new service has stepped up to appeal to those seeking an alternative: Talkwalker. Luxembourg-based Talkwalker is a social media monitoring company that has now released its own keyword-based alerts resource. The free service utilizes Google’s web, news, and blog databases and delivers alerts by email or RSS. So, are [...] Search On S [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap