Google algorithm updates

SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 30, 2013

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: 10 Features Unique To Bing Ads That You Might Not Know About On the Bing Ads blog this week Marta Turek from Mediative spotlighted several features offered in Bing Ads that […]

Advertising

10 Features Unique To Bing Ads That You Might Not Know About

On the Bing Ads blog this week Marta Turek from Mediative spotlighted several features offered in Bing Ads that are not available in Google AdWords. Most PPC practitioners spend more time in AdWords than Bing Ads, so it can be hard to keep up with the different features offered in Bing Ads. AdWords users will be familiar with the […]

Google algorithm updates

SEO Ambiguity & Pattern Recognition

As search marketers, we constantly have to deal with ambiguity — whether trying to reverse engineer a Google algorithm or simply prioritize and forecast the impact of the SEO recommendations we’re making. In this article, we’re going to explore what drives SEO ambiguity. Spoiler alert: some major survival skills are required. When dealing with SEO […]

Link building

SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 29, 2013

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Foursquare Now: Update Intros Location-Aware Alerts Call it “Foursquare Now.” Today the company announced that it would begin rolling out a new push recommendations feature, initially to Android users and later […]

Apple

Foursquare Now: Update Intros Location-Aware Alerts

Call it “Foursquare Now.” Today, the company announced that it would begin rolling out a new push recommendations feature, initially to Android users and later to iOS. Based on the billions of check-ins, likes and other social data Foursquare has accumulated, the updated app will proactively send alerts about places and venues, without any required […]

Google Ads

Doing Google PLAs? 4 Must-Know Facts

Despite their growing importance as a marketing channel for retailers, Google’s Product Listing Ads (PLAs) are fairly opaque compared to traditional paid search ads. Key metrics such as average position and impression share are not available via Google’s interface, and thus there is little information out there on the ways in which bids, impressions, ad […]

Ecommerce

Google Maps Launches Ground Truth Initiative In Russia & Hong Kong

Google Maps announced new updates to their Russia and Hong Kong maps today, launching a “Ground Truth” initiative to build more thorough maps for Hong Kong and a number of Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg. According to Google’s announcement: Ground Truth enables us to update a country’s map at a faster […]

Apple

6 SEO Challenges Every Business Owner & Marketer Must Contend With In 2014

There isn’t much left of this year. Companies that haven’t started planning their marketing strategy and budgeting for 2014 must begin soon. When it comes to online marketing, most businesses rely excessively upon Web analytics to decide what was (or wasn’t) effective. What they find affects future decisions about where to invest time and money. […]

Ecommerce

3 Paid Search Strategies For Maximizing Brand Equity In Retail

Paid search continues to be a highly effective channel for retailers, driving traffic and a profitable return on investment (ROI). In fact, retail advertisers invest more in paid search than almost any other industry. For the most part, search represents an integrated step in the purchase cycle for consumers with selection, price-transparency and convenience as […]

SEO

Live @ SMX East: Google Enhanced Campaigns – What We’ve Learned So Far

Earlier this year, Google announced Enhanced Campaigns, a significant update to AdWords, designed to simplify campaign management across multiple devices and to increase adoption rates of mobile advertising among small and medium sized businesses. And by the way, the new program was mandatory – all advertisers would be forced to change over to Enhanced Campaigns […]

Google algorithm updates

SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 28, 2013

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 Gets 5,000 Reconsideration Requests Per Week Google’s head of search spam Matt Cutts announced in a recent video answer that Google receives about 5,000 reconsideration request per week through Google […]

Google

Google Gets 5,000 Reconsideration Requests Per Week

Google’s head of search spam Matt Cutts announced in a recent video answer that Google receives about 5,000 reconsideration request per week through Google Webmaster Tools. In January 2013, Google said it had taken manual action on 400,000 different websites and averaged about 5,000 reconsideration reports each week. As you can imagine, that is a […]

Content

Issue-Oriented Marketing: Maintaining Momentum During Congressional Recess

Many corporations and non-profit organizations use political and issue-oriented marketing to sway citizens’ votes on topics ranging from Internet sales taxes to food stamps. Some even work simply to get people to the polls. A familiar non-partisan example is Rock the Vote’s campaign, which has driven millions of young voters to the polls since 1992. […]

Link building

SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 27, 2013

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 AdWords Adds Cross-Account Conversion Tracking & MCC Search Funnels To help advertisers track performance across multiple AdWords accounts, Google announced cross-account conversion tracking and search funnel reporting. This is the […]

Google Ads

Google AdWords Adds Cross-Account Conversion Tracking & MCC Search Funnels

To help advertisers track performance across multiple AdWords accounts, Google announced cross-account conversion tracking and search funnel reporting. This is the first of several announcements about new cross-channel conversion tracking and attribution capabilities Google has planned for the next few months. With cross-account conversion tracking, you can create one snippet of code to use across […]

Google

Chrome Getting Closer To Releasing New Tab Page

It looks like Chrome’s New Tab Page (NTP) may be available to everyone soon. While an experimental version was launched last December to a small selection of users, Chrome announced yesterday that they are continuing to test the new feature, and extending the number of beta users. In their continued quest to speed up search […]

SEO

Global Issues Shift Global SEO & SEM Budgets Even Faster To Asia

It’s always interesting to contemplate how global events affect us, even in our own back yards — and turbulent times have definitely impacted online marketing budgets. An analysis of several hundred clients with online marketing initiatives spanning over 100 regions around the world clearly shows that shifts in budget allocation reflect the stories we see […]

Content

9 Things We Should Never Stop Doing in Link Building

A couple of months ago, I went on a little rant. (It happens sometimes; I’m looking into it.) I was overwhelmed by the responses that little column generated, with others picking up my rally cry to eliminate super shady link building practices. But commenters were also quick to point out that there is a lot […]

SEO

Live @ SMX East: What Are The Most Important Search Ranking Factors?

Google tells us they make as many as 600 changes to their ranking algorithms every year. Some are major, typically named after disarmingly cute animals that can nonetheless severely damage or even destroy hard-won search result placement. Other changes are minor, but if your site happens to be subject to the “new rules” you need […]

Apple

SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 26, 2013

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 One Brand Switched A Million URLs & Lived To Tell About It: 5 Questions With HomeAdvisor.com Last year, home improvement company HomeAdvisor.com underwent a monumental rebranding effort that included switching […]

SEO

How One Brand Switched A Million URLs & Lived To Tell About It: 5 Questions With HomeAdvisor.com

Last year, home improvement company HomeAdvisor.com underwent a monumental rebranding effort that included switching more than 10 million URLS from their previous company name to their new brand. With over $200 million in revenue at risk and thirteen years worth of online brand equity, HomeAdvisor.com’s CEO Chris Terrill and CTO Brandon Ridenour understood switching the […]

Google Ads

AdWords Test Accounts No Longer Require Application Requests

Google has updated the process for setting up AdWords Test Accounts. Test accounts are used by developers to execute AdWords API requests without serving ads or affecting actual account performance. Starting today, instead of having to complete a web form application for account approval, developers can now create an MCC (my client center) test account […]

Apple

Apple Siri On Google Glass: “That Glass Is Half Empty”

The Verge noticed that if you ask Apple Siri about Google Glass, Siri will respond with some humorous responses. In short, if you activate Siri on your iOS device and say, “okay glass,” Apple Siri will respond in a witty way. Above are some of the responses in an animated GIF, but here they are […]

Apple

Crush The Competition With Hyper Local Listing Management!

In May 2012, Google partnered with Ipsos OTX Media CT to get a better understanding of U.S. smartphone usage. Their study revealed that 94% of smartphone users have looked for local information, and 90% took action as a result (called the business, walked into a store, redeemed a coupon, etc). Also, 96% have researched a product or […]

Google Ads

The CPA Trap & How To Avoid It

I guarantee I can reduce your cost-per-acquisition (CPA) on your SEM campaigns. How can I make such a bold claim? Simple: first, I create ad text that says “Get $1,000 free. Apply now!” Next, I create a landing page with a picture of a beautiful woman holding a pile of crisp bills and a simple, […]

Google

Privacy Groups Want Judge To Reject Google’s $8.5 Million Settlement Over Search Privacy Lawsuit

Last month, Google agreed to pay $8.5 million into a settlement fund over a class-action lawsuit by two searchers who accused the company of transmitting their personal information to third parties without their consent or knowledge that the information was being shared. The final court approval of the proposed settlement was scheduled for today, but […]

Apple

SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 23, 2013

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Says Goodbye to Bing Shopping, Hello Product Search With Rich Captions & Product Ads Today, Bing announced that Bing Shopping is being replaced by Product Search, which simply integrates product […]

Advertising

Bing Says Goodbye To Bing Shopping, Hello Product Search With Rich Captions & Product Ads

Today, Bing announced that Bing Shopping is being replaced by Product Search, which simply integrates product results within Bing search results rather than in a separate destination. Unlike Google, Bing also continues to offer both paid and free ways for merchants to have product listings. Shopping Results Integrated Here’s an example of how the new […]

SEO

Travelocity-Expedia Deal Gives Travel Search Its Yahoo-Bing Moment

Travelocity, one of the web’s longstanding travel search engines and online travel agencies, is getting out of the travel search business. The company announced a “strategic marketing agreement” yesterday with longtime competitor Expedia, which calls for Expedia to begin powering the technology used on Travelocity.com. As the Wall Street Journal reports, that will include powering […]

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