May 1, 2012 at 3:00pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Google's head of web spam, Matt Cutts, has published a video talking about a topic that Google has never really talked about publicly before - Google Quality Raters. The video goes through the process used by Google with these Quality Raters. Matt Cutts specifically says these quality raters have no direct impact on the Google search results. He explains how what they do is used in the overall Google search quality process: Google Quality Raters rate URLs if they are good, bad, spam and other classifications Then when the Google engineers changes the algorithm The engineers can run q [...]

Related Topics: Google: Other | Google: Web Search

Google’s Gags Go Worldwide For April Fool’s Day 2012

Apr 1, 2012 at 3:37am ET by Matt McGee

It was right about this time last year when we gave Google the winner's trophy for a series of gags that put all others to shame. We could do the same again right now, because Google has tried to top itself with another round of April Fool's Day jokes that pretty well span the globe of Google's international properties. Below is a recap of Google's (and a few others) pranks, and we'll do our best to update this as the day goes along. Google Racing: Self-Driving Cars Hit NASCAR The main joke at the moment is Google's "announcement" of a partnership with NASCAR called Google Racing, whi [...]

Microsoft Security Patch Marked Google.com As Malware

Feb 16, 2012 at 10:05am ET by Barry Schwartz

Some of those who use Microsoft security software received a security patch a couple days ago that lead to malware warnings for users trying to visit Google.com. Softpedia posted a picture of the warning. Microsoft quickly learned about the issue on their support forums and issued a patch yesterday to address the issue. Microsoft didn't explain it was a Google specific issue but said: On February 14, 2012, an incorrect detection for Exploit:JS/Blacole.BW was introduced. On February 14, 2012, Microsoft released an update that addresses the issue. Signature versions 1.119.1988.0 and high [...]

Google Launches US Election Hub Website

Jan 2, 2012 at 2:10pm ET by Matt McGee

You have one less excuse for being an uninformed voter this election year in the U.S. Google has launched a new U.S. politics/election hub at google.com/elections. It's kinda like the Google News "Elections" section, but with different filtering options on news content and added data related to this year's campaigns. The new elections hub has predefined filters for the major U.S. presidential candidates (President Obama along with seven Republicans), as well as some of the primary issues being discussed (healthcare, government spending, etc.) Google News offers similar filtering opt [...]

Google Tests Its Hotel Finder As A New Comparison Ad Atop Search Results

Dec 14, 2011 at 9:57am ET by Matt McGee

Hotel industry, you're on notice: Google appears to be running a test that places its own Google Hotel Finder at the top of very competitive, hotel-related queries. Search Engine Land reader Alex, who works in the hospitality industry, tipped us to this development and at least one of our SEL editors was able to replicate it on a search for "las vegas hotels." The Hotel Finder ad is listed as a "comparison ad" and is separated very slightly from the regular AdWords listings below it. It occupies premium space at the top of Google's search results and pushes hotel ads and organic lis [...]

Related Topics: Google: AdWords | Google: Other | Google: Other Ads | Top News

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