The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently approved a patent application from Google which forecasts a greater focus on mobile pages/versions in mobile search results going into 2013. Apparently the U.S. Patent office works on Christmas Day, or simply wanted to offer Google a Christmas gift before the FTC Antitrust case ruling, as it approved Google's Blending Mobile Search Results patent under USPTO number 8341147 on December 25th 2012. Let's take an initial look at the patent to see what it might tell us from a mobile search marketing perspective. What Are The Key Poin [...]

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

About six months ago, Google introduced handwritten searching via your smartphone device. Instead of typing, speaking or taking a picture of your query - Google allowed you to write the query on the Google home page with the tip of your finger. It worked pretty well but it was not perfect and is still not perfect. But Google announced that today searching by handwriting your query is a little better than yesterday. Google made three improvements: (1) Fast Alternatives To Letters: Sometimes a lowercase "L" might look like a "1" or a capital "I" and with other languages, this may hap [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search

Where are the bargains in paid search these days? According to an analysis of the fourth quarter in paid search, Adobe determined that both tablet targeting and product listing ads represent great opportunities for marketers, where there's a substantial gap between cost-per-click (CPC) and conversion rate. Adobe came to its conclusions after looking at paid search spend across more than 2 billion impressions by its clients in the fourth quarter. Adobe's Media Optimizer unit came from the company's acquisition of paid-search-specific company Efficient Frontier. Paid search as a whole had [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Features: Analysis | Google: AdWords | Google: Mobile | Microsoft: Bing | Stats | Stats: Spend Projections | Top News

How much does Google figure into the "future of search," whose advances will largely be determined by mobile and non-traditional devices? That's a hard question to answer. On the one hand Google is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) brand in the world, with almost unlimited resources to develop technology or buy companies it sees as threats. (Google Ventures has for example invested in Expect Labs, which is building a next-generation mobile search capability.) On the other hand its traditional search model and content presentation are not well suited to a range of new search and discov [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Features: Analysis | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search | Top News

It seems everyone has resolutions for the New Year, and mobile SEOs should be no exception. Last year, I focused my first column of the year on predicting trends for the New Year, rather than making resolutions on mobile search. And while those minor predictions have stood up pretty well, this year I want to focus on something that all of us can more easily control: three resolutions for mobile search and SEO in 2013. 1.  Give More Tactical Advice On How To Do Mobile SEO Well OK, you get it: you should be doing something to account for mobile searchers. You’re not one of the misinform [...]

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

Bryson Meunier from Resolution Media posted an update on his personal blog about the correlation between mobile content and ranking in Google. The study came out with three findings: (1) Having mobile optimized and rendered content is still highly correlated with getting organic traffic from Google. The study showed that 89% of the sites in the study that rank, all have either mobile URLs, dynamic serving, responsive web design, or some hybrid. But 89% of the sites that rank well, have some form of mobile rendered web site available to mobile users. (2) [...]

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

Google seems to be testing a new feature named "Quick View" in their smart phone enabled search results. The feature lets you load a page from the source web site in a quicker method, instead of loading the full page, which might require longer download time. Here is a picture of searching for [seo] on an iPhone 5 where a Wikipedia result shows a big blue button for "Quick View": When you click on the "Quick View" button, you are taken to a light-weight version of the page, maybe the mobile version of Wikipedia? Wissam Dandan discovered this and shared it on Google+. I have [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search | Top News

[caption id="attachment_142761" align="alignright" width="209"] Google Nexus 4 / Mayan Calendar from Peta-de-aztlan, Creative Commons[/caption] If you are reading this Search Engine Land column, then you survived the "final day" of the Mayan Calendar as the 13th B'ak'tun resets to 0 like an odometer after 1,872,000 days, and with it, the start of the 5th world, according to Mayan culture. This 5th world is said to be one of enlightenment, higher consciousness, and great transformation, which in my view, could only mean a concerted focus on mobile...for those that remain. Perhaps th [...]

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

The notion that Google Maps drove a rash of iOS 6 upgrades turns out to be wrong according to ad network Chitika. As several people have already argued, iOS 6 traffic growth more likely came from the release of the iPhone 5 in China (Apple said it sold 2 million handsets over the initial weekend). Mobile ad exchange MoPub earlier this week suggested a large contingent of Apple iPhone owners who hadn't yet upgraded from iOS 5 to iOS 6 were prompted to do so by the release of the new Google Maps app. That story seemed to fit with the immense anticipation and interest, among tech writers, [...]

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

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

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

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

Just about a week ago Google's new Google Maps iPhone app was released and oh boy were people waiting for it. Jeff Huber, Google's Senior Vice President of Commerce & Local at Google said on Google+ that in two days they had over 10 million downloads of the app. The app has already hit the number one free app rank in the Apple App Store and has over 20,000 reviews with a 4.5 star rating. Finally, the reviews for the Google Maps app have almost all been stellar. Jeff Huber wrote: We're excited for the positive reception of Google Maps for iPhone around the world. Congratulations t [...]

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

According to a report in Computerworld, Google has violated German data protection and privacy rules with its new Google Maps app for the iPhone. When users install the app and agree to the terms and conditions there's a check box that authorizes Google to collect "anonymous" user location data. The fact that this box is an opt-out (rather than an opt-in) violates German privacy regulations, which require "informed consent" where personal data collection is involved. The fix is obviously easy for Google: simply uncheck the box as the default. Yet the likelihood that people will op [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Legal | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Outside US | Legal: Privacy | Legal: Regulation

Google has released its long-awaited map app for the iPhone. And it delivers all the expected features: voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, traffic, public transit, Street View and so on. It's better than Google Maps for Android because it has been built or rebuilt "from the ground up" and didn't grow by accretion. The bottom line: it delivers. Yet it's also not 100 percent satisfying (at least in my initial test). I'm not sure what I was expecting. It's not integrated with Siri. You can't say "I need directions to San Francisco" and be taken to Google Maps, as you once could. Instea [...]

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

Just when you thought competition in search was effectively over, it starts to get interesting again. Over the past two weeks I've spoken to no less than four companies that say they are trying to reinvent "mobile search" for smartphones or tablets. I would almost guarantee there are more out there as well. These companies either believe Google is vulnerable in mobile or say they're trying to bring a fresh approach to content discovery that goes beyond what they believe has been done to date on mobile devices. A More Visual Approach Last week I wrote about KickVox, a new mobile search a [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Siri | Channel: Mobile | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines | Top News

Last year at this time, I refuted 7 myths in mobile SEO, saying mobile SEO isn’t a myth, but there are myths in mobile SEO. As we near the end of 2012, there are still too many SEOs who put mobile SEO in the same category as Santa Claus and his elves: good story but entirely mythical (sorry, kids!). I’m seeing mobile search and mobile SEO on too many “let’s stop talking about this next year” lists, and I think that’s a shame. To illustrate why, here are eight of the most popular reasons given for mobile SEO’s nonexistence, refuted: 1.  Mobile Search Behavior The Same As Desk [...]

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

This is a bit of bad PR: Macrumors reports that Australian police have warned iPhone owners in that country not to rely upon Apple Maps due to "safety concerns." According to a local police statement: Mildura Police are urging motorists to be careful when relying on the mapping system on the Apple i-phones operating on the iOS 6 system after a number of motorists were directed off the beaten track in recent weeks.  Local Police have been called to assist distressed motorists who have become stranded within the Murray-Sunset National Park after following directions on their Apple i-phone [...]

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

A few months ago, Google introduced the knowledge graph carousel feature to desktop users. Now, when you search Google on your tablet device, such as your iPad, Google make show you a carousel like feature at the top of the search results. 9to5Google spotted this claiming it works for local based queries. I was able to replicate it and here is my screen shot: The issue I had is that you cannot swipe the local results from left to right with your finger. One would expect such an experience when using the carousel feature on your tablet. In fact, searching for other search exampl [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Knowledge Graph | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile

A few years ago VCs and entrepreneurs believed that there was an opportunity to disrupt online search, to offer a more compelling or next-generation experience. Companies like Powerset, which was sold to Microsoft, were among a class of search insurgents that spoke broadly about the opportunity to go beyond what Google was doing. That battle for the hearts and minds of users on the PC was essentially lost. The fight has now shifted to mobile with the advent of Siri, "personal assistants," ambient discovery and predictive search. Google is evolving along these lines as well with enhanced v [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search | Search Engines: Meta Search Engines | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines | Top News