Feb 27, 2013 at 1:49pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Google keeps increasing the amount of information it will show from your Gmail account within your Google searches, if you're part of the Gmail Search Field Trial. The latest addition? Your calendar results. The idea is that if you do a search, you'll see matching information from your calendar showing within Google's search results, when it's relevant. For example, Google shared this screenshot showing matches appearing in a search for "what is on my calendar today:" I'm in the field trial and couldn't get this to trigger at all, so perhaps it's still rolling out. I'll be playing [...]

3 Predictions For The Future Of Google+ Profiles In Autosuggest

Jan 15, 2013 at 12:54pm ET by John E Lincoln

Google+ profiles have been showing up in the autosuggest listings in Google search results for some time. Now that we know this feature appears to be here to stay, it is time to take a closer look. Just to be clear about what we are discussing, let's look at a few examples. Here, we see an example of SEO Inc. CEO Garry Grant being featured. Google+ Profile Autosuggest Example [caption id="attachment_144489" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Garry Grant Autosuggest[/caption] Here is an example of my profile showing up, John E Lincoln. Google+ Profile Autosuggest Example [caption id="at [...]

Google Is Hiring Someone To Find Ways To Make You Want To Search While Signed-In

Jan 8, 2013 at 9:09am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google is hiring a new product marketing manager for search with one of the key goals being to find ways to get people to sign-in while they search. The job description says: As Product Marketing Manager within the search growth team, you will be responsible to developing plans, creatives, campaigns and programs to increase the number of user's signed in. Brian Ussery spotted this first and posted a screen shot of the job posting: As you know, the number of "not provided" terms listed in Google Analytics because Google is blocking the search query parameter from analytics programs [...]

Google Expands Gmail In Search Results With My Orders, My Events & My Reservations

Dec 21, 2012 at 12:40pm ET by Barry Schwartz

In August, Google introduced a field test that brings Gmail content in your search results. So if you searched for [my flights] and you had a flight confirmation email in your Gmail account, Google would show you upcoming flights. This is still an opt in field test available to a limited number of US users but Google has announced they have expanded it to cover searches for purchases/orders, event registrations, and hotel reservations. Google said, "you can now search for [my purchases] to see a list of recent online purchases from select merchants and track the packages to see if they� [...]

Of “Magic Keywords” & Flavors Of Personalized Search At Google

Nov 9, 2012 at 2:10pm ET by Danny Sullivan

When is personalized search not personalized search? A recently discovered shift on how Google may alter your search results based on what you -- and others in aggregate -- previously have searched for may have you wondering how to answer that question. To understand the latest development, I think it's helpful to go back and review the "flavors" of personal search that Google has, flavors that often all get mixed together. Let's dive in. Personalization Based On Geography Google has long had personalized search, where various factors are used to provide results tailored to the individual [...]

Why Google “Personalizes” Results Based On Obama Searches But Not Romney

Nov 5, 2012 at 11:46am ET by Danny Sullivan

Do a search for "Obama," and you might find your subsequent queries for things like "medicare" seemingly personalized based on your initial Obama search. Do the same for Romney, it is doesn't happen. Is Google biased toward Obama, as some are now writing? No. Is it the "filter bubble" of personalization out of control? Perhaps not. In fact, it doesn't even appear to be personalization at all. The news of how searching for Obama can influence your subsequent search results came out in a Wall Street Journal story today, which conducted a battery of tests to explore the phenomenon. This follo [...]

Zuckerberg On Search: “At Some Point, We’ll Do It” & Be “Uniquely Positioned”

Sep 11, 2012 at 5:50pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Waiting for a Facebook search engine? Eventually, it'll arrive, says Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But it might not be what you expect. Speaking in an interview today at TechCrunch Disrupt with Mike Arrington, Zuckerberg said that Facebook is doing a billion searches per day, "and we're not even trying." Most searches are, as we’ve heard in the past, really people searching for other people. But there are also searches for brands. "There’s a big opportunity there," Zuckerberg said, of going beyond people search. But the opportunity might not be to build a search engines as they� [...]

Up Close: Gmail In Google Search Results Field Trial

Aug 8, 2012 at 7:33pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Google released a "field trial" today allowing people who enroll to do Google searches and get information from their Gmail messages mixed in with their web results. Don't worry. Only those enrolled see their own messages this way. Below, a look at how it works. If accepted into the program, after you do a search, you'll find matching messages appearing along the right-side of your screen: In the example above, I searched for the name of Barry Schwartz, the news editor here at Search Engine Land. As he's contacted me through Gmail, one of his messages gets highlighted. Notice, however [...]

Are Facebook Pages Getting Less Traffic From Google & Bing?

May 30, 2012 at 3:32pm ET by Greg Finn

This January Google launched "Search Plus Your World (SPYW)," a service that drastically customized search results based on social connections while bolstering visibility of Google+ products. While the new changes absolutely increased visibility for Google+, there was concern that SPYW would negatively affect other social networks. Five months into the SPYW, traffic to Facebook Pages is down. However, it's also down from Bing, suggesting that SPYW isn't to blame. PageLever, a Facebook analytics company, uncovered a significant drop in traffic post SPYW launch. The company studied 50 [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search | Google | Google: Search Plus Your World

Goodbye Google+ People & Pages, Hello Knowledge Graph Box

May 24, 2012 at 1:31pm ET by Matt McGee

Google's Knowledge Graph has claimed its first "victim," if you will: The content box that showed "People and Pages On Google+" is gone. In its place? A variety of Knowledge Graph-related content that will show up differently depending on the search query. In making the changes to this prime real estate on a search results page, Google is lessening somewhat the visibility of Google+. But it's still using the space in the upper right of its search results to keep searchers on Google -- something well within its rights, but something that may attract criticism in the same way that the Google+ [...]

Peeking Into the World Of Google’s Algorithm Changes With Google Search Quality Head Amit Singhal

May 17, 2012 at 6:57am ET by Vanessa Fox

Earlier this week, Google Fellow Amit Singhal gave the opening keynote at SMX London. Although Matt Cutts has always been the public face of all parts of Google's unpaid search, his realm is primarily web spam. Singhal has been speaking publicly more often (notably when Panda launched) and oversees search quality. Or, as he described in his talk, when he came to Google in 2000, he took a look at Sergey Brin's code and entirely rewrote Google's ranking algorithms. Near the end of the talk, someone asked if how much money Google will make is factored into decisions about changes to Google's ( [...]

Head-To-Head: Bing’s Social Search Vs. Google’s Search Plus Your World

May 10, 2012 at 1:00pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Earlier this year, Google made its results more social with Search Plus Your World. Now Bing has reshaped how it handles social information as part of its "The New Bing" launch. Which does better, Google's blended search+search model or Bing's more segregated approach. Let's look at some examples. Hey Google, How's New Girl? I thought I'd start with a search for New Girl. It's a great show. I should know. I was a Fan of the Week. What's Google show me? The arrows point at things that have come because of social connections, and I'm only going to focus on these things, in this head-to-he [...]

Google’s “Search Plus Your World” Promo Returns

Apr 13, 2012 at 8:09pm ET by Danny Sullivan

I was surprised to see a promotion for Google's "Search Plus Your World" feature turn up in my search results today. I was even more surprised that even after I dismissed it, the promo returned at least twice more. It's Not Your Imagination Apparently, I'm not the only one. I can see others on Twitter complaining about it: Here's Andrew Chen: When I google, the "Welcome to Search plus your World" shows up over and over. Can't be dismissed. wtf Jonathan Dugan: Google, if you keep spamming me with "Welcome to Search plus Your World" every time I run a search, I'm going to stop usi [...]

Page To Anti-Trust Critics: “Actions” & Google+ Are An Essential Part Of Search

Apr 7, 2012 at 9:00am ET by Danny Sullivan

Google's taken flak over the past year from critics about how the company has been integrating actions such as booking flights or hotels into its search results. It's also faced criticisms that it is leveraging its search dominance to build its Google+ social network. I found it notable that Google CEO Larry Page, in his "2012 Update from the CEO" letter, essentially pushed back against both criticisms. Page doesn't say he's attacking these criticisms in the update. That's my own reading between-the-lines. But nothing in the letter would have been presented without a good reason. I think [...]

Survey Paradox: People Like Google But Not What It’s Doing

Mar 12, 2012 at 10:06am ET by Greg Sterling

Last week the Pew Internet Project released findings of a survey on search, personalization and targeted advertising. In a nutshell, survey respondents had a very positive view of search and the quality of search results. Yet the majority gave an unequivocal thumbs down to search personalization (and behavioral targeting). This isn't necessarily a contradiction or paradox in the abstract, but it is when you consider that the most popular search engine is moving aggressively in a direction most people say they don't want search to go. Here's our earlier coverage of the survey: Pew Repo [...]

Pew Report: 65% View Personalized Search As Bad; 73% See It As Privacy Invasion

Mar 9, 2012 at 10:00am ET by Danny Sullivan

Personalized search? Both Google and Bing will tell you that it provides better results. But two-thirds say they don't care. They view personalized search as a "bad thing," a new survey finds. Nearly three-quarters also view gathering data to personalize results to be a privacy invasion. The findings come out of a survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Around 2,000 adults in the US were questioned between January 20 and February 19 of this year as part of a wide-ranging poll about search engine use, though fewer may have answered particular questions. Personalized Sea [...]

Google "Search Plus Your World" To Launch Beyond US? Likely, As Secure Search Set To Expand

Mar 5, 2012 at 8:21pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Google has announced that by default, it will begin encrypting search beyond Google.com in the coming weeks. Since the reason Google uses secure search is primarily to enable its "Search Plus Your World" personalized results, this means SPYW is likely to expand beyond the US. It also means that search marketers can expect the percentage of "not provided" data they see to greatly increase. Secure Search = Search Plus Your World Last October, Google changed things so that anyone logged into Google.com would be searching through a secure connection. That was positioned as a move to increase pri [...]

Survey: People Largely Negative About Google’s Personalized Search Results

Feb 8, 2012 at 1:48pm ET by Greg Sterling

Last month, market research tool provider Ask Your Target Market surveyed 400 US adults about their attitudes toward personalized search on Google. The results were reported today in eMarketer's email newsletter. We went back to the source to check out the survey and discovered that the majority of respondents expressed ambivalence or outright dissatisfaction about Google's new more personalized search results. The first question asked was about the primary search engine used by respondents. Primary search engine: Source: AYTM, n=400 (1/12) Then the survey explored respondents [...]

Two Weeks In, Google Says “Search Plus Your World” Going Well, Critics Should Give It Time

Jan 28, 2012 at 12:11am ET by Danny Sullivan

Two weeks ago, Google launched Search Plus Your World. Since then, Google has faced strong criticisms that SPYW is making its search relevancy worse and favoring its Google+ social network too much. Not so, says Google search chief Amit Singhal. Most Google users are happy, Singhal said. Of course, Search Plus Your World isn't perfect, he admits, but it'll improve. As for including content from social networks like Twitter and Facebook, Google's open to that, as long as long-term deals can be reached that give Google faith it can build new features that will last. I talked today wi [...]

“Don’t Be Evil” Tool — Backed By Facebook & Twitter — Shows Google’s “Search Plus Your World” Can Go Beyond Google+

Jan 23, 2012 at 9:01am ET by Danny Sullivan

I've written that Google has plenty of public data to allow parts its new Search Plus Your World feature to be inclusive of rival social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Now, those networks are proving that true, through a new "Don't Be Evil" tool that lets anyone leverage Google's own results to see this. The tool -- a bookmarklet that works in your browser -- changes three parts of Search Plus Your World that currently shows information only from Google Plus. These are: People & Pages results Google+ Sitelinks Google+ Suggestions In Autocomplete The tool can be found on [...]

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