SearchCap: 890 Google Search Changes, Knowledge Graph PR Nightmare & New Interfaces

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 Knowledge Graph Proves To Be (Brief) PR Nightmare For Major UK Brand Greggs Bakery
  The UK’s Greggs Bakery took a hit recently when its logo was hi-jacked via Google’s knowledge graph, causing a short-lived PR nightmare for the brand. Anyone searching “Greggs” on Google UK would have seen a knowledge graph box that included what appeared to be the brand’s logo, but with the accompanying fake slogan “Providing sh*t […]
• Tips For A Successful PPC Account Takeover
  When you’re taking on an existing account, perform these important checks to ensure you start off on the right track.
• Google Made 890 Improvements To Search Over The Past Year
  In a Google+ post from Google head of search Amit Singhal, Google shares they have made “more than 890 improvements to Google Search last year alone.” In 2009, Google told us they made between 350 to 400 changes to search and in 2010, they said they made 550 improvements to search in the past year. […]
• How To Put The Brakes On Overzealous Link Junkies
  If links are good, does that mean more links are better? Not always. Sometimes you need to push back.
• Google Tests A New Local Knowledge Graph Interface
  Google is testing a new interface for their local knowledge graph. Instead of the local carousel interface that launched a year ago in June 2013, Google is testing more of a ‘card’-like approach that is vertical as opposed to horizontal scroll. The folks at Moz captured this in their testing and posted it on their […]

Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:

• How Content Is Changing And What Marketers Need To Know [Survey Data]
• Newcastle Asks Fans For Photos, Which It’ll Convert (Very Badly) Into Ads
• Facebook Raises Limits For Daily Frequency Of News Feed Ads
• Report: Mobile 21 Percent Of E-Commerce, Will Be $84B In 2014
• Contrarian Finding: Survey Says More Time With Browser Than Apps
• 5 More Brain Triggers To Drive Conversions On Your Website Or Landing Page
• Marketers: Ditch The Plastic Loyalty Cards
• Tumblr Partners With Ditto Labs To Scan Photos For Brand Affinity
• Twix Leverages #TBT, Big Hair, Y2K, Dial-Up to Explain Why Twix Bites Weren’t Invented Sooner

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Google: The $400 Billion Epistle, Wall Street Journal
• Internationalisation Stories – Joost de Valk – Podcast Episode #258, Site Visibility

Local & Maps

• Google My Business: A Guide to the Local Marketing Dashboard, Search Engine People Blog

Searching

• Google Test Search Results – 11 Ads, 1 Directory and 3 Stinkers, Mike Blumenthal
• Getting More Than Just Words in a Google Search Result, Wall Street Journal
• Inequality and Web Search Trends, New York Times
• Which Is Closer: Local Beer or Local Whiskey?, Wolfram|Alpha Blog

SEO

• LOCAL SEO: A Checklist for On-Page Factors!, CanuckSEO
• When and How to Block Content from Search Engine Spiders, BruceClay.com
• Why Google Dislikes Zombie Sub-Domains, StepForth
• Core Essentials of On Site Search Engine Optimization, SEO Theory
• How to Build Your Own Free Amazon Organic Search Rank Tracker, Moz
• The Impact of the Canonical Tag, Covario Blog

SEM / Paid Search

• IgnitionOne Brings Predictive Bid Optimization to Google Shopping Campaigns, IgnitionOne
• Why Do We Test PPC Ads?, PPC Hero