SearchCap: Google My Business Webmaster Tools, Google Pigeon Feedback & Bing Cortana Expands

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Experts Weigh In On Google’s “Pigeon” Update Aimed At Improving Local Search Results Last week, Google made new search waves when it rolled out updates to its local search algorithm. The […]

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scap240pxBelow is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:

  • Experts Weigh In On Google’s “Pigeon” Update Aimed At Improving Local Search Results
    Last week, Google made new search waves when it rolled out updates to its local search algorithm. The “Pigeon” update (the name Search Engine Land gave it in absence of an official name from Google) aims to deliver improved local search results, with enhanced distance and location ranking parameters. According to Google, the new local […]
  • Google Adds Webmaster Tools Verification For Google My Business
    Mike Blumenthal reports that you can now instantly verify your Google Local listings, formerly known as Google Place Listing and now known as Google My Business, through Google Webmaster Tools. Google’s Jade Wang announced this in the Google forums saying, “starting today, if you’re verifying a page for your business, you may be instantly verified […]
  • Google’s Still Lagging On Mobile Search Warnings
    No one applauded louder than I did when Google introduced their warning in search results for faulty redirects in June of this year, and then, warnings for Flash earlier this month. It’s definitely a step in the right direction for Google — and for searchers, who have had to endure less than usable mobile search results in Google […]
  • Use Contextual Data To Gain A Competitive Search Marketing Advantage
    Marketers have been dreaming about the possibilities of contextual data for decades, and as consumers have become more mobile and their behavior more quantifiable, it has only stoked those flames further. What’s The Big Deal About Contextual Data? Contextual data provides an opportunity for marketers to gain a competitive advantage based on outside trends that […]
  • What’s Tops For “Offers” On Google? Google Offers – Which No Longer Exists
    If you search in Google for [offers] Google will return the shuttered Google Offers page as the first search listing. But if you look carefully, you will see that Google has blocked the page from spiders within their robots.txt file and the page itself says “This site is no longer being supported.” Here is a […]
  • Cortana Expands To Other Markets, Becomes “Xiao Na” In China
    There’s increasing evidence that Microsoft’s personal assistant Cortana is being positioned as a key differentiator vs. Android and iPhones. A new TV commercial (below) purports to compare Cortana to Siri, with a mock Siri voice saying “I can’t do that” a number of times. This morning Microsoft announced new geographies and new features for Cortana […]

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About the author

Barry Schwartz
Staff
Barry Schwartz is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

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