Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Is SEO Integrated Into Your Localization Process? For many, the question posed in the title of this post seems silly, often resulting in either a confused expression, or a “how dare […]
For many, the question posed in the title of this post seems silly, often resulting in either a confused expression, or a “how dare you ask that question” look from localization managers. Yet over the past few weeks I have spoken to a number of localization and SEO managers at Fortune 500 companies who still […]
Dear Facebook, A couple of weeks ago you launched your new location service, Places. We all think it’s great and are really excited that you’re opening up the world of location to a whole new audience. We can’t wait to start finding new and exciting ways of using Places to connect consumers and brands. But […]
The bounce rate of a site is the percentage of users who leave without going to another page on your site before the analytics session times out, with the length of a session being dependent upon your specific analytics package (I’ve heard that 30 minutes is the average.) Usually listed as Bounce Rate in your […]
Yahoo announced their Yahoo Search Marketing advertisers can now begin the transition process from Yahoo Search Marketing to Microsoft adCenter. This is the first step of the paid search transition from Yahoo Search ads to Microsoft Bing search ads. Last week, Yahoo’s organic transition to Microsoft Bing was complete. This week, Yahoo and Microsoft are […]
Google this evening has launched what it calls “priority inbox” for Gmail. It uses a variety of algorithmic and machine learning techniques to automatically capture and organize “important” emails and de-emphasize other email. It’s like a spam filter in reverse: Gmail’s servers look at several types of information to identify the email that’s important to […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Mobile App Comes To Verizon Android Handsets Microsoft previously said there was going to be an Android version of Bing soon, following its successful iPhone app. Today there is — […]
Microsoft previously said there was going to be an Android version of Bing soon, following its successful iPhone app. Today there is — for Verizon Android handsets only however. It was announced on the Bing Community Blog. I’m sure a more general Bing-Android app will be out in the not to distant future. Although it’s […]
After months of being without a long-term content deal, Google and the Associated Press have finally renewed their vows. Google will continue to host AP stories on Google News and have access to AP’s news feeds without fear that the AP will make legal claims against the company. From the announcement: We’ve extended our existing […]
Last week Google acquired Angstro. The site has been described as a way to discover and organize information about individuals across various professional networks. Here’s how Angstro describes itself: Ångströ represents the ability to hone in on highly focused, relevant news across professional networks. Where search engines such as Google and other news aggregator services […]
Google plans pay-per-view films from the Financial Times reports Google is in talks with several major Hollywood film companies to offer a pay-per-view service of their films. Reports say that the streaming movie service from YouTube will bring these movies to online consumers at about $5 per movie. The movies would not download to the […]
Google has a special logo on many of the Google properties, not Google U.S., for Mary Shelley. Mary Shelley is well known for novel, Frankenstein. The Google Doodle is a gothic theme, which conveys Mary Shelley’s work as a writer. She started writing Frankenstein at the age of 18, completed it a year later on […]
Will this year be the year when online holiday sales return to double digit growth? Or will the holidays once again deliver lackluster growth in the low single digits for online advertisers? While predicting how much consumers will buy may be difficult, predicting how they will likely behave is not.
In my last Paid Search column I wrote about six common business fallacies that lead paid search managers to spend time unproductively. Unproductive work is costly in that someone internally or externally is paid to do work that adds no value, and that same person is prevented from doing work that is valuable. Prioritizing tasks […]
If you a) believe in the power of search—as a technology, as a consumer experience and as a business model, and b) believe in the economic promise of the “local” opportunity, then you need to commit to a simple axiom: the ultimate destiny of a local search is a phone call.
We’re delighted to announce that Yelp Chief Operating Officer Geoff Donaker will be in the spotlight for SMX East’s second day keynote on Tuesday, October 5th. Combining local search with customer reviews, special offers and a healthy dose of social interaction, Yelp is an indispensable resource for local businesses and those who enjoy “getting out […]
Google has added a new filter to its blog search option that makes it easier to find blogs themselves, not just individual blog posts. The filter is part of Google.com search, not Google’s specific Blog Search service at blogsearch.google.com. The filter appears in the left-side menu. When you choose the Blogs option after your search, […]
Google has launched a new videoblog series that will highlight “some of the hottest searches” on Google’s U.S. search engine. It’s called The Google Beat, and the first weekly video was published this morning. Here’s how Google explains it: Using data from Google Trends, Google Insights for Search and some additional tools, the Google Beat […]
Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder and one of the richest men on earth, has filed a patent infringement suit today against several Internet titans, the Wall Street Journal reports. The lawsuit centers on technology developed a decade ago by Interval Research Corp., a technology lab that Allen owned between 1992 and 2000. Eleven companies are […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: International SEM Goes Beyond Simple Translation: Q&A With Latin3’s Matias Perel Because only a fraction of the world’s population resides here in the United States, the idea of global reach is […]
Because only a fraction of the world’s population resides here in the United States, the idea of global reach is a tempting one. There are some obvious business issues for anyone attempting to market to international consumers, and those challenges certainly extend to the realm of search engine marketing. Regardless of the complications of doing […]
Bing is now powering Yahoo’s organic results, and retailers wonder how this algorithmic shift will impact their organic traffic with holiday season just around the corner. Market share trends all seem positive so where’s the beef? While I’m a fan of the direction Bing is taking, don’t expect this market shift to produce short-term organic […]
Google Operating System reports some users are seeing Google search results center or middle aligned. For some reason, Google may be testing padding white space on the right and left of the search results. I personally cannot replicate it but Google Operating System posted a screen shot, which I will share here as well: I […]
Teenagers have been grappling with a tough question lately: What do I do when mom tries to friend me on Facebook? Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet, whippersnappers. There’s a new dilemma you better start thinking about: What do you do when grandma sends a friend request? That’s more and more likely according to a […]
Do your web pages, graphic images, and videos effectively communicate aboutness to both web searchers and search engines? How do search engines and searchers determine aboutness?
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Yelp Unlikely To Come Back To Google Places Earlier today it was reported that Yelp’s content had been removed from Google Places — though not from Google.com results. What’s going on […]
Earlier today it was reported that Yelp’s content had been removed from Google Places — though not from Google.com results. What’s going on exactly? Here’s Google’s public statement about it: “Place pages organize relevant information about a wide range of places and locations, and they surface great sources of information like reviews and photos about […]
Google Realtime Search has finally gained its own home page, as well as some new tools including “conversations view,” Google Alerts for real time content and the ability to see tweets filtered by geography. New Home Page Back in June, my Can Google Real Time Search Have Its Own Home Page Now? covered how frustrating […]
Blekko is a stealth search engine which aims to change the search game by being fairly transparent with ranking data. Since they will start out with limited search marketshare, they aren’t risking much in sharing data that other search engines have traditionally been rather secretive about. Further, they allow customization of results via what they […]
One of the most important factors in one’s ranking on Google is your volume of citations (i.e. mentions of your business name and address, not just links to your site.) The challenge lies not in obtaining hundreds of citations from any site, but by getting the right citations from the right places. That is, the […]
I noticed this morning that Google News has added a toggle for the right side column on the home page, allowing it to have a “two column” format that the old version of Google News had. It’s the second change now that allows people to make Google News like the old version, something many people […]
The Google Maps Blog announced they have updated the maps review policy on how to write reviews and what reviews Google has the right to remove. In addition, TechCrunch reports that Google has dropped Yelp’s syndicated reviews from Google Maps. The new Google Maps review guidelines share tips on how to write constructive reviews. Some […]
Reporting is a very integral part of search engine marketing (and digital marketing in general). Of course, it’s important to be able to show the return on investment (ROI) of the digital budget. However, by using reports to analyze performance, search engine marketers can optimize their accounts by changing bids, adding or pausing keywords, rotating […]
Bing’s search engine market share has risen 51% in the U.S. over the past 12 months according to Nielsen stats announced today. According to Nielsen, Bing’s market share in July 2010 was up to 13.6%, a 51% jump from its 9% market share in July 2009 — which was basically Bing’s second month of existence. […]
After a couple months of beta testing with invited Digg members, the new version of Digg — they’re calling it “v4” for Version 4 — is now live and open to all. Digg founder Kevin Rose announced it here, but that blog post is down as I write this. In that announcement, Rose says the […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Inside The Google Voice Phone Booths Over the coming weeks, UK-style phone booths will pop-up around the US in airports and at universities, allowing anyone to make free calls to anywhere […]
Over the coming weeks, UK-style phone booths will pop-up around the US in airports and at universities, allowing anyone to make free calls to anywhere in the world. The promotion is designed to spread awareness of the Google Voice service. Below, a look inside the booth, including a video of it in action. Google’s actually […]
Google’s holding a small press gathering today at 9:30am in its San Francisco offices. Topic? The ability to place phone calls using Google Voice integrated within Gmail. Anyone with a US Gmail account will get this rolling out today and over the next few days, along with the ability to make free calls to numbers […]
SphinnCon Israel is coming back for another year! The event takes place on Sunday, January 9, 2011 in Jerusalem, Israel at the Inbal Hotel. It is a full day SEO/SEM event that is a little more laid back than the Search Marketing Expo events and currently costs only $75. They sell out very quick, so […]
Just when I thought I was in-house, I pulled myself out. After five years working continuously and exclusively as an in-house SEO, I have decided to cast my lot with the hoards of independent consultants and contractors out there. This decision has caused me to reflect on the relative benefits and drawbacks of life as […]