Vitaly Borker, the New York business owner who became notorious last year when he claimed that outrageous behavior toward customers was helping his website rank higher in Google, faces up to six-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty Thursday to several counts against him. According to the New York Times, Borker — owner of DecorMyEyes.com […]
I wrote a very long examination of the issues that Facebook employed a PR firm to publicize, about how Facebook feels Google may be violating privacy with its Google Social Search product. Here’s a shorter look, especially from the angle of how Facebook itself has enabled Google to do what Facebook is now complaining about. […]
Android has almost a 10% lead over Apple in the smartphone market share race, but its lead in check-in activity is a lot smaller according to a new comScore report out today. According to comScore, Android’s overall US smartphone market share is 34.7%, compared to 25.5 for Apple. But Android’s lead in check-in activity over […]
Earlier this week, Google filed a mysterious report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying it was setting aside $500 million related to a “potential resolution” of an advertising-related probe being conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice. Now, the mystery may be solved. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the investigation relates 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: Examining Facebook’s “Smear Campaign” Concerns About Google Social Circles I read the news today, oh boy. The Facebook army had just declared a war. Well, a smear campaign against Google. For […]
I read the news today, oh boy. The Facebook army had just declared a war. Well, a smear campaign against Google. For the record, Facebook denies that it actually ran such a campaign, but it does confirm it has issues with how Google is using some of Facebook’s social data. Do those allegations stand up? […]
A few days ago, I was looking for a very specific piece of data: the average age of professors in the US. I did a Google search for “average age of us professors” and, after the obligatory and unhelpful Wikipedia result at the top, found some data that was good enough further down the search […]
How often do you perform a mobile phone or Internet search for a business and immediately call that business? I’m betting fairly often. You are not alone – your customers do this all the time! At Marchex, we specialize in digital advertising solutions for small businesses. Over the years, we have learned a lot about […]
Once your website starts getting at least some traffic from organic search queries, you can help increase conversions (inquiries, signups, purchases, phone calls etc) by investigating what happens once people reach your website from the search results. You can use Google Analytics to choose what keywords to focus on and to check the entrance pages […]
As part of a series of updates to its user and search privacy options, Blekko says it will hold on to personal data for only 48 hours — substantially less than major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Blekko, like other search engines, creates a record of visits that typically includes a searcher’s IP […]
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 Chromebooks Out June 15, $349 For Consumers, $20-$28 Monthly For Educators/Business At long last, the Google Chrome OS operating system is going prime time against Windows and Mac computers. On […]
At long last, the Google Chrome OS operating system is going prime time against Windows and Mac computers. On June 15, consumers can by them for a flat rate. Those in education and business have intriguing monthly payment options. Google shared details at its Googe I/O conference today, as well as in a blog post […]
Google has appealed a recent Swiss court decision that requires the company to guarantee 100% anonymity of faces and license plates in its Street View imagery, and says it may cut the service altogether in Switzerland if the ruling isn’t changed. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google attorney Peter Fleischer told reporters, “We simply […]
The comScore data for April were released by the financial analysts earlier today. Here’s the quick take on the newest search market-share figures: Google: 65.4 percent in April vs. 65.7 percent in March Yahoo: 15.9 percent vs. 15.7 percent in March Bing: 14.1 percent, up from 13.9 percent in March BingHoo: 30 percent, up slightly vs […]
In many ways, business-to-business SEO can be trickier than consumer facing SEO. When you’re marketing to consumers, you’ll often be better-informed than they are after an hour or two of research. And in many cases, all you need is content that survives a cursory glance, not an in-depth reading. And as anyone who has written […]
It’s day two of the Google I/O developers conference. Call it “Chrome Day,” because yesterday was all about Android. What to expect? How about a Chrome computer for $20 per month? That’s what’s likely to be revealed during the keynote. Techmeme is buzzing with the headlines of details that have leaked out so far. The […]
Google has announced an update to the algorithm that powers traffic estimates in AdWords’ Traffic Estimator, Keyword Tool and on the Keywords tab. The intention is that advertisers will have access to better numbers on estimated clicks, cost and ad position. Traffic estimates help advertisers get a sense of whether potential keywords are appropriate for […]
Today on the Google home page is a special animated Google logo for the 117th birthday of the late Martha Graham. Martha Graham changed the art of dancing during her era and Google wanted to pay tribute to her 21 years after she passed. The logo is animated so here is a static picture of […]
In a regulatory filing this afternoon, Google disclosed that it was taking a $500 million charge in the first quarter, apparently to potentially settle charges related to a Department of Justice investigation of the company. Google didn’t elaborate, saying only that the probe was “into the use of Google advertising by certain advertisers.” The Wall […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Just Weeks Away, A Preview Of The Google +1 Button For Websites Today at the Google I/O conference, Google gave developers a preview of how the Google +1 button can be […]
Today at the Google I/O conference, Google gave developers a preview of how the Google +1 button can be inserted into websites, some of the stats it will offer and said it would be available “in a matter of weeks.” The button will have a counter display similar to how other buttons from Facebook and […]
The Indian government has enacted tough restrictions on Internet content and publishers, ignoring objections detailed by Google in a confidential memo earlier this year. According to the Wall Street Journal, the new rules in India place what appears to be a heavy burden on websites to ban users from publishing certain types of content and […]
As widely expected Google launched its Music beta today at the Google developer conference, I/O. Right now the service is US only and invitation only. Users can store 20,000 songs and the service is free (for the time being). By implication Google Music will become a paid-service at some point in the future. No Music […]
Just as Google began to allow users to separate their AdWords campaigns on smartphones from their PC campaigns, the company is now letting advertisers separately target tablets. It becomes another check box on the AdWords “networks and devices” screen. Here’s what Google said in its blog post: In the next couple of weeks, the “Networks […]
There have been rumblings that Google has unveiled another huge algorithm change being dubbed “Panda 3.0” in some quarters. Officially, Google says it’s not so. Only a minor update, “far smaller” than Panda 2, has happened. Changes have been spotted by some sharp-eyed SEOs over the past few days, and Google agrees that there were […]
At the last International Search Summit in San Jose, one of the most common questions I received was how to hire an international search agency. My standard answer was… “it depends on your needs, your organizational structure, budget and ability to deploy them effectively from either a corporate, regional or local office.” For the sake […]
Are you ready! We’ve got Google Music coming! Maybe. Certainly some Android or Chrome announcements to come, here at the first day of the Google I/O developers conference. The keynote begins at 9am PT. So does my live blogging. Seriously, there is some expectation that Google Music 3.0, a cloud-based music system, will get aired […]
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke at the excellent SMX Sydney conference. As usual, it was a great show with any number of fantastic speakers. Before my last session, I was preceded by the also very excellent Rand Fishkin from SEOmoz; his presentation on Social Media For SEO was, as with most of his content, must-have […]
Former Senator and likely Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum hasn’t yet figured out what to do about his “Google Problem” — a negative listing orchestrated by gay syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage, which results in the association of Santorum’s name with anal sex. And the search issue is getting attention from that much-watched political “fake […]
Although my agency does use a variety of paid and free tools for various purposes, by and large, we do most of our discovery through manually searching the web. If you’ve done it, you will know that while it’s fun and interesting at times, it’s also a serious pain. It’s inefficient, it’s tedious, and you’re […]
Ask.com the social search/Q&A engine is 15 years old. Founded in 1996 as Ask Jeeves by Garrett Gruener and David Warthen the company has launched a special social site to celebrate its birthday and review events of the past 15 years — mylast15.com. Here’s a brief recent history of Ask: July 1999: Ask Jeeves goes […]
Over the past week there were rumors that Google and Facebook were both interested in buying Skype. Then Om Malik reported that Microsoft was really the one interested and the Wall Street Journal confirmed yesterday that Microsoft would be paying a remarkable $8.5 billion for the company, making it Microsoft’s largest acquisition to date: At […]
It was almost exactly a year ago that Google briefly demo’d a cloud-based music service for Android that also allowed users to stream their iTunes libraries to Android handsets (see video below). That service was supposed to launch before holiday 2010. However there have been numerous stories chronicling setbacks in Google’s efforts to launch its […]
Google’s YouTube today announced plans to add around 3,000 movies for on-demand rental on its service, effectively declaring its intention to compete with Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. While YouTube has largely been known for quirky independent fare, the new content will include well-known flicks from major studios, including classics like Caddyshack and new releases like […]
Google has announced a trio of updates to Goggles, its visual search tool that analyzes mobile photos and provides (hopefully) matching search results/information about the image. Since the search results don’t always match the image — “visual recognition is still a complicated task,” Google’s blog post explains — one of the upgrades involves a way […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: New York Times Continues Paid Link Outing Stories, Looks At Online Flowers Industry Over the weekend, the New York Times published a story called Trying to Game Google on “Mother’s Day […]
Over the weekend, the New York Times published a story called Trying to Game Google on “Mother’s Day Flowers”. Yet more big companies got outed for buying links, but this time, Google didn’t say the links had helped. The story covers how top web sites that rank for search terms related to online flowers sales […]
Google announced you can now sort Google Images by subject. To see this in action, go to Google Images, conduct a search and look on the left hand side for the search option. Directly under the “More” link, you will find the default sort option set to “by relevance,” click on the “Sort by subject.” […]
There is no mistaking the official arrival of spring in northern climes. I am not talking about the beautiful blossoms of the dogwood, apple and cherry trees, or the distinctive powerful fragrance of purple lilacs, our official state wildflower up here in New Hampshire. For me, the true sign of spring here in New England […]
Google’s four-year streak as the world’s most powerful brand has come to an end — not through any fault of its own, by instead due to the tremendous growth of Apple’s brand value. That’s according to Millward Brown Optimor’s top 100 BrandZ annual rankings. The research company found Google’s brand value to have slipped just […]