This day in search marketing history: January 18

Google blackens its logo, configures Googlebot to crawl at a much lower rate

In 2012, when you visited Google, you saw this:

That’s how Google voiced its opposition to two bills being discussed in Congress – the Protect IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). At the time, many feared the proposed legislation would censor the web and hurt U.S. businesses.

What about the SEO impact? Google had previously shared some SEO blackout advice.

Also on this day in 2012, Google’s Pierre Far revealed that GoogleBot would “crawl at a much lower rate for today only so that the Google results of websites participating in the blackout are less likely to be affected.”

Read all about it in:

• Google Blackens Its Logo To Protest SOPA/PIPA, While Bing & Yahoo Carry On As Usual
• Google Slows Web Crawlers To Help Blackouts Sites

Also on this day 

URL changes are not so simple for Google Search

2022: These changes, if done properly, can take several months for Google to fully process.

Yoast SEO launches on Shopify

2022: Shopify merchants could use the app to optimize their products and posts to show in organic, non-shopping results.

Danny Goodwin joins Search Engine Land

2022: I joined the team as Senior Editor. Now I’m Managing Editor of Search Engine Land & SMX.

Microsoft seeks more Cortana distribution, deeper integration on Android, iOS

2019: Amazon and Microsoft’s interests were aligned in that each wanted access to the other’s audience for distribution.

Leveraging Amazon search ads in a time of rapid change

2019: Amazon’s advertising offerings were getting more sophisticated, presenting marketers with new opportunities and complexities.

Google My Business videos not showing up on your local listing? It’s a Google bug

2018: A bug prevented the video uploads from showing up on the local listings in Google Maps or Google web search.

Study: 80% of Google Home results come from snippets

2018: In the majority of cases, the Google Home result mirrored the snippet/Answer Box. But in a number of cases, when there was a snippet, Home provided no answer or a different answer.

Google adds keyword functionality to the AdWords app

2018: Advertisers could make more on-the-go changes.

Google Android search app will keep trying your searches when your internet connection is poor

2017: The new version of the Google Android search app worked better when you were in a poor internet connection area.

Bing Ads rolls out scheduling for ad extensions

2017: The option to show extensions during store hours or schedule for time-sensitive promotions became available in all markets.

Google testing new look for local inventory ads in place of local pack

2017: Another effort to monetize local queries on mobile.

Google Core Algorithm Updates Continue As SEOs Notice Weekend Google Update

2016: Gary Illyes from Google said the weekend fluctuations were “core algorithm” and “not Penguin.”

Survey: Under 40 Percent Start A Local Search With A Search Engine

2016: Roughly half of searchers (48%) said that when they were seeking information on a “familiar topic,” they would start at a vertical or content-specific site (e.g., TripAdvisor for hotels). 

Google To Shut Several Search APIs In February

2016: Google said it would close the Google Patent Search API, Google News Search API, Google Blog Search API, Google Video Search API, Google Image Search APIs on Feb. 15.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Google Doodle Celebrates Civil Rights Leader’s Moving Speeches

2016: The Doodle artfully highlighted the civil rights leader’s ability to deliver “poignant truths in beautiful and moving speeches.”

UPDATED: Bug Affecting Optimization by Acquisition In Some AdWords Accounts

2013: Google confirmed a bug that caused conversions from Google Analytics to not be imported into AdWords properly.

Sign of Hope? Banned Advertisers Rises Just 8 Percent in 2012

2013: Google axed 224 million bad ads in 2012. (Google blocked 3.4 billion ads in 2021. So much for that “hope”?)

Google Improves Handwrite Your Search Feature

2013: Google made three improvements: fast alternatives to letters, overlapping letters and Chinese character improvements.

Facebook’s Graph Search & YourTrove’s Social Search: 5 Questions With Jesse Emery

2013: The co-founder and chief identity officer shared his thoughts on Graph Search, how it was different from YourTrove, and how it might impact YourTrove’s plans.

Search In Pics: Google Chefs, Android Rubik’s Cubes & Google Docks View

2013: The latest images culled from the Web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.

AdWords Gets More Granular With New Mobile Targeting Options

2012: The new features allowed advertisers to target to specific versions of operating systems, to ensure the ads were going to the right users.

Google’s 5th “Doodle 4 Google” Contest Opens For K-12 Students

2012: The winning Google logo would appear on a box of Crayola crayons and on the Google home page on May 18. 

Research: Optimism Fueled SEM Growth in Q4, But ROI Lagged

2011: Spending on search engine marketing grew 23% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Google Says “Ciao” To Antitrust Claim In Italy

2011: The investigation was initiated in 2009 after complaints by Italian publishers that they couldn’t remove links from Google News, which they said wasn’t sending them traffic, without also removing them from Google.com search results, which would have hurt their general traffic and ad revenues.

European Google Antitrust Questionnaire Revealed

2011: The four main questions and areas of inquiry against Google.

Bing Terminates Relationship With Publisher Doing Tricky Home Page Switch

2011: Make-My-Baby.com was suggesting that people needed a plug-in to use it – one that would install a toolbar and change their search provider and home page to Bing.

Gazopa Adds Stock Photos To Image Search Engine

2011: The stock photos were all coming from Shutterstock.

Google Gets 75% Of Paid Search Clicks & Dollars: Report

2010: The stats cover Q4 of 2009, and show Google’s share of paid search clicks rising from 71% in Q3 to 74.4% in Q4.

Google Now Collecting Local Reviews From Non-Traditional Sources

2010: Reviews came from news sites, hyperlocal blogs and local portals.

Apple iPhone To Drop Google For Bing?

2010: Some analysts suspected Apple would drop Google as the default iPhone search provider, in favor of Bing.

Study Looks At Personalization’s Impact On Search Results

2010: The test looked at each searcher’s location, browser, most common Google app used, and use of search history features.

German Companies Piling On With Anti-Trust Complaints Against Google

2010: Publishers, a shopping site and a mapping site.

More Haiti Disaster Relief Resources

2010: Google, Yahoo and Bing were offering cash donations and resources to assist with disaster relief in Haiti.

Martin Luther King Day Logos From Google & Others

2010: Search engine logos and themes for the special day.

FeedBurner Numbers Spike — Blame FeedBlitz!

2008: Why FeedBurner stats went wonky.

Conjunction Junction, Google No Longer Displays Stop Words Malfunction

2008: In the past, searches involving for “stop words” — prepositions, pronouns, articles, and other small words like “be” or “to” — would return a warning saying that these words were “a very common word and were not included in your search.”

3rd Annual Yahoo Searchlight Awards

2008: The event was dedicated to the idea that search isn’t a silo and that online (or traditional) ad campaigns that don’t include search are not going to be as effective.

Jupiter: Local Online Advertising Will Be Worth $8.9 Billion In 2012

2008: Local search was $2.5 billion of that total.

Center For The Digital Future: Perceptions Of Search Reliability And Accuracy Declining

2008: 51% of Internet users said that most or all of the information produced by search engines was reliable and accurate, down from 62% in 2006.

Search in Pictures: Sheryl Crow At Yahoo, Google Cupcakes, Goooooooooooogle Amsterdam

2008: The latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.

Singapore Offers Cash Incentives To Build New Search Engine

2008: Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology, and Research was managing a contest to build out “a next-generation multi-media online search engine.”

Google Advertising Google Audio Ads

2007: Google was promoting their own Audio Ads product via AdWords.

Will Paid Search Conquer The Mobile Internet?

2007: Regarding text-based advertising: 7% indicated some degree of interest in promotional text messages (2% were “very” or “extremely” interested), while 92% indicated little or no interest (78% were “not at all interested”).

Google’s Carolina Moves: $100 Million Tax Breaks In North, Server Farm Coming To South?

2007: North and South Carolina were offering major tax breaks to Google in order to encourage Google to build a massive data center in their state. 

JP Morgan Report Shows PayPal Dominating Google Checkout

2007: PayPal’s 42% penetration rate in 2006 was 7x that of Google checkout.

Yahoo TagMaps: Photos + Maps + Tags

2007: TagMaps were something like the word “tag clouds” meeting maps and Flickr. 

First Google, Then Microsoft, Now Belgian Newspapers Take On Yahoo

2007: The group didn’t want Yahoo giving web users archived access to newspaper articles that the newspapers would otherwise charge for.

Past contributions from Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

These columns are a snapshot in time and have not been updated since publishing, unless noted. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

• 2019: How to make your content more accessible to the visually impaired by Christi Olson
• 2018: 3 AdWords features you’re probably underutilizing by Brett Middleton
• 2018: What’s next for technical SEO? by Patrick Stox
• 2017: How artificial intelligence drives PPC automation by Frederick Vallaeys
• 2016: Why Local Rank Trackers Fail by Andrew Shotland
• 2013: Can TV Advertising Really Impact Search Performance? by Benny Blum
• 2013: Will [Not Provided] Ever Reach 100% In Web Analytics? by Vanessa Fox
• 2012: Understanding Keywords In Search Retargeting by Aaron Doades
• 2012: Optimizing The Business Of Your B2B Search Program by Brad Neelan
• 2012: How To Build A “Navy Seal 6 Team” Of Search Marketers by Richard Carey
• 2011: 5 Questions To Ask Before Jumping Into Quora by Ciarán Norris
• 2011: Unfortunately, There Is No Manual For Multinational SEO by Bill Hunt
• 2011: A Plea To Make Your Links More User Friendly by Julie Joyce
• 2010: Advanced Tips To Optimize Your Local Paid Search Campaigns by Brooks McMahon
• 2010: Take Control Of Google’s Content Network With Placement Targeting by Matt Lawson
• 2010: The Pundits Are Wrong! Don’t Cut Off Your Tail by George Michie
• 2008: Scanning Barriers On The Search Results Page by Gord Hotchkiss
• 2007: 2007 Guide To Linkbaiting: The Year Of Widgetbait? by Nick Wilson

< January 17 | Search Marketing History | January 19 >