SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 10, 2014

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 Updates Its Page Layout Algorithm To Go After Sites “Top Heavy” With Ads Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, announced that Google has released a refresh of its Page […]

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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:

  • Google Updates Its Page Layout Algorithm To Go After Sites “Top Heavy” With Ads

    Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, announced that Google has released a refresh of its Page Layout Algorithm. The filter, also known as the Top Heavy algorithm, downgrades the ranking of a web page with too many ads at the top or if the ads are deemed too distracting for users. Cutts said the algorithm […]

  • Bing Beats Google With Bitcoin Conversion Tool

    First Yandex, now Bing, has beaten Google to offer Bitcoin conversion prices. Bing has announced that people can find the current rates by doing a search on Bing. Bing shared the news in a blog post today. It can be triggered in various ways, such as asking “one dollar in bitcoin,” which yielded this answer: […]

  • Google’s Matt Cutts: Don’t Worry About Poor Grammar In Comments

    In today’s video from Google’s Matt Cutts, Matt addresses the concern over having third-party comments with poor grammar on your blog or site. Matt said that you do not need to worry about the grammar people use on your site. You should worry about your writing style and your grammar but there is no need […]

  • A Paid Search First? Olympic Sponsor Visa Opts To Advertise Its Tumblr On Google, Bing and Yahoo

    YouTube and Facebook have long been the favored social accounts promoted by brands in paid search ads. Visa is cracking the mold. In what may be a first for a major brand, the Olympic sponsor is using paid search to drive visitors to its Tumblr account. The ads are appearing on both Google and the […]

  • Microsoft Testing “Bing Saves” Search Bookmarking Feature

    Microsoft appears to be testing a new feature for Bing: Bing Saves. According to a Neowin community member who saw the beta, it’s a way to click and bookmark a search result for later retrieval from a personal Microsoft account. Below is a screenshot of the feature from Neowin. The utility of such a feature is […]

  • Get Medal-Winning SEO, SEM & Digital Marketing Tactics from World Class Presenters at SMX West

    Don’t play games with your marketing success. Attend SMX West for tactics and networking that will put you on the podium. See the agenda, including ski run symbols that guide you to expert, intermediate or beginner level sessions. Here are a few reasons you should join us March 11-13 in San Jose: Curling is a […]

  • Products, Prices & Proximity Are Most Important Info On Local Business Websites

    Historically, website design and optimization have been uncomfortable bedfellows. The structural and content requirements of SEO were seen to restrict the fluidity of design and user interaction, while a narrow focus on website style often meant that the need to gain visibility in search and convert clicks into customers was overlooked. While these reluctant friends […]

  • How One SEO Consultant’s Near Death Experience United The SEO Community

    Dana Lookadoo is a familiar, warm, embracing and smart personality in the SEO/SEM space, and when she was involved in a major accident, the community she was such a big part of was there for her. Yesterday, Dana posted on her blog Journaling My Cycling Accident And Recovery. She described in detail her accident, the […]

  • Where Do You Go When You’ve Maxed Out SEM?

    Advertisers frequently tell me, “If you can hit my CPA target, my SEM budget is unlimited!” This is great in theory but often limited in practice — at some point, there simply are no more new keywords, or landing page tweaks, or ad text tests that can increase an advertiser’s SEM spend. Two years ago, […]

  • Yahoo Turns To Yelp To Beef Up Local Search

    According to a report appearing today in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Yahoo will be incorporating local content and listings from Yelp into its main search results. As the article points out, Yelp has a similar deal with Microsoft-Bing and, of course, with Apple (maps). Yelp has an API that permits third parties to use […]

  • French Privacy Agency’s Site Crashes, After Demanding Link From Google France Home Page

    Be careful what you wish for. In this case, the French privacy agency CNiL demanded that Google link from the Google France home page to a privacy ruling made against it. Google complied — and now the traffic seems to have slowed and sometimes crashed the CNiL website. Our story on Marketing Land has more […]

  • Google Now Ranks No. 2 Behind Apple As The 2nd Most Valuable Company In America

    Bloomberg.com reported today Google has moved ahead of Exxon Mobile Corp to become the second most valuable company in America following Apple. According to Bloomberg, Google’s market capitalization totals $393.5 billion, representing less than a billion more than Exxon’s $392.6 billion, but $72 billion behind Apple’s market value of $465.5 billion. As the world’s largest […]

  • Bing Teams Up With The Hollywood Reporter In Anticipation Of The Oscars

    Following the launch of its awards site, Bing announced today a new partnership with The Hollywood Reporter to create the “ultimate Oscars resource guide.” According to the announcement, Bing’s awards site will offer biographical information, photos and news on this year’s Academy Award nominees. To illustrate its new Oscar search features, the site used best supporting […]

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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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