SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 12, 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 Reviewing “Not Provided,” Withholding Keywords From Organic But Not Paid Search Clicks
  When Google moved to secure search in October 2011, it was a blow to publishers, who began losing data about the search terms used to reach their sites. It also opened Google up to claims of hypocrisy, in that advertisers continued to receive the terms. Now, Google says it’s reexamining the issue and seeking a […]
• Yahoo Goes Live With Yelp Local Reviews
  Last month the Wall Street Journal reported that Yelp reviews were being integrated into Yahoo search results. This morning Yahoo formally announced the partnership: Now when you use Yahoo Search to look up a local business in the U.S. on your smartphone, tablet, or PC, you’ll see user reviews, business information, and star ratings from […]
• Research Report: Enterprise PPC Campaign Management Platforms 2014
  Digital Marketing Depot, our sister site, recently released the updated version of its Market Intelligence Report, “Enterprise PPC Campaign Management Platforms 2014: A Buyer’s Guide.” Now in its Fourth Edition, this report consists of original research based on interviews conducted in November and December 2013. Advisors included David Rodnitzky, CEO of 3Q Digital (formerly PPC […]
• Google’s New Look Search Results: Still An Experiment
  More and more searchers, SEOs, webmasters and advertisers are seeing the new Google design test we’ve covered here a couple times where the ads blend in more to the search results and the font size is larger and the underlined links are gone. Last night, at Search Marketing Expo West, Google’s head of search, Amit […]
• Google Confirms Giant Banner Ad Test Is Dead
  Back in October, Google started experimenting with large banner ads at the top of branded search results on Google.com. If you haven’t noticed them lately, there’s a reason. In his SMX West keynote discussion with Danny Sullivan yesterday, Google’s Amit Singhal said the test failed and is over. Presumably the click-through rates (CTR) on the […]
• Google To Publishers Concerned Over The Knowledge Graph; Searchers Still Need Your Content
  In the keynote session last night at Search Marketing Expo West, Google’s head of search, Amit Singhal tried to address the concern of publishers that their content is being scraped and used by Google’s Knowledge Graph, ending with the user not having to click on the search results to get the answer. Danny Sullivan, in […]
• Drive PPC Revenues By Addressing The Bing Dilemma
  In February, comScore released their monthly analysis of the US search marketplace, reporting Google with a 67.6% share of the search market and Bing, which powers Yahoo! search, a 28.7% share. Though these findings continue to confirm Google’s dominance in the search landscape, it’s important to highlight that Bing’s share of the market has continued […]
• SMX Advanced Registration Open – Best Rates Available Until March 28
  Ready to exchange ideas, influence the industry and build your network? Join the most accomplished search marketers in the world for Search Marketing Expo – SMX Advanced. The conference will be held June 11-12 at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle, WA. The focus of SMX Advanced is unique. Conference sessions and keynotes […]
• Live Blog: Head Of Google Search Amit Singhal Keynote At SMX West 2014
  Good evening/afternoon (or early morning for our European readers!) from sunny San Jose, Calif., where day one of our SMX West conference is almost finished. We’re wrapping up the Marketing Land Digital Marketing Summit with a keynote conversation between Google’s Amit Singhal and Danny Sullivan, founding editor of both Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. […]
• Survey: Consumers Blame Brands For Bad Location Data
  Today at SMX West local data and marketing platform provider Placeable released findings from two related surveys it recently conducted online. The company polled consumers (n=1,000 US adults) and marketers (n=228) to gather data on local search attitudes and behaviors. Marketers were asked to discuss their behavior when they acted as consumers. Overall the marketers (as […]

Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:

• Buffer Adds Content Suggestions To Web Dashboard & Emails
• Google Calls It Quits On Brand Banner Ad Test In Search Results
• How Email Marketers Can Make Birthdays Come More Than Once A Year
• 5 Tips For Getting More From Your Data You Already Have
• What You Should Be Tallying On Your Social Media Scorecard
• SMX Advanced Registration Open – Best Rates Available Until March 28
• And The $1.5 Million Winner Was … “What’s #EsuranceSave30?”

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Google: World Got Bored With Our Search Quality Highlights Change Log, Search Engine Roundtable
• On the 25th anniversary of the web, let’s keep it free and open, Official Google Blog
• Visit to Yandex Headquarters in St. Petersburg, jimjansen.blogspot.com

Local & Maps

• Adding the new Google Maps to your website just got easier with the new Google Maps Embed API, Google Geo Developers Blog
• Google Tests Desktop-to-Mobile Retargeting With Brand Data, Ad Age
• No Business Claiming for Apple Maps for iOS8?, applemapsmarketing.com
• Troubleshooting Local Ranking Failures: A Beginner’s Guide, Moz

Link Building

• 4 Ways to Avoid Getting Hit by Negative SEO or New Unnatural Links, Search Engine Watch
• 5 Unexpected Link Prospecting Tools, and How to Use Them, E2M Blog
• Why This Website Owner Won’t Remove a Low Quality Link, Bill Hartzer

SEO

• A Beginner’s Guide to the Name Anchor Tag, ISOOSI Blog
• Beginners Guide: Advantages of Targeting Long-Tail, Luna Metrics
• Example: Google Pushing Down A Brand For Their Own Content, Search Engine Roundtable
• Is there a way to tell Google about a mobile version of a page?, YouTube
• What Is SEO And How Can It Help A Business?, koozai.com

SEM / Paid Search

• An Introduction to Pivot Tables for PPC Analysis, State of Digital
• Improve PPC Performance Now: How to Take Advantage of Seasonality, Search Engine Watch
• Infographic: Bing Ads is Evolving — You Spoke, We Listened, Bing Ads Blog
• Upcoming changes to call conversion settings in AdWords scripts, Google Ads Developer Blog

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About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz 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.