SearchCap: Google My Business Webmaster Tools, Google Pigeon Feedback & Bing Cortana Expands

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:

• Experts Weigh In On Google’s “Pigeon” Update Aimed At Improving Local Search Results
  Last week, Google made new search waves when it rolled out updates to its local search algorithm. The “Pigeon” update (the name Search Engine Land gave it in absence of an official name from Google) aims to deliver improved local search results, with enhanced distance and location ranking parameters. According to Google, the new local […]
• Google Adds Webmaster Tools Verification For Google My Business
  Mike Blumenthal reports that you can now instantly verify your Google Local listings, formerly known as Google Place Listing and now known as Google My Business, through Google Webmaster Tools. Google’s Jade Wang announced this in the Google forums saying, “starting today, if you’re verifying a page for your business, you may be instantly verified […]
• Google’s Still Lagging On Mobile Search Warnings
  No one applauded louder than I did when Google introduced their warning in search results for faulty redirects in June of this year, and then, warnings for Flash earlier this month. It’s definitely a step in the right direction for Google — and for searchers, who have had to endure less than usable mobile search results in Google […]
• Use Contextual Data To Gain A Competitive Search Marketing Advantage
  Marketers have been dreaming about the possibilities of contextual data for decades, and as consumers have become more mobile and their behavior more quantifiable, it has only stoked those flames further. What’s The Big Deal About Contextual Data? Contextual data provides an opportunity for marketers to gain a competitive advantage based on outside trends that […]
• What’s Tops For “Offers” On Google? Google Offers – Which No Longer Exists
  If you search in Google for [offers] Google will return the shuttered Google Offers page as the first search listing. But if you look carefully, you will see that Google has blocked the page from spiders within their robots.txt file and the page itself says “This site is no longer being supported.” Here is a […]
• Cortana Expands To Other Markets, Becomes “Xiao Na” In China
  There’s increasing evidence that Microsoft’s personal assistant Cortana is being positioned as a key differentiator vs. Android and iPhones. A new TV commercial (below) purports to compare Cortana to Siri, with a mock Siri voice saying “I can’t do that” a number of times. This morning Microsoft announced new geographies and new features for Cortana […]

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

• The @NBA: First Pro Sports League To Promote Twitter On Official Game Ball
• Google Faces Thai Criminal Case For Not Shutting Down Blogger
• EU Readying New Android Antitrust Complaint Against Google
• 5 Simple Steps For Defining Uber-KPIs For Multiple Objectives
• 3 Mobile Search Warnings Google Still Needs To Add
• How Twitter’s Non-User UX Efforts Led To An Audience Threefold That Of Active Users
• Collaborating To Win Marketing: Faster, Cheaper, Better Creative
• BMW’s #Driftmob Unleashes World’s First Vehicular Flashmob
• Pinterest Tips Icebergs Via Acquisition, Service To Shut Down In A Month
• Yelp Beats Expectations, Strikes Profitability With Q2 Revenues Of $88.8 Million

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Danny Goodwin Leaving Search Engine Watch as Editor, Bill Hartzer
• Elite Google APM Program Molly Mackinlay, Business Insider
• Ranking without Links | Interview with Yandex Head of Web Search Alexander Sadovsky, Marcus Tandler
• Seeking advice on the Right to be Forgotten, Google Europe Blog
• Summer School: Learning from the Experts: Aaron Wall, State of Digital
• Why a deep-learning genius left Google & joined Chinese tech shop Baidu (interview), VentureBeat

Local & Maps

• Google MapMaker Nukes Custom Categories, Mike Blumenthal
• Google Pigeon Poo, Mike Blumenthal
• How long does it take to rank in local search? | Expert Survey, brightlocal.com

Searching

• #FAIL! Bing.com Celebrates International Tiger Day, With a Picture of a Tiger in the zoo, www.onegreenplanet.org
• Can Pinterest Compete With Google’s Search?, NPR

SEO

• Google Sandbox 2.0 Chatter Hits Mainstream Webmaster Forums, Search Engine Roundtable
• Mental Models and SEO: It Is What I Think It Should Be, SEMrush Blog
• So You Think You Can Write? Advice from Our SEO Experts, SEMrush Blog
• The Month Google Shook the SERPs, Moz

SEM / Paid Search

• De-mystifying Quality Score, periscopix.co.uk
• Support for v201406 reports in AdWords scripts, Google Ads Developer Blog

Search Marketing

• 5 Simple Tips to Make Your Copywriting Clients Deliriously Happy, SEO Copywriting
• Creating Personas for PPC, Portent
• Scooping Up the Secrets of Ice Cream Searchers, Yahoo Advertising Blog