SearchCap: Google Structured Data Ranking, Baidu Mobile Assistant & Google My Business App

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 May Add Structured Markup & Data To Ranking Algorithm
  Sep 11, 2015 by Barry Schwartz
  Google hints it may decide to use structured data in its ranking algorithm some day, though the company has previously denied it.
• Baidu Upgrades Mobile Virtual Assistant With Local Commerce Services
  Sep 11, 2015 by Greg Sterling
  Baidu has upgraded its mobile virtual assistant to incorporate voice-enabled local transactions. The virtual assistant, powered by artificial intelligence, is now known as “Duer.” That apparently translates as “Du Secretary.” One translation of the word “du” I saw was “to study, to learn.” Phonetically, it also sounds like the English word “do,” as in to […]
• Sitelinks, Callouts & Structured Snippets, Oh My!
  Sep 11, 2015 by Matt Umbro
  Paid search advertisers now have another tool in their kit — structured snippet extensions. Columnist Matt Umbro explains how to employ them and how they fit in with your other AdWords options.
• Search In Pics: Google Parent Day, Google Code Poster & Sofa Ball Pit
  Sep 11, 2015 by Barry Schwartz
  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are 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.
• The Google My Business App Gets An Update
  Sep 11, 2015 by Barry Schwartz
  Check out the updated Google My Business App for Android — iOS version coming soon.
• Social Media – Risk or Reward for Your Brand? September 22 Webcast
  Sep 10, 2015 by Search Engine Land
  With social media hacks increasing in frequency and severity, all organizations need help managing social media risk.
• September 15: GTINs Required In Google Shopping Feeds In US And Other Markets
  Sep 10, 2015 by Ginny Marvin
  The product identifiers will be required for roughly 50 designated brands.

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

• E-Commerce Conversion Rates Improve In Q2 After Several Declining Quarters [Report]
• Jet Tries Quirky Branding Effort That Turns Customers’ Shopping Carts Into Videos
• Report: Google & Twitter Are Working On Accelerated Mobile Pages For Publishers
• Standing On Shoulders Of Apple Pay, Google’s Android Pay Officially Launches
• Get Ready For A Shift To Consumer-Centric Marketing
• The Psychology Of Clicking “Buy Now”
• Why You Need To Make Video Part Of Your Marketing Automation Strategy
• Periscope Flips, Now Also Offers Landscape Video

Search News From Around The Web:

Local & Maps

• Google My Business Changes to Two Photos in All Local Panels, thesempost.com

Searching

• Apple’s ‘Hey Siri’ Feature in iOS 9 Uses Individualized Voice Recognition, Mac Rumors
• Google Showing One Line Sitelinks Again, Search Engine Roundtable
• Small-Business Owners Split on Importance of Search, www.emarketer.com

SEO

• Demystifying SEO: How to Skyrocket Your Traffic Through Schema Markup, quicksprout.com
• Google Make Use Structured Markup For Ranking Purposes, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google: Issues When Serving Different HTML & Content to Different Browsers, thesempost.com

SEM / Paid Search

• Find Your True Competition in PPC, PPC Hero
• Why Do PPC Ads Cost So Much?, Renegade Search

Search Marketing

• 4 Excel Tips applied to Keyword Research, Site Visibility
• The Impact of Queries, Long and Short Clicks, and Click Through Rate on Google’s Rankings – Whiteboard Friday, Moz
• Video: Google Rich Snippet Rankings, Infinite Scroll Search, AdSense, AdWords & Bing Ads, Search Engine Roundtable

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's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.