SearchCap: Google Webmaster Tools Upgrade, Yoast Plugin Bug & Mobile Growth

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Yoast WordPress SEO Plugin Vulnerable To Hackers
  Millions of WordPress sites may be exposed to a Blind SQL Injection vulnerability due to a security hole in the very popular Yoast SEO plugin. The plugin has been updated, make sure to update your plugin.
• Report: Brands May Lose 10K to 60K Visitors Per Month To PPC Trademark Bidding
  BrandVerity’s Q4 study looks at trademark usage in paid search across 10 industry verticals.
• Study: Growing “Mobile Fanatics” Segment Search More, Increasingly Shun PCs
  New consumer survey data from Thrive Analytics (for the Local Search Association) reflect the emergence of a large and growing mobile user segment dubbed “mobile fanatics.” Just over 40 percent of the U.S. smartphone population, these mobile users search more and rely more on their mobile devices than conventional smartphone users. The segment is defined […]
• How Competitive Analysis Leads To A Better B2B SEO Program
  A key element in shaping your SEO program is understanding your competition. To illustrate this, columnist Derek Edmond takes us through a recent competitive analysis performed for a client.
• More Hardcore A/B Testing: V2 Of The Free AdWords Script
  After sharing a testing script last month, columnist Daniel Gilbert reviewed feedback and used it to make improvements.
• Google Webmaster Tools Adds Blocked Resources Report & Updates Fetch & Render Tool
  Google adds a report that shows you which resources you’re blocking GoogleBot from by host name and updates the fetch & render tool.
• The Growth Of Direct Answers: How Should SEOs React?
  More and more often, SERPs are including answers, not just links to answers. Columnist Mark Traphagen recaps an SMX West panel that explores the effects.

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

• Hilarious Stirling Gravitas Character Is In Control Of Everything… Except His Urine Leakage
• Google Takes On Apple Store With “The Google Store,” Starring The New Chromebook Pixel
• Twitter Redesigns Analytics Homepage & Brings Quick Promote To Profiles
• 3 Steps To “Persona”-lized Marketing
• Senate Resuscitates E-Commerce Tax Bill, Again
• 3 Tactics To Ensure Your PPC Reports Matter
• Google Opens “The Google Shop,” After Years Of Flirting With Stores, Takes The Retail Plunge
• Report: Google Seeking To Buy Mobile Ad Platform InMobi
• Marketers’ Balancing Act Between Value And Privacy
• Facebook Opens “Topic Data” Firehose To Select Marketers
• Mobile-Only Shoppers Nearing Or Above 50 Percent For Top Retailers

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Google Support & Help Pages Show Which Googler Authored Them, Search Engine Roundtable

Local & Maps

• Allstate helps people uncover risks to their homes using Google Maps, googleforwork.blogspot.com

Link Building

• A Link Builder’s Response to John Mueller, www.searchenginejournal.com
• A Link Builder’s Response to John Mueller, Search Engine Journal
• Are Links In Danger Of Being Replaced By Facts In Search?, webpresence.tv
• My Biggest Link Building Success Story of 2014, Ahrefs Blog

Searching

• Are your international domains competing against each other for search rankings?, econsultancy.com
• Search Challenge (3/11/15): Is the fruit getting sweeter?, SearchReSearch

SEO

• Analyzing the UK Apprentice Winner’s Climb Online Website: Killer SEO or SEO Fail?, The SEM Post
• Everything You Need to know about JSON-LD for SEO, ignitevisibility.com
• Forecasting for SEO: Often Inaccurate but Crucial for Investments, State of Digital
• Google: We Are Not Using Facts For Search Engine Ranking Now, Search Engine Roundtable
• How 3rd Party CDNs Can Block GoogleBot, Builtvisible
• How We Fixed the Internet (Ok, an Answer Box), Moz

SEM / Paid Search

• 3 Times Failing to Prioritize PPC Goals Can Hurt Your Business, www.clixmarketing.com
• Expert guide on mobile bid adjustment in Yandex Direct, russiansearchtips.com
• Google AdWords Account History Page Adds Conversions Changes, Search Engine Roundtable
• Is Google AdWords Squeezing Out 3rd Party Tracking?, thesempost.com

Search Marketing

• 3 Ways SEO & SEM Overlap in SERPs, 3qdigital.com
• eBay Search Algorithm Getting Dirty with eBay Watchers, SEM Geek
• Track Certificates to Help Users Stay Safe, Bing Webmaster Blog

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on SEM topics.