Google’s Chris Nelson of the search quality team issued a warning on the Google Webmaster Blog to affiliates who produce thin-content. He said that affiliates that produce thin-content and have little-to-no value-add on their site may be penalized for going against Google’s guidelines. The warning was more direct to affiliate sites in the “adult” space, […]
Thousands of hotels listed within Google+ Local appear to have had links leading to their official sites “hijacked” and replaced with ones leading to third-party booking services. Google+ Local listings are what Google depends on to provide results in Google Maps or Google Search, when people look for local businesses. A Hijacked URL For example, […]
Google has penalized Rap Genius for link schemes this morning. If you go to Google and search for [rap genius], rapgenius.com will not be found on the first page. Instead you will find links to their Twitter account, Facebook page, Wikipedia profile and stories like this about them being penalized by Google. But you won’t […]
A local SEO industry survey, managed by SEO software company Brightlocal, revealed that the most in-demand SEO services are on-site SEO and Google+ optimization. Conducted between January 20 and February 20 of this year, the survey evaluated the health and nature of the local SEO industry by focusing on five key areas: agency size and […]
News publications having “sponsored content “deals are on the rise, and Google’s apparently concerned enough that it’s issued a warning today that publishers should keep such content out of Google News. In a post today on the Google News blog, the company writes: If a site mixes news content with affiliate, promotional, advertorial, or marketing […]
One of the things Google promised by moving Google Shopping to the pay-to-play model for merchants was how much the experience was going to improve for shoppers. If that’s the case, I’m sure not seeing it. Come on a little tour. Amazon Don’t Play That Game The new system began on October 17. Perhaps the most striking change […]
After last month’s major change to Google Shopping, making the service solely pay-for-play, the company is exploring ways for affiliates to participate via Product Listing Ads (PLAs) in the US. Google Shopping has been testing ways of working with affiliates for nearly six months in alpha and is now opening up the beta to additional […]
The video about is from the SMX Advanced show in 2012 where Danny Sullivan asked Google’s Matt Cutts about nofollowing affiliate links. Matt responded that although they handle the majority of affiliate links automatically, if you are at all worried, you should nofollow those links to be careful. Here is what Matt said, if you […]
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 To Chinese Searchers: Your Search Interruptions Are Not Our Fault Google announced on their blog that they have noticed an increase in complaints from searchers in mainland China. The issues […]
Duplication, Aggregation, Syndication, Affiliates, Scraping, and Information Architecture Presentations from SMX East – NYC, NY, September 2011 We’ll sort through the bewildering world of near duplication due to issues such as manufacturer feeds into your site, syndication to other sites, international sites, and aggregation of data sources. How can a well-planned information architecture mimimize the […]
I’m happy to announce that next month, Search Engine Land will gain a new sister site: Marketing Land. Search Engine Land will continue to provide all the great coverage about search marketing and search engines that you love. Marketing Land will go beyond into other areas, including social media, affiliate marketing, email marketing and other […]
The New Scientist reports that several ISPs are allegedly hijacking searches conducted on search engines and redirecting in order to make a quick profit. A searcher would search for a keyword such as [apple] and the ISP may take that user through a redirect via an affiliate program to earn potential commissions on a merchant’s […]
She was supposed to help turn around the company, but Yahoo’s CEO Carol Bartz may soon be the one in turnaround because of another mixed or mediocre quarter. The search alliance and revenue share with Microsoft was partly blamed for Q2 revenues being down compared the same period last year: Revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs […]
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 Boasts Of $64 Billion In Economic Impact In conjunction with National Small Business Week, Google is trying to burnish its image by touting the economic impact that its programs, including […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Twitter Sees Highest “Sustained” Activity Ever In Wake Of Osama Bin Laden News Twitter has released new numbers showing last night’s announcement that Osama bin Laden was dead generated the most […]
Having just spent a spectacular few days at SMX West, the real challenge was getting past the buzz around content farms. But if you bothered to dig a bit deeper, there was an astounding amount of great, um… content, covering the many facets of search marketing other than search algorithm changes. Aside from the usual […]
Is Facebook’s third largest advertiser really a site that tries to trick people into switching to Bing? Apparently not. Still, Bing’s not happy with the tactics and is ending its relationship with the publisher. The site, Make-My-Baby.com, now appears to have gone down. But earlier today, it was suggesting that people needed a plug-in to […]
You’ve had a week to put 2010 in the past and start unpacking 2011. If you’re the type to do so, you’ve probably already made your own marketing resolutions for the new year, or thought about the trends and predictions that might make a difference as the year goes along. You have? Good. So has […]
Dieting is one of the most popular new year’s resolutions for us humans. It should be. Nearly 34% of adults are considered to be overweight (source: CDC). After receiving the barrage of emails from brands this holiday season, some who I have done business with before and some I have not, I started to wonder: […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Do You Hear What I Hear: Understanding Mobile Searcher Intent With 2010 holiday shopping season nearly complete, every consumer brand has really been given the ultimate mobile gift this from their […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Will Your Inhouse Social Program Win Awards? Recently I decided to delve deeper into social media than I ever have. Trying to wrap my head around the actual value behind social, […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Search Engine Market Share Steady In July: Hitwise There’s little change in the latest search engine market share numbers from Experian Hitwise. The company announced its stats for July 2010 today, […]
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 To Phase Out Old Keyword Tool In Exchange For New Version If you try to access Google’s external keyword tool, you may notice that you are sent to the new […]
Finding tickets for your favorite concert or sporting event can be hard enough, but if your search starts with Google, chances are good that your first challenge will be getting around the veritable spamfest that ticket affiliates and second-tier ticket resellers have created. A reader contacted us last week to point out what’s going on. […]
What is the hardest task in search engine optimization? Whether the question is asked in a formal poll, on an online forum or over a cup of coffee, the answer most commonly given is “link building.” With good reason: an external link, by definition, is something outside an SEOs immediate realm of control. External link […]
Chomp could be described as a search engine for iPhone apps (and eventually other apps stores). It’s a two-month old iPhone app and more recently a website, which resembles Twitter, whose objective is to enable people to more easily discover and review iPhone apps. The proliferation of 160,000 iPhone apps has created the well-documented problem […]
Like Amazon did several months ago to U.S. affiliates, Amazon sent an email to their UK affiliates basically preventing them from using certain paid search techniques and free search techniques to drive sales to Amazon. The message sent to their UK affiliates yesterday read: After careful review of our Associates programme, we have made the […]
One of Google’s more vocal critics says the company should cut its ties with InfoSpace over what he calls “a particularly insidious kind of click fraud” that involves a fairly complex combination of paid ads, affiliate traffic brokering, and spyware. Harvard assistant professor Ben Edelman also wants Google to repay the affected advertisers and be […]
VigLink is a new service with venture capital backing from Google that aims to make it easy for publishers to earn through affiliate programs. It promises to turn any outbound link on a web site into an affiliate link after the installation of a small bit of JavaScript code. VigLink is in the news today […]
According to Google, affiliates provide such a road-rage-awful experience that they deserved to be kicked out of AdWords en masse. My experience shopping for a new laptop for my dad during Boxing Week more than proved that status as an affiliate site hardly determines usability, and that merchants sin liberally against the commandments of user […]
One of the most common questions I hear is “But how can I make money by using social media?” Well, if you are selling goods and can offer up some great specials, there are some direct ways that social media deal sites can help you promote your product to hungry customers. Here are a few […]
Tim Cohn spotted that the Google Advertising Professionals Search is now live. It can be accessed at adwords.google.com/professionals/search and lets you search for certified AdWords professionals based on location and budget. After you conduct a search, you can narrow your search even more by checking off additional services offered by the agencies in Google’s database. […]
Today was the first day of PubCon Las Vegas 2009 and the sessions are just about over. I wanted to share some of the blog coverage I found from the day that covered the sessions that took place. Here they are: Capitalizing on Twitter the Microblogging Revolution, outspokenmedia.com Hot Topics and Trends in the Affiliate […]
Unfortunately, affiliates do not always abide by the rules and requirements of your program. For example, you may specifically prohibit keyword sponsorship of your best terms or your brand terms. You may look to keep your affiliates from co-promoting you alongside of your competitor(s) on the same landing page, you may have restrictions on paid […]
Watching Shawn Collins of the Affiliate Summit conference tweeting about a big party at the Googleplex last night, I wondered what was up. Turns out folks were being entertained as part of Google’s own Google Affiliate Network Client Summit. Whoa. Is that new? Nope. Google tells me this is the 5th annual summit they’ve held. […]
Danny has described Aardvark as a “help engine” and I’ve called it an “answer community.” Whatever term you want to use to characterize the service it’s very interesting and has enormous potential as a kind of search engine alternative or complement for recommendations, opinions or complex questions. There are other services that are similar though […]
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” This gem from heavyweight boxing legend Iron Mike Tyson also applies to AdWords account strategy, especially when starting a new account. Beginning in 2006, some advertisers in the affiliate marketing, Made-for-AdSense, and other spheres have referred to harsh quality score treatment — especially treatment […]
How much revenue does a new customer drive to your business? How long, on average, does a customer last, and how much do they spend as a customer? Do customers acquired through one marketing channel generate more revenue than those from another channel? The answers to these questions collectively make up the foundation of any […]
The holiday season is almost upon us. It’s time to start looking over the inventory, keywords, and offers to make sure you’re ready for Cyber Monday. In today’s column we offer several things to do and important don’ts that will help you have a successful holiday season. Don’t… Blindly test Traffic in December is unlike […]
What do the Google searches; Orlando Hotels, Miami Discount Car Rental & Dallas Discount Car Rental have in common? The obvious answer is that they are all local searches on popular phrases in major metro areas. A less obvious answer is that like the infamous Denver Florist search last December, they all return seemingly authoritative […]