Amid industry discussion about what Google’s enforcement of new policies will mean for its AdWords distribution partners, IAC says its Mindspark toolbar company, and all of its companies, are fully in compliance with the policies currently in place. Google put new standards for its partners into place in October, issuing rules meant to bar software […]
Search toolbars are big business for security software company AVG and media company IAC. But could revenue from these toolbars be in danger, as Google says it is stepping up enforcement of its policies against shady behavior related to toolbar downloads? IAC’s Mindspark makes substantial revenues through search toolbars, and AVG, in September 2011, said […]
Google’s favoritism of Google+ in its new Search Plus results is just the latest in the line of favoritism it has done with vertical search? It’s not, because Google hasn’t really favored itself with vertical search. It is favoring itself with Google+, and that’s why things are so disturbing. Vertical Search Is What Search Engines […]
Does Google favor its own sites in search results, as many critics have claimed? Not necessarily. New research suggests claims that Google is “biased” are overblown, and that Google’s primary competitor, Microsoft’s Bing, may actually be serving Microsoft-related results “far more” often than Google links to its own services in search results. In an analysis […]
Today’s the day. Google chairman Eric Schmidt is being called on the carpet in front of a US Senate subcommittee, to talk about whether his company is a monopolistic orge. I’m here, live blogging. Fun starts at 2pm ET. NOTE: Our follow-up article, which covers the entire hearing with highlights and without live blogging typos […]
Last week the bombshell announcement came that Google was admitting liability and forfeiting roughly $500 million in profits and fees from accepting illegal ads from Canadian pharmacies targeting US residents. This is a historic “fine” according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ). But new information revealed over the past few days suggests that Google may […]
For the past year or so, there’s been a rising meme that Google is altering its search results in ways to favor itself over competitors. Now a new study is out showing the opposite. Google is far more likely not to show its own products in the first spot of its search results. The survey […]
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 […]
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 Image Search Now With Leaderboard Ads The Google AdWords Blog announced a new ad format available on the image search vertical. The new ad format is the old-style leaderboard display […]
Last week we wrote about research conducted by Harvard Business School’s Ben Edelman. The study examined the issue of labeling on paid ads in search. The study found that a hypothetical change from “sponsored link” to “paid advertisement” resulted in “25% to 33% fewer clicks” on those ads. Now a study from SEM firm The […]
Jason Weber is suing Google over how the Google Toolbar in the past sent data to Google even while the toolbar was turned off. The suit was filed on November 5th by Webner and his attorneys, KamberLaw, based in New York. The plaintiff is suing on his “personal” experience and claims that the toolbar was […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: YouTube Topic Search Offers Way To “Explore” Related Videos Around 6pm tonight Pacific Time, YouTube will be making YouTube Topic Search available through its TestTube “labs” area. The new feature allows […]
Google has just changed the labeling on its paid search ads from “sponsored links” to “ads.” Described by Google as being in a “limited trial” there was no further explanation behind the change. Harvard Business School’s Ben Edelman is ambivalent about the change. While it more clearly identifies what the links are, the word “ads” […]
A month ago, Google began testing labeling the AdWords ads as “ads”. Prior, Google labeled those AdWords ads as “sponsored links,” which is how they have been named for as long as I can remember. Today, it seems like everyone should now be able to see the AdWords listings labeled as “ads” as opposed to […]
From Search Engine Land: Yahoo’s Q4 2009 Revenues Down Only 4%, Search Ads Down 15% YoY Yahoo announced their fourth quarter 2009 earnings just minutes ago. They reported better than expected earnings, with a decline in revenue of only 4%, year over year. Most of that decline came from a 15% drop in search ad […]
Ben Edelman uncovered evidence that even if you disable the Google Toolbar, Google may still be tracking your web browsing behavior. Edelman documents how he disabled the Google Toolbar within the preference, then visited a web page and captured how Google was sending browsing data from the toolbar to Google’s servers. Edelman first clicked the […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: How To Optimize A Mobile AdWords Campaign Google is going mobile in a big way. Following the announcement of Nexus One, the official Google phone, and the acquisition of adMob, Google […]
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 […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should: Why DIY SEM Isn’t The Answer Everywhere you look today you can find books, television programs, and websites specializing in do-it-yourself. While this […]
It’s time for an online advertisers bill of rights. So says Harvard assistant professor Ben Edelman, who has spent years researching Internet advertising and compares the current landscape to a “wild west.” Edelman recognizes the “staggering” opportunity that online advertising provides, but says the current system has problems that “threaten to destabilize online advertising—wasting advertisers’ […]
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 Employee Required To Hand Over AdWords Account Details We obtained documents on a court order, where the judge issued in the Jeremy Schoemaker case against a Google employee for trademark […]
In a new report by Harvard professor Ben Edelman shows how he believes Google and its partners inflate conversion rates and, in turn, increase advertising costs. From his report: Google and its partners systematically inflate advertisers’ conversion rates by interceding in transactions advertisers would otherwise have received for free. This conversion-inflation syndication fraud overstates the […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Ben Edelman, an assistant professor at Harvard’s Business School, forcefully argues that “Yahoo’s Right Media ad marketplace features widespread ads exactly designed to deceive.” In his lengthy article he offers 10 examples and lots of specific documentation of the kinds of deception he alleges. The ad types in question feature the following kinds of copy […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:
A new survey from McAfee finds that AOL has the "safest" search results in terms of not listing sites that might be somehow be risky or unsafe for searchers. But most interesting to me was the fact paid results across the board were found far riskier than free, organic results. Let’s do the numbers, some […]