Ahrefs mentions vanishing from Semrush-owned Backlinko
Brian Dean used to recommend Ahrefs and link to them. Now? Not so much. What's changed? Semrush bought Dean's site.
Topic: Conflict of Interest
Removal of hotel review reporting rape creates crisis of confidence for TripAdvisor content
The site had scrubbed first-person reviews and content about rape and sexual assault at a Mexican resort.
Here’s how Google’s own ads impact bids & pricing in AdWords auctions
Google takes steps to minimize the impact of its ads on CPCs, but advertisers pay as if Google didn’t win its ad positions, not as if Google didn’t bid at all.
German Legislator Calling For Google Breakup Has Serious Conflict Of Interest
The German member of the European Parliament behind the call to break up Google, Andreas Schwab, has a conflict of interest. According to the NY Times, he has ties to and earns money from a German law firm that represents anti-Google publishing interests in Germany. German publishers lobbied for the passage of the “ancillary copyright” law […]
Sen. Franken Criticizes Google In Hearings, Praises Google In Promotional Video
Politics are messy and often riddled with ethical potholes and challenges. One illustration of this is Senator Al Franken’s apparent “conflict of interest” where Google is concerned. Discovered by Mike Blumenthal Franken did a “commercial” on behalf of Google’s “Get Your Business Online” initiative in Minnesota. Blumethal characterizes Franken as “shilling for Google.” It’s not […]
Google Markets HotPot In Portland & Breaks Its Own Rules On Local Reviews
Google is launching a new campaign in Portland, Oregon, today that’s designed to promote HotPot, the company’s recently announced service that invites users to review local businesses and then feeds those reviews into Google Places. The marketing is clever and the benefits for local businesses seem obvious, but there’s a problem: Google is breaking its […]
Levinson Leaves Google’s Board Of Directors, Stays On Apple’s
Arthur Levinson, a member of Google’s board of directors since 2004, has resigned from that position effectively immediately. Google’s announcement doesn’t give a reason for Levinson’s departure, but he’s also been on Apple’s board of directors since 2000. The growing competition between Google and Apple led Google CEO Eric Schmidt to leave Apple’s board this […]
Google’s CEO, Schmidt, Resigns From Apple’s Board
Apple, Inc. announced today that Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, has resigned from Apple’s board of directors. Schmidt has held the position since August 2006, as you can see by August 29th, 2006 announcement of him joining the board. Why did Schmidt resign? “Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished,” due to […]
Microsoft Looking To Sell Razorfish, Good Move
Microsoft Pitches Razorfish Deal to Big Agencies via the Wall Street Journal reports Microsoft is finally looking to sell off Razorfish, something we have been asking them to do since they acquired them. Google sold search marketing firm Performics a while back, mostly due to the conflict of interest in Google running an unbiased search […]
Fights In The Google Monopoly Debate Miss Key Points
The noise about whether Google is a monopoly that needs to be controlled continues to ramp up, with Google itself releasing a “charm offensive” set of slides after its lobbying using those slides was outed by Consumer Watchdog. I’ll cover that below, but as I watch the debate continue over whether Google has too much […]
Google Selling Performics — Thanks, Google!
Last month, I did an open letter to Google wishing they’d quickly sell off Performics, to avoid the conflict of having a search marketing firm that works to improve results on Google’s own search engine. Well, thank you Google! They’ve acted far more quickly than I would have hoped for, announcing today that the company […]
Open Letter To Google: Do The Right Thing, Divest Yourself Of Performics
At long last, Google owns DoubleClick. In doing so, the company has done something else that many people would have never believed possible. Become an SEO. That’s right — Google’s in the SEO business now, selling services through DoubleClick’s Performics to people who want to rank well on — um — Google. Conflict of interest? […]
Google Loves The iPhone, But Google’s Eric Schmidt Won’t “Talk” About It
MacWorld starts today in San Francisco, and there probably won’t be any announcement to equal the iPhone, which continues to reverberate across the mobile landscape. Google, in particular, continues to reap dividends from its suite of iPhone apps, a new version of which is launching today according to both the NY Times and CNet. The […]
SEO Tips & Tactics From A Wikipedia Insider
I am a Wikipedia administrator, and I specialize in complex investigations. When Jonathan Hochman suggested I write an article for Search Engine Land, he mentioned that this publication and its readers regard Wikipedia as a search engine. It probably comes as no surprise that my spine stiffens at that concept, but media professionals and Wikipedia […]
Google’s Biotech Investment In Brin’s Wife’s Company, 23andMe
Raising some eyebrows this morning is Google’s investment in a biotech firm called 23andMe, which states as its mission to: “help you make sense of your own genetic information . . . [and] put your genome into the larger context of human commonality and diversity.” Anne Wojcicki, Google cofounder Sergey Brin’s new wife, is a […]
Microsoft Search Marketing Vs. Google Search Marketing (Beta)
I wrote before about the inherent conflicts of both Google and Microsoft potentially owning firms that do search marketing. Since Microsoft is now back on track to join Google in doing this, I can’t help myself. Let’s have some fun. From a future Google help page (apologies to the existing help page):
Microsoft After 24/7; Another Search Engine To Own SEM Firm?
Yahoo said it would acquire an ad network yesterday, in reaction to Google’s plans to expand its own ad network by acquiring DoubleClick. Now in One Giant Leap, the New York Post reports rumors that Microsoft might want to buy ad management company 24/7 Real Media. What’s wrong with this picture? The same thing wrong […]
Wikipedia’s Double Standard On Nofollow Rule
Techcrunch discovered that Wikipedia was giving special treatment to their own properties, in terms of using standard, non-nofollowed, links to Wikia, “Wikipedia’s for-profit spin off.” Back in January, Wikipedia nofollowed all external links from the site, in an effort to reduce Wikipedia spam. If you visit the Wikipedia page on Wikia, you may notice some […]
Performics: “Business As Usual,” Despite Google’s Planned Purchase
Many have wondered if it’s a conflict for Google to keep the search marketing-focused Performics division of DoubleClick as part of Google’s planned DoubleClick acquisition, since it would seem odd for Google to own a firm with an interest in helping people rank well on Google. Kris Jones of Pepperjam has the latest statement from […]
Google Exec On Board Of Company That Might Pollute Google Results
Bottom Slurping for Google Juice from Kate Kaye ClickZ is a fairly jaw-dropping story of Associated Content, a site cofounded by Google vice president of advertising sales Tim Armstrong, that might very well be generating the type of AdSense-powered crud that pollutes Google and other search engines as I just mentioned earlier today. Armstrong is also a board member of the […]