This day in search marketing history: February 12
Google penalizes JCPenney for link scheme, plus: Google SEO certifications, Automated Bidding overhaul, canonical tag announced and more.
Topic: Expedia Group
This day in search marketing history: January 23
Expedia buys Travelocity, plus: Don't Be Evil tool, semantic search, Position 6 penalty, unlimited site exclusions and more.
How to build an enterprise SEO team
Not sure how to build an enterprise SEO team? Learn from 25 enterprise SEO experts on how to create your enterprise SEO org chart.
Google’s December 2021 product reviews update was bigger than the April product reviews update, say data providers
RankRanger and Semrush provided us with exclusive data breaking down the two product reviews updates we had this year.
Mozilla tests Bing as the default search engine for 1% of users; Tuesday’s daily brief
Plus, ads proliferate in Amazon search results as ad prices surge.
Advertisers signal glimmers of optimism, start spending again
Despite numerous unknowns and continued challenges, many agencies and advertisers say they have shifted gears for the next phase.
Google adds vacation rentals to Hotel Search
Increased competition between hotels and vacation rentals should increase visibility for rental providers -- and boost Google Hotel Ads revenue.
What will Google Hotels mean for online booking sites?
The new site mirrors the UI of Google Flights and could have a similar affect on the hotel booking market.
SearchCap: Google Black Friday ads, Google Shopping auctions & PLAs
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 Ads showing Black Friday click, impression share trends in OverviewsNov 19, 2018 by Ginny Marvin Throughout the week, advertisers will be able to see how their campaigns are trending over […]
Microsoft Pulls Funding For Anti-Google Lobbying Group FairSearch
According to a report in Re/Code appearing last week, Microsoft has pulled financial support from FairSearch, an anti-Google “watchdog” or lobbying group that has been at the forefront of advancing European antitrust moves against the company. We sought comment from Microsoft when the report appeared, but the company declined to respond. The FairSearch site lists […]
SearchCap: Google Search Impact Report, Expedia Buys Orbitz & AdWords Topics
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: AdWords Success for 2015: Conversion Tips from Inside Experts Is your AdWords campaign ready for success in 2015? 10 WordPress SEO Questions That Took Me 10 Years To Answer! Looking to […]
Now It’s Expedia Vs. Priceline As Orbitz Swallowed For $1.6 Billion
After buying Travelocity last month, Expedia grabs Orbitz in competitive bidding.
SearchCap: Pinterest Search Customized By Gender, Dissecting Organic Traffic & Expedia Buys Travelocity
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: PLAs Drove 56 Percent Of Non-Brand Google AdWords Clicks In Q4 [RKG] Click share also rose on Bing’s product ads, doubling from Q3. Pinterest Search Is Now Customized By Gender Aiming […]
Travel Search Consolidation: Expedia Buys Rival Travelocity For $280M
The move puts most US and global travel market in just a few hands.
Priceline’s Booking.com Surprises As Top AdWords Impression-Earner Among 12,000+ US Travel Advertisers In 2013
Travel advertisers spent three quarters of a billion dollars on Google AdWords in the U.S. last year, according to AdGooroo’s annual review of AdWords activity in the U.S. travel sector. Nearly 12,700 travel advertisers competed for visibility on more than 50,000 keywords. Booking.com captured more impressions on Google AdWords desktop/tablet in the U.S. than any […]
Suspected Paid-Link Penalty Hasn’t Hit Expedia Bottom Line — Yet
Yesterday online travel giant Expedia announced Q4 2013 and full year results. The company “beat the street,” reporting strong room night and revenue growth across all geographies. So far a suspected penalty from Google hasn’t hurt the company’s bottom line. See our earlier stories: Expedia Lost 25% Of Their Search Visibility In Google Possibly Over […]
Travelocity-Expedia Deal Gives Travel Search Its Yahoo-Bing Moment
Travelocity, one of the web’s longstanding travel search engines and online travel agencies, is getting out of the travel search business. The company announced a “strategic marketing agreement” yesterday with longtime competitor Expedia, which calls for Expedia to begin powering the technology used on Travelocity.com. As the Wall Street Journal reports, that will include powering […]
Revealed: The 17 Other Search Engines The FTC Warned Over Paid Ad Disclosures
In June, the US Federal Trade Commission warned seven “general purpose” search engines — including Google, Bing and Yahoo — about the need to ensure they were properly disclosing paid ads. But 17 other “specialty” search engines were also warned. Which ones? The FTC wouldn’t say. Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, Search […]
Open Letter To EU Competition Commissioner Exerts Pressure For Tougher “Vertical Search” Settlement With Google
Late last week, a group of Google critics, rivals and complainants sent an “open letter” to EU competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia asking him to focus on the “vertical search” or “search neutrality” dimensions of the Google antitrust case. The letter says, essentially, that of the “four areas of concern” raised by the EU over Google’s business practices, this […]
Bing’s Travel Search & Kayak Favoritism Angers No One, While Google’s Gets Headline Attention From WSJ
Bing’s not-so-newest push into online travel hasn’t begun to roil the industry, the latest example of where if Bing does something, no one cares, but if Google does it, it’s time for a Wall Street Journal story examining the potential evilness of the move. In case you missed it, the Wall Street Journal has a […]
Do The Majority Of Americans Think Google Is Unfair?
Fairsearch.org has released findings from a new study that raises serious and important issues about Google, its influence on searcher behavior and whether the search giant’s actions are deliberately hindering competition. Unfortunately, the study results are tainted by flawed methodology and a blatant anti-Google bias, implicitly favoring the agendas of the companies that sponsored the […]
Kayak Welcomes Google As Travel Search Competitor, With ITA Acquisition Still Under DOJ Review
In a bit of a surprising interview on Bloomberg News, Kayak.com’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Paul English boldly stated that the travel search engine doesn’t fear Google’s entrance into the travel search market via the proposed acquisition of ITA Software. Kayak is officially listed as a member of the FairSearch Organization, but Google claims […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 1, 2010
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Blekko, The “Slashtag” Search Engine, Goes Live Blekko, the long anticipated search engine founded by Rich Skrenta, has finally opened to the public. The service offers an interesting way to “slash” […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 26, 2010
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Canada’s Yellow Pages Group Acquires Enquiro Canada’s Yellow Pages Group has acquired the well-known search marketing agency Enquiro and folded it into a new entity known as Mediative. As explained in […]
Google In Discussions To Buy Travel Software Company, Will FTC Ground It?
Most people have never heard of ITA. However it’s the dominant company that provides reservations (inventory management) software and performs other functions for the travel industry. The company’s client list includes major airlines such as American and Continental as well as popular travel sites such as Kayak and Orbitz. ITA is foundational infrastructure for many […]
Bing’s Stefan Weitz: Rethinking The Search Experience
Way back when, in the dying weeks of 2009, I asked the question, “Where does search go from here?” It seems that everyone agrees we’ve barely scratched the potential that is web search, but what might that scratch reveal? What will our searching look like in two years? In five years, or even in ten […]
Travel Search Sites Kayak And SideStep To Merge In Nearly $200 Million Deal
TechCrunch reported last night that travel meta-search site Kayak had closed a whopping $196 million round and then turned around and bought competitor SideStep for almost that same amount. The press release officially describes the transaction as a merger and both brands will apparently be preserved, but Kayak is clearly the dominant party and acquirer. […]
Google Maps Introduce User-Generated Content
When Google launched its personalized mapping tool, My Maps, the company said it would soon be integrating user-generated content. It appears that is now happening on many Google Maps searches (hat tip to NLC Marketing Blog).