Canadian Appeals Court Orders Google To Censor Globally
Ruling comes in same week that France demands that Google institute worldwide censorship.
Topic: France
France Gives Google 15 Days To Apply Right-To-Be-Forgotten To Global Results
EU privacy regulators believe Europe-only application of rule undermines its effectiveness.
Right-To-Be-Forgotten One Year Later: 70 Percent Of Requests Refused
The most often cited reason for RTBF requests is "invasion of privacy."
SearchCap: Mobilegeddon Is Coming, AdWords Campaign Reporting, France Wants Open Algorithm
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 Web History Adds Download Option & Drops Filter Options Google makes two large updates to Google Web History, you can no longer filter the results but you can now export […]
France Trying To Force Disclosure Of Google Algorithm, Wants To Regulate the SERP
Not waiting for the European Commission’s Statement of Objections (antitrust charges) to run its course, France is taking action to regulate Google’s search results and also compel revelation of its search algorithm. TechCrunch reported on a bill now working its way through the French legislature. According to an earlier Financial Times article (FT) about the bill: The French senate is likely to adopt a […]
SearchCap: Google News Mobile Algorithm, Mobile Queries Up, Product Ratings In AdWords
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Report: Mobile Search Queries 29 Percent Of Total But Growth Modest Search query percentages don’t line up with overall usage trends. Google Expands Product Rating Stars In Google Shopping Ads To […]
Google Expands Product Rating Stars In Google Shopping Ads To UK, France, Germany
Star ratings for specific products appear in product listing ads.
Google Now Supports Crawling & Indexing Locale-Adaptive Web Pages
Google adds support for web pages that dynamically change their content based on IP origin or language settings.
Google France Homepage Goes “Je Suis Charlie” In Memory Of Charlie Hebdo Victims
Google France homepage now displaying "Je Suis Charlie" badge to honor victims of the Charlie Hebdo massacre.
Google Faces Potential $19M Privacy Fine In The Netherlands
Google continues to face potential fines for failing to change its privacy policy in Europe. Since the company introduced its “simplified privacy policy” in 2012 it has faced Europe-wide criticism and the threat of fines for violating local data protection laws. Multiple government data protection authorities across Europe are cooperating in an effort to compel Google to make changes in […]
Bing Rolls Out International Hotel Booking Feature & Updates Mobile Search Results
Bing has partnered with TripAdvisor to deliver reviews, booking capabilities and rates for hotel searches in 22 different countries.
Bing Rolls Out New “Fact Answers” Search Feature With Information On Local Addresses & Reviews
Bing has updated its search results to deliver what it calls “Fact Answers” for local reviews and addresses. [pullquote]These new facts at the top of the search page aim to provide simple answers to searches for things like phone numbers for restaurants, the hours of your local mall, or directions to your friend’s house.[/pullquote] Listed […]
SearchCap: Google Knowledge Graph Gets Social, Scrollable Google Answers & Google News Suggested Stories
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: 20 Ways B2B SEOs Can Leverage Schema.org Markup Structured data markup can improve search visibility, yet few websites use it. Columnist Derek Edmond provides tips for B2B marketers on how to […]
Google Shopping Merchant Promotions Roll Out To More Countries
Just ahead of the holiday frenzy, Google is expanding Merchant Promotions to the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia and India. Launched in the U.S. in 2012, Merchant Promotions allow advertisers to show promotion code offers alongside their product listing ads in search as well as their listings on Google Shopping. Merchants interested in launching promotions […]
SearchCap: SEO Mistakes That Could Penalize Your Site, Bing Ads Offers Close Variants On Phrase Match & More
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: SEO & SSL: A Conversation With Jon Henshaw Of Raven Tools Google says it will boost rankings for HTTPS sites, but, in an interview by contributor Clark Buckner, Henshaw recommends SEOs […]
French Court Trying To Impose Right-To-Be-Forgotten Decision On Google Worldwide
Google is facing daily fines of €1,000 in France, under a punitive ruling tied to the Right-to-Be-Forgotten (RTBF), unless it removes links to an article from its index globally, according to The Guardian. Several politicians in Europe have recently suggested that the RTBF should extend to all Google results worldwide, not just country level indexes. […]
Pinterest Evolving Into A Personalized Search Substitute
This evening, at its San Francisco headquarters, Pinterest hosted a talk and Q&A session with the company’s head of engineering, Michael Lopp. No one from Search Engine Land was able to attend on short notice; however the company shared a number of updated stats. Much more than a “scrap-booking” site (its origins) or even a […]
Sweden The Latest To Consider Google “Link Tax” For Newspapers
A member of the Swedish parliament, Niclas Malmberg, wants Google to help fund Swedish news publications along the lines of the French model established last year. Threatened with a “link tax,” Google agreed “to create a €60 million Digital Publishing Innovation Fund to help support transformative digital publishing initiatives for French readers.” Google also agreed […]
Paid Search Roundup Q3 2014: From Performance Trends To Key Product Updates, What You Need To Know
The quarterly reports and earning statements are in. Overall, all signs point to continued global growth for paid search advertising in Q3. Here’s a look at performance results and the biggest announcements and changes to come from Google AdWords and Bing Ads in the third quarter 2014. What The Search Engines Reported Google reported third […]
SearchCap: Google Reports “Right To Be Forgotten” Totals, Should You Copy SEO Tactics? & More
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 Nixed 4,143 Links To YouTube, Groups Under “RTBF” On the heels of our earlier discussion of search-index removal requests under the “Right to Be Forgotten” (RTBF) in Europe, stories came […]
Facebook & YouTube Are Top Sites With Content Removed From Google Under “Right To Be Forgotten”
Google is now sharing details about Right To Be Forgotten removals in a new section of its pre-existing Google Transparency Report area. The latest numbers show that Facebook, ProfileEngine.com and Google’s own YouTube are the top three sites to have content taken down through the new European system. In the new section, Google breaks out the requests […]
Study: 60 Percent of “Right To Be Forgotten” Requests Denied
Reputation VIP operates the Forget.me website intended to handle Google and Bing “Right to Be Forgotten” (RTBF) requests. Using three months of data, the company has released a study on RTBF’s impact in France, the UK and Germany. There was a smaller, separate study on Spain. It found that overall 60 percent of requests are […]
SearchCap: Google AdWords Inventory, EU-Google Antitrust & MapQuest Commute App
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 Now Lets Travelers Know When Flight Prices Drop Google is helping travelers save money with a new Now card that tells users when a price has dropped on a flight. […]
Official: Google Expands Local Inventory And Store-Only PLAs Beyond The U.S.
Last fall, Google introduced local product listing ads, which it is now calling “local inventory ads”, in the U.S. This week Google officially announced support for local inventory ads in the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Australia. These are product listing ads (PLAs) from nearby retailers shown with a local pin icon. After clicking on […]
Google Allows Store-Exclusive “Nearby” Product Listing Ads On Desktop
The ability to advertise locally-available products on Google via local product listing ads on mobile and desktop devices has been available since last fall. However, only on mobile devices could retailers promote items that were just available in-store. Now, Google has unofficially announced that this functionality is being extended to desktop to allow advertisers to […]
Spanish Law To Force Google To Index And Pay For Local News
There’s a basic feeling among traditional news publishers throughout Europe, and among some in the U.S., that Google has benefited enormously from their content but failed to offer anything in return. Furthermore, many publishers see Google as directly responsible for the decline of their traditional advertising and circulation revenues. The counter-argument that Google sends traffic […]
Google Maps “Explore” Feature Shows What’s Nearby Along With Reviews & Travel Times
Google Maps announced a new “Explore” feature yesterday for its Android and iOS app. The new feature offers a “local guide” that adapts to wherever the user may be. According to the release: Now, whenever you want to discover places in your area, simply tap the new Explore button at the bottom right corner of […]
The EU’s Right To Be Forgotten Is A Mess & How Google’s Making It Worse
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” the saying goes. There are plenty of good intentions with the EU’s Right To Be Forgotten mandate, as well as Google’s attempt to meet new obligations under it. Things are still going to hell regardless. Thanks to the new right, the EU has helped enable convicted […]
Why Everyone In The EU May Look Like They’ve Made A “Right To Be Forgotten” Request In Google
Google began removing listings in response to the EU’s new Right To Be Forgotten mandate last week. As promised, Google is also disclosing to searchers when such removals have happened. However, it is also confusingly reporting that removals may have happened even when they have not. Welcome to Google’s new blanket notice that all name-based […]
Rather Than Opt-Out Of Google, German News Publishers Demand 11% Cut Of Revenue
German news publishers are picking up where the Belgians left off, a now not-so-proud tradition of suing Google for being included in its listings rather than choosing to opt-out. This time, the publishers want an 11% cut of Google’s revenue related to them being listed. The news comes from Jeff Jarvis, who writes that a […]
Right To Be Forgotten Requests Keep Coming, Now 41,000
As of the end of last week there were roughly 12,000 requests that had been officially submitted to Google under Europe’s judicially created “right to be forgotten” (RTBF) rule. Google launched an online form last week to field the requests. According to the Wall Street Journal the 12,000 have now turned into 41,000. That’s roughly […]
How Google’s New “Right To Be Forgotten” Form Works: An Explainer
Google has taken a big step forward in complying with the European Union’s new “Right To Be Forgotten” that was established after a court ruling earlier this month. The company has created a new form allowing those in the EU to request takedown of URLs they dislike. Removals will only happen for EU-versions of Google, […]
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 […]
Is Google’s European Antitrust Settlement In Jeopardy?
Widespread dissatisfaction among public and political figures with the existing antitrust settlement between Google and the European Commission appears to be putting the settlement in danger. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the run up to this week’s European Parliament elections saw an increase in “rhetoric against the settlement with Google.” The article depicts an […]
The Myths & Realities Of How The EU’s New “Right To Be Forgotten” In Google Works
Depending on what you read, a “Right To Be Forgotten” court ruling in the European Union this week means that now anyone can ask for anything to be removed from Google, which will soon collapse under an overwhelming number of requests. In reality, it’s far more limited than it sounds, though the ruling does raise […]
DailyMotion Says Google Is Cheating, Serves Up Its Own Video Content Over DailyMotion Videos
The president of French video platform DailyMotion Giuseppe de Martino told UK newspaper The Independent he believes Google is leveraging unfair search practices, serving up YouTube videos in place of DailyMotion content. Independent reporter Ian Burrell writes: [De Martino] claims that sometimes when internet users search Google for DailyMotion videos they mysteriously don’t appear – […]
Strong Start: Paid Search Grew 25 Percent In Q1, Mobile Shot Up 135 Percent YoY [Covario]
Covario released its Global Paid Search Spend Analysis for the first quarter of 2014 today. Its client set — made up of enterprise technology, consumer electronics, and retail advertisers –increased paid search spend on mobile devices by 135 percent year-over-year and 35 percent over the previous quarter. Mobile now accounts for 25 percent of paid […]
Google Takes Action On Seven Link Networks In Japan
Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, announced on Twitter this morning that Google has “taken action” on seven different link networks in Japan. Over the past several months, Google has not only been manual taking action against link networks or link schemes in the US, but they have been widening their efforts across the […]
Google Gets Another Street View Privacy Fine — In Italy
It seems like each European country is taking its turn fining Google for some privacy infraction. This time, it’s Italy and involves Street View. Google has reportedly paid a roughly $1.4 million (1 million EUR) fine. According a story in Reuters, the issue this time was the failure to clearly mark Street View cars during […]
Google Slaps Greek Sites With Penalties
It appears that Google has taken action on spammers, potentially link spammers, in Greece recently. Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, responded on Twitter to a webmaster noticing that many websites in Greece received penalties. Matt responded saying “ah, you noticed the action in Greece?” Here is Matt’s tweet: @realpoisom ah, you noticed the […]