This day in search marketing history: January 24
Google Ads experts managing your campaigns, plus: favicons, Google organic search CTRs decline, Bing Ads Automated Imports and more.
Topic: Google Checkout
This day in search marketing history: January 17
The Google Speed Update, plus: links important for ranking, cross-device conversions, SOPA, Google Alerts and more.
Google promotes Prabhakar Raghavan to lead Search, replacing Ben Gomes
Jerry Dischler becomes the new head of Google Ads, Gomes takes over Google Education, while Google veteran Jen Fitzpatrick takes on engineering.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 21, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Where Have All The Linkers Gone? A unique combination of factors is having a profound effect on the “link graph” being created today, with many implications for those of us in […]
Verizon Blocks Google Wallet, AT&T Likely To Do The Same
It’s being reported today (originally by VentureBeat) that Verizon has blocked implementation of Google Wallet on the new Galaxy Nexus handset. Verizon is the exclusive US carrier of the heavily anticipated device. According to a statement issued to Bloomberg, Verizon is citing security as the rationale: Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, blocked Google Inc.’s […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 17, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Wolfram Alpha Offers New Twist On Flight Search: Literal Answers To What Planes Are Overhead You may not love this as much as I do, but that’s okay. Wolfram Alpha has […]
Google Checkout Is Dead, Long Live Google Wallet
Yesterday Google Checkout users were notified that it was being merged into and replaced by Google Wallet. This makes sense on every level. From a ‘brand” and visibility standpoint Wallet is a more successful product already. Checkout was introduced in June, 2006 (it was rumored to be called “GBuy” ahead of launch). It was directed […]
Google Gets Into Ratings Game With Trusted Stores
Google is launching an e-commerce certification program this morning called “Trusted Stores.” The company says that it’s trying to give consumers greater confidence to buy products online. In very limited beta right now, qualifying e-commerce stores will be able to display a “Google Trusted Store” badge. What’s more interesting is that Google is backing its […]
Harry Potter EBooks To Be Released In Open Google EBook Format
When “Harry Potter” series author J.K. Rowling announced she would finally allow e-book versions of her titles to be sold, though exclusively on the soon-to-be-launched Pottermore.com, it was noted that the move bypassed retailers like Amazon.com. Google has managed to get in on the action, however — at least from a PR perspective — as […]
Google Eliminates Checkout Badge From SERPs
Those brightly-colored Google Checkout badges will disappear from e-tailers’ AdWords ads, according to a post in Checkout Help first spotted by eCommerceCircle. They’ll continue to be displayed in product search. Checkout icons in AdWords were originally introduced in 2006 and a new badge design was rolled out in 2007. As for the elimination of the […]
PayPal Sues Google, Sees Powerful Threat To Its Future In Google Wallet
In California it’s almost impossible to stop a key employee from jumping ship to a rival company. The law heavily favors the employee’s right to earn a living and typically won’t permit the former employer to prevent the employee from working for a rival. California law does, however, protect “trade secrets” and will sometimes permit […]
YouTube Declares Intention To Compete In On-Demand Movie Rentals
Google’s YouTube today announced plans to add around 3,000 movies for on-demand rental on its service, effectively declaring its intention to compete with Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. While YouTube has largely been known for quirky independent fare, the new content will include well-known flicks from major studios, including classics like Caddyshack and new releases like […]
Google To Test Mobile Payments In NY And SF
While Apple has reportedly decided to forgo NFC-related hardware/software in iPhone 5 because of a lack of standards, Google is to begin testing NFC-based mobile payments at selected stores in New York and San Francisco according to an article in Bloomberg: The company will pay for installation of thousands of special cash-register systems from VeriFone […]
Once Condemned Google Now Hailed By Publishers For “One Pass”
Earlier this week Apple introduced its long-awaited in-app subscription service for publishers. As part of that arrangement Apple wants its standard 30 percent cut of iTunes/app revenue. However it threw a bone to publishers by allowing all revenue from subscriptions initiated outside the iTunes environment to be kept by publishers. Many publishers are now angry that […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 26, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Upstart DuckDuckGo Challenges Google With Strong Privacy, Cool Tools & Quackpot Name Here at Search Engine Land we regularly hear from people who have created “radical,” innovative,” “next generation” search technology, […]
A To Do List For Google’s New CEO Larry Page
Welcome back, Larry! When you were last CEO of Google in 2001, the company was a much loved scrappy underdog with a bright future. Ten years later, you’re coming back to the helm. Things have changed. You’re soon to be steering a massive battleship that’s taking on water from a number of hits over the […]
Google Opens Up Downloads To Iran But Blocks Iranian Government
Google announced that after years of not allowing those in Iran to download their software, Google has opened up downloads of their Google Earth, Picasa and Chrome applications. Now if you are in Iran you will be able to download Google Earth, Picasa and Chrome to your computer. Google explained that the U.S. export controls […]
Mobile Monday: Google Voice On The iPhone, The “Facebook Phone” & Google To Distribute Mystery Devices To SMBs
Over the weekend there were two much-discussed mobile-related rumors, both coming out of TechCrunch. The first — still a very hot topic on Techmeme this morning — is that Facebook is building a branded phone or mobile operating system. The original rumor yesterday was that Facebook was working on a mobile OS with a hardware […]
Report: Google’s YouTube To Offer Streaming Pay-Per-View Hollywood Rentals
Google plans pay-per-view films from the Financial Times reports Google is in talks with several major Hollywood film companies to offer a pay-per-view service of their films. Reports say that the streaming movie service from YouTube will bring these movies to online consumers at about $5 per movie. The movies would not download to the […]
Internal Google Document Reveals Struggles Over Data, Privacy: WSJ
Google’s internal debates over privacy and how to monetize the mountains of data it has about its users — including whether to monetize it at all — are detailed today by the Wall Street Journal. The lengthy article examines a confidential, seven-page “vision statement” that made the rounds at Google as far back as 2008. […]
Let’s Celebrate Google’s Biggest Failures!
“We celebrate our failures,” Google CEO Eric Schmidt said yesterday when speaking at the Techonomy confernce, in response to the surprise closure of his company’s Google Wave product. When it comes to failures, Google’s celebrating more than you might realize.
Would Gaming Fuel A Google Social Network?
Based on unnamed “sources,” yesterday TechCrunch reported that Google had “secretly” invested more than $100 million in social gaming platform Zynga and is launching “Google Games,” built partly on Zynga. Let’s establish all the usual qualifiers; this is an unconfirmed story and so on. And there are plenty of times when these TechCrunch-surfaced rumors turn […]
Google Prepping A Payment System For Newspapers: Report
Via paidContent comes news that Google might launch a micropayment system for newspapers by the end of the year. paidContent references this article from the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, which says Google is encouraging publishers to try out a system called NewsPass. In its article, paidContent describes NewsPass like this: La Repubblica says that, with […]
Liveblogging The Google Nexus One Phone Launch
It’s Nexus One day! At least, that’s what we’re all expecting from the “Android Press Gathering” event that Google is hosting today. I’m attending it and will be liveblogging all the news that comes out of it. Not up to speed on the Nexus One? It’s the widely expected Google Phone, a phone that Google […]
Google Gets Into The Shopping Cart Business With Commerce Search
Google has just announced a new enterprise search service called Commerce Search. The name might remind you of Froogle, but this is not that kind of commerce/product search. With Commerce Search, Google has created what is essentially a shopping cart solution for online retailers.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 10, 2009
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: Bigger Is Better When It Comes To Search Boxes Fresh off of patenting its home page design, Google is throwing caution to the wind and messing with success: It’s making […]
Google Proposes Micropayment System To Rescue Newspapers
Despite their frosty relationship, Google is proposing a micropayment system that could give the newspaper industry a way to charge for its online content. According to the Nieman Journalism Lab, the micropayment system will be based on Google Checkout and be available within a year “to both Google and non-Google properties.” The NJL has posted […]
Microsoft Integrates Cashback And Products Vertical
Microsoft announced yesterday that it had folded its Cashback program into Live Search Products. Cashback began as a incentive program for consumers to use Live Search as well as CPA-based advertising vehicle for retailers and e-commerce sellers. Cashback icons appeared beside ads responsive to commercial queries for participating marketers: Cashback icons (like Google Checkout icons) […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 11, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Microsoft Cashback Comes to the MSN Toolbar
Although I don’t personally use it I’m a fan of Microsoft’s Cashback. That sounds like a contradiction I know. But I thought it was a very clever consumer-advertiser proposition when it launched in May of last year. It gives advertisers a way to stand out in search results* (and only pay if there’s a sale) […]
Pros & Cons Of Google’s “Darwinian Approach” To Products
This year is the 200th anniversary of naturalist Charles Darwin’s birth. I bring that up because Google’s approach to product decision-making has always struck me as “Darwinian.” The company introduces new products and services, generally without much promotion, and then it’s a version of survivor or “survival of the fittest.” Another appropriate metaphor here is […]
Google Claims That Google Checkout Increases Conversion By 40% & Clicks By 10%
Google has added claims to its Google Checkout Merchant homepage that having Google Checkout as part of your AdWords ads will lead to higher conversions and a better click through rate. Google specifically writes that conversions will increase by 40% and the click-through-rate on your ads will increase by 10%. Here is a screen capture […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 10, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
The Google Hive Mind
As Google turns 10 years old, that important birthday sees the company more powerful than ever before. With its competitors in disarray, the Big G seems likely to grow even further. The secret to its success? For me, it’s what I’ve been calling the “Google Hive Mind. ” Rather than follow a rigid top-down master […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 27, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google Checkout Steps Up Promotion Through AdWords
Steve LaLonde spotted Google sporting new checkout badges for some Google Checkout merchants within the AdWords listings. I was able to reproduce it for a search on petco, a Google Checkout merchant. Here is a side by side look at the checkout badges on AdWords. The $5 off version is the new version being tested, […]
Google Advertising Itself Shows Maturation As A Company
Photo by Mike Blumenthal. Used with permission. People tend to squeal with delight or its opposite when they see advertising in the wild for Google the company. It has happened precious few times: for Google Checkout, Goog-411, and most recently Google Transit, among a couple of other isolated cases. AdAdge covers Google advertising for Transit […]
Hey Microsoft: Bribing Searchers Is Fine; Frustrating Them Is Not!
I’ve got no problem if Microsoft wants to “bribe” searchers to use its search engine. Even Google has done the same. But the Live Search Cashback program rolled out today seems a pretty inept way to do it, far more likely to disappoint and frustrate than woo searchers.
Oops! Google’s SSL Certificate Throwing Out Scary Warnings
Everyone is noticing that when they go to their Google Account through AdWords, AdSense, Analytics, or any Google page that requires SSL, they are being prompted with a security warning. Typically, its not a major deal, right? Well, not if you are trying to get customers to buy on your site. As Tim Gross explains, […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 11, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.