Early yesterday, Israeli business website Globes.co.il said that Google will acquire social mapping app Waze for $1.3 billion. That report has subsequently been all-but-confirmed by others, including the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which said the announcement could come this week. The WSJ said that by size Waze would constitute Google’s fourth largest acquisition, assuming it comes to pass. […]
Dr. Peter Meyers, the Marketing Scientist at Moz (formerly SEOmoz), tipped us off to a new Google search interface test. It appears Google is testing showing “in-depth articles” in the search results for local queries. In the screenshot below, Pete triggered these results by searching for [mexican restaurants]. The local results and maps came up, […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Pushes To Build Marketshare Through “Bing It On” For Faster Airport Wifi I got a surprise recently on my trip through Orange County’s John Wayne Airport. When I tapped into […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Yandex Turns Up The Dial On Personalized Search The Russian search engine Yandex has announced changes to how it presents personalized search results, saying that personalization is now based on what’s […]
Google announced they have expanded their business photos program into Europe and Asia. Google Business Photos is a way for you to share the inside of your stores on Google Maps. There are groups of trusted photographers that take the photos for syndication into the program. Now, this is available in more places around 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: Video: Google’s Matt Cutts On Advertorials & Webmaster Guidelines Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, posted a new video today on YouTube clarifying Google’s stance on Advertorials and “native advertising.” […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Getting Away From Our PPC Campaigns This Summer Having just finished marching in three parades and playing Taps at Memorial Day observances to honor our deceased veterans, I find myself looking […]
Originally launched in beta mode for a number of European countries last year, Google Maps has enabled biking directions for Germany, France, Poland, Ireland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. By working with partner organizations, as well as adding hundreds of kilometers of bike paths via Google Map Maker, Google Maps offers European cyclist a number of biking […]
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 Glass Diary, Part 4: Local Search & Navigation Remember that first Google Glass video? It was published a little more than a year ago and gave the world its first […]
Remember that first Google Glass video? It was published a little more than a year ago and gave the world its first glimpse at what Google had in mind for Glass. Even though Google described it as “an early concept video,” you can clearly see that local search and navigation was a key aspect of […]
Foursquare has added new search filters that allow Android and iOS users to make “super-specific” searches, filtering by price, locations where users have or haven’t checked in before, locations ‘friends have checked in’, if a location is ‘open now’, and if a location is ‘offering specials’. To demonstrate how specific users can be when searching for […]
According to a just-published Bloomberg report, Google is preparing a bid for Waze. Earlier this month, rumors indicating Facebook was in late-stage acquisition talks with Waze for roughly $1 billion appeared online. Other parties (Apple, Microsoft) may now also be interested in the social mapping service. According to the Bloomberg report: Waze is fielding expressions […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Penguin 4, With Penguin 2.0 Generation Spam-Fighting, Is Now Live The fourth release of Google’s spam-fighting “Penguin Update” is now live. But, Penguin 4 has a twist. It contains Penguin 2.0 […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: DoubleClick Search Tools To Migrate To Enhanced Campaigns Now Out Of Beta The custom toolset Google designed to help DoubleClick search users migrate to enhanced campaigns has come out of beta. […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Enhanced Campaigns: “Flexible Bid Strategies” Launching Soon Google will be rolling out “flexible bid strategies” in enhanced campaigns in the next couple of weeks. Flexible bid strategies will allow advertisers to […]
If you needed another reason to get your location extensions set up in AdWords, Google has announced its testing new ads in the new Google Maps. AdWords search ads set with location extensions can appear directly below the search box and on the map itself. Ads without location extensions can appear below the search box only and […]
Last week at the Google I/O developer conference, a newly redesigned Google Maps design was introduced. While a number of online commentators have virtually gushed about the new interfacing from an end user perspective, there may be a less-than-rosy view for many local businesses. Thus far, the new version of Google Maps is pretty much […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Bing Ads Gets New Filter Options, Search Query Reports, Appealable Ad Visiblity & Keyword Competition Values Bing Ads announced a number of updates last month, including new campaign filter options, improved […]
Six shiny new cards are coming for Google Now, the assistive app for Android and recently, iOS devices, that offers predictive information tailored to your needs. The new cards, announced at Google I/O today, are for reminders, music, TV shows, public transit, books and video games. Photo credit: Danny Sullivan Reminders is an interactive feature […]
At the Google Developer conference keynote this morning in San Francisco, one of the clear highlights was the introduction of a redesigned Google Maps experience for the PC and mobile. The New Google Maps are available now with an invitation. Already the leading digital and mobile mapping service, the various feature and UI improvements put […]
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 Knowledge Graph Gets More Stats and 4 New Languages At Google I/O today, Amit Singhal, Google VP of Search, announced that statistics and four new languages are being added 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: AdWords Ad Group Mobile Bid Adjustments Roll-Out Starts Today Google announced that ad group-level mobile bid adjustments will start rolling out today and continue over the next couple of weeks in […]
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 Maps To Get A Major Design Overhaul Alex Chitu reports Google is testing a new Google Maps interface, possibly to be launched next week at Google I/O. The new interface […]
Alex Chitu reports Google is testing a new Google Maps interface, possibly to be launched next week at Google I/O. The new interface is a complete and major overhaul of the current Google Maps user interface. The design and interface changes touch everything from the map colors, icons and text formats to dropping the navigation […]
Google has quietly dropped yet another search feature; this one is related to local search results within a search on Google. Google has removed the “more results near…” link on local search results for queries with local intent. For example, if you search for [pizza] on Google.com, Google will show you local businesses selling pizza […]
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 Ignites Controversy By Using “Palestine” On Homepage Google has been at the center of heated geo-political controversy before, usually around disputed place names or borders on maps. A new controversy, […]
With Google Now coming to iOS, a whole new audience using iPhones and iPads are about to meet Google’s predictive search service. It’s a feature that’s gone from interesting novelty to being downright amazing, in less than a year. Here’s a look at how the “predictive search” service has evolved and where it may head […]
Bing announced they have relaunched the Bing Business Portal under a new name, “Bing Places For Business.” The change doesn’t currently do much with your listings, outside of move the location of where you manage your business Bing Maps listing to bing.com/places. It also removes some features that were available in Bing Business Portal including: […]
The EU released documents this morning that detail Google’s antitrust settlement proposals and explain the Competition Commission’s position on various aspects of the investigation. First here’s what the EU says Google has proposed: Google offers for a period of 5 years to: (i) – label promoted links to its own specialised search services so that […]
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 Pulls Related Searches Filter Due To Lack Of Usage Google has quietly removed the “related searches” option from the search tools menu within the Google search results page. When Google […]
Google Maps announced today that their collection of images now include Street Views from 50 countries with photos recently added from Hungary and Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South Africa. According to the Google Maps blog, their latest update is the largest single update of Street Views imagery since Google Maps launched in 2007, with […]
Local business owners have a new tool for managing their Google Places For Business listing: a dedicated app that works on the iPhone and iPod Touch. There’s no official announcement that I can find about the app, and as best I can tell, the iClarified blog was first to report on it. The Google For […]
Google has formally submitted its antitrust settlement proposal to the EU. Wait, didn’t that happen weeks ago? Apparently, it did not. While the parties have been talking for months (seems like years), Bloomberg reported today that Google had “formalized” its settlement proposal to avoid potential fines and other penalties. EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia is now […]
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 Product Listing Ad CPCs Close In On Text Ads [RKG Report] Are those sweet efficiencies early adopters of AdWords product listing ads saw in their holiday numbers coming to an […]
This morning, Foursquare is rolling out version 6.0 of its app. It puts a new search box “front and center” at the top of the screen to emphasize the local search capabilities of the app. It also adds or enhances other features to make it easier to find places and things to do. The company […]
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 Explains Why Your New Page’s Number One Ranking May Drop Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts posted a video explaining why it is not uncommon to see a new […]
Google has run up against some of India’s restrictive laws in the past, most notably in the context of vague and expansive censorship rules for content and search results. A new episode involves a crowdsourced mapping contest run by the company to obtain data for Google Maps. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Google ran […]
The New York Times offers an interesting story about Google and the competitive landscape of mobile. The headline is “As Web Search Goes Mobile, Competitors Chip at Google’s Lead.” The central idea of the article is that while Google is used on the PC equally to discover information and to navigate to specific sites, on smartphones […]
Goodbye Facebook Nearby, hello Facebook Local Search. InsideFacebook points out that the company has renamed its mobile app feature “Nearby” as Facebook “local search.” Until late last year, Nearby was a friend-finder tool. Then it became a way to find local business recommendations. But, many users are undoubtedly still unaware of the change in functionality. The name change will […]
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 Search Retargeting Is Bridging The Gap Between Search & Display Recently, Harvard Business School published a working paper, Do Display Ads Influence Search? Attribution and Dynamics in Online Advertising. While […]