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 […]
Google has begun a staged upgrade of its Google Places Dashboard — the backend tool that allows local businesses to manage their business information that appears in Google’s search results. A new dashboard that looks much more like the current Google (and Google+) aesthetic, and also offers some new functionality, will be available “over the […]
Yes, it is harder to find pages to iTunes apps in Google. But no, the company says, it’s not part of some nefarious plot. Rather, Google’s having technical problems gathering iTunes Preview pages, an issue it’s working to solve. Google has confirmed the issue, saying: We’ve been having some issues fetching pages from the iTunes […]
Google Public Alerts has broadened its service through a new partnership with Nixle, a company that contracts with public safety agencies to send alerts via cellphones and social media networks. Police, fire, and emergency management agency alerts will now appear when a Google search or a Google Maps search is performed in an area with […]
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 To Manage PPC Closely To A Budget A few weeks ago, at SMX West in San Jose, George Michie of RKG, was talking about the challenges of managing enterprise-level PPC […]
April Fool’s Day is pretty much like a national … err, international holiday for everyone that works for Google. It seems that nobody else on the Web takes the tradition of pranks and jokes as seriously as Google does — just see our coverage from the last few April Fool’s Days for proof: Google’s Gags […]
If job listings are any indication, Apple remains committed to improving its iOS Maps app. As the iDownload Blog spotted, Apple currently has seven job listings for what’s called a “Maps Ground Truth Manager.” The positions are based around the world — U.S., Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Middle East/Africa. 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: Report: PPC Tablet Spending Up 112%, Smartphones Up 113% The new IgnitionOne Digital Marketing Report for Q1 finds that overall paid search spend in the U.S. was flat for the quarter, […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Need A Google Alerts Replacement? Meet Talkwalker With Google Alerts coming under fire as being broken, an impressive new service has stepped up to appeal to those seeking an alternative: Talkwalker. […]
Search continues to shift away from the desktop toward mobile devices. That’s one of the conclusions of the just-released Neustar Localeze/15miles/comScore Local Search Study, which is now in its sixth year. This year’s study involves a sample of more than 3,000 U.S. adults that say they use the Internet to search for local businesses. Results […]
Don’t want your content to be included in many of Google’s vertical search services, such as Google Shopping or Google+ Local? Google’s got a new tool for that, a result of its agreement earlier this year with the US Federal Trade Commission over anti-trust charges. Announced on the Google Webmaster Central Blog, the new tool […]
This weekend the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple had paid roughly $20 million for a company called WifiSLAM. The company was an early stage startup that had raised roughly $1 million in angel investment. It appears to have had some ambitious plans, according to a company description on AngelList: We are building the next […]
The commercial in the middle of an episode of “Worst Cooks In America” this weekend caught me off-guard. Was that an ad for the Google Search App? It sure was, and the restart of Google’s campaign to push its cross-platform search tool. It was the first time I spotted this particular campaign on TV, though […]
You may have missed Google’s quiet and brief announcement that, starting in April, AdWords ads with phone numbers in the text will be disapproved. Advertisers who want to display phone numbers will have to use the call extensions feature instead. Google states in the announcement, “We are making this change to foster a safer, more […]
You would think that when you search for something in Google, and an image comes up in their knowledge graph box, that the image would be rated PG-13 or lower. Well, that is not the case when you search for Angel Tompkins (warning: topless image if you click the link). The image shown for her is from […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Latest Google Shopper App Offers New Refinement Options & More Product Details Google Commerce has released Google Shopper 3.2, an updated version of its app that includes category-specific refinements for improved […]
Google Maps offered users breathtaking views of the world’s highest mountain peaks today with the launch of 360-degree images from Aconcagua in South America, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Elbrus in Europe, and the base camp at Mount Everest in Asia. Taken with a lightweight tripod and digital camera using a fish-eye lens, a group […]
Engadget spotted and has archived a promotional video that suggests the Google Search App for iOS may be gaining Google Now support. That support might help boost usage of the Google Search App, which barely makes the iTunes Top 100. Google Now No Longer Android-Only? Google Now is Google’s predictive search assistant, which tries 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: Google’s Matt Cutts On Upcoming Penguin, Panda & Link Networks Updates Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, announced new updates with Google’s Penguin and Panda algorithms and new link network […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Drilling Into Top Conversion Paths For Valuable Insights Getting the whole story from your analytics is always a work in progress. Not only do we need to look at user behaviors […]
Google Maps may be banned in Germany as the result of a patent infringement lawsuit underway at a regional court in Germany. As FOSS Patents reports, Judge Matthias Zigann told Google today that he’s inclined to hold the company liable for infringing a Microsoft patent that describes a “computer system for identifying local resources and […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Facebook Updates Newsfeed, No Impact On Graph Search (Today) We’ve covered this morning’s changes and enhancements to Facebook Newsfeed over at Marketing Land: Facebook Newsfeed Evolving Into “The Best Personalized Newspaper” […]
A “blind” study commissioned by directory publisher and local ad network YP, performed by Crowdflower, found that YP’s local search results were better overall than those of search engines. This was measured as a function of user satisfaction rating. Thousands of queries were compared over a year-long period. I can hear the skepticism: “It’s sponsored […]
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’s Matt Cutts Awarded Patent On Detecting Hidden Text & Hidden Links A new Google patent was awarded today named Systems and methods for detecting hidden text and hidden links. The […]
Google announced an upgrade to the Google Maps for iPhone app that was originally released in December 2012. The update is version 1.1 and is available in the App Store as a free update. The changes include improved search for local venues, integration with your contacts and the addition of new countries. Local Icons To […]
A day after warning publishers against advertorials, will Google’s search team now have to penalize parts of its own company for running advertorials? Perhaps, and if so, it wouldn’t be the first time. It’s also another absurd chapter in Google’s war on paid links. Google Says: Advertorials, Beware! After news came out yesterday that Google […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: After Penalizing Interflora & UK Newspapers, Google Warns Against Advertorials After penalizing Interflora and UK newspapers Google has issued a stern warning that selling links on sites that pass PageRank can […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: No, Google Hasn’t Released Unannounced Penguin UpdatesThe last time Google has confirmed a refresh or update to the Penguin algorithm was back in October 2012 with the 3rd Penguin update. 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: Bing Ads Sticks With Improved Reporting Interface Bing Ads announced that the new reporting user interface released in October is now the default. Users will no longer see the option 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: Find Content Quicker On The Go With Twitter’s New Mobile Search & Discover Upgrades Users will now be able to find more on the go as a new round of mobile […]
ConstantContact’s SinglePlatform division has released the results of a new survey of small businesses (SMBs). The “headline” finding is that nearly half (49 percent) say they’ve never updated their listings online. The survey polled “more than 350” SMBs. Most small businesses are overwhelmed and confused by even basic online marketing. This is reflected in some […]
Recently, Facebook and Foursquare announced new features that will drastically change the ways local businesses leverage the social networks to build customer loyalty and drive new sales. With Facebook, the introduction of Graph Search provides businesses with greater incentive to invest time and effort in their presence on the site so they can appear among 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: Google Settles With France: No ‘Link Tax,’ But €60 Million Media Fund Google has avoided getting hit with a “link tax” in France by agreeing to create a €60 million “Digital […]
In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the Web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.
New York-based Vringo has sued Microsoft over two patents that pertain to the ranking and placement of ads in search results. The patents were originally issued in the early ’90s and owned for a long time by Lycos, which later sold them. The patents in question are 6,314,420 and 6,775,664, referred to in the complaint (below) as the […]