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 Maps’ “Game Changer”: Hi-Res Aerial Imagery Coming To Entire US and Western Europe Hot on the heels of last week’s Read/Write World effort, Bing Maps has announced another ambitious project […]
Prince William of Wales and Catherine (Kate) Middleton are celebrating their wedding day today – known as the Royal Wedding. YouTube is live streaming the wedding, Google has a special one box result for the keyword, Google Maps has a Royal Pegman, and there is a social media frenzy going on about the Royal Wedding. […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Microsoft Q3 2011 Earnings: Search & Online Up 14% In Revenue But Still Losing Profits Microsoft announced their 3rd quarter earnings, beating Wall Street expectations. They reported $16.43 billion for the […]
In the past month, Google’s +1 has been the most hyped Social feature that Google has launched to date, as it has the potential to compete with Twitter and Facebook. A less noticed launch during this same time included social changes to Google’s Latitude product, which have also been launched to help Google compete with Foursquare. […]
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 Instant Provides A Hint For Local & Mobile Optimization Undoubtedly, you may have seen Google’s Instant Preview interface which provides glimpses for webpages listed in SERPs. What you may not […]
There are lots of different ways to speed up searching. Google, Bing and Yahoo all offer browser toolbars — no need to visit their home pages, just search wherever you are. Google and Yahoo both have their own versions of “instant search,” where search results appear as you type. Google’s Chrome web browser lets you […]
There are a number of studies (e.g., Pew, Forrester) in the market that question how interested or engaged users are with “location based services.” Those studies tend to narrowly focus on Foursquare, Gowalla and mobile check-ins. They tend to miss the larger point about the importance of location on mobile devices. A new study from […]
At the Where 2.0 conference today Google announced “Google Earth Builder,” which is a cloud-based solution for enterprises that want to render their data on maps. The idea is that enterprises of all stripes can upload and store all types of geospatial data on Google’s servers. Proprietary enterprise data is rendered and published on Google […]
For those who follow search it was initially one of those “WTF moments”: Walmart acquiring erstwhile Google challenger Kosmix. However AllThingsD reports that the price was $300 million-plus vs. $55 million raised. So the founders and investors get a seemingly nice exit. Kosmix will now become part of the newly established “@WalmartLabs.” When it launched […]
Google’s Map Maker has been available since 2008 and is now in more than 180 countries and regions all around the world. For the first time, that list includes the U.S. Google has just announced that Map Maker is (finally) open in the U.S. It’s a tool that lets citizen cartographers update or correct 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: Demand Media: Panda’s Impact On eHow.com “Significantly Overstated” Demand Media says recent reports have “significant overstated” the impact of Google’s Panda update on eHow.com, its flagship website. In a brief statement […]
After months of deliberation the Yellow Pages Association has changed its name and brand identity to the “Local Search Association.” The name change reflects the transformation of yellow pages organizations from publishers of primarily print directories to multi-platform providers of leads, calls and clicks to local businesses. The organization is also reaching out to new […]
Many outlets, starting with Allan Stern at CenterNetworks, reported over the weekend that Google Video is finally doing away with hosting. Two years ago the service stopped allowing new video uploads but said it would continue to host videos that had already been uploaded to the system. No longer. Everything must be downloaded and moved […]
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.
UK based SEO firm BrightLocal reported the results of two online surveys about local consumer behavior and local SEO. The surveys were conducted in Q1 2011. There were more than 600 SEO survey respondents and 1,250 US consumer survey respondents respectively. The findings are not a surprise. Google dominates as a traffic source to local […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: IAC Revises And Re-Ups Its Deal With Google IAC, the parent of Ask.com, the Daily Beast and Citysearch, today announced it has amended and extended its distribution agreement with Google through […]
This morning Microsoft is launching the “Bing Business Portal” (BBP). It replaces the the Bing Local Listing Center, and all listings already there have already been migrated over. The BBP allows local business owners or their agents or designated representatives to claim and enhance listings with additional content including deals. Business owners can also add […]
Whether you are a mom and pop outfit, Main Street USA type of SMB, or you’re more on the medium end of the small to medium-sized business scale (100-1000 employees), or even if you’re a multi-national Fortune 500, there is local business information about you on the Web. As the use of mobile and social […]
For more than a year, Google has been testing a program called Hotel Price Ads that shows ads for hotel searches inside of Google Maps. It looks like those ads are headed to Google’s main search results soon. A Search Engine Land reader has tipped us to three new types of hotel price ads, all […]
One area that the Justice Department’s Google-ITA settlement didn’t cover was so-called “search neutrality.” In a nutshell, this is the misguided notion that Google shouldn’t be permitted to send traffic to its own properties. In the extreme it argues that the government should regulate Google’s algorithm as well. While the term “search neutrality” carries a […]
You won’t hear us (or Google) talking about Google Hotpot anymore. The company has announced that the Hotpot name is a thing of the past, and the ratings and review experience is being formally added into Google Places. While you can still access Hotpot right now at www.google.com/hotpot, that URL will eventually redirect to Google […]
The Pre Central blog offered up some screens from the forthcoming webOS tablet, the HP-Palm TouchPad, which show Bing as the default maps provider on the device. The screens are reportedly authentic because they were obtained from the webOS 3.0 emulator. What this also suggests is that on HP-Palm devices beyond its TouchPad Bing could […]
Since early 2006 I’ve been writing about the “offline future of online shopping.” And since that time a collection of startups has been working, mostly under the radar, to bring real-time local product inventory data to the internet. In November of 2010 Google joined that effort with local product search. Now when you do a […]
It’s not even April 1st in Mountain View, but the April Fools Day comedy game is already over and I’m declaring Google the winner. Hiring autocompleters? YouTube 1911? Gmail Motion? Chromercise? Ding, ding, ding and ding. Game over. If you’re planning any big pranks tomorrow, skip it. Below, what’s out there now — and a […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Meet +1: Google’s Answer To The Facebook Like Button Nearly a year after Facebook Like buttons spread out across the web, Google has announced its own rival, the +1 button. It […]
Nearly a year after Facebook Like buttons spread out across the web, Google has announced its own rival, the +1 button. It launches today as part of Google’s search engine, allowing you to “+1” the search results and ads that you like. And in a few months, it’ll be arriving at a web site near […]
Maybe the sequel to John Adams’ seminal modern opera “Nixon in China” should be called “Google in China.” Its on-again-off-again dance with the world’s largest and most strictly controlled internet market is the stuff of melodrama. Renewing Google Maps’ License The latest episode in the ongoing saga poses the question whether Google will be able […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Hot At Sphinn: DIY Link Building, ‘Sexier’ Google Analytics & More Is it possible — and smart — for anyone outside of link building consultants/agencies to successfully scale a link building […]
Google has launched Google Instant Search for Google Place search results. To see this yourself, conduct a search on Google and then click on “Places” in the left-hand panel. Then type in the search box and Google Instant will predict and auto fill your searches. Here is an example query for pizza: Google continues 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: German Court OKs Google Street View Imagery In “Landmark Decision” German publication Deutsche Welle is reporting that a Berlin court has vindicated Google Street View operation in Germany. In late 2010 […]
German publication Deutsche Welle is reporting that a Berlin court has vindicated Google Street View operation in Germany. In late 2010 Street View went live in Oberstaufen, a small town in Bavaria. Subsequently it was rolled out in 20 major cities throughout Germany. Around the same time a German woman sued Google claiming that Street […]
From company logos to swastikas, marriage proposals and other messages, you can find some very unique images in Google Maps. And now, according to some construction workers in England, you can also find a vision of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. That’s a close-up of what Google Maps shows at a construction site along […]
Goodbye Google Mobile App for iPhone. Hello Google Search App. A new version of the Google app is now available for the iPhone, and this isn’t just a minor feature update — it’s a pretty comprehensive overhaul of the app’s look and functionality. It begins with the app’s “home” page (for lack of a better […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Twitter Says Activity Levels Are Soaring With the five-year anniversary of the first tweet approaching, Twitter says user activity is soaring. In a blog post that details tweet and account activity, […]
Google Maps. Google Places. Google Earth. Google Hotpot. Google Latitude. Google Street View. Different mobile and desktop versions of some of those. Different Android and iPhone versions of some. The list could go on. If you think Google has too many locally-oriented products, you’re not alone. Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of Search who recently began […]
Austin’s beloved Amy’s Ice Cream got a shout-out from Google’s Marissa Mayer at the SXSW Interactive conference today, as the new head of local shared her vision for a future enabled by the search company’s technologies. In the scenario Mayer described, she was at Amy’s — which she’d visited for the first time last night […]
Local business owners who have claimed a Facebook Places Page can now get reporting on how many people are checking-in to their business, and how many are redeeming deals they’ve offered through Facebook. The new reports, announced today, can help business owners refine the deals they’re offering and track foot traffic from Facebook users over […]
How can you find a new restaurant, a well-curated boutique, or a artisanal cheese shop, if you never even knew it was there? Local search works well when people know what they’re looking for, but companies like Pelago, with its Whrrl application, are looking for alternative ways to enable those serendipitous discoveries. The start-up 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: Building Empathy For Googlebot With one persona, copywriters and designers will gain a better understanding of Googlebot and do a better job of creating a site that will appeal to him. […]
The SMX West conference is underway and day one is now over. SMX West is taking place in San Jose, California at the San Jose Convention Center. Below you will find links to the “live blog” coverage of the event that I found throughout the day. “Content Farms” Or The Smartest SEOs In the World? […]