How Google harms search advertisers in 20 slides
The U.S. Department of Justice hammered Google over search ad price manipulation and more in its closing statement on search advertising.
Topic: Hal Varian
How Google Search and ranking works, according to Google’s Pandu Nayak
Learn how indexing, algorithms, deep learning systems, human raters, click and query data, and more shape Google's Search results.
U.S. vs. Google antitrust trial: Everything you need to know
The landmark court case brought by the US Justice Department could spell huge changes for Google and the future of Search.
Search In Pics: Google Scrabble, Matt Cutts Fireworks & UCLA Stats Club
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.
SearchCap: Apple Maps Choices, Google RTBF Solicitations & AdWords PLA Test
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Reassess How You Prioritize Your E-Commerce PPC Campaign BuildsOver the last couple of years, the prioritization of e-commerce PPC campaign builds has shifted dramatically. With the rise of Google Shopping and […]
SearchCap: Google Drops Authorship Images, Updated AdWords Auction Video & App Indexing For All
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 Drops, Google+ Circle Count From Authorship In Search Results Google’s John Mueller announced they are making a major change in the search results around authorship. Specifically, Google is dropping the […]
VIDEO: How Google AdWords Auctions & Ad Rank Work
Along with a overview on Quality Score factors, this week, Google released an updated video on the AdWords auction and Ad Rank, the scoring system used in each auction that determines the order in which ads appear. Chief Economist at Google, Hal Varian, who has been starring in these videos since at least 2009, is […]
SearchCap: New Google Penalty, Action Schema & Subscribe To Google Trends
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 Slaps Another Guest Blog Network: PostJoint Google’s Matt Cutts somewhat confirmed on Twitter that Google has taken action on another guest blogging network. This network is named PostJoint and claims […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 5, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: AdSense Text Ads Get Biggest Makeover In Recent Memory In a nod to consistency across platforms and the growth in mobile usage, Google has overhauled its AdSense text ads to be […]
Just Testing: Google Users May See Up To A Dozen Experiments
Google’s Chief Economist Hal Varian said during a Google Tech Talk on October 22, 2012 that Google users may see a dozen or more Google experiments per Google visit. About 26 minutes into the Google Tech Talk, Hal said, “any time you access Google, you probably are in a dozen or more experiments.” The talk […]
The Technology Behind Autobidding: Q&A With OptiMine’s Dr. Rob Cooley
Autobidders. Every SEM management tool has one. The promise is powerful: simply input the performance you’re trying to achieve and sit back, have a sody-pop, and smile as the little robots make your job easy. Ha! If it was only that easy! Most of you reading this post have used one in the past. Have […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 25, 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: Tech Celebs Most Followed On Google+ While “Real World” Rules On Twitter & Facebook How do you measure the success of a social media site? One of several ways might be […]
Google Boasts Of $64 Billion In Economic Impact
In conjunction with National Small Business Week, Google is trying to burnish its image by touting the economic impact that its programs, including AdWords and AdSense, have had on the U.S. economy. According to the company, Google provided $64 billion in economic activity for American businesses and non-profits in 2010, 18% greater than the 2009 […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 6, 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: Cosmo Quiz: Should You Get In Bed With An SEO Agency? I’ve spent the past 5 years in-house and over that period, I’ve never hired an SEO agency; however, I’ve been […]
Google Shuts Down Position Preference For AdWords Bidding
Google has announced it will be retiring AdWords position preference, which automatically sets bids to achieve a certain position on the page, in early May. The company is seeking to dissuade advertisers from putting an emphasis on the position of their ads. Yesterday, the company posted an analysis from chief economist Hal Varian that concluded […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 24, 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: The Yahoo Search Direct Alphabet: Where Every Letter Starts With Yahoo And you thought Google favored its own properties? Check this out: In Yahoo’s new Search Direct feature, 21 of the […]
Google’s Think Quarterly: An Online Magazine Done The Google Way
Google has published its first edition of Think Quarterly, a 64-page online magazine/book that comes from the company’s UK & Ireland offices. The first issue is dedicated to “data” as a topic and features a series of articles written by guest authors and Google employees. Hal Varian, the company’s chief economist, writes about “data obesity” […]
Google’s New “Automated Rules” Lets You Shoot Your Eye Out
If you're looking for some joy from your AdWords accounts this holiday season and beyond, Google's new 'Automated Rules' tool might only makes things worse. 'Automated Rules' allows users to specify amounts by which to raise or lower bids whenever certain conditions are met, but gives very little guidance on how to do so in lower-risk ways that maximize your return.
PPC Mad Scientists Prove Google Right… And Wrong
At the SMX Advanced 2010 conference in Seattle, we invited four leading paid search experts to share some of their recent experiments in paid search in a new session entitled The Mad Scientists of Paid Search. The panelists were encouraged to add a bit of academic rigor to their presentations by including their hypotheses, design […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 3, 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: How To Use Google Analytics Motion Charts To Maximize Results Last year Google Analytics released a few new features, among them the Motion Charts. The feature is based on software developed […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 19, 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: French Upset Over Google Library Deal, Lawyer-Author Files New Arguments Against Book Search Settlement It’s probably fair to say that the French have a love-hate relationship with American culture, companies and […]
Google: Conversion Rates About The Same No Matter Ad Position
Hal Varian, Google’s Chief Economist, posted some pretty interesting details on how the conversion rate of an ad differs based on the position of the ad in Google. Google’s data shows that overall the conversion rate does not vary all that much based on the ad position. Hal said, if “an ad that had a […]
Google Calls Yahoo-Microsoft’s Explanation Of Search Scale “Bogus”
One thing Microsoft and Yahoo were touting as a major advantage to them teaming up, is that their search scale will grow tremendously. The benefit of the search scale, or search volume query, growing is that Microsoft and Yahoo will have more data to analyze and use in order to compete against Google. News.com interviewed […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 12, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google Explains How Search Ads Rank & Cost
The Inside AdWords Blog posted a video from Google’s Chef Economist, Hal Varian. The video shows how Google prices and ranks search ads in the AdWords system based on quality and bid. This is a really basic overview of the AdWords model, but I personally find the video to be incredibly easy to understand and […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 23, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google’s Hal Varian Expounds The Virtues Of ‘Data Democratization’
Hal Varian is a UC Berkeley economics professor now on leave at Google as its Chief Economist. In that latter capacity Varian waxes poetic on the Google Blog about the “democratization of data” in the internet era. The essence of his post is that volumes of relevant data, and tools to analyze and make sense […]
Q&A With Google’s Insights For Search Senior Product Manager
In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today’s in-depth look, “Q&A With Google’s Insights for Search Senior Product Manager” and this week’s free tips and tools.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 2, 2008
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Click Tracking, Ads Quality, And A Virtuous Cycle At Google
The NY Times has a profile of several individuals behind the scenes at Google trying to monitor and safeguard the company’s financial performance and fine tune accordingly. The piece focuses on Nicholas Fox, who’s a key member of the “ads quality” team, and Hal Varian, chief economist at Google.