Tracking 20 years of search
Key takeaways and findings from an analysis of seroundtable.com’s historical Google Analytics data from 2003 to 2023.
Topic: Latitude
This day in search marketing history: March 10
Google and Bing exception lists, plus: key moments, HTTPS URLs not showing, Google's block sites feature, searchers ignore PPC ads and more.
This day in search marketing history: February 1
Bing accused of copying Google's search results, plus: Microsoft tries to buy Yahoo, about this result, fake locksmith issues and more.
Google launches Keen, a new personalized search-discovery-social mashup
Seen as a Pinterest competitor, it's something potentially broader and even older.
Ingress: Is Google’s AR Game A Stealth Local Data Effort?
I recently got a new Android phone and found a little card in the box advertising Ingress, the “massively multi-player location-based alternate reality game from Niantic Labs at Google.” Ingress had slipped past my notice despite Greg Sterling’s mention of it nearly a year ago. Yet, here it was, already preloaded as an app in […]
Foursquare: More Than Fun & Games, A Potent Local Search Tool
About a year ago, I was feeling Foursquare fatigue. Why on earth was I checking in? The badges were harder to get, and I wasn’t going to ever “win” in some places. But now I win all the time, through tips and specials that have been added. Welcome to the new Foursquare. It’s not like […]
Google Plus: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
When I first logged into Google+ I was a bit underwhelmed, but the more I used and explored the site, the more I liked it. While it has already been deemed Google’s Facebook competitor, it is quite different. I want to share my opinion on the pros and cons of the site to help shine […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 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: Google: 50 Percent Of Those Exposed To Mobile Ads Took Action Google today released findings of a smartphone-user study that the company did with Ipsos OTX at the end of 2010. […]
Why Google Latitude’s Check In Deals Is A Few Degrees Off
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. […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 21, 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: 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 […]
Google’s Mayer: “We Do Have Too Many Products” In Local
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 […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 2, 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: Bing: “We Do Not Copy Results. Period.” The war of words between Google and Bing has escalated today with a strong denial about copied search results from Bing’s Yusuf Mehdi, who […]
Google’s Mobile Moves Tighten Its Grip On Local
It’s all starting to come together. Yesterday Google announced that it was adding check-ins (and loyalty categories) to Latitude. It also announced the global expansion of HotPot, its recommendations tool. Google Places apps for both iPhone and Android allow people to rate and review businesses (HotPot’s objective). And on Places Pages, in Android, you can […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 1, 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: Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results Google has run a sting operation that it says proves Bing has been watching what people search for on Google, the sites they […]
Google Finally Adds Check-Ins To Latitude, With A Couple Twists
Google has finally added full check-in capabilities to its Latitude product, following in the footsteps of Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Facebook, and others that have been doing check-ins for some time now. Latitude has been a tool that lets one user share his/her location with friends, but now it goes further and allows users to check-in […]
Google Latitude App Now Available for iPhone
Google has released Latitude for the iPhone. Now a true mobile app, it was a web app and has been a layer for Google Maps on Android for some time. The new app takes advantage of iPhone 4’s multitasking and can run the background continuously to broadcast your location 24/7. There are also simple and […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 8, 2010
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 Adds New Filtering & Refinement Options To Keyword Tool The Google AdWords Blog announced a few new features recently added to the new keyword tool released in September 2009. The […]
Google’s Mayer On “Contextual Discovery” Search
TechCrunch has live blog coverage of the interview by Michael Arrington and Google’s Marissa Mayer at the LeWeb ’10 in Paris, France. Mayer talked about Google’s next big thing, she coined it “contextual discover.” Contextual discovery, Mayer explained, encompasses “local Search, Maps, Earth, Latitude, and all the local products.” By “taking a users location as […]
Yelp Targets Foursquare, Facebook With Check-In Offers
Yelp continues to play catch-up with some of its competition in the local search landscape. The company’s latest move is the announcement of “Check-in Offers.” If you’re familiar with the premise behind Foursquare’s business users rewarding “mayors” and others who check-in to local businesses, you’ll be familiar with Yelp’s product. The idea is the same: […]
Google Maps On Android Becoming An LBS Juggernaut
One area in which Google services for Android and the iPhone appear to be diverging is Maps. I’m an Android EVO owner and still have iPhone envy except in the Maps department. The combination and integration of Google Maps, Places Pages, Street View and Navigation (with the phone and contacts) has created a kind of […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 28, 2010
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 Records Their Q1 2010 Earnings, Bing Takes Loss Again Microsoft announced their Q1 2010 fiscal earnings with a 25% increase in revenue, $16.20 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, […]
Angstro Buy, Shopping, Gaming Investments Point To Multi-Pronged Google Social Strategy
Last week Google acquired Angstro. The site has been described as a way to discover and organize information about individuals across various professional networks. Here’s how Angstro describes itself: Ångströ represents the ability to hone in on highly focused, relevant news across professional networks. Where search engines such as Google and other news aggregator services […]
Making Sense of Facebook Places
One of the questions that came up after the formal launch of Facebook Places last night was: how will this affect Google Places (among others)? As an aside, I have to say it’s really strange that these products have nearly the identical name. It’s almost like Honda offering a car with a particular name and […]
Location History, “Footstreams” & Aggregated Check-in Data Will Transform LBS
Google recently announced a Location History dashboard that allows users to see where they’ve been, based on their Latitude activity: Today we’re launching an experimental new view in Beta for Google Location History to visualize your location history in a different — and hopefully more interesting — way than just a string of locations. If […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 11, 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 AdWords Expands Product Ads Google announced they are expanding the product ads within the AdWords listing that they have been testing for a while. Google said, in the U.S., searchers […]
Track Your Friends (And Yourself) With Google Latitude Location History, Alerts
Seeking to make Latitude, Google’s location-aware friend finder, more engaging and useful the company has added location history and alerts to the service. Location Alerts, which require Location History to be enabled, tell you when friends are in the area. The system is smart enough to recognize routine places like home and work so it […]
Google Dashboard Offers New Privacy Controls
Google has launched a new privacy dashboard — technically just called Google Dashboard — that gives users quicker access to, and more control over, the personal information stored in Google’s databases. The dashboard is a one-stop shop for managing this data and the settings that are associated with the Google products you use when signed […]
Is That The Loch Ness Monster? On Google Earth?
People have been searching for the Loch Ness Monster for decades, using all kinds of scientific gear in and around Loch Ness in Scotland to see if the creature is real or fake. Is it possible they just needed to search Google Earth, instead? (Probably not, but play along with me on this.) Jason Cooke […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 24, 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 AdWords To Add Addresses On Ads: Location Extensions The Google AdWords Blog announced they will be allowing advertisers to add the full address to their search ads through location extensions. […]
Google Latitude Reaches iPhone, But It’s Limited
Interesting development today on the mobile scene: Google has released Latitude, its location-aware software, for the iPhone and iPod Touch — but as a web application rather than a native iPhone app. Ergo, Latitude users will only be able to access the program via the iPhone’s Safari web browser, which makes continuous updates an impossibility […]
Google Maps Adds Multiple Search Support & Layers To Mobile
Google announced a new feature for Google Maps and a new feature for Google Maps for Mobile. The first feature allows you to plot multiple searches on the same map. This comes in handy when you want to get driving directions, plus plot the various gas stations, golf courses, supermarkets and so on, along the […]
Google Expands Universal Search To More Phones In More Countries
Of the big three search engines, one could argue that Google is directing the most focused, ongoing effort toward mobile. Clearly Yahoo and Microsoft see mobile as a critical part of their business but Google is more or less continually doing things that seek to improve the mobile user experience. First, of course, there’s Android […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 12, 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 Analytics Now Considers Bing A Search Engine As promised, Google Analytics is now logging traffic from Microsoft’s new Bing search engine into the “search engine” traffic source category, rather than […]
Live Blogging The Google I/O Keynote
I’m at the Google I/O conference, where it is being opened by Google CEO Eric Schmidt. He’s welcoming the audience and saying it’s great to be in front of programmers and saying, “it’s time. it’s time for us to take advantage of the amazing opportunity before us … it has been 20 years trying to […]
Yahoo Streamlining Mobile Experiences, Discontinues “Smartphone App”
Until a couple of months ago, Yahoo had a range of mobile products and experiences in the market: Go, oneSearch, oneConnect and mobile web. With the launch of Yahoo Mobile earlier this year the company has been seeking to bring more consistency to the mobile user experience. Earlier today TechCrunch reported that Yahoo had “abandoned” […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 4, 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 Starts To Leverage Latitude Location Through New Apps Google is now expanding its map-based, location-aware service Latitude beyond the the Latitude destination in new ways with a public location sharing […]
Google Starts To Leverage Latitude Location Through New Apps
Google is now expanding its map-based, location-aware service Latitude beyond the the Latitude destination in new ways with a public location sharing badge for third party sites and other apps that incorporate location. The first of those other apps is Google Talk. In the first example, Google has enabled those already signed up for Latitude […]
Google Q1 Revs $5.5 billion, Down 3 Percent Vs. Q4
Although revenues grew 6 percent compared with Q1 2008, Google suffered its first quarter-over-quarter decline (3 percent), as it announced Q1 revenues this afternoon. From the press release: Revenues – Google reported revenues of $5.51 billion in the first quarter of 2009, representing a 6% increase over first quarter 2008 revenues of $5.19 billion and […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 18, 2009
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google Latitude Attracts A Million Users In A Week
Speaking at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona Spain, Google VP of Engineering Vic Gundotra apparently said that Google’s mobile friend finder service Latitude had seen “more than a million” mobile subscribers sign up for the service in the first week since launch on February 4. Given that Google released Latitude in 27 international […]