The ability to block web sites from search results disappeared when Google’s new Search Plus personalized results format launched this week. Blocking was a feature added with great fanfare last year. Google says it will return, but the timing is uncertain. How Blocking Worked Previously, search results had a “Block All” link that appeared below them: Selecting […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: To Understand Google Favoritism, Think “If Google+ Were YouTube” Google’s favoritism of Google+ in its new Search Plus results is just the latest in the line of favoritism it has done […]
Google’s favoritism of Google+ in its new Search Plus results is just the latest in the line of favoritism it has done with vertical search? It’s not, because Google hasn’t really favored itself with vertical search. It is favoring itself with Google+, and that’s why things are so disturbing. Vertical Search Is What Search Engines […]
Foursquare is introducing what it calls “personalized search for the real world” on its recently redesigned website. What that means as a practical matter is the introduction of the “Explore” feature, better keyword search and several new filters that enable users to drill down in search results. We can now, without hesitation, now call Foursquare […]
Amid all the controversy that has erupted over Google’s new search personalization (Search Plus Your World), I’ve been doing local searches to see what if any impact it’s having on that arena. So far, in my unscientific query survey, the impact seems to be minor. Below are some examples where I toggle between personalized 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: Two webcasts next week: “The Buyers’ Journey,” and “Content, Freshness and SEO for Large Sites” Search Marketing Now will host two webcasts next week. On Tuesday, January 17, Christine Crandell and […]
The new Google “Search Plus Your World” feature — which I’m now simply calling “Search Plus” — has just gone live for me. Huge debate erupted yesterday over whether it somehow favors Google+. I can see now that it clearly does, even more than I thought. Here’s a closer look at the changes, including how […]
Last night I posted comScore December search market share numbers, based on a financial analyst report (one of several that came out yesterday or early this morning). The report incorrectly presented the search share numbers as follows. Those figures made it appear that Google had gained share at Bing’s expense. It was Yahoo that lost […]
That didn’t take long. In my coverage today about the new Google “Search Plus Your World” feature, I detailed how part of it gave hefty ammunition to claims that Google is abusing its dominant position in search. The anti-trust charges have now already started. Here’s the short story why. Imagine, Sending People To Other Stores! One of […]
Maybe it’s my bias as a longtime fan/practitioner of local search and SEO. Or maybe it’s because I’m mentioned as one of the sources/contributors. But more likely it’s just that this is an important search reference document, and that’s why I think that anyone interested or involved in local search should know about it. David […]
Google’s search results are undergoing their most radical transformation ever, as a new “Search Plus Your World” format begins rolling out today. It finds both content that’s been shared with you privately along with matches from the public web, all mixed into a single set of listings. The change is live now, though not everyone will […]
Increasingly over the years, search engines — Google in particular — have given more and more support to SEOs and publishers. But 2011 marked the first significant reversal that I can recall, with both linking and keyword data being withheld. Here’s what happened, why it matters and how publishers can push back if Google and Bing don’t […]
Among several interesting new search tweaks in Google’s latest monthly recap is a project internally called “Megasitelinks,” along with improvements to Google’s image search tool, its detection of “byline dates” on web documents and much more. Google just began doing monthly overviews of its search changes in November, and this latest overview includes 30 tweaks […]
Trada, the crowdsourced PPC marketplace, has secured an additional $9 million in funding from their existing investors, Google Ventures and Foundry Group. This additional seed of Series D financing brings the total money raised for Trada to $17 million. Trada basically lets you offload your PPC management onto a community of SEM experts, who spend […]
US Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum made a surprise leap ahead to practically tie Mitt Romney in yesterday’s Iowa caucus results. Now people are searching to find out more about him and discovering THAT result which makes comedy show hosts like Jon Stewart giggle. But rather than blame Google (or Bing), as Santorum has in the […]
Looking back on 2011, as always, there’s lots of change in the search engine marketing world! New ad products, new features and new media keep in-house online marketers ever on their toes to stay up on the latest and greatest opportunities in an increasingly complex field of online marketing. What were the most interesting and […]
Searches for “browser” no longer bring up the Google Chrome home page after Google applied a penalty against the page because of Google’s own sponsored post campaign. Google said even though it felt there were no “remaining violations” of its guidelines, the search engine’s spam fighting team was going to reduce the PageRank value of […]
It’s been about a day since we covered Google’s sponsored post campaign to promote its Chrome browser, a campaign that produced posts that violate Google’s guidelines against “thin” content and potentially those against buying links. Yes, it was a Google campaign, but not what the company says it signed-up for. One agency is falling on its […]
Welcome back to the first Link Week of 2012, I hope you enjoyed the holidays and had a great New Year celebration! Next up in our tool review series: Ontolo Internet Marketing Tools The current Ontolo toolset is owned by partners Ben Wills and Andy Davidoff and has been a work in progress since 2008. The tool is […]
Google, the company that has been fighting against paid links and “thin” content, seems to be behind a campaign that’s generating both on behalf of its Chrome browser. File this under “what were they thinking.” “This Post Sponsored By Google” Aaron Wall wrote about the campaign today at SEO Book, spotting how a search for “This […]
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 Costs Google $65,000 In France The Local, a French newspaper, reports Google France was ordered to pay €50,000 ($64,670) to Lyonnaise de Garantie, a French insurance company over a […]
The Local, a French newspaper, reports Google France was ordered to pay €50,000 ($64,670) to Lyonnaise de Garantie, a French insurance company over a search suggestion that had them labeled as being a “crook.” In the case of this French company, when you typed in their company name, Lyonnaise de Garantie it suggested at 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: Do Your 2012 Resolutions Include Increasing Conversion Rates? That’s a trick question. Of course the answer should always be yes. Hopefully your website conversions in 2011 have already resulted in a […]
That’s a trick question. Of course the answer should always be yes. Hopefully your website conversions in 2011 have already resulted in a banner year. But if you feel like you have room to improve (and there always is), then it might be time to review what advice our conversion experts shared with readers throughout […]
With the holiday season winding down and 2012 just around the corner, it’s time to take a deep breath and get ready to plunge into the new year. When marketing teams get back from the New Year’s weekend, you can be sure that new found vigor and excitement will be in the air. For B2B […]
TechCrunch reports a company named buySafe is suing Google over their Trusted Stores program, which Google launched in October. buySafe claims several strong things in this law suit: (1) Patent Infringement (2) Stealing proprietary business information (3) Pushing buySafe customers to switch to Google Trusted Stores (4) Google is trying to squash the company 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: The Most ‘Liked’ Search & Social Posts Of 2011 The social media experts who write for this column week in and week out don’t just talk – they walk the walk […]
Bing’s not-so-newest push into online travel hasn’t begun to roil the industry, the latest example of where if Bing does something, no one cares, but if Google does it, it’s time for a Wall Street Journal story examining the potential evilness of the move. In case you missed it, the Wall Street Journal has a […]
Wow, it seems like only yesterday we were all obsessed with the first (of what became many) Panda updates (which was initially called the Farmer Update) from Google and the New York Times story on JC Penney’s Holiday 2010 foray into buying paid links. Oh, yeah, good times. But 2012 is now staring us 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’s New Happy Holidays Logo: Dancing Christmas Lights & Jingle Bells For Christmas and the holiday season, Google has a new musical logo out that plays Jingle Bells and ends by […]
You know how some people always tend to put ‘analytical thinking’ skills down on a resume, even if it’s not 100% accurate? Luckily, that’s not the case with our analytics experts at Search Engine Land. Over the course of 2011, our contributors shared everything and anything they know about measuring the value of website traffic, […]
If the answer to this question is stunned silence, your website could lose long-term search engine visibility. Archiving has always been an important part of the SEO process.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Blekko Expands: Bigger Index, More Slashtags & New Design Blekko is closing out 2011 with a round of updates that affect the search engine’s front- and back-end — both how it […]
I’ve seen some weird Google results in my time, but this one is pretty strange. Search for “define an english person” or some related queries, and Google brings up the Wikipedia page about the C-word in response. As spotted by Search Engine Roundtable, people were asking in Google’s help forums why various searches related to […]
If there’s one thing anyone can say about the state of search engine optimization (SEO) in 2011, it’s that this year certainly wasn’t boring. Barely two months in, on February 24, 2011 – we were first introduced to the now infamous Panda Update at Google. That story alone gave our expert SEO columnists and staff […]
Following the major engines themselves, Experian Hitwise announced the top search terms of 2011. The company looked at the top 1,000 search queries of 2011 and found that Facebook topped the list for the third year in a row. Overall Facebook had four of the top 10 search terms for 2011, the same as 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 Adds Christmas & Hanukkah Decorations To Search Results If you go to Google and search for variations of either [christmas] or [hanukkah], you will see Google has dressed up the […]
Did watching elected representatives debate SOPA last week without understanding some fundamentals of the internet rattle your nerves? Welcome to my world of watching the same thing happen about Google and search. In September, the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights held a hearing called “The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: RIAA Scolds Google, Wants Search Algorithm Changed To Fight Online Piracy Saying that Google has a “special responsibility” to fight copyright infringement, the RIAA has issued a report card that scolds […]
Saying that Google has a “special responsibility” to fight copyright infringement, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has issued a report card that scolds Google for not following through on promises to fight piracy. In a report card issued Monday, the RIAA takes a look back at four promises that Google made last year […]