This day in search marketing history: February 3
How Google uses AI in search, plus: an unconfirmed Google algorithm update, Amit Singhal leaving Google, bad ads and more.
Topic: Stephen Colbert
Google adds 30 languages to voice search & makes it possible to use emojis with voice typing
Included among the new languages are Swahili and Amharic, two of the most popular African languages.
Your guide to using Google Assistant and the Google search app on Android & iPhone
Google Assistant is coming widely to Android phones. Here's how to use it and other ways to Google on your smartphone -- even for iPhone users.
When Google Gets It Wrong: Direct Answers With Debatable, Incorrect & Weird Content
As Google adds more direct answers, top results with questionable - and sometimes completely inappropriate content - continues to grow.
Ask.com’s Top 10 Searches For 2014: “What Are The Symptoms Of Ebola?” Leads The List
With more than a month still to go in 2014, Ask.com has already released its top searches for the year. Based on its 100 million monthly U.S. users, Ask.com says “What are the symptoms of Ebola?” was the number one question for news related searches on the site in 2014. Ask.com listed its top trending news, […]
SearchCap: Google Penguin 3.0, Apple Spotlight & IAB Digital Advertiser Numbers
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 Releases Penguin 3.0 — First Penguin Update In Over A Year Google has confirmed to Search Engine Land that it updated its Penguin filter on Friday. Penguin targets sites deemed […]
SearchCap: Upcoming Google 3rd Party Policy Changes, Quixey Announces Alibaba Deal & More
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Agencies Take Note: Google Third-Party Policy Changes Coming Nov. 2014 Last month, Google rolled out an updated policy center for all advertisers. Starting in November, agencies and other third-party firms and […]
Like Google, Apple’s Siri Also Gets Stephen Colbert’s Height Wrong
Google came under fire last night from Stephen Colbert, over a direct answer that got the comedian’s height wrong. But Apple’s Siri makes the same mistake — something Colbert didn’t raise during his video appearance at the Apple’s iPad event today. Stephen Colbert Demands Google Apology For Getting His Height Wrong on our Marketing Land […]
SearchCap: Google Penguin Coming Soon, Bing No To HTTPS Boost & Nude Celeb Photos Sue 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: Google: Penguin Refresh May Come As Early As Next Week Google’s Gary Illyes, Webmaster Trends Analyst and Search Quality Engineer, said at Search Marketing Expo East that Google may be launching […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 1, 2014
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 Releases Targeting Updates For Bing Ads Express Bing Ads today announced several updates for its small business solution, Bing Ads Express. This is the first big series of updates […]
Apple Takes Siri Out Of Beta
9to5mac.com reports Apple has quietly taken the beta label off of their voice search feature, Siri. If you look at the iOS 7 Siri, the page makes no mention of beta anymore. The old iOS 6 version had the beta label on it, but iOS 7 Siri has removed that label. Here is the iOS […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 12, 2013
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: I Recommend NoFollowing Links On Widgets Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, posted a video answer this morning strongly recommending that those who place widgets on their […]
Google Images Dominated By Pictures Of Romney For “Completely Wrong” Search
It’s not a Google Bomb, but that doesn’t make it less embarrassing for US presidential candidate Mitt Romney or Google, that a search on Google Images for “completely wrong” brings up results that are dominated by Romney’s picture. Completely Wrong & Google Images Here’s an example of what you currently see in a search for “completely […]
Google Street View Coming To Google Maps For Mobile, For Both iOS & Android
Just in time for those on iOS 6 wanting missing Google Street View photography, Google is bringing its street-level pictures to the mobile web version of Google Maps in two weeks. That also means, as best I can tell, these will come to the web versions of Google Maps for Android and other smartphones, too. […]
Bing Is For Doing Things It Tells You Not To Do
“Bing Is For Doing” is the catchphrase being used in new ads for Microsoft’s Bing search engine. But in a bit of irony, one new ad literally suggests jumping off a cliff but then warns in small print, “Do not attempt.” I first saw the ad on Sunday when watching the Mad Men finale and […]
Bing Fires Two Marketing Execs Over Vendor Issues
Microsoft has seemingly spared no expense on pushing its Bing search engine at star-studded entertainment events, such as the recent Sundance film festival. But those expenses may be key to news today that two Bing executives have been fired for “mismanagement of company assets and vendor procurement,” according to Microsoft. Ad Age appears to have […]
Why Does Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine Hate Rick Santorum?
US presidential candidate Rick Santorum pulled off a surprise last night, winning caucuses and primaries in three states. So what’s with Bing listing an anti-Santorum web site first in its results in a search for his last name? Does Microsoft have some type of liberal agenda! Wait, you didn’t realize Rick Santorum has a “Bing […]
How Rick Santorum Is Making His “Google Problem” Worse
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 […]
For “Define An English Person,” Google Suggests The C-Word
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 […]
Why Siri Can’t Find Abortion Clinics & How It’s Not An Apple Conspiracy
“I’m standing in front of a Planned Parenthood,” the CNN reporter says, “And Siri can’t find it when I search for abortion clinic.” No, it can’t. It’s not because Apple is pro-life. It’s because Planned Parenthood doesn’t call itself an abortion clinic. Welcome To Search Scandals, Apple It’s been interesting to watch the Siri Abortiongate […]
Bieber Tops Bing’s List Of Most Popular Searches In 2011
First out of the gate this year in the annual rush to declare search winners is Bing, who earlier today unveiled the top searches of 2011 at BingTrends.com. Bing.com also created an original video to recap the year in search, ending the clip with the Twitter hashtag #My2011. Video: Bing Originals: Decisions That Shaped 2011 […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 19, 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: Taking a Closer Look at the Google’s Panda 2.5 “Flux” On around September 27th, Google launched what’s being called 2.5 of its Panda algorithm. On October 5th, Google’s Matt Cutts tweeted: […]
Stephen Colbert Gets His Siri On
It was pretty funny – Stephen Colbert started The Colbert Report last night talking to Siri on his iPhone 4S and not feeling particularly happy about the responses, all of which were real. Colbert began by asking Siri to “write the show” since, as he later explained, he’d been playing with it all day and hadn’t […]
Santorum & Google’s Search Quality Czar Matt Cutts Makes The Colbert Report
The search industry is getting a little more mainstream recognition every day, as tonight’s episode of The Colbert Report picked on Google’s handling of the Spreading Santorum situation. This time the target was software engineer Matt Cutts, long known to search industry insiders as head of Google’s Web Spam and search quality team, he doesn’t […]
Should Rick Santorum’s “Google Problem” Be Fixed?
Is Google (and Bing, by the way) not being “responsible” by failing to remove an anti-Rick Santorum web site? The Republican presidential candidate believes so, speaking out this week against an unfavorable listing for his name. But “fixing” Santorum’s “Google problem” isn’t as easy as it sounds. Defining Santorum For those who aren’t familiar with […]
Bing “Easter Eggs” That Imply Google Is “Evil” And A “Whiner”
Today on Google Plus, Andy Arnt — a software engineer at Google — posted about two Bing “Easter Eggs” that take shots at Google, searches that take digs at Google in the answers that show at the top of Bing’s results. The two search queries in question are more evil than satan himself and hiybbprqag. For each search, there’s […]
Redesigned Bing Bar Toolbar More Like A “Dashboard”
Bing is introducing a totally redesigned version of its toolbar, called the “Bing Bar.” Apparently it has been “rebuilt from the ground up,” says Microsoft’s Stefan Weitz. Indeed, it operates more like a kind of “dashboard” than a conventional toolbar with links to various sites. And yes, the Bing Rewards loyalty program is still in […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 14, 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: New: Block Sites From Google Results Using Chrome’s “Personal Blocklist” Google has announced that a new way to block certain sites from appearing in Google’s search results, though a special Google-made […]
Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me: “I Search Google. So Does Bing”
Stephen Colbert & Jimmy Fallon weren’t the only ones having fun with Google’s accusations that Bing was copying Google’s search results. NPR’s “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me” quiz show did a funny send up, as well. The show, which aired on February 5, had host Peter Sagal stumping panelist Roxanne Roberts, at first, with a […]
Bing: Why Google’s Wrong In Its Accusations
Along with everything else going on for Bing’s Harry Shum on Tuesday — a panel about search spam, dealing with Google’s accusations that Bing “copies” Google’s results — Shum dealt with perhaps his most important worry. Reassuring his son that Bing wasn’t “cheating” as a search engine.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 3, 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: Did A Google Employee Just Register Hiybbprqag.com To Help Recruit New Employees? That’s a screenshot of Google’s “Jobs” page, which can be found at https://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/index.html. But it can also be reached […]
Did A Google Employee Just Register Hiybbprqag.com To Help Recruit New Employees?
That’s a screenshot of Google’s “Jobs” page, which can be found at https://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/index.html. But it can also be reached by going to hiybbprqag.com, which does a 302 redirect to the Google.com URL. Say what? And who? And why? Let’s sort this out: “Hiybbprqag” is one of the nonsense words that Google used in its sting […]
Colbert: “Hiybbprqag Is A Word Meaning You Got Served”
Enter a new referee in the Copygate dispute between Google and Bing: comedian Stephen Colbert. Despite being sponsored by Bing, Colbert came down in Google’s favor last night on the Colbert Report — at least jokingly.
Schmidt’s “Just Move” Joke About Google Street View & How It Went Missing
Don’t like Google Street View taking pictures of your house? “Just move,” joked Google CEO Eric Schmidt, in a CNN interview on Friday. A controversial joke, no doubt — one made even more controversial for later seeming to disappear from the interview. Don’t blame Google, the company says. It didn’t ask for the quote to […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 27, 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 Turns 12 Years Old Today Today is Google’s 12th birthday and to celebrate, Google has posted a special Google birthday logo cake. The birthday cake was designed by Wayne Thiebaud, […]
Transcript: Stephen Colbert Interviews Google’s Eric Schmidt On The Colbert Report
Last night, The Colbert Report featured Stephen Colbert interviewing Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt. Colbert got in some expected digs (four years to decide they didn’t like Chinese laws?), jokingly asks when the computer algorithm will take over and touches on some serious issues, such as how much Google remembers. Schmidt, I’d say, held his own […]
Chitika: Bing Passes Yahoo In Search Market Share
Well here’s a surprise. New stats from Chitika show Bing has taken over the second place spot for search market share from Yahoo — and back in January 2010! Chitika is an advertising network similar to Google AdSense. The company receives data about visits to the 80,000 sites in its network, which are mostly US […]
Bing Search Share Up 7% In June, Google Down 1%
At least according to the latest report from Experian Hitwise, that is. Google continues to hold 71.65% of search share, while Yahoo remained steady at 14%. Percentage of U.S. searches among leading search engine providers Domain May 2010 June 2010 Month-over-month percentage change www.google.com 72.17% 71.65% -1% search.yahoo.com 14.43% 14.37% -0% www.bing.com* 9.23% 9.85% 7% […]
Live From Hollywood: It’s Bing & Ryan Seacrest
Bing’s holding a big press event here tonight in Hollywood, California. We’re live on the red carpet. OK, no red carpet, but we do have Ryan Seacrest hosting the event. Sit back and stay tuned as we live blog what’s to come. NOTE: See our Bing Entertainment, Unwrapped: Music, Movies, Games & TV story which […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 9, 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: Colbert Goes From 0-To-40 “Bing” Mentions In 2 Minutes, For Charity Bing bought a pretty funny product placement on the Colbert Report this week. Comedian Stephen Colbert was promised $2,500 for […]