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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Yahoo announced a new search update, or what they call a "weather report" for their index. Yahoo said you may notice ranking changes in the Yahoo Search results. They said:
The Yahoo! Search engineering teams are rolling out updates to crawling, indexing, and ranking algorithms. Similar to previous updates, you may notice some ranking changes and page shuffling during the process, which we expect to complete over the next few days.
I have not seen any discussion around this but there may be an issue with the Yahoo Search WebmasterWorld forum, so I am not sure.
I did spot two threads discussing an update with Yahoo Site Explorer. One thread was at the Site Explorer Suggestion Board and the other at DigitalPoint Forums.
Yahoo announced a new search update, or what they call a "weather report" for their index. Yahoo said you may notice ranking changes in the Yahoo Search results. They said:
The Yahoo! Search engineering teams are rolling out updates to crawling, indexing, and ranking algorithms. Similar to previous updates, you may notice some ranking changes and page shuffling during the process, which we expect to complete over the next few days.
I have not seen any discussion around this but there may be an issue with the Yahoo Search WebmasterWorld forum, so I am not sure.
I did spot two threads discussing an update with Yahoo Site Explorer. One thread was at the Site Explorer Suggestion Board and the other at DigitalPoint Forums.
A WebmasterWorld thread reports that some Google AdSense publishers are being forced to pick a local currency, instead of using the U.S. dollar.
Three publishers claimed it happened yesterday, where they logged into AdSense and had to pick a local currency. Here are some of the messages in the forum thread:
I think it is not possible to skip it any more.
They should have waited untill march 31 or april 1 to let it synchronize with taxes cycles. For those of us living in the EU but not in Ireland, it makes necessary new taxes forms.
This obviously should not impact U.S. publishers and publishers who live in countries where Google cannot pay out in that local currency.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
A WebmasterWorld thread reports that some Google AdSense publishers are being forced to pick a local currency, instead of using the U.S. dollar.
Three publishers claimed it happened yesterday, where they logged into AdSense and had to pick a local currency. Here are some of the messages in the forum thread:
I think it is not possible to skip it any more.
They should have waited untill march 31 or april 1 to let it synchronize with taxes cycles. For those of us living in the EU but not in Ireland, it makes necessary new taxes forms.
This obviously should not impact U.S. publishers and publishers who live in countries where Google cannot pay out in that local currency.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Google Maps has been a extremely important area for SEOs and SEMs to focus on for their clients. Ranking in the Google results that have a maps result is often critical to these businesses and those map results come up more often in the web results at Google on a daily basis. So when you see bugs reported, especially ones that can end up in a competitor claiming your spot, you get worried.
A Google Maps Help thread has an excellent video demo of a possible bug or issue with how Google Maps citations can be poached from competitors. I am not sure what the issue here is, but let me share the video here.
The video is on ScreenCast.com is about 4 minutes long. It was created by the Small Business Online Coach and documents the issue very well.
I am not sure how serious this issue is, what do you think?
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
Google Maps has been a extremely important area for SEOs and SEMs to focus on for their clients. Ranking in the Google results that have a maps result is often critical to these businesses and those map results come up more often in the web results at Google on a daily basis. So when you see bugs reported, especially ones that can end up in a competitor claiming your spot, you get worried.
A Google Maps Help thread has an excellent video demo of a possible bug or issue with how Google Maps citations can be poached from competitors. I am not sure what the issue here is, but let me share the video here.
The video is on ScreenCast.com is about 4 minutes long. It was created by the Small Business Online Coach and documents the issue very well.
I am not sure how serious this issue is, what do you think?
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
There are three known and confirmed bugs with YouTube. They include not being able to save changes being made to videos, and issues playing and sharing videos in YouTube Groups and Orkut. Here are the three threads created by Liz from the YouTube team:
(1) Known Issue: "Save changes" button doesn't appear on "Edit video" page:
We've seen a lot of reports from you indicating that on the "Save changes" button isn't appearing for you on the edit video page for your uploads (my_videos).I've reported this situation to our team and they're working on a fix so that you're able to save the edits you make to your videos again without running into this issue.
(2) Known Issue: bug playing videos in YouTube Groups:
We've seen many of you report that videos you've submitted to a YouTube Group are not playing on the page. A grey box appears in place of where the video should appear in the player and sometimes an error message is displayed stating that the video is no longer available. The video is in fact still available (from the uploader's channel and in search), but its just showing as unavailalbe in the Group setting.This situation has been reported to our Team here in San Bruno, and our engineers are currently investigating the issue and working on a fix.
(3) Known Issue: issues with YouTube videos on Orkut:
Just wanted to let you know that our Team is aware of the issue with sharing YouTube videos to Orkut. Many of you have reported here in the forum that when sharing one of your uploads to YouTube on Orkut, Orkut produces an error message saying that your video doesn't exist / isn't found. Ah!I've reported this to our engineers and they're currently working with the folks over at Orkut to try and resolve the situation. A big thanks to you all for letting us know about this issue, and we really appreciate your patience as we're working on a fix. Hopefully you should be able to enjoy YouTube videos on Orkut soon.
So those are the three issues.
Forum discussion at YouTube Help Forums.
There are three known and confirmed bugs with YouTube. They include not being able to save changes being made to videos, and issues playing and sharing videos in YouTube Groups and Orkut. Here are the three threads created by Liz from the YouTube team:
(1) Known Issue: "Save changes" button doesn't appear on "Edit video" page:
We've seen a lot of reports from you indicating that on the "Save changes" button isn't appearing for you on the edit video page for your uploads (my_videos).I've reported this situation to our team and they're working on a fix so that you're able to save the edits you make to your videos again without running into this issue.
(2) Known Issue: bug playing videos in YouTube Groups:
We've seen many of you report that videos you've submitted to a YouTube Group are not playing on the page. A grey box appears in place of where the video should appear in the player and sometimes an error message is displayed stating that the video is no longer available. The video is in fact still available (from the uploader's channel and in search), but its just showing as unavailalbe in the Group setting.This situation has been reported to our Team here in San Bruno, and our engineers are currently investigating the issue and working on a fix.
(3) Known Issue: issues with YouTube videos on Orkut:
Just wanted to let you know that our Team is aware of the issue with sharing YouTube videos to Orkut. Many of you have reported here in the forum that when sharing one of your uploads to YouTube on Orkut, Orkut produces an error message saying that your video doesn't exist / isn't found. Ah!I've reported this to our engineers and they're currently working with the folks over at Orkut to try and resolve the situation. A big thanks to you all for letting us know about this issue, and we really appreciate your patience as we're working on a fix. Hopefully you should be able to enjoy YouTube videos on Orkut soon.
So those are the three issues.
Forum discussion at YouTube Help Forums.
OneUpWeb released an eye-tracking study that showed how most searches ignore the real time search results. The takeaways from the study, as Greg Sterling recapped nicely include:
The Guardian notes that these real time results cost Google $15m and Bing $10m - what is the return on investment for that then?
A WebmasterWorld thread has conversation around this where most people say they are not surprised by the study's findings. Just hard to imagine blowing $15 million on something like this.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
OneUpWeb released an eye-tracking study that showed how most searches ignore the real time search results. The takeaways from the study, as Greg Sterling recapped nicely include:
The Guardian notes that these real time results cost Google $15m and Bing $10m - what is the return on investment for that then?
A WebmasterWorld thread has conversation around this where most people say they are not surprised by the study's findings. Just hard to imagine blowing $15 million on something like this.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
All of the content published on this site is sourced via discussion forums, that is what makes this site unique from the thousands of other SEO blogs out there. Much of that content is sourced from the Google help forums. So when Google changes something in their help forums, I typically notice.
One thing Google recently changes was the help forum search feature. Now, Google is including content in the help forum search that is from external web sites, not owned or maintained by Google. For example, a search at the Google Analytics Help forum returns several results that are from third party web sites. Here is a screen capture:
Each web site that is not maintained by Google is clearly labeled as such, with a message that reads:
The site you are about to visit is not maintained by Google Inc., but its content might be helpful.
There is then a way to "Report Abuse" on a site listed here.
What I find interesting is that Google labels their own blogs as "not maintained by Google," when indeed, it is maintained by Google. But it does differentiate between what is "user content" versus Google content - so I find that interesting.
A hat tip goes to PizzaSEO.com for letting me know about this new feature.
All of the content published on this site is sourced via discussion forums, that is what makes this site unique from the thousands of other SEO blogs out there. Much of that content is sourced from the Google help forums. So when Google changes something in their help forums, I typically notice.
One thing Google recently changes was the help forum search feature. Now, Google is including content in the help forum search that is from external web sites, not owned or maintained by Google. For example, a search at the Google Analytics Help forum returns several results that are from third party web sites. Here is a screen capture:
Each web site that is not maintained by Google is clearly labeled as such, with a message that reads:
The site you are about to visit is not maintained by Google Inc., but its content might be helpful.
There is then a way to "Report Abuse" on a site listed here.
What I find interesting is that Google labels their own blogs as "not maintained by Google," when indeed, it is maintained by Google. But it does differentiate between what is "user content" versus Google content - so I find that interesting.
A hat tip goes to PizzaSEO.com for letting me know about this new feature.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google and Chuck Norris have a long history. If you go to Google.com and search for [find chuck norris] and hit, "I'm feeling lucky" button you will be taken to this result that reads:
Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.
So it is surprising to see that on the 70th birthday of Chuck Norris, Google doesn't have a special Google Doodle up. Chuck Norris was born on March 10, 1940 and 70 years later, I would have thought he would deserve a special Google logo.
I am not the only one who feels he deserves a logo. There is a large Google Web Search Help thread with complaints from Chuck Norris fans. In all honesty, I find this all very humorous.
Happy 70th Chuck!
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
Google and Chuck Norris have a long history. If you go to Google.com and search for [find chuck norris] and hit, "I'm feeling lucky" button you will be taken to this result that reads:
Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.
So it is surprising to see that on the 70th birthday of Chuck Norris, Google doesn't have a special Google Doodle up. Chuck Norris was born on March 10, 1940 and 70 years later, I would have thought he would deserve a special Google logo.
I am not the only one who feels he deserves a logo. There is a large Google Web Search Help thread with complaints from Chuck Norris fans. In all honesty, I find this all very humorous.
Happy 70th Chuck!
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
As many of you know, Microsoft is conducting a major ad blitz in the UK in order to capture market share for Bing, their search engine.
Bing's product manager sent me a link to one of the new commercials, which is now on YouTube. Here is a video of the new commercial:
What do you think? It looks similar to the US commercials, just with UK accents.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
As many of you know, Microsoft is conducting a major ad blitz in the UK in order to capture market share for Bing, their search engine.
Bing's product manager sent me a link to one of the new commercials, which is now on YouTube. Here is a video of the new commercial:
What do you think? It looks similar to the US commercials, just with UK accents.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
If you visit MSN.com today, you may notice a new look and feel for the site. The beta design is now the new official look for MSN. Like it or not, this is the new look for now.
Greg Sterling reports that about 50% of the Bing search queries are driven from the MSN portal. So this new design may or may not have an impact on that. 50% is major and clearly Microsoft is aware of that.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
If you visit MSN.com today, you may notice a new look and feel for the site. The beta design is now the new official look for MSN. Like it or not, this is the new look for now.
Greg Sterling reports that about 50% of the Bing search queries are driven from the MSN portal. So this new design may or may not have an impact on that. 50% is major and clearly Microsoft is aware of that.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
An updated Google Webmaster Help thread has confirmed reports from Google's "sreeram" that Google is updating the Site Performance reports in Google Webmaster Tools.
During this update, Google has temporarily stopped updating the existing reports. The Googler said:
We are making some changes to the algorithms and pipeline behind the site performance feature and so had stopped updating it for a bit. We'll resume the updates soon, hopefully within a day or two. Do stay tuned and keep giving us feedback.
One new feature I am expecting is a trustworthy indicator to be added to the tool. I also suspect the tool to update more frequently and possibly offer better explanations of what can be improved.
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
An updated Google Webmaster Help thread has confirmed reports from Google's "sreeram" that Google is updating the Site Performance reports in Google Webmaster Tools.
During this update, Google has temporarily stopped updating the existing reports. The Googler said:
We are making some changes to the algorithms and pipeline behind the site performance feature and so had stopped updating it for a bit. We'll resume the updates soon, hopefully within a day or two. Do stay tuned and keep giving us feedback.
One new feature I am expecting is a trustworthy indicator to be added to the tool. I also suspect the tool to update more frequently and possibly offer better explanations of what can be improved.
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
I am finally back from my trip to Israel and one thing that kind of bothered me while I was there was that whenever I went to Google.com, it redirected me to Google.co.il. I know, that is how it should work, but imagine being in a country, like the U.S. and being directed to a localized or regional version of Google. It happens every now and then, to both Google and even Bing.
But there is something you can do about it at Google. A Google Web Search Help thread has a Googler named Rubie saying there is a specific form to fill out at Google to report the issue. Rubie said:
We have a nifty tool you can use if you think your IP address is not being detected correctly. Click on the link below to report your issue.
The link below takes you to this page that can be used for this specific issue. So if you run into this issue, you can report it to Google and hopefully they will fix it.
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
I am finally back from my trip to Israel and one thing that kind of bothered me while I was there was that whenever I went to Google.com, it redirected me to Google.co.il. I know, that is how it should work, but imagine being in a country, like the U.S. and being directed to a localized or regional version of Google. It happens every now and then, to both Google and even Bing.
But there is something you can do about it at Google. A Google Web Search Help thread has a Googler named Rubie saying there is a specific form to fill out at Google to report the issue. Rubie said:
We have a nifty tool you can use if you think your IP address is not being detected correctly. Click on the link below to report your issue.
The link below takes you to this page that can be used for this specific issue. So if you run into this issue, you can report it to Google and hopefully they will fix it.
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
Android powered TV search boxes are being tested by Googlers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Google Inc. is testing a new television-programming search service with Dish Network Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, the latest development in a fast-moving race to combine Internet content with conventional TV.The service, which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service as well as video from Web sites like Google's YouTube, according to these people. It also lets users to personalize a lineup of shows, these people said.
Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land has some analysis around the news. A WebmasterWorld thread has some feedback from webmasters.
Might be fun if "on demand" but not all that fun if just a list of "what's on". Meanwhile several tv schedule sites give me the same thing.
I predict the TV will be just another web-providing device, and people will watch as much web-content as cable-content. Point in hand, the RSS agregator built in the latest TiVo. Basically, you can make your custom RSS-fed TV channel with that.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Android powered TV search boxes are being tested by Googlers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Google Inc. is testing a new television-programming search service with Dish Network Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, the latest development in a fast-moving race to combine Internet content with conventional TV.The service, which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service as well as video from Web sites like Google's YouTube, according to these people. It also lets users to personalize a lineup of shows, these people said.
Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land has some analysis around the news. A WebmasterWorld thread has some feedback from webmasters.
Might be fun if "on demand" but not all that fun if just a list of "what's on". Meanwhile several tv schedule sites give me the same thing.
I predict the TV will be just another web-providing device, and people will watch as much web-content as cable-content. Point in hand, the RSS agregator built in the latest TiVo. Basically, you can make your custom RSS-fed TV channel with that.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
A long time requested feature, bike directions, have been added to Google Maps. Both the Google Blog and Google Lat Long Blog have details about the addition.
First, here is a video demo:
To try it out, go to http://maps.google.com/biking and to submit more biking routes or report issues, go here.
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
A long time requested feature, bike directions, have been added to Google Maps. Both the Google Blog and Google Lat Long Blog have details about the addition.
First, here is a video demo:
To try it out, go to http://maps.google.com/biking and to submit more biking routes or report issues, go here.
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Yahoo announced a new search update, or what they call a "weather report" for their index. Yahoo said you may notice ranking changes in the Yahoo Search results. They said:
The Yahoo! Search engineering teams are rolling out updates to crawling, indexing, and ranking algorithms. Similar to previous updates, you may notice some ranking changes and page shuffling during the process, which we expect to complete over the next few days.
I have not seen any discussion around this but there may be an issue with the Yahoo Search WebmasterWorld forum, so I am not sure.
I did spot two threads discussing an update with Yahoo Site Explorer. One thread was at the Site Explorer Suggestion Board and the other at DigitalPoint Forums.
Yahoo announced a new search update, or what they call a "weather report" for their index. Yahoo said you may notice ranking changes in the Yahoo Search results. They said:
The Yahoo! Search engineering teams are rolling out updates to crawling, indexing, and ranking algorithms. Similar to previous updates, you may notice some ranking changes and page shuffling during the process, which we expect to complete over the next few days.
I have not seen any discussion around this but there may be an issue with the Yahoo Search WebmasterWorld forum, so I am not sure.
I did spot two threads discussing an update with Yahoo Site Explorer. One thread was at the Site Explorer Suggestion Board and the other at DigitalPoint Forums.
A WebmasterWorld thread reports that some Google AdSense publishers are being forced to pick a local currency, instead of using the U.S. dollar.
Three publishers claimed it happened yesterday, where they logged into AdSense and had to pick a local currency. Here are some of the messages in the forum thread:
I think it is not possible to skip it any more.
They should have waited untill march 31 or april 1 to let it synchronize with taxes cycles. For those of us living in the EU but not in Ireland, it makes necessary new taxes forms.
This obviously should not impact U.S. publishers and publishers who live in countries where Google cannot pay out in that local currency.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
A WebmasterWorld thread reports that some Google AdSense publishers are being forced to pick a local currency, instead of using the U.S. dollar.
Three publishers claimed it happened yesterday, where they logged into AdSense and had to pick a local currency. Here are some of the messages in the forum thread:
I think it is not possible to skip it any more.
They should have waited untill march 31 or april 1 to let it synchronize with taxes cycles. For those of us living in the EU but not in Ireland, it makes necessary new taxes forms.
This obviously should not impact U.S. publishers and publishers who live in countries where Google cannot pay out in that local currency.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Google Maps has been a extremely important area for SEOs and SEMs to focus on for their clients. Ranking in the Google results that have a maps result is often critical to these businesses and those map results come up more often in the web results at Google on a daily basis. So when you see bugs reported, especially ones that can end up in a competitor claiming your spot, you get worried.
A Google Maps Help thread has an excellent video demo of a possible bug or issue with how Google Maps citations can be poached from competitors. I am not sure what the issue here is, but let me share the video here.
The video is on ScreenCast.com is about 4 minutes long. It was created by the Small Business Online Coach and documents the issue very well.
I am not sure how serious this issue is, what do you think?
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
Google Maps has been a extremely important area for SEOs and SEMs to focus on for their clients. Ranking in the Google results that have a maps result is often critical to these businesses and those map results come up more often in the web results at Google on a daily basis. So when you see bugs reported, especially ones that can end up in a competitor claiming your spot, you get worried.
A Google Maps Help thread has an excellent video demo of a possible bug or issue with how Google Maps citations can be poached from competitors. I am not sure what the issue here is, but let me share the video here.
The video is on ScreenCast.com is about 4 minutes long. It was created by the Small Business Online Coach and documents the issue very well.
I am not sure how serious this issue is, what do you think?
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
There are three known and confirmed bugs with YouTube. They include not being able to save changes being made to videos, and issues playing and sharing videos in YouTube Groups and Orkut. Here are the three threads created by Liz from the YouTube team:
(1) Known Issue: "Save changes" button doesn't appear on "Edit video" page:
We've seen a lot of reports from you indicating that on the "Save changes" button isn't appearing for you on the edit video page for your uploads (my_videos).I've reported this situation to our team and they're working on a fix so that you're able to save the edits you make to your videos again without running into this issue.
(2) Known Issue: bug playing videos in YouTube Groups:
We've seen many of you report that videos you've submitted to a YouTube Group are not playing on the page. A grey box appears in place of where the video should appear in the player and sometimes an error message is displayed stating that the video is no longer available. The video is in fact still available (from the uploader's channel and in search), but its just showing as unavailalbe in the Group setting.This situation has been reported to our Team here in San Bruno, and our engineers are currently investigating the issue and working on a fix.
(3) Known Issue: issues with YouTube videos on Orkut:
Just wanted to let you know that our Team is aware of the issue with sharing YouTube videos to Orkut. Many of you have reported here in the forum that when sharing one of your uploads to YouTube on Orkut, Orkut produces an error message saying that your video doesn't exist / isn't found. Ah!I've reported this to our engineers and they're currently working with the folks over at Orkut to try and resolve the situation. A big thanks to you all for letting us know about this issue, and we really appreciate your patience as we're working on a fix. Hopefully you should be able to enjoy YouTube videos on Orkut soon.
So those are the three issues.
Forum discussion at YouTube Help Forums.
There are three known and confirmed bugs with YouTube. They include not being able to save changes being made to videos, and issues playing and sharing videos in YouTube Groups and Orkut. Here are the three threads created by Liz from the YouTube team:
(1) Known Issue: "Save changes" button doesn't appear on "Edit video" page:
We've seen a lot of reports from you indicating that on the "Save changes" button isn't appearing for you on the edit video page for your uploads (my_videos).I've reported this situation to our team and they're working on a fix so that you're able to save the edits you make to your videos again without running into this issue.
(2) Known Issue: bug playing videos in YouTube Groups:
We've seen many of you report that videos you've submitted to a YouTube Group are not playing on the page. A grey box appears in place of where the video should appear in the player and sometimes an error message is displayed stating that the video is no longer available. The video is in fact still available (from the uploader's channel and in search), but its just showing as unavailalbe in the Group setting.This situation has been reported to our Team here in San Bruno, and our engineers are currently investigating the issue and working on a fix.
(3) Known Issue: issues with YouTube videos on Orkut:
Just wanted to let you know that our Team is aware of the issue with sharing YouTube videos to Orkut. Many of you have reported here in the forum that when sharing one of your uploads to YouTube on Orkut, Orkut produces an error message saying that your video doesn't exist / isn't found. Ah!I've reported this to our engineers and they're currently working with the folks over at Orkut to try and resolve the situation. A big thanks to you all for letting us know about this issue, and we really appreciate your patience as we're working on a fix. Hopefully you should be able to enjoy YouTube videos on Orkut soon.
So those are the three issues.
Forum discussion at YouTube Help Forums.
OneUpWeb released an eye-tracking study that showed how most searches ignore the real time search results. The takeaways from the study, as Greg Sterling recapped nicely include:
The Guardian notes that these real time results cost Google $15m and Bing $10m - what is the return on investment for that then?
A WebmasterWorld thread has conversation around this where most people say they are not surprised by the study's findings. Just hard to imagine blowing $15 million on something like this.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
OneUpWeb released an eye-tracking study that showed how most searches ignore the real time search results. The takeaways from the study, as Greg Sterling recapped nicely include:
The Guardian notes that these real time results cost Google $15m and Bing $10m - what is the return on investment for that then?
A WebmasterWorld thread has conversation around this where most people say they are not surprised by the study's findings. Just hard to imagine blowing $15 million on something like this.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
All of the content published on this site is sourced via discussion forums, that is what makes this site unique from the thousands of other SEO blogs out there. Much of that content is sourced from the Google help forums. So when Google changes something in their help forums, I typically notice.
One thing Google recently changes was the help forum search feature. Now, Google is including content in the help forum search that is from external web sites, not owned or maintained by Google. For example, a search at the Google Analytics Help forum returns several results that are from third party web sites. Here is a screen capture:
Each web site that is not maintained by Google is clearly labeled as such, with a message that reads:
The site you are about to visit is not maintained by Google Inc., but its content might be helpful.
There is then a way to "Report Abuse" on a site listed here.
What I find interesting is that Google labels their own blogs as "not maintained by Google," when indeed, it is maintained by Google. But it does differentiate between what is "user content" versus Google content - so I find that interesting.
A hat tip goes to PizzaSEO.com for letting me know about this new feature.
All of the content published on this site is sourced via discussion forums, that is what makes this site unique from the thousands of other SEO blogs out there. Much of that content is sourced from the Google help forums. So when Google changes something in their help forums, I typically notice.
One thing Google recently changes was the help forum search feature. Now, Google is including content in the help forum search that is from external web sites, not owned or maintained by Google. For example, a search at the Google Analytics Help forum returns several results that are from third party web sites. Here is a screen capture:
Each web site that is not maintained by Google is clearly labeled as such, with a message that reads:
The site you are about to visit is not maintained by Google Inc., but its content might be helpful.
There is then a way to "Report Abuse" on a site listed here.
What I find interesting is that Google labels their own blogs as "not maintained by Google," when indeed, it is maintained by Google. But it does differentiate between what is "user content" versus Google content - so I find that interesting.
A hat tip goes to PizzaSEO.com for letting me know about this new feature.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google and Chuck Norris have a long history. If you go to Google.com and search for [find chuck norris] and hit, "I'm feeling lucky" button you will be taken to this result that reads:
Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.
So it is surprising to see that on the 70th birthday of Chuck Norris, Google doesn't have a special Google Doodle up. Chuck Norris was born on March 10, 1940 and 70 years later, I would have thought he would deserve a special Google logo.
I am not the only one who feels he deserves a logo. There is a large Google Web Search Help thread with complaints from Chuck Norris fans. In all honesty, I find this all very humorous.
Happy 70th Chuck!
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
Google and Chuck Norris have a long history. If you go to Google.com and search for [find chuck norris] and hit, "I'm feeling lucky" button you will be taken to this result that reads:
Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.
So it is surprising to see that on the 70th birthday of Chuck Norris, Google doesn't have a special Google Doodle up. Chuck Norris was born on March 10, 1940 and 70 years later, I would have thought he would deserve a special Google logo.
I am not the only one who feels he deserves a logo. There is a large Google Web Search Help thread with complaints from Chuck Norris fans. In all honesty, I find this all very humorous.
Happy 70th Chuck!
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
As many of you know, Microsoft is conducting a major ad blitz in the UK in order to capture market share for Bing, their search engine.
Bing's product manager sent me a link to one of the new commercials, which is now on YouTube. Here is a video of the new commercial:
What do you think? It looks similar to the US commercials, just with UK accents.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
As many of you know, Microsoft is conducting a major ad blitz in the UK in order to capture market share for Bing, their search engine.
Bing's product manager sent me a link to one of the new commercials, which is now on YouTube. Here is a video of the new commercial:
What do you think? It looks similar to the US commercials, just with UK accents.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
If you visit MSN.com today, you may notice a new look and feel for the site. The beta design is now the new official look for MSN. Like it or not, this is the new look for now.
Greg Sterling reports that about 50% of the Bing search queries are driven from the MSN portal. So this new design may or may not have an impact on that. 50% is major and clearly Microsoft is aware of that.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
If you visit MSN.com today, you may notice a new look and feel for the site. The beta design is now the new official look for MSN. Like it or not, this is the new look for now.
Greg Sterling reports that about 50% of the Bing search queries are driven from the MSN portal. So this new design may or may not have an impact on that. 50% is major and clearly Microsoft is aware of that.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
An updated Google Webmaster Help thread has confirmed reports from Google's "sreeram" that Google is updating the Site Performance reports in Google Webmaster Tools.
During this update, Google has temporarily stopped updating the existing reports. The Googler said:
We are making some changes to the algorithms and pipeline behind the site performance feature and so had stopped updating it for a bit. We'll resume the updates soon, hopefully within a day or two. Do stay tuned and keep giving us feedback.
One new feature I am expecting is a trustworthy indicator to be added to the tool. I also suspect the tool to update more frequently and possibly offer better explanations of what can be improved.
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
An updated Google Webmaster Help thread has confirmed reports from Google's "sreeram" that Google is updating the Site Performance reports in Google Webmaster Tools.
During this update, Google has temporarily stopped updating the existing reports. The Googler said:
We are making some changes to the algorithms and pipeline behind the site performance feature and so had stopped updating it for a bit. We'll resume the updates soon, hopefully within a day or two. Do stay tuned and keep giving us feedback.
One new feature I am expecting is a trustworthy indicator to be added to the tool. I also suspect the tool to update more frequently and possibly offer better explanations of what can be improved.
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
I am finally back from my trip to Israel and one thing that kind of bothered me while I was there was that whenever I went to Google.com, it redirected me to Google.co.il. I know, that is how it should work, but imagine being in a country, like the U.S. and being directed to a localized or regional version of Google. It happens every now and then, to both Google and even Bing.
But there is something you can do about it at Google. A Google Web Search Help thread has a Googler named Rubie saying there is a specific form to fill out at Google to report the issue. Rubie said:
We have a nifty tool you can use if you think your IP address is not being detected correctly. Click on the link below to report your issue.
The link below takes you to this page that can be used for this specific issue. So if you run into this issue, you can report it to Google and hopefully they will fix it.
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
I am finally back from my trip to Israel and one thing that kind of bothered me while I was there was that whenever I went to Google.com, it redirected me to Google.co.il. I know, that is how it should work, but imagine being in a country, like the U.S. and being directed to a localized or regional version of Google. It happens every now and then, to both Google and even Bing.
But there is something you can do about it at Google. A Google Web Search Help thread has a Googler named Rubie saying there is a specific form to fill out at Google to report the issue. Rubie said:
We have a nifty tool you can use if you think your IP address is not being detected correctly. Click on the link below to report your issue.
The link below takes you to this page that can be used for this specific issue. So if you run into this issue, you can report it to Google and hopefully they will fix it.
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
Android powered TV search boxes are being tested by Googlers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Google Inc. is testing a new television-programming search service with Dish Network Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, the latest development in a fast-moving race to combine Internet content with conventional TV.The service, which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service as well as video from Web sites like Google's YouTube, according to these people. It also lets users to personalize a lineup of shows, these people said.
Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land has some analysis around the news. A WebmasterWorld thread has some feedback from webmasters.
Might be fun if "on demand" but not all that fun if just a list of "what's on". Meanwhile several tv schedule sites give me the same thing.
I predict the TV will be just another web-providing device, and people will watch as much web-content as cable-content. Point in hand, the RSS agregator built in the latest TiVo. Basically, you can make your custom RSS-fed TV channel with that.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Android powered TV search boxes are being tested by Googlers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Google Inc. is testing a new television-programming search service with Dish Network Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, the latest development in a fast-moving race to combine Internet content with conventional TV.The service, which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service as well as video from Web sites like Google's YouTube, according to these people. It also lets users to personalize a lineup of shows, these people said.
Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land has some analysis around the news. A WebmasterWorld thread has some feedback from webmasters.
Might be fun if "on demand" but not all that fun if just a list of "what's on". Meanwhile several tv schedule sites give me the same thing.
I predict the TV will be just another web-providing device, and people will watch as much web-content as cable-content. Point in hand, the RSS agregator built in the latest TiVo. Basically, you can make your custom RSS-fed TV channel with that.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
A long time requested feature, bike directions, have been added to Google Maps. Both the Google Blog and Google Lat Long Blog have details about the addition.
First, here is a video demo:
To try it out, go to http://maps.google.com/biking and to submit more biking routes or report issues, go here.
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
A long time requested feature, bike directions, have been added to Google Maps. Both the Google Blog and Google Lat Long Blog have details about the addition.
First, here is a video demo:
To try it out, go to http://maps.google.com/biking and to submit more biking routes or report issues, go here.
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.