May 1, 2008 Archives

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.

Continue reading "Daily Search Forum Recap: May 1, 2008"

Search Engine Journal has a very cool photo of a vending machine in Google's Japan office.

Since I'm not sure who took this photograph (update: it was Loren Baker!), I'm showing you a small size image here:

More photos of Loren's cool Google Japan journey are on Search Engine Journal.

Are you really surprised at such a welcoming vending machine? ;) Google, after all, is the best company to work for!

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.

Aaron Wall wrote a very good piece on whether your website will pass a Google review and says that human reviews can potentially bring your site down. He mentions tactics you should use to avoid such reviews, including building quality content on your site, creating quality signals, and avoiding making drastic changes to your site so that you don't get flagged for review.

The discussion moves to Sphinn where most people think that their websites would not pass a quality review. Furthermore, they are not exactly sure they agree with how Google's reviewers handle sites at times. Since Aaron mentions that Marissa Mayer employs 10,000 reviewers, that's a hefty number (of individuals who likely aren't trained in any way). What's to say that these individuals don't really know what they're doing?

Best, perhaps exclusive content is the way to go. That way, you're not repeating what other people say and you're actually adding value for your visitors.

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn.

As the link building strategy becomes more and more difficult (at least by some), people are seeking out alternatives to the standard two-way linking practice. In a WebmasterWorld thread, a member is looking at a triangular link strategy which wouldn't be directly reciprocal but he's hoping that he'll still benefit.

Would you do it? If you're looking for reciprocal links, three-way linking isn't much better. Furthermore, if the goal is to outwit Google, Google knows (a lot).

Ask yourself why you're even engaging in 3-way linking. Is it to help you or is it to help your audience? Again, you need to consider what your users want first.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

A DigitalPoint Forums thread has the owner of a Google Maps mashup named Speed Trap get ready for being mentioned in the New York Times. The publisher said his site will be featured in the NY Times online site and in the physical paper and he wants to prep his site for the traffic.

On one hand, he is worried about the traffic raising a red flag and possibly, as he puts it, getting him "dinged" in Google. But at the same time, he would like to optimize the AdSense ads on his site to ensure he places the ads where they will get the most valid exposure and make the most money.

So the other AdSense publishers are offering him advice on ad placement, server requirements, general usability and giving him a shout of support during this exciting time for him.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

A WebmasterWorld thread reports from dozens of Webmasters that GoogleBot, Google's web crawler has not been crawling as many documents as they have in the past. Many webmasters are noticing reduction in crawl rates as much as 90-percent, relative to historical numbers.

I am not sure how wide spread the issue is, or if it is an issue at all. It might be just more efficient crawling or it may be something else.

But this can cause a lot of concern for SEOs and webmasters. Here are some quotes on that concern:

Almost had heart attack when I saw the graph drop off to nothing.

Those three days starting 4/22 had me tearing my hair out.

Again, I don't know yet if it was a Google issue or just new behavior that should be expected from GoogleBot. Maybe a Google rep will chime in via the comments. But if you see a slow down in crawling from GoogleBot, I would not worry just yet.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google's AdWords blog announced that all US based advertisers should now be able to participate in Google's TV Ads.

Honestly, I think Google opened this up to all US advertisers on April 11th or the day before and just announced it today. Personally, I am a US advertiser and I still don't see the option, maybe something on my account is flagged as not liking TV. I do have clients that clearly have the TV ad option.

To entice advertisers to try TV ads, Google is offering a promotion that will cover the cost of producing a commercial - up to $2,000.

In any event, here is a screen shot of the start page:

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.