May 12, 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 12, 2008"

A High Rankings Forum member talks about how he has a variety of sites that are all networked on the same server with the same owner. They're not related topically, but there are some subpages where adding links may be of value to search engines and visitors. Would it be bad to link to pages in the same link network? Are there any risks?

It depends, actually. If you're trying to hide the relationship between sites, as one says, it's deceptive and could be dangerous. On the other hand, if you're being open about the relationship and linking where appropriate, it should be fine.

Another option is to add "our link network" to the footer of the site to bring other people to your other pages. It's not as topical, but it may drive traffic. However, that may not necessarily be the kind of traffic or links you're aiming for, so that is totally up to you.

The forum discussion that ensues is informative, so take a read at High Rankings Forum.

Numerous new Google AdSense publishers are reporting that they are trying to get their phone numbers verified with Google AdSense in the UK, but Google is not calling their phone numbers to complete the verification process.

AdSensePro Ashley writes that this seems to be a problem and Google is aware and is working on it.

Thanks for your reports. Please be assured that we are aware that some publishers are currently unable to complete the phone verification process. We are working to fix this issue.

I guess the only solution for now is to wait.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

A forum member pointed out that the Yahoo Ambassador Program signup page is no longer accepting new members. I'm not able to find any news on this story at press time, but I do have a screenshot of the page:

The question remains: is Yahoo dropping Search Marketing altogether? Forum members say they can still log in and see their reports, but that makes sense for the time being. Maybe, instead, they are dissolving the program and focusing more on Google ads. One doesn't know until someone at Yahoo tells us what's going on.

With that said, what's up, Yahoo? :)

Forum discussion continues at High Rankings Forum.

A featured WebmasterWorld thread has a fun list of "not to do with your AdSense account because Google might ban you for these things." Here is the list complied by a new member, BrandNewDay:

• Click your own ads
• Asking other people to click your ads
• Joining a program that promises you that people will click your ads if you click their ads
• Telling all your friends about your sites
• Exchanging Adsense code with other people or programs
• Buying and/or operating so called "Adsense ready sites"
• Having sites with only ads and/or search results on them
• Taking/stealing other peoples content without their permission

Of course, with any list like this, there are arguments and discussion about the details.

Later on, WebmasterWorld moderator, httpwebwitch, adds some more:

• allow malware to be installed on your server, or on the machine which is used to access the account
• use any of those "adsense click tracking" JavaScripts
• allow multiple people to log in to the account using the same password
• log in through an anonymizing proxy
• hack into the system and start requesting Adsense ads in raw XML
• mess around with the iframe in which they're displayed
• try to sidestep the cross-domain scripting limitations using a server proxy

The list can go on forever. One thing you should not do, a huge AdSense No-No, in my opinion, is obsess over each rule.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

The folks at WebmasterWorld really look at every fine detail when it comes to Google's search behavior. Moderator, Receptional Andy said he noticed that when searching in Firefox at Google, Google would append an HS parameter in the URL, when clicking from search result page to search result page.

For example, conduct a search for anything at Google using the Firefox search bar. Then move your mouse over the next link at the bottom of the Google results. If you look, you will notice an HS parameter. It looks like this:

It is not found in the first search URL, but only when you click next and only when the search is initiated when using the Firefox search bar. Here are the parameters I find after the HS=, cWW, hyB, oyB, WJr, and they keep going.

What does it exactly mean? I am not sure. It seems to be assigned on a page by page level, and only with Firefox.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Yahoo's contextual product, Yahoo Publisher Network, Yahoo's Google AdSense product, almost three years later is still failing to compete with Google globally. The Yahoo Publisher Network launched on August 3, 2005, back then as a beta, exclusive to US based publishers only. Still, almost three years later, Yahoo refuses to take YPN globally.

Why am I writing about this now? Well, I guess the three threads per day on "When is YPN coming to [location]? finally got to me. I have asked Yahoo in the past when it would be expanding this product. They never really gave me an answer. I assume it has to do with not wanting to deal with certain issues when it comes to handling publisher details outside the US. Of course, there are some exceptions to the rule but on a whole, they have no expanded the product outside of the US.

Will they ever? I would think so - but right now, doesn't seem like something on the schedule. Will forum members ever stop asking? After three years, the threads keep coming - so I doubt it.

We should really get some type of statement from Yahoo on this. Does Yahoo have plans to launch YPN globally? If so, approximately when? Will the roll out be in specific markets, like you did with the new Panama launch?

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and the search engines and search industry blogs/forums had special themes and logos up for the day. Here is a compilation of the logos I found:

Google:

Yahoo (Flash):

Dogpile:

Ask.com

Cre8asite Forums

Search Engine Roundtable

Plus today, Google has a special logo on Google.co.uk for Florence Nightingale:

To view last years Mother's Day logos from the search engine industry, click here. Also, Gary Price has his quick Mother's Day facts.

Forum discussion at Cre8asite Forums, Search Engine Roundtable Forums, and DigitalPoint Forums.