Search Engine Roundtable: Search Buzz RoundUp Archives

July 3, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: July 3, 2009

In this week's video recap, we discuss the July Google webmaster report, a lot has happened over the past 30 days. Google may have had a PageRank quirk. Google penalized the porn industry and then reversed it. Google is messing with international search filters. Many of you like the new Bing commercials. Bing tries real-time search with Twitter answers. Microsoft adCenter has a quality based ranking team. Google announces the new AdWords API, v2009. Google has payment issues with Australian AdSense publishers. Selling SEO before the site is developed, is not easy. Google insults their top forum help contributors. Have a wonderful July 4th weekend! That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HD."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at July 3, 2009 6:05 PM Comments (0)

June 26, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: June 26, 2009

I'm back this week after surviving the possible Swine Flu and getting the new iPhone 3GS, catch last week's text recap in case you missed it. This week, we quickly talk about the new and frequent toolbar PageRank update. We also discuss Bing's search spike, possibly due to spam tests and how you may want to reallocate your marketing budgets. Google is asking webmasters for suggestions, so go get it. Google told us why they shorten URLs. Google AdSense is adding up and I explain why. Google tests new commission or pay for performance based product ads. Google tests Google AdSense for Apps for the iPhone and Android. AdWords My Client Center might be frustratingly buggy. Google Export Advisor is a nice tool to help your SEM efforts globally. I gave tips on getting into Google Finance. Michael Jackson death sends shock waves through the Internet. I recapped the Father's Day logos and Summer Google logo even the controversial "Winter" Google logo. That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HD."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 26, 2009 5:25 PM Comments (0)

June 19, 2009

(Text) Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: June 19, 2009

I am skipping the video this week, simply because I am a bit sick and my new iPhone is arriving anytime now. So here is the text recap of what we covered at the Search Engine Roundtable over the past week. We covered possible evidence that Google penalizes on a page by page basis. Google began truncating URLs to one line and removed the file size from the search results snippet. Matt Cutts chimed in about the PageRank sculpting with nofollow. Will you add the common tag to your site? Google changes linkage data reports in Webmaster Tools. Bing does instant translation. Google AdSense gives us font control. AdSense publishers may be losing out from translate and cache. Google is working on a mobile AdWords interface. Microsoft sends a $750,000 warning to click fraud. Our poll on if SEOs are seen as criminals is live.

Hopefully, we will be back next week with the video recap. Have a great weekend and happy Father's Day!

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 19, 2009 9:25 AM Comments (0)

June 13, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: June 12, 2009

In this week's video, I discuss the recent debate on if Google sees SEOs as criminals or not. I also discuss how Google is now notifying webmasters after they review a site. Google updated the webmaster tools design, added a major feature for domain change and also added email notifications. Google UK is suffering from a major influx. 70 percent of our readers actually like Bing. Google continues test of images between the snippet and the display URL. Google appeals and beats AdSense publisher in appeals court. Google sent the wrong publisher the wrong check. Google released a new iPhone friendly iGoogle. People are upset that Google showed a Tetris logo on D-Day, while Bing did the right thing. Facebook is launching usernames. That was this week on the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HQ."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 13, 2009 10:00 PM Comments (0)

June 5, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: June 5, 2009

In this week in search, I discuss how Matt Cutts of Google's statements on the nofollow attribute used for PageRank sculpting has sent shock waves through the industry. I discuss that topic for a while, so you may want to listen to it. Yahoo Search had a confirmed algorithm and index update. Google's search snippets can be dangerous and might even get you sued. Microsoft launched Bing early, people like it but it wasn't added to Google Analytics, doesn't seem to support the NOODP tag and hijacked IE6 users. AdWords is testing a very neat feature named Bid Simulator. Google Local Business Center added nice analytics. Google Square is live, what should SEOs know about it. SMX Advanced was this passed week, don't miss the live blogging. That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HQ."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 5, 2009 4:10 PM Comments (0)

May 29, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: May 29, 2009

In this week's video, which I created on Thursday, but published on Friday, we discussed several SEM topics. First, there was a Google Toolbar PageRank update. Google is testing new click tracking. Can Google rank pages higher on certain days? Most SEOs will try Google's new rich snippet markups. Rich snippets only show up in Google US. 80% of SEOs feel they can beat Wikipedia in Google. Most SEMs prefer the new AdWords trademark policy. 76% of SEMs don't fully trust Google's keyword tool. The local search ranking factors released a version two this week. Google finally commemorates memorial day and we got the logo recap for you. That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HD."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at May 29, 2009 11:00 AM Comments (0)

May 23, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: May 22, 2009

In this 13 minute video recap, I go quickly through the past two weeks of search news. First, I had a baby girl, so that is why I missed the recap last week. Google made major changes named search options, wonder wheel, timeline, rich snippet markups, search suggestions and news and blog search were updated. Google and Yahoo Japan has a search index update. AdWords shows all queries now. Google tests one line product AdWords ads. Yahoo Search ads test favorite icons. Slow sites do better on AdSense? Google AdSense doesn't work on linux. Google Profile profiles have filters on occasion. Microsoft gets ready to relaunch search. Safka leaves Ask.com. SEO companies are springing up like dandelions. That was this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HD."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at May 23, 2009 9:40 PM Comments (0)

May 8, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: May 8, 2009

In this week's recap, we have your Google May webmaster report. I also polled about 400 search marketers who told me that there is 7% unemployment in the search marketing industry, while 25% are self-employed. I discussed three major issues where Google Maps can seriously impact your business. Twitter hopes to improve their search engine. Wolfram Alpha has high expectations. Google launches a publisher center for Ad Planner. Google tests "review this site" link in the search results. Matt Cutts tests Google's 302 redirect handling. We spotted porn on iGoogle from Google Gadgets. Google Checkout begins charging fees. That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HD."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at May 8, 2009 6:30 PM Comments (0)

May 1, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: May 1, 2009

In this week's search recap, I covered several topics on search. I started off with how Google's localized search engines may have some geo targeting issues. Google ran up a $30,000 bill for some new advertiser. Google has a major issue with merging business data on Google Maps. Microsoft stopped faking the search referrals, for now. You can trick AdWords into giving you longer titles with keyword insertion. Google updated their AdSense program policies, this is a big one. Publishers are upset with Google over delayed AdSense payments. Google might ban you if you don't update your privacy policy. Google fashioned a Morse code logo this week. Some are looking to make money off the Swine Flu. That was this week in search from the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HD."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at May 1, 2009 3:25 PM Comments (0)

April 24, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: April 24, 2009

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft all reported pretty poor earnings this quarter, in fact, they all made history. I talked about how Google handles expired domains. Google's Gray bar PageRank score, what does that mean? I show how you can verify your profile in Google. Use Google's new Similar Image search feature. Microsoft is still faking their search referral data. Google began to push the new AdWords user interface on advertisers. Google also allows Google Base users to enhance their AdWords listings. SEOs are excited for the new Google Analytics API. Microsoft opens up ContentAds a bit more. Google AdSense beta tests category filters. Jeeves comes back in the UK. At the end of the show, I showed off the Earth Day logos from the industry. Thanks for listening and reading the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HD."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at April 24, 2009 7:05 PM Comments (0)

April 17, 2009

(Text) Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: April 17, 2009

In this week's recap, I discuss several topics after going offline for a 50 hour period. That is why I look and act incredibly tired. In any event, we discussed the changes noticed at Google over the past couple weeks. Google confirms they will be changing the referral strings and we discuss why. Google Blog search updates link operator, finally. One line Sitelinks are here to stay. Google still showing different results for different case. SEO works, it is that simple. Video SEO tips from yours truly. Do all links look like links? Yahoo's new targeting feature may be flawed. I published several SEO polls, which I discuss. Google reported earnings and realized their first decline in revenue since going public. That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

FYI, I created a video and accidently deleted it. I am way too tired to make a new one, so here it the text version. I'll be back next week.

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at April 17, 2009 11:20 AM Comments (0)

April 12, 2009

(Text) Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: April 12, 2009

Due to the Passover holiday, I am only posting a text recap for the past week's coverage here at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Google is making local queries more generic. There was link building prior to Google, see my write up on it, with Eric Ward's excellent comment. AdWords employee may have stepped over the line, ShoeMoney sues. Google testing a Twitter ad unit? Google ups the competitive ad filter. Publishers are still optimistic about earning potential. Amazon ditches affiliates who use search ads. Google is the newspapers best friend. Easter logos are hard to find.

Next week, I hope to post a video recap.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at April 12, 2009 11:01 AM Comments (0)

April 3, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: April 3, 2009

Google and the rest of the search industry had a lot of fun with April Fools' Day hoaxes, I recap them in the video. Google had a PageRank update on April 1st, no foolin. Yahoo Search updated earlier this week. Google continues classic, one line, Sitelinks test. Publishers accuse Google of stealing AdSense earnings. AdSense gives more email preferences to publishers. Google drops the video ad units from AdSense. AdWords encourages you to use the new beta interface now. Microsoft drops Ms. Dewey, the fun and witty search character. FeedBurner stats go haywire again. That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HD."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at April 3, 2009 5:35 PM Comments (1)

March 27, 2009

(Text) Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: March 27, 2009

I am in Israel now, so I am skipping the video this week. Here is the text based version of the weekly recap. Google seems to be pushing more search options on searchers through something being called Google Search Wheel. Google also added more search refinements and detailed (longer) snippets to Google web search. Google Blog Search finally pushed out their algorithm update for blogroll detectors. 23% of publishers say more than 75% of their income comes from Google AdSense. AdSense had major issues with double serving ads, which results in a reporting spike and a fix from Google. Did you know unpausing deleted campaigns can reactivate them in AdWords? Advertisers, publishers and affiliates are afraid over a new proposed bill that can tax more retailers. Google mobile has a big issue. iGoogle continues to sign people out. Did you know you can get Google to remove porn for Google Suggest? That was this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Next week, I am back with the video recaps.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at March 27, 2009 1:37 AM Comments (1)

March 20, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: March 20, 2009

Today's Search Video I talk quickly about the logos for the first day of Spring, and also St. Patrick's day logos. Google finally spoke about the AJAX pages. Yahoo added features to search marketing product. Google AdWords tests favorite icons. AdWords keyword tool has a bug. Yahoo Directory might be free. I offered three link building tips. I also gave two SEO tips. Don't fall for a potential Google money scam. SEOs are split on need to specialize. I won't be at SES NY and no video next week. That is what we covered this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play at hit "HQ."

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at March 20, 2009 4:22 PM Comments (2)

March 13, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: March 13, 2009

Google launched a new beta for advertisers to target users based on their interests and online behaviors. Don't worry, AdSense publishers can opt out. AdSense had a major contextual relevancy bug that results in lots of lost money. Utah's House passed a law banning trademarked keywords for search ads. Google pushed off the Blog Search update. Microsoft is discontinuing their adCenter analytics. Google's keyword tool had major issues this week. SEM companies are weathering the recession just fine, according to a recent poll. 55 percent of SEO's won't take on pay for performance deals. Spaced out nofollow attributes currently don't pass value. Google Docs had a major security breach. Google Maps can't help you find a lost car but it may send horny men to your office. That was this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at March 13, 2009 1:15 PM Comments (0)

March 6, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: March 6, 2009

Please let me know if you prefer the longer videos in the comments area. Google may have updated PageRank, but the "brand push" is called the "Vince" change. I talk in detail about the "Vince" change and why webmasters are upset. A publisher takes Google to small claims court and wins. You can close down your competitors in Google Maps. Google emails webmasters about malware, again. Microsoft preps new search engine, Kumo. Ask.com just went to far when they started framing search results again. Google UK is testing one line Sitelinks. SEOs still fear the Google supplemental index. Google does expandable AdSense ads. Google AdSense adds Euro reports after exchange rate complaints. AdSense updated their home page. Google delayed payments to some advertisers by three months. AdWords title bug shows more than 25 characters. Is business improving for you in the past two weeks? Finally, happy Square Root day! Again, please let me know about the length and to see the full video, you need to use the iTunes feed or download the original file (I am working on getting an extended YouTube account). That was this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

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posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at March 6, 2009 1:35 PM Comments (1)

February 27, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: February 27, 2009

In this week's edition, I covered Yahoo's new ad tools that should help them gain support. Also, I discussed Google Search's recent "brand push." Google Blog Search is still working on a solution. I discussed in more detail, the link clique concept - worth watching, in my opinion. Yahoo lowered minimum bids for some advertisers. Google updates their image index again. Google News added 20,000 new sources. Google News also dropped publishers by accident. AdWords is requiring you to link to your Analytics account. Google joined Twitter! We got the Mardi Gras logos archived. That was this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at February 27, 2009 11:50 AM Comments (0)

February 20, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: February 20, 2009

I covered a lot of news in this 10 minute video. I wish I could make them longer, but YouTube has a 10 minute limit. In this recap, I covered the Yahoo Search video ads. Google tests SearchWiki on AdWords. Google now lets publishers pick their fonts. Google decided to slap AdWords advertisers this week. Google now requires pricing in Ringtone ads. Google's reporting engine flipped on the weekend. Google begins offer searcher tips. Can you hijack Google Translate? 70% of AdSense publishers report lower earnings last month. Fake news makes its way onto Google News. Google scores a D at the BBB. Google Webmaster Tools has a Sitemap bug and a link reporting bug. AdWords API extends February 23rd deadline to March 9th. Happy Valentines day and Presidents day, we got the logos covered! That is the news from the past week from the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at February 20, 2009 11:10 AM Comments (0)

February 13, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: February 13, 2009

This week was SMX West, and I shared my personal favorite sessions and our new way of live blogging them. I would love to hear your feedback on our new live blogging platform, so please let me know what you thought. The search engines announced a new tag to help with duplicate content, a canonical tag. Google Japan got penalized for buying links. Google got into pornography trouble twice with maps and once with search suggestions. Google had a bug that stopped payments to publishers. Google tells some advertisers to take a hike. Some SEO companies instill fear in their clients. Google is testing images in Google Blog Search Alerts. That recaps the news in the past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at February 13, 2009 12:10 PM Comments (1)

February 6, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: February 6, 2009

Back from my quasi-vacation, we did text recaps the past two weeks, but I am back to the video recap now. This week we covered a Yahoo Search update. I also discussed the implications of Google's AJAX search result pages. Google is seriously bugging out, possibly due to budget cuts, resulting in 6 somewhat major bugs in just a week. SEOs have a new opportunity with the new "Did you mean" results in Google. AdWords AdWords Product PlusBox seems to be here to stay. Google tests new bulk AdWords diagnosis tool. The economy is taking a toll on publishers. AdSense is testing a new ad format. We have Super Bowl and Groundhog Day logos for some search engines. SMX West is next week, we got live coverage and hope to see you there! That is the past week of search news at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at February 6, 2009 10:50 AM Comments (1)

January 30, 2009

(Text) Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: January 30, 2009

I am still on that quasi vacation so, this will be a text recap, instead of the video recap. Next week, I hope to resume the videos, because I know how much you guys love looking at me.

This week, I covered over twenty-five threads, the topics I found most interesting were the following. Matt Cutts discussed how Google reacts to Google Bombs. Google also is testing favorite icons to the search results. Yahoo explained why they are doing auto-optimization for some advertisers. Google has a new display URL policy, which might be a big deal for some advertisers. Google's new did you mean feature seems to be here for good. People are seeing AdSense in AOL instant messenger. Google pushes the new interface to some AdWords advertisers. Google fixes SMS search. The click fraud rate is higher. Google helps parents catch their son looking at porn. Yahoo and Google celebrate New Years. Those were the highlights this week from the Search Engine Roundtable.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at January 30, 2009 5:57 AM Comments (0)

January 23, 2009

(Text) Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: January 23, 2009

I am currently in Israel on a quasi vacation, so I need to skip the video part of this recap. If you are in Israel and want to meet up with me, I am heading to the Jerusalem Web Professionals meet up, this Wednesday night January 28th at 8pm (local time). It is at PresenTense Offices on 64 Emek Refa'im (1 Flight up above the Bridal Shop). You need to register either over here or on Facebook. Hope to see you there!

In terms of the recap, here are, what I feel, the most important topics of the past week. Google had a minor PageRank update that turned out to be from a canonical URL cleanup that Google was running, so the PageRank update was not real. Yahoo and Ask.com seemed to have updated as well. Google leaked site penalties through a Hyves trick. I covered Google's new "Preferred Sites" extension to SearchWiki. Also, Google and Microsoft announced earnings. Google Image search seemed to have updated. Google said the AdSense earnings were down due to cleaning up arbitrage sites. Google's new AdSense code may invalidate your web site's HTML. Google is late on paying some publishers. Inauguration day fell flat for many publishers. Google Blog Search may have issues indexing your content. Google did away with the iGoogle version for the iPhone. Google and Yahoo didn't have a special logo for Inauguration Day, but did have logos for Martin Luther Kind Day. Here are links to these stories:

Hope to see you at the Jerusalem Tech Meetup, if you are here! Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at January 23, 2009 6:50 AM Comments (0)

January 16, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: January 16, 2009

In this week's recap, I discuss Yahoo's new CEO, Carol Bartz. I talk about how the recession is impacting Google. Google is testing out longer descriptions in the search results. Google Sitemaps gets credit for faster crawling and indexing. Google made a new Sitemap generator. Google is consistently showing search ads on image search. AdSense publishers had the optimization reports. The AdSense competitive ad filter doesn't work. Yahoo Publisher Network might be bust. Yahoo turns on the content network for some. If your Google Sitelinks disappear, do you freak out? I have screen captures of the new YouTube ads. Finally, I share the poll results, over 1,100, on Google's new favorite icon. That was this past week in search from the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at January 16, 2009 11:53 AM Comments (0)

January 9, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: January 9, 2009

We have paused our text based weekly recaps, in lieu of the video edition. As always, I will sum up in a paragraph the topics I discuss at greater length in the video and provide links to more details below. Do let us know how much you may miss the weekly text based recaps.

In this weeks recap, I go on a three-minute rant about Yahoo not only changing their policy giving them the right to make changes to advertiser's campaigns without permission or notice, but also actually doing so after the major outcry from our industry. I then discuss the new budget beta being tested by Google AdWords. I move into the SEO topic of getting your content crawling more quickly, through Sitemaps, FeedBurner and other methods. I discuss why the Sitemaps report may have less results than a site command. Did you know it may take three months to transfer PageRank from URL to URL - or is that just a toolbar delay? Have you experienced the SEO "honeymoon period." Most SEOs feel the PageRank data in Webmaster Tools is useless. Google Trends was attacked and it hurt. That was this past week in search from the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at January 9, 2009 12:05 PM Comments (0)

January 2, 2009

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: New Years 2009

In this week's recap, I wish our readers and viewers a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009. Google updated the toolbar PageRank scores, but it seems like the search results both here and internationally were updated also. Live Search is using MSNBOT-Media to crawl JavaScript files. Google got hit with wildcard domain issues. Google Alerts is trigger happy. Google shows a did you mean answer for a child day care service, leading to a porn site. Google's strict image search option shows more porn than the moderate search. Danny Sullivan slaps Microsoft on their search initiatives. Microsoft's Content Ads program is doing poorly. Google AdSense is offending overweight people. Happy 2009 everyone!

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at January 2, 2009 11:05 AM Comments (0)

January 2, 2009

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 01/02/09: New Year's Edition

This is my last SearchBuzz RoundUp post for awhile, so enjoy it while you have a chance. This week, we rang in 2009. What happened?

Happy New Years '09
Very cool search engine logos have been posted this year. Google had a cool 2009 logo that still somewhat resembled "Google." Even Cre8site, Bruce Clay, and Baidu had cool logos.

Google's Results Run Wild
Google had a PageRank update this week, and then we saw some major changes in the SERPs. In fact, on the international side, the results are very odd to those familiar with the usual rankings.

Microsoft Crawls Through Javascript
Microsoft is taking a clue and is using the MSNBot-Media crawler to get the data behind Javascript. This is good and innovative -- and since Google has been doing it for awhile, it's about time the other search engines did the same.

Google's Wildcard Domain Bug
An interesting observation with a wildcard domain was spotted this week. I'm able to replicate it on my end too. I wish I had a site like that with all page 1 results. Just kidding. ;)

Google Alerts Accuracy Report
There have been reports of Google Alerts sending out irrelevant alerts to individuals subscribed to them. I've seen something similar but not 100% and it's related to the blogroll issue we reported earlier. Fun.

Google Is Not Kid Friendly
Don't search for child day care centers on Google. The search term for the particular search in question is so rare (and "misspelled") that Google recommends a porn site in the "Did You Mean?" column. Well, I guess I was wrong when I said that people don't primarily use Google to search for kinky stuff. Sheesh, people.

On that note, Google's "strict" image searching is not strict at all. Don't look if you don't like nude images with your breakfast.

Microsoft: Not So Good
This week, Danny Sullivan smacked Microsoft with some advice they should actually take seriously. Unfortunately for my friends in the Live Search team who really ROCK, it is evident that the higher-ups don't care. And that is sad -- and that's why Microsoft deserved everything it got from Danny.

On another note, Microsoft ContentAds are getting bad CTR. Then again, the information is now private and I'm hearing that ads are performing badly across the board.

Fat People Should Slim Down
...at least according to Google's AdSense ads. People are spotting more and more ads targeting fat people and some are finding it offensive. Are you?

Have a nice 2009 all!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at January 2, 2009 8:51 AM Comments (0)

December 26, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: December 26, 2008

Happy Holidays from the Search Engine Roundtable. I go through the various holiday logos, talk about how Googler's are working on Christmas, how they paid publishers early and how some earned less over the past holiday. In addition, I discuss a comment Matt Cutts left on how bounce rates have no impact on rankings. I then go through a list of things Google won't do, a myth thing. I mentioned a possible Google PageRank update. Google is working through the blog link command issue. Google added search by style options. I mocked newbies, well - not really. Finally, I thank you all for reading and participating in our five years of writing at the Search Engine Roundtable. Thank you and have a Happy Holidays!

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at December 26, 2008 11:35 AM Comments (3)

December 26, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 12/26/08: It's Not as Dead as You'd Think this Holiday Week

Happy holidays! Some of you are still celebrating and that's quite all right - enjoy the 4-5 day weekend while you can! But you've missed some happenings and we're ready to serve!

Holidays, holidays, holidays
Yesterday, people celebrated Christmas. Google anticipated the holiday for 5 days with a unique logo but we've also done some cool stuff over here at Search Engine Roundtable. Have you seen it yet?

And while we alluded to that 5 day weekend, not everyone at Google was celebrating. JohnMu visited the forums on Christmas like one helluva dedicated guy. :)

Finally, you might have gotten your Google AdSense or Yahoo publishing network checks early this year, but don't expect to have earned a lot yesterday. It was a pretty slow holiday week.

Google: Probably Not Accounting for Bounce Rate in the Algo
Matt Cutts semi-confirmed that the Google search team is probably not accounting for bounce rates because they are spammable and noisy. He suggests that the Google Analytics guys care a lot more about bounce rates than the Search Quality Team.

Other things the Google Search Quality Team Doesn't Do
People don't like what Google does but they really don't necessarily know what Google does or doesn't do. JohnMu confirms what Google doesn't do which includes Google crawling differently on sites they don't agree with, large companies being able to influence how Google crawls their websites, that crawlers can damage sites, and that Google will react to spam reports when a website is clearly not in violation of any rules. Seriously -- for at least the first three of these, it's a little outrageous to put the blame on Google.

Google Toolbar PageRank Update, Perhaps
Numerous webmasters reported a Google PageRank update. Have you noticed anything?

Google Fixing Blogroll Links in Blog Search
While I'm still encountering issues with inaccurate Google Alerts due to blogroll links showing up in Google Blog Search, Google's team is acknowledging that they're fixing it. I hope so!

Google Image Search Enhancement: Cool
If you haven't noticed yet, you can now search by style in Google Image Search. That means you can distinguish line art from photographs and faces and more. Whee!

Let's Make Fun of SEO Newbies
There's a Google Webmaster Help thread that pokes fun at SEO newbies. Hey guys, I bet you were all n00bs once!

Happy Birthday to Us
Search Engine Roundtable is 5 years old and Barry has celebrated the year by writing a "year in review" post. Whoooooooooosh!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at December 26, 2008 9:49 AM Comments (0)

December 21, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: December 21, 2008

As the year rounds out, the search news gets a little more lax, but we still have plenty to talk about. I started off talking about how the white hats and black hats in the industry are seeing more eye to eye, of course, excluding those that hack sites. Live Search updated this week. Google is testing pagelinks, reviews, enhanced spelling and ads in search suggestions. How do Google data points work in the search results? And why do some Sitelinks get cut off? YouTube videos are now in Google Maps. Yahoo wil drop log data after 90 days. Google released AdWords Editor 7.0, with some bugs. Relevancy in AdSense is leading to offensive ads, while Google sends out offensive holiday cards? Cuil is allegedly doing comment spam but they deny it. SEOs say the ALT attribute improves search rankings.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

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Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at December 21, 2008 9:05 AM Comments (0)

December 19, 2008

Weekly SearchBuzz RoundUp: December 19, 2008 - Google's Enhancements, Yahoo's Data Retention & YouTube on Google Maps

It's almost the holidays! PARTAY! But until then, I have a recap for ya without any special frills. This week, we have some reports from SES Chicago, some news from Google, Yahoo's 90 day data retention policy, and then some. Keep reading for more.

Blackhats = Whitehats
After SES Chicago last week, Doug Heil is starting to see more like a black hat (or so he's changed his vision from 4 years ago when he may have thought differently about buying paid organic links). Today, he calls that paid advertising. He also considers some very well known blackhats in this industry "whitehat." Are the lines blurring? Maybe with the big players, we suspect, but there are definitely other blackhats out there who will practice until they realize that their strategies are not going to last.

Microsoft Live Search Update
There's really nothing to see here, but there was a Live search update that let a lot of spam on the top of the SERPs. This is why Microsoft isn't really getting that search share it wants, I suppose.

Google's Enhancements
Google will soon be sporting page enhancements, such a pagelinks (contrary to sitelinks, they link to your internal anchor text on one single page), reviews, and spelling correction (misspelled options plus the rightly-spelled option). Perhaps more worrisome is the fact that Google wants to add ads to Search Suggest. Ugh.

On the other hand, we're still wondering about the post counts we see in the SERPs and how inaccurate they seem. JohnMu, we're counting on you to help us figure this out.

Finally, some sitelink URLs are cut off and some people want to know why. In these particular instances, it seems to be related to a period in anchor text (or title tag). Apparently Google thinks that's the end of a sentence even though it refers to ASP.NET or VB.NET. Whoops.

Watch Your Videos on Google Maps
Cool stuff for videophiles: find more about a specific geographic region using Google Maps now via YouTube. You can now get a lot more information about a specific region with Google Maps's integration of YouTube. Search for something famous and look at what Google/YouTube offer you. Cool stuff.

[On a separate note, yesterday I realized that YouTube gets way too much attention and Google property GrandCentral is languishing. How about Google think about these other awesome properties that really can have potential? Or maybe Google can let someone who wants to invest their time in the property take the reigns on it instead. Please?]

Yahoo's 90 Day Data Retention Plan
Yahoo has decided to retain data for 90 days which is way shorter than other search engines. This will put pressure on Google, perhaps, but I don't think people will switch to any specific search engine for a data retention reason. Surprisingly, nobody is buzzing about it like they were last year.

Google AdWords Editor 7.0
Google took advantage of a holiday month to release AdWords Editor 7.0 but it doesn't come without bugs. That might be why nobody is really talking about the new release -- 6.5's release was announced, a lot of people downloaded it, and it was also laden with major bugs.

Google AdSense Not Faring Well Lately
There are two negative reports about Google AdSense lately. The first is that Google AdSense is targeting the wrong ads to sites -- including children's sites -- and people are pulling out of the program. The second is that the Google AdSense team is supposedly sending out holiday cards that look no more fishy than spam. Nobody wants to even come close to the emails. I'm not sure what's happening there but Google's desire not to embrace publishers because they appear to need money is starting to upset people a lot.

Cuil is Not Comment Spamming
Cuil says that they are not spamming your blog comments but some people believe that they may have hired someone to do their dirty work. In fact, why would anyone go such lengths to make the search engine look so bad (unless, of course, they WERE hired?) I don't know, but something smells fishy.

Does the ALT Attribute Improve Search Rankings? YES
We polled you and you said that the ALT attribute improves rankings. Well, 20% of you didn't agree with that, but the rest of you did. I'd love to know if either side has empirical evidence for backup.

That's all. So much for holiday cheer this week. Maybe next week. :)

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at December 19, 2008 10:30 AM Comments (1)

December 14, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: December 14, 2008

I rant about Google's expansion of their AdSense for Domains product. I also go off about making liquor ads acceptable but not allowing horse racing ads. In the future SearchWiki will impact rankings and click data might be already influencing rankings. Google banned themselves on Thursday. Yahoo is having 301 handling issues. Google is giving Analytics/AdSense integration and links on blogroll. Google serves AdSense via DoubleClick. You can block US visitors and not GoogleBot, and slow GoogleBot down with 503s. Google Zeitgeist loves Sarah Palin.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

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Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at December 14, 2008 10:00 AM Comments (0)

December 12, 2008

Weekly SearchBuzz RoundUp: 12/12/08 - Google Bans Itself, Yahoo's 301 Redirect Issues & Google's Economic Woes

I can't believe that there are less than 3 weeks till 2009. Insane, right?! I think so.

Google Expands AdSense for Domains = TEH SUCK
People are really pissed that Google is expanding AdSense for domains which is coming at a cost -- poor quality and lots of money. Google is starting to look like a greedy company who doesn't give a damn about its community members. This can't be good.

Google's Economic Woes Still Seen in Alcohol Biddin but Why do they DisallowHorse Racing?
To expand on the greedy mentality of the search giant, we see that Google lets you bid on hard liquor nowadays. Do you want a loan, Google?

But at the same time, Google is disallowing horse racing ads from running because they're a "poor match for AdWords." Really? Or is there something else that Google isn't telling us?

SearchWiki and Click Data May Be Counted
Google is obviously going to be mum on the real answers to their ranking algorithm, but click data may be used, or perhaps we really don't know. However, Marissa Mayer suggests that SearchWiki data may be used for rankings in the future -- that is, if thousands of people vote down a site that sucks, I guess.

Google Bans Itself?
Last night, numerous Google searches were not bringing up Google results. The thought is that Google may have banned itself for a short period of time. We're waiting for a Google representative to comment. In the meantime, I think it's cool!

Yahoo Fixes 301 Redirects
It is unfortunate to spend so much time on 301 redirects and then find out that Yahoo search forgot to acknowledge them. However, a day later, we reported to you that it was a temporary inconvenience.

Google AdSense and AdWords Goodies
Well, Google isn't the bad guy completely this week. Google is accepting applications to get AdSense integration in Google Analytics, though I ask why they need applications and can't just integrate it. I think it's because they are rolling it out to everyone later on, but it still confuses me.

Google is also considering an official AdWords forum blogroll and you can get your site added on it if you participate in the forum discussion. Come on, we want more votes for SERoundtable!

Google Tracking Ads via DoubleClick
Google's DoubleClick acquisition is finally materializing to something, I suppose, with the DoubleClick ad tracking that we're observing. It's also possible that this impacted earnings this past weekend, but we're not 100% sure.

Googlebot, Go AWAY -- and Come Back Later
Googlebot lives in the US. So do millions of internet surfers. How do you block US surfers and allow Googlebot in so that those foreign visitors can find you (but of course, not the US guys?) Some sites do need this! It's suggested that you implement a "JavaScript-based interstitial that verifies the IP address and otherwise blocks access to your site."

And what if your site is too busy for Googlebot? Return a 503 code so that it doesn't come to you during those times.

Google's Zeitgeist Released
Facebook login is #3 in Google's Zeitgeist 2008, which is beyond me. Sarah Palin though -- she's #1. I can't question that one. In any event, Google finally released their most popular searches this year. Are you surprised?

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at December 12, 2008 11:14 AM Comments (0)

December 7, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: December 7, 2008

Google got me angry when they called gift giving at this time, "inappropriate." It is hard time, but SEMs stick together. Google updated webmaster tools with enhanced features. Google fixed an IFrame spam classifier bug. Google Blog Search's link command should be fixed now. Google Webmaster Help moved. Google is testing text ads on image search. Google AdSense is spammy around the holiday season. Google, Yahoo and Ask.com released their most popular searches for 2008. Friday was Day of the Ninja and we had a theme.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at December 7, 2008 8:40 AM Comments (0)

December 5, 2008

Weekly SearchBuzz RoundUp: 12/5/08 - Google's Frugal Christmas, Popular 2008 Searches, Ninja Day

Welcome to December, where all your holiday wishes should come true. Hopefully you're finally recovered from last week's turkey (though if it were up to me, I'd have some more. Too bad I didn't eat at home!) And hopefully you also gained some money during Cyber Monday if you're an advertiser (or got a great deal if you're just a smart shopper). Now that it's Friday, check out this week's news in search:

Google: Cheapskates
I'm in 100% agreement with Barry that Google is stingy and obnoxious about not sending their advertisers -- those who made Google millions of dollars -- tokens of appreciation for the holiday season. How about you realize that their contributions are valuable and reward them in kind? Chances are Google is making a lot more than any individual advertiser, and I'm sure they'd appreciate the goodwill from Google. Heck, I know they would.

Meanwhile, Some People are Lucky
Google may have canceled gifts for most advertisers, but some got Google gifts. Doesn't that make you even more jealous that Google only seems to care about a subset of you? Seriously.

At Least the SEM Industry Cares for its Own
Let's face it, this economy sucks. A lot of people are being affected and a lot of people are just being cautious even though there's probably nothing to worry about. A layoff as reported in the industry turned into a support forum for those who have been similarly impacted. It's nice that people care about others in this industry.

Have You Seen Google's Webmaster Tools Today?
Google has updated its Webmaster Tools with some consolidated settings and more control over your crawl rate. We have some screenshots in case you're too lazy to log into Webmaster Tools yourself, but you might want to check it out. It's cool. Promise. (It doesn't replace lost holiday gifts, though.)

Google Fixes iFrame Spam Classifier
Matt Cutts acknowledged earlier this week that Google had a bug when classifying iFrames as spam. The cool part is that it's fixed. The cooler part is that Barry found this in a Google Groups thread. I don't blame him when he says that he loves finding gems deep in forum discussion; that's why it's fun to check out forums. Of course, it's also fun to check out our reporting of the forum discussion on Search Engine Roundtable.

Google Blog Search to Fix Blogroll Links
It was reported earlier that the Google was indexing content that wasn't part of blog posts, like a blogroll. Google has said that they'll remove this content. It's not happening immediately, but it's on the company's radar.

Google Webmaster Help Group Moves to New Forum
It's about time, but the Google Webmaster Help Group has finally moved over to the new format Google Groups forums. Now it'll be even harder for Barry to track who is writing on which threads! Guys, give us back the blue G for Google representation and let us track our favorite forum members. Please? I asked more than once already. :)

Cyber Monday Rocked!
Any Google AdSense publisher or Google AdWords advertiser seemed to have fared well this Cyber Monday. Lots of clicks, better Quality Scores -- what more can you ask for?

Google Monetizes Image Search
Google is testing ads on image search, it's reported. I noticed Michael Gray blog about it. It's ugly. But hey, it's what Google does to make money for your holiday gifts. Oh wait.

Google Contractors Fired, Results Get Spammy
After it was determined that Google got rid of 10k contractors, ironically (but probably not related) we're noticing that Google AdSense ads are pretty spammy lately. I wonder if there's less manpower, or maybe the issue is that there's less motivation.

I HATE SEARCHWIKI
We had a poll asking how interested you were in Google's SearchIcky application. It turns out that most of you hate SearchWiki. Almost 83% of you don't want it. So hey, when is Google going to make it optional and something we can turn on? Matt Cutts, you there?

Popular Searches for 2008 Revealed Across Three Engines
Google, Yahoo, and Ask revealed some of their top search terms for 2008. I thought that Google's Product Search data was most significant. It's cool to see that everyone wants gadgets. I'm not surprised; it's what I'd have searched for too!

Today is Ninja Day
Most ninjas think in black. Search Engine Roundtable thinks in black on a yellow background. We're celebrating the Day of the Ninja today, so be sure to do something stealthy like a ninja. K?

Speaking of which, do you think the pirates can beat the ninjas?

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at December 5, 2008 11:51 AM Comments (0)

November 28, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: November 28, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I am posting the video early in celebration of the special weekend. I spoke for a while on why SEO's should be careful when using a site command. I also spoke a while about link building companies and how they are being perceived these days. Google is allowing some advertisers the ability to show ads based on mobile devices or desktop devices. Yahoo had a search update. Live Search added malware reporting to Webmaster Tools. Google improved Street Views in Maps. Google is cutting on contractors. Will Google give out holiday gifts this year? SEMPO will be ringing the bell at the NASDAQ. Learn how to save on this year's holiday gifts with Live Search Cashback!

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at November 28, 2008 10:30 AM Comments (1)

November 28, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 11/28/08: Thanksgiving in the Industry, Google's Layoffs, and Microsoft Cash Back

Hope you guys had a great yesterday and a happy day today! Most of you I know aren't actually working, but some of us are, and we're going to make sure you're well-entertained today in what happened this week in the search industry.

Happy Thanksgiving!
How was your Thanksgiving? Hopefully you enjoyed turkey or tofurkey and spent some quality time with your family. I know I did. The search industry, naturally, celebrated with us with some high quality themes.

The site: Command isn't Reliable. Chill
Too many SEOs are obsessed with the site: command, but there's really no reason to be. The site: command doesn't always count the number of pages that are indexed in your site, so if you notice a drop, you shouldn't necessarily freak out. The thing is -- some people do. Perhaps it's better to think of alternative strategies, like looking at which keywords your site pages rank for.

Why Do People Consider Link Buying a Black Hat Tactic?
Last week, we had a blogger say that Microsoft endorsing link exchanges means they're approving a "black hat" tactic. Lately, too many people have considered link buying a black hat tactic too. Consequently, companies are trying to stop link buying and move to more "ethical" measures.

Yahoo Says it Updated -- Did it?
Yahoo said it was performing a search index update. But that's all that happened. Nobody knows if Yahoo did anything about an update, and they're just waiting and waiting and wondering what's next.

Malware in Live Search Tools
As anticipated at Pubcon, Live Search has added malware reporting to their Webmaster Tools arsenal. You can use this data to find out if malware is linking to you, or if you're linking to malware sites. I think this is a very cool idea.

Google's Street View Gets Better
Google is making street view more enhanced with new features. The pegman is now more visible and you can drag him from the zoom slider to activate street view. That's not all either: you can report concerns more easily and enjoy a mini map view to get two different views at all times. Cool.

Google Terminates Contractors - You Better Hope You Aren't One
Google seems to only value their long term employees, and instead has axed their contractors, which has been going under the radar for several months until someone caught wind of these activities. Looks like Google isn't as great as everyone thought it was.

And will Google Even Give Gifts This Year?
Now that we're in the midst of a recession and Google is dropping valued and dedicated contractors, should we expect gifts from them this year? It's that time -- do you think Google will deliver?

Google Releases Blogger Best Practice Guide
If you're a blogger and you're writing for search engines (I mean PEOPLE, people!), you should consider reading Google's blogger best practice guide which was released earlier this week.

SEMPO and NASDAQ = <3
SEMPO has been given a great honor to ring NASDAQ's bell next week. They may have struggled in their initial first year, but they have prevailed -- and now, you can see that SEMPO is shining. I'm very proud of all those who are participating in the honor. Congratulations!

Microsoft Cash Back Rocks!
My friend told me a few weeks ago that Microsoft Cash Back has made a $900 camera purchase $700 -- yes, a $200 savings. He used this trick to utilize Microsoft Cash Back and he's extremely happy. I guess you can win from utilizing Microsoft's search engine in this capacity, so take advantage of it while it lasts!

Have a good weekend!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at November 28, 2008 9:31 AM Comments (0)

November 23, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: November 23, 2008

In this week's recap, Yang steps down from Yahoo. Google launches SearchWiki. What are Google search results like. Google launches new keyword tool. Google doesn't cap AdSense. AdWords tests new interface. Yahoo lets you block more domains. Google splashes ads every where. Yelp gets some nasty forum discussion. Text Link Ads launches inLinks and link debate starts again. Google Sitelinks now appearing on sub domains. Videos are rocking the search results. Check out Google's voice enabled iPhone search app.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at November 23, 2008 10:30 AM Comments (1)

November 21, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 11/21/08: Jerry Yang Steps Down, TLA Inlinks.com, and We Yell About Yelp

Happy week before Thanksgiving! What are YOU doing next Friday? (Chances are, I'll be here blogging!) This week, we saw the biggest news of the month (or so I think), and that's where I'm going to start.

Jerry Yang, Ex-CEO of Yahoo
Yahoo's CEO Jerry Yang is stepping down. While he's a really nice guy, I'm sure they say, there has been sentiment that Yang was not a suitable candidate to be running the million- (billion?)- dollar company. Some say that Yang's problem was the fact that he was too attached to the company, and that probably led to the fact that Yahoo didn't innovate as much (to avoid fearful change, perhaps?). I don't know. Meanwhile, there's no turning back on a Yahoo-Microsoft deal (thanks Avi) -- it's just too late for Yahoo. Who will be the next CEO? We'll let you know when we find out.

Google's SearchWiki: Really?
Google announced a new SearchWiki program that lets visitors rearrange their search results as long as they're signed in. It's completely personalized, but it's also the default. Even I don't know what to do with this. Do you think the average user would? According to the poll we're hosting, 74% say NO. So--why make this default? Seriously?

Google Results Going Berserk Again
There's a November Google Search Update in our midst, with observations of a universal search yo-yo effect, emphasis on the H2 and metatags, cache cross-ups, and errors in Google's Webmaster Tools. What observations have you made?

Google's Search-Based Keyword Tool Launched
To make Google more of a profit, they've launched the Search Based Keyword Tool, which has the goal to let you know which keywords your customers are searching for on your site and thus which to advertise on. The result? A positive ROI, perhaps.

Google AdSense Publishers Requests
What would you want as an active Google AdSense publisher? A thread is collecting the the new Google AdWords interface? You can sign up or check the screenshots.

Yahoo Search Marketing: 500 Domains Blocked!
You can now block 500 domains on Yahoo Search Marketing, and people are thrilled. The question now is -- when is Google going to follow suit? (This is a good question for Yahoo folks, that's for sure!)

Google Ads EVERYWHERE
I had a dream last night and there was a Google ad in it the entire time. Okay, maybe not, but perhaps we're going to see more ads given Google's investment in advertising everywhere, including most recently in Google Finance. Hey, it's not a bad thing to add ads wherever people are looking. I just am waiting for the day when an ad shows up and I'm not looking.

Yelling about Yelp
I seemed to have started quite a ruckus when I regurgitated forum sentiment about Yelp -- that it's paying for positive comments (or rather, hiring telemarketers to make that claim) after summarizing what people thought and then reviewing relevant newspaper articles to reflect that sentiment. Someone from Yelp wanted to speak to me on the phone to clarify their stance. It's all and good, but when other people are making the statements that I merely am repeating, I'm a bit confused if Yelp should be reaching out to press people or to the people who feel they have been slighted. Further, if you don't know this by now, the Search Engine Roundtable bloggers barely put their personal opinions into posts; we're simply here to tell you what other people are saying on forums around the Internets as it relates to search marketing. Yeah. Now you know.

Link Debate Brawl over Text Link Ads Inlinks Program
Earlier this week, Text Link Ads launched inlinks.com, a "new" textual advertising program. To be honest, it's not new at all; inlinks have been around for perhaps 2 years now from said company. I can attest to the fact that Google knows about them also. Meanwhile, the fact that there's a claim that the FTC doesn't endorse this activity is causing a debate, but I repeat that this isn't news.

Have You Noticed Subdirectory Sitelinks?
Google is apparently showing sitelinks for subdirectories, which is a welcome change for a guy who runs his website off /blog.

You Compete Better with Video
Given that we have universal search, Google loves varied content. That's why it's great to integrate video into your site so that those results show up in the SERPs. Seriously -- video isn't hard to do. Barry's doing one on Sunday, just like old times.

iPhone Voice Activated App from Google
Google has released an iPhone voice activated application and Barry has strutted his stuff showing how it works. In a way, I want an iPhone, but in a way, I'm willing to wait until Apple considers the fact that not everyone wants AT&T. Thanks and have a nice day. :)

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at November 21, 2008 11:08 AM Comments (2)

November 14, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 11/14/08: Great PubCon Keynotes, Liveblogging Dispute & Veteran's Day

Guess what? The "con" part of PubCon is over and the guys are preparing to head to the pub later today. But alas, I'm back in New York -- like Barry, I took the red-eye. It's 11AM EDT (or 8AM, whatever) and I'm all confused about where I am and how I got here. But moving on...

PubCon Keynotes Rocked
I had the pleasure to liveblog the George Wright keynote at Pubcon. He talks about how, with a $50 budget, he made a viral phenomenon. It's pretty impressive to hear that kind of reinforcement when you have business objectives, don't you think?

The following day, we liveblogged Satya Nadella of Microsoft. They launched Project Silk Road, an API that looks pretty promising.

I'm Not Giving Up Liveblogging, Even if Barry Says I Should
There's a jerk on the Internet who wanted to get attention, so he blogged that we should stop liveblogging because our reporting is inaccurate. Then he says that he's upset because he has "liveblogged erroneously." Well, sorry that you suck at liveblogging, John, but that doesn't mean you have to attack two of the greatest livebloggers this industry has ever had. Meanwhile, the blog post that this John dude wrote evoked some heavy emotions and Barry is running a poll. Should we stop liveblogging? Answer us. And if you say "yes," identify yourself with a comment on the thread ~~so that we livebloggers can burn you in effigy~~.

Why is Google Using Blog Comments--and Not Public Forums--to Communicate with Webmasters?
Do you find it annoying when you report a problem on a blog post and Google chooses to respond on the blog and not in an "official" channel? Does it irk you that Google doesn't appear to use its own internal blogs to communicate these "bugs" or observations with the rest of the community? To some, it does. But for Google, it makes a lot of sense. Why should they worry an entire webmaster community if only some people are being impacted? What does this mean for you? Keep being active in the blogs, baby!

Google <3 SEO
Finally, after all this time, Google has finally released an SEO guide. It's a 22-page PDF with all this useful information, or so I hear (no, I didn't read it yet either). Now when is Google going to talk about linking?

Googlebot Won't Answer Your Calls if You Ignore Him
I have no idea why someone would block Googlebot and then realize later that this was a stupid decision and try to reinvite Googlebot back into his life. However, some guy does want to do that. How do you tell Googlebot to crawl your site again? The idea is to send signals to Google that you're interested in reigniting that flame: get more links, submit a sitemap, and whatever else you can do to call your site to Google's attention.

YouTube Sponsored Ads Broken
Isn't it nice when YouTube launches a new feature but it doesn't actually, erm, work? Barry tried to play with YouTube sponsored ads and got an internal error. What gives? (I think it has something to do with a Mac.)

Deleting Your Google Sitelinks May Not Remove them from Google
Apparently, a webmaster has discovered a bug in Google. When deleting his sitelinks, a webmaster realized that Google kept them intact. Five days later, the deleted sitelinks are still listed on the search engine. Hrm.

Argentina Doesn't Honor Free Speech
It sucks if you're living in Argentina and want to learn about a prominent figure. It seems that Argentina prefers censorship rather than allowing content to be discovered. Search engines were forced to comply with this legal measure, and well, I'm glad I live in America.

Veteran's Day Comes and Goes
With PubCon in our faces, many forgot that we celebrated Veteran's Day on Tuesday. Google forgot to honor people in the Coast Guard and eventually updated their logo. Dogpile and Yahoo joined in the fun too. Of course, so did we!

No Video on Sunday
Barry got a new MacBook Pro and I think he wants to play with it instead of making our video for Sunday. You'll just have to wait for him next week (sorry Sam!)

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at November 14, 2008 12:30 PM Comments (3)

November 9, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: November 9, 2008

In this weeks video recap, I covered the major news that Google's search engine had major quality issues and had to revert back the algorithm changes over the weekend. Part of that, we gave you an update on the current state of the Google search results. We asked if new signs show Google is dropping PageRank from the Toolbar. Google dropped Yahoo, and Microsoft no longer wants it. I spoke with Google's Nick Fox about AdWords. AdWords added trademark symbols to their keyword tool. Google is moving to new help forums. Ask.com brough Jeeves back, as a joke. But their algorithm is down the toilet. Most SEOs should get marketing or programming degrees. Should have Schmidt backed Obama publicly? 55% of us said no. Hope you voted on Election Day. We will be at PubCon in Las Vegas this week, hope to see you there!

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at November 9, 2008 8:45 AM Comments (1)

November 7, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 11/07/08: Google Search Breaks, Political Agendas in Ads & Ask.com Falls Apart

Happy Friday everyone! Today we're preparing for PubCon, but before that: here's what happened this week in search.

Google Screws Up Search Results
This past week, we've seen some crazy Google SERPs and not many people were happy. One even likened the results to Live.com. Ouch.

Google PageRank Being Dropped?
Google is removing PageRank from the toolbar -- you can turn it on, apparently, but some are wondering why it's off by default. However, others note in the comments of that post that if Chrome doesn't have it, then PageRank is slowly disappearing for good.

Yahoo and Google Break Up, and Microsoft ain't Interested
Earlier this week, Google and Yahoo dissolved their advertising agreement, which is unfortunately for... Yahoo. Worse, Techmeme reports that Microsoft doesn't want Yahoo either. And even worse, Terry Semel's daughter has asked people to Google her. Um, yeah.

Once Upon a Time, Google Gave You High-Ranking Ads
How does Google determine CTR of an ad? They test by putting ads ranked pretty high so that they can assess user interaction with the said ad. Did you know this? Barry didn't and he's shocked.

Your Trademarked Terms Are Visible in AdWords
If you have been using keywords that are trademarked, now you can see them as Google is now putting TM signs next to all trademarked keywords in Google AdWords.

Google Forums Changes
Google has upgraded its forums, and the AdWords Forum was one of the first to go. We're watching the discussion, but guys, it's hard to track the Google reps here, so GOOGLE: please bring back the blue "G" next to the username. Please?

But that's not all. Now you can perform a Google Groups search and find more forums in case you wanted to network with more like-minded folks. Cool.

Ask.com's Technology Falls Apart, but at Least We Still Have Jeeves
If you missed Jeeves, you can find him using askjeeves.com. But that's probably the only thing Ask.com has for itself; the web technology is falling apart and my guess is that it had to do somewhat with its management shakeup awhile ago. The passionate people of Ask.com are gone (with the exception of a few good souls), but it looks like nobody really wants to trudge along and make Ask better for the future.

What College Degree Should an SEO Get?
We polled you on the degree an SEO should get, and most of you thought marketing and programming were best. I'm not 100% sure I agree with this, but hey, I read it on the Internet, so it must be true.

Should Google Have Endorsed Obama?
The election is over but 55% of you thought Google should not have endorsed Barack Obama for the candidacy, especially since they are armed with a lot of information and want to be perceived as an unbiased company. Google's Schmidt is showing a bias and his fame probably comes from nothing but being affiliated with Google.

Google AdSense Pushes Political Agenda
Just in time for election day, Google AdSense ads were poured out all over the internets on sites urging people to vote. More disturbingly, a big site I help operate (with a big California population) was urging people to Vote YES to Proposition 8. Now I'm a very tolerant person and I'll let people do what they want--and if you were aware of the issue of Proposition 8, it has to do with their lives, not yours, and you should let them live their lives just as you would your own. I did not think it was appropriate for Google's AdSense to target this site and promote its political agenda, but unfortunately, we didn't know about it until users complained. I hope that in 2012, Google will be a little more suspicious of said advertisements.

We Voted: Did You?
Then, election day came and went, and I voted. I also represent Bronx County where the breakdown for McCain/Obama was 12% to 88%, which I hear was the most lopsided vote in all of the United States, baby! And guess what? I voted in the m[aj/in]ority!

Next Week: We're Headed to PubCon
Are you going to PubCon? We hope so not, since we'll be blogging the event and have over 50 sessions for you guys to read. And if you are, be sure to find us in the front row or near the power strips and say hi. (Oh, and please don't hog the power strips from us!)

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at November 7, 2008 1:25 PM Comments (0)

November 2, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: November 2, 2008

I am a bit under the weather in this video recap, but I hope you like it. I discuss the Halloween logos from Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, Live.com, DogPile, FriendFeed, and other search related sites. I talk about Google's changes to their quality score. Google Alerts added RSS as an option. Google uses OCR technology to read scanned PDFs. Google pays AdSense publishers the wrong amount, for the fourth time. Google tests new AdSense ads. Google updated AdWords Editor. I showed hacked AdWords ads in Google.com. AdCenter updated their features and logo, plus cut out Sunday support hours. Google's webmaster chat recap is live. I talked about getting religious links to your Church. Google's CEO backed Obama, should he have? Ask Jeeves is now a porn star!

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at November 2, 2008 8:30 AM Comments (0)

October 26, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: October 26, 2008

Google said, loud and clear, the first click free program can be used for web search. Google improves Analytics and ties in AdSense data. Google hosted their third webmaster chat event, I was unable to attend. AdWords is taking up the organic results with a new product listing feature. Yahoo Search Marketing targets local more accurately. AdWords releases API version thirteen. Google Webmaster Tools has a Sitemaps bug. Google sending love letters to Sitemaps users in XML format. IM Broadcast launches to be the YouTube of Internet Marketers. More details at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at October 26, 2008 10:12 AM Comments (0)

October 24, 2008

Weekly SearchBuzz RoundUp - 10/24/08: Google Analytics Integrates AdSense, First Click Free Program Discussed & Yahoo Rolls Out Search Marketing Features

The holidays are over and Barry and I are back -- for real. In the flesh. We even have a video recap on Sunday if you tune in.

Google's First Click Free Program Discussed
A week ago, we learned a little more about the First Click Free program in Google. In essence, First Click Free allows you to protect your content (say, if it's subscription based) while still getting the full benefit of being in Google's index. Some webmasters are wondering about how this is working, with some worried that this is no different from cloaking. Others think that it's unfair that the savvy internet surfer will be able to pretend to be Google to get on some private sites. Whatever the case may be, it's definitely an interesting development.

Google Analytics Now Integrates AdSense
We asked and Google delivered. Google is slowly adding AdSense integration to Analytics users. It looks great and hopefully we'll have screenshots of the process and outcome in action soon.

Google Hosted a Webmaster Chat, and We Have No News for You
On Wednesday, Google hosted a Webmaster Chat. This is the third one but unfortunately none of us were able to listen since it was the holiday. Google will likely publish an edited version in a week or so, but it's just not the same.

Google Integrates Product Images In Sponsored Results
Barry notes that AdWords shows product images in searches. If you look at the illustration he provides, you can see diamond rings when you expand the ad. How much does it cost to sign up?!

You Can Get a Quality Score of 10
We have highlighted yet another successful experiment on how to get a quality score of 10. The idea is to really minimize overhead -- focus on very target keywords (no more than 3 per campaign) and write very targeted landing pages.

Yahoo Search Marketing Rolls Out Desired Features
The Yahoo Search Marketing team announced some new features that will enhance the YSM experience with regards to targeting They are country/city targeting, and language targeting. People are happy and that's always a good thing.

Google AdWords API v13 Released
Just in time for the holidays, Google AdWords API has released a major update with some enhanced features. They are also offering 20% more API units for free through January 15.

Google Webmaster Tools Errors Reported -- but Fixed Now
Earlier, we saw some issues with Google Webmaster Tools reporting 0 indexed URLs, though the issue seems to be fixed. Gotta love the glitches.

This is a Glitch I Don't Like: Google Terminates Accounts
Loren Bakers Gmail account was terminated over the weekend. As someone who is pretty dependent upon my Gmail account, that just sucks. He wrote a plea to Google to revisit the issue, but I'm curious to know why it keeps happening. Seriously -- what's the issue here, Google?

IM Broadcast Launched: Internet Marketing Video Portal
If you like videos and you like internet marketing, you'll love the new IM Broadcast site, which was launched earlier this week. Very talented minds were behind this launch, and it has a ton of potential, so I'm happy. Maybe I'll start watching video too!

I want the Google Webmasters T-Shirt
Google has sent out very cool t-shirts for Webmaster Tools users, and I want one. How do I sign up?

Have a great weekend!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at October 24, 2008 12:00 PM Comments (0)

October 17, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 10/17/08: Yahoo Update for October, Google Webmaster Tools Updates & Woot.com AdWords Ad Removed by Google

Another holiday week had me offline for 2 days. In case you were all wondering, it's not a vacation when you have no access to email and then come back to the real world and have 500+ actionable emails. There's one more of these 2 day chunks next week, and then you'll have both Barry and me posting on a daily basis. Until then, enjoy the "break" and be advised that there's no video this Sunday.

Yahoo October 2008 Update
It seems that Yahoo's October 2008 update is finally noticeable along the hallways of Yahoo, and reports show that "SERPs are on the move." How have you been impacted?

Time to ~~Lose Your Money~~ Gamble in the UK
It looks like Google AdWords UK is allowing gambling ads, so you may get suckered when you least expect it. On a similar note, Mike McDonald pinged me this morning with bad news on the US horizon: Kentucky is seeing seizure of over 141 domain names. Life's just not as good on this side of the ocean right now.

Google Webmaster Tools Features Crawl Issues, Removes Home Page Crawl Date
Ben Pfeiffer has written an informative post about the reactions of SEOs on the crawl issues on Google Webmaster Tools. It's a great tool that helps you find broken pages and also fix URLs. Have you tried it yet?

On a somewhat sadder note, Google has removed the home page crawl date from the backend, which I thought was pretty cool and useful. I'm a bit sad to see it go, but JohnMu explains that the date wasn't really accurate anyway. Still, it's a date! What if Google stops being able to access your page for awhile?

Google AdWords: Search Partner Network, Display Ad Builder, Quality Score Added to Reports
Lots of news in Google AdWords realm this week. First, we see that Google has finally allowed you to split traffic between search partners and Google.com. On a related note, your Quality Score and estimated first bid is being added to Google AdWords reports. Perhaps most exciting in Google AdWords this week, though, is the useful tool for display ads that removes the need for expensive graphics designers to create these ads for you.

Google AdWords on Social Media
When I think of Google, I still don't think of social media. Sure, you have some sites out there like Orkut and YouTube, but they were never Google's original idea. It's interesting to see that Google AdWords plans on using Twitter for communicating. Really, this isn't very new; the YahooAdBuzz team is doing that now. I kind of feel smug about being an early adopter of Twitter (since December '06, baby!), that's for sure.

Yahoo Improves Publisher Network Visibility
Relevancy is an issue to Yahoo, and the Yahoo Publisher Network has improved relevancy for advertisements so that they will target the right individual. Cool.

How Long Does it Take for Google's Reinclusion Request to be Addressed?
We asked, you answered. Most of you had an unpleasant "more than three month" wait for Google's reinclusion requests to be answered. Some of you didn't have to wait more than a month (or a few days, thankfully), and some of you are still waiting. I guess you should try to avoid getting on Google's bad side.

Will Google Prevent You from Earning from AdSense?
Let's say you're running a really profitable AdSense business. Will Google stop you from earning to your heart's content? We asked and most of you thought that Google will let you earn and earn.

Woot's Crafty Marketing Shot Down by Google
With this recession, people are already considering taking their lives ... or so some think. Earlier this week, Woot.com's "tacky" recession ad was removed because it mocked suicide. But really, I don't agree that it was a wise move, and the poll we are hosting (it's still ongoing, guys) indicates that I'm not in the minority. Thanks also to Todd Mintz for agreeing with me in the comments; Woot's marketing message causes people to glance and actually pay attention to sponsored ads, and isn't that what we all want?

Google is Still Richer than You
Google's Q3 earnings have been extremely favorable despite the economy's failures this past week. Are they feeling lucky?

Did You Forget About Paddington Bear?
This past Monday, we celebrated the adventure of Christopher Columbus here at Search Engine Roundtable with a Christopher Columbus logo. But Google forgot about that, or rather, they prepared with something completely unrelated: Paddington Bear turned 50. Happy birthday, old bear. How much is that in human years?

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at October 17, 2008 12:00 PM Comments (0)

October 10, 2008

Weekly SearchBuzz RoundUp - 10/10/08: SMX East Coverage, Google Monetization Tactics & Yahoo Web Analytics

After a long week of conferences followed by a holiday, we're back for just 2 more business days until another 2 days of holidays kick in. Enjoy us while we're here!

Google Giving More Snippet Data
Searching for articles on Google is now showing content attributes in the results. You can see articles that have more than one author or you can see the author of the article.

Google Reverts PageRank Data
In case you're wondering why your PageRank has been fluctuating like mad lately, it's probably due to the observation that Google is reverting PageRank values. That or you're looking at the PR from another data center. Regardless, most people don't really care. ;)

Make Money from Google Maps with AdSense
So you're searching for something and find it using Google Maps. You may also find another targeted result that you never anticipated due to Google AdSense's integration into Google Maps. Who didn't see that coming?

Google's Attempts to Make More Money with Affiliate Marketing
Google has seen success with Amazon and iTunes, and they want to eat some cake too. That's why you'll see that Google is now an iTunes and Amazon affiliate. Surprised?

Google AdSense for Games
More ability to monetize is seen with the announcement of Google AdSense for games. If you have a popular site, you're game (no pun intended) to be considered. It's in beta, now, though, but if you want to make some dough, go for it.

Don't Use Google AdWords Editor 6.5.0...Yet
Google AdWords Editor 6.5.0 was released but not without a slew of problems. There are errors, slowness, and more. If you haven't upgraded yet, don't.

Microsoft adCenter Upgrade in Fall 2008
We're actually in Fall of 2008, so in the upcoming weeks, we should expect a big Microsoft adCenter update to give more billing/payment options, campaign management simplification, report analysis, and more. Stay tuned!

Google's Search Results Coming in RSS Format
It's taken them years, but Google will offer its results in RSS format so that you can watch for scrapers and all that other good stuff. Can we say "huzzah?"

Linkage Data Provided by SEOmoz
SEOmoz has launched this comprehensive tool called Linkscape that has crawled 30 billion pages to provide detailed linkage data. This tool has received a lot of kudos and I'm sure you'll like it!

Ask.com Loses 3D, Goes to "Less is More"
This past week, we've heard reports that Ask.com has redesigned their page to eliminate the complex 3D interface and to give less information. Is Google responsible for this? It's possible, since Ask.com is looking for money above all else.

Yahoo to Offer Web Analytics
Yahoo's acquisition of IndexTools means Yahoo Web Analytics. The tool is being rolled out on a limited beta and is free. Yahoo Web Analytics boasts real time tracking which many people are looking forward to. I can't wait to try it myself!

SMX East
As I mentioned, we were at SMX East this week. What does that mean? Well, I'm sure you saw our conference coverage. If not, here you go -- enjoy!

Thanks again to Marty Weintraub for his guestblogging!

Administrative Note: No Video This Weekend
Due to the holidays, our next video recap is not going to occur until October 26th. You'll just have to read us!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at October 10, 2008 11:14 AM Comments (1)

October 5, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: October 5, 2008

Happy New Year, it was Rosh Hashanah the other day. Google did a PageRank update, while Yahoo Search updated their algorithm, and Microsoft might have updated. Google Blog search has a home page now. Google turned 10 and let you search back in 2001. Yahoo officially launched the new Site Explorer design. Yahoo is charging more money for less. eBay increased their ad spend with Google, which is hurting other advertisers. More AdWords accounts got hijacked. Microsoft tries SearchPerks to gain more users. We are live blogging SMX, but don't miss the charity party! More details at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at October 5, 2008 9:30 AM Comments (0)

October 3, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz Roundup - 10/03/08 - Rosh Hashana Edition: Google Turns 10 & Yahoo Site Explorer Revamped

Happy New Year to those of you who celebrate! This week, the holiday commenced and now we're swamped but we still have to give you our recap. Without further ado, here you go:

Coincidence: Search Updates Around Holiday Time?
As you may have read thus far, we celebrated Rosh Hashana and also noticed that Google PageRank has updated. On a somewhat related note, Yahoo's results are being shuffled and Microsoft may have had its own update too.

Google Blog Search Relaunches
A new version of Google Blog Search has launched and I'm not sure I'm a fan. It now has a more "news" feel that reminds me of Technorati and how every single blog post talks about a single issue versus a search that may be more relevant.

Google Turns 10
Google has celebrated one decade of search and more. Can you believe it's really been 10 years? Well, neither can I. But in case you wanted to reminisce, you can check out the Google search engine from 2001 which actually is rather fun.

Yahoo's Site Explorer Looks Great
Finally, a new verison of Yahoo Site Explorer is live. And it's pretty awesome. It has a lot new data, like number of inlinks/inlink domains, number of pages crawled, and more. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Yahoo's Rip Off?
Yahoo has done some stupid things lately by raising the credit card minimum to $250, which is 10 times more expensive than the previous requirement of $25. Their cost per click has also gone up, phone support is going down, and nobody is happy. Seriously, why are you guys using Yahoo again?

Microsoft's Smart Move?
Microsoft has launched Search Perks, a "get paid to search" type engine. Also viewed as a stupid move, people are wondering why Microsoft has to incentivize the search process. Oh well. Maybe I'll be able to get my husband Forza 2. Only 4000 searches to go. (Heck, I don't even do that using Google.)

eBay <3 Google
eBay has increased its ad spending with Google after their apparent "breakup" last year. Now, both companies are holding hands again and things are looking up. We may be in a recession or whatever, but people still want to use search engines to find great deals, and eBay is probably delivering results.

Google Request: AdWords Account Change Phone Authorization
After all these Google AdWords account hijackings, I'm wondering why Google is just having employees monitor accounts for abnormalities. That's great, and all, but it'd be great if Google could put some security precaution -- perhaps phone authorization -- in place to prevent the high number of account hijackings.

Next Week: SMX East in NYC
In the NYC area? We hope you charity party on Monday night. It's a great opportunity to help and network all at the same time!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at October 3, 2008 11:51 AM Comments (1)

September 28, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: September 28, 2008

Google told us not to rewrite dynamic URLs into static URLs. Google ripped of their Indian publishers, by accident. Google is loving them books in the search results. How often should you submit a reconsideration request? How quick is Google at approving reconsideration requests? Don't be a victim of AdWords hacking. Did you ever see a minimum bid of $100 or more? Are you making more money with AdSense now? adCenter desktop is going to add features. Google Maps in the night. Yahoo launches APT. Lisa leaves the West coast for the East coast. Lots of holidays are coming up, so we scheduled some posts. Check out more at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at September 28, 2008 9:30 AM Comments (0)

September 26, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 09/26/08: Google Causes Scramble over Dynamic URLs, Google Street View in the Dark & Yahoo APT Launched

Happy Friday! Are you ready for the weekend? After this week's big news, I know I am!

Google Doesn't Want You to Rewrite Dynamic URLs
What big news am I talking about? Earlier this week, we found that Google would prefer your domain to be http://domain.com/site.php?id=44&pid=42&gid=22&uid=29249 instead of using rewrites that are more human readable (!), like this: http://domain.com/site.php/tamars-profile-page. Apparently, the change is because Google wants to understand the parameters to understand site structure. But at the same time, I have a hard time liking this change especially since Google is supposed to take pride in user-friendliness. I understand Google needs to learn, and they can do so without targeting SEMs. There are plenty of unoptimized sites Google can look at. Don't you agree?

Google Messes Up Indian Exchange Rate, Owes Advertisers Money
According to a screenshot provided by a Google India AdSense publisher, Google has screwed up the exchange rates. In India, $1 is 46.555 INR. However, Google has made it so that $1 is equivalent to 1 INR. Feeling slighted? You're not alone. My thought is that it'd be fixed soon, but in the meantime, if you're one of the affected individuals, just hold tight.

Google Integrates More Properties into Search
Google Book Search has apparently been migrated over to the regular search results. It may be a test at this time -- it's hard to say. Will people click on these results? Well, will you?

Submit Your Reinclusion Requests as Many Times As You Want
Okay, the title of this section is a tad misleading. If you have been penalized from the Google directory, you should submit a reinclusion request. If Google doesn't respond, keep working at it. Eventually someone should get to you. Speaking of which, we're running a poll to see how long it took for Google to acknowledge your reinclusion request and currently it seems that it takes more than 3 months. That's a bit frightening but is all the more reason why you should try to avoid being penalized in the first place.

Google AdWords Accounts Get Hacked Into
More and more spammers are seeing the appeal and ease of getting huge clickthroughs and impressions when using Google AdWords. You don't have to wait for pages to be crawled. If you make a high enough bid, you're usually on the front page of Google on the sponsored side. This is probably why people are hacking into AdWords accounts where they can: it makes some people rich. Well, keep in mind that you can protect your Google AdWords accounts by following some basic security procedures (and then some).

Poor Quality Keywords Will Raise Your Minimum Bid
You want to rack up some incredibly high charges on your Google AdWords accounts? Don't optimize your campaign. Advertisers have seen $100 minimum bids which often means that the quality of the campaign is low. Optimize, optimize, optimize!

Are You Making More Money in AdSense This Year?
With a huge recession affecting a ton of people in the world, are you making more money this year in AdSense than in 2007? We're running a poll. Hint: it's close.

Microsoft adCenter Desktop Beta has New Features
There are a list of new features to be introduced into Microsoft adCenter Desktop Beta including the ability to spot and remove duplicate keywords and a variety of bug fixes.

Google Maps Street View in the Dark?
I'm not sure if this was intentional, but Google Maps Street View comes in two flavors: nighttime and daytime vision. The former is hardly helpful if you actually want to see where you're going. In fact, the clarity of the map image I spotted really needs work. Feature request: Google, can you please actually review the quality of images?

Yahoo APT Launched
The we-still-don't-know-what-the-acronym-means Yahoo APT advertising tool has been launched. It has some promising features, such as a larger ad inventory, a large audience, technological innovations, and more.

Lisa Barone is Going to NY
YES! RustyBrick is happy to announce its newest hire, the very talented Lisa Barone, who is leaving California and is moving eastbound. Oh, wait. Yeah, Lisa is coming to the east coast, but we're not exactly sure where yet. (Thus, in case you didn't catch it, this is a joke.)

The New Year is Next Week
In case you weren't paying attention (and most of you aren't, but that's just fine!), this is the last week of the Jewish lunar year. The year 5758 is drawing to a close and Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, will be celebrated next week. What does that mean for you, our valued Search Engine Roundtable readers? Well, that means that Barry and I will be out of touch on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, but that doesn't mean we're going far -- we have already prewritten several blog posts that will be scheduled for the days we're offline. They won't be breaking news, but they will be informative and should help you with your search engine marketing strategies. We hope to have our other authors blog the newsworthy stuff, so stay tuned.

Shana Tova!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at September 26, 2008 12:00 PM Comments (0)

September 21, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: September 21, 2008

Live Search had a major update. Google launched their new real time quality score. Google doesn't believe in a duplicate content penalty. Google updated a patent, and we learn a ton. Google Webmaster Tools is generating fake HTTP errors, while Google dropped the hidden site search feature. Google Mobile Maps gets new street views and walking directions, but not in Israel. 96% of you, Google yourself. United Airlines poll results are back. Google and Yahoo to proceed with search ad deal on October 11th. Yahoo is testing a new home page design. Friday was Talk Like a Pirate Day! Check out more details at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at September 21, 2008 12:20 AM Comments (0)

September 19, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 09/19/08: Live Search & AdWords Update, SEO & More

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! We're celebrating here and we hope you are too. It's year 13 of the holiday, and uh, I don't get it, but AHOY!

Microsoft Search Update Underway

If you visit the Live.com site frequently to check your rankings, you should have observed a search update. Most people are viewing some changes that seem to be pretty substantial.

Google's Biggest Quality Score Change Ever

Your Google Quality Score is now out of 10. If there's anything wrong with your keywords, ad copy, or landing page, you may see lower scores. Want a perfect 10? You can try this.

Google Says that Duplicate Penalties Don't Exist

We all know about the awful duplicate content issue. But did you know that Google has made a stance and said that it doesn't exist? Now you do. It's not really a penalty; instead, Google is essentially choosing the best content to be indexed.

But You Need to Worry About Other Penalties

Google has a patent that shows link penalties, like when you get too many links too quickly. That can happen legitimately, so Google has addressed that concern as well.

Google's Reporting Glitch

Many webmasters were bothered when Google showed HTTP errors but it's been confirmed as a problem. I even think it's fixed now :)

Google Disables the Invisible Site Search Feature

It seems that earlier this week, Google had hidden the site search feature probably because it was a feature that you used to circumvent the site: operator and was invisible to the user this entire time. However, we just discovered that it's working again, so cynics need to be silenced. ;)

I Want Updated Google Maps

I like Google Maps on my phone. I really do. When Google announced updated maps mobile with Street View and Walking Directions, I installed it but it didn't work. Does it work for anyone?

By the way, when it does work, hopefully it will have data for Israel. I'd love to see street view from afar!

What Are the 4% of You Doing?

I really do believe that the 4% of you who claim you never Googled yourselves are full of it. The other 96% of you are normal people. Congratulations.

Google Causes Stock Decline

Last week, the local paper in the city where I grew up was picked up in Google's news archives and caused a huge stock decline. Whose fault is it really, though? Well, we asked you, and most of you blamed it on Google. I must say I disagree; I believe it was the newspaper's fault for putting a story from 2002 on the front page, and they should've immediately addressed it. When they didn't, it became Google's problem, according to 34% of you. Uh, no.

Google Hearts Yahoo and Yahoo Hearts Google

Will Google ads be on Yahoo? It looks like October 11th will be the day that we'll see it live. Will the SEC review it? Maybe before then, maybe afterwards, but there will probably be no flexibility with that start date at this time.

Yahoo Redesign "Live" but Nobody Sees it

Yahoo will be getting more personalized with its new redesign which has been rolled out to select users, or so they say. It looks nice, but I want to try it!

G'day mates!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at September 19, 2008 11:59 AM Comments (0)

September 14, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: September 14, 2008

Google's Mayer talks about the future of search. How do those Google Sitelinks really work? When should I resubmit my site to Google? How do I rank my images in Google? When I move my site, how do I redirect? How does Google speak to us? Google Germany drops video porn. Is Google or the Tribune to blame for United Airlines? AdWords quality score has not changed yet, but when will it change? Search newspaper print in Google News Archive. Do you Google yourself? Check out more details at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at September 14, 2008 9:00 AM Comments (0)

September 12, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz Roundup - 09/12/08: Google Satellite, Google News Archive & Yahoo September Traffic Increases

Hello from Florida! Hope you all had a nice week!

Google News Archive Release

We've seen some cool projects from Google these past few weeks, and the Google News archive is pretty impressive. In a nutshell, Google will be providing scans of old newspapers ~~and is possibly causing libraries to cease to exist~~. I sometimes wish Google was as ubiquitous when I was in school. This stuff rocks.

Your Geotargeting Radius Shouldn't Be Smaller than 20 Miles

Want to target to only 57th Street in NYC? Google will tell you that you can't set your radius smaller than 20 miles, so you can't really fine grain your results that narrow. That's too bad for New Yorkers who may want to really focus on specific parts of Manhattan, but at the same time, it makes a lot of sense for those less densely populated areas.

Check if Google is Indexing All Your Pages

If you want to see which pages are in Google's "supplemental results", follow the instructions provided by Michael Gray.

When You Should Request Reinclusion on Google

Earlier this week, we asked 'when should you submit a reinclusion request on Google?' The answer is simple: when you actually know you have gotten a penalty and rectified it. If your rankings drop, that does not necessarily mean you've been penalized!

Google Lets You Communicate

Who here has complained that Google isn't being responsive? Um, yeah. Well Google lets you submit feedback and communicate with them with a variety of web forms. Use them. Use Google Groups too. They help!

Google Also Lets You Redirect

While most of you know that 301 redirects are the best way to tell search engines that your site has moved, Google interfaces with webmasters who still don't know about it. Plus, you can figure out which pages have been noted by Google as changed versus which have yet to be crawled and reindexed.

Yahoo Search Marketing Desktop App Coming Soon?

It's almost 2009, and there's still no desktop editor for Yahoo Search Marketing. We have no official word from Yahoo if it's going to happen, but people speculate that '09 is the year that it will be released. Who wants to bet when it will be released? I think Barry will give away schwag for the person who guesses the closet date; be advised that you need to get your vote in by next Friday to be counted. (This is also a way to check if you guys read the recap, so comment regardless.) ;)

Google Should Understand the Negative Impact of Reputation Management

Do the negative results in Google fluster you when your relevant brand pages are pushed down because of a more viral -- but negative -- story gets ranked higher? Well, Google seems to make reputation management a problem for many companies and brands, and Eric Lander isn't a fan.

Yahoo Search Update Gives More Traffic

The Yahoo September 2008 update has been really good to most publishers. They're reporting 30-50% of an increase in traffic. Good stuff all around.

Google Talks about Sitelinks

Ever wanted to know about sitelink consistency on Google.com versus the Google Webmaster Tools? How about how sitelinks are chosen? Or criteria for appearing in the results? Google has written answers to some sitelinks FAQ and it's pretty informative.

Find Your Google Images

With all the talk about images being indexed in Google (or not), Google has finally stepped up to the plate to let you know what you can do to find out more about it.

Get Out of the AdWords Sandbox

There's a Google AdWords API sandbox issue Images aren't being created. The two possible conclusions: Google doesn't care so much about a sandbox environment or image creation isn't really a popular method.

Google Germany Bans the Porn

Did you ever travel to Germany to find pornography on Google? Well, Google's pornographic content -- at least videos, have been removed from Google's Germany index. According to Google, there are local laws that govern what can and cannot be retrieved on Google, so you may want to visit another country to stumble upon some interesting adult cinematics.

Random Trivia: Google's Webmaster Tool Verification Code is Not that Random

Ever wanted to know how the Google Webmaster Tool verification code was generated? Well, it's based on two factors: your URL and your email. Cool.

Are You a Forum Spammer?

Do you spam forums? Perhaps you're doing it and don't realize it. In a way, this is why WebmasterWorld has a strict no-linking policy; self promotion is bad news (and doesn't leave a good taste in people's mouths). Forum moderators are examples; follow them to know exactly what you should do and should not do.

Google Satellite Takes Off

This past weekend, Google launched a satellite into orbit that should help gather high resolution images of the planet. I'm pretty excited to see these photos and hope that Google will publish them soon.

Most of You Like Googling Yourselves

Seriously -- there are seven of you who don't Google yourselves? I find that hard to believe. What's the logic behind that? :) As Wiep says in the comments, "Those who said 'never' are probably either lying or checked the wrong box." Let's hope we have honest folks here!

Logos Galore

There wasn't much of a significant holiday this week, except that we did commemorate September 11th. Sadly, Google doesn't do the "memorial" logos; instead, they do the funny and lighthearted ones. This week, Google China celebrated Teacher's Day and Google all over the rest of the world celebrated some physics project: the Large Hadron Collider. (I spelled it right this time!)

As far as Google's 10th birthday logo, it hasn't been pushed live yet. We're expecting to see it on September 27th. Anyone want to guess what it will look like?

Matt "McDreamy" Cutts

Matt Cutts is dreamy. People dream about him more often than not. One day, Matt Cutts will prepare breakfast for Barry -- at least, that's what he wants.

Also, the SEOs are squares, according to Ranked Hard. I particularly like Jim Boykin's square. Which one is your favorite?

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at September 12, 2008 11:30 AM Comments (0)

September 7, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: September 7, 2008

Check out screen captures of the new quality score in place. Google AdWords added geographic reporting. Google launches Chrome the browser, learn where to submit feedback, why is the PageRank indicator missing and will it win the browser wars? Private domain registration won't hurt your Google rankings. Google gets sensitive on image search again. Yahoo drops tons of links in Site Explorer. Ask.com goes slap happy on Google search ads. Most SEOs rather clean their sites up then trash them. Should SEO companies offer refunds? Google fixes Canadian exchange rate issue. Search rank checking tools should now work in Google. Google Maps returns the reordering destinations feature. Labor Day logos were fashioned by many, but not Google or Yahoo. Check out more details at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at September 7, 2008 8:37 AM Comments (0)

September 5, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 09/05/08: Google Chrome, Labor Day & AdWords Updates

It's September, school time for many and moving time for me. I'm in the new place, baby! Now I need about a year to unpack, but I've made good progress. ;)

This week, we celebrated Labor Day and saw a bunch of new Google developments, particularly Google Chrome's debut. Let's take a look.

Google AdWords Gets Spiced Up

The new Google AdWords Quality Score has been spotted and there are some screenshots available. The Quality Score is now on a ranking of 1-10, which should give you a lot of room to make changes and optimize your ads better.

Google AdWords also launched a new feature, the Geographic Report, where you can see how your ads are performing in each geographic region. It should give you some good idea of how to make improvements and hopefully that will trickle down to improve your Quality Score.

Google Chrome Released

Google Chrome, its open source web browser, was launched on Tuesday. Google is a bit late to the browser wars, as some people suggest, but we polled the audience and 44% of you think that Google won't make any impact on the browser wars. From what I've been reading, Chrome is super fast, but that's all it really has going for it for now.

Already, though, we're seeing a large percentage of users using Chrome to surf web pages, but I'm going to assume that it's just the early adopters who will probably use Chrome and then go back to their preferred browser of choice. I may be wrong if Chrome gets consistently updated, but I'd love to hear your thoughts regardless.

Speaking of which, Barry thought of a clever title for the Google Chrome thread where we told people where to suggest their Google Chrome feedback. Of course, a lot of people who read blogs don't actually read beyond the title, so apparently that thread is more active than Google Groups where we actually tell people to go. After this weekend, I'm sure that post will have more than 100 comments. It's at 90 now. (People, learn to READ. That post isn't even long!)

Google's Image Filter Never Works

Google can't figure out the best medium for its image filter. When they tweak the algorithm for the image filter, either it lets in too much porn or not enough...oh wait. But sometimes it makes too much of an algorithm adjustment on the other end and legitimate non-pornographic images get filtered out too. I guess Google is finding image algorithms a lot more difficult since it's not text-based. In due time.

Yahoo Site Explorer Updates their Link Data

Earlier this week, Yahoo Site Explorer updated its internal data and a lot of webmasters are now seeing that the numbers of links reported by the tool is substantially lower than before. Is it temporary? We don't know yet. But since this happened in March, this is hardly the first time we've seen it.

Ask.com Flaunts its Google Image

Ask.com is showing Google ads and is happy to do so, even to the Firefox and Safari audience who is likely more technical savvy. At this point, I suppose that Firefox users don't mind the Google ads on Google's results, so why not try the same thing on Ask?

Your Private Domain Registration Won't Affect Your Search Rankings

Got your domain registration hidden behind WhoisGuard? That's okay -- it won't kill your Google rank. However, keep the information behind that screen up to date for ICANN. Also, if you're a public facing business, don't hide that information at all. It doesn't reflect well on your company.

We Ran a Few Polls this Week

In addition to the Google Chrome poll we ran this week, where 44% of you said that Google won't win the browser wars, we also asked if you should issue refunds to your clients for SEO services. So far, 75% of you do.

Would you start a new site after you get penalized? I think it'd be silly to do that, to be honest. That's why over 78% of you will clean up your site and request reinclusion. I hear that. It would be hard to create a new brand on another domain, yanno?

Canadian Exchange Rate Issue to be Resolved

If you live in Canada and use Google AdSense, you should note that Google is going to fix the issue with the exchange rate, so hopefully you'll see better payouts soon.

Check Your Rank Using WebPosition Gold

Google has addressed the problem with rank checking software and you can now use tools like WebPosition Gold to check your site rankings. Will that make all people happy? I know a previous commenter who thought rank checks are a waste of time, but I know others who will appreciate the fact that it works again.

Googlers and Yahooligans Work on Labor Day

That's the sense I get when I see no logo for Labor Day on either search engine. However, Dogpile and Live.com played along. Search Engine Roundtable did too, but most of us actually did work. :)

Have a great weekend!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at September 5, 2008 11:05 AM Comments (0)

August 31, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: August 31, 2008

I was in Boston for a bit this week, I have some pictures in the video. Google Suggest is now the defaul behavior on Google.com but how does that impact SEMs? Google AdWords make the quality score, more real time. Google might be paying less attention to anchor text? Was there a PageRank update? Yahoo started indenting search results. Yahoo Site Explorer is testing a new look and information. Google is testing displaying ads at the bottom. AdSense ads sometimes wont show up in the Google Cache. Most SEOs are scared of search penalties. Did you miss SES San Jose, we have full coverage of the sessions. Check out more details at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at August 31, 2008 9:17 AM Comments (0)

August 29, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz Roundup - 08/29/08: Google Suggest Becomes Default, People Hate Search Penalties, and IE8 Beta 2 is Out

Happy last week of August and happy 30th wedding anniversary to my parents! (Yes, it is today!)

While most of you are preparing for a 3 day weekend, we're hoping to give you some good reading material. This week, we've seen news about Google (surprised?) and IE8, among a few other smaller things. Here we go...

Google Suggest to Change the Search Landscape

We've received confirmation that Google Suggest is becoming the default for searchers. That is, Google will suggest keywords for searchers with a drop-down box. It's actually rather frightening for search engine marketers for a variety of reasons that have been voiced earlier this week. For one, long tail optimization is likely shot (though many of our commenters disagree). Additionally, if your visitors make a misspelling, you're SOL even though you optimized your site for that misspelling. Yeah, I know. It sucks.

Google's Anchor Text Algorithm Changes

SEMs are speculating that Google is reducing emphasis on anchor text for rankings, which is something that many people feel is the "biggest flaw" of the Google algorithm. For those fixated on anchor text rankings, it's about time that you optimize other parts of your site too!

Google PageRank Updates

This week, we also saw some PageRank updates for Google. It's a bit too soon as some forum members observe, but hey, it gives them something to talk about.

Google Runs More Ad Tests

Google is also testing ad placement and is trying something different: ads on the bottom of the SERPs. I'm waiting for the day when Google tests ads on the top, left, right, and bottom of the SERPs. Anyone want to make a mockup screenshot of what that'd look like?

Google AdSense Stops Displaying on Cached Pages

It seems that some people are no longer seeing Google AdSense on cached pages. It's probably a bug, but it's noteworthy all the same because Rae spotted the opposite, almost, when she blogged that Twitter may be cloaking to show AdSense in their cache. Interesting.

Google Analytics to Show AdSense Data

Cool news for many: Google Analytics may start showing Google AdSense data, a welcome change for those who want more integration. After all, Google has integrated AdWords statistics in Analytics since like, forever, and it'd be cool to empower publishers to see similar statistics.

Most SEOs Fear Penalties

We polled the audience and got some results: the majority of SEOs don't like Google penalties. I'm wondering if the minority is apathetic toward optimization or they feel that they are optimizing perfectly (or not at all).

Try Out Google Ad Manager Today

Google Ad Manager is now available to all publishers. It's a pretty nifty tool and something you should look into if you need to manage your website advertisements. If you don't know how to use it, read Barry's detailed explanation.

IE8 Beta 2 Out, but Yahoo Doesn't Care

Is it ironic that on the day IE8 beta 2 rolled out, Yahoo decided to launch a Firefox 3 promotion? I don't know if it was planned, but it certainly is interesting given the potential partnership we once talked about. In any event, IE8 is out and Danny has analyzed the searching features within IE8. Overall, I'm noticing that a lot of people want IE8 to include a download manager and publishers are a bit wary that IE8 will come out of the box with an ad blocking tool. I must say that even though I don't care if people use ad blocking software, this totally bites. People should be able to opt in for this -- it shouldn't be something Microsoft chooses for its users.

Have a great weekend!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at August 29, 2008 10:30 AM Comments (0)

August 22, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz Recap - 08/22/08: SES SJ 2008 Recap, AdWords Quality Score Update & Apple Store is Cloaking!

Can you believe the summer is almost over -- for real? And can you believe that SES San Jose is over? I can't--and I still wish I went! (As you could probably tell, I didn't. I'm moving in 2 weeks!)

Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2008

So what did you miss this week? Well, we had some nice bloggers help us with great coverage of Search Engine Strategies. All in all, the 4 days were packed with great informative sessions and we have the liveblogs for you.

Thanks again to our livebloggers, Keri Morgret of Morgret Designs, Sheara Wilensky & Avi Wilensky of PromediaCorp, Carolyn Shelby aka Cshel, Chris Boggs of Brulant, and Dave Rohrer.

Google AdWords Quality Score Update

Yesterday, Google announced that the quality scores were changing in real time. They also added in a relatively professional way that they'd be raising costs. Forum members are not particularly pleased with that part.

Yahoo Redesigns Explored

This week, we've seen Yahoo indent site results in a format that is similar to the layout we're familiar with on Google. It's not all that bad. Yahoo Site Explorer has also been redesigned with several new features. I recommend that you sign up.

Google Integrates 404 Widget Experience

Got a 404? Google has a widget points you to the proper page. Except it didn't work at first -- mostly because the server was returning a 200 response on our test page. Google then fixed it but JohnMu tells us that we shouldn't be returning a 200 response on any of these pages. So yeah -- it was our fault for the most part, but we has fun blogging that. ;)

Will Your Penalized Site Get Trusted Again by Google?

If your site is penalized for doing something wrong, does Google hold it against you forever? According to a recent discussion on the topic, no, if you clean up, you're given a chance. I like that computers are so nice to us. I wish people were just as nice. ;)

Desperate for Link Exchanges? Hit Up Google Groups!

If email fails you and you can't get those links you're begging for, you can always troll on Google Groups. But fortunately, the folks at Google have a good sense of humor and respond in kind. ;)

Is the Apple Store Cloaking?

As you may or may not know, RustyBrick is building a Jewish prayer book for the iPod Touch and iPhone. We've had a lot of success with it thus far, but Barry recently discovered that the Apple store may be cloaking. In this particular case, the Google cache shows information that is only available in the iTunes store. The big question: is the Google cache really crawling the iTunes store? (What do you think?) Thus, is this cloaking?

Google AdSense Font Tests Occurring Again

What do you think of a Google AdSense unit that matches the font of your site altogether too well -- or not at all? Well, Google is running limited tests on fonts for AdSense units. Google is looking for feedback as well, so be sure to give them your $0.02.

WebPosition Rankings Update Forthcoming

Do you rely on WebPosition? We've had a lot of recent coverage about the issue that ranking reports stopped working, and WebPosition is working on a fix that many forum members feel is going to be short-lived. We shall see.

Congratulations to Search Marketing Standard Magazine!

If you missed the announcement, we're here to tell you that Search Marketing Standard was acquired by iNET Interactive. This is a huge milestone for the print publication and great news for readers. Congratulations to you all!

Read This

If you're dependent upon the video recaps instead of the text recaps, I'm sorry to say but Barry is on vacation this weekend. Thus, you're stuck with me for this week's report. So sorry to disappoint! :)

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at August 22, 2008 11:30 AM Comments (0)

August 17, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: August 17, 2008

Google's search share surpasses 70%. Take our Google penalty poll. What is the deal with Google and ranking software? Google get personal on personalizes results. Google shuts down FeedBurner ads and opens up AdSense for feeds. Google Reader improves sharing feature. Google fixes bugs with 404 reporting and sitemaps pending in webmaster tools. They also fixed bolding of search results for keyword matches. The Gmail outage was painful. Are you the most dependable SEO? SES San Jose is next week, we got you covered. More news at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at August 17, 2008 10:00 AM Comments (0)

August 15, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 08/15/08: Google Search Share Tops 70%, Gmail Outage Affects Thousands & Don't Depend on Goldmine Research for Ethics

Happy Friday! Hope you all had a great week and are pumped for SES San Jose next week! I know I am and I still don't know if I'm going! :) Here are the noteworthy news for this week:

Google Search Share Tops 70%

Google has had more than 70% of searches according to a Hitwise report. Is Google now a monopoly? It's debatable, but if there's choice involved, most feel that it's not.

Do Hearing About Penalties Worry You?

Google penalizes people for everything lately -- over-optimizing, selling links, whatever. The question we have to ask is: when you read about this stuff, do you feel like you need to make some changes to avoid getting "caught?" We have a poll open and the votes are pretty much split at this time, so vote on whether penalties worry you right now!

Google Doesn't Want You to Use Automated Software

If you're using ranking software to scrape the results of Google, don't be surprised if you get blocked. A few Google reps comment that they'd much rather have the Google TOS followed than ignored and that Google is meant for people and not for bots and applications that attempt to scrape data.

Do You Know that Google Personalizes Your Results?

In case you were living under a rock for the past few months, you should know that Google has personalized your results. In case you were totally clueless, though, Google is being more transparent about it. Just be sure to read the fine print and all.

Google Shuts Down Feedburner Advertising Network, Opens AdSense

This week, Barry spotted the thread where Google announced the end of Feedburner's Advertising Network. Publishers are no longer being accepted. What does this mean for the future of RSS advertising? We already have the answer: Google has opened AdSense for publishers to advertise within RSS. Now it all makes sense.

Google Reader Wants You To Share!

Google Reader is apparently the social RSS reader. It's so social that Google lets you share your feeds with your friends but until yesterday didn't give you a chance to tell Google you weren't ready to learn more. Now that's fixed, though. :)

Google Observations for the Week

After reporting that Google Webmaster Tools encountered 404 errors, we now know that the issue is fixed. JohnMu, our Swiss friend who has lived in the US for a long time and has no accent at all, tells us that the issue is resolved.

Two other issues relating to sitemaps and crawling Blogger have been resolved. Again, it's JohnMu who comes to the rescue... or at least the podium.

With regards to search, forum members observe that Google is not bolding all search results. As for why -- we don't know. My guess is that it's a bug rather than a "feature," but it could be experimental. Still, I don't see how that will encourage people to click.

Gmail Suffers Downtime

It's scary to be dependent on Gmail, but that's the case for millions of users. And when an outage took out Gmail for a large percentage of those users, worry settled in. Can we depend on Google forever? Hopefully, this is an issue that will never recur; I'm just glad that I keep my Gmail tabs open at all time!

You are Not the Most Dependable SEO

Goldmine Research is not a reputable company, even if they tell you that you're the most dependable search engine optimization company for the "feel-good" effect. Guess what? You've just been scammed! If Goldmine Research contacts you, do your research -- they want you to pay $5500 for the publicity. Not cool.

Internet Marketer's Charity Party Kicks off SES San Jose

A bunch of great internet marketers are holding a charity party next Monday, which will occur in San Jose right by the conference center where SES will be held. I'm still not sure if I'll make it but we have some great bloggers who will. Stay tuned for live coverage next week, and to those who will be there, have fun in San Jose! Just don't forget to save me schwag if you don't see me!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at August 15, 2008 11:00 AM Comments (0)

August 8, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: August 8, 2008

The Olympics start today and Google, Yahoo, Ask.com and the Search Engine Roundtable have special logos up for the event. Google launched Insights for Search. Google begins to track your web surfing via DoubleClick cookies. Yahoo Search had a major update. Live relaunched Webmaster Tools. SEOs are split on buying nofollowed links and do like blog links. Google blocked ranking software. Performics has been sold off. Do the best SEOs offer consulting? AdWords is performing maintenance this weekend and they are shutting down version 11 of the API on the 26th. More news at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at August 8, 2008 1:50 PM Comments (0)

August 8, 2008

Weekly SearchBuzz RoundUp: 08/08/08 - Google Insights, Performics Dropped & Yahoo Gets Better

Today is 08/08/08. You can imagine how precisely Barry planned out this post -- since, well, that only happens once in a century.

The Olympics are Here!

Also occurring almost as infrequently is the Olympics, which started yesterday and are now being celebrated within the search industry and here at Search Engine Roundtable. Speaking of which, the designer of our Olympics logo, Mabe, got engaged last night. Everyone needs to congratulate her!!!

Google Launches Cool Tool

One of the cooler tools that I've seen released by Google is Google Insights, which was unveiled this week. For the statistics junkie, this is HAWT.

Google's DoubleClick Cookie Tracking Arouses Happiness, Fear

To better advertise to the search audience, Google and DoubleClick are going to apply cookie targeting. to utilize some more sophisticated means of advertising, including frequency capping, frequency reporting, improved ads, and better conversion tracking. This is both exciting but also frightening--lots of information from two really powerful companies.

Yahoo Encounters Search Ranking Changes, Gets Better

Yahoo is upping the ante and is apparently becoming closer to Google in terms of how relevant the results are. This may be due to a number of updates and algorithm ranking changes that we reported earlier this week. In any event, it's promising stuff!

Microsoft Updates Webmaster Tools

Earlier this week, Microsoft updated Webmaster Tools with crawl error and backlink reports. Sadly, though, the webmaster community has not been receptive to this tool. I hope they do, though, since the really awesome guys at Microsoft put considerable work into that project and are passionate about what they do.

Polls: Your Favorite Links?

We held two polls related to links recently and got some interesting feedback. In our first poll, you were asked whether you would buy links with the nofollow attribute. The answer, actually, is undecided. Half of you said yes, and less than half of you said no (with some being "other"). Personally, I think that nofollow paid links, if relevant, would yield clickthroughs, so that's important, right?

What about links from blogs? Most of you like blog links, with 64% of you saying yes. I'm surprised that such a large number (29%) said no -- if blogs are updated, have good content, and again, are relevant, why the hell not?!

Google Blocks WebPosition

The WebPosition application has been blocked by Google for reportedly automatically checking rankings. Apparently, Google never liked the application to begin with, with their SEO guidelines specifically pointing fingers at WebPosition and suggesting that people don't utilize the service.

Google Sheds Itself of Performics

While Google loves acquisitions, there was one they just couldn't keep. We learned mid-week that Google has gotten rid of Performics so as to avoid a conflict of interest with SEM agencies around the world. Now, Publicis, a French company, gets all the good stuff.

Why Don't SEOs Execute their Clients' Ideas?

Following a discussion on one of the forums, Barry wrote about why SEOs don't take on client work. Why aren't SEOs applying some of the ideas presented by clients and using them to boost their own companies? Well, there are a variety of reasons, but notably, the issues remain that it requires a lot of manpower, dedication, and the passion usually lies in helping people, not competing. I've been presented with a fair amount of great ideas in the past, but would it even be ethical to steal it and call it my own? I think you know the answer to that.

Google AdSense and AdWords Downtime Tomorrow

All Google AdSense and AdWords publishers and subscribers should note that there is Google AdWords downtime tomorrow as well as Google AdSense downtime. What happens during these routine maintenance practices? We don't really know; Google went the political route and didn't give us a straight answer. That made a forum member start guessing, and it was pretty informative.

Also, Google AdWords API v11 will be sunsetted on August 26th, so be sure to update to v12 ASAP!

Have a happy weekend!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at August 8, 2008 11:00 AM Comments (1)

August 3, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: August 3, 2008

Happy anniversary World Wide Web. I chat a bit more about the Google Yo-Yo. Google processes many links per day, many. Google tests related searches inline with search results. Microsoft does BrowseRank. Google updates AdWords Search. Yahoo adds search marketing features. Cuil launches. Google Maps updates features and fixes the local business center. Webmaster tools has a 404 error reporting issue. Google Analytics has several bugs. Yahoo still needs to fix publisher reports. More at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at August 3, 2008 9:35 AM Comments (1)

August 1, 2008

Weekly SearchBuzz RoundUp - 08/01/2008: WWW's Birthday, Live Search Redesigned, and Cuil Reviewed/Examined

Can you all believe it's August already? We're almost done with summer! Whoa!

But don't get too disappointed. There is still Search Engine Strategies San Jose (which I sadly won't be able to attend) for your summer festivities. (Be sure to save me a Google Dance T-Shirt! Women's XL please or a Men's M!)

WWW Birthday

Today, if you pulled up Search Engine Roundtable directly (and not from your RSS feed), you'd know that it's the 18th birthday of the WWW. In the event that you're lazy (but we really do like it when you click and interact with us!), here's the screenshot of the theme:

Microsoft Live Gets Redesigned

No more white on Microsoft Live Search. This week, Live Search was redesigned with interactive features that show you how you can use Live Search.

State of Google Search for the Final Week of July

This past week, we've seen suggestions that the Google Yo Yo effect is a result of Universal Search. Google also told us that they now are processing trillions of URLs, more than a trillion links, and that they reprocess the entire web graph many times throughout the day. And finally, this week, a few users were lucky to see Google's new related links search results. Very interesting.

Microsoft Announces Behavioral PageRank

We learned about Microsoft BrowseRank rather recently: it's a metric to see how people interact with web pages. I have to say I agree with Michael Martinez's comment that Microsoft might be burying themselves into a hole here.

Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing Updates

For the advertisers out there: the Google AdWords Search updated its desgin, and new features were added to Yahoo Search Marketing. Cool beans. :)

Cuil Launches

Former Googlers launched Cuil this week. So far, SEOs responded negatively and think that Cuil, pronounced "Cool," is simply not cool at all. In fact, the relevancy of photos is pretty far off for a good percentage of industry figures, as indicated in my research. The only thing that is slightly close is watching Matt Cutts gag Greg Boser. That one was good.

Issues with Google Maps: For Real?

Google made some Google Maps changes earlier this week that removed some features that users started craving. As a result, they reverted to the original design. On a similar note, Google Business Listing users can rejoice, because Google has restored the "fix incorrect marker location" for your biz listing. Now your clients won't get lost on their commute to your office. Sweet!

Google Webmaster Tools May Report 404 Errors that Don't Exist

Be advised that Google Webmaster Tools is misreporting some links as returning 404 status codes.

Google Analytics Has Bugs Too

Some Google Analytics reports have come in that confirm that some people cannot log into their accounts due to redirect issues. Additionally, people have seen errors that the tracking code is not installed on their site (even though it is). Finally, there are reports of duplicate cities in the reporting.

Yahoo Publishers Unconvinced of Fix

This week, there were reports of a Yahoo Publisher Network payout error which Yahoo apparently fixed. But the publishers don't think so. At this time, we're not sure what's up.

Have a happy August!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at August 1, 2008 12:20 PM Comments (0)

July 27, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: July 27, 2008

Google is updating toolbar PageRank. Google shows off a kid being educated. Google updates cache design, dates and explains the importance. Google time stamps Sitelinks and Yahoo makes their Quick Links more like Google. Does Google forgive and forget penalties? Yahoo is discontinuing their Ambassador program. Google Maps added walking directions. Google launched Knol. Google gives out their cookbook. We looked at Hot Dog day. And I talked about the SEO industry's state. More details at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at July 27, 2008 10:45 AM Comments (0)

July 25, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz Roundup - 07/25/08: Google Cache, Hot Dog Day & Google Knol Project

Happy Friday everyone! This week, we experienced the normal bit of search news with some exciting developments (PageRank updates pending, for example) and expected news (or is it -- Google and Digg -- again?)

Expect Your Google PageRank Update Soon

Matt Cutts announced last night that Google will be updating your PageRank soon. Thank you Matt for thinking of the SEO industry in light of other news.

Search and Ye Shall Find

Want to find funny images when you least expect it? Just search for short-tail keyphrases, like "educating" -- and you'll see what people are being educated about. In this case, there are some rather disturbing images due to Google Universal search. In a way, I'm sure people find it humorous. ;)

Google Cache: Discussion and Redesign

Earlier this week, we learned a little from JohnMu about Google cache. If your page isn't showing up there, it doesn't mean anything, for example. Interestingly enough, this week wasn't the last we heard about Google's cache. We saw that forum members were reporting that cache dates were relatively old. Additionally, the design of the Google cache pages changed too. It's a much more elegant design, I must say.

Sitelinks: A Good Idea

This week, we saw that timestamps were added to Google Sitelinks in Google Webmaster Tools, so you can see when Google generates them, which is pretty sweet. I guess it inspired Yahoo too, because they're moving toward sitelinks with their similarly-designed quicklinks.

Google Alerts You Via Webmaster Tools Message Center

Have you logged into Google Webmaster Tools recently? Well, you might want to. This week, we have reports of Google finding way too many URLs on your site and high response times on pages included in your sitemaps file. Are you having these problems? You might want to check!

Will Google Ever Get Over that Penalty?

If you get a penalty in Google, will they forgive you for that penalty? According to forum members, yes. (Don't you wish people were the same way?)

Goodbye Yahoo Ambassador Program

The end is near for the Yahoo Ambassador Program which is ending on September 30. Current ambassadors will be dropped, and you won't be able to participate in the program. Oh well.

Much Ado About Google

This week, we discovered that Google has a governmental search engine dubbed "Uncle Sam." We also saw that Google added walking directions to maps. And in the bigger picture, Google launched its Wikipedia killer, Knol. Is it too late for Knol? Maybe.

Google Schwag!

Long-time advertisers this week received the Google Cookbook, and as a huge fan of Google schwag, I WANT SOME.

Hot Dog Day

This message is for Jill Whalen, who has no idea what the significance of our hot dog was this week. Well, it was Hot Dog day. Unfortunately, we got to look at it but we didn't eat any (or I didn't). Barry, next time, you need to have a SERoundtable BBQ on hot dog day ;) Nobody is allowed to argue that one!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at July 25, 2008 12:00 PM Comments (1)

July 20, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: July 20, 2008

Google reveals the technology behind their rankings. Google AdWords links up keyword campaigns to placement targeting. Google gets slapped with a class action lawsuit over $136. Google search results continue to yo-yo. Google drops in traffic are due to links? Did you notice more Yahoo Search updates? Yahoo's site command is no longer needed. Has Ask stopped crawling the web? Google and Microsoft announced earnings that do not impress. Yahoo rejects Microsoft's bid, yes again. Google removes comic sans font from AdSense. Google Fridges begin to melt down. Check it out at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at July 20, 2008 9:15 AM Comments (1)

July 18, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz Roundup - 07/18/08: Google Ranking Technology, Comic Sans Disappears & Google Fridge Meltdown

Today's my dad's birthday, so before I actually start off the roundup, I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

There, now that I got that out of the way, it's going to be 97 degrees today in New York. Nice! But thankfully there's air conditioning to hold me over for this recap and all.

Google Shares its Ranking Technologies

Amit Singhal of Google has written yet another post about the technologies behind Google rankings. Among them: understanding the query, understanding the user, and understanding the pages. It's not shocking data but it's still pretty information. Thanks for sharing it, Google.

Google AdWords Deep Targeting

This week, the Google AdWords team announced that you can include keywords and placements in a single campaign type instead of creating separate campaigns. Doing this "combine[s] the benefits of contextual targeting with placement targeting," according to Google.

Lawsuit for Google AdWords over Parked Domains

While Google AdWords made strides this week, a lawyer is suing Google over a little more than $100 because he had AdSense on parked domains. Um, yeah.

Yahoo Prices to Go Up -- Maybe

With the potential Google and Yahoo advertising deal, your minimum bid prices may go up. Commenter Janeth is worried for Yahoo in this relationship, because they may actually lose advertisers due to the raised prices. Definitely a good point. Thanks for the comment, Janeth!

Google Rankings - Verdict: Confused

Google has been yoyoing search results lately with webmasters reporting huge fluctuations in their rankings. Others may experience these rank drops because of possible link penalties.

Yahoo site: Operator -- No Longer Needed?

It seems that users are reporting that searching Yahoo for www.domain.com without the site: operator actually yields the same results as if you would use site:www.domain.com.

We Ask: Where did Ask Go?

It seems that Ask.com stopped crawling the internets. I am saddened to report that Ask.com really doesn't look like its priorities are in order. :(

Yahoo, Google, Microsoft...!

Well, after the debacle of Yahoo potentially merging with Microsoft, it may be over again (for now). Politics are definitely getting in the way here.

On a somewhat positive note for Microsoft, their Q4 earnings went up from last year though it was a penny short per share to analysts' expectations. Ah well. In a recession, this is still good news, I guess.

I Hate Comic Sans

THANK YOU, Google, for removing Comic Sans from AdWords ads. That is the ugliest. font. ever. I have no idea why people would design their website with that font, let alone have Google use it for what looks like a professional search engine.

I'll Take Your Google Fridge Even if it's Broken

Forum members report that their Google fridges that they got as AdWords advertisers are breaking down. I don't care. They're pretty. Send me yours as long as it doesn't smell or anything.

Have a great hot weekend!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at July 18, 2008 12:00 PM Comments (0)

July 13, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: July 13, 2008

This may be the quickest recap I have done. I typically have to keep it under 10 minutes, due to the YouTube restrictions but this is even shorter. Why? Because I produced it on Friday, the day I got the iPhone - so I was tired. Yahoo and Live Search had major search updates. Google added search volume data to their keyword tool. Microsoft adCenter may be overtaking Yahoo Search Marketing. Google slapped AdWords advertisers, again. Google flipped colors of the AdWords ads. AdWords Editor 6.0 is bugged out. Yahoo's Garg gave us insight into Yahoo Search's algorithm. Google Trends showed off a swastika and Google Image search called "special people" "retards." Finally, Sphinn turned one year this week. Check it out at SERoundtable.com.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at July 13, 2008 11:15 AM Comments (3)

July 11, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 07/11/08: Google AdWords Fluctuations, Yahoo BOSS, and Sphinn's 1st Birthday

Today is 7-11, which means that there's free slurpees for those of you who are in the US who actually have a 7-11 store nearby. I think I'll be getting my free slurpee in the late afternoon -- but don't forget that you can get it too! Oh right. It's also a big day for iPhone geeks, as Barry blogs his nerd mentality on this blog. Are you shocked?

Yahoo and Live Search Updates

This week, we acknowledged both updates within Yahoo Search and Live Search. In the former situation, anchor text seems to be weighted a little more than it had been previously. In the latter situation, for Live.com, people are seeing big shifts in the rankings -- some going from page 1 to page 4 and others going from page 6 to page 1.

How Many People Search for that Phrase?

If you used the Google AdWords External keyword tool this week, you may have noticed that it now reports search volume. That is, it will tell you how many people are searching (approximately) on Google for certain phrases. It's useful information to gauge the effectiveness of some keywords and perhaps for inspiration for others. It's definitely a nice addition.

Microsoft adCenter > Yahoo Search Marketing

Life for Yahoo doesn't seem to be doing so well lately. Forum members are acknowledging that Microsoft adCenter is performing better than Yahoo Search Marketing. One of the primary reasons for this is that people are seeing that Yahoo isn't doing so well for them in terms of conversions and the bid prices are incredibly low lately. adCenter is outperforming Yahoo in at least two separate instances.

Google AdWords News: Landing Pages, Background Colors, Download Glitches

This week has also seen a lot of news on the Google AdWords front. First, some Google AdWords subscribers are doing poorly on their AdWords score due to bad landing pages and are seeing much higher minimum bids. Google explains that when this typically happens, the landing page may have been crawled and didn't fare so well in the system. Therefore, make sure your landing pages are optimal!

What's the best AdWords background color? Google is trying to determine that this week -- with a mixture of blue and yellow backgrounds. It'll be interesting to find out what they settle on. Personally, the yellow background for the ads is less intrusive and may perform better, but that's just my guess.

Finally, Google AdWords 6.0 editor is having problems and people are not so enthusiastic about the time it's taking to download data. From what I'm reading, AdWords 5.0 editor seems to be a better choice.

Yahoo BOSS

Yahoo's "Build Your Own Search Service" has been announced earlier this week. It's an API with some cool functionality, but so far, its announcement has had some mixed reviews. People think that Yahoo should focus on its content rather than it search, but others think that Yahoo's search may have more potential. Either way, it's something you should watch closely.

Yahoo's Priyank Garg Interviewed

Eric Enge of foosball fame has interviewed Yahoo's Priyank Garg and posted some interesting information on his blog. Garg says that the footer information is not used for rankings but for crawling, for example. Yahoo detects spam with human editors -- and algorithms (of course!). Garg also says that spam might be in Yahoo's index, but it won't rank well, that Yahoo doesn't discount paid links automatically, and that quality still trumps quantity in terms of inbound links.

Google's Results This Week: Strange

The hottest trend in Google yesterday? A swastika, which is a Nazi symbol. Was it malicious? We don't know. We don't care that much either (but thanks, James), but when people point out these things, we report it for the search industry. As many people acknowledge, it's a shame that a religious symbol got so tainted in the past century, but moving along...

My friend Joe was doing a search yesterday for "special people" and Google asked him if he was searching for retards (since that seems to be a related search). I doubt that's intentional, but these things happen. And still, people talk about it because it shows that algorithms aren't perfect.

Sphinn is 1

Today's my little cousin's 1st birthday. It's also (well, tomorrow, really) Sphinn's first birthday, and Sphinn has had a great first year. Are you signed up? If not, you should be!

Enjoy your ~~iPhone~~ slurpee!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at July 11, 2008 10:45 AM Comments (1)

July 4, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: July 4, 2008

I thought I post this week's video recap on July 4th, because it is a special day. Happy July 4th Americans! In this week's video I show off the various July 4th logos from Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, and other sites. I discuss the recent "cloaking" debate. I then get into the various changes at Google, Google UK and even over at Yahoo. Then I discuss the news that Google and Yahoo are indexing Flash files. Google dropped the referrals system for DoubleClick's affiliate network. Google's content removal tool should be used correctly. Did Google lose to Viacom and is this a loss for our privacy? Don't forget to secure your brands on social networking sites. Finally, I hit 4 shots and missed five, so congrats to the winner and don't forget, you can win by listening and commenting at SERoundtable.com!

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed (note: If YouTube shows a video not found message, just refresh the page and play it again, it is a YouTube bug):

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at July 4, 2008 1:15 PM Comments (2)

July 4, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 07/04/08: July 4th, Flash Content to be Spidered & DoubleClick Affiliate Network

Happy July 4th my American friends! While most of you are sleeping in, having BBQs, or enjoying the day, the Search Engine Roundtable authors are still keeping you abreast of what's new in the search world. So take a look in case you missed out this week!

July 4th in the Search Industry

Today is America's Independence day. And guess what? A lot of search engines and other sites actually participated in redesigning their logos for the party. Dogpile must've forgotten, but all other expected search engines (including Ask!) participated.

Give It Up Released

We covered SMX Advanced 2008's Give It Up last month, and now it's live for your viewing and learning pleasure. Enjoy it while it's up on the interwebs. :) It's dangerous information!

Blocking Countries is NOT Cloaking

Google initially made a statement that said that blocking regions is considered cloaking. However, they rectified their statement to say that it's not cloaking, and if you block the entire country of China, for example, it's actually called geolocation. JohnMu who made the original post retracted his statement and all is well. If Googlebot sees the same things that regular visitors see in a particular region, you're doing just fine.

Google SERPs Findings for Google.co.uk

Every month, we report on Google SERP observations from webmasters -- fluctuations in rankings, loss of rankings entirely, strange results in the search results, and more. We started reporting Google.co.uk SERP results as well after realizing it's not the same as Google.com and there are different algorithms driving the results. In fact, we reported a day later that there are a number of Australia TLDs on page one of the Google.co.uk SERPs, which is a bit strange.

Yahoo Makes Search Update, Nobody Notices

This week, Yahoo changed its search algorithm and alerted us to the possibility of reshuffling and different results. But after the change was supposedly implemented, there was silence. I guess they didn't change much.

Your Flash Files May Start Getting Indexed

Got contextual content in your SWF file? The search engines may start to crawl them. Your SWF files are safe as long as they have textual elements, but your FLV files won't be crawlable. Either way, it's a huge step forward for anyone who has a flash-heavy site--as long as there's text!

Google Folds PPA Program, Starts DoubleClick Affiliate Network

Results on the Google Pay Per Action program must have been dismal enough to cause Google to fold the entire program. But that doesn't mean that there's no hope for you. Google has started a DoubleClick Affiliate Network.

Google's Content Removal Tool is Not Specific to HTTPS/WWW

If you ever remove content from Google Webmaster Tools because you think it's a duplicate page (e.g. https://mydomain.com/blah.html versus http://mydomain.com/blah.html) be advised that you will be removing the entire page off search results. Google's removal tool is not prefix-specific. Be forewarned.

YouTube to Violate Privacy as Ordered by US Judge

A judge who I think doesn't really understand the Internet has ordered Google to turn records of YouTube users over to Viacom in a move that has incensed much of the internet community. Hopefully Google will win an appeals on this!

Secure Your Name Brand -- Fast!

If you have a company name that you want to keep clean, secure it on social networking sites before others do it for you. It's for your own safety.

Have a happy holiday weekend!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at July 4, 2008 11:00 AM Comments (1)

June 29, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: June 29, 2008

You love basketball? I do. This video recap, I play some basketball and you can score some great schwag by watching me play. Learn how by watching. So what did I chat about? Google proves to everyone out there that they know who you are, what you are doing and how much you can spend with Google Ad Manager and Google Trends for Websites. I discuss the long URL post I wrote this week on Google. Google added porn to search results, but allows us to report it now. Yahoo drops the Overture keyword suggestion tool. Google Webmaster Tools gives us an API. Ask.com is not focused on search and I give some reasons. Yahoo is in shambles, can they pick themselves up or is it too late? Google turns five years old!

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 29, 2008 10:40 AM Comments (4)

June 27, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz RoundUp - 06/27/08: Google Spies, Goodbye Overture, and Ask.com's Focus

Our favorite (and least favorite) search engines have had a share in the spotlight this week, with news coming from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask, and we're here to summarize the happenings of the week. To start off, what do you think about security? I know our kids -- Gen Y -- doesn't mind about their information being all over the internet. Others, however, don't feel the same way. That brings us to ...

Google's Omniscience

This past week, we saw the launch of Google Trends, and many webmasters were disappointed in the new tool with regards to how it's providing information that should be private -- public. Barry writes in a detailed post about the practical applications of the tool, but many people don't want to share their data as freely. Michael Gray, specifically, thinks it's not cool that Google is providing data about websites whereas google.com is nowhere to be found. He's got a point, guys.

After Google Trends was released, Google Ad Planner was also released. It's still invite-only but gives you detailed demographic information so that you can target your ads better to your site visitors. In a detailed screenshot tour, Barry sums up his ad planner walkthrough as "wow" since there's so much information available. It's scary to know how much they know about us.

Use Your CMS Wisely

I'm always happy that WordPress allows you to edit your post slug so that you can shorten your URL where necessary. This is coming to be an issue especially due to a report this week that long URLs can hurt you. Keep it short, sweet, and descriptive. A spammy URL doesn't add value and probably confuses people. The URL in particular in that post (http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/small-kitchen-appliances-toaster-kettle-coffee-machine-blender-juicer-channel7-sunrise-australia-42.html) is way over my head, for example, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Why is there a coffee maker in sunrise in Australia? What?! And what happened to channel 5? I like it better than channel 7.

Want Porn? Surf Google

With universal search still in its infancy (though in tech years, it may be in adulthood -- I really don't know), people are finding ways to take advantage of whatever they can. In this case, comes down to pornographic images in universal search results. If you ever want a new bathroom, chances are it's going to come with a sexy naked blonde chick, according to Google. Hot. But in the post, Barry notes that if you're offended by the unwelcome guest, you can report images and have them removed. The party's over, guys.

RIP Overture... and maybe the rest of Yahoo

Yahoo's massive staff reorganization comes at the same time as the death of Ovetrure's keyword tool, which is a shame, since people liked it so much. I wonder if that has anything to do with the people behind it no longer being at Yahoo. Either way, from an observer's perspective, there's a lot of movement going on in Yahoo, with staff reorganization and unexpected departures, so maybe everything is intended to crumble at once.

Google Won't Let You Point AdWords Display URLs to Itself

First, you were able to manipulate Google AdWords and set the landing URL as google.com. Since Barry reported on it though, Google disabled ads that had Google.com as the landing URL. In other words, don't try to dupe the system because you will get owned.

Google Webmaster Tools API Launched

There's a new API in town: the Google Webmaster Tools API. This is really exciting news, albeit with a catch: right now you can't do anything with linkage data, and that'd be sweet so that you can do some analysis. However, it's not an option -- yet. I hope Google takes note!

Ask.com is Not Focused on Core Search

Barry had a lengthy chat with the busy Jim Safka of Ask.com 3 weeks ago while Safka was traveling, since I guess he doesn't have much time to sit at a desk and have a real heart-to-heart with Barry. That's a shame. I don't think I could ever get on a business call that would be on the record while I'm traveling through tunnels with poor cell reception. It makes it seem that his heart and mind is in the wrong place. Also, Ask.com's core search is in the wrong place too. And that's sad, because the old Ask.com crew really did seem to care about everything about the little engine that could.

A Prodigy of a Baby

We'd like to extend a happy birthday to Google AdSense. It's now 5 years old and has made people millionaires. So, thanks Google AdSense, and keep it up until 120! :)

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 27, 2008 10:16 AM Comments (1)

June 22, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: June 22, 2008

In this week's video recap, I announced the special Father's Day winner of the schwag, plus told you how to win this week (it's easy). I showed off the Father's Day logos from Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, Dogpile and others. I discussed the Google Webmaster Live Chat event. Did you know Page Load Time is now a factor in AdWords? I got into the topic of Google Bowling and ended it off with don't make Matt Cutts mad. If your server doesn't respond with a server status code for your robots.txt file, then you are in trouble. Finally, I mentioned the crazy AdSense fonts we have been noticing. Watch it below or on iTunes and you can win Google schwag this week!

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 22, 2008 10:15 AM Comments (2)

June 20, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz Recap - 06/20/08: Father's Day, Google Robots.txt and Sitemaps Files & Long Tail Benefits for SEO

Another Friday marks the end of another busy week. We celebrated Father's Day and had a nice hot (and a bit rainy) week over here. And yourselves?

Father's Day

Sunday marked Father's Day in just about every country (which is so cool -- I never knew this!) and search engines celebrated with all dads. We did a little unique design ourselves. What did you think?

Google Webmaster Chat Recordings Now Available

Were you not able to make it to the webmaster live event that was held earlier this week? No problems! There's a recording of the event for your exploration and edification.

Your Google AdWords Quality Score Accounts for Page Load Time

Does your page load pretty slowly? Are you running Google AdWords on that account? Be advised that it may factor into your AdWords score, so get a fast server or something if that's a problem.

Your Competitors Can't Hurt You

...at least according to Google. JohnMu says that in his experience working at Google, he's never seen anyone hurt their competitors due to bad linking practices. It's possible in theory, but it's never actually been observed by someone at the big G.

How Stupid Can You Be?!

I like the comment on my post where I said that Matt Cutts discourages against lying on reconsideration requests. Hello, instead of peeving off Matt and co. so that you can be permanently banned from the index (that'd be nice for such folks, right?), why don't you spend the time to fix your problems?

Set Up that Robots.txt File

It's possible, according to what was reported earlier this week, that Google won't crawl your site if your robots.txt file is unreachable. Make sure your server gives a normal response to Google before you assume you'll get crawled!

Google Wants Your Sitemaps Too

Also, make sure to get a sitemap for Google to spider your site. I think this is good advice as it helps rather than hurts you. Barry says you should try it out and see what works for you. Personally, I think it works for me. :)

Google.co.uk Explained

Google.co.uk is different than Google.com, but in a sense, there are some similarities. Regardless, webmasters have shared what they notice on Google.co.uk compared to the .com version and there are some notable differences, particularly with geotargeting.

Please Don't Give Us Ugly Google AdSense Fonts

Google is testing fonts for AdSense ads, and they've considered Comic Sans, which I abhor (and I know I'm not alone). Bad idea, Google. Anything but Comic Sans, please. Better yet, keep it consistent with the text of everything else on the page. ;)

Never Fall for a Phish

We get phishing scams everyday, but this is just a reminder to beware of anything that smells phishy, and in this case, that's Yahoo Search Marketing scams. (Oh, that typo was intended, by the way.) The best option is to just log into your accounts (any that require identifying information) and see if there's a warning on the dashboard to update security information or whatnot. Never click on those links or respond to them. Identity theft runs rampant and it starts with negligence that usually comes from clicking on email.

Is Google Pay Per Action Going Anywhere?

It seems that the future of Google's Pay Per Action is bleak, with Google stopping to invite users to the program and us not knowing if it has a long term future. I think it's a good idea in concept, but it'd be nice to see that it benefits both Google and users who opt in. I guess they haven't figured that part out yet. Maybe they need to open it up to more people?

The Long Tail Rocks

If you haven't optimized for the long tail, this thread about the benefits of long tail traffic should make you reconsider. Webmasters are noticing in their logs that users aren't looking for "cars" anymore. They're searching for the specific make and model ("lexus es 350"). You want to make sure you're targeting those terms or you're going to be losing out on some valuable traffic.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful weekend :)

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 20, 2008 12:00 PM Comments (0)

June 15, 2008

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: June 15, 2008 :: Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all pops out there! Only dad's can win today's schwag, to find out how to win, listen to the video and comment at SERoundtable.com with the correct answer. In this week's recap, I discussed the pros and cons for an advertiser on the Google / Yahoo deal. Some webmasters noticed a drop in Google web traffic, but others notice an increase in image search traffic. Google said the Yahoo Directory does pass PageRank. Is Yahoo nit picking on advertiser credits. I spoke about international SEO topics and much more. So check it out below.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here

Some Of The Topics Discussed:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don't forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

I may not be able to mail schwag outside of the United States.

posted rustybrick in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 15, 2008 9:50 AM Comments (2)

June 13, 2008

Weekly Search Buzz Roundup - 06/13/08: Google's Traffic Drops, Yahoo's Click Fraud Report Stinginess & SEO Forum Worthiness Debate

It's Friday the 13th and Father's Day is on Sunday. I know you're just as pumped as I am for that. Check out our new Father's Day theme right now!

Google and Yahoo to Partner for Ads

So this week, we heard that Google will power many of Yahoo's search ads. Then we had a poll. Do you want this to happen? The majority of you (46%) said no. Thirty nine percent of you said yes and the rest of you didn't seem to care either way.

Google Drops Traffic

What's up with the loss of traffic as reported by many webmasters as related to Google search volume? I don't know but when your eggs are mostly in Google's basket, it sucks. I noticed this a few months ago, actually, myself. Maybe I am just lucky. ;)

Yahoo Directory has a PageRank After All

Last week we reported that the Yahoo Directory had no PR. That's not the case according to Matt Cutts. TBPR is fun.

Google Image Traffic Increases

Woot! If you're optimizing your website for images, guess what? Google removed a lot of images from the recent filter that flagged images as "adult."

Yahoo Needs Money, Rejects Click Fraud Reports?

Advertisers are reporting that they are reporting that their Yahoo Click Fraud requests are being rejected. No update thus far, so I'm not sure what else to tell you, but I feel the frustration.

Google's SEO Documentation is Updated

Matt Cutts did a great job explaining the new changes in Google's SEO documentation. A lot of good kibbles and bits there :)

Google Addresses Content Scraping

A Google Webmaster dude wrote a post about how Google handles content theft and says that they've done a pretty accurate job weeding out the scrapers and keeping the original text there. Most people think that's not exactly the case. I might be inclined to agree that there's some work that can be done for a better job in that area, but I imagine a lot has been already looked at.

Your Country Coded TLD Won't Rank So Badly After All.... Unless...

If you have a website that is on another domain but you set the geographic target in Google Webmaster Central to US, you probably won't suffer from bad rankings on Google.com, according to JohnMu. However, if you have foreign-language PDF documents, you may be in for a surprise.

Linking AdSense to Google Account Inevitable

Is this our final notice about linking your Google AdSense account to your Google account? Maybe. So um, yeah. It looks like you don't have a choice. Just do it.

YouTube Annotations: Cool, but Why Don't You work in Embedded Videos?

Okay, so I just spent some time looking at this YouTube annotated video of Matt Cutts and porn. It was very enlightening. I played the video on the post on Search Engine Roundtable but didn't see the annotation, though. I tried again. And again. Then I went to the YouTube page. Viola! Annotations are there! Can you fix this please, YouTube team? :)

SEO Debate: Forums Out, Blogs In?

Are SEO forums a waste of time? or are they valuable? This is a good question. My thoughts: noise on forums. Not so much on blogs in comparison. You have a lot of new folks from a far-away timezone who haven't embraced the blog world and still preach totally inaccurate information on forums not knowing that it's outdated by like 5 years. Still, there's value in forums. Barry finds it. Let's pat him on the back. :)

Have a splendid weekend!

posted Tamar Weinberg in Search Buzz RoundUp at June 13, 2008 10:03 AM Comments (0)