Hope y'all had a nice week, but we can't forget that it's Friday and it's time to relax. Before you do, though, let's cover what you may have missed... you wouldn't want to be out of the loop, would you?
Veteran's Day
Did you know that Monday was Veteran's Day in the states? Now you do. And search engines may have reminded you. This year, only a few took on the theme: Google and Dogpile.
Microsoft Live Search Webmaster Tools Now Open
It's a public beta, everyone! The Microsoft Live Search Webmaster Tools has been opened to the public, but it's still in beta. It certainly is no Google, but at least the option is there, coupled with domain rank and Page Rank bars. It needs a lot more work to be a great product, though.
Microsoft Link Command Works Again
It only took them 8 months, but the Microsoft Link command is working! In case you forgot how to use it, Barry explains that "for a link command, you need to use +link:www.domain.com/filename and for a linkdomain command, you need to use +linkdomain:www.domain.com." Thanks for the refresher course. I needed it.
More Microsoft: It's Reading Your Mind
The future of paid advertising suspects that Microsoft will take a different approach: it will read your mind. The more appropriate term is "neuromarketing" and there are several studies that are looking into the effectiveness of such an approach. What do you suppose will happen in 2 years? 5 years? 10?
GoDaddy + Google = <3
GoDaddy and Google have partnered to offer Google Webmaster Tools in the GoDaddy control panel. That makes it a lot easier for those hosting with GoDaddy to make sure they have the most up-to-date sitemaps and the like.
Google AdSense: You have 6 Months
Google AdSense checks expire after 6 months, people. Cash those checks early and don't ask such silly questions.
Oh, and if your bank does reject your check, it's advised that you use electronic funds transfer. Some banks are just stupid.
You Might be Making Less Money Soon
Google AdSense ads are changing, and not for the better according to many publishers. The clickable area will soon be reduced. An illustration of the new changes have been posted to Problogger. That's unfortunate for publishers, but only legitimate clicks will go through so it should be a win for the advertiser. There are already some early reports on how this has affected big publishers.
...and Even Less
Gokul Rajaram is leaving Google. He was one of the founders of Google AdSense, so he's not just a nobody. The thirty-three year old is ready to pursue personal projects. I think he'll do just fine. Wherever he goes, others will follow.
Google Sued Over Patent
Northeastern University has sued Google over patent infringement. Yawn. This is getting boring.
DoubleClick? Maybe Not with Google After All
Here's another one of those "let's move on" stories. Google is still being reviewed by their DoubleClick acquisition and it's been rejected for now. I understand the fear of monopoly, but the drawn-out drama drives me crazy.
Build Android Apps, Get Money
In a contest to build up momentum for Google's new mobile operating system, they're offering $10 million to numerous developers. Do you have what it takes?
Google Geographic Targeting Tool: How Long?
Google recently released a geotargeting tool to allow the search engine to know which countries the websites intend to target. But how long does it take for it to go into effect? It's been taking awhile for many using the service. Hopefully, that'll speed up a little more.
Are You Buying Text Links?
We polled the audience to ask who is still buying text links, and most (60%) of you are. Obviously, something's working here. Here's my question for Google: if the links being purchased are relevant and brings lesser known sites to the light, why do you care? User experience doesn't seem to be sacrificed as many link buyers have suggested. Instead of targeting relevant paid links, how about you target the Viagra links on a page about baseballs? Hm?
Yahoo Search Marketing Customer Service Rocks
You watch the news. You hear about companies scamming consumers left and right. But how often do you hear a feel-good story about a company that does the right thing for the customer? Not very often, eh? It's usually not so interesting to people. Well, to me, it is. And to someone who had an experience with Yahoo, it was too. He shared his great customer service story with Yahoo for us, and I feel warm and fuzzy inside.
If it's Not Deceptive, Z-Layers are Fine
Can you hide text under a Z-Layer? The answer is... probably yes. Bergy answered this question from a webmaster who wanted to hide text under an image so that the search engines could discern what the page was about. As long as it's not spammy, sure.
PageRank Sucks
Get rid of PageRank! Ugh. Now there is the PR0 plague that's hitting folks. And I suspect that Shopzilla is having paid reviews removed because of PageRank. Cmon, don't you see the stress this is giving us?
Search Engine Roundtable Gets More Content
You can now subscribe to our newest feeds through a brand new section we've started: the Search Forum Recap. If you're inundated by the volume of posts we write a day (as I am), you can instead opt in for one email a day or subscribe to one feed. It's quite easy. Try it. :)
