Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Searchers Upset Over BP's Google Ad
A very upset searcher posted his concerns in the Google Web Search Help forums over BP buying an ad for their name in Google AdWords. If you search for [bp] in Google, up comes an ad from BP that reads "Info about the Gulf of Mexico Spill Learn More about How BP is Helping" with a display URL of www.BP.com/GulfOfMexicoResponse. Here is a picture: The searcher said: Having BP's propaganda show up as the 1st - How SEO Experts React To Search Rank Drops
A WebmasterWorld thread has advice from Roger Monti, also known in the forums as martinibuster, on what he does when he is impacted by a Google algorithm change. I thought the advice was so good that I wanted to highlight it here. He said: Step One: Do not panic and wait for about a month to see if Google makes tweaks to the algorithm change they put into place earlier. Step Two: When rankings do - Reciprocal Links Are Unavoidable
There is a nice basic link building thread at WebmasterWorld on the topic of reciprocal links. In this thread, SEOs are talking about the right of SEO companies to require their clients to link back to them. Many believe this is not a professional practice, while others don't think it is a big deal. Either way, that topic of debate is not my point for covering the thread. My point for covering the thread is - Google Merchant Center Looking For Feedback
Those that submit products through Google Merchant Center to be shown on Google Shopping/Google Product Search can now submit feedback to Google for issues and feature requests. Ronald from the Google team posted a thread at the Google Merchant Help forum asking for feedback. He said: Hello Google Merchant Center Users, Beginning this week, we are initiating a new exercise to collect your opinion, feedback and suggestions to improve the Google Merchant Center. I will
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Google Sync Experiencing an Outage, Google Mobile Help
- Google World Cup 2010, Google Blogoscoped Forum
- The start page for the webmasters is throwing a 404 error again... Help!!, Google Webmaster Help
- Yahoo to Roll Out Facebook Integration?, WebmasterWorld
- [Logo] Robert Schumann's Birthday, Google Blogoscoped Forum
- 9 Expert SEO Tips for Small Businesses, Sphinn
- And your favorite Blogger of the Week series is back! With Maria Nikishyna, Google AdWords Help
- Bike routes are fine, but I can't print one (get ordinary street view) and don't want to mount my laptop to handlebars, Google Maps Help
- Five tips on getting your video into Google News, Sphinn
- Gmail Labs: Google Maps previews in mail, Google Blogoscoped Forum
- Google Banned in Turkey, Google Blogoscoped Forum
- Is History Repeating Itself at Google?, WebmasterWorld
