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:
- Why Google's Results Number Doesn't Make Sense To Searchers
One of the most common questions I see from searchers and SEOs is why the total results figure on Google's search results is wrong or off. If you do a search at Google, Google will show you "about x results" at the top. Here is a picture: This figure should not be trusted. Danny Sullivan recently posted a comprehensive article on this named Why Google Can't Count Results Properly. In there, he highlights a comment - Google Maps Error Causes Military Conflict Between Nicaragua & Costa Rica
Nicaragua Raids Costa Rica, Blames Google Maps by Matt McGee at Search Engine Land reported a some what comical but yet serious matter blamed on Google. In short, the commander of the Nicaraguan military used Google Maps as proof that he can move his troops to the San Juan Lake, which technically is not in his country. Reports say that the troops took down the Costa Rican flag and raising the Nicaraguan flag. I believe - 2010 SEO Industry Survey Results via SEOmoz
SEOmoz did their SEO industry survey this year and received over 10,000 responses. I strongly recommend you skim the report, if you are in the industry. The responses can be found at SEOmoz. Here are some data points I personally found interesting, but there is a lot more data here: Those operating outside Google's guidelines are over twice as likely to have filed a spam report about others.30% of broker-based link buyers have sent a - Google Mocks How Yahoo Removes Images From Flickr
There is a complaint at the Google Webmaster Help forums from a Flickr user who said he removed an image from Flickr and went through the URL removal process but the image still shows up in the Google search results. Now this is not uncommon but the response from Google's JohnMu was interesting. John from Google said: It does look like Flickr's handling of removed images leaves a bit to be desired in that regard... - Google AdSense Ad Review Center Polluted With Unrelated Ads?
A WebmasterWorld thread has several Google AdSense publishers complaining that the Ad Review Center is polluted with ads to be reviewed that are totally off target to the web site they are wanting to be placed on. One publisher said: I decided to post this now that it's been four days and nothing has changed. When I check my ad reveiew center for targeted ads, I'm getting 12 or more new advertisers UNRELATED to my - Google Instant On iPhone Stinks
I have no strong feelings of Google Instant. I think it works well for many people and if they don't like it, they can turn it off. Personally, I don't mind it - even as an advanced searcher. But yesterday, when Google announced Instant was now available on iPhones (iOS) and Android 2.2 devices, I had to take a look. What I discovered was that, at least on an iPhone, it is a waste of
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- 5 Ways To Fix SEO’s Reputation Problem, Sphinn
- Facebook Moves To Make It More Dominant In Mobiles, WebmasterWorld
- How Google may Manage Reputations for Reviewers and Raters, Sphinn
- Report: 7% Of Mobile Internet Users Do Location-Based Services, Sphinn
- Totally innocent abbreviation just been slapped with trademark ban, WebmasterWorld
- Basics Of SEO Infographic, Sphinn
- For Sale Property in Housing Feed Searchable but not Appearing on Google Maps when For Sale is checked, Google Maps Help
- Minimum distance of GeoPoints in PolygonTarget, AdWords API Forum
