Analytics firm Jumpshot shuts down
In 2020, following critical articles about its data collection and sales practices, analytics firm Jumpshot was shut down by its parent company Avast.
Jumpshot was made famous within the SEO industry by SparkToro founder Rand Fishkin’s (heavily criticized and widely circulated) zero-click analysis and presentations.
Articles from Vice, PC Mag and Motherboard claimed that Avast and Jumpshot were “secretly harvesting” users’ browsing behavior, packaging it and reselling without their full knowledge.
Fishkin defended the company and faulted the publications for what he said was incomplete and biased reporting.
Read all about it in With Jumpshot shuttered, where will SEOs get their ‘zero-click’ fix now?
Dig deeper:
- 49% of all Google searches are no-click, study finds
- Now, more than 50% of Google searches end without a click to other content, study finds
- Analysis of 250 million SERPs finds no-click story more complex than it appears
- Zero-click Google searches rose to nearly 65% in 2020
- Google search study: 25.6% of desktop, 17.3% of mobile are zero-click
- Hitwise halts some reporting services in wake of Jumpshot’s closing
Also on this day
Google merges its SafeSearch help information into a single new document
2022: This document explained how SafeSearch works and added some troubleshooting.
Apple’s big maps makeover now available across U.S., Europe coming soon
2020: The new-ish Apple Maps has a range of improved features and content
Will the Discover feed be Google’s next cash cow? What advertisers are saying about Discovery campaigns
2020: Early looks at the new campaign type and native ad formats that have had little fanfare since launching in beta.
New Google Search Console adds a security issues section
2019: In anticipation of the old Google Search Console going away, Google moved the security issues into the new version.
Now your Google text ads can show on YouTube search results, too
2019: Google began incorporating YouTube into its Search Partners network.
Agencies say search, social spend will rise, but increases target 5 platforms
2019: While Amazon and LinkedIn cracked the top five, Marketing Land’s Digital Agency Survey found second-tier platforms were much less likely to see spending increases in the coming year.
Bing offers a trio of new local search APIs
2019: Microsoft released three location APIs: Bing Maps Location Recognition, Bing Maps Local Search API and Bing Maps Local Insights API.
Google publishes comprehensive guide to featured snippets
2018: Google explained what featured snippets are, the various user interfaces and treatments you can get from these featured snippets and how they interact with desktop, mobile and voice search results.
Bing Ads’ new Audience Segmentation feature makes list performance comparisons a breeze
2018: Advertisers could quickly see performance by audience and benchmark against non-targeted users.
Report: Google AMP results in Google News more than double
2017: A report found that AMP results shown in the Google News section for mobile users had more than doubled in the past several days.
Fred Korematsu Google doodle honors Japanese internment camp survivor & civil rights activist
2017: The Doodle featured Korematsu with his Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Quickly See AdWords Performance By Search Query Length In Google Analytics
2015: A new Word Count Query dimension in Analytics let advertisers quickly compare head terms and long-tail queries.
Google Now Cards Integrated With Third-Party Developer Apps
2015: Google Now could now be integrated with 30+ developer apps.
Search “Super Bowl” & See The Best Search Results Page Bing Has Ever Had
2015: Bing’s search results included original content and almost anything a fan would need to know before the game starts.
Search In Pics: Google’s Greyglers, Yahoo Keg, 40 Penguins
2015: The latest images showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.
Google Q4 2013 Earnings Report $16.86 Billion In Revenues
2014: That was an increase of 17% compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.
Facebook Will Launch Graph Search For Mobile “Pretty Soon”
2014: It had been over a year since Graph Search launched.
Google Search Redesigns Stock Quotes “Card,” Drops Competitor Links, Then Brings Them Back
2014: After attention was drawn to the fact it dropped links to competing financial websites, Google quietly restored the links.
Yahoo Adds Local Business Snapshots Next To Search Results
2014: The local business info included basic business information, photos, hours of operation and some data specific to the business type.
Google Tests B2B Market With Google Shopping For Suppliers
2013: The beta was open only to electrical and electronics industries.
Bing On Super Bowl 47: San Francisco 49ers Twice As Many Searches Than Baltimore Ravens
2013: 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick had 50% more searches than Raven’s quarterback Joe Flacco.
Get Me To The Gulag: Google’s Map Maker Becomes A Political Weapon
2013: Some people on Google+ have added satirical, fake reviews to locations in North Korea.
Yandex Joins Bing, Yahoo In Using Nokia-Navteq Map Data
2012: Yandex licensed data from Nokia-owned Navteq to offer better and more comprehensive maps coverage around the world.
A Roundup Of New U.S. Government Search Tools
2012: FAA Mobile Web App, USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, National Archives Transcription Pilot Project and more.
Google’s “Instant Previews” Now On iOS (iPhone/iPad) Browser
2011: Many iOS users on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad devices reported seeing the instant previews button on the right side of the search result.
Google Adds Snow Conditions & Interaction Mobile Weather Results
2011: Google showed live snow results on the search results for ski resorts. The weather results had a slider and larger real estate for interacting with the weather.
Irony: You Need A Map To Find Google Street View On The iPhone
2010: Google Street View was terribly unintuitive on the iPhone.
Losing Hope With Yahoo, After Watching The Paid Search Division Stumble
2009: Rather than fixing its problems and earning more revenue by doing something advertisers actually want, Yahoo seemed more interested in doing manual tweaks to advertiser accounts – without explicit permission – to generate more money.
Marin Software’s Multi-Conversion Tracking Helps Fine Tune Keyword Bidding
2009: It enabled search marketers to define various kinds of actions or “conversions” (e.g., newsletter sign-up, ecommerce transactions, email capture).
Google Universal Search Expands
2008: In particular, Google Universal Search filled more than just 10 spots on the page, while shopping and blog search results were among the new resources being included.
Yahoo Earnings Mixed, Company To Go Through With 1,000 Job Cuts Amid Uncertain 2008
2008: Total revenue in Q4 was $1.83 billion, which represented 8% growth year-over-year ($1.7 billion). Full year 2007 revenues for Yahoo were $6.97 billion.
Scientologists Google Bombed Or Not?
2008: Searching for [dangerous cult] returned the Scientology website in Position 1.
Visualize Earthquake Data In Google Earth
2008: The US Geological Survey and Google made global earthquake data available in Google Earth as one of the layers under “Places of Interest.”
Google Adds Local Reviews In Search Results
2007: Conducting searches on Google.com for local-specific information could now return local reviews and business comparisons.
Yahoo Site Explorer Adds Features: Delete URL From Index
2007: You could now delete URLs from Yahoo’s index with a click of a button.
Yahoo Adds Link Badge In Site Explorer
2007: Anyone could place code on their website to show off the number of links they have to a specific page or to their site.
Click Fraud Reaches New High, Says Click Forensics
2007: The industry average click fraud rate in Q4 2006 was 14.2% versus 13.8% for Q3, 14.1% for Q2 and 13.7% for Q1.
Google Releases New Google Enterprise Search Application
2007: The Google Mini would “enable companies to perform searches on intranets as well as internal business applications.”
Google To Test SMS Feature In Orkut Brazil
2007: The feature would let users send SMS messages to their Orkut friends from their mobile phones.
Google Officially Adds Docs & Spreadsheets Integration With Gmail
2007: When you received an email in your Gmail account, and it contained a Google Docs or Spreadsheet file, the file would have a link to “Open as a Google Document.”
Past contributions from Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
These columns are a snapshot in time and have not been updated since publishing, unless noted. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.
- 2020: What’s happening with featured snippets? by Mordy Oberstein
- 2020: The digital marketing transformation led by Google and Amazon by Melissa Reilly
- 2019: Targeted SEO: Here’s how to grow a page from 200 visits per month to 30,000 by Andrew Dennis
- 2018: Channel your inner explorer to find link-building prospects by Julie Joyce
- 2018: What to get right before launching a global business by Thomas Stern
- 2017: Let’s make 2017 the year of honest reviews! by Greg Gifford
- 2017: SMBs are overwhelmed with digital marketing choices. How to stand out and win their business. by Wesley Young
- 2015: 7 Ways To Use Splunk For Technical SEO by Eli Schwartz
- 2014: Excelling (Again) At Excel For Search Engine Marketers by Josh Dreller
- 2014: I Don’t Want No Scrub (Agency) by Mona Elesseily
- 2014: From 10 Blue Links To Entity SERPs: Is Your Website Ready? by Barbara Starr
- 2013: Retargeting Tips For Highly-Regulated Advertisers by Cameron Jonsson
- 2013: Why Big Testing Will Be Bigger Than Big Data by Scott Brinker
- 2012: 10 Basic Bing Local Optimization Tips by Chris Silver Smith
- 2012: What You Need To Know About Targeting iPad & Tablet Searchers by Bryson Meunier
- 2012: 8 Quick Ways to Increase Your AdWords CTR by Brad Geddes
- 2009: Are You An SEO Hybrid? by Shari Thurow
- 2009: How Search Marketing Made Me a Fantasy Football Champion by Josh Dreller
- 2008: Don’t Panic – Plan For Disaster
- 2008: The Big B2B PPC Mistake by Brian Kaminksi
- 2008: Search Engine Reputation Management: Setting & Managing Expectations by Jessica Bowman
- 2007: More Letters Of The Social Media Alphabet by Cameron Olthuis
- 2007: CrossEngine: Fast & Easy Way To Search Several Search Engines by Phil Bradley
< January 29 | Search Marketing History | January 31 >
