Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
From Search Engine Land:
- Google Updates Its Page Layout Algorithm To Go After Sites “Top Heavy” With Ads
Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, announced that Google has released a refresh of its Page Layout Algorithm. The filter, also known as the Top Heavy algorithm, downgrades the ranking of a web page with too many ads at the top or if the ads are deemed too distracting for users. Cutts said the algorithm […]
- Bing Beats Google With Bitcoin Conversion Tool
First Yandex, now Bing, has beaten Google to offer Bitcoin conversion prices. Bing has announced that people can find the current rates by doing a search on Bing. Bing shared the news in a blog post today. It can be triggered in various ways, such as asking “one dollar in bitcoin,” which yielded this answer: […]
- Google’s Matt Cutts: Don’t Worry About Poor Grammar In Comments
In today’s video from Google’s Matt Cutts, Matt addresses the concern over having third-party comments with poor grammar on your blog or site. Matt said that you do not need to worry about the grammar people use on your site. You should worry about your writing style and your grammar but there is no need […]
- A Paid Search First? Olympic Sponsor Visa Opts To Advertise Its Tumblr On Google, Bing and Yahoo
YouTube and Facebook have long been the favored social accounts promoted by brands in paid search ads. Visa is cracking the mold. In what may be a first for a major brand, the Olympic sponsor is using paid search to drive visitors to its Tumblr account. The ads are appearing on both Google and the […]
- Microsoft Testing “Bing Saves” Search Bookmarking Feature
Microsoft appears to be testing a new feature for Bing: Bing Saves. According to a Neowin community member who saw the beta, it’s a way to click and bookmark a search result for later retrieval from a personal Microsoft account. Below is a screenshot of the feature from Neowin. The utility of such a feature is […]
- Get Medal-Winning SEO, SEM & Digital Marketing Tactics from World Class Presenters at SMX West
Don’t play games with your marketing success. Attend SMX West for tactics and networking that will put you on the podium. See the agenda, including ski run symbols that guide you to expert, intermediate or beginner level sessions. Here are a few reasons you should join us March 11-13 in San Jose: Curling is a […]
- Products, Prices & Proximity Are Most Important Info On Local Business Websites
Historically, website design and optimization have been uncomfortable bedfellows. The structural and content requirements of SEO were seen to restrict the fluidity of design and user interaction, while a narrow focus on website style often meant that the need to gain visibility in search and convert clicks into customers was overlooked. While these reluctant friends […]
- How One SEO Consultant’s Near Death Experience United The SEO Community
Dana Lookadoo is a familiar, warm, embracing and smart personality in the SEO/SEM space, and when she was involved in a major accident, the community she was such a big part of was there for her. Yesterday, Dana posted on her blog Journaling My Cycling Accident And Recovery. She described in detail her accident, the […]
- Where Do You Go When You’ve Maxed Out SEM?
Advertisers frequently tell me, “If you can hit my CPA target, my SEM budget is unlimited!” This is great in theory but often limited in practice — at some point, there simply are no more new keywords, or landing page tweaks, or ad text tests that can increase an advertiser’s SEM spend. Two years ago, […]
- Yahoo Turns To Yelp To Beef Up Local Search
According to a report appearing today in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Yahoo will be incorporating local content and listings from Yelp into its main search results. As the article points out, Yelp has a similar deal with Microsoft-Bing and, of course, with Apple (maps). Yelp has an API that permits third parties to use […]
- French Privacy Agency’s Site Crashes, After Demanding Link From Google France Home Page
Be careful what you wish for. In this case, the French privacy agency CNiL demanded that Google link from the Google France home page to a privacy ruling made against it. Google complied — and now the traffic seems to have slowed and sometimes crashed the CNiL website. Our story on Marketing Land has more […]
- Google Now Ranks No. 2 Behind Apple As The 2nd Most Valuable Company In America
Bloomberg.com reported today Google has moved ahead of Exxon Mobile Corp to become the second most valuable company in America following Apple. According to Bloomberg, Google’s market capitalization totals $393.5 billion, representing less than a billion more than Exxon’s $392.6 billion, but $72 billion behind Apple’s market value of $465.5 billion. As the world’s largest […]
- Bing Teams Up With The Hollywood Reporter In Anticipation Of The Oscars
Following the launch of its awards site, Bing announced today a new partnership with The Hollywood Reporter to create the “ultimate Oscars resource guide.” According to the announcement, Bing’s awards site will offer biographical information, photos and news on this year’s Academy Award nominees. To illustrate its new Oscar search features, the site used best supporting […]
Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:
- Target Partners With 3 Top Designers On Pinterest To Create Collection Of Party Items
- Social Networks Generate Least Loyalty In 2014 Brand Keys Survey
- Beyond SEM: When You’ve Maxed Your Search Ads, What’s Next?
- Infographic: How Location-Based Marketing Delivers Ads To In-Store Shoppers
- Get Medal-Winning SEO, SEM & Digital Marketing Tactics from World Class Presenters at SMX West
- With Content Marketing, Link Building is Obsolete… Right?
- Get To Know: The CMO For Tumbleweed Tiny House Company
- The Viral Rise & Fall Of Flappy Bird
- Google France Home Page Now Carries Privacy Violation Notice, As Ordered
- Esurance Awarded Its $1.5 Million Prize: What’s Next & Will The 200,000 New Twitter Followers Stay
Search News From Around The Web:
Local & Maps
Link Building
- 7 Ways to Attract Higher Quality Links With Better On-Page Content, Search Engine Watch
- How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nofollow, Moz
Searching
- What Does This Google Debug Detail Show Us?, Search Engine Roundtable
- Which Search Engine Are You?, Luna Metrics
- Why Traffic To These Google Alternatives Is Soaring, Forbes
SEO
- Halifax Bank Google SEO Penalty – Deep Dive, Link Research Tools
- Halifax.co.uk: Big Brands not Immune to Google SEO Penalty, linkresearchtools.com
- Good Updates Pt. 1: Understanding Panda, WrightIMC
- Google Testing Review-Sentiment Snippets in the Local Knowledge Graph, LocalVisibilitySystem.com
- Google Unnatural Links Manual Penalty: A Recovery Guide, Search Engine Watch
- How an SEO Can Assist with Submitting a Mobile App to the App Store, komarketingassociates.com
- How Google Uses Taxonomic Classifications to Better Understand the Meanings of Words on Pages, SEO By The Sea
- How to apply Schema on a Website through Webmaster Tools?, Search Engine People
- Knowledge Graph Dropdowns & Crowd Sourcing the Future on Twitter, Mike Blumenthal
- Manual vs Algo Penalties: What’s the Worst?, CanuckSEO
- Mobile SEO: what should you be thinking about?, Econsultancy
- The Basics of JavaScript Framework SEO in AngularJS, seogadget.com
- The New SEO Key Performance Indicators, Search Engine People
- Your how to guide for SEO in 2014, Vertical Leap
- Why Your Site’s Search Rank May Be Falling (And 4 Simple Ways to Fix it), Copyblogger
SEM / Paid Search
- Are You Spending Too Much On Your PPC Advertising Bids?!, davidmelamed.com
- How Auditing Placement Data Cut CPA’s by 67%, PPC Hero
- How to Pass the Google AdWords Advanced Display Exam, WordStream
- Retargeting Filters Unleashed! Merging Search & Psychographic Ads, aimClear Blog
Search Marketing
- Is Google Consciously Misleading SEOs & Webmasters?, Search Engine Roundtable
- Life After Keywords (Not Provided): What’s Next For Bloggers?, ProBlogger
