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 Slaps Greek Sites With Penalties
It appears that Google has taken action on spammers, potentially link spammers, in Greece recently. Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, responded on Twitter to a webmaster noticing that many websites in Greece received penalties. Matt responded saying “ah, you noticed the action in Greece?” Here is Matt’s tweet: @realpoisom ah, you noticed the […] - Quora Kicks Off Verified Profiles With Spotlight On President Barack Obama
Quora announced new Verified Profiles today, now adding a checkmark to profile pictures of public figures and writers deemed worthy by the site. According to Quora, it doesn’t accept verification requests, but instead will determine who gets a verified profile based on whether a “significant percentage of Quora readers recognize the person’s name or background […] - Google Now Comes To Chrome For Desktops & Laptops
Google’s amazing predictive search tool, Google Now, is finally being made available to people on desktop and laptop computers using the regular release of its Chrome browser. Until now, it had only been available through mobile devices or to those using beta versions of Chrome. Google shared the news via its Google Chrome account on […] - Google’s Matt Cutts: Determining If Your Site Ranking Is Result Of A Penalty Is “Tricky”
Today’s video from Google’s head of webspam Matt Cutts tackles the question, “How can you tell if your site is suffering from an algorithmic penalty, or you are simply being outgunned by better content?” According to Cutts: It’s kind of tricky because we have a large amount of algorithms that all interact, and whether you […] - New Google Search App Feature Creates Radio Station Based On Recently Played Music
Last week, Google took to its Google+ page to announce a music-related Search app feature for Android users. Saying “Play some music” after tapping the Google search mic or saying “Ok Google” will prompt the app to create an “I’m feeling lucky” radio station. According to Google, the radio station will play a “surprise mix […] - SMX Advanced Agenda Now Available – Super Early Bird Rates Expire Friday
The Search Marketing Expo – SMX Advanced agenda is now posted! Check it out and then register before our lowest rates expire this Friday. Fluent in search marketing? SMX Advanced is for you. This year’s agenda is packed with expert-level tips to drive traffic, increase conversions and boost ROI. Session topics include: Keyword Research On […] - The Local Search Event Horizon: Adopt Events Markup For Your Business
This month, Google Maps just announced a new events feature appearing on Android phones which has already been appearing in desktop local search results — for some types of business, events information is now being displayed in addition to the other local profile elements. The focus on events continues to indicate how much importance Google […] - Nearly A Year Later, Google’s Penalty Notices Remain Confusing
Nearly a year after Google’s Matt Cutts told us penalty notifications will get clearer it seems as if the notifications, in many cases, have gotten harder to understand. I spend a lot of time following penalties issued by Google through examples given to me via email, penalties publicizes on blogs and then examples posted in […] - Dorothy Irene Height Google Logo Marks Civil Rights Leader’s 102nd Birthday
Today’s Google logo marks the 102nd birthday of civil rights leader and women’s rights activist Dorothy Irene Height. While working at the Harlem YMCA, Height became a force of the civil rights movement after meeting National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) president Mary McLeod Bethune and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt during their visit to the […] - Agnes Martin Google Logo Celebrates Abstract Painter’s 102nd Birthday
Today’s Google logo marks what would have been the 102nd birthday of abstract painter Agnes Martin, adding another female to the list of women Google has honored on its homepage this year. Born in Canada, Martin spent much of her career first in New York City, and then New Mexico. She is best known for […] - What Do Users Really Think Of The New Google Design?
When Google started testing the new look for its search results pages which ditches the shading behind the ads and replaces it with yellow “ad” icons, contradictory outcries of this sort began popping up, “Ad click-through rates are going to plummet because the ads are too obvious with those bright icons.” “The ads look like […] - Want To Speak @ SMX Advanced? Here’s How
The agenda is live, and we’re now accepting submissions to speak at Search Marketing Expo – SMX Advanced 2014. To increase the odds of being selected, be sure to have read the agenda. Understand what the sessions are about. Ensure that your pitch is on target to the show’s audience and the session. Please also […]
Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:
- The Case For Content Automation
- Pinterest Advertisers Could Start Paying For Promoted Pins As Early As Next Month [Report]
- First Touch: In 9 Of 10 Industries Search Tops Lead Generation, Social Shortens Marketing Cycles
- Massive Web Traffic Fraud: Digital Advertising Confronts “Crisis”
- AdRoll Publishes New Book On Retargeting With Tips & Case Studies On What Works
- SMX Advanced Agenda Now Available – Super Early Bird Rates Expire Friday
- Get To Know: Continuum CMO Jeanne Hopkins
- Putting The “R” Into E-Tail: Adopt A Holistic Retail Marketing Approach
- Twitter Ups The Ante On Impression Metrics, Tests Showing “Views” In Tweets
- How Microsoft Scroogled Itself As The Defender Of Email Privacy Over Google
Search News From Around The Web:
Industry
- Federal Circuit Weighs in on Google Street View Patent Suit, American University Intellectual Property Brief
- SMX West 2014 Review: A Digital Analyst’s Perspective, SwellPath
Link Building
- 3 Great Safe Alternatives to Guest Blogging, Bill Hartzer
- Is Link Building Dead?, Stone Temple
- New Google Manual Link Penalty Messaging, AdamDince.com
Searching
- How To Add Bing Search To Any Browser, internetmarketingninjas.com
SEO
- Why You Run with Spammers, SEO Theory
- 30 Smart Online Marketing Tips From SMX West 2014, BruceClay.com
- 6 Ways to Make Sure You Never Get an Algorithmic Penalty from Google, quicksprout.com
- An Open Letter to Matt Cutts, Eric Schmidt, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, et al., The Meld
- Blog SEO Quiz – Test Your Blog Optimization Knowledge, Search Engine Watch
- How Combining SEO & Usability Solves 4 Common On-Site Problems, Search Engine Watch
- I wish SEO would be more quiet as it died, SEOish
- Innovation in SEO: The “technical build”, blog.arhg.net
- Over Optimization is Dead. Long Live Optimization!, ISOOSI Blog
- The Business Benefits of Using Rel Author, koozai.com
- Why PR is more important than ever for SEOs, State of Digital
SEM / Paid Search
- 5 Reasons That Quality Score Isn’t A Quality Metric, blog.raventools.com
- Advanced Excel Tips for PPC Managers, 3Q Digital
- Bing Ads Continues to Deliver Great Mobile Momentum on Yahoo Bing Network, Bing Ads Blog
- Paid search clicks from mobile devices in the UK nearly doubled in 2013, report says, The Drum
- Why The New Google Search Ads Design Is a Subtle Work of Genius, EyeQuant Blog
