Google announced its new privacy policy last week – it was immediately met with Congressional concern, fire and brimstone from privacy advocates and some good old fashioned ribbing on Twitter from none other than Steve Martin (yeah, THE wild and crazy guy). This was just another dark cloud in a growing storm of concern regarding the Mountain View search giant. Continue reading “Google, what the (bleep) are you doing?” »
The Google+ Plus Project
This email came in through an old email address that I have not used in 2+ years, but check from time to time because 1 client still emails it when they can’t seem to find my current address. It is my first (the first?) unsolicited email from an, *ahem*, internet marketing company, selling +1′s for the express intent of adding algorithmic social media weight to search rankings. And for as little as $0.59 for each +1!
The First Google Plus Paid +1 Building Email? (click for full image)
Here is the full email transcribed with identification data scrubbed.
Continue reading “The First Paid Google +1 Popularity Building Unsolicited Email?” »
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 marks the 30 year anniversary of when the Pac-Man video game was released. To celebrate this phenominal interactive computing milestone, Google has changed their homepage logo to an interactive one that you can play the Pacman game live, online and right from Google.com. Pretty Cool!
Google PAC-MAN 30th Anniversary Interactive Video Game Logo
Watch a video of me wasting time playing Field Testing this interactive search engine feature:
The recent Local University marketing workshop held here in the Twin Cities had a line up of local search marketing speakers that was by far and away the most proficient local SEM panel ever assembled. Ever. Being a search engine marketer myself, whom works on many local and small business campaigns, I thought I would share some of the little local gems and actionable items that I took away from the event.
WebRanking loves getting involved with great organizations like Local University
Disclaimer: The following is not intended to supplement or replace the information that can be gathered by attending a Local U workshop in person. It is only a small sampling of what can be gained from this event. If you are an SEO/SEM and not currently enrolled in an upcoming Local U seminar, you are here by advised to do so at the earliest opportunity.
Continue reading “Local Search Marketing Takeaways from the Twin Cities Local U” »
Google New SERPs Navigation
We first noticed Google testing their new SERPs format back in April.
Since then we have been left to wonder if and when the new search page layout would go live ad if there were any changes that would be made to their format as well.
It appears that the only thing missing from the early tests is the “Not Entirely Unlike” section.
 Test SERP: Not Entirely Unlike |
 New SERPs: Something Different |
 Google's Original TM Logo |
 New Cleaner Looking Google Logo |
Continue reading “Google Officially Launches New Logo and Search Page Layout” »
Kudos to Paul Kragthorpe for spotting what is either a Good Friday (long weekend) test or a limited/controlled release of a new format for Google’s search engine result pages (SERP’s).
Google New SERP for TEST
Always a clever one to notice similarities, Paul remarks seem to be on point:
Continue reading “Google Testing New Format in Search Engine Result Pages?” »
Bing Winter Olympics Homepage - February 25th 2010
I really didn’t think these Olympic games would draw me in… but they did. And Wow, what a finale!
Continue reading “Slideshows: Search Engines Honor 2010 Winter Olympics” »
Well this has to be a first! It now appears that Google is showing their special Holiday and Event logos in their search engine result pages in a very similar manner to how Bing has been for almost a year.
Here are a few screen captures that show the new SERP’s.
Google Logo in SERP's
With Christmas only a few days away, those last minute acts of kindness probably aren’t going to be enough to get your name scratched off the naughty list and penciled into the nice one. Sure, you might hope to slip by this year on some clerical error or a loophole in the revised 2009 Naughty and Nice Code of Ethics, but remember Santa is supposedly checking them twice (which makes me wonder if he has a Naughty & Nice app for his iPhone yet, or is still doing it by hand?).
Yet whether your stocking this year will be filled with lumps of coal or gifts of joy, you are not alone. We have sent out a request to our colleagues, associates and some talented search elves up north to come up with our First Annual Not Quite Definitive List of Who’s Been Naughty and Who’s Been Nice in Search for 2009.
Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas.
* Google gets lots of gifts for attempting to innovate search with real-time results, social search, and more.
* StumbleUpon.com gets lots of gifts this Holiday season for leaving the hands off of eBay, listening to its community, and implementing changes around their desires.
- Jordan Kasteler
* Bing goes on this list for bringing more seriousness in competition to the search landscape. They’ve got a long way to go, but it’s the first positive step in a long, long time.
- Rand Fishkin
* Google Adwords new ad formats. This was a long-time coming in my opinion. I am curious to see if Yahoo and MSN try to follow Google, or, wait until their platform merger.
* Google Analytics upgrades since October….specifically, more “Goals” and “Alert” system.
* Google Webmaster Tools upgrades….specifically, their “Parameter Handling”.
- Clint Danks
See who else made the Naughty and Nice in Search List for 2009…
Happy Halloween! In honor of the frightful night, as has been a hallowed tradition for the past 11 years, Google created a special logo that was only displayed on October 31st.
Google's Halloween Themed Homepage 2009
Here are several of the past Google Halloween Logos from as far back as 1999, the year that I got my start in SEO. I can remember seeing the first one in ’99 and thinking: “Gee, they can do better than that”. We’ll I must say that they have indeed become more creative throughout the years. Kudos to the logo design team!
Continue reading “Happy Halloween! Google’s 2009 Halloween Logo and Logos from the Past” »
Recently, Google Analytics made an update to their Goal Conversion Tracking system that allows you to rearrange and change the position of your goals by simply selecting a different spot in a dropdown menu. At first glance earlier today, this new feature seemed to be an easy way to rearrange your goals to your preference so that you can see the goals that you want, where you them. But after testing it further I realized that is has a major flaw that you need to be wary of: Loss Corruption/Confusion of Goal History Data.
Reordering your Analytic Conversion Goals became too simple…
Change your Analytics Goal Positions easily by selecting another dropdown menu option
Why this is significant
Continue reading “The Flaw in Google Analytics "Goal Position Change"” »
The team at Google Analytics has recently made an announcement stating that “Google Analytics Now More Powerful, Flexible And Intelligent”. This system update has many new features, but the 2 that have been on my web analytics “Wish List” for some time are:
20 Goals instead of just 4 – That’s 500% more Useful and 1,000% Simpler!
Google Analytics now allows 20 Goals and Change Position feature
Continue reading “Google Analytics Expands to 20 Goals and allows Goal Position Change” »
On September 27, 2009, Google turned 11 years old. In honor of this special day, Google.com created a special logo that was only displayed on their site on the Sunday. They even added an extra “l” the their name in the logo – Googlle.
Googlle's 11th Birthday Logo
Wow, where did the time go? Here are several of the past birthday logos.
Continue reading “Google Turns 11 Years Old – Happy Birthday Googlle!” »
Old Salt
To find the Pirate Search ya’ll first have to follow some clues and go on a little search of your own…
