Atomic Media text

Home
Blog
SEO Services
Web Development Services
Free Stuff
Software Products
Contact

Atomic Media

You are currently browsing the Atomic Media blog archives.


Pages

  • About

    • Archives



    Categories

    seo news (13231)

    Blogroll

    Development Blog
    Documentation
    Plugins
    Suggest Ideas
    Support Forum
    Themes
    WordPress Planet

    Apple Maps relaunches Apple Business Connect

    Written on January 11, 2023 at 12:42 pm, by admin

    Apple has revamped the Apple Business Connect service, where businesses can update what Apple Maps shows about their business. This service initially launched Apple Maps Connect in 2014, and it is similar to how Google Business Profiles works.

    Apple Business Connect. Apple said this is a “free tool allows businesses of all sizes to customize the way their information appears across Apple apps.”

    In Business Connect, businesses can manage their place card, including adding and updating photos and logos; inviting customers to take actions like ordering food or making a reservation directly from Maps; and presenting customers with special promotions.

    Showcases. Apple also added Showcases, a new feature in the Apple MAps place card that helps businesses present customers with offers and incentives. Apple said, “businesses can easily update the Showcase section of their place card through Business Connect.” The feature is available for US businesses today and rolling out globally in the coming months. 

    New APIs. Apple also now supports a new API named the Business Connect API. This is designed for businesses with dozens of locations and allows those businesses “to easily deliver accurate, up-to-date information to Maps at scale through listing management agencies such as Reputation, Rio SEO, SOCi, Uberall, and Yext,” Apple said.

    Businesses registration. If you already have an Apple Business Connect account, you can log in and add the new details about your business to your listing – I already did that before writing this story. Otherwise, businesses can register their business at businessconnect.apple.com and get started today.

    Why we care. Apple Maps is becoming more and more popular, and it makes sense for you to register and maintain your business properly and accurately on the Apple Maps ecosystem. So make sure your business listing is verified and up-to-date.

    The post Apple Maps relaunches Apple Business Connect appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    3 PPC marketing trends to keep a pulse on in 2023

    Written on January 10, 2023 at 8:27 am, by admin

    As we begin 2023, it’s a good time to reflect on the macro-level trends we’ve observed last year. 

    Here are a few trends that I believe have some staying power and should be considered as you build out your 2023 search marketing strategies.

    1. A slow economy and heightened focus on efficiency

    In case you haven’t heard, the economy has been struggling (that’s a joke). I graduated with a degree in economics, but like most of us, I have no idea how long this downturn will last. 

    That said, I think many digital marketers are already feeling the impact.

    These environments are tricky to navigate and I certainly don’t have all the answers.

    However, the advice I usually start with is leaning into your data. Make sure you have a deep understanding of your top-performing tactics and maximize your investment there first.

    An analogy I often use is the concept of a sports team in the playoffs. When it comes to crunch time, a coach will always put their best players in the game for as much time as possible. Those players who are still developing are likely going to be watching the game from the bench. 

    Take this same mindset when it comes to your search strategies. If your budget is limited, prioritize your investment on the tactics driving the most return. 

    I’m sure many of you reading this are saying, “Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious.” But when I say this, I don’t mean simply consolidating to a brand keyword strategy. Instead, you should: 

    Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

    <input type=”hidden” name=”utmMedium” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”utmCampaign” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”utmSource” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”utmContent” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”pageLink” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”ipAddress” value=”” />

    Processing…Please wait.

    See terms.

    2. Automation vs. autonomy

    This debate originated well before 2022. However, I do think the heat was turned up a bit last year with:

    Machine learning is getting stronger and will continue to be woven into campaign management platforms.

    I believe that to be successful in 2023, you must best balance the power of automation with the autonomy required to achieve your stakeholder’s objectives. 

    Think about when you are setting up an automated bid strategy. Part of that process is providing the algorithm with business-specific guardrails that it should operate between – and toward. The better the inputs you provide, the more closely your results will align with your objectives. 

    I think that same mindset should be leveraged with applications of AI more broadly in campaign management platforms.

    Automation reduces the resources required for foundational tasks. But, we still need to guide it to work toward our business objectives. 

    More tactically, think about what datasets you can incorporate. The more inputs you’re providing, the more data points that these algorithms can use to inform the optimizations and recommendations. 

    In addition, think about what levers you need to maintain control over and where you can free up your grasp by relying on machine learning to make the optimizations for you

    Lastly, consider how to structure your accounts to allow the automation to perform best. 

    That balance of automation and autonomy will differ based on the complexity of your strategy.

    Advertisers who have the best understanding of what this balance should be for their business stand to benefit.

    3. Microsoft on the rise?

    What would an article like this be without at least one opinion that is a little “edgy.” Buckle up, folks!

    I’ve been pretty impressed with the updates that came out of Microsoft last year. They’ve not only expanded their ad offerings but also their geographic reach by about 70 new markets. 

    Microsoft Advertising has always touted their lower costs and comparable features to Google, but we are starting to see some innovation (i.e., Multimedia Ads) unique to the platform.

    Let’s be clear – I’m not expecting a significant shakeup in search engine market share. However, if you haven’t looked at innovation opportunities on Microsoft Advertising, now might be as good a time as any. 

    The (generally) lower CPCs make it a solid testing environment and much of the innovation they’ve incorporated can help to improve conversion rates. 

    Improving conversion rates combined with cheap CPCs sounds like an opportunity worth circling back to in budget-constrained environments. 

    This recommendation is particularly relevant for B2B advertisers, as Microsoft Bing is an engine where we have seen particularly strong engagement, likely due to research taking place on work devices.  

    Search marketing’s staying power in 2023

    Now is an incredibly exciting time to be in search marketing. The platforms are making plenty of updates that it’s hard to keep up.

    Search marketing is one of the most powerful tools in the digital marketing toolbox. Other than search, there are only a few other environments where users indicate their interests so clearly. 

    I’ve highlighted a few of the trends I’m keeping a pulse on, but in our fast-paced industry, there are likely plenty more trends that you will consider as you build out your 2023 strategy. 

    The post 3 PPC marketing trends to keep a pulse on in 2023 appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    5 times you’ll need an expert SEO in 2023

    Written on January 10, 2023 at 8:27 am, by admin

    There are many times during the lifecycle of your website that you will need an expert SEO. 

    If you don’t enlist the help of a true professional for the following five scenarios, you are risking rankings, traffic and revenue in 2023: 

    1. Site redesigns

    This new year, many are planning to refresh their websites. The problem is that SEO either never enters the conversation during a site redesign or it’s not handled properly. This is a problem. 

    A site migration is when a website undergoes major changes, such as URL updates, a redesign, or content management system or hosting provider changes. 

    Any of these changes can negatively impact the website’s performance in the search results when handled well. 

    And make no mistake – there is a lot to consider. So much so that we usually break up our SEO checklist into pre-launch, launch and post-launch activities when involved in a site migration.

    Even when it’s done correctly, it is common for sites to see a temporary drop in organic traffic (80% of SEOs expect it) but it should recover and even excel past previous benchmarks.

    When it doesn’t, though, something has gone terribly wrong. The website may never recover and can experience a long-term drop in traffic.

    If you’re going to make significant changes to your website, make sure you have the guidance of a seasoned SEO during the entire process. A website design agency may not have the expertise needed.

    2. Deep analysis

    Even if you are ticking off all the boxes in an SEO checklist, something sinister may be lurking behind the scenes of your website that’s causing a drop in traffic. Only a deep-dive audit can uncover something like this. 

    It is common for site owners to only focus on the top-performing pages. But that’s only a small representation of your website’s quality. The other 80% of webpages on your site could be harming the overall quality and relevance of it, thus impacting your traffic. 

    One example? Google’s helpful content update, which looks at the entire website in terms of content quality. If some pages are considered bad, it can impact the whole website. 

    Let’s also not forget the impact that well-organized, quality content site-wide can have on relevance. According to Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide: 

    “The navigation of a website is important in helping visitors quickly find the content they want. It can also help search engines understand what content the website owner thinks is important. Although Google’s search results are provided at a page level, Google also likes to have a sense of what role a page plays in the bigger picture of the site.”

    In other words, webpages don’t exist in a vacuum. There are many instances where Google considers the site as a whole when ranking. 

    There are other hidden issues on a website that can easily be missed without a technical SEO audit. For all these reasons, it’s critical that website publishers get a better understanding of their site through a proper audit.

    Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.

    <input type=”hidden” name=”utmMedium” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”utmCampaign” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”utmSource” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”utmContent” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”pageLink” value=”” />
    <input type=”hidden” name=”ipAddress” value=”” />

    Processing…Please wait.

    See terms.

    3. Ranking for highly competitive terms

    Let’s be honest, what keywords aren’t competitive these days? Do a search for any keyword and you will find millions of results. Yet, Page 1 is all that matters. 

    Some keywords are easier to rank for than others. For example, you might have an easier time ranking for something like “list of top video games in 2022” versus just “games.”

    We should know. It took us years to help a client rank number one for the highly competitive term: “games.” But we did it. And it stuck. 

    Ranking for million-dollar keywords doesn’t happen by just following a checklist. It happens with deep SEO expertise from professionals with decades of experience – those who live and breathe technical SEO and understand what’s happening in search right now. 

    Sure, you can get SEO guidance from anywhere, but if you’re trying to rank for highly competitive terms, don’t settle. Get an expert SEO.

    4. Navigating changes to Google

    The search engine results pages are constantly in flux. 

    In 2021 alone, Google ran more than 700,000 experiments, which resulted in more than 4,000 changes to search. That’s about 11 changes per day. Do you have the time to follow and dissect all the algorithm updates and how they apply to your website? 

    Algorithm updates lead to page one shake-ups and competitors pull ahead. Maybe they have more resources and bigger budgets, maybe they just did slightly better than you. Now you must figure out what changed and how to get ahead again.

    Countless factors influence your rankings in the search results. Trying to figure it out should be left to an SEO professional.

    5. Technical SEO

    Anyone can do easy on-page SEO, but it takes knowledge and experience to get the technical part right. Things like mobile usability, site speed, structured data markup, robots.txt, server maintenance, page experience and much, much more. 

    Technical SEO requires the expertise of a professional working in tandem with a website developer or webmaster to ensure the correct changes are done well. One mistake and it can throw SEO results off quickly. 

    Every website needs to ensure the technical part is right to rank. Why? Because if a site is not crawlable, it won’t rank. 

    Google’s Gary Illyes once said on a Reddit thread:

    “[I] really wish SEOs went back to the basics (i.e., MAKE THAT DAMN SITE CRAWLABLE) instead of focusing on silly updates and made up terms by the rank trackers, and that they talked more with the developers of the website once done with the first part of this sentence.”

    Level up your SEO game in 2023

    A new year brings new possibilities for your website.

    It’s time to seriously consider how you will integrate expert SEO strategies so you have a chance to compete on Page 1.

    The post 5 times you’ll need an expert SEO in 2023 appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    This day in search marketing history: January 10

    Written on January 10, 2023 at 8:27 am, by admin

    Google’s results got more personal with Search Plus Your World

    In 2012, Google’s search results were radically transformed as a new “Search Plus Your World” format began rolling out.

    Google started mixing together content from the web with content that had been shared with you privately into a single set of listings.

    Search Plus Your World didn’t cover content on Facebook, Twitter, or any social networks where content could be shared to a more limited audience. Really, “Search Plus Your World” was best described as “Search Plus Google+”

    Twitter was quick to express concerns, stating that Search Plus Your World was “bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.”

    Read all about it in: Google’s Results Get More Personal With “Search Plus Your World” and follow-up article Search Engines Should Be Like Santa From “Miracle On 34th Street”.

    Also on this day 

    Google Ads releases disapproved ads auditor tool

    2022: It let advertisers review and delete policy-violating ads across accounts.

    Google launched subtopics ranking in mid-November

    2021: Google subtopics ranking was meant to help deliver search results with a greater diversity of content when searching for something broad.

    Google Ads testing custom dimensions to enable reporting based on your business structure

    2020: Advertisers could group and report on campaigns with a hierarchical structure to see performance by business category or marketing strategy.

    Microsoft Advertising’s PromoteIQ integration for retailers, brands is now in beta

    2020: The company was also starting to make its new on-site search product Microsoft Bing for Commerce available to retailers.

    Yelp cracks down on ‘review rings’ as Google continues to see widespread mapspam

    2020: Yelp introduced a new category of consumer alerts intended to flag businesses “that may have received reviews from deceptive review rings.”

    Google’s internal SEO strategy: Make small changes, embrace change, consolidate

    2019: Google was making, on average, more than 200 changes to its 7,000 internal websites on a daily basis.

    SEOs noticing ranking volatility in Google’s search results

    2019: An unconfirmed Google update? Especially around Jan. 5, 6 and 9, the SEO community was discussing both positive and negative ranking changes.

    Google may be headed for victory in EU right-to-be-forgotten indexing appeal

    2019: The top legal advisor for the European Court of Justice has recommended that delisting under RTBF not extend outside the EU.

    Google PageSpeed Insights now uses real data from Chrome browser users

    2018: The PageSpeed Insights tool was updated to use data from the Chrome user experience report, which meant the tool was using metrics from real-world Chrome users.

    Google is sunsetting AdWords Review extensions

    2018: Review extensions stopped showing later in the month and would be deleted entirely in AdWords accounts in February.

    Google App for Android gets a refresh with new shortcuts to frequently used features

    2017: Shortcuts to widgets for Weather, Nearby Restaurants, My Events and more began appearing at top of Google Now home screen.

    Powerball Numbers? You’ll Be Surprised Which Search Engines Knew Them

    2016: It was the biggest lottery drawing in U.S. history, and neither Google nor Bing showed searchers the winning numbers. Here’s who did.

    Google’s Latest Official Stance On Links Within Widgets

    2014: A small but significant update to the Google Webmaster Guidelines link schemes page: the page now specified the exact type of links that were not allowed within widgets, as opposed to saying any links.

    DuckDuckGo Has Biggest Day Ever In 2014 With More Than 4 Million Queries

    2014: More than a billion queries were performed on the search engine during 2013.

    Google Apologizes For Berlin Street Being Renamed “Adolf Hitler Platz” On Google Maps

    2014: The Berlin square Theodor Heuss Platz was briefly renamed “Adolf Hitler Platz” on Google Maps.

    VA Court Delivers Blow To Yelp, Free Speech Of Users

    2014: A Virginia state court of appeal ruled that Yelp must disclose the real identities of seven individuals who posted anonymous, critical reviews of an Alexandria, Virginia carpet cleaning business.

    Search In Pics: Speedy Delivery, Pinterest & Matt Cutts On TIME Magazine

    2014: The latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.

    Reports: Tablet Paid-Search Spend Surpasses Smartphones

    2013: Mobile devices accounted for less than 20% of total paid search budgets – and in Q4, tablet metrics grew dramatically faster than those for smartphones.

    After Years Of Anti-Competitive Complaints Foundem Sues Google In UK Court

    2013: Foundem was seeking damages for revenue lost as a result of Google’s “anti-competitive conduct.”

    EU Antitrust Chief: Google “Diverting Traffic” & Will Be Forced To Change

    2013: While saying he’s “still investigating,” the head of the European Union’s antitrust regulatory body said he was convinced that Google was “diverting traffic” and that it will be forced to change its results.

    The History Of Google Places, All On One Page

    2012: David Mihm published A Brief History of Google Places, which documented everything from 2004 (when Google launched what was then called “Google Local”) up to the Google Places era of 2012.

    December “Explicit” Search Numbers: Bing Now Ahead Of Yahoo

    2012: Google was at 65.9%; Bing at 15.1%; Yahoo at 14.5%

    Iran: Google Is A Spying Engine

    2012: the Iranian government was looking to form a “national internet” under state control.

    Search Engines Should Be Like Santa From “Miracle On 34th Street”

    2012:

    Google Partner Brings Big Data To Product Search

    2011: This deal was about getting more product data directly from their sources and expanding the number of specific attributes or features exposed to consumers 

    Google Maps’ John Hanke Becomes Head Of New “Entrepreneurial Lab”

    2011: Where he would focus on new products and user experiences associated with “mobile, local, and social information.”

    Survey: 77% Of Americans Oppose Search Engine Regulation

    2011: Of the voters asked if there was “a need for government regulation of the way that search engines select the recommendations they provide,” only 11% said yes while 12% were not sure.

    European Commission Wants 7-Year Limit On Google’s Digitization

    2011: Google was using a 15-year “preferential use” limit, but a report called for the limit to be cut to seven years.

    Google Goggles Has Mad Sudoku Skillz

    2011: Spoiler alert: Google Goggles was not the death of Sudoku.

    Why You’re Still Waiting For Hulu Plus On Google TV

    2011: Google and Hulu were still working out a partnership deal.

    SEMPO Releases In-House SEM Salary Survey Results

    2008: The average salary fell in the $60,000-$70,000 range and experience was a factor in how much search marketers earned.

    Google Maps Gaining On Market Leader Mapquest

    2008: Traffic to Mapquest was remained flat year on year and was down 20% in the past 6 months. Meanwhile, Google Maps traffic was up 135% year on year and was up 7% in the past 6 months.”

    A Search Product CEO – Necessary To Win The Search Engine Game?

    2008: Do successful search companies have to have CEOs or top execs who “grew up” from the search product side? A look at the major players and where those in charge came from.

    Spice Up Your Google AdWords Ads With ASCII Art

    2008: Real or fake? What is real: Google had removed ASCII ads shortly after they went live, due to content issues.

    Zillow Comes Out Of Beta, Improves Zestimates

    2008:  Zillow had home valuation estimates for almost 90% of all homes in the U.S.

    TV Is Dead: Long Live Distributed Video

    2008: 48% of internet users said they had visited a video-sharing site (e.g., YouTube) – growth of more than 45% year on year.

    Google Blog Search’s People Search Spam Problem

    2007: The latest junk on Google Blog Search. 

    Should Google Pay Off Brand Owners With Cut Of Keyword Sales?

    2007: Probably not. Also, a review of Google’s policies and how they came to be.

    Stay Master Of Your Feed Domain

    2007: Having your own domain name for your feeds was incredibly easy and cheap to do via FeedBurner.

    A Search Engine For Geriatrics

    2007: The folks behind new search engine Cranky.com thought they had just what you needed to avoid search rage and information overload. 

    Authorama: Testing If Google Can Restrict Public Domain Books It Offers For Download

    2007: Could Google dictate that public domain books that it has scanned and distributed on the web really be subject to restrictions on non-commercial work?

    Virtual Earth Enhances Aerial, Satellite Imagery

    2007: Microsoft announced that it will integrate more than 400,000 square miles of U.S. aerial imagery into Virtual Earth

    Search Engine Land: Top Stories & Stats, Jan. 9, 2007

    2007: Looking at the top stories and what made them pop.

    From Search Marketing Expo (SMX)

    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.

    < January 9 | Search Marketing History | January 11 >

    The post This day in search marketing history: January 10 appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    Google Local Service Ads are now available for dentists

    Written on January 10, 2023 at 8:27 am, by admin

    Last week Google updated its Help Center to include a new vertical: Dentists.

    The change was first noted by Matt Casady who wrote about the update on Local U. Carrie Hill posted about it on Twitter.

    Great new vertical in LSAs! Jump on this one before your competitors do! https://t.co/8Wjupycczf

    — Carrie Hill ???????? (@CarrieHill) January 5, 2023

    How it works. Prospective dentists will need to complete verification before being eligible to advertise.

    Why we care. If you’re a dentist or you’re running ads for a dentist, start going through the verification process now so you can get your LSA ads up as soon as possible!

    The post Google Local Service Ads are now available for dentists appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    How to create an awards page that adds authority to your website (plus 7 examples)

    Written on January 9, 2023 at 4:24 am, by admin

    If you’ve racked up awards or accolades for your business, you’re not wrong in wanting to show them off.

    Your achievements signify you’re doing a few things right, so why wouldn’t you display them on your website?

    The key is to ensure you don’t look too company-focused or braggy – after all, a cardinal sin of content is using too much “I” or “we” language and forgetting to talk to your audience with “you” language.

    To strike the right balance, you need to write an awards page that isn’t distracting or annoying, but rather adds credence to your brand and builds trust.

    You want customers to say, “Wow, this company is really successful!” Not, “Yuck, this company is obsessed with itself.”

    Let’s talk about how to create an awards page, including how having one builds trust with customers.

    Why create an awards page on your website?

    Awards pages can help establish your authority, giving your SEO a little boost.

    How?

    Awards are proof that you’re a force in your industry, doing exceptional work. Other people paid attention and recognized you for what you do, and now they’ve given you physical evidence of your company’s prowess. 

    Thus, those awards are trust signals to prospects and to search engines (E-A-T, anyone?).

    For example, the Search Engine Land Awards are handed out yearly to marketers, teams, and agencies that demonstrate excellence in organic or paid search marketing initiatives or campaigns.

    How to create an awards page that shows off your achievements – without turning people off (+ 7 examples)

    Wondering how to create an effective awards page? Here are six tips with seven examples from real-life businesses that have done it well.

    1. Consider creating a separate awards page

    If you have earned a lot of awards over the years (good on you!), consider displaying them on a separate awards page. 

    For example, the University of Dundee in Scotland has a page dedicated to its awards, with additional pages that explain the context of each award. 

    University of Dundee Awards PageRankings and awards page
    University of Dundee Individual Award PageIndividual award page

    The awards page is linked under their “About” information, which is also a good practice.

    This way, people who want to view your awards have an obvious place to click, while people who don’t care won’t be inundated with a long list to scroll through. 

    2. Include all your important awards, from most recent to least

    If you’ve been winning awards for years, that says a great deal about your company and its legacy. If your award history goes back five, 10, 15, or even 20 years, don’t be shy about displaying your pattern of excellence.

    That said, also consider the relevance of each award to your audience and whether they’ll care. For instance, if your company won an award for participation five years ago, you can probably leave that one out.

    On the other hand, maybe you won “brand of the year” in an industry-wide contest five to 10 years ago – that’s relevant to your customers, your reputation, and your authority. Thus, you should display it on your awards page.

    A good example of this in action is Liberty Mutual’s awards page – they have a long list of awards going back to 2016.

    Liberty Mutual’s Awards page

    3. Include award badges or icons

    Most awards come with small badges or icons for displaying on your website. In most cases, it’s a good idea to do so.

    Why?

    Because many of these badges come replete with their own recognition, especially among those in your industry. Displaying a recognizable (and perhaps coveted) badge is a really easy way for the people who matter to see it and register it in a second.

    One huge tip – if you have a lot of awards badges, make sure they look clean and organized. Otherwise, your page could look messy and unprofessional, which is the exact opposite of what you want. A good rule of thumb is to keep them on the smaller side and organize them into a list or neat grid.

    On the Goodnow Farms Chocolate homepage, they include a tidy list of badges as part of a photo carousel.

    Goodnow Farms Chocolate Awards page

    4. Briefly describe the context of each award

    In many cases, simply listing out your awards isn’t enough. Why should customers care if they don’t know what that award means or signifies?

    To that end, include a brief description of each award you’ve won, including how you were chosen – especially if customers voted for you (a giant trust signal). Progressive does a good job of this on its awards page:

    Progressive Awards page

    5. For three or fewer awards, add them to your about page, the sidebar, or the footer

    Don’t have a long list of accolades yet? Instead of creating a separate awards page, consider adding your awards badges to a dedicated section on your about page.

    This also works if you have more than three awards, by the way, and is a smart strategy to draw attention to them without dedicating an entire page to them.

    In this vein, Thrive has included a section dedicated to their awards on their about page. They use a simple paragraph to give some context along with an organized row of small badges, and it does the job nicely.

    Thrive Awards page

    If you have one or two awards to your name, you should consider adding the badges to your sidebar or footer. These are unobtrusive places that benefit from remaining static across your site, so your awards will be displayed on every page. 

    Remember, you can always create an awards page later if you earn more.

    6. More than 25 awards? Create an awards list

    Let’s say your business rakes in the awards consistently. That’s incredible, and you have every right to humble-brag a little.

    A smart and crafty way to display these awards is to create a list. The more awards you have, the more impressive it will look, especially at first glance.

    Magpie Studios, a British design agency, does this to great effect. Their awards list is incredibly long and goes all the way back to 2011. Altogether, it makes a lasting impression that this is a company to be reckoned with.

    Magpie Studios Awards Page

    Another company that does this well is Hueston Hennigan, a law firm:

    Hueston Hennigan Awards page

    Remember: Awards pages are about authority and building trust

    Never create an awards page without intention or a strategy. Just like your other website pages, an awards page has a purpose that will help you build toward reaching your goals.

    It’s not about showing off but rather offering proof that your business is credible and trusted. To that end, only display awards your customers will care about and keep your page organized and easy to read.

    Ultimately, a well-designed awards page is a good idea as long as you keep your customers, goals, and strategy in mind.

    The post How to create an awards page that adds authority to your website (plus 7 examples) appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    This day in search marketing history: January 9

    Written on January 9, 2023 at 4:24 am, by admin

    AdWords Managed Accounts get shared negative lists across accounts

    In 2017, Google added the ability to create and share negative keyword lists across accounts for Managed Accounts.

    This was welcome news for advertisers who had been adding the same lists of negative keyword accounts manually or using a script to automate cross-account negative lists. 

    For accounts in a managed account, you could set up a single list of negative keyword in the top-level Shared Library that could then be associated at the account level.

    Read all about it in: AdWords Managed Accounts can finally share negative keyword lists across accounts

    Also on this day 

    DuckDuckGo, Info.com crowd out Bing in Google’s Android search options

    2020: Bing would appear as an option in the United Kingdom only, while DuckDuckGo and Info.com will appear alongside Google in all 31 EU territories

    Conductor launches SEO services marketplace for Searchlight users

    2020: Agency and corporate customers could request managed services directly within the platform interface.

    Google lets users see their related search history with new card

    2019: Google started rolling out a new feature in search named “your related activity” that let signed in Google users pick up on previous searches related to the query they just added.

    Google working to disable knowledge graph hack that shows misleading search results

    2019: The trick made it possible to show any site for any query in the knowledge panel area.

    Har Gobind Khorana Google doodle celebrates first chemist to construct a synthetic gene

    2018: Google marked what would have been Har Gobind Khorana’s 96th birthday with a Doodle to celebrate the Nobel Prize winner’s accomplishments in the field of biochemistry.

    Google is launching automated call extensions in mobile ads on February 6

    2017: The call extensions would automatically pull phone numbers featured on landing pages.

    Bing Ads shares Valentine’s Day CPC & CTR trends, including surprising mobile stats

    2017: Mobile played a significant role, accounting for nearly half of all Valentine’s Day-related searches on Bing.

    What Is The Mountain Of Butterflies? Google Doodle Marks 41st Anniversary Of The Natural Phenomenon

    2016: For its first Doodle of the year, Google celebrated the 41st anniversary of the discovery of “The Mountain of Butterflies,” when a research team located millions of Monarch butterflies that had migrated to Mexico’s easternmost Sierra Madre Mountains.

    Google Results For “Car Insurance” Could Look Different Very Soon

    2015: Google finally seemed ready to launch its long-anticipated comparison site for car insurance.

    Report: Yahoo Search Losing Firefox Users Who “Switchback” To Google

    2015: An analysis showed a gradual but continual losses back to Google, and Yahoo’s share of Firefox 34 clicks dropped from 43% (Dec. 10) to about 36 percent

    Search In Pics: SCU Basketball At Google, Android Professor & Framed Panda

    2015: The latest images culled from the web, 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 Preps “Hotel View” Interior 360 Imagery

    2014: Google was photographing hotel interiors as part of an effort to enhance its travel content.

    Simone De Beauvoir Google Logo Has Come To Stay In A Number Of Countries, Just Not The US

    2014: A number of Google international homepages celebrated feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir’s 106th birthday with a Beauvoir-inspired Google logo, but there’s no sign of her on Google’s U.S. homepage.

    Phone Support For Verification Issues With Google Local For Business

    2013: Google offered phone support for businesses having issues with verifying their Google Maps listing.

    Survey Shows Americans Confused By How Google, Facebook Make Money

    2013: A striking 36% of respondents thought that search engines “sell users’ personal data to marketers.” Another 29% thought that “companies pay annual dues for use.” 

    Bit.ly Releases Search API To Discover Hot Stories & Discussions

    2013: The new APIs let you search for top stories in real time over the Bit.ly URL network. 

    Class Action Lawsuit Against Google For Ads On Parked Domains Turned Down

    2012: A lawsuit brought against Google in 2008 over the quality of ads showing on parked or error message web pages was thrown out by the court.

    Koreans Accuse Google Of “Obstructing” Antitrust Investigation

    2012: A Korean official asserted that Google has obstructed his agency’s investigation “by deleting key files from PCs and asking its employees to telecommute from home.” Google denied obstructing the inquiry and pledged cooperation with Korean government officials.

    BBC Report: Google Admits Accepting Illegal AdWords In The UK

    2012: Ads for illegal Olympic ticket resellers, ads for cannabis, and ads for fake identification cards and UK passports. All illegal, but all could be found on Google.co.uk

    Google Has Well Over A Million Advertisers

    2009: Google’s advertiser growth started at 89,000 in 2003, to 201,000 in 2004, 360,000 in 2005 and 600,000 in 2006. In 2009, one estimate said Google had between 1.3 million and 1.5 million advertisers.

    Want To Rank Tops In Google? Do YouTube Videos, Stupid!

    2009: A small but interesting study on how you can improve your chances, by 50 times, of showing up at the top of the Google search results: Utilize Google’s Universal Search by creating videos.

    Ballmer: Do Yahoo Deal Sooner, Not Later

    2009: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that a deal should happen within the next few months, due to Microsoft and Yahoo having new “leaders” in place.

    Google Changes, Colorizes Favicon

    2009: The new icon was inspired by user submissions as part of a contest.

    Google Goes To The Inauguration

    2009: Google/YouTube threw its first party for a U.S. president’s inauguration

    Search Biz: Yahoo CEO Duel, MSFT Reconsiders Search Brand, MSN ‘Lewd’ In China & Google Won’t Buy Newspapers

    2009: Roundup of personnel moves or speculation about who might get the top spot at Yahoo; the ongoing MicroHoo saga; and MSN being branded a “lewd” site in China for user-generated content.

    Search In Pictures: Snow Reaches Yahoo, YouTube’s Phone Booth & The Google Bear

    2009: The latest images culled from the web, 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 Changes Referral Policy For AdSense Referrals

    2008: The two changes made to this referrals pricing structure only impact referrals to the AdSense product.

    Real Time US Presidential Primary Results In Google Maps

    2008: Google mapped the results of the New Hampshire U.S. presidential primary by candidate and county for both parties.

    Microsoft Launches adCenter Add-in Beta for Excel 2007

    2008: New features included Keyword Expansion, Keyword Search Volume Historical and Forecast, Keyword Buzz and more.

    Google Hiring Investigator / Threat Analyst For Safety & Security

    2008: The responsibilities included “investigating deviations from company policies or acts against Google as well as collection and analysis of information helping define and assess threats to Google’s operations and assets.”

    Microsoft Provides Local Search Content To Garmin Personal Navigation Devices

    2008: Users could get maps, news, weather, local events, and other content.

    Google Updates Sky Images & Features In Google Earth

    2008: Sky in Google Earth was updated with new content, features, and API integrations.

    Jim Safka To Replace Jim Lanzone As CEO Of Ask.com

    2008: Safka was previously the CEO of Match.com, IAC’s online dating company, from 2004 to 2007. 

    Yahoo Acquires MyBlogLog

    2007: After several weeks of rumors, Yahoo has officially announced it has agreed to purchase the MyBlogLog service.

    Google Named Fortune’s Best Place To Work, But Rich Early Employees Checking Out

    2007: A third of Google’s first 300 employees had left the company, and the culture was getting more conservative

    Google A “Frenemy” of Traditional Media?

    2007: Google had no intention of competing with traditional media by creating content, but many media companies remained wary of Google.

    Google Moon, Google Mars, Now Google Universe? Google Partnership With Space Telescope Project May Make UniTube Possible

    2007: the company was getting involved with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. To be built in Chile, the LSST was planned to scan the sky on a continuous basis, allowing for “movie-like” looks at the universe.

    Yahoo China Morphing Into A Business Portal

    2007: Due in part to deal with crushing competition from Baidu.com and portal Sina.com.

    Fraudwall, New Anti-ClickFraud Company Funded

    2007: The company raised millions in venture capital to help online advertisers identify click fraud using statistics, user modeling, machine learning, and IP forensics”

    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.

    < January 8 | Search Marketing History | January 10 >

    The post This day in search marketing history: January 9 appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    This day in search marketing history: January 8

    Written on January 8, 2023 at 12:22 am, by admin

    Intent research vs. keyword research

    In 2020, Frédéric Dubut of Bing told us: “Keyword research are probably going to become slowly obsolete and you’ll need to switch to intent research as a practice.”

    Barry Schwartz asked Google’s John Mueller about Dubut’s statement. Here’s what Mueller said:

    So, is keyword research obsolete yet? In 2023, there definitely has been a significant shift in the way SEOs think about user intent, or the search intent behind a query. But keyword research is still far from obsolete.

    Read all about it in Google’s John Mueller on intent research vs keyword research for 2020.

    Also on this day 

    Halting campaigns shouldn’t be your only brand safety precaution

    2021: How advertisers responded to the storming of the Capitol and the cases for and against pausing ads in times of disruption.

    Google’s John Mueller on intent research vs keyword research for 2020

    2020: Search engines continue to get better at understanding intent and rely less on keywords. But Mueller wouldn’t go as far as to say keyword research practices will or should go away anytime soon.

    Google handles reconsideration requests in batches

    2020: John Mueller said that the Google team goes through reconsideration requests in batches, so sometimes it can feel like there is a backlog.

    With Bing Pages, brands can manage their profiles across Microsoft products, including Bing Search

    2020: Page owners could use Bing Pages to aggregate social media links, publish contact details, customize Outlook profiles with images and content and promote social media posts.

    Video: Brian Dean on growing YouTube subscribers and the nofollow link change

    2020: In this installment of Barry Schwartz’s vlog series, he chatted with Dean about making good quality videos, the nofollow link attribute change and more.

    Need to expedite page removal in Google’s search index? Try a temporary sitemap file

    2019: if you have hundreds or thousands of pages, removing URLs one by one can be time-consuming. What tocan you do? Use temporary sitemaps, according to John Mueller. 

    Google Assistant updates: Airline check-ins, hotel bookings, language translation and Maps

    2019: Google was working hard to make the Assistant (and by extension, Home) a transactional platform.

    Machine vs. man: What really matters for SEO success

    2019: Lily Ray on changes to how sites are evaluated, dealing with traffic drops due to algorithm changes, Google’s search quality rater guidelines and more.

    Google to roll out new Search Console features in coming weeks

    2018: Verified users in Google Search Console were about to get access the new Search Performance, Index Coverage, AMP status and Job posting reports.

    Google removes addiction treatment ads from UK search results

    2018: An investigation revealed an ongoing issue with middlemen bidding on the terms and receiving large kickbacks from the private centers where the searchers were ultimately referred to – a practice called “patient brokering.”

    Google accidentally removes news publishers from Google News

    2018: Google called it an “unintentional technical issue.”

    It’s Google Home vs. Amazon Alexa at CES in the battle for the voice ecosystem

    2018: Google and Amazon both announced new device partnerships; the Google Assistant would be on new “smart display” devices, more TVs, speakers and in cars. 

    Google announces solution to longstanding AMP cache URL display problem

    2018: Google said it was making a change to stop displaying Google URLs, instead of the publisher URLs, in search results served from the AMP cache.

    Search In Pics: GoogleBot & BB-8, Google Onesie & Tesla Model X

    2016: The latest images culled from the web, 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 Now Bugs Remove Cards From Users While Google Now Tests Custom Background Themes

    2015: Some users were missing their Google Now cards, which they rely on to see if there will be traffic on the way to work, how cold it may be or other useful information for their day.

    AdWords Reach Reporting Moves To The Campaigns Tab

    2015: Google moved the Reach and Frequency report out of the Dimensions tab to the Campaigns tab.

    Bing’s New Best-Sellers Carousel Helps Readers Find Just The Right Book

    2015: Microsoft’s search engine started displaying a carousel of New York Times best-selling books when searching for specific book genres.

    Google France Homepage Goes “Je Suis Charlie” In Memory Of Charlie Hebdo Victims

    2015: Google France added the “Je Suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) badge on its homepage, honoring the lives lost during the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris, France.

    Yahoo’s News Digest App Is “Summly 2.0”

    2014: CEO Marissa Mayer introduced the new news app at CES. Summly was acquired by Yahoo in March 2013 for an estimated $30 million.

    Utah Has Highest Google Usage, West Virginia The Lowest

    2014: Ad network Chitika released a new tool that provided a user percentage or traffic market-share breakdown of PC operating system and search usage on a state-by-state basis.

    Google’s Matt Cutts On Publishers With Duplicate Content: Use The Canonical Tag

    2014: In How should I address a small duplicate content issue?, Cutts said to use the rel=canonical tag to help consolidate the PageRank of the stories and avoid any issues with Google.

    Report: US Search Ad Spend Rises 12 Percent YoY In Q4 2013; Smartphone CPCs Drop

    2014: IgnitionOne released its fourth quarter Digital Marketing Report, showing that the paid search market in the US continued to grow.

    Google Fixes Definition URLs, Makes Them Clickable Links

    2013: The URL shown under the definition previously wasn’t clickable. Instead, the only way to click through to the source of the definition was to use the smaller Source link at the bottom of the box.

    Google Is Hiring Someone To Find Ways To Make You Want To Search While Signed-In

    2013: “As Product Marketing Manager within the search growth team, you will be responsible to developing plans, creatives, campaigns and programs to increase the number of user’s signed in.”

    Google, Mobile Search And The Paradox Of Competition

    2013: How much does Google figure into the “future of search,” whose advances will largely be determined by mobile and non-traditional devices? That was a hard question to answer.

    2011: The Year Google & Bing Took Away From SEOs & Publishers

    2012: Danny Sullivan called 2011 “alarming.” Why? Because after years of moving forward, the search engines took a big step back, withholding both linking and keyword data.

    The Big List: 168 Marketing Trends, Predictions & Resolutions For 2011

    2011: A huge collection of trends, predictions and resolutions on paid search, SEO, local/mobile and more.

    Google Mulling Several Ways To Integrate Ads On Maps

    2010: Several articles speculated about or discussed ads on Google Maps (PC and mobile). 

    Yahoo To Keep BOSS In Microsoft Deal, May Charge In Future

    2010: Some of the results would be powered by Yahoo, while the search results in BOSS (Build your Own Search Service – a Yahoo Developer Network initiative to provide an open search web services platform) would be powered from Microsoft Bing.

    A Year Later, Yahoo’s CEO Gives Herself A B-Minus

    2010: Said Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz: “It was a little tougher internally than I think I had anticipated, I did move fast, but this is a big job.”

    Where’s AP In Google News? Apparently In Limbo, As Contract Running Out

    2010: Associated Press stories – hosted by Google itself — were no longer appearing in Google News. Google had not added any new AP content since Dec. 24.

    Google Fast Flip Now On Google News Home Page

    2010: The company’s experimental news reading tool became part of the Google News home page, while also still remaining a Google Labs project. 

    Submit Your Google Spam Suggestions For 2009

    2009: An annual tradition, Matt Cutts of Google’s Search Quality team asked for feedback on things Google should work on in relation to search spam.

    Are PPC Budgets Increasing Or Decreasing In These Recessionary Times?

    2009: 25% of Rimm-Kaufman’s clients increased their PPC spend 2008 Q4 vs. 2007, while 75% pulled back PPC spend.

    Google Testing New AdWords Budgeting Option: Timeframe

    2009: Timeframe gave advertisers a new budgeting method that automatically adjusted the daily budget based on traffic to reach a set dollar budget as per the calendar month.

    Google SMS Search Is Down … For The Count?

    2009: “Sorry, ‘[search term]’ did not return any results”.

    Google StreetView, GPS Save Kidnapped Girl

    2009: Police tracked the girl’s cell phone with GPS and then confirmed her whereabouts in Virginia, using StreetView.

    Microsoft To Buy Fast Search For $1.23 Billion

    2008:  Microsoft got a market-leading enterprise search company and a world-class web crawler (not to mention some of the smartest engineering talent in search).

    Google & YouTube TVs Powered By Panasonic

    2008: Matsushita Electric Industrial, the company behind Panasonic, said the TVs would enable users to browse and watch YouTube videos from their TVs.

    Yahoo’s Yang Outlines Vision For An Integrated, Open Yahoo 2.0

    2008: Search appeared to be a piece of the overall approach but not the core here; community and trusted content sources are emphasized.

    Sony In Video Deal With Google & Viacom Deals With Five Competing Online Video Providers

    2008: Sony announced a deal to provide Google’s YouTube five-minute clips of some of their most popular TV shows, including “Married With Children” and “Newsradio.”

    Open Letter To Wikipedia Editors: Yes, Matt Cutts Is Notable

    2007: That time when Matt Cutts’s Wikipedia’s page almost got deleted.

    Court OKs Narrow Use of Competitor Trademarks in Search Ads & Meta Tags

    2007: A U.S. District Court ruled that the use of keyword-triggered ads and keyword metatags using trademarked terms cannot confuse consumers if the resulting ads/search results don’t display a competitor’s trademarks.

    An Open Letter to Paid Search Networks

    2007: Search marketer Jeffrey Rohrs published an open letter to paid search providers asking critical questions about billing practices, transparency, click fraud and other issues

    Yahoo Introduces Yahoo Go 2.0, Mobile Search & Other Apps

    2007: While second to Google in Web search, the company was hoping it could lead the market for mobile search and associated advertising with a new offering tailored for use on handsets.

    Search Engine ChaCha Announces $6 Million Round

    2007: ChaCha employed a network of live guides to help answer user queries in real time in addition to providing traditional algorithmic search.

    Advertisers Cutting Google AdWords Spending With Surge of Keyword Prices

    2007: Why were advertisers cutting their PPC ad spend significantly in 2007? Because many of the keyword prices have resulted in advertisers being priced out of profitability.

    From Search Marketing Expo (SMX)

    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.

    < January 7 | Search Marketing History | January 9 >

    The post This day in search marketing history: January 8 appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    This day in search marketing history: January 7

    Written on January 8, 2023 at 12:22 am, by admin

    The Spam Clock

    in 2011, startup search engine Blekko launched a spam clock that estimated 155 million spam pages had been created since Jan. 1 of that year. Blekko said 1 million spam pages were being created every hour.

    How bad was Google’s spam problem then? Big. But as Danny Sullivan pointed out at the time, it was hard to judge whether Google’s relevancy had actually decreased, because:

    Read all about it in Blekko Launches Spam Clock To Keep Pressure On Google.

    In about a month, Google would start making moves to correct its perceived, growing relevancy problems with the Panda Update.

    I don’t even want to think about how much spam has been created since the start of this year – especially with the explosion that is ChatGPT.

    Also on this day 

    Google Ads to allow ads for sport betting in New York

    2022: Google Ads updated its gambling policy to allow ads for sports betting from certified and state-licensed entities in New York State.

    Google AdSense related search experiments re-enabled

    2022: After eight months on pause, AdSense publishers could once again create Related search style experiments.

    Google My Business launches new performance reporting

    2021: The new reports provided 6 months of data on how people interacted with you (calls and messages) and how people discovered you (the search term used to find your Google business listing in Google Search and Google Maps).

    Google working on fixing data in URL parameter tool

    2020: Google was working on fixing a data issue with the URL parameter tool, a legacy tool within Google Search Console that let SEOs communicate to Google insignificant page variations and direct Google to consolidate those URLs.

    Google tests user comments for live TV shows

    2020: The user comments appeared in the search results for queries related to live TV shows. It was similar to Google’s live sporting events feature.

    Direct site navigation via voice arrives on iOS Bing Search app

    2020: The updated Microsoft Bing Search App also had a new look featuring a carousel of common search categories.

    Google’s Rich Results testing tool now supports code editing

    2019: You could now edit the code in the rich results test and see what those edits did in real time.

    Google Manufacturer Center adds rich content, deeper analytics, expands availability

    2019: A new “From the manufacturer” section in Google Shopping product pages could feature brand-supplied rich content.

    Bing Ads’ AI-powered Performance Insights now available globally

    2019: The tool provided an on-the-spot way to take action on performance changes in your accounts.

    StrategiQ launches Spark, an SEO deployment platform

    2019: The digital marketing agency’s new tool helped SEOs test and deploy SEO-related changes on their own without developer overhead.

    Leading local SEO predictions: Reserve with Google will grow, real-time local inventory gets real

    2019: GMB messaging, voice search optimization, local inventory data, Q&A and the decline of SMB websites are all explored.

    Google Link Removal Requests Climb To 345 Million In 2014

    2015: Torrent Freak study reveals the number of Google’s takedown notices were up 75% from 2013.

    Report: Yahoo Search Share Up After Firefox Deal

    2015: Yahoo saw a nearly 2 point search market share gain in the U.S. in the past month (10.4% vs. 8.6% year vs. year.)

    Google Webmaster Tools Search Queries Adds Mobile Stats & No Longer Rounds Data

    2014: Google’s John Mueller said, “data in the search queries feature will no longer be rounded / bucketed,” and you will start to notice these changes in Webmaster Tools in the next few days.

    WordStream Updates Its Free Google AdWords Performance Grader: Now With Mobile And Automatic 30-Day Reporting

    2014: The tool was refined to give advertisers performance benchmarks within their own industries

    Zora Neale Hurston Google Logo Marks The 123rd Birthday Of The Harlem Renaissance Writer

    2014: The Doodle paid tribute to one of the 20th century’s most celebrated African American female writers.

    Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone Launches New Social Search App Jelly

    2014: Calling itself a “new way to search,” ultimately, Jelly would follow the path of social Q&A platform pioneers failures like Ask.com, Quora, Yahoo Answers and Google Answers.

    Stats On Mobile Content & Impact On Google Rankings

    2013: Having mobile-optimized and rendered content was highly correlated with getting organic traffic from Google.

    Library Of Congress Struggling To Make A Searchable Twitter Archive

    2013: The Library of Congress was working on plans to create a searchable archive of nearly every public tweet ever sent, but the challenges inherent in that task were making it a slow process.

    Google Logo Honors Addams Family Creator, Charles Addams

    2012: The black-and-white Doodle featured seven characters from “The Addams Family.”

    Bing Adds FanSnap Ticket Inventory Into Search Results

    2011: Just in time for the opening round of the NFL playoffs.

    Quora Co-Founder Outlines Plans To Deal With Growing Pains

    2011: Co-founder Charlie Cheever admitted it had been “a big challenge” to maintain Quora’s character while the site has been flooded with new users.

    Bad Directions: Google Maps Sends Local Listing Reports To Wrong Business Owners

    2010: Google sent out its Google Local Business Center updates – but the emails didn’t go to the actual business owners.

    Armstrong: Google Gets “First Dibs” At AOL Search Deal

    2010: AOL’s CEO, Tim Armstrong and former Google executive, said Google (not Microsoft Bing) would get “first dibs” at a search deal.

    Yahoo & American Airlines Settle Search Ad Suit

    2010: The two companies reached a settlement prior to judgment, although the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

    CES: Microsoft Expands Scope Of HP Search Relationship To 42 Countries

    2010: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that Bing would become the default search engine and MSN the default homepage on HP computers.

    Earthquake: Real-Time Results On Google Make Up For Lack Of Other Content

    2010: Google’s Earthquake OneBox didn’t catch it, but Google was saved by its integration of Twitter results.

    French Wants To Tax Google & Others

    2010: President Nicolas Sarkozy was exploring ways to tax Google and other online advertising companies based outside of France.

    Bing Admits MSNbot Is Slow

    2010: That was according to Brett Yount, a program manager for Bing, who said “it is well known in the industry that MSNbot is fairly slow.”

    Google’s Near Me Now: A Yelp Killer?

    2010: Spoiler alert: No, it was not.

    Baidu Sued As Search Monopoly In China

    2009: Leading Chinese search engine Baidu was sued by Chinese medical B2B marketplace Qmyy.com to prevent its site from being blocked or dropped by the engine.

    Bruce Clay Releases Two New Tools

    2009: One tool was named the Search Engine Optimization/KSP tool and the other was a toolbar called SEMToolBar.

    Report: Sitemaps Decrease Crawler Response Time

    2009: Test showed that submitting a sitemap to Google and Yahoo decreased the time it took Google and Yahoo to crawl the page.

    Google Maps For Mobile Simplifies Directions

    2009: Previously if users entered a business name on the Maps client as a directions end point, Google might not recognize it.

    Bush: Fix Your “Miserable Failure” Googlebomb Legacy Before Obama Takes Office

    2009: Bush should have stopped redirecting requests for his old biography to the current presidential home page. It left that page with a legacy of ranking for failure.

    Microsoft Wins Verizon Mobile Search Derby

    2009: Google and Microsoft were in tight competition for the mobile search partnership.

    Search Biz: Yahoo-MSFT Update; Google’s 20% Time Changing & Google Router Coming Soon?

    2009: The latest twist in the Yahoo-Microsoft saga: a new group was trying to takeover Yahoo with Microsoft’s money. 

    Deal Puts Microsoft Live Search On Dell Computers, Verizon Phones — Will It Help?

    2009: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced several high-profile distribution deals for Live Search at CES.

    Google Confirms Layoffs Of Contract Employees

    2009: Google released “a substantial number” of its contract and temporary employees, but the exact number wasn’t known.

    Search Wikia: Not Even A Remote Threat To Google

    2008: “Widely hyped … it’s really just yet another crappy search service that may, potentially, if all goes well, eventually turn into something useful.” See also: Wikia Search Launches Alpha Version

    Googler’s Bet Goobles On Predictive Markets During Their Free Lunch

    2008: Why did Google encourage this activity from their employees? Google believed it generated creative ideas from their employees.

    David Hirsch Leaving Google & Omid Kordestani Sells 6,000 Shares Of Stock

    2008: David Hirsch, the Director, B2B Vertical Markets Group at Google, was leaving at the end of the month to help invest and advise startups.

    Yahoo Makes Bid To Become A Mobile Development Platform

    2008: There were essentially three pieces to what Yahoo announced: Yahoo Go 3.0, an open mobile widget development platform for third parties, and a redesigned mobile WAP homepage that emphasized personalization and customization.

    Google, AOL, Yahoo, & Digg Sued For Playing Online Solitaire

    2008: Google, Yahoo, AOL, and Digg were all sued by Sheldon F. Goldberg for patent infringement.

    From Search Marketing Expo (SMX)

    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.

    < January 5 | Search Marketing History | January 7 >

    The post This day in search marketing history: January 7 appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    Google’s December 2022 helpful content and link spam updates still rolling out

    Written on January 6, 2023 at 8:21 pm, by admin

    Google said the two different Google search algorithm updates – the December 2022 helpful content system and the December 2022 link spam update – may take another week or two to complete their rollout.

    The helpful content update started Dec. 5, and the link spam update started on Dec. 14.

    The algorithm update rollouts were supposed to be completed within two weeks, but clearly that has not happened.

    Google’s new statement. Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, said on Twitter that these two updates will complete “likely within two weeks, maybe only one” week but he added that it is “not a guarantee” and “timings might change.”

    Why the delay? The rollouts are taking longer because of the holidays. Sullivan said earlier on Mastodon, “Both the updates are continuing to rollout. Normally these types of updates would have concluded by now, but rollouts can slow or pause when we get into the holiday periods.”

    Why we care. As I said above, both updates are still rolling out at the time this was published. It is very hard to accurately say that one ranking change in aggregate is related to a specific ranking update when both are rolling out at the same time. That being said, it is likely easier to look at individual sites and know if the site was hit by a link algorithm versus a helpful content algorithm, especially if you look at the links and content for that site.

    We have some early data on the impact of some of these updates, but this long rollout has made it really hard to measure accurately.

    So you will need to do the due diligence and dig into sites impacted by each update on an individual basis. This just shows you that it appears that these updates did show movement and did cause ranking volatility in aggregate.

    The post Google’s December 2022 helpful content and link spam updates still rolling out appeared first on Search Engine Land.

    Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing




    SEO San Diego
    Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)
    Copyright ©1999-2026 ADM, Inc.