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Google Drops Aboriginal Flag from Doodle Winner Due To Copyright

On January 28, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

Google ran a Doodle4Google competition in Australia and Jessie won with this Doodle:

Aboriginal Flag Doodle Issue

When they posted the Doodle on the Google.com.au web site, it was missing the Aboriginal Flag. Here is a picture:

Google doodles Aboriginal flag

I mentioned this in passing in Google’s Kuwait Doodle mistake. But now, Google came to the Google Web Search Help forums explaining the issue. Jaime from Google said:

Thanks for voicing your concern here in the forum. Just to make sure everyone is aware of what took place I wanted to explain here that due to the Aboriginal Flag having copyright, we requested permission from the Aboriginal Copyright owners to display the original doodle with the flag on the Google homepage. They declined the permission and as such, in consultation with Jessie, we had to gently alter the doodle so we could proudly display her wonderful artwork – of which we are very proud.

It is a shame Google was unable to get rights to show the flag there. But Jessie seemed like a good sport!

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.


Google ran a Doodle4Google competition in Australia and Jessie won with this Doodle:

Aboriginal Flag Doodle Issue

When they posted the Doodle on the Google.com.au web site, it was missing the Aboriginal Flag. Here is a picture:

Google doodles Aboriginal flag

I mentioned this in passing in Google's Kuwait Doodle mistake. But now, Google came to the Google Web Search Help forums explaining the issue. Jaime from Google said:

Thanks for voicing your concern here in the forum. Just to make sure everyone is aware of what took place I wanted to explain here that due to the Aboriginal Flag having copyright, we requested permission from the Aboriginal Copyright owners to display the original doodle with the flag on the Google homepage. They declined the permission and as such, in consultation with Jessie, we had to gently alter the doodle so we could proudly display her wonderful artwork - of which we are very proud.

It is a shame Google was unable to get rights to show the flag there. But Jessie seemed like a good sport!

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.


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Google Maps Can’t Find Home After Adding Personalization

On January 28, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

Google Maps PersonalizedThis week, Google added personalization to help you find your “favorite locations faster.” The issue is, it slows you down in finding your most favorite location – your home!

A Google Maps Help thread has complaints from people who have saved locations labeled as “home.” Whenever they wanted directions, they typed in “home” or “my home” and bingo, it came up. Now it does not and it requires them to enter in their address, which in turn, slows them down.

The searcher said:

It appears the Google Maps team has replaced the “saved locations” feature with the “personalized search results”. The problem is, when I created my “saved locations” I included some additional information in the names of those entries so they could be easily found by personal names. For instance, if my friend Steve lived at a particular address, I’d save his address into “saved locations” and include the name “Steve” or “Steve’s home”. Then, I was able to start typing “Steve” and it would automatically bring up this saved location.

This is no longer the case. His address is still flagged in my web history and it autocompletes if I start typing in his address… but I can no longer start typing “Steve” to bring up his location.

Any chance we can still get to our “saved locations” data to at least backup the data before you nuke it all for good?

The thread seems to be heating up with angry Google Maps users. The thing is, Google is listening, so it will be interesting to see what changes, if any, they make based on this feedback. Google Maps Linda said:

This is great feedback guys. I’ll be sure to share this with the team. I don’t have an answer right now, but hopefully I will be able to share more later.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.


Google Maps PersonalizedThis week, Google added personalization to help you find your "favorite locations faster." The issue is, it slows you down in finding your most favorite location - your home!

A Google Maps Help thread has complaints from people who have saved locations labeled as "home." Whenever they wanted directions, they typed in "home" or "my home" and bingo, it came up. Now it does not and it requires them to enter in their address, which in turn, slows them down.

The searcher said:

It appears the Google Maps team has replaced the "saved locations" feature with the "personalized search results". The problem is, when I created my "saved locations" I included some additional information in the names of those entries so they could be easily found by personal names. For instance, if my friend Steve lived at a particular address, I'd save his address into "saved locations" and include the name "Steve" or "Steve's home". Then, I was able to start typing "Steve" and it would automatically bring up this saved location.

This is no longer the case. His address is still flagged in my web history and it autocompletes if I start typing in his address... but I can no longer start typing "Steve" to bring up his location.

Any chance we can still get to our "saved locations" data to at least backup the data before you nuke it all for good?

The thread seems to be heating up with angry Google Maps users. The thing is, Google is listening, so it will be interesting to see what changes, if any, they make based on this feedback. Google Maps Linda said:

This is great feedback guys. I'll be sure to share this with the team. I don't have an answer right now, but hopefully I will be able to share more later.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.


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Trusted Sources vs Less Trusted Sources on Google News

On January 28, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

Clearly, Google News has it’s own algorithms and techniques in ranking stories and articles. Danny has one of the most comprehensive articles on ranking stories in Google News that I know of. But I spotted an interesting thread at the Google News Help forums about how possibly some stories can, over time, hurt your trustworthiness in Google News.

The person is trying to somehow communicate to Google that some of his stories are press releases and wants to tell Google not to index or add them to Google News. Why? Simply because he doesn’t want to impact his “trusted source status” with Google News.

Inbal, the official Google News rep in that forum replied:

Thanks for your honest feedback. I encourage you to submit your press release hubs to our team; this should not have any implications on your current news site’s ranking.

I believe you can even do this type of labeling in the new sitemap format for Google News, which is going to be required soon. Not sure why she didn’t mention that as a solution.

But what takeaways do you get from this? Don’t abuse your Google News access, because Google can drop your rankings in it easily.

Forum discussion at Google News Help.


Clearly, Google News has it's own algorithms and techniques in ranking stories and articles. Danny has one of the most comprehensive articles on ranking stories in Google News that I know of. But I spotted an interesting thread at the Google News Help forums about how possibly some stories can, over time, hurt your trustworthiness in Google News.

The person is trying to somehow communicate to Google that some of his stories are press releases and wants to tell Google not to index or add them to Google News. Why? Simply because he doesn't want to impact his "trusted source status" with Google News.

Inbal, the official Google News rep in that forum replied:

Thanks for your honest feedback. I encourage you to submit your press release hubs to our team; this should not have any implications on your current news site's ranking.

I believe you can even do this type of labeling in the new sitemap format for Google News, which is going to be required soon. Not sure why she didn't mention that as a solution.

But what takeaways do you get from this? Don't abuse your Google News access, because Google can drop your rankings in it easily.

Forum discussion at Google News Help.


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Google Launches Social Search

On January 28, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

Google has launched the very neat social search feature yesterday. I am honestly surprised there is not more discussion around it in the forums. We covered it three times, first for the demo, then when it went experimental and then with some technical issues.

Well, it is now live. On by default. Honestly, I don’t believe it impacts normal searches unless you specific choose, “show options” and click on the social feature.

Google Social Search

But when you do, it opens up a world of new searches based on your online social profile (which you may or may not have).

Google Social Search

Here is my social circle as found by Google:

Google Social Search Circle

Here is my social content:

Google Social Search Content

Here is a detailed look at the “paths” on how I am associated to one of my contacts, JohnMu at Google:

Google Social Search Paths

Video Demo:

Pretty neat!

Forum discussion at Search Engine Watch Forums.


Google has launched the very neat social search feature yesterday. I am honestly surprised there is not more discussion around it in the forums. We covered it three times, first for the demo, then when it went experimental and then with some technical issues.

Well, it is now live. On by default. Honestly, I don't believe it impacts normal searches unless you specific choose, "show options" and click on the social feature.

Google Social Search

But when you do, it opens up a world of new searches based on your online social profile (which you may or may not have).

Google Social Search

Here is my social circle as found by Google:

Google Social Search Circle

Here is my social content:

Google Social Search Content

Here is a detailed look at the "paths" on how I am associated to one of my contacts, JohnMu at Google:

Google Social Search Paths

Video Demo:

Pretty neat!

Forum discussion at Search Engine Watch Forums.


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How To Report a Google AdWords Professional

On January 28, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

An Google AdWords Help thread has one company who feels he was scammed by a Google “subcontractor.” His first mistake is not being knowledgeable enough about who he hired. Google does not have “subcontractors” but they do have certified AdWords professionals.

So if you do feel you were done wrong by a certified AdWords professional, you can report them. That is, if they are really an AdWords professional. First make sure they are a a certified professional. If they are, there is a “Report a complaint about this partner” link on their hosted Google page.

Side note: Interesting they call them “partners” here.

Once you click on that link, you are taken to this form, which you can fill out. Google should then review the complaint and take any necessary action they deem appropriate.

Forum discussion at Google AdWords Help.


An Google AdWords Help thread has one company who feels he was scammed by a Google "subcontractor." His first mistake is not being knowledgeable enough about who he hired. Google does not have "subcontractors" but they do have certified AdWords professionals.

So if you do feel you were done wrong by a certified AdWords professional, you can report them. That is, if they are really an AdWords professional. First make sure they are a a certified professional. If they are, there is a "Report a complaint about this partner" link on their hosted Google page.

Side note: Interesting they call them "partners" here.

Once you click on that link, you are taken to this form, which you can fill out. Google should then review the complaint and take any necessary action they deem appropriate.

Forum discussion at Google AdWords Help.


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Why Does Google Sometimes Show PSAs for Cumming Georgia Pages?

On January 28, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

A WebmasterWorld thread has a unique discussion going on about Google AdSense and their stop words. In this discussion, some publishers have landing pages targeting the city, Cumming, Georgia. Clearly, the word ‘Cumming’ is an adult word, but it is also a fairly populated city in Georgia.

The question is, why are some of the pages that target this city, showing Google AdSense ads that are PSA (public service ads), while others seem to show related Georgia based ads? Is Google confusing some of those pages as being adult? Or are there other reasons?

Cumming Georgia & Google Ads

I decided to track down two pages that have PSAs and two that don’t, and they all target the city in Georgia.

PSAs for Cumming, Georgia:

Non-PSAs for Cumming, Georgia:

Why would some serve up PSAs and some not? It doesn’t seem like Google is stupid enough to not know the city?

Let me try a real live Google AdSense here and see what happens:

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.


A WebmasterWorld thread has a unique discussion going on about Google AdSense and their stop words. In this discussion, some publishers have landing pages targeting the city, Cumming, Georgia. Clearly, the word 'Cumming' is an adult word, but it is also a fairly populated city in Georgia.

The question is, why are some of the pages that target this city, showing Google AdSense ads that are PSA (public service ads), while others seem to show related Georgia based ads? Is Google confusing some of those pages as being adult? Or are there other reasons?

Cumming Georgia & Google Ads

I decided to track down two pages that have PSAs and two that don't, and they all target the city in Georgia.

PSAs for Cumming, Georgia:

Non-PSAs for Cumming, Georgia:

Why would some serve up PSAs and some not? It doesn't seem like Google is stupid enough to not know the city?

Let me try a real live Google AdSense here and see what happens:

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.


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Remove Pages From Google ~Forever Using a 410 Status Code

On January 27, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

In October, we reported that Google treats a 410 stronger than a 404 status code. I am not sure exactly when Google made the 410 status code that important, but I believe it was sometime in October.

A new thread surfaced in Google Webmaster Help where it was suggested by a Googler to use the 410, once again.

Googler, Jonathan Simon said:

Last year we started started treating 410 Gone responses as being a stronger signal for indicating when a page no longer exists. So for the situation you describe (where 301 redirects aren’t practical) returning a 410 response is the way to go.

It seems to me that when Googlebot discovers a 410, it will communicate to Google to not index that page for a really long time. I believe Google will check pages they know to be 404ed every now and then. Maybe a 410 will tell Googlebot to never check back or check back extremely rarely?

Just keep in mind that the 410 is much stronger than a 404 response – it may come in handy in your future SEO projects.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.


In October, we reported that Google treats a 410 stronger than a 404 status code. I am not sure exactly when Google made the 410 status code that important, but I believe it was sometime in October.

A new thread surfaced in Google Webmaster Help where it was suggested by a Googler to use the 410, once again.

Googler, Jonathan Simon said:

Last year we started started treating 410 Gone responses as being a stronger signal for indicating when a page no longer exists. So for the situation you describe (where 301 redirects aren't practical) returning a 410 response is the way to go.

It seems to me that when Googlebot discovers a 410, it will communicate to Google to not index that page for a really long time. I believe Google will check pages they know to be 404ed every now and then. Maybe a 410 will tell Googlebot to never check back or check back extremely rarely?

Just keep in mind that the 410 is much stronger than a 404 response - it may come in handy in your future SEO projects.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.


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Where Did Bing’s Webmaster Support Rep Go? Brett Yount

On January 27, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

As you know, I track the search marketing forums, including many of the official search engine forums, to find the latest breaking news and issues that are important to the community. I pay particular close attention to what the official search engine representatives say in these forums.

It appears that Brett Yount, the community lead at the Bing Forums and Program Manager of Bing Webmaster Center, has gone missing in action. His last post was 20 days ago, on January 7th in a Bing Community thread.

I know he may have recently said things he probably shouldn’t have. Did that lead to him being fired or replaced? I don’t know. I certainly hope not. Brett was a ray of sun for people like me, who like to see search reps who are honest, forthcoming and simply good people.

Brett – we miss you – please come back. There are tons of webmasters who need your help and guidance in the Bing forum.

Forum discussion at Bing Community.

Update: Bing Tweeted:

Brett’s taking some personal time off. Unrelated to forums, for the record ^az


As you know, I track the search marketing forums, including many of the official search engine forums, to find the latest breaking news and issues that are important to the community. I pay particular close attention to what the official search engine representatives say in these forums.

It appears that Brett Yount, the community lead at the Bing Forums and Program Manager of Bing Webmaster Center, has gone missing in action. His last post was 20 days ago, on January 7th in a Bing Community thread.

I know he may have recently said things he probably shouldn't have. Did that lead to him being fired or replaced? I don't know. I certainly hope not. Brett was a ray of sun for people like me, who like to see search reps who are honest, forthcoming and simply good people.

Brett - we miss you - please come back. There are tons of webmasters who need your help and guidance in the Bing forum.

Forum discussion at Bing Community.

Update: Bing Tweeted:

Brett’s taking some personal time off. Unrelated to forums, for the record ^az


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Duplicate Content Between HTML & PDF Pages? Google Should Figure It Out

On January 27, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

A Google Webmaster Help thread has discussion about a potential duplicate content issues between HTML and PDF documents. In this case, the content found on the HTML is the same as on the PDFs. Be it an automated “print as PDF” feature or manual download of the content in PDF format.

How does Google handle the duplicate nature of such content available on the web?

JohnMu at Google chimed in saying that in most cases, they will use the HTML file. He does recommend that in these cases, you block the PDFs from being crawled and indexed. But ultimately, he said, that is your call. Google will likely just want to keep the HTML version in their index.

John said:

If you have the same content in PDF as in HTML pages, in most cases we’ll probably show the HTML versions above (or in place of) the PDF versions. If this is a problem for your specific situation, I’d consider using the robots.txt or x-robots-tag to prevent the PDF files from getting indexed. I imagine for most sites this is not really a problem, so I wouldn’t suggest blocking indexing of PDF files without confirming that it’s really necessary.

The only situation where I would consider doing something in advance is when the CMS automatically creates PDF-copies of normal HTML pages. Generally speaking, this shouldn’t cause any problems, but those PDF versions are likely not compelling enough to merit getting indexed separately (and crawling them will possibly put a load on your server that you could avoid). Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine which content you wish to have crawled and indexed :-) — if you feel that PDF-copies of your content are compelling enough for users who search for your content, feel free to make them available.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.


A Google Webmaster Help thread has discussion about a potential duplicate content issues between HTML and PDF documents. In this case, the content found on the HTML is the same as on the PDFs. Be it an automated "print as PDF" feature or manual download of the content in PDF format.

How does Google handle the duplicate nature of such content available on the web?

JohnMu at Google chimed in saying that in most cases, they will use the HTML file. He does recommend that in these cases, you block the PDFs from being crawled and indexed. But ultimately, he said, that is your call. Google will likely just want to keep the HTML version in their index.

John said:

If you have the same content in PDF as in HTML pages, in most cases we'll probably show the HTML versions above (or in place of) the PDF versions. If this is a problem for your specific situation, I'd consider using the robots.txt or x-robots-tag to prevent the PDF files from getting indexed. I imagine for most sites this is not really a problem, so I wouldn't suggest blocking indexing of PDF files without confirming that it's really necessary.

The only situation where I would consider doing something in advance is when the CMS automatically creates PDF-copies of normal HTML pages. Generally speaking, this shouldn't cause any problems, but those PDF versions are likely not compelling enough to merit getting indexed separately (and crawling them will possibly put a load on your server that you could avoid). Ultimately, it's up to you to determine which content you wish to have crawled and indexed :-) -- if you feel that PDF-copies of your content are compelling enough for users who search for your content, feel free to make them available.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.


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