Tim Cohn first spotted this, a new page Google launched named Google Advertising Professionals Search beta. You can basically plug in some variables, such as monthly spend, location and type of AdWords related help you are looking for and hit search.
Here is a screen capture:
I covered this yesterday at Search Engine Land and one person found the search to be poor, an advertiser said he already got a lead from this feature.
Note: Google has not really publicized the feature yet – so hopefully Google will place this feature in the for front of where customers would look for it.
Tim Cohn first spotted this, a new page Google launched named Google Advertising Professionals Search beta. You can basically plug in some variables, such as monthly spend, location and type of AdWords related help you are looking for and hit search.
Here is a screen capture:
I covered this yesterday at Search Engine Land and one person found the search to be poor, an advertiser said he already got a lead from this feature.
Note: Google has not really publicized the feature yet – so hopefully Google will place this feature in the for front of where customers would look for it.
Everyone talks about how liberal Google is and how it may bias their objectivity in the search results and their other agendas. But every day, I check the Google News Forum and see complaints from “liberals” that Google News shows Fox News, a very conservative news source, in the Google News search results and home page. The more I see the complaints, the more I see that Google is not politically bias in their search results.
Just take a quick scan of the Google News Forum and see how many complaints there are about Fox News being included:
I find it a bit comical to be honest. I did think it would be nice to give searchers an option about how liberal or conservative they want the news to be. I asked they create a liberal & conservative news slider control that allows users to adjust how liberal or conservative the news gets. Of course, if Google did that, they would have to label each news source as liberal/conservative or pick up words on a page that make a news source liberal or conservative. That can get a bit hairy.
I just thought I point out the daily activity in this Google News Forum.
Everyone talks about how liberal Google is and how it may bias their objectivity in the search results and their other agendas. But every day, I check the Google News Forum and see complaints from “liberals” that Google News shows Fox News, a very conservative news source, in the Google News search results and home page. The more I see the complaints, the more I see that Google is not politically bias in their search results.
Just take a quick scan of the Google News Forum and see how many complaints there are about Fox News being included:
I find it a bit comical to be honest. I did think it would be nice to give searchers an option about how liberal or conservative they want the news to be. I asked they create a liberal & conservative news slider control that allows users to adjust how liberal or conservative the news gets. Of course, if Google did that, they would have to label each news source as liberal/conservative or pick up words on a page that make a news source liberal or conservative. That can get a bit hairy.
I just thought I point out the daily activity in this Google News Forum.
A WebmasterWorld thread has discussion around getting Google to index a popular image feature sites use to show off images on their web site. It is called Lightbox JS and it basically uses JavaScript to open up a neat larger view of the image on the page.
I use it on many sites, but you can see a quick example on the RustyBrick Mobile Portfolio. Just click on the image and it opens up a larger picture of that image. Here is a screen capture showing the larger image as it overlays on top of the page:
The issue is, GoogleBot is having a tough time capturing these images in their index. WebmasterWorld administrator, Tedster, explained:
I’ve been up against the same challenge. Even though regular Google search is aggressively discovering URLs and content by spidering JavaScript, apparently the image bot is not so inquisitive at this point. This surprised me, because there are many images being displayed through Lightbox scripts these days.
Yes, GoogleBot is able to execute JavaScript, but is GoogleImageBot able to at the same pace?
Tedster is exploring other ways to get GoogleBot to index Lightbox JS. He tried the following method, but it doesn’t seem to work:
My latest attempt involves making the anchor part of the link a thumbnail image – but the thumbnail is not just a smaller version of the larger image. I use the same exact image file for the anchor, but I resize it on the the page with the HTML width and height attributes. This means that the page loads more slowly, but at least the image bot gets a direct <img src=[url]> style mark-up.
A WebmasterWorld thread has discussion around getting Google to index a popular image feature sites use to show off images on their web site. It is called Lightbox JS and it basically uses JavaScript to open up a neat larger view of the image on the page.
I use it on many sites, but you can see a quick example on the RustyBrick Mobile Portfolio. Just click on the image and it opens up a larger picture of that image. Here is a screen capture showing the larger image as it overlays on top of the page:
The issue is, GoogleBot is having a tough time capturing these images in their index. WebmasterWorld administrator, Tedster, explained:
I’ve been up against the same challenge. Even though regular Google search is aggressively discovering URLs and content by spidering JavaScript, apparently the image bot is not so inquisitive at this point. This surprised me, because there are many images being displayed through Lightbox scripts these days.
Yes, GoogleBot is able to execute JavaScript, but is GoogleImageBot able to at the same pace?
Tedster is exploring other ways to get GoogleBot to index Lightbox JS. He tried the following method, but it doesn’t seem to work:
My latest attempt involves making the anchor part of the link a thumbnail image – but the thumbnail is not just a smaller version of the larger image. I use the same exact image file for the anchor, but I resize it on the the page with the HTML width and height attributes. This means that the page loads more slowly, but at least the image bot gets a direct <img src=[url]> style mark-up.
A DigitalPoint Forums thread reports that a search on (beware before you click) [cricket talks] in Google Image search returns a pornographic image. It happens both on standard safe search and strict safe search, but goes away completely when you turn off the safe search feature.
Here is a picture, which I cropped a bit to show the result here:
I personally see the image on the 3rd row when strict search is on and the second row when safe search is in standard or moderate mode.
What is interesting is that it is hosted on a pretty bad domain, i.e. asianteenmovieslesbiananal.info. OpenDNS for me blocks the domain due to the domain and network containing pornography and nudity. I guess Google got mixed up with this one.
A DigitalPoint Forums thread reports that a search on (beware before you click) [cricket talks] in Google Image search returns a pornographic image. It happens both on standard safe search and strict safe search, but goes away completely when you turn off the safe search feature.
Here is a picture, which I cropped a bit to show the result here:
I personally see the image on the 3rd row when strict search is on and the second row when safe search is in standard or moderate mode.
What is interesting is that it is hosted on a pretty bad domain, i.e. asianteenmovieslesbiananal.info. OpenDNS for me blocks the domain due to the domain and network containing pornography and nudity. I guess Google got mixed up with this one.
Seth Godin has harped on one idea over and over again in his books, his blog, his public speaking engagements and just about everywhere I’ve encountered him. That one idea is all you need are 1,000 true fans.
He has most often made the 1,000 true fans argument in relation to artists, but now he is [...]
Seth Godin has harped on one idea over and over again in his books, his blog, his public speaking engagements and just about everywhere I’ve encountered him. That one idea is all you need are 1,000 true fans.
He has most often made the 1,000 true fans argument in relation to artists, but now he is applying it to business. I’m going to assume that he’s right and all you need is 1,000 true fans to “make it.” What does that really mean?
First, let’s define a true fan. Seth says a true fan is someone who buys everything you do. They aren’t samplers. They are devotees. If you carve your toenails then they are there to see it. They’re a “true fan.”
So let’s apply that to business. If you have 1,000 true fans for your business then these are the people who will buy your new product on the day it launches. If your product is a flying red widget that costs $2 to make and you charge $5 to purchase, that’s a $3,000 income for launch day. Can you survive on that?
You can survive for a month. But what about the next month? Those true fans aren’t going to buy your widget again, are they? You need more customers than 1,000.
What Seth Godin doesn’t tell you about 1,000 true fans is that you need to market your products and services to thousands of people more than that. If you assume a 1% “snag ratio” then you need to get your flying red widget in front of 100,000 people. Of course, not all of them are going to buy either. But somewhere between that 100,000 and that 1,000 true fan base you’ll find your true market. Those are the people who won’t buy everything you make, but who will buy something you make. Those are the people you’re really marketing to.
Your true fans aren’t going to perform a Google search to find you. They know where to find you. They have you bookmarked. It’s your true market that you need to reach out to and that requires a strategy. You build your search engine optimization strategy and your pay per click advertising strategy and your social media strategy around your true market. Your true fans are following your every move.
A search for [dreadlocks] sports one of those Google definitions links at the top right of the page that leads to an ‘offensive’ categorization of those who have dreadlocks as their hairstyle. The Google Definition of dreadlocks uses it in a sentence as, “He was turned down for a driving job when he refused to cut his dreadlocks.”
Now one person takes offense to this and posted his dissatisfaction in a Google Web Search Help forum. He wrote:
While it’s true that this kind of thing (unfortunately) does happen, is it crazy to anyone else to be in a dictionary? It’d be like having the definition for Asian American being “He was turned down for the driving job because he was Asian American.”
Here is a picture of the definition:
If Google stayed with Answers.com as their definitions provider, they might not be taking flack for this.
Personally, I find these types of posts funny – which is why I am highlighting this one.
A search for [dreadlocks] sports one of those Google definitions links at the top right of the page that leads to an ‘offensive’ categorization of those who have dreadlocks as their hairstyle. The Google Definition of dreadlocks uses it in a sentence as, “He was turned down for a driving job when he refused to cut his dreadlocks.”
Now one person takes offense to this and posted his dissatisfaction in a Google Web Search Help forum. He wrote:
While it’s true that this kind of thing (unfortunately) does happen, is it crazy to anyone else to be in a dictionary? It’d be like having the definition for Asian American being “He was turned down for the driving job because he was Asian American.”
Here is a picture of the definition:
If Google stayed with Answers.com as their definitions provider, they might not be taking flack for this.
Personally, I find these types of posts funny – which is why I am highlighting this one.
Over the past week or so Google has released a slew of updates to its search operation. Some of these are somewhat controversial (personalized search) and some are just aesthetic changes (minimalist homepage) but Google seems to have ramped up their refinement process for the coming festive season. Here are some of the new updates [...]
Over the past week or so Google has released a slew of updates to its search operation. Some of these are somewhat controversial (personalized search) and some are just aesthetic changes (minimalist homepage) but Google seems to have ramped up their refinement process for the coming festive season. Here are some of the new updates you’ll be sure to encounter:
Google Personalized Search
From around the beginning of December, Google will start tailoring your search results based on previous browsing history, whether you are logged into your Google account or not(This review assumes that you are logged out). In order to allay privacy concerns you can opt out if you wish but most people using Google will be using personalized search by default. Google accomplishes this finding your favored sites (indicated by which ones you most often click through to) and ranking sites from that brand or theme higher in your particular search results. This means Dymocks might be top of the SER’s for the keyword ‘books’ while for another person the same search will yield Angus & Robertson as the top positioned site. This doesn’t mean the other ranking factors are simply ignored however; they are simply used in conjunction with the personalized result factors. With this version of personalized search ( signed out of Google account), Google can only guess at your preference from what you click on, clicks are what your personalized search is based on, not search history or surfing habits.
Now you may think this has doom and gloom implications for search engine optimization, well it doesn’t, not yet anyway. First, Google is going to have to collect huge amounts of click data in order to understand and use your preferences within the SERPS. Good structured pages with terrific content, correctly used HTML attributes and links will still play the majority role in the ranking of sites, whether personalized search takes effect or not. We’re not sure how much weighting the personalized search factor will have within the entire Google algorithm, but I wouldn’t be surprised if people get near identical SERPS, regardless of their click history and habits. I have a feeling they may use the old Google 80/20 rule when implementing personalized search, i.e. 8 ‘normal results’ and 2 results impacted on by personalized search for each SERP.
Google’s New Search Page
Now unlike some of the other tweaks and updates that Google has implemented over the past month or so this is pretty much a purely aesthetic change. When the search page is first loaded, you only see the logo, search box and the search buttons. When you move your mouse the rest of the search page ‘fades in’. This is something that Google has been testing for a while, for example it only worked on Chrome for a while and then periodically for other browsers. The only reason I can think of for this change is to funnel more people to start searching right away, rather than exploring the other links on the page.
Google Real-Time results
Google also announced that Google Real Time search has been rolled out. This feature is going to be rolled out in an incremental process over the next few weeks. Essentially Google is going to start indexing tweets, Facebook status updates (where made publicly visible by the Facebook user and this feature will be rolled out at a later stage) and other forms of real-time information. According to Google, they are processing over ‘a billion documents a day’ from the real-time web. In order to activate this feature you need to click on the show options link just above the results. This opens a whole heap of options, in order to activate the Google real-time results click on latest link. Then just sit back and watch new results blend into the top of your SERPS.
Now with the advent of Twitter, ‘real-time’ seems to be all the rage, with everybody wanting instant gratification. I think the problem Google and the other search engines may be at the juxtaposition of real-time and relevancy. How do you rank a tweet in terms of relevancy to the subject? Is something that is ‘real-time’ better than something that is more relevant? Well, I don’t have answers to these questions but with a couple thousand PHD’s just sitting around thinking up answers to these questions I’m sure the big G has it covered. The following sources of real-time information will be indexed:
Facebook
MySpace
FriendFeed
Jaiku
Identi.ca
Twitter
Fresh press releases or blog posts
Was this feature an absolute necessity for Google to survive? No, but it’s a ‘nice to have’ feature, as for me, it’s easier to keep up with my UEFA champions league scores.
Google Mobile Updates
Google announced a whole raft of search capabilities for mobile phones (and in particular android enabled phones). In terms of Google Voice search, Japanese, Mandarin and English are all now supported as well as several more phone models, including; Blackberries, Android powered mobiles and Nokia’s.
Search By location is a really interesting feature. According to the Google announcement, people with Google Maps on Android 1.6+ devices, can just press on the map for an extended period and ten of the closest points of interest (restaurants, shops etc) will be revealed to you. Nice feature, especially if you are bored and stuck somewhere for an extended period.
Google Goggles
Now this is a feature that really interests me, If Google can pull it off correctly it is going to be massive! This feature is currently a labs product that only users of Android 1.6+ devices can use. Essentially, you take a picture of an object, send it to Google and if they are able to recognize the object it returns relevant search results regarding the object. According to Google, Goggles will recognize the following objects:
Books
DVDs
Landmarks
Logos
Artwork
Businesses
Products
Barcodes
Google has also released the following tips for making Goggles work better:
Take photos in areas with good lighting.
Zoom in as much as possible.
Use your phone in “left landscape” orientation (with your right thumb pressing the shutter).
Hold your hands steady, and use the on-screen shutter button.
Imagine the capabilities, you are in a foreign country, you are doing the touristy/sightseeing thing, you want more information on an odd relic you are perusing so you take a picture and voila, all the information right on your mobile, very cool.
There are some other features like Google living stories, news rendered in a new and dynamic way. Updates to the Google Web Kit, including ways to speed up web apps. Loading time/web site performance is slated to be a big indicator in terms of search results in 2010. Martin has written a great post on Google and speed. As a result of the speed factor, Google has added another tool in Google Webmaster Tools where you can check the performance of your site. Google has also announced that extensions for Chrome are also now available. Wow, Google has been busy and I for one am looking forward to playing around with these news features and figuring out how they benefit me and the SEO I perform.
About the Author : Marc Elison is a Search Engine Optimization consultant with Bruce Clay Australia. Bruce Clay Australia is part of Bruce Clay, Inc a leading provider of Internet marketing services, with an emphasis on SEO.
There are dozens of complaints from Christian Google users with their dissatisfaction over the wording of the Google Holiday logo. In short, the complaint is that Google is saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” Christians are asking why Google is saying “Happy Holidays” when no other holiday overlaps with Christmas this year. Chanukah was earlier this month and the other holidays don’t seem to fall out during Christmas, so why not say it as it is?
Here are pictures that illustrate the ‘politically correct’ holiday message from Google:
For the entirety of Google’s history (including this year) they put up a variety of Christmas-themed logos between approximately December 22 and December 25, but they say “happy holidays” and not “Merry Christmas”!!
What other holiday occurs between Dec. 22 and 25?? Why must Google be so politically correct? “Merry Christmas” is one of the most popular greetings in the world! This is ridiculous, why is Google forcing me out of the Christmas spirit?
There are dozens of complaints from Christian Google users with their dissatisfaction over the wording of the Google Holiday logo. In short, the complaint is that Google is saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” Christians are asking why Google is saying “Happy Holidays” when no other holiday overlaps with Christmas this year. Chanukah was earlier this month and the other holidays don’t seem to fall out during Christmas, so why not say it as it is?
Here are pictures that illustrate the ‘politically correct’ holiday message from Google:
For the entirety of Google’s history (including this year) they put up a variety of Christmas-themed logos between approximately December 22 and December 25, but they say “happy holidays” and not “Merry Christmas”!!
What other holiday occurs between Dec. 22 and 25?? Why must Google be so politically correct? “Merry Christmas” is one of the most popular greetings in the world! This is ridiculous, why is Google forcing me out of the Christmas spirit?
I am seeing random reports, now a total of three individual reports, in the Google WebSearch Help forums where users are reporting that Google Images search results are going off the page.
One user posted a picture, which describes the issue. Here is a picture:
It seems like the first row of images is shown on the far left side of the browser and then the rest are displayed down the row, but under the fold. One person explained:
All the images are on the left side of the page going down the page. You can bearly see the image and it is very anouying!! How do u make it so it is back to the normal way, were the images go across the page instear of going down????
Googler, Jem thinks this is some type of browser bug. Jem asked the users to clear their cookies and try again. Jem is also asking users for more feedback so they can debug the issue.
I am seeing random reports, now a total of three individual reports, in the Google WebSearch Help forums where users are reporting that Google Images search results are going off the page.
One user posted a picture, which describes the issue. Here is a picture:
It seems like the first row of images is shown on the far left side of the browser and then the rest are displayed down the row, but under the fold. One person explained:
All the images are on the left side of the page going down the page. You can bearly see the image and it is very anouying!! How do u make it so it is back to the normal way, were the images go across the page instear of going down????
Googler, Jem thinks this is some type of browser bug. Jem asked the users to clear their cookies and try again. Jem is also asking users for more feedback so they can debug the issue.
The next two weeks are typically the slowest two weeks in the search industry (and probably most other industries). It is the holiday week, with Christmas and New Years coming, as well as it being the first day of Winter today.
Google already started their holiday logo blast, although Google missed Chanukah this year, they are calling the logos “Holiday logos”. You will be able to see a new one every day and Google will archive them at google.com/logos/holidays-2009.html. Here is the first one:
Like I said, Google will have a new logo each day (maybe I will update this post here or make a new one for those).
Google # 2:
Yahoo is running a flash based logo also for the past few days:
But today is actually the first day of Winter here on our side of the world. And for the day, we have a nice theme from Bing, YouTube and from ourselves as well:
Bing Winter:
YouTube Winter:
Search Engine Roundtable Winter:
Happy holidays, cold winter and relaxing/healthy next two weeks.
The next two weeks are typically the slowest two weeks in the search industry (and probably most other industries). It is the holiday week, with Christmas and New Years coming, as well as it being the first day of Winter today.
Google already started their holiday logo blast, although Google missed Chanukah this year, they are calling the logos “Holiday logos”. You will be able to see a new one every day and Google will archive them at google.com/logos/holidays-2009.html. Here is the first one:
Like I said, Google will have a new logo each day (maybe I will update this post here or make a new one for those).
Google # 2:
Yahoo is running a flash based logo also for the past few days:
But today is actually the first day of Winter here on our side of the world. And for the day, we have a nice theme from Bing, YouTube and from ourselves as well:
Bing Winter:
YouTube Winter:
Search Engine Roundtable Winter:
Happy holidays, cold winter and relaxing/healthy next two weeks.
