Daily Search Forum Recap: March 9, 2010

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.


Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.


http://www.seroundtable.com/

SMX West: Optimizing Your Content on YouTube

Below is live coverage of the Optimizing Your Content on YouTube from the SMX West conference.

This coverage is provided by Keri Morgret of Strike Models.

We are using a live blogging tool to provide the real time coverage, please excuse any typos. You can also interact with us and while we are live blogging, so feel free to ask us questions as we blog. We will publish the archive below after the session is completed.

Optimizing Your Content on YouTube


Below is live coverage of the Optimizing Your Content on YouTube from the SMX West conference.

This coverage is provided by Keri Morgret of Strike Models.

We are using a live blogging tool to provide the real time coverage, please excuse any typos. You can also interact with us and while we are live blogging, so feel free to ask us questions as we blog. We will publish the archive below after the session is completed.


http://www.seroundtable.com/

SMX West: The Current State Of Social Search

Below is live coverage of the The Current State Of Social Search from the SMX West conference.

This coverage is provided by Brian Ussery of Beu Blog.

We are using a live blogging tool to provide the real time coverage, please excuse any typos. You can also interact with us and while we are live blogging, so feel free to ask us questions as we blog. We will publish the archive below after the session is completed.

The Current State Of Social Search


Below is live coverage of the The Current State Of Social Search from the SMX West conference.

This coverage is provided by Brian Ussery of Beu Blog.

We are using a live blogging tool to provide the real time coverage, please excuse any typos. You can also interact with us and while we are live blogging, so feel free to ask us questions as we blog. We will publish the archive below after the session is completed.


http://www.seroundtable.com/

Google Drops Aboriginal Flag from Doodle Winner Due To Copyright

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.


http://www.seroundtable.com/

Google Maps Can’t Find Home After Adding Personalization

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.


http://www.seroundtable.com/

Trusted Sources vs Less Trusted Sources on Google News

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.


http://www.seroundtable.com/

Google Launches Social Search

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.


http://www.seroundtable.com/

How To Report a Google AdWords Professional

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.


http://www.seroundtable.com/

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