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Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: May 7, 2010

On May 7, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

This week I cover the new Google interface, nicknamed Jazz, is now live for all to see. SEOs and webmeisters are reporting a new Google update named MAYDAY. Google also is updating the image search index. Google added average position and stars to the search query report in Webmaster Tools. Google dropped the search suggestions for some religions. Google is pushing brands in search queries. Is more white hat seo techniques being considered black hat? Google is posting warnings to AdSense publishers. Google is testing phone numbers in between the AdWords ad title and ad descriptions. Ask.com is dead, but yet they brought back Teoma. We have tons of Google logos to share, including them not doing a Cinco de Mayo logo. That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. You can also watch this live and ask questions during the show, typically Friday mornings around 9:30 (EST) at seroundtable.com/live, follow @rustybrick to be notified when we air. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play & hit “HD.”

Search Topics of Discussion:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don’t forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

This week I cover the new Google interface, nicknamed Jazz, is now live for all to see. SEOs and webmeisters are reporting a new Google update named MAYDAY. Google also is updating the image search index. Google added average position and stars to the search query report in Webmaster Tools. Google dropped the search suggestions for some religions. Google is pushing brands in search queries. Is more white hat seo techniques being considered black hat? Google is posting warnings to AdSense publishers. Google is testing phone numbers in between the AdWords ad title and ad descriptions. Ask.com is dead, but yet they brought back Teoma. We have tons of Google logos to share, including them not doing a Cinco de Mayo logo. That was this past week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. You can also watch this live and ask questions during the show, typically Friday mornings around 9:30 (EST) at seroundtable.com/live, follow @rustybrick to be notified when we air. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here or to see the YouTube version in higher quality, click play & hit “HD.”

Search Topics of Discussion:

Please do subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don’t forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!

.Fox Networks and comScore Unveil Research About Branding Impact of Online Advertising

On March 28, 2010, In SEO, by Greg Jarboe

Last week, .Fox Networks (pronounced “dot-fox”) and comScore unveiled the findings of a ground-breaking U.K. study at the Advertising Research Foundation’s 2010 conference in New York. The study found that video and display advertising are effective at driving significant uplift in site visits and advertiser search queries.

Click to read the rest of this post…

Last week, .Fox Networks (pronounced “dot-fox”) and comScore unveiled the findings of a ground-breaking U.K. study at the Advertising Research Foundation’s 2010 conference in New York. The study found that video and display advertising are effective at driving significant uplift in site visits and advertiser search queries.

Click to read the rest of this post…

Can Too Much Keyword Density Be Interpreted as Boiler Plate Text?

On January 25, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

I spotted an interesting Google Webmaster Help thread where a webmaster was asking why the most used words on his site is not showing up in the keywords report in Google Webmaster Tools. It seems like, at least for this report, Google may consider certain usage of a keyword to be over usage and would consider those keywords either boiler plate text or common words.

Jonathan Simon of Google said in that thread, and let me quote:

The Keywords list will sometimes exclude words that we determine to be boiler plate text or common words. This varies from site to site. The Keywords list is a starting point to see how Google is interpreting your site’s content. This list should be evaluated in tandem with what’s listed in the Top Search Queries report for your site as well as how your site appears in the actual search results for the keywords you’re targeting.

He goes on to explain that although it may not show up in the report, due to possible Google issues, this should not impact the site in a negative way. He said:

Boiler plate and commons words (excluded from the Keywords list) vary from site to site. It sounds like for your site we could be doing a better job here.

The more important question though is if this negatively impacts your site’s ranking as you mention. It doesn’t. That’s why I said the Keywords list is a good starting point and that it should be considered in conjunction with other information.

The question I have, is this not helping your site? I guess not.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

I spotted an interesting Google Webmaster Help thread where a webmaster was asking why the most used words on his site is not showing up in the keywords report in Google Webmaster Tools. It seems like, at least for this report, Google may consider certain usage of a keyword to be over usage and would consider those keywords either boiler plate text or common words.

Jonathan Simon of Google said in that thread, and let me quote:

The Keywords list will sometimes exclude words that we determine to be boiler plate text or common words. This varies from site to site. The Keywords list is a starting point to see how Google is interpreting your site’s content. This list should be evaluated in tandem with what’s listed in the Top Search Queries report for your site as well as how your site appears in the actual search results for the keywords you’re targeting.

He goes on to explain that although it may not show up in the report, due to possible Google issues, this should not impact the site in a negative way. He said:

Boiler plate and commons words (excluded from the Keywords list) vary from site to site. It sounds like for your site we could be doing a better job here.

The more important question though is if this negatively impacts your site’s ranking as you mention. It doesn’t. That’s why I said the Keywords list is a good starting point and that it should be considered in conjunction with other information.

The question I have, is this not helping your site? I guess not.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Is Google Quietly Tweaking Local Search

On January 10, 2010, In SEO, by Nick Stamoulis

There is an interesting article on Web Pro News that discusses a significant change to local search when it comes to SEO and web design. Put simply, SEO and web design businesses are no longer appearing in local searches, at least, not for simple searches. I wrote about this last week as well, please [...]

There is an interesting article on Web Pro News that discusses a significant change to local search when it comes to SEO and web design. Put simply, SEO and web design businesses are no longer appearing in local searches, at least, not for simple searches. I wrote about this last week as well, please read the post at the following link:
http://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com/2010/01/03/local-search-intent/

A search for “SEO Boston” is not likely to return any local search results. Add the word “in” – “SEO in Boston”, and the local search results appear. While it is tough on web designers and SEO businesses, is there more to this than meets the eye?

SEO consultants (and web designers) are easy targets when it comes to tweaking anything to do with search. Who is going to notice and discuss a change in search, why SEO writers off course. You have to wonder then if Google have made this change as a test for a more general change in local search. If this one little change improves search results and also trains searchers to be more specific in their queries, will we soon see this change spread to other areas of local search?

I think we may. Google is all about improving search results and producing results that more specific to a query. If the search engines can train users to be more specific with their search queries, results should become more specific. It is a fair enough approach. The search “SEO Boston” is not specific. Is the searcher looking for an SEO consultant in Boston, or one that will provide a service to someone in Boston? The same can then be said for spare tires, books, and a million and one other products.

It’s just a thought, but is Google tweaking local search and using SEO as the guinea pigs? Or is Google just attacking SEO people because of the black hats out there that are abusing Google local maps search results for themselves and their clients? I am not sure…why can’t Google just change 1 thing at a time, with Google Caffeine happening soon, why do they have to change local search right now.

Google Testing Related Searches Tab on Top Navigation Bar?

On November 23, 2009, In SEO, by rustybrick

A DigitalPoint Forums thread links to a blog post from imanjalali.com which shows a new user interface for Google. The new user interface looks like Google is placing related search queries in tabs across the top of the search results.

Here is a cropped picture of his full screen capture:

Seems weird being that Google is really taking the user interface in a whole new direction.

I am not sure if this is some type of malware causing this interface or something else.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

A DigitalPoint Forums thread links to a blog post from imanjalali.com which shows a new user interface for Google. The new user interface looks like Google is placing related search queries in tabs across the top of the search results.

Here is a cropped picture of his full screen capture:

Seems weird being that Google is really taking the user interface in a whole new direction.

I am not sure if this is some type of malware causing this interface or something else.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Google Social Search Not Very Local Yet

On October 26, 2009, In SEO, by Andrew Shotland

I just checked out Google’s new Social Search experiment. The idea is that Google can index information from your social network and display relevant content in your search results. For more detail read Danny Sullivan’s post on the launch. Here’s Danny’s summary scenario on how the system could work:

Google sees I have a friend on [...]

I just checked out Google’s new Social Search experiment. The idea is that Google can index information from your social network and display relevant content in your search results. For more detail read Danny Sullivan’s post on the launch. Here’s Danny’s summary scenario on how the system could work:

Google sees I have a friend on Twitter
That friend links to their blog from their Twitter profile
Google understands that they are connected to that blog
The friend’s blog has a link to their Flickr account
Google may understand, then, that the person I know on Twitter is also related to their Flickr account, even if that account wasn’t listed on their Twitter profile

I tried it out for a number of local seo and local search queries and it seems like the system still has a ways to go before it gets local.

Search Query = “local seo”

Now I am a big fan of Lyndoman, Chuck Reynolds (thanks again for the Wave invite!) & Bill Hartzer, but I am curious why these guys show up as most relevant to my “local seo” query. I would have thought that anyone with a social profile connected to the top results in Google for local seo would be in there, but it looks like some combination of Gmail connection plus the strength of the profile’s social network is a big factor here. There are few of us who can out-social Lyndoman and Bill has been a fixture in SEO circles for a long time so his network is likely huge and filled with others with large networks. I am guessing Chuck’s Google Wave connection puts him over the top for me.

Search Queries = “local search engine optimization”, “local search optimization”
No social search results.

Search Queries = “pizza”

Looks like Chuck likes pictures of food. Perhaps no one in my social net lives near me or has written a review of a local pizza joint, but you’d figure if Google shows a 7 pack for a query that the social results would also have some local intent.

I tried a number of other local searches, particularly those that targeted categories and profile names of nearby businesses that I am connected to on Twitter and came up empty-handed every time.

Google Social Search is obviously very new and I am guessing they will get better at surfacing relevant local content as they develop the service.

Bottom Line: This is a big deal. When Insider Pages, Yelp & JudysBook first started the goal was to make social recommendations a centerpiece of the search experience. Now Google appears on the path to making it actually happen (note to Google – I think Judysbook has a trademark you might want to check out). I think this brings up a lot of opportunity in the local search arena – and a lot of potential for spam – if a spammer can infiltrate your social net they should be able to easily surface for a number of local queries where your real network has no data, which at the get-go should be 90% of all queries.

My advice to all of you local search optimizers out there – for now keep your friends close, and keep your friends with strong social profiles who can get ranked for those local search queries even closer

and speaking of local social here’s another one Cherrp

Video: Demo of Google’s Social Search Project

On October 26, 2009, In SEO, by rustybrick

You heard about the Twitter news from Bing and Google but did you see the video demo from Google’s Marissa Mayer on how Google will handle searches within the social network of an individual? If Google knows who your friends and family are, they can make image search, product search, web search, much more personalized.

Want to see how? Check out this video of Google’s Social Search labs project that hopefully will launch in the next couple of weeks.

For many, handing over such data to Google can seriously improve the ‘relevancy’ of many of their search queries. But those worried about privacy should realize that for Google to get this information, you probably need to provide it.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

You heard about the Twitter news from Bing and Google but did you see the video demo from Google’s Marissa Mayer on how Google will handle searches within the social network of an individual? If Google knows who your friends and family are, they can make image search, product search, web search, much more personalized.

Want to see how? Check out this video of Google’s Social Search labs project that hopefully will launch in the next couple of weeks.

For many, handing over such data to Google can seriously improve the ‘relevancy’ of many of their search queries. But those worried about privacy should realize that for Google to get this information, you probably need to provide it.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: May 7, 2010

.Fox Networks and comScore Unveil Research About Branding Impact of Online Advertising

Can Too Much Keyword Density Be Interpreted as Boiler Plate Text?

Is Google Quietly Tweaking Local Search

Google Testing Related Searches Tab on Top Navigation Bar?

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