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Search Continues to Grow: Showing 46% Growth YoY, comScore

On January 25, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

comScore released their search growth report and it showed searches have grown 46% worldwide. The U.S. grew 22% from December 2008 to December 2009, with 22.7 billion searches. China followed with 13.3 billion searches, but only grew 13% year over year.

Google took account of 66.8% of those searches, with 87.8 billion searches worldwide, and a growth rate overall of 58%. That is not too bad, although little Microsoft saw a spike of 70% in search share from last year to this year. Here are the charts and also make sure to read Search Engine Land for more analysis:

comScore Search Growth

comScore Search Growth

Forum discussion at two WebmasterWorld threads.


comScore released their search growth report and it showed searches have grown 46% worldwide. The U.S. grew 22% from December 2008 to December 2009, with 22.7 billion searches. China followed with 13.3 billion searches, but only grew 13% year over year.

Google took account of 66.8% of those searches, with 87.8 billion searches worldwide, and a growth rate overall of 58%. That is not too bad, although little Microsoft saw a spike of 70% in search share from last year to this year. Here are the charts and also make sure to read Search Engine Land for more analysis:

comScore Search Growth

comScore Search Growth

Forum discussion at two WebmasterWorld threads.



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Yahoo Search Advertisers Rejoice Over New Network Distribution Feature

On January 21, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

Ever since Yahoo launched their new search marketing platform in 2006, advertisers wanted more control of where their ads were showing.

Yesterday, Yahoo launched a feature named Network Distribution that gives advertisers that control. I wrote up a detailed analysis of the new feature about a week ago at Search Engine Land. Here is a copy of that:

The network distribution settings can be found in a couple places, such as under campaign settings. When you go to those settings, you will see the “Network Distribution” settings above the targeting settings. When you click on that it breaks out the options by content and search networks, in addition to breaking it out by the entire network versus Yahoo Search or Yahoo Partners only. It will also show you the past 30 days of campaign activity based on those sections, to see how many clicks, impressions and costs were associated to those areas. From that screen you can adjust your bid, plus or minus, a specific percentage for each area.

Here is a video from the YSM Blog explaining it a bit more visually:

Threads at DigitalPoint Forums & WebmasterWorld seem to be very happy with this addition. One person said:

This really makes my day.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums & WebmasterWorld.


Ever since Yahoo launched their new search marketing platform in 2006, advertisers wanted more control of where their ads were showing.

Yesterday, Yahoo launched a feature named Network Distribution that gives advertisers that control. I wrote up a detailed analysis of the new feature about a week ago at Search Engine Land. Here is a copy of that:

The network distribution settings can be found in a couple places, such as under campaign settings. When you go to those settings, you will see the “Network Distribution” settings above the targeting settings. When you click on that it breaks out the options by content and search networks, in addition to breaking it out by the entire network versus Yahoo Search or Yahoo Partners only. It will also show you the past 30 days of campaign activity based on those sections, to see how many clicks, impressions and costs were associated to those areas. From that screen you can adjust your bid, plus or minus, a specific percentage for each area.

Here is a video from the YSM Blog explaining it a bit more visually:

Threads at DigitalPoint Forums & WebmasterWorld seem to be very happy with this addition. One person said:

This really makes my day.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums & WebmasterWorld.



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Google UK Showing US Based Spelling Suggestions

On January 14, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

If you search at Google UK for keywords such as [search engine optimisation] or [personalised napkins] or the like, you will get US based spelling suggestions from Google.

Here are some screen captures:

Google UK Spelling Suggestions

Google UK Spelling Suggestions

The old S vs Z in US vs UK English.

As you can imagine, this is not just annoying for UK searchers but also can be a bit insulting. So far, Google has not commented in any of the threads I have seen report this.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums & Google Webmaster Help.

Update: Google seemed to quietly fix this in the past 24 hours.

Update 2: Here is a statement from Google over 24 hours later:

We recently introduced a change to the spell correction feature on the google.co.uk domain. This change introduced a bug where we were suggesting American English spelling refinements. We have temporarily rolled back the change while we fix the problem.


If you search at Google UK for keywords such as [search engine optimisation] or [personalised napkins] or the like, you will get US based spelling suggestions from Google.

Here are some screen captures:

Google UK Spelling Suggestions

Google UK Spelling Suggestions

The old S vs Z in US vs UK English.

As you can imagine, this is not just annoying for UK searchers but also can be a bit insulting. So far, Google has not commented in any of the threads I have seen report this.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums & Google Webmaster Help.

Update: Google seemed to quietly fix this in the past 24 hours.

Update 2: Here is a statement from Google over 24 hours later:

We recently introduced a change to the spell correction feature on the google.co.uk domain. This change introduced a bug where we were suggesting American English spelling refinements. We have temporarily rolled back the change while we fix the problem.



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Peer Review – SEO Best Practices; Title Tags, URLs and External Links

On January 13, 2010, In SEO, by Danny Dover

Posted by Danny Dover

I believe that the hardest part of SEO is simply keeping up with the trends. Our industry moves extremely fast and as a result, my co-workers and I have spent countless hours searching through old blog posts, articles and e-mail threads while trying to find small tidbits of information. Each of us have separate lists of our favorite resources and up until now, we haven’t had a convenient way to aggregate these.

Luckily, we are finally fed up enough to try to do something about this problem.

Together, we are going to spend the next month putting together an SEO Knowledge Center that will contain information on the best practices and important information for various SEO elements. After they are done, I am making it my responsibility to keep these pages up to date for the duration of my employment at SEOmoz. (Read: Job Security ;-p)

While my co-workers and I write these, we would like to offer up all of our drafts for peer review. Below you will find the first three SEO elements that we are tackling. We are big fans of the wisdom of the crowds and would love to hear all of your feedback.

Title Tag

Title Tag

URL

URL

External Link

External Link

Please note: These pages are not yet finalized! That is why we are submitting them for review :-) Please feel free to leave us feedback, including your favorite resources and tools for these specific SEO elements, in the comments below or with me on Twitter.

Danny Dover Twitter

Mini Update: Thank you to everyone who has offered suggestions so far :-) I just wanted to clarify the editing process for these pages. The first version of the SEO Knowledge Center will only be updatable by people who work at SEOmoz. I don’t think that is sufficient long term, so I would love to hear ideas on how to add a better feedback system. My first thought was wiki style, but given the nature of these pages, I don’t think this is the best solution. What do all of you think?

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Posted by Danny Dover

I believe that the hardest part of SEO is simply keeping up with the trends. Our industry moves extremely fast and as a result, my co-workers and I have spent countless hours searching through old blog posts, articles and e-mail threads while trying to find small tidbits of information. Each of us have separate lists of our favorite resources and up until now, we haven’t had a convenient way to aggregate these.

Luckily, we are finally fed up enough to try to do something about this problem.

Together, we are going to spend the next month putting together an SEO Knowledge Center that will contain information on the best practices and important information for various SEO elements. After they are done, I am making it my responsibility to keep these pages up to date for the duration of my employment at SEOmoz. (Read: Job Security ;-p)

While my co-workers and I write these, we would like to offer up all of our drafts for peer review. Below you will find the first three SEO elements that we are tackling. We are big fans of the wisdom of the crowds and would love to hear all of your feedback.

Title Tag

Title Tag

URL

URL

External Link

External Link

Please note: These pages are not yet finalized! That is why we are submitting them for review :-) Please feel free to leave us feedback, including your favorite resources and tools for these specific SEO elements, in the comments below or with me on Twitter.

Danny Dover Twitter

Mini Update: Thank you to everyone who has offered suggestions so far :-) I just wanted to clarify the editing process for these pages. The first version of the SEO Knowledge Center will only be updatable by people who work at SEOmoz. I don’t think that is sufficient long term, so I would love to hear ideas on how to add a better feedback system. My first thought was wiki style, but given the nature of these pages, I don’t think this is the best solution. What do all of you think?

Do you like this post? Yes No

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Google Caffeine Results Now Going Live?

On January 7, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

This is not a Caffeine update, Caffeine is not live. More coming soon.

There seems to be a lot of buzz going on at the forums about Google’s Caffeine index going live on more and more Google data centers.

Let me give you some history on Caffeine. It went live as a public preview in August. Then in early November there were rumors of it going live before the holiday season. Matt Cutts said no way, it won’t go live until after the holidays. But it did go live on a single data center, in the Google wild, in late November.

Now, it is after the holidays, after the new years and everyone is waiting for Google to flip the switch. Did Google flip the switch in the past twenty-four hours?

I am seeing tons of threads with people talking about major ranking changes. But there are only a few threads specifically thinking it is Caffeine related. We have threads at DigitalPoint Forums and an updated WebmasterWorldthread. The suspected data centers that Caffeine has been moved to, include:

I emailed Google, Matt Cutts and his team for confirmation – so stay tuned.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

Update: A Google spokesperson told me, “we have nothing to announce today regarding Caffeine.” Basically, it is not live yet and when it does go live, they will let us know.


This is not a Caffeine update, Caffeine is not live. More coming soon.

There seems to be a lot of buzz going on at the forums about Google’s Caffeine index going live on more and more Google data centers.

Let me give you some history on Caffeine. It went live as a public preview in August. Then in early November there were rumors of it going live before the holiday season. Matt Cutts said no way, it won’t go live until after the holidays. But it did go live on a single data center, in the Google wild, in late November.

Now, it is after the holidays, after the new years and everyone is waiting for Google to flip the switch. Did Google flip the switch in the past twenty-four hours?

I am seeing tons of threads with people talking about major ranking changes. But there are only a few threads specifically thinking it is Caffeine related. We have threads at DigitalPoint Forums and an updated WebmasterWorldthread. The suspected data centers that Caffeine has been moved to, include:

I emailed Google, Matt Cutts and his team for confirmation – so stay tuned.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

Update: A Google spokesperson told me, “we have nothing to announce today regarding Caffeine.” Basically, it is not live yet and when it does go live, they will let us know.



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Google Maps To Allow Businesses To Request Replacement Decals

On January 7, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

Google Maps Guide, Cecelia wrote in a Google Maps Help thread that Google will be enabling Google Local Business Favorite places to reorder lost or damaged Google QR code decals.

Ever since Google has been sending these out, I have seen threads from business owners asking how they can get replacement decals. For one reason or another, these people have lost or damaged the decals, and had no way to replace them.

Cecelia said in the thread:

We’re working to create a way for you to request a new Favorite Places decal if something happened to the original one. In the meantime, please hold tight and know we’re working on this.

Seems like it is coming soon, probably within the Google Local Business Center. When it does go live, we will let you know.

She also answered a frequently asked question:

Can a business which didn’t receive a decal request one?

No, it is not possible for a business to request becoming a Favorite Place. Businesses can sign up for Local Business Center to become eligible and if they meet our criteria, they may receive a decal in the next wave.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help</a.


Google Maps Guide, Cecelia wrote in a Google Maps Help thread that Google will be enabling Google Local Business Favorite places to reorder lost or damaged Google QR code decals.

Ever since Google has been sending these out, I have seen threads from business owners asking how they can get replacement decals. For one reason or another, these people have lost or damaged the decals, and had no way to replace them.

Cecelia said in the thread:

We’re working to create a way for you to request a new Favorite Places decal if something happened to the original one. In the meantime, please hold tight and know we’re working on this.

Seems like it is coming soon, probably within the Google Local Business Center. When it does go live, we will let you know.

She also answered a frequently asked question:

Can a business which didn’t receive a decal request one?

No, it is not possible for a business to request becoming a Favorite Place. Businesses can sign up for Local Business Center to become eligible and if they meet our criteria, they may receive a decal in the next wave.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help



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Google’s Blue Interface (AKA Jazz) Being Seen By More Searchers

On January 4, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

In November, we reported on the Google Blue Jazz interface, a new Google user interface Google hopes to push sometime this year. Technically, it is not named Jazz, but I think that is the name that might stick. Only a few Google users saw the interface. But ever since the New Years period, I have been seeing more and more reports of users seeing the interface.

Here is a picture of the front page:

Google Blue Jazz Interface

Actually, a reader sent me some crisp pictures of the various pages. You can see them all at http://twitpic.com/photos/Chrisway.

Anyway, the main thing here is that it is not “new” in that it was announced a few months back. But expect more and more people to see it in the upcoming weeks and/or months.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorldand DigitalPoint Forums and many other threads which prop up at Google Web Search Help.


In November, we reported on the Google Blue Jazz interface, a new Google user interface Google hopes to push sometime this year. Technically, it is not named Jazz, but I think that is the name that might stick. Only a few Google users saw the interface. But ever since the New Years period, I have been seeing more and more reports of users seeing the interface.

Here is a picture of the front page:

Google Blue Jazz Interface

Actually, a reader sent me some crisp pictures of the various pages. You can see them all at http://twitpic.com/photos/Chrisway.

Anyway, the main thing here is that it is not “new” in that it was announced a few months back. But expect more and more people to see it in the upcoming weeks and/or months.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorldand DigitalPoint Forums and many other threads which prop up at Google Web Search Help.



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Yep, Googlers Working on January 1st, New Years Day

On January 4, 2010, In SEO, by rustybrick

Many of those in the SEO, SEM, Web Design and related businesses find themselves working on holidays such as New Years and Christmas. I think it is more about the self-employed mentality versus it being computer related. Of course, computer related jobs tend to be good to work at any time. In any event, it is nice to know that you are not the only one working on these days. That is why we have Twitter and such. :)

I tend to report every year that I spot Googlers working on these holidays. Googlers were working on this past Christmas and they, JohnMu, was working on New Years day.

I spotted John posting not in just the Happy New Year thread but also in a couple webmaster related threads.

This is not new to John or Googlers, they did it New Years 2009 New Years 2008. Also Christmas 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006.

Happy New Year all!

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.


Many of those in the SEO, SEM, Web Design and related businesses find themselves working on holidays such as New Years and Christmas. I think it is more about the self-employed mentality versus it being computer related. Of course, computer related jobs tend to be good to work at any time. In any event, it is nice to know that you are not the only one working on these days. That is why we have Twitter and such. :)

I tend to report every year that I spot Googlers working on these holidays. Googlers were working on this past Christmas and they, JohnMu, was working on New Years day.

I spotted John posting not in just the Happy New Year thread but also in a couple webmaster related threads.

This is not new to John or Googlers, they did it New Years 2009 New Years 2008. Also Christmas 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006.

Happy New Year all!

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.



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