Search Engine Watch - Latest

Google Users Dislike Personalized Search Results [Survey]

Danny Goodwin — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:00:00 GMT

Should Google’s search results be personalized based on past searches and information from social networking sites? Forty-five percent of respondents to a recent Google search survey said no, compared to 15.5 percent who said yes.

adCenter Increases Ad Text Limit to 71; Adds Budget Overview, Mobile Targeting

John Rampton — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

To simplify importing ads for AdWords to adCenter and align with industry standards, adCenter has changed the allotted character count in ad descriptions from 70 to 71. Here's a quick look at all the latest changes to Microsoft adCenter.

A Good Social Media Marketing IDEA: Identify, Deliver, Empower, Amplify

Miranda Miller — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research and co-author of bestseller "Groundswell", shared tips for success in social and instigating positive change by causing trouble in a way that’s disruptive at Covario’s recent INFLECTIONPoint 2012 conference.

Google Screenwise Pays People to Search the Web With Chrome

John Rampton — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:00:00 GMT

A new Google project called Screenwise is offering web surfers the chance to get paid to surf the web and help "make Google better." You have to search the web using the Chrome browser and share your data with Google, according to the signup page.

DOJ to Approve Google's Motorola Acquisition

V3 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:00 GMT

Google's proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility could soon be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ,) sources told the Wall Street Journal. The DOJ is reportedly poised to issue a formal approval on the deal as early as next week.

New Signals to Search Engines Revisited

Mike Grehan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:30:00 GMT

Search engines have evolved from primitive crawling technology and now have a very powerful combination of signals. This downloadable PDF “thought paper” shows how end user data, social, mobile, and personalization are shaping the future of search.

Online Newsrooms: A Necessity for Search and Social Content Strategy

Lisa Buyer — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Think content. Think fresh content. Think Google loves content. Think social shares of content. Now when news breaks in a tweet and via mobile device, the online newsroom can hold the keys to dominating online visibility in a three-screen world.

Don’t Be A Wallflower! 3 Fundamentals Of Data Driven Community Outreach

Marty Weintraub — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Many (even most) corporate community managers are relatively passive, waiting for users to come to them. However there is a real power to assertively identifying themed conversations surrounding your corporate objectives, and diving right in.

How to Use Government Data for Link Development

Justilien Gaspard — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

You can use data found on government websites to create compelling linkable material. This freely available material, in conjunction with your own research and insight, should help you make content that gets linked to by all the right places.

RIAA President: Google ‘Misused Its Power’ by Protesting SOPA

Danny Goodwin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Google abused its trust and misused its power when it blacked out its logo and encouraged its millions of users base to “Tell Congress: Please don’t censor the web!” At least according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s CEO.

Privacy Group Sues FTC to Stop New Google Privacy Policy

Danny Goodwin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:00:00 GMT

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is suing the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in the hopes of stopping the new Google privacy policy, which is set to become effective March 1. The complaint was filed today in federal district court.

Google Debuts Chrome for Android

V3 — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:00:00 GMT

The mobile version of Chrome runs on smartphones or tablets with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or above. Although Chrome for Android was designed from the ground up for mobile devices, it has many of the same features of the desktop version.

5 'Moneyball' Tips for Search Marketers from Billy Beane

Miranda Miller — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane talked baseball, metrics, and people calling him crazy, with an audience of search marketers and corporate executives in a keynote yesterday at Covario’s InflectionPoint 2012 conference in California.

2 Non-Obvious PPC Split Tests

Howie Jacobson — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Simple PPC split testing can provide market insights that allow you to connect deeply and powerfully with your prospects. All that’s required is a willingness to think, wonder, and ask. Here are two questions to jump-start your own deep curiosity.

Facebook Deprecating 50+ Page Insights Metrics – Are You Ready?

Nathan Linnell — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Some metrics will be completely eliminated; others are being replaced by metrics added to the Graph API. If you haven’t already stopped using the deprecated metrics, you probably have your work cut out for you to quickly get the updates in place.

How to Take Advantage of Apple’s Rise to Mobile Market Dominance

Garry Przyklenk — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Apple is the king of mobile. With an expanding market share, Apple is poised to break records yet again in 2012; though they must improve their iAd inventory to compete with Google. Here are the implications for mobile marketers.

Solve for X: Google’s Answer to All World Problems

John Rampton — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:00:00 GMT

Google believes that we can solve some of the world's greatest problems by working together. We Solve for X appears to be more focused on global problems, using them as opportunities to encourage “moonshot” thinking.

Panda, Fresher Results, Spelling Top Google’s January 2012 Search Updates

Danny Goodwin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:00:00 GMT

A minor update to Google’s Panda update was released in January. This was just one of 14 other search changes Google announced. Others included fresher results, improvements to autocomplete, better spelling corrections, and auto-disabling Instant.

Google Bouncer Security Tool Fights Android Malware

V3 — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:00:00 GMT

Google said that since security system Bouncer has been operating, malware levels on the Android Market have gone down. The company noted that over the second half of 2011, malicious downloads had decreased by 40 percent.

Google, Facebook Agree to Censor Content in India

V3 — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:00:00 GMT

A court in India has ordered 21 technology firms, including Google and Facebook, to remove content. The Indian branches of both firms have complied with the court's request and removed pages which had been deemed religiously or socially offensive.