Search Engine Watch Blog

Bing Mobile App Now Available for BlackBerry Curve

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:52:04 -0500

A few weeks ago, Bing made its mobile application available for BlackBerry Storm devices. Now, the BlackBerry Curve is getting the mobile app treatment from Bing.

If you buy the new BlackBerry Curve 2 (8530) from Verizon, the app will come pre-installed in the device. If you have a different model Curve or carrier, then you can download the app at m.bing.com/download.

Microsoft-News Corp. Talks: A Marriage Made in Hell?

Greg Jarboe — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:15:13 -0500

Two weeks ago, I commented on Rupert Murdoch's threat that News Corp. was thinking of blocking Google from being able to search its Web sites: "Murdoch to Google: Drop Dead."

Now it appears that Microsoft and News Corp. are talking about a deal that would involve News Corp getting paid to prevent its news content from being indexed by Google, Google News, Yahoo! and Yahoo! News and only get found when you did a search on Bing.

Is this a marriage made in hell?

Yesterday, Bill Tancer, General Manager of Global Research at Hitwise, double-checked his data in a post entitled, "News Corp. - If You de-Index Will They Still Come?"

According to Tancer, Google referred over 15 percent of WSJ.com's traffic and Google News referred 11 percent as of last week. He analyzed Google search terms driving traffic to the Journal, and found the top 100 terms accounted for almost 22 percent of all Google search traffic to WSJ.com. Of that 22 percent, over 13 percent were navigational or brand searches (e.g. "Wall Street Journal," "WSJ," and "WSJ.com"). "Even if Murdoch decides to block Google, these navigational search queries will most likely remain intact," said Tancer.

Of the remaining 8 percent, the majority of searches were for stock quotes, and general business related searches. "Most specific news related searches fill-out the long tail of search queries. While the Journal may lose traffic if it ceases to cooperate with Google the loss may be less then anticipated," he added.

However, the potential loss of Google News traffic is potentially more serious. Over the past three years, WSJ.com's traffic from Google News has grown from 2 percent to over 11 percent.

As you can see in the Hitwise table to the left, the Journal is receiving more than double the traffic from Google News than newspaper sites overall -- a custom category including national and regional papers. Bing, the potential News Corp. suitor for search exclusivity provides less than half of Google News' volume as of last week.

As newspapers continue to search for a way out of the search rip current, some are rooting for Murdoch's maverick de-index strategy. Nevertheless, the numbers bring us back to reality. Observes Tancer, "As print continues to hemorrhage readership, could blocking your most significant traffic source be a wise choice?"

That's not what Gordon McLeod seemed to say during his keynote speech at Search Engine Strategies New York 2008. McLeod is president of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, which includes WSJ.com, MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com, Dow Jones Classified Ventures, and the recently launched AllThingsD.com.

But that was then and this is now. And Bing may change the dynamic, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. I think the Microsoft-News Corp. talks are a marriage made in hell.

This reminds me of the movie "Newsies," with Joseph Pulitzer trying to out-muscle the kids "carrying the banner." As Jack Kelly says in the movie, "Well, dat's da foist thing ya gotta learn - headlines don't sell papes. Newsies sell papes." And Murdoch needs to learn that his news content doesn't send traffic to the Journal. Google sends traffic to the Journal.

News Corp. doesn't have a monopoly on high quality business news. I can use Google and Google News to find high quality business news from hundreds of "fair and balanced" sources.

Am I wrong? Let me know what you think by posting a comment below.

Google Tweaks Product Search Just in Time for the Holidays

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:58:30 -0500

Days before masses bust down the doors of brick and mortar stores and burden e-commerce servers, Google has released updates to its Product Search.

Recent tweaks include:

New gallery view

Instead of viewing in a vertical list, view products horizontally in rows. Click the gallery icon at the top right corner just above the results. Here's what the gallery view looks like on the results for sunglasses:

Review summaries

On product pages, Google is providing a quick glance at the overall feedback from the reviews for a given product:

Video product reviews from YouTube

Also on the product pages, look for a link - just under the product name - for "Videos," and you'll get access to reviews users have posted on YouTube:

Nearby stores

When you're in the "Compare Prices" grid, you'll see notifications of nearby brick-and-mortar locations of the listed retailer. Click on the link listing nearby stores and a window appears with a map, outlining the locations.

This is a great way to do a little virtual window shopping before you brave the crowds this weekend. Or - just avoid them altogether by buying online.

Hunch Tests New Question Flow; Asks for Feedback

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:51:24 -0500

If you've used Hunch, you know that you can go through several questions in order to "teach" Hunch about you. Now, Hunch is attempting to improve the process of answering those questions with a new test. And they want your feedback.

They test involves non-yes or no questions - and you'll have to accept a cookie to participate. But you can turn the cookie off as you see fit. Visit the Hunch blog to learn more about the test.

Hunch is hoping to learn how to better refine the question process so that the can deliver better answers to searchers in a quicker manner.

Google Maps Launches Navigation for Android 1.6

Nathania Johnson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:44:22 -0500

Recently, Google Maps launched Navigation, a robust GPS system for Android. But it only came out for Android 2.0, meaning it could only be used on the brand spankin' new Motorola Droid from Verizon.

Good news for Android 1.6 users. You'll get to use Navigation for your Turkey Day travels this week.

Simply update Google Maps from the Android Market to gain access to turn-by-turn directions, search by voice and to find coffee along that traffic-packed route you find yourself on this extended holiday weekend.

Google Launches Mobile Coupons 4 Days Before Black Friday

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:33:05 -0500

Google is giving local businesses the ability to make their coupons available to mobile devices.

Accessing Coupons

You can find coupons on the recently launched Place Pages, which are accessed by searching Google Maps.

Offering Coupons

If you already have a printable coupon available, you can simply select an option to make those coupons available on mobile devices. Printable coupons were added to the Google Local Business Center a few years back.

Happy deal-making.

Yellow Journalism: New York Times Calls for Bing Boycott Over Chinese Results

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:12:36 -0500

Nicholas Kristof took to the pages of the New York Times to call for a boycott of Bing. Yes, Kristoff is attempting to create the news instead of just cover it, and yes, that goes against the fundamentals covered in any Journalism 101 class.

Kristof claims that Bing is cozying up to China and serving up censored results. Kristof even admits that Google is serving up some censored results, but only calls for the Bing boycott.

Bing admitted that it still has some "bugs" when it comes to results in Simplified Chinese characters.

Listen, it's not easy doing the search business in China. The country is constantly banning internet properties and overreacting to content it feels threatened by. The challenges are many, and there's no perfect answer. I suspect all search engines will have to constantly examine how their results will play in China, especially as the political landscape changes.

Many outside factors aren't exactly helping U.S. companies, as humorously depicted in a Saturday Night Live sketch this past weekend (NSFW).

Google to Acquire Display Ad Optimization Startup, Teracent

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:00:14 -0500

Google has announced a new agreement to acquire Teracent, a San Mateo display advertising optimization startup. Teracent uses technology that chooses from thousands of elements and machine-learning algorithms to serve up ads in real-time.

Elements include tweaking colors, images, messaging, and products. Then the ads are targeted even more according to location, language, time of day, etc.

The acquisition is expected to be complete sometime this quarter. After that, Google plans to implement Teracent's technology to the Google Content Network and DoubleClick.

AOL Previews New Brand Identity for Independence Day

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:04:01 -0500

AOL will be going independent in December and they've unveiled their new branding. A new minimalist font has been selected, the "o" and the "l" have been lowercased, a hip period has been added. I love closure. Oh - and the company name will be set against an ever-changing image.

Here are six preview images sent to us by the hard workin' AOL press team (click for a larger view):

They've also released an artsy, abstract video demonstrating the change. What does it all mean?!!??!!

Personally, I love minimalism. I'm quite curious to see how it fits into the rest of the branding, which we'll have to wait a couple more weeks for.

In the meantime, leave your first impressions in the comments below.

If you aren't at SES Berlin, go to SES Chicago for 11 topics breaking

Greg Jarboe — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:01:36 -0500

Search Engine Strategies Berlin is being held this week at the Crowne Plaza Berlin City Centre, and SES Chicago 2009 gets underway in two weeks at the Hilton Chicago.

During the past 10 weeks, I've shared 10 important reasons for going to these must-attend events. For those of you who want to join in the chorus, they are: 10 authors speaking, nine trainers training, eight days a-learning, seven tracks amazing, six booths astounding, five brand new things, four keynote themes, three key trends, two early birds, and a ranking in the top three.

This week, I'll share an eleventh significant reason for attending Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009 -- and it isn't "11 pipers piping." You should attend SES Chicago 2009 for "11 topics breaking."

According to recent research by Tradeshow Week, the top reason for attending conventions and tradeshows this year is to "keep up-to-date on trends and issues." And a close look at the conference agenda for Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009 shows that the conference sessions will help you keep up-to-date on trends and issues -- big time.

When the conference agenda was first posted back in August, 11 out of the 65 sessions were totally new. In addition, another 11 sessions were "reserved for late-breaking topics."

Since then, Incisive Media has appointed of Mike Grehan as VP and Global Content Director for Search Engine Watch, ClickZ, and Search Engine Strategies. And Grehan has identified these late-breaking topics and speakers have been invited to keep you up-to-date on these trends and issues.

Together, these 22 totally new sessions represent the "bleeding edge" of opportunities and threats in the search engine marketing industry. And some of them aren't even about search engines -- they're about social media and social networking sites.

This is why savvy search industry veterans who have attended each and every SES Chicago since 2003 keep coming back year after year. They know this Search Engine Strategies conference gives them a sneak preview of the latest topics two to three months before their direct and indirect competition.

Below is the list of 22 sessions which are totally new to SES. You can't attend them all, but you'd be smart to attend as many as you can.

Totally New Conference Sessions on Day 1: Dec. 7, 2009

Search: A Real Time Paradigm?

YouTube & Video Optimization

New Exporters: How Search Marketing Can Be Used to Build Trade overseas

Online PR: Where to Next?

From Search to Discovery

Point/ Counterpoint: DIY SEM - The Pros & Cons

20 Secrets of Top Converting Websites

The Quest for Perfect Information: How Network Intelligence is Transforming Search

Customer Insights Via Search Engine Tools

Ghost Blogging, Tweeting, Content Production: Is it Ethical? Does it Matter?

What's the Link between Search & Social?

Totally New Conference Sessions on Day 2: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009

Developments in Information Retrieval on the Web

Social Media Checklist

Real Time SEO: No More Yesterday's News

PR, Social Media and Search

Totally New Conference Sessions on Day 3: Wednesday, Dec. 9

PPC or SEO? The Ultimate Search Marketing Battle

Advanced Paid Search Brain Candy

Facebook Rockstars Roundtable: Marketing For the Other Internet

How to Cut Your Corporate Budget Without Cutting Leads or Sales

The Oprah Winfrey Litigation: What Affiliate Marketers MUST Know

Eye Tracking Research Update

M2M: Cracking the Code on Marketing to Marketers

Next week, we'll look at a final reason for going to Search Engine Strategies Chicago 2009. In the meantime, just keep singing "11 topics breaking, 10 authors speaking, nine trainers training, eight days a-learning, seven tracks amazing, six booths astounding, five brand new things, four keynote themes, three key trends, two early birds, and a ranking in the top three."

Shaking My Head at Steve Ballmer...

Nathania Johnson — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:06:13 -0500

Last week, I was shaking my head at Mark Cuban. He suggested that Microsoft pay online publishers to de-index their sites from Google. Presumably, then Bing could go out there and say "Hey, search us to find the Wall Street Journal."

I scoffed. I laughed. Who would do such a thing?

Apparently, Steve Ballmer would. To my utter dismay, news reports are in fact breaking that Microsoft is talking to News Corp, which recently said it was considering blocking the Googlebot from its news sites.

Nevermind that Bing is experiencing some nice growth. Almost 2 percentage points in search share have been gained since the June launch. Nevermind that they've recently released a sweet set of new features. It seems like Ballmer's too impatient. He wants quicker success. Yeah, cuz there are absolutely no examples whatsoever in this country of people getting greedy and it backfiring (cough, cough credit crisis. cough, cough, AIG).

Here's the thing, Steve. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that no one goes to Google to search the Wall Street Journal. They may come across the Wall Street Journal in their search. But usually if people already know what they want - they go straight there.

That is, of course, one of the bigger problems in search. Helping people get where they're going quicker. Just let that Bing team of yours keep focusing on doing that. But sending them to sites with paywalls (even if they get one cute little article for free) isn't going to accomplish that.

Google News Updates Mobile Site for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre

Nathania Johnson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:39:10 -0500

Google has made some enhancements to its mobile news site. The updates are just for the iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre.

The look and feel is pretty much the same. What's new is more stories, sources, and images.

A new "Jump to" link brings a pop up box offering quick access to a specific news category.

Any personalizations you make on your desktop will be accessible via your mobile now, as well (as long as you're signed into the same account on both).

Screenshots:

News.Google.com on an iPhone

Jump to

Yahoo! Adds Tweets, Breaking News to News Shortcut

Nathania Johnson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:50:35 -0500

After announcements from Google and Bing about incorporating Twitter into their search results, Yahoo! is throwing hopping on the real-time results news bandwagon. Yahoo!'s Twitter integration is part of a new update when the News Shortcut is implemented in the search results.

Yahoo! is also recognizing when there's breaking news and indicating as such on the News Shortcut. Here's a screenshot of a search for the space shuttle Atlantis shortly after launch earlier this week (per the Yahoo! Search blog):

What do you think of these updates to the Yahoo! News shortcut? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Twitter Consults the Ghost of Fred Berry for New Status Prompt

Nathania Johnson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:23:37 -0500

Twitter has announced that the question that appears in the status update box will no longer be "What are you doing?" Now, it will be "What's happening?"

My immediate reaction was this (and I wasn't the only one):

Google Tests Permanent Sidebar for Results, Blue Submit Buttons for Homepage

Nathania Johnson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:07:39 -0500

Lately, Google is experimenting more than Sheldon Cooper on their homepage - and now, also on their search results.

They're testing a permanent left sidebar in their search results, which would turn the results into three columns: new sidebar, organic results, search ads. Hmm, this reminds us of Bing. And Bing reminded us of Ask's 3D design (which they've since abandoned).

Additionally, after experimenting with removing the submit buttons on the homepage, now Google is bringing back the buttons and testing them with a new color: bright, primary blue.

In the Google help forums, two screenshots of these experiments were posted:

New Sidebar

Blue Buttons on Homepage

via Google Blogoscoped