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.
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Daily Search Forum Recap: September 2, 2010
Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 11:00pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Search Forum Recap
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Bing Web Search Update?
Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 4:03pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Microsoft MSN Search
This is very very early and I don't have evidence of this myself, since I don't monitor rankings, but a single post at WebmasterWorld suggested there is a Bing update taking place.
textex, someone I trust at the forum, who has been a member of WebmasterWorld for almost ten years now, said:
Looks like an update....
So if there is a Bing update, there is a Yahoo update in the US and Canada.
Did you notice major changes in your Bing rankings?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
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How Does Google Maps Decide To Show Labels (Points of Interest)?
Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 3:46pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Other Google Topics
Yesterday I reported Google is testing "sponsored map icons" in the US. They are basically enhanced point of interest icons using the company's logo, instead of the basic POI (point of interest) icon Google uses on the map views.
Here you can see some POI icons, also known as "labels." They include a doctor icon, a bed and breakfast icon, a synagogue icon, a lawyer office icon and them some generic squares.
Clearly, when you define your business category in Google Places, Google knows which icon to show for your business. But why are only these businesses showing? There are literally dozens of businesses near mine, which is RustyBrick. I work in an office building, so why is RustyBrick shown and not the 100 or so other businesses here?
Google has a help document that explains:
The place labels shown on Google Maps are determined algorithmically based on a large number of factors, so there is no way to guarantee placement of your business on the map as a place label. One factor these algorithms consider is the accuracy of the business listing and the richness of the content associated with the listing, so you can improve the chances that your business will receive a place label if you claim it in Google Places.
Right, that doesn't say much, does it? But when I spoke with Google Product Manager, Matthew Leske yesterday, he dropped some hints as to how Google decides which icons to show at what level. He told me the following factors go into making this up:
Google looks at the listings:
- Quantity of citations
- Is there Wikipedia entry (he specifically mentioned that)
- Search volume for business
- and "other relevant information"
He explained it is more like a web search relevancy algorithm than anything else.
Forum discussion at Google Places Help.
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Sphinn Drops Voting & SEO Community Revolts
Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 3:39pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: SEO Forum News
I doubt you missed the big SEO community news from yesterday. Danny Sullivan announced in a Sphinn thread that Sphinn will be going the editorial route and be removing voting. Instead, editors will decide what should be on the front page and not users.
Users can still submit content, but editors have the final say on what makes it to the front page of Sphinn. The goal is to have hand picked content that the community can discuss, as opposed to have users vote on content submitted by anyone. Read Danny's full explanation for more details.
The community, at least the ones upset with the decision, were extremely vocal about their dislike of this decision. Some are saying that the moderators will only allow their "friends" content on the front page. Some are saying that taking away voting removes the core of the Sphinn site. Some are saying that this just makes it one more discussion forum. Personally, I have no idea - but I'd like to see how this model works.
What do you think? Here is an anonymous poll:
Does Removing Voting From Sphinn Kill It?online survey
There are many threads and blog posts about it, most linked to in the primary Sphinn thread.
Forum discussion at several Sphinn threads.
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Google Webmaster Tools Bug Prevented Unverifying Users
Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 3:27pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Optimization
Some users have recently been having difficultly removing verified users in Google Webmaster Tools. Google allows you to give multiple users access to view your Google Webmaster Tools reports and data.
Sometimes you want to revoke access to some of those users. To do that, you go "Add or remove owners" on the Webmaster Tools homepage and click "unverify."
But that was not working for the past couple days. Google admitted the bug and said it was fixed last night in a Google Webmaster Help thread. Dennis G. from Google said:
We had a bug in our server that blocked follow-up "unverify" requests, so it was impossible to remove that "Unverification pending" warning. It should be fixed now, so just click that "unverify" link one last time. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
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GoogleBot Crawling Less or More Efficiently?
Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 3:21pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Optimization
The obsessed (in a cool geeky way) webmasters at WebmasterWorld are discussing recent patterns they noticed with how Google's spider, GoogleBot has been accessing their site recently.
One said GoogleBot is crawling 50% less than it normally does. Others are saying they are just seeing GoogleBot crawl differently, but not less, per say. In addition, another person said Google stop crawling almost completely, but that is likely another issue.
Tedster explained what he has recently seen:
The sites I work with have been showing a changed crawling pattern since June, but it's not really a reduced crawl. On average more pages are being spidered over any extended period, but the whole pattern contains more spikes - occurring on about a 7-8 day cycle.
Have you noticed new or different GoogleBot crawling behavior?
We did report GoogleBot crawling from multiple locations at the same time, them having new crawling issues and acting all weird recently. Remember, this may all be caffeine related, so keep that in mind.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
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Logged In/Out: Google Keyword Tool Gives Different Results
Posted: September 2nd, 2010, 2:58pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google AdWords
Sheara Goldenthal pinged me with a question yesterday about why the Google Keyword Tool shows different search volume data for the same keyword phrase, when she is logged in versus not logged into her AdWords account.
It is a great question, a question I thought I knew the solid answer for. I am sure I read it somewhere, so I dug a bit deeper. It seems like this is a popular question asked in several forums, including HighRankings Forums, Warrior Forums and several Google AdWords Help forum.
There is a help document that answers this question:
Why do traffic estimates for my ad group differ from those given by the standalone tool?
The results yielded by the Traffic Estimator in your ad group and the standalone Traffic Estimator may differ for two reasons:
(1) Performance Data: The past performance of an ad group will influence the Quality Score of all the keywords in that ad group. Your ad group's Traffic Estimator considers the ad group's performance details when making estimates about your keywords. The standalone tool, on the other hand, does not. For the most accurate results, use the Traffic Estimator in your ad group.
(2) Double-Serving: In accordance with our double-serving policy, we will only show one of your ads on a search for a particular keyword, even if that keyword appears multiple times in your account. The Traffic Estimator in your ad group accounts for double serving among your keywords when making estimates, whereas the standalone tool does not. Therefore, the standalone tool may yield higher estimates when it evaluates a keyword that appears multiple times within your account.
Forum discussion at HighRankings Forums, Warrior Forums and several Google AdWords Help.
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Daily Search Forum Recap: September 1, 2010
Posted: September 1st, 2010, 11:00pm CEST by rustybrick
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.
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The Big Paid Search Merge Begins: Yahoo to Microsoft adCenter
Posted: September 1st, 2010, 3:28pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Yahoo Search Marketing
So Yahoo web search, the organic results, are now powered by Bing, Microsoft search. The next to fall is the paid search side of things.
Yahoo announced yesterday that the beginning of the end for Panama, Yahoo's Search Marketing platform. It is the beginning end of Yahoo powering their own search ads on their own search interface.
Folks at WebmasterWorld are calling it a "merge." The big paid search merge? Well, not really, more like the "big dig" for Yahoo. Yahoo isn't necessarily merging their technology with Microsoft, they are telling their advertisers to get their campaigns set up in Microsoft adCenter because Yahoo is burying their software likely by the end of October (in the US and Canada).
Yahoo laid out the three stages to this transition:
There are three stages to completing your transition:
1) Prepare your account for transition to adCenter
When you log into your Yahoo! Search Marketing account, you’ll automatically be taken to a new tab labeled “adCenter.” We recommend that you review your Compatibility Report, and fix incompatibilities between your current Yahoo! campaigns and the adCenter platform before starting the transition to adCenter.2) Transition your account to adCenter
When you begin your transition, you’ll be able to create a new adCenter account, or indicate that you have an existing adCenter account that you want to continue to use. If you choose, you can use the transition tool to copy your Yahoo! Search Marketing campaigns over to adCenter. Please note that your campaigns will retain the same status (active or paused) as they have within your Yahoo! account, so you may start incurring click charges for Bing traffic right away.3) Continue to manage your Yahoo! Search Marketing account
The last stage in the transition process will occur when Yahoo! Search ad serving moves to adCenter, which we expect to begin in mid-October and be completed by the end of October. During this period, you should expect traffic from your Yahoo! Search Marketing account to decrease, and increase in your adCenter account. But until this process is complete, you’ll still need to actively manage your Yahoo! Search Marketing account to have your ads displayed on Yahoo! and our partner sites.Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
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Google Map In Web Search Can Drop Your CTR Up to 65%
Posted: September 1st, 2010, 3:17pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Search Engine
Google showing maps and local listings in the pure organic web search results is nothing new. For example, the image below shows a search for [plumber 10010], NYC plumbers. Now, if you are not in that local listing and you are in the web search results, what are the chances of you getting clicked on? Slim, no?
A WebmasterWorld thread is asking webmasters and SEOs to estimate the degradation of having the local listings mixed into the web search results. The estimates of the loss range anywhere from 10% to 65% depending on who you ask and where the map location is. I'd assume the example above would be closer to 65% but when the maps show up in the middle of the page, maybe closer to 20%?
Tedster of WebmasterWorld said, "I've seen more like 35% to 60% loss." The site references some studies done in the past as well.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.