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  Daily Search Forum Recap: February 20, 2009

  Posted: February 20th, 2009, 10:00pm CET by rustybrick

  Tags:  Search Forum Recap  

  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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  Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: February 20, 2009

  Posted: February 20th, 2009, 5:10pm CET by rustybrick

  Tags:  Search Buzz RoundUp  

  I covered a lot of news in this 10 minute video. I wish I could make them longer, but YouTube has a 10 minute limit. In this recap, I covered the Yahoo Search video ads. Google tests SearchWiki on AdWords. Google now lets publishers pick their fonts. Google decided to slap AdWords advertisers this week. Google now requires pricing in Ringtone ads. Google's reporting engine flipped on the weekend. Google begins offer searcher tips. Can you hijack Google Translate? 70% of AdSense publishers report lower earnings last month. Fake news makes its way onto Google News. Google scores a D at the BBB. Google Webmaster Tools has a Sitemap bug and a link reporting bug. AdWords API extends February 23rd deadline to March 9th. Happy Valentines day and Presidents day, we got the logos covered! That is the news from the past week from 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. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

  
  For the original iTunes version, click here

  Some Of The Topics Discussed:
  

  • Yahoo Officially Launches Video & Image Search Ads
  • Google Testing SearchWiki On AdWords
  • Google Finally Gives AdSense Publishers Font Selection
  • Google Opens AdSense For Domains Internationally
  • Recent Google AdWords Quality Score Slap?
  • Google AdWords Now Requiring Pricing Details in Ringtone Ad Copy
  • Google AdSense & AdWords Reportings Takes A Weekend Break
  • Google Offering Searcher Tips: What Can We Learn From This?
  • Hijacking Google Translations? Vimeo Hijacked By YouTube?
  • 70% Of Google AdSense Publisher Report Lower Earnings in January '09
  • Fake News Makes Its Way To Google News Via Ads
  • Does Google Deserve A "D" On Their Better Business Bureau Rating?
  • Google Sitemap In "Pending" Status? Don't Worry
  • Google Webmaster Tools Link Reports Bugs Linger On
  • Google Extends AdWords API 12 Deadline To March 9th
  • 2009 Valentines Day Logos from Google, Yahoo, Live & Search Industry
  • Google & Yahoo Stiff America On President's Day But Logos From Live.com, Ask.com, & Others

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

• 

  70% Of Google AdSense Publisher Report Lower Earnings in January '09

  Posted: February 20th, 2009, 3:11pm CET by rustybrick

  Tags:  Google AdSense  

  Earlier this month, we polled Google AdSense publishers, asking how their earnings from Google is working out in this recession. After receiving about a 120 responses, I thought I share the results with you.

  About 70% said they are earning less these days, whereas 22% said their earnings are the same and 8% said their earnings have increased.

  Here is the break down:

  :: Earnings Have Dropped said 82 respondents or 68.91%
  :: Earnings Remain The Same said 27 respondents or 22.69%
  :: Earnings Have Increased said 10 respondents or 8.4%

  Yes, this recession is likely cutting AdWords budgets, impacting both publishers and Google.

  Forum discussion continued at WebmasterWorld.

• 

  Google Drops & Yahoo Gains In Search Share, comScore

  Posted: February 20th, 2009, 3:04pm CET by rustybrick

  Tags:  Search Engine Industry News  

  comScore released their January 2009 report on search market share, and for the first time in a while, Google's share declined month to month.

  In December 2008, Google had a 63.5 % share, but in January, they dropped down to a 63.0% share. Yahoo gained month to month with a gain from 20.5% to 21.0%.

  Google Sites led the U.S. core search market in December with 63.0 percent of the searches conducted, followed by Yahoo! Sites (21.0 percent), Microsoft Sites (8.5 percent), AOL LLC (3.9 percent) and Ask Network (3.7 percent).

  In any event, you need to understand this is month to month and you need to look at the numbers over time. So I wouldn't jump to any conclusions after looking at the monthly numbers.

  A WebmasterWorld thread is discussing this and one member said something very funny, as to a possible explanation:

  maybe it had to do with that malware issue to which google was linking people

  Could be... They go to Google, do a search on that Saturday and freak out and leave. Then they head over to #2, Yahoo.

  Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

• 

  Google News Gadget Breaks iGoogle Page

  Posted: February 20th, 2009, 2:57pm CET by rustybrick

  Tags:  Other Google Topics  

  Last night, the Google News iGoogle Gadget was having issues. The gadget did not show any news at all. Here is the first report I saw from Google Web Search Help.

  Suddenly last night when I went to my home page, the Google News section was blank - not stories or headlines - only the Tabs were present. If I expanded Google News I could get all the content, but not the summary. I changed some settings, tried restore to the last backup, and even removed, rebooted and reinstalled Google News. No Happiness with my Google News.

  Paul from Google replied thanking users for reporting the issue and said they will work on a fix. In the meantime, he asked users to go to news.google.com to get their news fix.

  This morning it was fixed and working properly.

  In addition to this Google News bug, it seems like Google News was not properly sorting by date yesterday. A Google News Help thread has a report from a user informing Google of this issue. Google replied with a thank you and that they are looking into it.

  Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help and Google News Help.

• 

  Google Finally Gives AdSense Publishers Font Selection

  Posted: February 20th, 2009, 2:47pm CET by rustybrick

  Tags:  Google AdSense  

  After years and years of testing different font types and styles in Google AdSense, Google is now giving the publisher the option of defining which font they prefer on their sites. The AdSense blog finally announced this feature last night and the new fonts include Arial, Times and Verdana. Here is a screen capture:

  Plus, publishers can set their default font preference over here.

  Google has been testing font styles since early 2007 and then began aggressively testing fonts in May 2008, using fonts such as comic sans both then and in June and August.

  Publishers are very happy about the extra control and already want more font options.

  Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

• 

  Google Maps Closes Down Business When it is Still in Operation

  Posted: February 20th, 2009, 2:41pm CET by rustybrick

  Tags:  Google Search Engine  

  A business owner is showing his frustration with Google over Google Maps listing his business as closed. In a Google Webmaster Help thread, this business owner said:

  The search result from Google shows our office as closed (the exact phrase shown is "place closed")

  Can someone please point me how I can get this corrected? Our office is not closed.

  Want to see it yourself? Here is a link to the live map, but for archival purposes, here is a screen capture:

  Notice how it says, "place closed" directly under the business name.

  This business owner can fix this by going to the Google Local Business Center and updating his listing there. And if you have not verified your business, go do so, so this doesn't happen to you!

  Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

• 

  Does Google Deserve A "D" On Their Better Business Bureau Rating?

  Posted: February 20th, 2009, 2:30pm CET by rustybrick

  Tags:  Google Search Engine  

  If you visit Google's reliability report at the Better Business Bureau (BBB) web site, you will notice they have a rating of a "D." The D rating is when the BBB says:

  We have enough concerns about this company (for example, their offer, customer complaints, advertising, etc.) that we recommend caution in doing business with it.

  How can the BBB caution people conducting business with the largest and most loved search ad company?

  In the past 36 months there have been a total of 424 complaints. To me, that is a pretty low number based on the number of advertisers and Google users they have.

  In July, I reported at Search Engine Land that the BBB listed Google as unsatisfactory. In any event, does Google deserve a D or unsatisfactory rating?

  A Google AdWords Help thread has responses from advertisers. I personally like BizWriter's response:

  I agree with you about the scammers, affiliates etc. but -BBB D rating or not- the real issue is that AdWords support is mostly an euphemism even for honest advertisers. Misleading messages in AdWords interface, no phone support, loops and dead-ends when someone tries to contact support. Is that the customer support one would expect from a multi-billion -"do no evil"- company? Google is getting sclerotic and you need to be nimble in business. Just my 2 cents.

  JezC, a top Google help member said:

  I'm astonished, after all the stuff you've replied to, that you give this any credibility. There's *two* issues (CC denials, and account review speed) that are showing up as a pattern here, and *one* significant cause of increased activity - more newbie affiliates than I can recall seeing in around five years of activity on this forum.

  So what do you think? Does Google deserve this rating?

  Forum discussion at Google AdWords Help.