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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Google
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Official Google Webmaster Central Blog (325 unread)
SEO
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Emily Chang (347 unread)
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Search Engine Roundtable
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Search Engine Roundtable (6 unread)
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Daily Search Forum Recap: July 8, 2009
Posted: July 8th, 2009, 11:00pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Search Forum Recap
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Google Enhanced 404 Feature Gone?
Posted: July 8th, 2009, 4:03pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Other Google Topics
In August 2008, Google released what was called the enhanced 404 widget that allowed webmasters to easily create custom 404 pages. In fact, we still have a sample of this in action at advertize.html.
But for some reason, I think Google removed the feature from the Google Webmaster Tools section. As a Google Webmaster Help thread discusses, he can't find it in the Webmaster Tools section. I looked for several minutes and I also cannot find it anywhere.
Did Google move it and I can't find it? Did they drop the feature with the launch of the new design?
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
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Getting Listed In Bing News
Posted: July 8th, 2009, 3:42pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Microsoft MSN Search
You know how to get listed in Google News but what about Bing News? A Bing Community thread has discussion around that topic.
Brett Yount from the Bing Webmaster Center said the way to be included in Bing News is a manual process. You simply need to email bns@microsoft.com and wait to hear back.
What if you don't hear back? Brett suggests emailing again:
There should be confirmation from the review team. If you did not get one, I suggest emailing them again.
Yahoo News and Google News are tremendous traffic drivers, but Bing is gaining market share, according to some. So it cannot hurt to be listed.
Forum discussion at Bing Community.
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Michael Jackson Fans Upset With Google Over "Ugliest Person in the World"
Posted: July 8th, 2009, 3:33pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Search Engine
If you conduct a Google search for ugliest person in the world today, you will see Google listing a picture of the late Michael Jackson. Here is a picture I took from this morning of the search results:
As virtually everyone knows, Michael Jackson died on June 25th and the memorial service was yesterday. The popularity of Jackson, especially right now, with how Google ranks documents, has likely lead to Jackson's picture being listed as the number one result for that search.
A Google Web Search Help thread has one Jackson fan who is somewhat upset with Google over the listing. He said:
i'd think google would be a little nicer then that maybe put him third at least
Clearly, there was some sarcasm there, but I doubt you will see Google make any changes to that image result - at least I hope not. Not because I am not a Michael Jackson fan, that has nothing to do with it. Simply because Google has a policy of not changing the search results for things like this.
Does the search result bother you?
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
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Google Chrome, The Operating System
Posted: July 8th, 2009, 3:20pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Other Google Topics
Rumors of Google building an operating system has been nothing new, but confirmation that they are building an operating system is something new. Google confirmed that a Google OS named Google Chrome OS, is coming in the second half of 2010.
The OS will be first a light weight OS designed for Netbooks, not it is not Android. You can read about it at the Google Blog and all the billions of news items at Techmeme.
One thing I will highlight from the blog post:
Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. ... and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.
As you can imagine, this has people talking about things like Google going after Microsoft directly, Google owning not only our web lives but our desktop lives as well and Google getting into a business they should stay out of. Yes, there are tons of opinions on this news and the best place to discuss them and share your own opinions is in the forums.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.
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Google AdSense Site Authentication Control Bug
Posted: July 8th, 2009, 3:13pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google AdSense
There seems to be a persistent bug with the site authentication tool in the Google AdSense publisher controls.
Some publishers are complaining about errors being returned when trying to use the feature. There is a Google AdSense Help thread that says the issue has been happening for about a week now. Google said it was fixed, but some publishers are still complaining about it not working. One posted the error:
Error
We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are unable to process your request at this time. Our engineers have been notified of this problem and will work to resolve it
Yesterday, AdSensePro Jennifer, an official Google representative, said, "Should be fixed now. Let me know if it's still not working." But a few publishers came in afterwards to inform her that it is not working.
This site authentication feature launched in July 2007, but has been seen since June and early May of 2007.
Forum discussion at Google AdSense Help.