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)
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Emily Chang (347 unread)
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Search Engine Roundtable
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Search Engine Roundtable (5 unread)
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Daily Search Forum Recap: January 8, 2010
Posted: January 8th, 2010, 10:00pm CET by rustybrick
Tags: Search Forum Recap
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How Does Google Get Their Data For Ad Planner?
Posted: January 8th, 2010, 2:23pm CET by rustybrick
Tags: Google AdWords
I think Google Ad Planner is pretty amazing and chock full of information. But to some webmasters, the information they have is either so accurate it is scary or totally off and worthless.
In a WebmasterWorld thread, Google AdSense representative, AdSenseAdvisor, replied to questions about where they source the data, how to opt out and what to do if the data is off. Let me quote what Google said:
To estimate website traffic we use a combination of two approaches: 1.) We extrapolate website traffic from sample data we collect from a variety of sources. For our sample data Google Ad Planner combines information from sources such as aggregated Google search data, opt-in anonymous Google Analytics data, opt-in external consumer panel data, and other third-party market research. The data is aggregated over millions of users and powered by computer algorithms; it doesn't contain personally-identifiable information.
2.) Individual websites can opt-in their Google Analytics data to improve the accuracy of data displayed about their site in Ad Planner.
This methodology is similar to that of other 3rd party online measurement tools, which also use hybrid approaches that blend server side measured numbers with sample/panel based estimates.
Google Analytics Opt-in Data
@Cancellara - Did you opt-in your Analytics data into Ad Planner? We don't use your Analytics data in Ad Planner unless you explicitly choose to share it. So unless you've chosen to opt-in your Google Analytics data to Ad Planner, it's possible that the Ad Planner estimates are different than your Analytics statistics.@Oxydada - When looking at your Analytics reports compared to Ad Planner, are you comparing US to US figures? Ad Planner by default shows US numbers while Analytics shows worldwide figures, so this could be the cause of the discrepancy.
@rashidjaved11 - Please file a ticket with our support teams and we'll try to help diagnose your issue. http://www.google.com/support/adplanner/bin/request.py
@aish1108 - If you've checked everything and you're sure your tags are on all your pages, then you should opt-in your data. The "low tag coverage" message is just a warning to tell people to check their tag coverage. It's possible that our check is making an error since we're basing it on Google crawl data and trying to detect your Analytics tags from the crawl. The data you see in your Analytics reports is what we'll display in Ad Planner
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
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Should You Ever Have More Than 5 Clicks To Get To a Page?
Posted: January 8th, 2010, 2:11pm CET by rustybrick
Tags: Search Engine Optimization
Most search engines find new pages by crawling links from other sites. At the same time, the more links to a page and the quality of the pages linking to a page, drives the quality of the page being linked to. These are all basic SEO principles.
This is why many SEOs place links to their most important internal pages, right off of their home page. Why?
(1) They want them indexed faster and typically one's home page is indexed more often than other pages (not always). So having a link from your most popular page to other pages, help the other pages also get indexed faster.
(2) Also your home page normally has the most amount of links to it, so typically has the higher link equity of all your page (not always), so linking to pages off your home page will funnel some of that high link equity to the pages you are linking to. This may result in a higher ranking for those pages linked to from your home page.
Again, all basic SEO principles.
The myth is having pages based in the root directory of your server results in higher ranking. That is not true, it is all about the click path.
That being said, does it ever make sense to require people to click and click, five or more times to get to an internal page? Since search engines will have to do the same clicking, it might take them longer to find the page and it won't pass the majority of your home page's link popularity.
JohnMu, a Googler, in the Google Webmaster Help forums discussed just that in less than a sentence. He said:
I'd have no problem clicking through 5-6 links to get to highly specific content if I needed it and your site had it.
Google knows that there is a logical site hierarchy. Google knows that there are deeper pages on a site that is important. As an SEO, it is not just about linking to them off your home page, but also about getting external links to those pages. And it is also about utilizing your other internal pages to get the search bots to bite them.
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
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What Time Is It In Bangladesh? Google & Yahoo Disagree With Bing & Ask
Posted: January 8th, 2010, 2:04pm CET by rustybrick
Tags: Other Search Engines
When you ask someone what time is it, you normally don't have to second guess them. But when it comes to asking Google, Yahoo, Bing or Ask.com what time is it, you have to second guess them.
If you search [bangladesh time] at the four search engines, you will have Google and Yahoo telling you one time, while Bing.com and Ask.com telling you a different time. Who do you believe?
Google & Yahoo:
Bing & Ask.com:
So who is right?
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
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Google: Christianity is Absurd & Stupid
Posted: January 8th, 2010, 1:53pm CET by rustybrick
Tags: Google Search Engine
I am using an extreme title here to illustrate a point. We have a searcher come to the Google Webmaster Help forums and complain about the search results for a search on Google for [christianity is]. The results are mostly informational but you have a few results which are negative. I cropped this image to show only some of the negative-like results:
The person said, "I have never been so mad in my life. We have enough problems in the United States without Google slamming Christianity!"
When will people learn that this is not Google slamming Christianity? Well, maybe what set this person off is that Google wouldn't say Merry Christmas on Christmas? But still, these are the Google search results. Brin, Page and Schmidt aren't sitting down and saying, hmm - I hate Christians and I want to place these results there simply to tick them off.
There are just so many cases like this, for all religions. It comes down to education, which is a hard thing to do.
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.