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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Search Engine Roundtable
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Search Engine Roundtable (8 unread)
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Daily Search Forum Recap: May 5, 2010
Posted: May 5th, 2010, 11:00pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Search Forum Recap
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Google Disses Cinco de Mayo, Yahoo, Bing & Others Don't
Posted: May 5th, 2010, 8:25pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Search Engine Industry News
Today is Cinco de Mayo but you wouldn't know that by visting Google.com. You would however know it if you went to Yahoo, Bing or DogPile today.
Here are the logos from Yahoo, Bing and Dogpile:
Here is the Festival patios cordobeses logo from Google Spain, obviously not related to Cinco de Mayo:
Of course, there are complaints there is no Cinco de Mayo doodle from Google at Google Web Search Help.
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Google Drops Search Suggestions For "X Are..."
Posted: May 5th, 2010, 4:02pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Search Engine
Sometime recently, Google seemed to have dropped all search suggestions for a keyword plus the word are.
A Google Web Search Help thread reported that the words [jews are] no longer brings up any search suggestions as you type. So the searcher asked, "Are certain suggestions removed?" So I tried a bunch I knew did bring up things in the past, such as Chinese are..., Blacks are...., Muslims are... and nothing came up.
It does seem like Google decided to drop the X are type of search suggestions, which may be a smart move.
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
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Proof Ask.com Is Dead
Posted: May 5th, 2010, 3:53pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Ask.com
Want some solid evidence that Ask.com is dead and webmasters don't care about it? Just check the date of the last post in the WebmasterWorld Ask Forum and you will see, the last post was just over six-months ago. Yes, it has been half a year since a webmaster asked a question or pointed out a change with Ask.com. Why? Because webmasters don't care about a search engine that is not a search engine and sends them little to no traffic.
I have been giving Yahoo a hard time but Ask.com also deserves a new anti-Ask.com post from me. I am sure the PR people will reach out to me to try to schedule a meeting that will never happen but hey - that is the PR game. I look at webmasters for them to tell me what they find important. To not have a post at WebmasterWorld for over 6 months, well - that is just embarrassing. In Jim Lanzone's days, you would never have seen that, never!
Here is some history on why I am so fed up with Ask.com. I think Ask.com is not about search, their technology is falling apart and they try to monetize everything as best as they can. They tried to drive more life into Ask in the UK by bringing back Jeeves, soon later Jim Safka left for personal reason (but joined a new company shortly after). Yes, and they recently killed Ask Japan. I believe since Diller ripped the soul from Ask.com, Ask.com would ultimately be a failure. And looking back, I am sad to say, my prediction (as well as others) seems to be dead on. Diller should just give it back to Rutgers already.
Forum discussion, sadly - none.
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Old Google News Sitemaps Format Discontinued
Posted: May 5th, 2010, 3:47pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Optimization
This has been coming for a while now and as of yesterday, the old format for Google News Sitemaps files has changed. An updated Google News Help thread from Googler Inbal said the last day for the old format was yesterday, May 4th. Today, the old format will no longer work, so I do hope you publishers updated your sitemaps to be news specific.
If you have not done so already, it is not too late. You can create your news specific sitemap and submit it to Google Webmaster Tools. For more details on the format, see the News Sitemaps help section and for also check out the FAQs.
This was a six-months transition period and if this is the first you are hearing of it, I am sorry. We blogged it here a couple times and I know the Google News blog also mentioned it at least once.
Forum discussion at Google News Help.
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Google Places Statistics Off, Google To Investigate
Posted: May 5th, 2010, 3:39pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Other Google Topics
Reportedly, since Google Places replaced the Google Local Business Center, the statistics within Google Places have been off. A Google Places Help thread has reports from local businesses that the stats are off.
Joel H. from Google did confirm an issue, he said:
The disparity between impressions and actions is being looked at by our team.
So clearly something is not right. One business owner said, "They used to say i got 150 clicks/month on one listing and now it says 0."
Do you see issues in your stats?
Forum discussion at Google Places Help.
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Don't Ask Googlers For Help & Lie To Them
Posted: May 5th, 2010, 3:27pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Optimization
There is a nice number of Googlers paid to help webmasters in the Google Webmaster Help Forums. In one Google Webmaster Help thread, a webmaster noticed his site dropped in the search results and came to the help area to ask a Googler for help. The issue is, he lied - and it was a bad lie.
He ended his post saying, "I know nothing about these SEO thing." But then Googler, JohnMu, looked at his web site and on the site it said that his company is a "professional SEO company." John said it well, so let me quote him:
I'm a bit worried. On the one hand, you mention that you "know nothing about these SEO thing" - on the other hand your site mentions on http://www.hindustanexperts.com/SEO.aspx that you're a "professional SEO company."
That being the case, John has looked past the little lie and asked him to elaborate on his issue so he can help him out. Isn't it nice that even after being lied to, John wants to help him out?
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
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AdWords Product Managers To Post In Google AdWords Forums
Posted: May 5th, 2010, 3:21pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: SEO Forum News
AdWordsPro Sarah, an official Google AdWords representative announced in the Google AdWords Help forums that Google AdWords Product Managers, also known as PMs, will be posting in the forums soon.
Sarah said:
In order to better understand top advertiser issues, AdWords Product Managers (PMs) will be posting on the forum for the next few months. Product Managers work closely with our engineering team to organize and launch new features, tools, upgrades etc. so it will be exciting to have them around!
All of the PMs will be posting as AdWordsPM(name), so if you see them around, please give them a warm welcome.
This should be interesting and I will do my best to track them down and follow every single word they write in the forums. It is what we do here and the PMs know it, which is why AdWordsPro said later in that thread that we should give the PMs some space and let them get accustomed to posting. AdWordsPro explained why:
Truth is, I recall the first 25 or so posts as being pretty nerve-wracking - and I kept checking and re-checking every nuance of what I'd written, before I would finally post it. Then I'd go to the live post and read it and re-read it about a half dozen times - often finding typos...
Forum discussion at Google AdWords Help.