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.
Feeds
5540 items (5015 unread) in 3 feeds
Google
(325 unread)
-
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog (325 unread)
SEO
(4690 unread)
-
Emily Chang (347 unread)
-
Search Engine Roundtable
(4343 unread)
Search Engine Roundtable (6 unread)
-
Daily Search Forum Recap: June 7, 2010
Posted: June 7th, 2010, 11:00pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Search Forum Recap
-
404-Like Content In Google Webmaster Tools: Soft 404s
Posted: June 7th, 2010, 8:20pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Optimization
Google is now showing soft-404 pages in the page not found error report in Google Webmaster Tools. Google just confirmed this on the Google Webmaster Central blog, and it was first noted in a WebmasterWorld thread early this morning.
I personally tried to verify this, but did not see them in my reports. But Google did post a screen shot:
A soft 404 is a page not found page that returns a 200 status code, instead of a 404 status code. Often, webmasters create custom 404 pages, but neglect to show a 404 header status code. This can cause issues for search engines and users.
So this report is to help webmasters discover this error and fix it.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
-
Google Suggest Now With Spelling Corrections
Posted: June 7th, 2010, 3:34pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Search Engine
Last week, I received some tips of Google offering spelling suggestions in Google Suggest. Google Suggest is basically the suggestions given to you as you type your search query in the Google Search box. At first, I honestly didn't know if it was new. So I emailed Google and never received a response, which is unlike Google.
But Google did blog about it over the weekend and I now know it is indeed new.
Here is a picture:
Forum discussion at Google Blogoscoped Forums.
-
Bing Drops Cashback Proving You Can't Buy Search Market Share
Posted: June 7th, 2010, 3:24pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Microsoft MSN Search
On Friday, Microsoft announced they are dropping the cashback program. Microsoft Cashback enticed searchers to try Bing over other search engines by giving them cash back after buying through a search ad.
I did the walk through on how cashback works a while back. I personally used it every now on then on big purchases, it was a great way to not just get a great deal, but to get money back on great deals.
Unfortunately for me, Microsoft said it didn't work and didn't bring in enough market share to keep it around. Cashback will be gone on July 30th at 9:00 pm PST. Microsoft said, "but after a couple of years of trying, we did not see the broad adoption that we had hoped for."
I always wondered how costly this program was, but I guess it was a marketing expense.
Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.
-
Yahoo Publishers Receive Their Final Payments
Posted: June 7th, 2010, 3:15pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Yahoo Publisher Network
Friday, I received my last check from Yahoo for my Yahoo Publisher Network earnings. Yahoo announced they would shut it down and shut it down they did.
This weekend, everyone should have received their final payments or checks. I got mine on Friday and so did most other publishers.
It is sad, it launched only 4 years and 10 months ago and early on, it earned publishers a nice amount of money. But over the years, it started to die a slow death.
The funny part is that some are reporting in WebmasterWorld that they received checks for $0.00, yea, they received a check worth nothing. How crazy is that?!
This is actually the perfect way for Yahoo to kill YPN. Kill it by sending publishers a blank piece of paper.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
-
People Seriously Want a D-Day Google from Google?
Posted: June 7th, 2010, 3:03pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Search Engine
Yesterday was the 66th anniversary of D-Day, the landing at Normandy. There were about 10,000 casualties that day on the allied side, 3,000 or so which were fatal. But yet people want a Google Doodle, logo, for the day.
There were a few posts from upset people in the Google Web Search Help forums with complaints. But the truth is, Google said they try not to do Doodles for events that are not light hearted. Google said, "we try to be sensitive that a doodle is not the most appropriate way to recognize certain events, especially those that are more somber in nature."
Last year, people were upset that Google posted a Tetris logo on D-Day. I get that, maybe not show any logo on a day like that no matter what. Last year, Bing even had a theme for D-Day but this year, they opted not to.
But now that you can customize your Google home page, you can make your own D-Day theme, if you really want to. I grabbed a free image from Wikipedia and made this:
Personally, it doesn't seem right to me but that is me.
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.