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 (305 unread)
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Emily Chang (334 unread)
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Search Engine Roundtable
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Search Engine Roundtable (7 unread)
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Daily Search Forum Recap: July 8, 2010
Posted: July 8th, 2010, 11:00pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Search Forum Recap
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Google Bug Serves "Redirect Notice" On Queries With Hashes
Posted: July 8th, 2010, 3:48pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google Optimization
Google has confirmed a bug where searchers are forced through a Google redirect page prior to ending up on the ultimate search result. This only happens when you search for something with a hash, for example a search on [c# language].
If you search for that, you are presented with search results, but if you click on the search results, you are prompted by a Google redirect warning. Here is the path:
You can see the warning by clicking here.
I wonder if people who rank well for # related keywords have noticed a major drop off in referrals from Google?
Google confirmed the bug in a Google Web Search Help thread, saying:
Thanks for reporting this issue. I saw the same redirect page when I clicked on the first result for my [h#] search. We're looking into what might be causing this and I'll let you when we get an update.
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
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Google Maps Car Did Not Flip Over As Street Views Suggests
Posted: July 8th, 2010, 3:39pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Other Google Topics
Yesterday afternoon, I was using street views to research some locations around my office and I spotted something weird. I was driving up Route 202 and it then appeared that the Street Views camera on top of the Google Maps Car started falling off the car.
I quickly made a video of it happening and posted at Search Engine Land. Here is the video:
Here is a before and after picture:
Google sent us a statement later on that the camera did not strike the floor. Instead it either titled downwards or a screw or something got loose. But it did not hit the floor, nor did the car flip over (not that I thought the car flipped over). Here is Google's statement:
Our Street View cameras are built on a mast that is able to be raised/lowered/angled by our car drivers — for things like going under bridges/overpasses, to more easily do camera tweaking, or when storing overnight. So it looks like in this case, the mast may have tilted or come a bit loose – the camera did not actually “fall off”, and nobody was injured! (In fact, every few months a story will circulate about us “hitting an overpass” because the images show the camera suddenly at strange angles under a bridge, but it’s actually because the driver did his duty and lowered/tilted it, but may not have shut off the camera from still photographing).
Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.
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Google Fixed The AdSense Logout Bug?
Posted: July 8th, 2010, 3:32pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google AdSense
We have been covering the random issue with the AdSense login/logout issues for several months now. It appears some are now saying the issue is resolved.
A WebmasterWorld thread has several AdSense publishers claiming the logout bug is resolved. They said they no longer get automatically logged out after 10 minutes or so.
Yep, either they've fixed it at last or the autologout kicks in after a longer time - for me it seemed like every 5 minutes, not 30. Let's hope it's the former, that was annoying indeed!
Yeah, I've noticed it too. It used to toss you out after about 10-15 minutes. Now, it tosses you out after an hour or two. Not fixed, but much better.
Two hours of inactivity and logging you out, in my opinion is fine. Personally, I never really had this issue but many many publishers have.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
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Really Excellent Link Building Interviews
Posted: July 8th, 2010, 3:23pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Link Building
Rae at Outspoken Media compiled one of the best sets of link building interviews I have seen, possibly, ever. She had ten or so link building experts submit one question each and then answer all the submitted questions. The other twist was that no one was able to see each other's answers until it was published, which was now.
I won't share the long and excellent answers now, but I will share the questions. Read the full interview (or print it and read it later) at Outspoken Media.
The questions:
(1) What are a few emerging link tactics that you've seen in the past 12 months providing tremendous value to sites/pages? Can you give a specific example or two?
(2) The SEO industry has become so stingy with linking to quality content to the point that many people who used to share a lot of it simply don't bother, as it is not worth the cost of doing so. Is this a trend which spreads? Are we canaries in the coal mine, or is this just an issue impacting the SEO niche because it is far too saturated? What can Google do to encourage organic linking on the WWW (outside of nepotism, hype, spin, misinformation & ego-baiting)?
(3) What are the criteria for the "perfect link"?
(4) How do you go about creating a link marketing plan that will A:) Get tangible search results in a 6 to 12 month period and B:) Create sustainability for the website you are creating the plan for (i.e. keeping the links clean and adding links with long term value)
(5) If you could choose a link on a lower authority page that would provide a moderate amount of targeted traffic or a link on a higher authority page that would provide absolutely no traffic – all other attributes being equal – for ranking benefits on the site you’re developing links for, which would you choose and why?
(6) Do you feel that you can conserve pagerank or that it's still worth the effort to sculpt your links, by limiting the number of links on a page, creating them with JavaScript, passing them through a blocked page or using nofollow?
(7) Please discuss what link deprecation is and what impact it may have on a link building campaign.
(8) Do you think search engines are trying to find a way to depend less on link popularity and more on other algorithmic/social media factors?
(9) How much do you stress internal linking on your own or clients' sites? Do you have a quick rule of thumb or strategy to maximize the effectiveness of internal links?
(10) What's a successful link development strategy many overlook or dismiss?
(11) What have you been most WRONG about over the course of your link building/SEO career?
There are some additional questions, plus all the great answers, so check it out.
Forum discussion at Sphinn.
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European Union May Go After Google, Some Webmasters Rejoice
Posted: July 8th, 2010, 3:15pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Google News Press
A month ago we reported that France May Fine Google Over Suspending AdWords Advertiser and most recently, Google acquired ITA an online travel booking engine.
As I explained in both posts, Webmasters fear that Google continues to get into their business. With the French case, it was a pricing search engine and the company claims Google demoted their site because it competes with Google Product Search. With ITA, travel search engines are fearing Google will do the same.
Of course, Google says they do not manually demote sites and would not demote a site if it competed with a service they offered.
Via the AP:
The European Union's antitrust chief said Wednesday he is looking "very carefully" at allegations that Google Inc. unfairly demotes rivals' sites in search results.
Google says its search results are entirely controlled by algorithms that demote sites with little useful content for users.
It is a bit funny. So many webmasters rely on Google for their online businesses to succeed. At the same time, they are in constant fear of Google getting into their business and taking away the sales they initially gave them. Just a very weird and sensitive area - a line Google has been balancing and arguably crossing over the years.
So the EU will be taking a "very close look" at Google's recent practices and hopefully protecting the webmasters and business owners, if applicable.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
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Video Game Day Logo : Our Best Yet
Posted: July 8th, 2010, 2:14pm CEST by rustybrick
Tags: Blog Administration
I normally do not do showcase our themes when the search engines do not have special logos or themes. But today is Video Game Day and we have a theme for you. Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com have no special logo for the day. But we have one of, if not, our best theme ever.
Those of you reading this via RSS or email, make sure to visit the Search Engine Roundtable for the full effect. But here is a small snap shot of our theme.
Anyone know what video game this is? Should be easy...
Forum discussion at Search Engine Roundtable Forums.