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227 items tagged "Other"

Chuck Norris Turns 70 Today, No Google Doodle?

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 3:14pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google and Chuck Norris have a long history. If you go to Google.com and search for [find chuck norris] and hit, "I'm feeling lucky" button you will be taken to this result that reads:

Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.

So it is surprising to see that on the 70th birthday of Chuck Norris, Google doesn't have a special Google Doodle up. Chuck Norris was born on March 10, 1940 and 70 years later, I would have thought he would deserve a special Google logo.

I am not the only one who feels he deserves a logo. There is a large Google Web Search Help thread with complaints from Chuck Norris fans. In all honesty, I find this all very humorous.

Happy 70th Chuck!

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Googlers Testing TV Search Android Enabled Devices With Dish Network

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 2:40pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Android powered TV search boxes are being tested by Googlers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Google Inc. is testing a new television-programming search service with Dish Network Corp., according to people familiar with the matter, the latest development in a fast-moving race to combine Internet content with conventional TV.
The service, which runs on TV set-top boxes containing Google software, allows users to find shows on the satellite-TV service as well as video from Web sites like Google's YouTube, according to these people. It also lets users to personalize a lineup of shows, these people said.

Greg Sterling at Search Engine Land has some analysis around the news. A WebmasterWorld thread has some feedback from webmasters.

Might be fun if "on demand" but not all that fun if just a list of "what's on". Meanwhile several tv schedule sites give me the same thing.

I predict the TV will be just another web-providing device, and people will watch as much web-content as cable-content. Point in hand, the RSS agregator built in the latest TiVo. Basically, you can make your custom RSS-fed TV channel with that.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google Maps Adds Bike Directions & Route Layers

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 2:35pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A long time requested feature, bike directions, have been added to Google Maps. Both the Google Blog and Google Lat Long Blog have details about the addition.

First, here is a video demo:

Dark green indicates a trail;
Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
Dotted green indicates roads without bike lanes but are more appropriate for biking, based on factors such as terrain, traffic, and intersections.

To try it out, go to [maps.google.com] and to submit more biking routes or report issues, go here.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Public Data Explorer, Private Data Soon?

Posted: March 9th, 2010, 1:52pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google announced a new feature named Google Public Data Explorer. What it does is allow you to mash up data from the public sectors into neat charts and graphs.

Google explains:

With the Data Explorer, you can mash up data using line graphs, bar graphs, maps and bubble charts. The visualizations are dynamic, so you can watch them move over time, change topics, highlight different entries and change the scale. Once you have a chart ready, you can easily share it with friends or even embed it on your own website or blog.

A WebmasterWorld thread mocks the announcement, where one member said:

Next up, Google unveils "Private Data Recorder" which makes large datasets of private information easy to explore, visualize and communicate.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt: "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." ... "But if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines, including Google, do retain this information for some time. And [...] we're all subject, in the US, to the Patriot Act, and it is possible that that information could be made available to the authorities."

Kind of funny - but heck, this isn't too far off, we have Google sourcing traffic data from your mobile device for use on Google Maps traffic layer.

In any event, this is neat stuff.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google Maps Avoid Tolls Feature May Cost You

Posted: March 5th, 2010, 12:48pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There are some reports at the Google Maps Help forum that the "avoid tolls" feature for Google Maps driving directions does not always work right.

The issue spans as far as Australia and as close as Pennsylvania.

Brian B., a Googler, from the Google Maps help forum said:

Just wanted to give an update here that there are folks looking into this "avoid tolls" issue, and I'll post an update here when there's a resolution.

I am not sure when or if it has been fixed, but at least Google is aware of it.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

How Does One Remove Info From Google's Chile Earthquake Person Finder

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 10:37am CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A few days ago, there was a tremendous tragedy in Chile, a massive earthquake. Google put together a tool to help family and friends locate missing people due to this earthquake. The tool is located at [chilepersonfinder.appspot.com].

At this tool, you can either submit a case of a missing person or search for a case of a missing person. There are currently about 35,700 records, or missing people in the database, some accounted for and some not.

Two people asked how they can remove a person they added to the list, after that person has been found? The thread of these questions are at a Google Webmaster Help thread. The people ask:

I would also like to know how to delete my personal information now that my person has been found, even if the profile remains up.

John from Google said you can update the status in the application under "Status of this person" and set it to perhaps "I have received information that this person is alive" and provide the information that you have. But that is not exactly what these people want to do, they want to delete their personal information, as the person who submitted the information.

John said:

I'll check with the team to see what can be done in a situation like that.

So far, there is not update on how to do that.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Google 302 Redirects Secure iGoogle To Unsecure iGoogle

Posted: February 26th, 2010, 9:29am CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you visit https://www.google.com/ig, it will redirect you to [www.google.com], without the https for secure. Yes, Google is making sure no one can access the secure version of iGoogle.

Here is a server header check from SEO Consultants:

#1 Server Response: https://www.google.com/ig
HTTP Status Code: HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: http://www.google.com/ig
Cache-Control: private
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:29:08 GMT
Server: igfe
Content-Length: 221
X-XSS-Protection: 0
Redirect Target: http://www.google.com/ig

There are several complaints about not being able to access the secure version of iGoogle at the Google Web Search Help forums. Paul from Google explained why this is the case. In short, the gadgets on the secure iGoogle were not always secure, which led to confusion. Here is the detailed explanation:

As you noticed, we've recently started redirecting any users who attempt to visit an iGoogle page using "https" to an "http" page. The "https" on the iGoogle page that some users visited may have caused these users to believe that any activity performed on their page was protected by https, when in fact only gadgets that are built to support https provide the corresponding encryption protection to users. We made this change to clarify that only activity using gadgets that support https is transmitted over a secured https connection on iGoogle.
For example if you're using Google's official iGoogle gadget for our free email service, Gmail, you can continue to use it with https protection unless you have turned off the default setting on your Gmail settings page.

Valid excuse, but what would be nice (I know it is more work) would be to give gadget developers a way to create https enabled apps. If they are enabled, they work on the secure iGoogle, if not, Google explains why they are not working on the secure iGoogle.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Xerox Wants To Copy Some of Google's Money

Posted: February 24th, 2010, 12:09pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

I covered the news that Xerox is suing Google & Yahoo over an alleged patent infringement. In short, Xerox has two patents they feel Google and Yahoo is using, in some form, and they want money.

Xerox is known for their copy machines, by the way and that business, as I understand it, is not doing too well. For more about the law suit, see my article linked to above.

Here are comments from WebmasterWorld on the lawsuit:

There are two sides to every side of the story.

Wreaks of Xerox trying to do a cash grab.

xerox ... isn't that a printer company?! ;-)

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Note: I just landed in Jerusalem, after an 11 hour flight. I am typing as fast as I can, so please excuse typos, grammar and any non-sense.

YouTube Update: Bulk Uploader Discontinued & Misc Bugs

Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 2:11pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There are several new things going on with YouTube and since I am a big time YouTube director (kidding), they interest me.

(1) The YouTube Bulk Uploader tool will be taken down shortly. Liz from the YouTube team explained that Google is improving their normal updated to support Google Gears. She said:

In order to consolidate engineering efforts, the team has decided to retire the bulk-uploader and concentrate on improving the regular uploader moving forward. Please note that the regular uploader also lets you upload up to 10 files at the same time.
We suggest that you use the following link to upload your video files:
http://upload.youtube.com/my_videos_upload?restrict=gears

Make sure that you have Google Gears installed - you can get Google Gears by visiting: gears.google.com

(2) AudioSwap feature is causing a black screen in the videos. This is a known issue that should be resolved now, if not, let them know.

(3) Some YouTubers that are trying to upload are not succeeding. There is another known issues thread that is discussing just that. Liz said:

Some of you may have experienced recent upload processing delays, and then the file you're trying to upload eventually fails. This is a known issue and our engineering team have been working on resolving the situation. For those of you who were impacted and the video failed to upload to the site, we recommend re-uploading your file.

The team is working on a fix so that the files will not fail in the future and you should also receive clearer messaging explaining what occurred.

(4) If your account was hijacked or compromised in some way, Liz announced there is a new way to report the issue. A new document details the steps on how to contact Google/YouTube about hijacked accounts. Liz said:

The information you provide in the form will go directly to the Team here and we will investigate the matter. Once we've looked into the case, you will receive an email update letting you know your options and whether we were able to help you retrieve the account.

There you have it, four quick YouTube bytes for you.

DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) To Replace Google Ad Manager

Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 2:03pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google announced a new product named DoubleClick for Publishers. In short, this is ultimately going to replace Google Ad Manager, a product we use here to manage and deliver our ads.

More tools is nice - but we will see when I get migrated over to it, how smooth that is and how much I, the publisher, benefits from it.

This is from the announcement:

DFP comes in two flavors, tailored for different publishers' needs: DoubleClick for Publishers, for the largest online publishers, and DFP Small Business, a simple, free version designed for growing online publishers. We'll be upgrading current DART for Publishers publishers to DoubleClick for Publishers over the next year as we continue to add features and modules, and we'll be moving Google Ad Manager customers to DFP Small Business in the coming weeks.
To reflect our continued investment in DoubleClick's products, as well as the central role of DoubleClick's technology products within Google's display advertising business, we're also today unveiling some changes to the DoubleClick logos — including typeset changes, incorporating a new "by Google" theme and retiring the "DART" brand.

A WebmasterWorld thread has some comments from publishers:

Yet another way to track what you do when you do it and ... .dare I say it who you do it with....

They cater to the advertiser, ignoring the User's privacy. Period. Due to the fact they own Doubleclick. Try watching major TV stations over the NET without coooooooockie/URI of Doubleclick.NET blocked...

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Are You "Google Pagerank Certification"? I Hope Not

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 2:33pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A WebmasterWorld thread reports that one person spotted a product that is being sold under the claim that it is "Powered by Google PageRank Certification" of "PR=6." You say what? Yes, a product is claiming it has PageRank certification from Google with a PR of 6.

The product is on a site called ExamSoon.com and here is a screen capture:

How funny for those who know this is a joke or just there to fool some one. But to those unaware - there is no such thing as Google PageRank certification.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Google Open Sources "Living Stories" Concept

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 2:18pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google is open sourcing the Living Stories news article concept at Google Code. What is a living story? Well, instead of writing an article for each new event that happens on a certain topic, you update an existing story with the latest information. If you think about it, there are tons of articles out there on the web, that are stale, outdated and often useless. Having a single, constantly updated story, makes more sense, at least for web consumption - according to Google.

Google ran this experiment with some papers and decided to make it available to all. First, here is a video explaining it:

They are even incorporating it more in the new Google News design.

Fred from Google wrote in the Google News Help thread about it. He said:

The Living Stories project was originally the result of a one-time collaboration between Google, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Our goal was to innovate on existing presentations of journalism that take greater advantage of technological capabilities on the Web.
The general response was excellent. Since we launched this proof-of-concept test on Google Labs in December, 75% of people who filled out our feedback form said they preferred the Living Stories format to the traditional online news article. Users also spent a significant amount of time exploring stories. That tells us that there's a strong appetite for great journalism displayed in a compelling way.

In addition to the positive input from users, we've also heard from publishers interested in telling their own stories through the format. That's why we released Living Stories to the public to see what you can do with it. In February 2010, we open-sourced the code so all developers can build their own Living Story pages. (You can also use this Help Forum to ask and answer general support questions.) In coming months we're going to look into creating software tools that make Living Stories even easier to use for news organizations. Until then, we can't wait to see what fascinating works of journalism developers, reporters and editors, working together, create using the open-sourced Living Stories code.

You can get the Living Stories code here:
http://code.google.com/p/living-stories/

Forum discussion at Google News Help.

YouTube Warning IE6 Users To Upgrade Browsers

Posted: February 18th, 2010, 2:09pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

We knew Google was dropping support for IE6 and other older browsers, starting in March for some of their software. But what I did not know was that this would impact YouTube.

A YouTube Help thread reports that some users are receiving warnings that their browsers will no longer be supported by March 13th.

The YouTube help document linked to explains which browsers will be impacted. Yes, Internet Explorer version 6, IE6, will be on the chopping block. Google's YouTube says the following browsers will no longer be supported:

Any browser older than Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0
Any browser older than Mozilla Firefox 3.0
Any browser older than Google Chrome 4.0
Any browser older than Safari 3.0+

Ready or not, IE6 is dying - so just upgrade already to a new browser. Of course, Google would like you to use Google Chrome, but there are plenty of alternatives.

Forum discussion at YouTube Help.

Google, The Internet Service Provider

Posted: February 11th, 2010, 2:27pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google announced they are going to try to become an ISP, a fast ISP, with gigabit fiber routing directly to your home. Greg Sterling has a lot of history on how and why this is happening.

I was asked why this is happening by some real reporters and I will link to their story later, when it goes live. In short, it is about getting more people to click on more Google ads.

We have threads on the topic at WebmasterWorld and Google Web Search Help. Probably my favorite comment is the first one at WebmasterWorld:

What's next with Google? Change your muffler?

Outside of that, there are some serious concerns about this project. Concerns on the business side, infrastructure side, privacy side and webmaster side. If I had more time, I'd write up a five page document on those concerns, but most of you are bright and can read my mind by now.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld and Google Web Search Help.

Update: Here is that USA Today piece with some quotes from me.

Google Buzz...

Posted: February 10th, 2010, 3:16pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

So Google launched Google Buzz yesterday at buzz.google.com. It is being rolled out now, I am some limited access now, but it is fun to play with. I will not write about what it does, there is exhaustive coverage about Buzz already, read it at Techmeme.

I did start a buzz topic which has a number of comments already, so check that out. Also, my buzz conversations should be linked up on my Google Profile - and you may be able to follow me there as well. So go do it.

Here is a short video explaining Google Buzz:

One thing that they said at least twice in yesterday's press conference about this service is that Google Buzz content will be "indexed immediately," in real time and available in Google web search results.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums, Google Mobile Help & Google Webmaster Help.

Google Maps Accidentally Removes Send to Garmin GPS Feature

Posted: February 4th, 2010, 2:55pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Maps Help thread reports that Google accidentally removed the send feature to Garmin GPS. Here is an old video that shows how that worked:

The bug was first reported on January 31st and a Googler replied a day or so ago, saying:

I wanted to let you all know that the Maps team is aware of this issue and is working to fix the feature soon. I know this is an important feature for several users and I can assure you that it's not our intention to remove it from Google Maps.
I'll post an udpate here when I hear more news!

It is still not fixed, as far as I can tell. In any event, Google will likely be adding it back soon.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

YouTube Video Uploading Delay

Posted: February 4th, 2010, 2:48pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Yesterday, there were several reports on You Tube Help forums that uploading videos to YouTube would have a delay.

Liz from YouTube support posted a notification about the issue. She said:

We're seeing many of you reporting that you're having trouble with uploads- your uploads are not processing completely and are getting stuck before going to live.
Our team is aware of the issue and has a fix in the works. Uploads should return to normal soon.

In the meantime, please be aware that trying to re-upload your video will not resolve the situation. Your original upload will go through and complete processing, its just somewhat delayed and will take longer than usual to go live (as you've noticed).

We appreciate your understanding, and as always, thank you all for your reports alerting us of this situation.

So, upload the video as you would, but don't worry, the videos will be published eventually. There is no need to reupload your videos.

Forum discussion at You Tube Help.

Blue Pale Stars on Google News Confuses Users?

Posted: February 2nd, 2010, 3:02pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Yesterday, Google announced a new feature for Google News. The feature lets users "star" news items. You can "star" news clusters by clicking on the blue pale stars.

Here is a picture:

What does starring news items do?

(1) It lets Google know that you're interested in that subject.

(2) When there are significant updates, Google will alert you by putting the headline in bold so you can get more information.

(3) You can also follow your 20 most recent starred stories in the "Starred" section of Google News.

It also confuses some people. A Google News Help thread had one person ask:

Why are there pale blue stars in front of main stories?
Nothing is wrong: I'm just puzzled.

Forum discussion at Google News Help.

Google Drops Aboriginal Flag from Doodle Winner Due To Copyright

Posted: January 28th, 2010, 3:18pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google ran a Doodle4Google competition in Australia and Jessie won with this Doodle:

When they posted the Doodle on the Google.com.au web site, it was missing the Aboriginal Flag. Here is a picture:

I mentioned this in passing in Google's Kuwait Doodle mistake. But now, Google came to the Google Web Search Help forums explaining the issue. Jaime from Google said:

Thanks for voicing your concern here in the forum. Just to make sure everyone is aware of what took place I wanted to explain here that due to the Aboriginal Flag having copyright, we requested permission from the Aboriginal Copyright owners to display the original doodle with the flag on the Google homepage. They declined the permission and as such, in consultation with Jessie, we had to gently alter the doodle so we could proudly display her wonderful artwork - of which we are very proud.

It is a shame Google was unable to get rights to show the flag there. But Jessie seemed like a good sport!

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Google A Month Early On Kuwait's National Day

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 2:37pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google had a Doodle slip up this morning, as first reported by Michel. Google posted the National Day logo on Google Kuwait this morning. It was live for over five hours before anyone reported it. The issue is, it was posted a month prior to the official National Day of Kuwait, which takes place February 26th.

Here is the logo:

Google took down the logo about 15 minutes after TechCrunch posted the story.

There were a couple Google Web Search Help threads complaining about Google posting this logo on the wrong day.

Speaking of Google logos, there are some complaints about the Google Australia doodle at Google Web Search Help as well.

In any event, can anyone speculate what Google Kuwait's National Day logo will be this year? :)

Forum discussion Google Web Search Help.

Google Maps Can't Handle Two Plus Businesses With Same Phone Number

Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 2:32pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Remember, a few months ago, I wrote how some Google Maps reviews were being posted on competitors Google Local Business listings? In summary, a Doctor was complaining that his competitors were obtaining his reviews, even though his business has a different name.

What I did not see then was that his competitor(s) have the same phone number as he does. Yes, there are many doctors share an office and the office staff with their competitors to cut costs. I honestly see this all the time in New York, where I live. You call a Doctors office and the same person who answers the phone for your doctor, would answer the phone for another doctor.

So these doctors are at the same location, offer the same medical expertise, compete with each other and even share a phone number. I honestly did not know the doctors don't have their own numbers. But I guess in some cases (possibly many cases) this is the fact, competing doctors share a phone number.

Because of this issue, Google is placing the reviews from one doctor to an other. Google's Joel explained:

It's a difficult problem to solve. I'm not saying we're doing the right thing in every case, but I am trying to give you guidance on how to satisfactorily resolve the issue on your end. If this is a distinct competitor, it seems to make sense to have a separate phone line. Even if the front office is shared.

In response to that, the doctor replied:

I appreciate your help up to this point, but I hardly think suggesting your paying advertisers change their business practices to accommodate your company's inability to fix a problem is appropriate. I hope this is not a signal that Google is changing into just another corporate giant, stepping on the heads of small businesses.
Sorry to be harsh, but these reviews were entered under my name in your system and then changed to a different name. I find it hard to believe that this is unfixable.

From a technology point of view, I see the issue but from a users point of view, this is serious.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Continues The Cash Drive: Revenue Up, Profits Up, Everything up (GOOG)

Posted: January 22nd, 2010, 2:03pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Last night, Google announced their 4th quarter earnings. Guess what? They beat expectations and overall, everything was up. Greg Sterling posted the key highlights and nice graphs:

Revenues – Google reported revenues of $6.67 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009, representing a 17% increase over fourth quarter 2008 revenues of $5.70 billion.
Google Sites Revenues – Google-owned sites generated revenues of $4.42 billion, or 66% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2009. This represents a 16% increase over fourth quarter 2008 revenues of $3.81 billion.
Google Network Revenues – Google’s partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $2.04 billion, or 31% of total revenues, in the fourth quarter of 2009. This represents a 21% increase from fourth quarter 2008 network revenues of $1.69 billion.
International Revenues – Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $3.52 billion, representing 53% of total revenues in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to 53% in the third quarter of 2009 and 50% in the fourth quarter of 2008... Revenues from the United Kingdom totaled $772 million, representing 12% of revenues in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to 12% in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Paid Clicks – Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 13% over the fourth quarter of 2008 and increased approximately 9% over the third quarter of 2009.

You can watch the investors call on YouTube.

Here are some comments from members of WebmasterWorld on this financial news:

Hah, mere pocket change.

That's about 300-400 million net profit off Adsense. Not bad for a program that serves ads.

There is more analysis of the announcement in the thread.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

iGoogle Porn: Still An Issue?

Posted: January 19th, 2010, 2:19pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Back in May 2009, we first reported of issues with pornography on iGoogle. Ever since then, there have been issues that popped up here and there. That is the overall issue with having user generated content (i.e. user generated gadgets).

The latest batch is in the form of "live cams" and the issue was submitted to Google Web Search Help forums recently, in an older thread. This batch comes up for a search on to do list in the iGoogle Directory. They were also submitted by the same user, Mandy. Here are some safe pictures:

There are several more and they all seem to be in the form of cams. I have a good blocking system here for this type of stuff, so the videos won't render on my computer. Here is a safe picture, what I find funny is that it is being monetized by Google ads.

In any event, Google was notified about this issue. Paul from Google said:

Thanks for letting us know -- we're investigating this now. I really appreciate your taking the time to bring these to our attention.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Google Maps Street Views Embed Broken For Some

Posted: January 18th, 2010, 2:53pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Maps Help thread has reports of some map developers having issues embedding the street view versions of Google Maps on their web site.

The issue was first reported 9 days ago by a guy who runs StreetViewing.com. The old embeds are no longer working for him, so now he has to go in and replace all of those with the new code. That can take a lot of time.

Brian from the Google Maps team actually confirmed the issue on Friday and said he notified the team. Brain B from Google said:

Just wanted to hop in here and assure everyone that the team is looking into this issue. When I have information to share, I'll post it here.

Thanks for all of the detailed reports.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Add Real Time Content to Your Google Maps Listing

Posted: January 18th, 2010, 2:32pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

The Google Lat Long Blog announced businesses can now add real time information to their business listings. How does it work? It is honestly a bit tricky.

You would think you would "Edit" your business listing in Google Local Business Center. But no, instead you click on the "View report" link under the statistics section of that page. Then you are presented with a box to add a quick real-time message to your business listing (Places Page) on Google Maps.

On the top right of the statistics page is this box where owners can add information:

Here is me adding some info that may expire soon:

And here is that information showing up on my business listing in minutes:

Clearly, if you have a very active Google Maps listing, this can come in handy.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Google China's Office Becomes a Shrine

Posted: January 14th, 2010, 2:04pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you happen to visit Google China, you may notice that there are people who are placing flowers and candles by their Google sign outside the building. There are actually a ton of pictures of this being done inside and outside of the Google China office on Flickr.

Here is one picture taken from DigitalPoint Forums.

This is clearly the reaction by some Chinese searchers on Google's decision to back out of China if China continues to censor them.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Google SafeSearch May Block Graphic Dental & Surgery Images

Posted: January 12th, 2010, 2:32pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Webmaster Help thread has the owner of NYCDentist.com (great domain by the way) complaining his images are being blocked by Google's SafeSearch filter.

He said:

I personally write and publish NYCdentist.com, which offers over 2,500 pages of free content in academic dentistry. The content shows dental procedures including surgery in detail based upon visitor choices. There is NO sexual content in all 2,500 pages

I didn't know this, but it does make sense, Google may block "particularly graphic or violent" images. And if you look at some of the images on that site, I think some of you may get a bit queazy in the stomach. But what is interesting to me, is that the dentists don't see it that way. I have a dentist right next to me in my office building. He borrowed my camera once to take before and after pictures. I had to email those pictures to him afterwards and let me tell you, they were extremely graphic!

In any event, Googler, Susan Moskwa said:

I'll pass this along, but FYI SafeSearch filters non just sexually-related content, but also stuff that's particularly graphic or violent. Some of your surgery photos may be graphic enough that they fall under our filtering criteria. I'll try to get some more feedback on this from the Image Search team. Thanks for reporting this here.

So technically, I am not sure where this would fall - but personally, I would not like to see these images come up for a search on [teeth].

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Baidu's Domain Name Snatched by Hackers For Four Hours

Posted: January 12th, 2010, 2:09pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Search Other Engines

Imagine going to Google.com and seeing that it has been hacked and taken over by hackers? That is what happened to Chinese searchers, with their favorite search engine, Baidu. @mranti snapped a picture of the Baidu home page, when it was hacked:

The news can be found on Techmeme, but in short, it seems like they took over Baidu's domain name for about four hours. Now, when I go to Baidu.com it redirects me to http://202.108.22.5/, which is a server operated by Baidu.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google Webmaster Tools Sends Out Google Ad Planner Ad?

Posted: January 12th, 2010, 1:55pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Back in 2007, Google released a message center in Google Webmaster Tools. It was used for penalty notifications, hacks, exploits, bandwidth issues, and many other webmaster oriented technical issues.

Today, I log into my Google Webmaster Tools account to find, what appears to me, as Google Ad Planner advertisements. Now, I am a big fan of Ad Planner, it is a really neat, free tool. But it just didn't seem incredibly webmaster related, on the technical side. I received about six of these "messages", each for a different site.

Here is what they said:

Increase Your Website's Visibility with AdvertisersJanuary 7, 2010
Dear Webmaster Tools User,

If your website accepts advertising, we invite you to increase your site's visibility with advertisers in Google Ad Planner, a free media planning tool used by tens of thousands of media planners and buyers. This is done through the Google Ad Planner Publisher Center, a section within Ad Planner that lets you take charge of your site profile.

THREE STEPS TO VIEW YOUR SITE PROFILE

To see how your site profile looks in Google Ad Planner, follow these steps:
1. Visit www.google.com/adplanner
2. Type your site's URL into the blue box that says "View a site listing"
3. Hit "enter" to get to your site's profile
If your site profile is not complete, don't worry, we have lots of ways for you to add information to the profile.

EIGHT WAYS TO UPDATE YOUR SITE PROFILE

Use the Google Ad Planner Publisher Center at www.google.com/adplanner/publisher to make your profile more complete. For example, you can claim your domains or subdomains, write a site description, provide a URL for advertising, and update your site's content categories and ad specifications.

You can also opt-in your site's Google Analytics data, invite additional users to edit and maintain your site, and promote your profile with a Google Ad Planner Site Badge.

GET STARTED

Sign in with your Google Account today at www.google.com/adplanner/publisher to get started.

-- The Google Ad Planner Team

I have some pictures here and here.

Again, this is likely useful information, but just doesn't seem all that technically relevant to the Google Webmaster Tools area.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Tools.

Google Flooding Web With Nexus One Ads?

Posted: January 11th, 2010, 3:00pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A WebmasterWorld thread has both publishers, advertisers and searchers complaining about the number of ads they see for the Google Nexus One phone on the internet. Yes, it is no surprise the Nexus One ads are shown on the Google home page. But they are all over every AdSense spot I can find. Of course, not 100% of the time, but extremely often.

Here are two pictures of the ads:

Incredibill, the moderator of the AdSense WebmasterWorld forum said:

I couldn't believe I was actually adding "google.com" into my competitive ad filter.

Have you gone to that extreme?

I wonder if I put a Google AdSense unit below this line, if it will show a Nexus One ad? It is contextual relevant, no?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Playboy on Google News Fast Flip

Posted: January 11th, 2010, 2:40pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google just recently added the Fast Flip feature to the News home page. Some love it and some hate it, but should Google be showing topless women from Playboy in the Fast Flip news feature? That is what someone asked at a Google News Help thread.

If you go to Google News Fast Flip and click on "most viewed" and scroll a bit, you will see Iga/Eva topless. Here is a picture:

Should that come up on the Google News home page? Should it come up in Fast flip?

The searcher in the thread said:

New feature 'fastflip' started last week and front page of playboy showed up, topless woman in underwear. How do we disable fast flip? Parental control software is not catching it yet. Thanks

I assume as Google gets their feet wet with Fast Flip they will get better at censoring out adult-oriented news items.

Forum discussion at Google News Help.

Google Adds News Flip to Google News Home Page

Posted: January 11th, 2010, 2:12pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google has added the news fast flip feature of Google News to the bottom of the Google News home page.

If you go to Google News and scroll to the bottom of the page, you will see this just added to the bottom:

A WebmasterWorld thread has discussion around this feature. One person liked it so much, they want it on the Google web results, not just news results. Another person said he hated it, so he hit the "X" to remove it right away.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

What Time Is It In Bangladesh? Google & Yahoo Disagree With Bing & Ask

Posted: January 8th, 2010, 2:04pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Search Other 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.

Google Sends Me & Others Wrong Local Business Center Reports

Posted: January 7th, 2010, 2:59pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

This is a pretty bad slip up by Google. The Google Maps and Local team seemed to have sent out a batch of updates on how well a business's Google Maps listings are doing, but to the wrong businesses.

Last night, just before 10pm (EST), I received an email from Google about how well my local business listing is doing in Google. The issue was, it was not for my business! It was for a place called Polk Mechanical based in Texas. That is exactly 1,576 miles away from my business's location and would take me a full day to drive to, according to Google Maps.

Here is how well Polk Mechanical is doing in Google Maps:

I am not the only one who saw this. There is a report of it in Google Maps Help forum, David Dalka got one, so did Mike Blumenthal and Danya Henninger.

I emailed Google about this and I hope to get an understanding of why this happened.

The data shared by Google here is not all that sensitive, but it is still data.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Update: Google sent me a statement, it reads as follows:

As you're aware, we send a monthly newsletter to our Local Business Center users, featuring product news and a glimpse at the Dashboard statistics which show the traffic Google properties drive to their listing. Shortly after sending the newsletter to a small portion of our users last night, we discovered that some emails included incorrect business listing information. We promptly stopped sending any further emails and investigated the cause, which we found to be a human error while pulling together the newsletter content. We'd like to sincerely apologize to all the business owners impacted and assure all our users that we're working hard to ensure that nothing similar will happen again.

Update #2: Google sent an automated apology to those who received other companies information:

Google Maps To Allow Businesses To Request Replacement Decals

Posted: January 7th, 2010, 2:17pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google Maps Guide, Cecelia wrote in a Google Maps Help thread that Google will be enabling Google Local Business Favorite places to reorder lost or damaged Google QR code decals.

Ever since Google has been sending these out, I have seen threads from business owners asking how they can get replacement decals. For one reason or another, these people have lost or damaged the decals, and had no way to replace them.

Cecelia said in the thread:

We're working to create a way for you to request a new Favorite Places decal if something happened to the original one. In the meantime, please hold tight and know we're working on this.

Seems like it is coming soon, probably within the Google Local Business Center. When it does go live, we will let you know.

She also answered a frequently asked question:

Can a business which didn't receive a decal request one?
No, it is not possible for a business to request becoming a Favorite Place. Businesses can sign up for Local Business Center to become eligible and if they meet our criteria, they may receive a decal in the next wave.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help

Yep, Googlers Working on January 1st, New Years Day

Posted: January 4th, 2010, 1:51pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Many of those in the SEO, SEM, Web Design and related businesses find themselves working on holidays such as New Years and Christmas. I think it is more about the self-employed mentality versus it being computer related. Of course, computer related jobs tend to be good to work at any time. In any event, it is nice to know that you are not the only one working on these days. That is why we have Twitter and such. :)

I tend to report every year that I spot Googlers working on these holidays. Googlers were working on this past Christmas and they, JohnMu, was working on New Years day.

I spotted John posting not in just the Happy New Year thread but also in a couple webmaster related threads.

This is not new to John or Googlers, they did it New Years 2009 New Years 2008. Also Christmas 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2006.

Happy New Year all!

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Reporting Google Maps Business Listing Spam to Google

Posted: December 30th, 2009, 2:20pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Mike reported how Google likes you to report Google Maps business listing spam to them. Google Maps, especially the local business center, has been a target for spammers in the past couple years. Google has tried numerous ways to have people report spam to them.

I guess recently, Google changed it to ask people to report a problem with the business listing via the "report a problem" link either on the map itself or on the business's place page. As Mike said, Maps Guide Cecelia noted that the "time frame [for spam removal] most likely varies based on the number of reports we receive."

To report spam on a business's places page, you go to the "more info" link on the search results of that listing and then click on the "more" link. The more link will open up options, such as "report a problem":

After you click the "report a problem" link, a form pops up asking for more information:

Forum discussion at Sphinn.

Google Movie Search Returns Weird 9-11 Message

Posted: December 29th, 2009, 2:48pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A search in Google for [movie: nine nyc] directs you to a Google Movie results page. It shows you the typical movie theaters in that area and movie times, as you would expect. However, it also shows "Showtimes for September 11 attacks" in the blue bar under the search box.

That, to me, is incredibly weird. Here is a picture:

Also, others are reporting a search in Google for [movie: nine ny] directs you to a Google Movie results page. It shows you the typical movie theaters in that area and movie times, as you would expect. However, it also shows "Showtimes for US Airways Flight 1549" in the blue bar under the search box.

The US Airways Flight was the one that safely emergency landed in the Hudson River in New York.

I am not sure why these weird, cryptic messages are coming up in Google Movie search.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

60% of U.S. Government's Data on Google Servers? Nope

Posted: December 28th, 2009, 2:25pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Sherri Davidoff posted an article named Our Google Government after seeing one of those Google Docs ads on a site. The ad reads, "Over 60% of the U.S. state governments have gone Google." Here is a picture of it:

Of course this worries many, including myself. But you have to understand that while maybe 60% of the U.S state government has "gone Google" it doesn't mean that the U.S.'s most sensitive data is on Google's servers. It is possible that some small government offices have switched to Google Apps for email or document management. But to house sensitive intelligence on a hosted Google owned server? That has not happened.

How am I so sure? Well, I am not. But I recently watched a 60 minute show (or something like it, I forget, it was a few months back), which was about how countries are hacking into other countries to steal intel and money from each other. One of the concerns was using Google to host the information. A top government official said that while many governments use Google for everyday use, the most sensitive information is stored on government built and maintained hardware and software.

In fact, the official said that they cannot trust hardware or chips made in some countries because they have seen cases where those chips actually are programmed to secretly send over data from the computer to a remote location. So to trust Google with that information, simply doesn't make sense. And that is what the official said. It costs the government a lot more than it would if they outsourced it to Google, but in some cases, it is not about saving money.

Of course, some U.S. offices might receive sensitive information in their Google hosted applications. And the risk of that increases daily as more data is sent back and forth and more offices "go Google." But this all needs to be kept in perspective.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Did Google Pull Back on Webmaster & Advertiser Support in 2009?

Posted: December 24th, 2009, 2:41pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

As a continuation of Brett Tabke calling out Google for stiffing webmasters over the Christmas gift this year, Brett explains more of why he is a bit upset with Google in 2009. Brett lays out what he believes Google is moving towards and it seems to really upset him and other webmasters. Brett explained:

Google retracts almost every webmasters/siteowner outreach program it had in 2009.
They left the trade show circut. Other than what they had contracted a year earlier, they eliminated their participation in trade shows.
Left their own speakers to pay for their own way to industry conferences. (denying expense receipts).
Eliminated AdWords account support.
Layed off hundreds (thousands according to some reports) temp advertising support reps.
Canceled the Google customer support party (Google dance).
Eliminated the vendor appreciation programs for AdSense and Adwords.

Brett said "Everything Google has done in the last year has screamed, 'AdSense and AdWords markets are maximized or tapped out. Put it into maintenance mode and lets go see where else we can make money.'"

Is it true? Well, Google only held one Webmaster Chat session this year, which was last month, before that, in 2008 and 2007, they held tons of these. It seems like Google limited their sponsorship of conferences in 2009, including not sponsoring PubCon and did limited sponsorships for SMX and SES events this past year (i.e. sponsored sessions) I believe. I also know they cut back on sending representatives to shows, but I do not know the extent of that. They have cut AdWords rep support, laid off temp workers, did not hold the annual Google Dance, cut gifts in exchange of the donations they give anyway, and so on.

However, I did notice a step up in the support forums. They upgraded the support forum software (slowly) and added representatives to them. They added features to Webmaster Tools, posted a ton on the Webmaster Blog, Matt produced tons of support videos and so on. So it does seem like overall, they may have spent a lot less money on webmaster/advertiser relations and focused on the less expensive routes. 2009 was a recession for many businesses, but was Google recession proof? Should they have not made these cuts? I am not really to judge.

I do believe Google will be sending more reps to conferences this year, and that they are less concerned about the economy in 2010 then they were in 2009. Maybe sponsorship of events will grow in 2010? Maybe the Google Dance will come back? Maybe?

I hate to judge how other companies use their money. 2009 was an extremely tough year for many businesses. It seemed to us that Google sailed through the year with no problems at all. But who knows what decisions they made early on to help with that? This is a very sensitive topic but being that Google is a public company, I guess these questions can be asked.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google Offends the Dreadlocks Hairstyle

Posted: December 24th, 2009, 2:31pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A search for [dreadlocks] sports one of those Google definitions links at the top right of the page that leads to an 'offensive' categorization of those who have dreadlocks as their hairstyle. The Google Definition of dreadlocks uses it in a sentence as, "He was turned down for a driving job when he refused to cut his dreadlocks."

Now one person takes offense to this and posted his dissatisfaction in a Google Web Search Help forum. He wrote:

While it's true that this kind of thing (unfortunately) does happen, is it crazy to anyone else to be in a dictionary? It'd be like having the definition for Asian American being "He was turned down for the driving job because he was Asian American."

Here is a picture of the definition:

If Google stayed with Answers.com as their definitions provider, they might not be taking flack for this.

Personally, I find these types of posts funny - which is why I am highlighting this one.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

QuickMark iPhone Update Fixes Google Favorite Places QR Code Decals

Posted: December 23rd, 2009, 2:55pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A few weeks ago, I was the first to report about Google decals going to wrong places and then we saw a flood of people complaining about the issue.

It turns out that the primary iPhone app recommended by Google for scanning these decals was made by QuickMark. QuickMark had a bug that was introduced just about the time these decals came out. The bug impacted where users were taken after they scanned a QR code.

The bug was fixed yesterday and it now works perfectly for me. The bug fixes included:

Fix incorrect URL bug
Allow Move & Scale for Take Photo method

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Christians Upset Google Logo Doesn't Say "Merry Christmas"

Posted: December 22nd, 2009, 2:33pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There are dozens of complaints from Christian Google users with their dissatisfaction over the wording of the Google Holiday logo. In short, the complaint is that Google is saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Christians are asking why Google is saying "Happy Holidays" when no other holiday overlaps with Christmas this year. Chanukah was earlier this month and the other holidays don't seem to fall out during Christmas, so why not say it as it is?

Here are pictures that illustrate the 'politically correct' holiday message from Google:

You can see the logos at google.com/logos/holidays-2009.html.

Here is one of the many complaints in the forum:

For the entirety of Google's history (including this year) they put up a variety of Christmas-themed logos between approximately December 22 and December 25, but they say "happy holidays" and not "Merry Christmas"!!
What other holiday occurs between Dec. 22 and 25?? Why must Google be so politically correct? "Merry Christmas" is one of the most popular greetings in the world! This is ridiculous, why is Google forcing me out of the Christmas spirit?

Forum discussion at several Google Web Search Help threads.

Google Sends Out $20 Million Worth of Holiday Presents in 2009

Posted: December 22nd, 2009, 2:07pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

We thought Google was notgoing to give out holiday gifts, and in exchange, inviting publishers to lunch. But starting yesterday, Google began sending out a holiday e-mail card to both advertisers and publishers. The card basically said Google is doing something a bit different this year and instead of giving out presents, they are giving $20 million to charity on our behalf.

Here is a picture of the e-card which leads to google.com/advertising/holiday2009:

Here is a picture of the landing page:

Overall, people are happy with this as their gift this year. We have thread at DigitalPoint Forums & WebmasterWorld.

Want to see the previous years gifts? See 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums & WebmasterWorld.

Introducing The Google Mapping Tool Availability Matrix

Posted: December 21st, 2009, 2:50pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google Maps has tons of features, but some of those features are not available in all regions due to many reasons. In order to help document what is and what is not available in certain regions, Google created a page named the Mapping Tool Availability to help you see which Google tools are available for mapping your area.

Google breaks the page down by several regions including Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Central America, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania and South America. When you open a region, Google shows you a matrix of what features are available in that area, features such as the Local Business Center, Community Edits, My Maps, Map Maker or Building Maker. Here is a screen capture of the North America matrix:

This will come in handy for the folks in the Google Maps forum and for local business consultants.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Removing A Competitor's Google Maps Listing

Posted: December 21st, 2009, 2:22pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A local mover reported in a Google Maps Help thread that his competitor has successfully removed his listing from Google Maps by having hundreds of people report his address as "inaccurate" in the Google search results.

Back in October, Google added a link to the map results found in the results to enable users to mark a business listing as accurate or not and this person is claiming that his competitor was able to use that to remove his listing in Google Maps. He said:

He has now used those same fake user accounts to report my addresses as invalid - probably hundreds of times with the number of ID's that he has. The likely automated trigger at Google goes off and the map spammer with the 40 fake address and hundreds, if not thousands, of fake reviews from from bogus accounts wins the day. It's easy to report a bogus address.

Now, I am not sure if this is indeed possible. You can always try to reproduce it, but that might be a bad thing to try to reproduce.

A Google Maps representative, Maps Guide Linda, did reply to this thread saying:

Thanks for reporting this instance of spam to us. We will effectively deal with this user since they are violating our Business Listing Quality Guidelines. Please take a look at our guidelines yourself to make sure your listings comply.

I am not sure if she is referencing the abuse of the "inaccurate" reporting feature or the abuse of this mover posting dozens of duplicate companies in Google Maps.

So can you use the "is this accurate" link to remove competitors from Google?

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Favorite Places QR Codes Taking Many Customers to Wrong Location

Posted: December 17th, 2009, 2:44pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

On Friday afternoon, I reported My Google Favorite Place Decal Was Hijacked. In short, it turned out the QR code was indeed correct, but if the QR code scanner reads it wrong, it can take you to a different business. Which is what happens when I use certain scanners or if the lighting is poor when I scan using certain apps.

Here is a quick video of how this went down on Friday afternoon:

Now, I am not the only one experiencing these problems. I have spotted at least four threads (I know there are more) with complaints about their QR codes not working.

Let me pull out the various complaints from the four Google Maps Help threads I found:

The card I received in the mail from Google indicating we are a "Favorite Place" takes the user to the wrong business. Hundreds of miles away.

My card takes users to the generic google mobile home page?!?!?!

Same issue, mine goes to the generic google home page.

I got someone with an iPhone to test it out and it goes to info on some store in New York City, not my store, Epic Biking (www.epicbiking.com), in Saratoga Springs UTAH.

Once our Favorite Place decal is scanned it directs to the Double Tree Marriot in Palm Beach Gardens, FL as opposed to our listing Land Rover Palm Beach.

We're having the same exact issue. Except, ours is Starwood Hotels in New York when it should link to OK4WD. I scanned the thing probably a good five or six times too

When I had my issue, Ryan Hayward from Google contacted me immediately. I learned from him that in my case, it was not a data issue on Google's side, but rather an issue with the scanner reading the code incorrectly or missing pieces of the code. From what I understand, the code itself stores data in it, such as addresses, URLs, names and so on. So technically, I do not think Google printed these codes with a specific unique identifier in them for your business to match up in the Google Local Business Center. I think Google printed these codes to have address information and that is all. I can be wrong, but I think this is how it is working.

The overall issue here is that the codes are not working for many many businesses and searchers. It doesn't matter if it is a Google bug or a scanner bug, it is not working for a lot of people and lot of the time.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help threads.

Google Invites AdSense Publishers For Christmas Lunch

Posted: December 17th, 2009, 2:21pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

It appears that Google is not giving out holiday gifts this year, as expected. But in a surprise twist, AdSenseAdvisor in a WebmasterWorld thread basically invited all 'good standing' AdSense publishers out for lunch at Google.

First, AdSenseAdvisor explained that she/he doesn't "know about gifts this year," and added that she/he "haven't heard anything" about it. AdSenseAdvisor then goes on to invite AdSense publishers out for Christmas lunch!

AdSenseAdvisor said:

If you're a publisher in good standing with AdSense and you're ever in the Bay Area, shoot me a private message and I'd be happy to invite you to lunch at Google.

So, if you are upset you didn't get a holiday gift from Google and want to go out for lunch with AdSenseAdvisor, you know what to do. Go to the WebmasterWorld and send AdSenseAdvisor a private message.

In related news, WebmasterWorld moderator, martinibuster, said he sent Google a thank you Christmas card. He explained in a WebmasterWorld thread:

I sent the AdSense Team a Christmas Card to thank them for hanging out in this forum, for listening to our feedback, for acting on our feedback. 2009 is the year that the AdSense Team kicked butt on a number of fronts, including rolling out new ways for us to block unwanted ads, decreasing the time for ads to stop showing once we add them to our filters, for being responsive during the several glitches we have experienced and correcting them swiftly.

So if you want to mail holiday cheer to Google, you can send it to:

AdSense Advisor
c/o The AdSense Team
1600 Amphitheater Pkwy
Mountain View, CA 94043

How nice!

Forum discussion at Webmaster World.

Google Doodle Remembers L. L. Zamenhof, Inventor of Esperanto

Posted: December 15th, 2009, 2:42pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you visit Google today, you will see a special logo that celebrates L. L. Zamenhof's 150th birthday. Zamenhof was born on December 15, 1859 and died on April 14, 1917. He is known as the inventor of Esperanto, a constructed language designed for international communication.

Here is Google's special Doodle for his birthday:

Google has a special page just searching for this language at google.com/intl/eo.

Zamenhof was Jewish and died in Warsaw, Poland. You can read his full bio at Wikipedia.

With almost all Google Doodles, there are always complaints. We have two Google Web Search Help threads. One is thanking Google for commemorating L. L. Zamenhof life, while the other is upset Google picked L. L. Zamenhof over the ratification of the U.S. Bill of Rights, which happened on December 15, 1791 (218 years ago).

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Google Does URL Shortening: goo.gl

Posted: December 15th, 2009, 2:30pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

The big Google shock from last night was that they are launching a URL shortener using goo.gl. Currently, it only works by using the Google Toolbar or within FeedBurner. You cannot simply create a short URL by going to goo.gl, you need to do so via the Google Toolbar or FeedBurner.

Why is Google doing this? They want to make it easier to share within the Toolbar and FeedBurner. Why not use Bit.ly or Tiny URL? Google said they have an infrastructure that they trust is stable, secure and speedy.

I see why SEOs are a bit skeptical. But flip it around. SEOs have been recommending that we build our own URL shorteners ourselves. Heck, I did for RustyBrick, for example we use rb.tc, so rb.tc/barry goes to www.rustybrick.com/barry.

Google hasn't yet opened it up for use outside of the Toolbar or FeedBurner, but trust me, it will be used plenty that way and shared tremendously. Google said, "if the service proves useful, we may eventually make it available for a wider audience in the future." So, how long do you give it? A month, two?

Many just feel bad for the url shortening services out there.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld & DigitalPoint Forums.

Google To Build Phone

Posted: December 15th, 2009, 2:17pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you are living under a rock, you might not have heard this yet, but then why would you be reading this site? The buzz over the weekend was that Google confirmed they will be building and distributing a real Google phone. Right now, Google has Android which is the Operating System for many of the "Google phones" currently out there. But the hardware is developed by someone else.

It appears that Google is designing their own device on the hardware level. Which, I guess, would compete directly with the iPhone - which is what is currently happening with the HTC, Droid and comparable devices.

Anyway, that is all I have to say about this. You can read the news stories on Techmeme and then join the forum discussions.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

Bug When Updating Google Maps Local Listing

Posted: December 14th, 2009, 2:48pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Starting over the weekend, if you tried to update a Google Maps business listing in the Google Local Business Center, you would get a weird error. We have many reports in the Google Maps forums, many.

The error sometimes looks like this:

System Error

We're sorry, but we are unable to serve your request at this time. Please try back in a few minutes.

Try again document.write("|nx3ca hrefx3dx22/local/add/businessCenter?hlx3den-USx26amp;glx3dUSx22 onclickx3dx22history.go(-1); return false;x22x3e

Return to previous pagex3c/ax3e"); | Return to previous page

Google Maps Guide Linda replied to many of the threads with the same message, it read:

Hi,
We're aware of this system error issue and we hope to have this fixed by next week. Please check your account again next week to verify your business listing.

Thanks for your patience.

Best,
Maps Guide Linda

The Google Maps threads include these four help threads, but I believe there are many more.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help Discussions.

You Can Now Block Your YouTube Subscribers

Posted: December 14th, 2009, 2:40pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Liz from YouTube Support announced in a YouTube Help thread that a long requested feature is now available - the ability to block subscribers from your channel.

Why would you want to block specific subscribers? Maybe you got 'pervs' watching your videos? Maybe you don't like certain commentators on your videos? Maybe you are anti-social?

How do you do it?

1. Sign into your YouTube account
2. Go to http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=[YOURUSERNAME]&view=subscribers
3. On this page you'll be able to see the users who are subscribed to your channel and the thumbnail icon from their channel. Below the thumbnail image you'll see a "Block" button.
4. If you click the "Block" button you'll remove the user's subscription to you, and you'll also block them if their account is active on YouTube.

After that, Liz explains:

You'll receive a confirmation asking you whether or not you want to remove the user from your subscribers list first before you actually remove the user. This is just in case you accidentally click the "Block" button. We all know accidents happen.

Here is a picture of the block button:

I won't block you, so feel free to subscribe to the RustyBrick YouTube Channel which is what I use to do my weekly search videos, amongst other videos. I still need to make that page look better, one day - one day.

Forum discussion at YouTube Help.

My Google Favorite Place Decal Was Hijacked

Posted: December 11th, 2009, 7:31pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Update: Google reached out to me and asked me to try a new app to scan it, such as Barcode Scanner for Android of QuickMark for iPhone. I tried it and both QuickMark and Barcode Scanner return my business. So a poor quality QR scanner will return a bad listing. I guess technically, this is not a Google bug.

We are aware of Google Maps listings being hijacked, that is nothing new. But remember Google is sending out favorite places decals? Well, I got mine today and I decided to try it out.

Guess what? When you scan the QR bar code it takes you to a different business!

RustyBrick is my company and here is my Google Place:

Here is a video with proof:

Here is a link to the Citrus Grille which is what comes up after you scan my code.

Here is a video of me "unboxing" the decal today:

I am not sure how Google can fix this? Either:

(1) Send me a new decal with new bar code?
(2) Update their database so they do not have to send me a new decal?

The thing is, I just hope I don't get calls from the Citrus Grille, that would be annoying!

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Vote For The Doodle 4 Google UK Winner

Posted: December 10th, 2009, 2:35pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Voting is open for the UK's edition of the Doodle 4 Google competition. Google has run this competition in both the US and UK for four years now.

This years competition:

We're asking young people aged 5–16 from across the UK to design their own doodle. This year's theme is 'My Hero'. We'd love to see the figures young people look up to represented in their doodles, whether family, friends, people in the community, or world figures. We're interested in the people considered heroes for the 21st century and how entrants represent them using images.

To vote, go to this page. You can vote for each of the four brackets, 5-7 years old, 7-11 years old, 11-14 years old and 14-16 years olds.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Google Images "See Full Size Image" Frame Missing For Some?

Posted: December 10th, 2009, 2:18pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Web Search Help thread reports several users not being able to see the frame at the top of the Google Image searches. I initially thought it had to do with frame busters of some sort, but it seems more wide spread than that. Maybe Google is dropping the framed image feature? I am not sure.

I personally see the frame with the "see full size image" option link:

It really seems to be that this is a frame buster type of thing going on. Frame busting is code that prevents other sites from framing you site in their site, like Google Images does after you initially click on an image result.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Google Barcodes The Map With QR Labels

Posted: December 8th, 2009, 3:32pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google also announced that they are sending out stickers to be placed in shop windows that have QR barcodes. The goal is to allow people to scan the sticker and look up more information about that place.

You can see some samples of these businesses in LA over here. How do you get one of these stickers for your business? Well, make sure you are a verified business on Google Local Business Center. Make sure to complete your profile to the T. Then, it is up to Google. TechCrunch reports Google has "PlaceRank" algorithm to determine in which order do businesses get these decals.

Google will be adding these businesses incrementally. "They are selected based on their PlaceRank," says John Hanke, VP of Google Earth, Maps, and Local. PlaceRank is like PageRank for places It tries to figure out how prominent a place is based on factors such as "references on the Web, reviews, photos," says Hanke, "how many people know about it, how long its been around."

Bill from SEO By The Sea covered this PlaceRank algorithm years ago.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google Goggles & Other Mobile Announcements

Posted: December 8th, 2009, 3:05pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Part of Google's blitz of announcements yesterday were several mobile announcements including a really neat feature named Google Goggles.

Google Goggles basically lets you snap pictures on your Android mobile device and Google will return search results based on that picture. It works best with landmarks, books, contact information, artwork, places, wines and logos. Here is a video on how it works:

Other announcements include Search by Voice in other languages, such as Japanese, English and Mandarin. Search by Location on Android, and Search by Sight which is Google Goggles.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld and Google Mobile Help.

Google Popeye Logo For E. C. Segar's 115th Birthday

Posted: December 8th, 2009, 2:33pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you visit Google today, you will see a logo of Popeye. The logo is to celebrate Popeye's creator, E. C. Segar's 115th birthday. E. C. Segar was born on December 8, 1894. Popeye, the character, was first introduced on January 17, 1929 in a comic strip Thimble Theatre, which was renamed to Popeye later (I believe).

In any event, the logo on the Google.com home page looks like this:

Google typically only shows Google Doodles for light hearted events, such as this. Which is why there was no Doodle for Pearl Harbor yesterday, December 7th. But it did not stop dozens of complaints in the Google Web Search Help Forums.

Forum discussion on Popeye at Google Webmaster Help and DigitalPoint Forums.

Webmasters Wary of Google Public DNS

Posted: December 4th, 2009, 1:53pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google announced the launch of the Google Public DNS service, which is a free public domain name system. It is a lot like OpenDNS, but without any of the administrative controls for blocking sites or redirecting mismatched domains to a special landing page (which is where OpenDNS makes their money).

Google's DNS IPs are pretty sweet, they are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. If you want to use it, here are the configuration instructions.

Google said they are doing this for one reason and one reason alone. To make the web faster. Google knows which sites are the most popular out there and they will precache those pages so it doesn't have to be done at the time of the DNS request. Most DNS servers cache sites based on the last time a user of theirs accessed it, Google will anticipate that without usage - at this point. Google likes speed, as we discussed time and time again over here.

Google is convinced you will like their DNS server because it will speed things up, make things more secure and they won't do any type of redirection at all.

You think Google will use the data to track you? Well, Google very specifically detailed what they will be tracking and for how long. The "temporary logs" contain IP level information, but Google will destroy "temporary logs within 24 to 48 hours." However, Google will be storing specific information on an aggregate level, those details can be found here.

As I said, webmasters are wary and there is a long WebmasterWorld thread with comments:

With it being such an easy way to track who goes where, I'm surprised Google is just getting into this now.

Would this really benefit anyone besides Google?
Reading their gumph, they claim that having a large, common caching database will mean faster performance for all, but is it really worth the slight boost in performance in exchange for giving Google even more of your data?

Google claim that their service will attempt to send users to their geographically closest data centre.
But I still reckon it's wisest to just stick with your own ISP's DNS offering, unless you know what you're doing.

Personally, I use OpenDNS because of the security and the ability to block access to specific sites on the DNS level - which is nice. Would I switch? Who knows. But I do like how the OpenDNS blog responded to this Google news, "to think that Google’s DNS service is for the benefit of the Internet would be naive." Now that is classic!

Forum discussion WebmasterWorld.

Where the Google Holiday Gifts for 2009?

Posted: December 4th, 2009, 1:47pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Every year Google gives some of their AdWords advertisers and AdSense publishers holiday gifts. Typically, the gifts are delivered by now - but not one advertiser or publisher have posted in a forum or on a blog about receiving a holiday gift from Google this year.

A WebmasterWorld thread wonders if there will be any gifts this year or not. This year was the "great recession," but Google is clearly back in spend mode (if you watch their business activities closely, you would notice this).

In the past four years, the gifts were typically received by this week. Last year, the gifts were received by December 3, 2008, then by December 4, 2007, in November 2006, the latest was the second week of December 2005, but typically, we get them by this week in December.

Do you think there will be holiday gifts from Google?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Disputed Territory? Google Maps Localizes Borders Based on Local Laws

Posted: December 1st, 2009, 2:08pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Did you know that there are countries out there that have a dispute on where their border begins and ends? Yea, you know that. But did you know that Google will show different borders depending on how and where you access Google Maps?

A Google Maps Help thread has a post from Brian from the Google Maps team who explains how this works. He said:

It is Google's standard practice to show all disputed regions around the world on its global properties, such as on maps.google.com. It has been Google’s consistent and global policy to depict disputed regions as per the claims made by the disputing/claiming nations on its global properties. This does not in any way endorse or affirm the position taken by any side but merely provides complete information on the prevailing geo-political situation to our users of global properties in a dispassionate and accurate manner. Products that have been localized to the local domain of a region such as maps.google.co.in may depict that country’s position as per the mandate of their local laws.

For example, compare Google India Maps to Google Maps and you will see the border lines look a bit different. Here are screen captures:

Google Maps India, The Border:

Google Maps US, The Border:

Notice the dotted lines in the US map, how it doesn't seem sure.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Maps Bug Disables Searching My Maps for User Created Content

Posted: November 27th, 2009, 3:04pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Maps Help thread has confirmed reports that searching for user generated content via My Maps seems to no longer be returning results.

ehg, a helpful Google Maps forum member helped debug this. He said, all of my maps of MyMaps created until 20 Oct 2009 are still to search. Here a sample map "GRZG" which is still to search [1] when searching "related maps" and "GRZG". Here searching for a user- created content ("ghghgh5656") of the same map [2] I created the map 10 Oct 2009. And here a search for the last map I can search & find (created 20 Oct 2009 - the second map is a copy of the first one I created at this date) [3].

Googler, Brian B, said, "I'm looking into this and will give an update here. Thanks for escalating."

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Tracking Phones & Devices For Traffic Data: Crowdsouring Traffic

Posted: November 27th, 2009, 2:43pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

This is old news, back in August Google told us they are now crowdsourcing traffic data in order to provide better and more accurate traffic reports on Google Maps. Let me quote Google:

When you choose to enable Google Maps with My Location, your phone sends anonymous bits of data back to Google describing how fast you're moving. When we combine your speed with the speed of other phones on the road, across thousands of phones moving around a city at any given time, we can get a pretty good picture of live traffic conditions. We continuously combine this data and send it back to you for free in the Google Maps traffic layers.

Yep, Google Navigation for Android 1.6 or 2.0 I am sure does this as well.

Why do I bring this up now? Well, a Google Maps Help thread has one Google Maps user asking how Google has traffic data for local streets? He said, "Just curious as to how google maps aggregates the data for traffic conditions of local surface streets, not freeways. Is it through the sensors in the streetlights?"

Useful, but a tad scary. I tested it on some of my local roads that I know are always congested and it does indeed work.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Snagging Google Maps Reviews From Your Competitors

Posted: November 25th, 2009, 3:15pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Maps Help thread has an interesting report of one business having the reviews of another. If you look at the Thomas French, DC, Chiropractor reviews, they look great, but when you look at Dr Keith Overland, it seems like he has reviews for Dr. French.

Here are the reviews on Dr. Keith Overland's page, which all reference Dr. French:

Two things could of happened here:

(1) It could be a technical glitch with Google Maps where reviews moved from one business listing to another.

(2) The people who left reviews accidentally put it on the wrong business listing?

Both businesses are in Norwalk, Connecticut - so who knows.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Updates iPhone & Android Gmail & Calendar Interface

Posted: November 20th, 2009, 2:25pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Gone mostly unnoticed, Google has updated their Gmail and Google Calendar interface on iPhone and Android mobile devices. Google did announce a new mobile news look for these devices, but no word on the Gmail interface.

I spotted this update via the Google Mobile Help forums, where Googler, Ethan, confirmed the update. He said:

Gmail updated its look & feel in the browser on Android and iPhone devices today. Some of Google's other mobile apps, like Calendar, have also gotten the new look. Other than the 're-skinning,' features are unchanged for now.

Here is what the new 'skin' looks like on the iPhone:

Here is the old one:

Small difference, but someone noticed.

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Google Maps Satellite Images Being Posterized?

Posted: November 19th, 2009, 3:02pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Maps Help thread reports that at least one satellite image in South Africa has a weird posterization effect to it.

You can see it yourself at 33°55'7.79"S, 25°35'2.40"E, or Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Here is a picture:

This looks like a heavily posterized image to me, but I doubt that was the case. There must have been some type of interference when the image was captured?

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Reader URLs a Target for Email Spammers

Posted: November 19th, 2009, 2:41pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

For years, email spammers have been looking for ways to encourage people to click on their links. And for years, Google has been a target. Why? Well, when someone sees a link that has google.com in it, people trust it. So over the years, Google URLs that redirect to other sites have been a target by spammers.

The most recent Google property targeted by such attacks is Google Reader.

A Google Reader Help thread has reports of such cases, with a Googler confirming it is an issue. Several people are reporting receiving email spam with URLs that look some thing like:

http://www.google.com/reader/item/tag:google.com,2005:reader/item/3c49b76cf8cb8ba0

Clicking on that URL would have redirected you to a non-Google site.

Googler, Roger said:

It looks like some spammers have taken a liking to Google Reader - we're currently trying to find the best way to limit this kind of automated abuse without impacting the experience of real users such as yourselves. Hopefully we'll have a solution that works for everyone soon. Thanks for your patience and understanding in the meantime-

So be on the look out.

Forum discussion at Google Reader Help.

Google Translate Gets Major Upgrade

Posted: November 17th, 2009, 2:40pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google announced a major upgrade for Google Translate. I am personally very impressed.

The new features include:

New layout
Instant translation
Shows reading phonetically in English
Speaks English translation for you (i.e. text to speech)
Type phonetically also

Here is a video demonstrating the new features:

There are both compliments and anger about the change in the Google Translate Group.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and Google Translate Group.

Google Earth 2.0 for iPhone

Posted: November 17th, 2009, 2:21pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

The Google LatLong blog announced an upgrade that is currently now available in the iTunes App store for the iPhone. Google Earth 2.0 is out and it has new features, including:

My Maps Integration
Performance Improvements
Improved "Icon" Selection
Added 13 languages, now 31 languages in total

With iPhone App updates, when they are available in the iTunes App Store, they might not be available for all users. Kind of like when a Google update is out, some people see it and some don't, early on. Why? Cause of multiple servers and the syncing of those servers can take time.

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Google Storage Upgrade Does Not Upgrade

Posted: November 13th, 2009, 1:20pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Like many, when Google announced you can now buy more storage for less, I decide to buy more storage. So I went through the purchase storage process, paid the bill, got the order receipt and waited.

3 days later, I am still waiting to receive that upgrade. I ordered an additional 20GB of storage, here is my email receipt:

But when I log in to check my storage available, it still shows the old amount.

Gmail View:

Admin Account Management View:

So I follow all the Gmail Storage Troubleshooting tips and get no where. I then click on the "If you are still unable to access your Google paid storage, please contact us" link. The link is to google.com/support/contact/bin/request.py?contact_type=contact_storage but when you click it, it redirects you to the generic Google help with no way to get real help.

I am not the only person with this issue, there are a couple complaining at the Gmail Help forum.

It is only $5, so I don't mind donating the money but I do really want the extra storage.

Forum discussion at Gmail Help.

Google's Safe Browsing Site: sb.google.com

Posted: November 13th, 2009, 12:53pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Webmaster Help thread had one webmaster who received an email from Google warning of a phishing attempt on this person's site. The webmaster asked if it was real. The email said he/she should "submit a safebrowsing report at http://sb.google.com/safebrowsing/report_error/."

JohnMu from Google replied that if you want to make sure the email is real, that you should login to the Google Webmaster Tools and see if there is a message there about it. If yes, then it is legit, if not - not.

In addition, John explained that "the sb.google.com URL you mentioned is the correct one to submit feedback on the safebrowsing status of the flagged URL on your site."

Give sb.google.com a try. :)

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Google Releases New Google Mobilizer

Posted: October 28th, 2009, 2:22pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

An ongoing Google Mobile Help thread with complaints on the Google Mobilizer feature has an update on that feature. In short, Google Mobilizer will convert a web page to make it render better on mobile devices. Google has updated it to include a "new mobilizer engine, which is faster, cleaner, closer to the look of the unadapted page," said Zeke from the Google Mobile team.

Zeke explained how to access this one devices:

On most devices:
1. Go to www.google.com
2. Go to Settings, turn "Format pages for your phone" to On, and be sure to Save.
3. Do a search. Clicking on search results will take you to the Google Mobilizer

On some smartphones:
- Go to www.google.com
- Do a search. Click on Options (next to each search result) and select "Mobile formatted". You should get a mobilized page.

Here is a sample of how it works on my iPhone:

Here is how the mobilized page looks like:

You can actually see it yourself on any browser, via this URL.

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Israel on Google Maps, Now in Hebrew

Posted: October 27th, 2009, 3:16pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There have been some recent complaints in the Google Maps Help forum from English speaking people who live in Israel. In short, Google seems to have recently changes the Israel data to show street and city names in Hebrew (עברית).

Here is one complaint:

I too am having the same problem, in Israel for a month and it worked perfectly in English till two days ago then poof it changed to Hebrew which makes it very difficult for us English speakers.

Yes, Google Maps in Israel was in English and now is in Hebrew. Here are pictures:

Do keep in mind, embedding maps, maps on mobile devices or via the API for Israel show basically nothing due to licensing rights. The only way to see this level of detail is accessing maps.google.com on your desktop. But that is an other complaint.

Forum discussions at Google Maps Help.

Google Maps Drops Tele Atlas For Google Data in US

Posted: October 13th, 2009, 3:23pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Since we are on a Google Maps coverage roll today, how about we keep it going. Google Maps recently announced changes to their map data, which Mike somewhat called out. In short, for many locations in the US, Google is now their own provider of data for their maps.

About a year ago, Google switched their map data to Tele Atlas. Now, Google seems to be moving off them. For example, look at the copyright on the old Google Map versus the current one:

Old shows Tele Atlas:

New shows Google:

There are a few threads in the Google Maps Help forum where Googlers are replying to this question, as follows:

Please use the 'Report a Problem' link (see reference below) to tell Google about the problems in your area (or anywhere else in the US). We hope to be able to fix the reported problems within about a month.

Here is a video explaining the new process to report map issues:

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

When Google Maps Satellite & Map Detail Don't Line Up

Posted: October 13th, 2009, 3:19pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

What happens when you have Google Satellite view and map street data not lining up? Well, I can show you. If you look at Cairo, Egypt you will see that the Satellite detail is shifted about 90 meters west of the street detail.

Here is a picture showing the box in the map detail not overlaying on the box of the streets in the Satellite view:

I believe this is not that unusual, and it happened every now and then. Google has been informed and Howard from Google said:

Thanks for noticing this. The appropriate team in Google has the bug report now and the problem will be fixed.

Are you aware of other places in Google Maps like this?

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Foggy Google Maps Satellite Pictures?

Posted: October 1st, 2009, 3:38pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you check out New Delhi on Google Maps, you will see a big fog hovering over the location. Why is that?

Here is a current picture:

A Google Maps Help thread reported this issue this morning. A few hours later, Howard from the Google Maps team replied, "Thanks for the report. We will look into this."

Have you see major clouds or fog in Google Maps before?

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Sync Goes Down: Gmail Push for iPhone Fails For Many

Posted: October 1st, 2009, 3:21pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A couple weeks ago, Google brought push Gmail to the iPhone via an expanded version of Google Sync. People were incredibly happy about this and they signed up right away.

Yesterday, people started reporting in a Google Mobile Help thread that Google Sync was down for them. The first reports came Tuesday late night or Wednesday early morning. Later on yesterday, Googler Bing, replied to the thread with a short heads up, "Thanks guys, we're looking into it!"

Soon after it began working again, for some. Others had issues getting things back in sync. Calendars, contacts and emails seemed to be missing or misinterpreted.

The thread is ongoing with complaints and issues, but I think, overall, Google has fixed the Google Sync issue by now.

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Porn Spammers Targets Holocaust Terms in Google

Posted: September 30th, 2009, 4:11pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Web Search Help thread reports that Google has been the target of spammers who are trying to push their pornographic videos into Google. This is nothing new, but the terms these spammers are using now include Holocaust related terms.

A search in Google for a popular Holocaust film, Witnessing History - a Teen Second Life Exhibit returns a Google Video result in the web results (universal search). Here is a picture:

Googler, Skylar said in the thread:

This porn video should not be masquerading as an educational video. I've passed your detailed feedback to the rest of the team so we can take the steps necessary to address this issue. For the future, if you can tell from the video thumbnail that the video is explicitly inappropriate and abuses content that is clearly meant to be educational or informative, please click on the “Report problem” link next to the video and mark the video with the category that closely matches the issue.

That was yesterday, it was first reported on Friday. I really can't blame Google for this anymore. I mean, it is a bit over the top (to say the least) to target Holocaust terms with porn videos, as well as children terms. As of right now, I still see the video in the Google web search results.

This is not the first and won't be the last time, Google Video is used as a target to spam Google with porn. In August it was used to show a porn video of Rambha, a famous Indian actress. Early on, with Universal Search's launch, Google had issues with nude images and explicit porn in the web search results. Google has been much better at filtering these out.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

YouTube Uploads Might Get Stuck "In Processing"

Posted: September 30th, 2009, 4:03pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

One of the worst parts of uploading to YouTube, especially large and long HD quality videos, is waiting for YouTube to finish processing the video so people can watch it. I normally create a 15 minute or so video, in HD quality, upload it sometime before 11am to YouTube and it often won't be available until after 6pm. The upload process takes an hour or so and the processing can take several more hours.

On very limited occasions, those videos never make it out of the "in processing" status and then you have to reupload all over again. Never fun.

This time, Liz from the YouTube support team has confirmed a bug in the upload process. She posted a thread at YouTube Help the other day saying:

Some of you have mentioned here in the Help Forum and on Twitter that your uploads are stuck processing. This is a bug with the uploading process and our team here is currently working on a fix. Once the team's fixed the bug, uploads which are currently stuck processing will be re-processed again.
For those of you who need to upload a video immediately, try uploading a second time if your original upload attempt is stuck.

Thanks for informing us of this situation, and we appreciate your patience while we're working on resolving the matter!

It is nice to know YouTube is looking into the fix.

Forum discussion at YouTube Help.

Sidewiki Defeat Helps Block Only Google SideWiki Comments, Not Toolbar Users

Posted: September 30th, 2009, 3:57pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

The other week, we wrote about how to block Sidewiki users from commenting on your site. The issue was, it basically blocked all Google Toolbar users from accessing your site.

There is a new script that reportedly blocks only those who try to use Sidewiki to comment on your site, without blocking all Google Toolbar users. It named the Sidewiki Defeat and can be viewed at code.google.com/p/sidewiki-defeat.

I spotted this via a Google Webmaster Help thread. Warning, I personally did not try this, so be careful.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

It's Froogle, No It's Google Products, No It's Google Base, No It's Google Merchant Center

Posted: September 30th, 2009, 3:16pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Yesterday, Google announced the launch of the new Google Merchant Center. The Google Merchant Center will replace Google Base for those who submit products through Google Base.

Confused? Google Base is sticking around, but Google has added a new Google Merchant Center, which is focused around merchants who submit product data to Google. Before the other day, all products submitted to Google, to be displayed in Google Product Search, was submitted (mostly) through Google Base. Now, Google wants you to submit that data though the new Google Merchant Center.

So what is Google Base for? Well, anything else that you want to submit data to Google. Other data includes upload real estate, jobs and vehicles. Yes, you can pretty much submit whatever you want and Google will figure out how to deal with it.

Google tried to make the migration from Google Base to Google Merchant Center as smooth as possible. Google said:

For the vast majority of users, existing settings, data feeds or items will not be affected. You will find everything in your account as you expect it to be.
However, a small percentage of users who have been uploading to Google Base both Product listings and other item types will need to sign in to Google Base and create new FTP settings. Otherwise, they will not be able to upload any non-Product feeds via FTP. Their existing FTP settings will work normally for Product feeds, and can be accessed in Google Merchant Center. We apologize for this unavoidable inconvenience. These users have been already notified directly by email. You can find instructions on how to change your FTP settings in Google Base here.

For more details about this change see the FAQs.

If you are confused by the title, just look back at the history of this product. It all started out as Froogle, yes Google named their product search feature Froogle. Then it was changed to Google Shopping and then to Google Products and then Google flipped back between Shopping and Products. Then Google Base came out, but the consumer side remained Google Shopping. And now we have yet another tool to manage, Google Merchant Center. Got all of that? I may have missed some.

Forum discussion at Google Merchant Center Help (formerly Google Base Help) and WebmasterWorld.

Screen Shots & Videos of Google Monopoly City Streets

Posted: September 10th, 2009, 3:47pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Hasbro has created a virtual Monopoly game at www.monopolycitystreets.com that allows people to buy property, using Google Maps. It is pretty neat - but the big issue is that it is incredibly slow. It took me two days to get in and I finally have some screen captures and videos to show you.

Here is the quick video:

Here are some screen captures:

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Google's 09/09/09 Logo (Doodle)

Posted: September 9th, 2009, 5:21pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

At 09:09:09 today on 09/09/09, Google posted a special logo for the special occurrence.

Here is the logo, not sure how much longer it will be live:

The official logo is also at google.com/logos/090909.gif.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Will Google Send Christmas (Holiday) Gifts This Year (2009)?

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 3:51pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

I found it a bit funny that a WebmasterWorld thread is already discussing if and what Google would be sending out as a holiday gift this year. Yea, four months prior to the holiday season, Google advertisers and publishers are talking about the gift they may or may not send out this year.

Google historically has sent some really nice gifts to both AdSense and AdWords (amongst others) customers. In 2005 they sent a how mobile gadget kit with mobile mouse, mini hub, usb drive, and so on (I wish I took a picture of it). In 2006 they sent us a digital picture frame, in 2007 they sent a USB memory card and 2008 a bunch of shwag (mug, tshirt, pen, etc).

But due to the economy, people think the gifts will be cut this year. I am not too sure - I guess we will find out in a few months. It is just funny that people are already talking about it and eager to know if and what it will be this year.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google Maps Live Traffic Changes Based on Zoom Level?

Posted: August 27th, 2009, 3:45pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Over the past few months, there have been random complaints from Google Maps users about the live traffic data. In short, people are saying that when they zoom into see more detail on the red colored traffic indicators, the color changes to another color.

A Google Maps Help has posts from three different Google Maps users over the course of three months. Clearly, this cannot be a wide spread issue, because of the very few posts. So either this is a user generated error, where the user is zooming into the wrong location or the traffic data has actually changed on the zoom refresh -- or Google has some sort of bug.

Have you ever noticed this as an issue? I tried to replicate this issue, but failed.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Latitude Comes to iPhone (Kinda) & Map Layers For Windows Mobile & Symbian

Posted: July 24th, 2009, 3:07pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

The other day, Google Mobile launched two new features (amongst others). One feature has been asked for ever since Google Latitude launched. The ability to use this program on your iPhone. Well, now it is here, well, kind of.

Apple wouldn't allow Google to build a native iPhone app for Latitude because (I think) apps cannot run in the background and constantly pull your location. Instead, Google made it work over the mobile browser at http://m.google.com/latitude. The new iPhone browser supports geolocation services, so Google uses that to pull the location of the individual and then plots it on the map. Here are some pictures:

Also, for you who don't have iPhones (seriously, no iPhone yet?), Google released map layers for Windows Mobile & Symbian devices. More on that over here.

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help Forums.

Google Should Allow Multiple Google Accounts To "Own" A Local Listing

Posted: July 24th, 2009, 3:01pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Maps Help thread has a few business owners and consultants suggesting that Google should allow multiple Google accounts to gain access to a single business listing.

I cannot agree more. This is a feature that is currently supported in Google Webmaster Tools, but is likely needed more in the Google Local Business Listing Center. Giving businesses a way to have more than one person with access to such a listing, just makes (um) business sense. In addition, there are many search agencies that handle local listings for their clients. These agencies would love to give access to their clients, if the client needs to make changes as well.

I was going to create a poll asking if you agree, but honestly, I doubt anyone would disagree that this feature would not be useful.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Maps Won't Take Pictures of George Washington Bridge

Posted: July 23rd, 2009, 3:41pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

I spotted a thread at the Google Maps Help forum asking why Google doesn't allow people to walk across the George Washington Bridge. Specifically, why doesn't Google let people plot the directions as walking directions when traveling across the bridge. Any New Yorker knows, the bridge is filled with people walking or biking back and forth. It is a good question.

But when I was scoping out the bridge on Google Maps, using street views, I noticed that you can only get street views at the lip of the bridge. Any blue area shows where the street views are available, the plain yellow, is not available:

That reminded me that there is a law where you cannot take pictures of anything on the bridge. In fact, one day, I took a picture of the no taking pictures sign on the George Washington Bridge. I guess Google listens to those rules.

So why can't we get walking directions on the bridge? And why no directions to the moon?

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Webmaster Tools Won't Load For Some Users

Posted: July 23rd, 2009, 3:21pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There are some reports of Google Webmaster Tools not loading for some users. Some of these reports are coming from WebmasterWorld and I also personally have this issue.

When I try to access the tool, the URL redirects back and forth between the Google Account authentication system and the webmaster tools home page. If I try a different browser, it lets me in, so it seems to be a cookie issue for some users.

Firefox Error:

The page isn't redirecting properly
Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.

* This problem can sometimes be caused by disabling or refusing to accept cookies.

Safari Error:

Safari can’t open the page.
Too many redirects occurred trying to open “https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home?hl=en”. This might occur if you open a page that is redirected to open another page which then is redirected to open the original page.

I can login to all other Google properties without an issue, I am just having this issue with Google Webmaster Tools. I rather not delete my Google cookies, cause that will stop them from tracking me for the past 15 years. :)

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google Maps Bubble Info For Longitude & Latitude Coordinates Workaround

Posted: July 15th, 2009, 3:15pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Starting a few weeks ago the Google Maps Help forum reports that when you want to display text in the bubble of a Google Map pin mark, using the longitude and latitude of the location, it would no longer work.

For example, you can see it live at this link but here is a screen copy.

The issue is, the only way to get this to work is by appending [&iwloc=A&hl=en] to the end of the URL, if you remove it, the info bubble disappears. It works fine without that extra parameter in the URL for a standard address match, i.e. here but not sure why it doesn't work for the longitude and latitude version.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Enhanced 404 Feature Gone?

Posted: July 8th, 2009, 4:03pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other 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.

Google Chrome, The Operating System

Posted: July 8th, 2009, 3:20pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other 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.

Push Gmail Coming to Blackberry in July, iPhone Unknown

Posted: June 23rd, 2009, 3:11pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

For the first time, I have seen Google comment on when they will be bringing push Gmail to any device. In a Google Mobile Help thread, Googler Ethan responded to a request about push and the iPhone, adding that it is supported on Android devices and in July, it is coming to Blackberry devices.

The only catch is that push will only be supported for Google Apps Premier Edition and Education Edition users. That means, you have to pay for it. I personally think that is fair and I know many people willing to pay a few bucks for giving them push Gmail. Again, this is only for Blackberry devices and it is coming next month, in July 2009.

Let me quote Ethan:

As a reminder, push email support is currently available with the Gmail app on Android devices and will be available for Google Apps Premier Edition and Education Edition users with BlackBerry devices in July.

So what about the iPhone? Well, no comment from Google on that yet. It is currently the 7th most wanted feature in the feature request list. But Google has yet to comment about if or when it will be available. I suspect that when it does become available, it will be only available to the Google Apps Premier Edition and Education Edition users, similar to how it is launching for Blackberry devices.

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Naver Launches Closed Beta For Japan Search

Posted: June 22nd, 2009, 4:24pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Search Other Engines

A WebmasterWorld thread has discussion on a closed beta launch of a new Japanese search engine by the very popular South Korean portal, Naver. The search portal can be found at [www.naver.jp] and it is currently a closed beta.

The early feedback on the new search engine seems positive from what I can tell in the thread. In fact, one member said, "quite positive, and the patented combo SERPS, clean design and cool integrated flash elements seem quite nice." Another said, "Some of beta testers report Naver Japan. It seems to have its original features extisting search engines such as Google and Yahoo! don't have."

I cannot read the language so, hard for me to translate this review properly. But maybe someone will and post the details in the forum.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google's iPhone Voice Search Breaks with iPhone 3.0

Posted: June 22nd, 2009, 4:07pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google Voice Search for iPhone no longer works exactly like it did in the past. If you installed iPhone 3.0 operating system, you may notice that lifting the receiver to your ear and speaking your command will no longer function with the current Google Mobile app for the iPhone.

This is a bit funny, in that Google admittedly broke Apple's rules by releasing such a feature. Specifically, moving the phone to your ear and having the application change to listen for you to speak, is not a supported developer feature in the iPhone SDK.

So when iPhone 3.0 OS came out, it seemed to have broke that neat feature.

Bret at Google posted in the Google Mobile Help discussion area that Google is aware of the issue and working on a fix. The iPhone application still works, but the feature where you put the phone to your ear no longer functions.

In fact, Bret said they submitted a new version to Apple, which is waiting for Apple's approval. Will Apple let this one slide through also?

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Google's Top Search Quality Supports Question Google's Team

Posted: June 18th, 2009, 2:13pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

I have been watching a Google Webmaster Help thread for about a week now. The thread was started by a 3rd party individual who volunteers a lot of his time helping webmasters in the Google Webmaster Help forum. He was even promoted (no pay of course) to the position of "Webmaster Help Bionic Poster" as a top contributor.

Autocrat, the name this person goes by, questioned Google's search quality team, to give them more insight in how to help Google. He said:

It would be nice to know; * What sort of "activities" we should be reporting * What hte chances are of seeing any form of action on a report * What sort of "crimes" could we expect to see action on * Whether you have to make multiple reports - or have multiple reports made against you before action is taken * how is it that some of the most blatant stuff gets to stay on line and escape the "algorythm"
I hate to ask - but I'm tired of seeing some of the * in the SERPs - and I now fail t osee why I should bother reporting some of hte cheating * * when I know that I have a less than 1 in 20 chance of seeing them get punished!

So please - would the Spam Team please step forward and have a chat with us?

We all waited, and waited for a response from an official Google representative. But a week later we have yet to see a response.

It is tough when your top volunteers ask tough questions, but it is even tougher when your top volunteers have to ask some of these questions.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Voice Search Enabled On Google Maps For Android

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 2:27pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

This almost wants me to switch to an Android device, even though I am getting the new iPhone 3GS on Friday. Google announced that you can now search Google Maps on an Android device by your voice, a lot like how you use the Google Mobile Search app on your iPhone.

Christopher from the Google Maps team said in a Google Mobile Help forum that the new features include

Search by voice
Transit and walking directions
Business details and reviews
Latitude Updates

Plus, Google fixed the latitude background location updates will continue to update. Previously, a bug was causing background updating to periodically stop for some users.

Here are additional notes left by Christopher:

The "Google Maps" update in Android Market will only appear for users with system updates for "Cupcake" and above (or SDK 1.5+; see Settings> About phone > Firmware version). If your device does not yet have Cupcake (v1.5), please be patient until it is available in your locale.
If you experience the "Installation error - package file was not signed correctly" error, this is because your device is not on a user build identified as kila-user, opal-user, etc. (Settings > About phone > Build number). If your device is on a "userdebug" build, this update will not be able to be installed from Market at this time.
Known issue: Traffic data use may cause some memory issues and turn Traffic off with an error message indicating this. We are aware of this issue and investigating possible fixes.
Street View was not removed but is now available contextually within Maps instead of as its own map mode. For example, search for an address or business (or use the new long-press the map feature) to pick a location on the map. If Street View data is available, you'll have the option of seeing the imagery along with the rest of the options for that location (Show on map, Get directions, Search nearby, etc.).

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Google News Releases Much Needed Publisher FAQ

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 2:20pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Good news for those looking to get included in Google News. Google finally released a much needed Google News Publisher FAQ to answer those common questions.

The FAQ is focused on publishers looking to get in to Google News, and also to help them with issues and technical requirements. The article is broken down into the following categories:

Getting accepted in Google News
Including my content in Google News
Sitemaps questions
Help! Something's broken!

Google News was a very mysterious beast back in the day. The Google News team has recently done an excellent job communicating with publishers and webmasters on various inclusion and technical issues.

Forum discussion at Google News Help.

Google News Releases Much Needed Publisher FAQ

Posted: June 17th, 2009, 2:20pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Good news for those looking to get included in Google News. Google finally released a much needed Google News Publisher FAQ to answer those common questions.

The FAQ is focused on publishers looking to get in to Google News, and also to help them with issues and technical requirements. The article is broken down into the following categories:

Getting accepted in Google News
Including my content in Google News
Sitemaps questions
Help! Something's broken!

Forum discussion at Google News Help.

NY Post "Fear Grips Google" Mocked By SEOs

Posted: June 15th, 2009, 3:37pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

The NY Post, in NY Post style, went with an over the top title for their latest article about Google, which read Fear Grips Google. Here is the introductory paragraph:

You'd think nothing would get under the skin of search giant Google.
But co-founder Sergey Brin is so rattled by the launch of Microsoft's rival search engine that he has assembled a team of top engineers to work on urgent upgrades to his Web service, The Post has learned.

The NY Post has a history of going a bit (to say the least) over the top with their reporting. Mashable said, "the Post has a knack for spin, and while Google may not be gripped by fear, we’d think it only prudent for the search leader to consider what threat, if any, Bing poses to its dominant market position... The bottom line: we’d be more concerned if Google was not paying attention to new competitors."

It doesn't appear that SEOs and Webmasters are fooled by the title either.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Mobile YouTube Experts: Share Your Skills With Others on Google

Posted: May 22nd, 2009, 3:49pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you are a maven at YouTube and videos in the mobile space, you might be interested in a new Google Mobile Help thread.

Googler, Robin, said he and Google is looking for mobile YouTube experts to make help videos to be syndicated on the YouTube Help Channel for others to learn from. Robin said:

Help others out by making fun, creative, and informative videos that we can add to the YouTube mobile help center articles. Making videos of tips, instructions, and shortcuts makes everything easier to understand!
Check out more info here if you're interested: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=YouTubeHelp

So if you have the mobile video skill set, and want to help others, give it a try!

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Funny SEM Thread: Google's Fault I Got Scammed

Posted: May 21st, 2009, 3:07pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

I rarely share funny threads, but I seriously need to lighten things up today, due to the lack of sleep I have been getting. A Google AdWords Help thread has a sad story of someone who was scammed for 1,000 rupees. The funny part is that this was done in person, by someone claiming to be a Google advertising representative.

What appears to have happened was that a person claimed to be an authorized agent of Google. The person said, give me 1,000 rupees as a starter balance and I will get your ads going. It turns out, this guy took the money and ran off.

Clearly, the person who was scammed is upset. But who does he blame? Google! Since this guy claimed to be an authorized Google agent, Google is responsible for the loss. Seriously.

The person then goes off cursing at everyone for telling him that Google is not responsible and that he has been scammed. Google has seriously modified the thread to keep it somewhat clean. But it still is a funny read.

Personally, I am willing to repay this guy his 1,000 rupees, which is $27. In fact, I'll make the offer to him, since I did use his story for this site.

Lessons learned:

(1) Don't fall for scams, do your homework before giving anyone your money
(2) Don't blame others for your own problems

Forum discussion at Google AdWords Help.

Major Latency With Google Web Search & Gmail

Posted: May 14th, 2009, 6:31pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

It seems like many people around the world are complaining that Google's properties, including Google Search and Gmail are both either down for them or incredibly slow. For me, it is working well, but I had people call, email and IM me about the issue.

Plus, if you look at a Twitter Search for google, you will see many are saying it is slow or down, at the moment.

We do have a few threads in the Google forums, here is one from the Google Web Search Help discussion forums.

I assume there are some server or network issues with the major backbones causing the slowness or downtime. I also assume things will return to normal soon.

Google has updated the App Status page to say there is service disruption today for Gmail users:

We're aware of a problem with Google Mail affecting a small subset of users. The affected users are unable to access Google Mail. We will provide an update by May 14, 2009 11:23:00 AM UTC-4 detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change.
*This may also be affecting other services

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

More Nudity & Pornography Found in Google Gadgets

Posted: May 14th, 2009, 3:33pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Last week, we reported for the first time of Google Gadget porn becoming an issue. Well, it is now more widespread then I have ever seen.

A new Google AdSense Help thread reports seeing porn in home page of the Google Gadgets directory. Here is a screen capture:

Both Google Gadgets contain full nudity and also include sex photos. This is a clear violation of the Google Gadget terms. This was first reported two days ago, and they have been on the home page of the directory for at least two days and they still remain there. Hopefully Google will remove these soon.

Forum discussion at Google AdSense Help.

Wolfram Alpha : The Real Thing

Posted: May 4th, 2009, 4:01pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Search Other Engines

I cannot tell you how many emails I get from PR companies telling me that the next Google is here. Wolfram Alpha, a "fact engine" might be the closest search engine to meet that criteria and in my opinion, Wolfram Alpha does not compete with Google, but it will be a must use search engine.

Wolfram Alpha is a "fact engine" as Danny describes at Search Engine Land. Actually, before reading on here, you should first read Danny's review and then come back here.

I watched the full demo, live, last week and I was honestly blown away. It doesn't replace Google but it does fill a much desired need in the search business. Wolfram can answer your questions with hard cold facts. It is more than a Butler answering questions, it is a whole group of Harvard professors answering your questions with incredible detail and clarity.

Here is a quick demo of the screen shots of Wolfram Alpha:

Wolfram comes in and gives searchers something they have been missing. You can search for very specific things in the realm of science, math, geography, demographics, and so on and get not just the answer, but detailed information from real sources. There is really nothing like this out there at this scale.

A WebmasterWorld thread has some interesting comments from SEOs and webmasters on what Wolfram may have to offer:

Tedster: "I look forward to what this approach may offer. Wolfram brings fundamental genius on the level of Einstein and Hawking, rather than intelligence at the level of Page and Brin."

JS Harris: "Wolfram seems to be a different beast, not only is all the knowledge there but it's being analyzed and compared in some ingenious ways."

But most people in the thread are skeptical for good reason. But we need to think that a search engine does not have to compete with Google to be the next Google. It can fill a new need that has been unfilled in the past. I think Wolfram Alpha will fill that need.

I personally cannot wait to be able to test the new engine out sometime this month. It is currently not live, but they promised to make it live sometime in May.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Yahoo Shuts Down History: GeoCities To Be Closed

Posted: April 24th, 2009, 3:34pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

Shouldn't there be some laws about removing historic landmarks from the Internet? I mean, we have laws about physical historic landmarks in the U.S. but not on the Internet?

If you visit GeoCities, you will notice a message that reads:

Sorry, new GeoCities accounts are no longer available.

After careful consideration, we have decided to close GeoCities later this year. We'll share more details this summer. For now, please sign in or visit the help center for more information.

In short, Yahoo is shutting it down and current GeoCity customers have to find a new hosting solution. Yahoo is of course pushing their paid small business hosting service.

Clearly, Yahoo has to turn their business around but to close down history? Maybe Obama has something in his budget to take over the historic GeoCities? ;-)

Personally, I have never used GeoCities - but it was incredibly popular. Googler, JohnMu, Tweeted "Surprised at how many serious sites are hosted on GeoCities: get a domain name and move your stuff out NOW!" Now he would know the value of some of these GeoCities sites.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Google Maps Bug Prevents Certain Locations From Loading in Internet Explorer

Posted: April 23rd, 2009, 3:39pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There are two large threads at Google Maps Help Forums with reports from Internet Explorer users receiving errors when trying to view and link to Google Maps.

The error some of these IE users are seeing is:

Webpage error details User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; GTB5; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727) Timestamp: Sat, 18 Apr 2009 15:26:06 UTC
Message: 'elem' is null or not an object
Line: 5
Char: 372
Code: 0
URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Google has confirmed the issue in the threads. Mike CH from Google said:

I wanted to update you on the "elem is null or not an object" error that some of you have been seeing. This is a recently introduced bug which only occurs on Internet Explorer when loading certain locations. Thanks to your (very!) helpful reports, we were able to quickly locate the problem. It's being treated as a priority fix and will hopefully be live shortly.
Workarounds for now include:

- Not using Internet Explorer
- Using the link I provided above to open Maps

I assume a bug like this will be fixed pretty soon. I personally tried to replicate the issue on my PC, but was unable to.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help Forums.

Google's Clock Is Wrong in Pakistan

Posted: April 23rd, 2009, 3:20pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google search for time in pakistan should give you the current time in Pakistan, but it doesn't. On April 15th, Pakistan advanced their clocks by one hour, but Google did not. So instead of it showing me 6:19pm, it is showing me 5:19pm.

Big deal? Yes, it is. This is not just impacting people looking for the current time in Pakistan. Is is reportedly also impacting Pakistan users of Gmail, Orkut, AdWords and other Google properties. A Google Web Search Help thread reports that it is showing emails as being received and sent an hour earlier then it is suppose to show.

I hope Google fixes this soon. It has already been a week since it has been first reported as an issue.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Google Releases Stable Toolbar for Internet Explorer

Posted: April 16th, 2009, 2:10pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you have been like me and been tracking the Google Toolbar Help discussion area, you may have noticed complaint after complaint on how buggy the Google Toolbar was in Internet Explorer.

Google announced they have released a stable version of the Google Toolbar 6 for IE. Version 6.1.1518.856 is the stable release, which removes the beta tag from this toolbar.

Internet explorer users can download it at [toolbar.google.com]. Improvements include:

Find bar is no longer a separate toolbar that overrides IE's Find feature
Word find and Highlight buttons are back
AutoFill works on most login pages, like the Gmail homepage

Forum discussion at Google Toolbar Help.

This article was written earlier this week and scheduled to go live April 16th.

A Video of Google's Data Center

Posted: April 15th, 2009, 1:58pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google is pretty off limits to showing off their data centers and engineering floors. But Google created a presentation on April 1st for the Google Efficient Data Centers Summit to show off their data centers. Here is that video:

The video is extremely interesting in how they try to squeeze as much out of every CPU they have, including how they maximize the energy they use to power them.

This is a rare look inside of Google's data centers.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

This article was written earlier this week and scheduled to go live April 15th.

Google Creates Local Business Center User Guide

Posted: April 14th, 2009, 3:07pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google has created a comprehensive user guide for the local business center. You can via the user guide over here.

It is broken down in seven sections:

Getting started
Adding a listing
Adding more than 10 listings
Verifying a listing
Your Local Business Center homepage
Editing or removing a listing
Other features

Here is the user guide's introductory video:

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Releases Maps for Mobile Update to Resolve Bugs

Posted: April 13th, 2009, 3:41pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google has announced a Google Maps for Mobile update in the Google Mobile Help discussions area that fixes the bugs with version 3.0 for Symbian and Windows Mobile devices.

Googler, Christopher, said:

A new version of Maps for mobile is available to download. This update includes many fixes and updates for both Maps and Google Latitude based on your feedback here in the Help Forum.
Please see the following Release Notes for more details about what's been changed in this version or go directly to m.google.com/maps in your mobile browser to download it now: [www.google.com]

It seems like early feedback on this release shows that some users of these applications on the devices are still having some issues. If you are having any issues with Google Maps for Mobile on Symbian and Windows Mobile devices this is the place to be.

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Google Docs Fixes Unpublished Bug

Posted: April 3rd, 2009, 3:13pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Christine from the Google Docs team posted an announcement in the Google Docs Help discussion area that two bugs have been fixed.

The first bug was that published Google spreadsheets were becoming unpublished by themselves. This should now be resolved.
The second bug was that 'Share with the world'/''Let anyone view without signing in' did not work, now it does.

Google Docs is very often plagued with bugs, some minor and some serious. The last major security bug shared private documents with others. Yet, Google and the US Government wants you to use Google Health to share your private medical history with others.

Forum discussion at Google Docs Help.

Google Local Business Center Not Functioning For Many

Posted: April 2nd, 2009, 3:11pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

It appears that the Google Local Business Center is not working for many businesses interested in updating their Google Maps/Local business listing. A Google Maps Help thread (well, there are a few) reports the issues from several users.

In short, it seems like when some try to access their local business listing they are presented with the following error:

System Error
We're sorry, but we are unable to serve your request at this time. Please try back in a few minutes.

This has been plaguing some business owners for over three days. There is no word from Google on the issue yet.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

How Long Should It Take To Rank Well in Google?

Posted: April 1st, 2009, 3:23pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A WebmasterWorld thread asks how long does it take to rank well in Google? A good question, but typically, a new site might rank well in the short term and then drop off the radar until it begins ranking again. This is sometimes known as a temporary PageRank feature of some sort.

So let me poll our audience, you tell me how long you think it takes to rank well in Google?

How Long Should It Take To Rank In Google?
( surveys)

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Google Maps Incredibly Slow? Troubleshoot Issues With Google

Posted: April 1st, 2009, 3:08pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There are several people who are complaining that Google Maps is incredibly slow for them. If you have slowness issues with Google Maps, you may be in luck. A Google Maps Help thread has a Googler helping these users by troubleshooting issues with them.

Googler, Mike CH, believes there are certain firewalls that may be causing the issue. There seem to be two issues, the first is loading the map tiles and the second is trouble loading the JavaScript "brain" of the site.

Mike is asking these users to run traceroutes and disable their firewalls. If you are also having issues with Google Maps, you may want to participate in the thread.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

iGoogle Custom Themes Not Working For All

Posted: March 31st, 2009, 2:49pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There are several complaints in a Google Web Search Help thread that users cannot upload their own iGoogle custom themes. iGoogle allows users to pick a theme from a set of pre-made templates or upload their own theme for their iGoogle home page.

It seems like several people are having issues uploading their own theme.

Google employee, Jem, has been trying to help these users figure out the issue. But for a few days now, Jem seems to be at a loss.

For now, people are sharing the images they want to use for their custom theme and hopefully, Jem will be able to figure it out.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Google Offering Hosting Companies Packaged Google Pack

Posted: March 27th, 2009, 7:01am CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google announced they are now offering access providers, such as hosting companies, the ability to easily give their customers access to Google's Webmaster Tools, AdSense, Custom Search, and Site Search. These access providers can sign up at [www.google.com].

Today, we're releasing Google Services for Websites, a few more tools that your hosting company can now enable to help you improve your website. This expanded program includes Webmaster Tools, AdSense, Custom Search, and Site Search, making it easier to drive traffic to your site, monetize your site through the Google ad network, and add various search capabilities to help your visitors find information on your site faster.

We have some discussion around this announcement at WebmasterWorld. WebmasterWorld admin, tedster, said:

Seems like a savvy, and potentially revenue-increasing move. Note that the web host needs to participate for this program to be available: "...a few more tools that your hosting company can now enable to help you improve your website."
The Custom Search Engine is one service that might be a real boon. A CSE is not all that easy for the non-technical site owner to set up right now, and if this service makes it easier, that's a good thing.

Google has been piloting this type of services to some web hosts in the past. Expanding it to any web host and access provider is a no brainer for Google.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

iGoogle Signing You Out?

Posted: March 23rd, 2009, 1:08pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Personalized search and personalized home pages can be great for most users. The only issue is that you need to be signed in, most of the time, to get personalized results from Google. And if you love those personalized results and home page from iGoogle, being automatically signed out without requesting to be signed out, can be a bit frustrating.

Over the past week, I have seen dozens of threads pop out in several Google forums on the topic of Google automatically signing them out of iGoogle. I ignored it as being a recent security patch that deleted cookies and thought it would be resolved soon.

Google recently posted an announcement on this exact issue, saying:

Several users have reported that they're getting signed out of iGoogle several times each day. This is not the way it's supposed to work, and we're investigating the issue on our end.
If you're affected by this problem, please first check to make sure this isn't a problem with your computer or network; instructions for checking are located in this Help Center article. Once you've eliminated those possibilities, if you'd like to discuss this further please post in this thread.

So if you are also being signed out from Google, don't feel left alone.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

New Yorkers Upset Google Label's World Trade Center Site as Ground Zero

Posted: March 10th, 2009, 2:43pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you go to Google Maps and zoom into the World Trade Center Site, you will see that Google has labeled the area, "Ground Zero."

Ground Zero was what many people started calling the World Trade Center after the terrible attack on September 11, 2001. I think most of us still remember the day vividly. But some New Yorkers (and I am a New Yorker) are upset that Google still labels the area Ground Zero.

Here is the complaint from at least one New Yorker found in Google Maps Help discussion area:

Please remove the "Ground Zero" label from the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. I realize that anyone not from New York City comes here expecting to visit the site and that this is a common reference, but that is not its real name and it should not be used. It is equivalent to awarding the attackers a marksmanship medal, and we should not be doing that, nor frankly should we be equating what happened here with a nuclear bombing reference. All NY'ers refer to the site as 'the World Trade Center site', and that's what it still is to us, and will be again, if they ever get the construction completed. Finally, as a born-and-raised New Yorker who was here htat day I find the label 'ground zero' just plain despicable, and I really wish people wouldn't use it, and people I know here feel the same way. Please stop encouraging its use.

I can totally understand this person's frustration and rational here. But from a searcher's perspective, people still search for worlds like "ground zero" and "september 11" on Google Maps. Google still wants to return those results. I guess technically, Google can hide the label on the map itself and just return this area for the search, but maybe searchers find it useful.

Tough call here. As many people know, maps and borders and what you call places can become a very touchy and sensitive topic.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Docs Security Breach Should Encourage People Not to Use Google Health

Posted: March 9th, 2009, 2:18pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Late last week, I saw dozens and dozens of threads in the Google Docs Help discussion forum, where Googlers were saying that they would contact these individuals directly, via email. Now, I saw a bunch of these, but didn't really look into them, simply because the issue was handled off the public forum.

Over the weekend, Google posted the details of the issue, which seemed to me to be a major security breach. Let me quote it:

We wanted to let you know about a bug (now fixed) that affected a small percentage of users who may have shared permissions between some documents in their account without their knowledge. This inadvertent sharing happened only when the document owner, or a collaborator with sharing rights, selected multiple documents and presentations from the documents list and changed the sharing permissions. (This issue didn't affect spreadsheets.) As part of the fix, we used an automated process to remove collaborators and viewers from the documents that we identified as being affected. We apologize for the inconvenience of having to re-share your docs. We have sent notifications to the owners of impacted docs, informing them of this fix and posted this information to the Apps Status Dashboard: http://www.google.com/appsstatus

Can you imagine if you were sharing financial information or personal medical information with someone and some how, it was shared with strangers? And Google wants you to use Google Health to share your most confidential and personal details with your doctor and family? I am all for sharing in exchange for convenience but what is stopping a security bug like this from happening on Google Health?

Forum discussion at Google Docs Help.

"Place Closed" In Google Maps: Close Your Competitors Down on Google

Posted: March 6th, 2009, 2:25pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A few weeks ago, I wrote a story named Google Maps Closes Down Business When it is Still in Operation. In short, Google labelled a business in Google Maps as being closed, when it was actually in business and servicing companies. Back then, I thought it was an issue with a user not correctly setting his or her Google Local Business Center information. But I was wrong. It seems to be a bug with Google's Local Business Center.

We have several threads in the Google Maps forum and one longer one in the Google Maps Help discussion area.

Googler, Joel H described how this can work. But let me show you how you can do the reverse, i.e. close down a business on Google Maps without having access to that business.

Let's go to Microsoft's listing in Google Maps.

Then click on the "Edit" link on the left bottom side of the map bubble:

Then click on "Remove Place:"

Then check off, "it is permanently closed" and add a comment:

My request went through and it likely will be rejected:

Like I said, it will likely be rejected, because it is Microsoft. That is why I picked Microsoft. But for some smaller businesses, removing them, might slip through the cracks, like they did for these businesses.

If your business is verified with Google's Local Business Center, I don't think there is a way for anyone to make this request. But for the majority of business in Google Maps that are not "verified," this can easily be done and potentially hurt sales for those businesses.

"Community Edits," aren't they great? FYI, this is nothing that new. I am illustrating this not to have a bunch of people start removing businesses, but rather to make it harder for these things to happen. Clearly, this has turned into a bigger mess then one expected.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Joins Twitter, The Online World Goes Haywire

Posted: February 27th, 2009, 2:28pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

I cover Google a lot here, because that is what people talk about in the forums - mostly. But yesterday, Google joined Twitter at [twitter.com] and the online world went berserk. Google has 26,093 right now and it is growing. Yahoo [twitter.com] only has 4,709 and they have been on Twitter for a while, and Live Search [twitter.com] only has 1,434 followers. Let's not forget Ask.com [twitter.com] with a whopping 94 followers.

Google joins and gets 25,000 in 24 hours. What brand power!

FYI, if you want to follow me on Twitter, I am at [twitter.com]. I only have 3,400 followers right now.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and Sphinn.

Google's Phone (Android) Paid Apps Won't Update

Posted: February 23rd, 2009, 2:28pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There is so much love for Google's new mobile phone, the G1 or Android phone. A week or two ago, Google announced that they are now accepting paid apps to the app marketplace. But now, we are seeing reports that paid apps cannot be updated.

A Google Mobile Help thread has confirmed reports from a Googler that there is indeed a bug. A G1 paid app user said, "after you purchase a paid and and then try to update it, it doesn't update. It just says downloading and nothing happens." This user said that the free apps update fine, but not the paid apps.

Google employee, Alden confirmed the issue saying:

Thanks for reporting this to us - just wanted to let you know we're looking into it.

In the iTunes App store, if you purchase an app, all updates to the specific app are free. Currently, there is no way for iPhone App users to be charged for a major or even minor update, without releasing a new app. I assume the same model works for the G1.

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Google News Gadget Breaks iGoogle Page

Posted: February 20th, 2009, 2:57pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Last night, the Google News iGoogle Gadget was having issues. The gadget did not show any news at all. Here is the first report I saw from Google Web Search Help.

Suddenly last night when I went to my home page, the Google News section was blank - not stories or headlines - only the Tabs were present. If I expanded Google News I could get all the content, but not the summary. I changed some settings, tried restore to the last backup, and even removed, rebooted and reinstalled Google News. No Happiness with my Google News.

Paul from Google replied thanking users for reporting the issue and said they will work on a fix. In the meantime, he asked users to go to news.google.com to get their news fix.

This morning it was fixed and working properly.

In addition to this Google News bug, it seems like Google News was not properly sorting by date yesterday. A Google News Help thread has a report from a user informing Google of this issue. Google replied with a thank you and that they are looking into it.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help and Google News Help.

Small Dot Annoying Firefox 3 Users in Google Search

Posted: February 12th, 2009, 3:52pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Web Search Help thread has a group of searchers complaining about a single pixel that shows up when you click the next or previous buttons in Google Search. This only seems to show up for a second, when you click the next or previous button, but it also only shows up in Firefox 3.

Here are pictures:

As you can see, I circled in red, the pixel that seems to be really bugging some searchers.

Funny how the smallest little thing can really get on your nerves.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.

Google Maps Showing Adult Images From Panoramio

Posted: February 12th, 2009, 3:37pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Yesterday, we reported that Google's Local Business Center was injected by escort services in the Google Maps results (by the way, it is still there). Today, I spotted a thread in Google Maps Help thread with a complaint from a person who lives in Ave Maria, Florida that an adult-like image shows up in the "Explore this area" section of Google Maps for a search on Ave Maria, Florida.

Here is a screen shot:

When you click on that image, it shows up larger in the map:

It is here where you see that it is from Panoramio and the quick solution is to report that image as inappropriate in Panoramio.

So a proud city member is upset that this woman's underpants shows up for her city in Google Maps. I can understand that.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

The Colorblind Want To Use Google Maps Traffic Data

Posted: January 30th, 2009, 8:12am CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google Maps has very useful traffic data but it plots that traffic data using colors. For example, here is a screen capture of traffic new NYC:

But those that are severely colorblind are not able to see traffic data. One such person posted a complaint in Google Help Groups asking for an "alternative way" of displaying such data on Google Maps for those that are colorblind.

Interesting point, making Google Maps more accessible for the colorblind.

Forum discussion at Google Help Groups.

Google Reader Recommendation Lists Stops Updating

Posted: January 30th, 2009, 8:01am CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

We have confirmed reports that Google Reader's recommendation list feature stopped updating some time over the past day or so. The recommendation list is suppose to show you other blogs or feeds that you might be interested in, based on your current feed subscriptions at Google Reader.

In a Google Groups thread, one Google Reader user noticed that he/she stopped receiving recommendations. So he/she reported the issue, and Google confirmed the bug. Google said they hope to fix it in a day or so.

Roger from the Google Reader team said:

Thanks for reporting this. After a bit of investigating, we think we've found something that might be keeping some recommendations from updating. We're hoping to have this fixed by the end of the day. Please let us know if you're still having trouble after a few days.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

How To Use Google To Recover a Lost Web Site

Posted: January 23rd, 2009, 12:18pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Webmaster Help discussion thread shows a good way to recover lost web pages using Google.

First, Googler, JohnMu, recommends you take down your website down immediately. He said, "do not let the server respond to any requests. This is important because otherwise the cached pages will be overwritten by whatever content you have online now."

Second, use the Warrick Tool, which will look at Internet Archive, Google, Live Search, and Yahoo for caches of your pages. John said, it typically takes a day or two to get your content.

Finally, when you have these files, you can restore with them.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help

Google Won't Bring Back the iPhone Version of iGoogle

Posted: January 22nd, 2009, 11:41am CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

On Monday, we broke the news that Google dropped the iPhone version of iGoogle and it really really really update iPhone users. That being the case, I really thought Google would bring back the iPhone interface. It seems like I was wrong.

Google updated the Google Web Search Help thread saying that they want to keep one version of iGoogle mobile so they can concentrate "on a single version is that not all mobile browsers can handle the same content that the iPhone and Android can."

Here is the full post:

I want to let you know that the teams involved in this decision are aware of this thread and following along on the feedback. I'd like to address a few concerns I've seen posted:
The mobile version doesn't provide the same experience as the iPhone/Android version
We know there are some differences between the two versions -- in fact I've been using iGoogle on the iPhone since the day it launched. One of the trade offs we know we're making with concentrating on a single version is that not all mobile browsers can handle the same content that the iPhone and Android can. The mobile team does want to hear any ideas you've got for mobile features; you can submit them to their ideas page:
http://productideas.appspot.com/#16/e=cf

iGoogle on iPhone and Android
The Android users who've popped in here are right; we're also redirecting Android phones to the mobile interface. The goal here is to provide an iGoogle page that's optimized for speed and reliability; this change wasn't made to cater to Android users.

The iPhone/Android version is still available from a desktop computer
That's currently true; redirecting iPhone and Android users to the mobile iGoogle page was the first step in standardizing the experience. We're working on taking down the iPhone/Android version.

Some content has disappeared
If some of your content isn't there now, that's probably because it isn't compatible with the mobile interface (for you technical folks, that's anything in an IFRAME). You can learn about what content from your list does work from this article in our Help Center:
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=96016

Finally, if there's a Google service that you used to access on the iPhone version of iGoogle that isn't offered in the mobile version, we may have an optimized version available. To see the list of optimized services, visit Google.com on your iPhone or Android phone and tap the 'More' link at the top of the page.

This response clearly doesn't sit well with most iPhone users.

Forum discussion continued at Google Web Search Help.

Google Apps is Safe For Video Uploads Despite Google Video Upload Cuts

Posted: January 19th, 2009, 2:28pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

The other day, we reported that Google began cutting jobs, offices and services. Part of that, was cutting the ability to do video uploads at Google Video.

A concerned Google Apps user asked a valid question. He asked in a Google Video Help thread, does this impact Google App Premium users. The answer was no, Google Apps Premier users still can upload videos, as part of the service. In fact, Google had to update their FAQs to clarify this.

A Google representative, Sapna, said:

Good question! We just added it to the FAQ page as well.
This move is not going to affect the video service of Google Apps - you will still be able to upload & share videos.

Hope that alleviates some confusion!

The FAQs have now been updated to say:

Does this change apply to Google Video for business, used by companies for private, secure video sharing?
No, it doesn't. Google Video for business is part of Google Apps Premier Edition, and it lets employees share video content with each other, like team updates and recordings of training sessions and guest speakers. Business users can continue to upload and share videos, and the service is actively being developed.

Forum discussion at Google Video Help.

How Did Tele Atlas Improve Google Maps?

Posted: January 15th, 2009, 2:30pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Maps Guide Adam created a new thread in the new Google Maps Help discussion forum clarifying how Google's Tele Atlas maps distribution deal has helped improve Google Maps.

The two main points Adam made were:

(1) You can see blocks of addresses, notice in the embed map below around Baruch College, that there are numbers on the streets that show you the house numbers. So if you need to go to 153 East 25th street, you know where to go. Zoom in to see:

View Larger Map

(2) Roof top markers, so you now which building you are looking for. Zoom in to see:

View Larger Map

(4) Easier getting updates and sending update due to their shared data agreement.

Finally, you can submit feedback about the data to mapinsight.teleatlas.com/.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Google Starts Cutting Projects, Employees & Offices

Posted: January 15th, 2009, 2:19pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Seems like the economy is getting to everyone, including the all mighty and recession proof Google. In summary, Google has begun cutting out services they provide, they have cut 100 recruiters (i.e. less hiring) and they are closing offices, which might lead to 70 engineers losing their jobs.

Danny has a great article summing up the Google product and services slashes, which include Google dropping Google Video uploads, Google Catalog Search, Google Notebook, Jaiku and Dodgeball. Danny concludes, "neither products nor engineers seem to have a protected status, as Google goes into the grim economic times predicted for 2009."

On the job front, Google has laid off a 100 recruiters and is closing three offices; the ones in Austin, Texas; Trondheim, Norway; and Lulea, Sweden. That may lead to 70 engineers losing their jobs but Google promises to refill those positions, if those engineers cannot relocate to Google's headquarters. But clearly, dropping 100 internal recruiters will mean less hiring in 2009.

Forum discussion at Cre8asite Forums, DigitalPoint Forums and Sphinn.

How Many Grams Of CO2 Does a Google Search Require?

Posted: January 12th, 2009, 1:57pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

How many grams of CO2 does the average Google search consume? That was the hot topic of debate over the weekend. The UK's Times Online reported that scientists said a typical Google search consumes about 7g of CO2, which is equivalent to the "amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea."

But Google downright denies this. They said in a recent blog response named Powering a Google Search that the average query only consumes about 0.2 grams of CO2. Clearly, Google is not agreeing with these scientists, because those numbers are way different.

Google then takes the time to explain how Google is very proactive in green causes and explains how a Google search is very green.

The folks in the forums are not happy about this study, not happy at all. Even before Google's response, member lgn1 said, "Also, I suspect those numbers, 7 grams of CO2 per search are way out to lunch. Without power comsumption numbers from google, that physicist is just urinating in the wind."

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Popular Chinese Search Engine, Baidu, To Better Label Search Ads

Posted: January 12th, 2009, 1:41pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Search Other Engines

The Wall Street Journal reported that the very popular chinese search engine, Baidu, will be testing a better labeling and differentiating the paid results from the organic results. The article said, "The company has begun testing a new model for advertising that will place paid advertisements on the right-hand side of its page."

Over at WebmasterWorld we have some conversation on the news.

One member feels like Baidu has nothing to lose. He said, "The revenue hit is what has/will prompt changes, not public pressure. Often times public pressure is good, it draws attention and generates income on its own, but when the dollars start to fade it's time to change. I wonder how much of a black eye will linger in a year, if any."

It is about time, like many of the members think. We will see if it lasts and if it will make a difference in Baidu's ad income.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Poll: Do You Like Google's 2009 Fav (Browser) Icon?

Posted: January 9th, 2009, 10:12pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Let us know in the poll bellow if you like Google's new favorite icon, the icon found in the browser bar on the left hand side of the domain name. The image below shows the three icons used, the one on the left most is the newest. The one in the middle is the one introduced in May 2008 and the one on the right is the original one.

Here is the poll, let us know which one you like the best of the three:

Which Google Fav Icon Do You Like The Best?
( surveys)

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums and Google Blogoscoped Forums.

Update: Official word from Google Blog says this redesign was based on a contest they ran.

Gmail Mobile Bug Allowing Security Breaches Of Other Google Email Users?

Posted: January 8th, 2009, 2:29pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

In the past few hours, I have seen two threads from the Google Mobile Help Forums reporting that these people were able to login with their password to Gmail, but for some reason, were taken to someone else's Gmail account.

Both reports came on the fourth of January, the first said:

There are times when I enter the gmail site on my cell phone, and before the sign-in page even appears, I have found myself to be automatically redirected to the inbox of a complete stranger, and I have access to their account. This has happened to me twice.

The second said:

I've experienced a problem lately: on occasion, I will open up my WAP browser and realise that it's not my email I'm viewing at all! It is the email of some random person. Sometimes, I can see the emails when I click on them and sometimes - seemingly randomly - I click on something (say, inbox) and it takes me right back to my own inbox.

A Google representative, Ethan from the mobile team, replied to both saying that they will touch base with these folks offline.

Thanks for letting us know. Someone on the team has contacted you via email to get some account-specific details.
As for your concerns about your own account, Gmail offers HTTPS -- an additional layer of security that will ensure your mail remains encrypted when it travels between your web browser and our servers.

I have not seen any other reports of this, outside of these two. But this does seem a bit scary to me. I hope they figure out the issue soon and fix it as soon as possible.

Forum discussion at Google Mobile Help.

Have a Question For Google? Using Google's New Discussion Area Might Not Help

Posted: January 5th, 2009, 1:44pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A few months ago, Google opened up new interactive discussion areas to help improve Google's communication between Google and the people who use Google's products and services. In fact, the Google Webmaster Help area moved over a month ago today.

Everyone was excited to see a quicker, more efficient and more responsive area to get answers to their questions. The only issue is that many folks are posting questions and their questions are not being seen. A Google Webmaster Help post shares this issue, in short, if you post a question, you need to reply to your post, to make sure it is visible to others. It seems like a temporary bug, but even if it is, who in their right mind will post a question and then reply to their question - it just isn't a logical thing to do.

Googler, JohnMu, said "FWIW You can also just add an update to your question -- that works without having to post a reply to yourself. The team is aware of this issue and I assume it will be addressed with the next update."

They have actually posted an announcement:

Due to an issue in the forum software, some posts here may not show up for everyone until a reply has been posted. To be sure that your thread is visible, feel free to post an empty reply to your own thread.

I hope they get this fixed soon.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Google Recommends Product Ideas for Your Google Mobile Suggestions

Posted: December 31st, 2008, 2:46pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Want Google to implement a new feature for Google Mobile? You no longer need to venture to Google Groups to make the request. Simply hop on over to [productideas.appspot.com] and submit your product ideas. So far, according to the stats, "805 people have submitted 313 ideas and cast 9,772 votes."

These include:
* "An native iPhone App of Google Reader (include a mini browser), more fast and no problem of reloading page after open a link"
* "Google Talk with multiprotocol capabilities."
* "A "Google Product Ideas" for all google services."
* "i want to be able to see my friends on maps on my phone"

If you have your own suggestions for your mobile device, go to the site and start contributing. You never know!

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Googlers Working on Christmas in 2008

Posted: December 26th, 2008, 1:53pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Like last year and the year before that, this year, we have Googlers responding to questions in the help forums.

Googler, JohnMu, like last year, came in and responded to at least one thread, likely more. In a Google Webmaster Help thread John tried to help a webmaster deal with temporary down time. He gave the following advice:

Instead of returning a default website when an error occurs, it's much better to let us know that it's a temporary issue (result code 503). That way, we'll know not to look at the content and to try again later.

In addition, Matt Cutts also joined in on a Merry Xmas thread, late last night saying, "luzie, thanks for the welcome. :)"

There were plenty of other Googlers, and likely other search reps at other companies working or participating in company events, on Christmas. I just wanted to document a few.

Summary of Multiple Google Docs Bugs Reports

Posted: December 24th, 2008, 2:59pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Over the past few weeks, there have been a number of bugs reported within Google Docs. Some of these have been fixed and others are still pending. Here's the lowdown of what we've found in the forums:

* A Google Employee says in a Google Groups thread that the bug that made folders visible on the left hand side of the Google Docs pane has been fixed.

* There's still an open bug (but Google is aware of it) with regards to some spreadsheets not being viewable. The error encountered is "Sorry we are experiencing technical difficulties and cannot show all of your documents." (Google Groups).

* Related to the report above, some users cannot see any of their documents with the same error. Google is also aware of this. (Google Groups)

* When Google Docs documents are being emailed, some senders choose to CC themselves to confirm receipt. However, Gmail automatically assumes that these are spam. The Google Docs team is aware of this as well. (Google Groups)

* Google is also aware that some people can only see the first 50 folders and they are working on a fix (Google Groups)

If you're affected by any of these issues, please go to the forum discussion referred to in the bullet point for more information and related discussion.

Google's Malware Warnings Can Be Subdomain or Subfolder Specific

Posted: December 23rd, 2008, 1:35pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

No one likes it when they get malware on their computers due to an infected site. So that is why Google tries to warn searchers when a site may have malware on it. But Google tries to be as specific as possible, when it comes to malware warnings.

In fact, when possible, Google will report malware issues on subdomains or subfolders only and leave the root domain alone. JohnMu of Google said in a Google Webmaster Help discussion thread:

We try to keep malware labels as specific as possible based on our data. If we can see that it's limited to a specific subdomain, we'll do that. If we can recognize that it's limited to a specific subdirectory, even better. The general problem is that it's often not trivial to find the most specific part of a site that is affected by malware - and with CMSs as they are there's often no clear folder-type structure that we can work with.

That is why a specific blogspot.com blog can be reported as having malware, whereas the main domain will be safe.

Safe Browsing Diagnostic page for blogspot.com
What is the current listing status for blogspot.com?
This site is not currently listed as suspicious.

Part of this site was listed for suspicious activity 227 time(s) over the past 90 days.

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

Google Image Search Enhancement: Search By Style

Posted: December 22nd, 2008, 3:46pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

The Official Google Blog announced on Friday that a new option is available for searchers: the ability to search for images by a specific style. For example, line art is obviously not the same as a photograph -- and now Google can distinguish this for you.

Here's a screenshot. Click for a larger size:

As you can tell, you can now drill down to news content, faces, clip art, line art, and photo content.

I like. Do you?

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.

Does Google Throttle Domain Traffic?

Posted: December 19th, 2008, 3:26pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you get a really high ranking on Google, should you see less traffic? A WebmasterWorld user says that he's getting much higher rankings than before (increases to the first page from page 11) and he's still not getting a traffic boost ("I'm now getting traffic from hundreds more great keyphrases -- but the total traffic at the end of the day is the same as it has been for the past three months.") The thought is that Google is not giving him that boost (but why?)

Some say that this is because even great rankings for very popular keywords do not necessarily bring great traffic. The user argues that his popular keywords ARE bringing him traffic (and they are GREAT keywords), but he's still not sure. The suspicion lies in a correlation between Google AdWords and organic results, but there's absolutely no relationship between the two.

It's still an open ended question. My thought would be to have a good look at analytics and compare the before-after results of the rankings change.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google AdSense Sending Out Scary Christmas E-Cards?

Posted: December 19th, 2008, 1:58pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

So, we all know Google AdSense is cutting off holiday gifts this year. There were many insulted publishers. So, I figured Google would at least send out e-cards before the holidays. And some are now receiving these e-cards.

But those receiving the e-cards are afraid they are sent by spammers. In fact, one AdSense publisher said, "it looks like spam, what are they thinking?" Another said that he will "just delete instead of download" the email. Here is what the email said, and it came from the Google Sydney team:

Dear {this bit was blank},
You have just received a message from Google AdSense Team at Visual Jazz.

To view your message, please visit the following address: {redacted, but the domain included a subdomain 'marketing' and a domain appropriate to the company name above, followed by a long alphanumeric pagename}

To unsubscribe, reply to this email and change the subject to be: unsubscribe

E-cards can be done very nicely or they can be done not so nicely. It is sad to see the beloved Google getting so much bad karma towards them over the holiday season.

I did receive an e-card from a good PR person at Yahoo, it looked like this and led to here.

Hope to hear more happy news next week.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Only Whitelisted Sites Can Display Videos Within Google Reader

Posted: December 18th, 2008, 3:27pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you're hosting your blog on wordpress.com and are embedding video in your blog post, don't expect for it to show up in Google Reader.

That's what Google employees confirm in a Google Groups thread. According to Mihai, a Google rep, there's a whitelist that sites need to be added to in order for their embedded videos to actually play within Google Reader.

So in case you were wondering, apparently you need to request to be whitelisted. The policy isn't exactly clear on how you get your site added to the whitelist, nor is it indicated whether this whitelist is publicly accessible. I suppose that just means that you need to be on top of Google Groups (for now) in order for Google to consider your site whitelisted.

(Surely, there's got to be a better way...)

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Yahoo VP Qi Lu Replaces Kevin Johnson's Vacancy at Microsoft

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 3:56pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

Since the end of July, there's been a vacancy at Microsoft as Kevin Johnson moved on from the company. The New York Times reports that Johnson's vacancy is finally filled: Qi Lu, a former Yahoo executive, has taken the position.

In selecting Mr. Lu, who will become president of the money-losing online services group in January, Microsoft chose an executive with deep technical knowledge over others with more advertising and media experience. He will be leading the company’s challenge to Google, which dominates the search and online advertising businesses.

Suspicions with hiring technologist Lu have to do with Microsoft wanting to be more like Google. Maybe they're right.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google and Yahoo's Ad Deal Ended Because of Anti-Trust Concerns?

Posted: December 5th, 2008, 3:31pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

We reported on November 5th that Google and Yahoo ended their ad agreement. We only knew what the Google Blog (and other news outlets) told us: the government didn't seem too happy about the agreement and advertisers were concerned.

In the past 24 hours, though, it's come to light that there was a lot more than just a "governmental concern." The truth of the matter is that the United States Department of Justice was "three hours away" from filing an antitrust lawsuit against Google, according to CNET.

Now what? Well, Google's decision to pull away was "shrewd." And they think it's smart that Google pulled out, whereas Microsoft's past history shows that they wouldn't back down.

MS rarely back down. Thats why they got such a bad reputation- they were swallowing a multi-million (dollar/pound/euro- take your pick) DAILY fine about publishing "complete and accurate technical specifications" and still fighting.
G still enjoys public affection. It would be seriously bad for them to lose this publically annointed halo. MS never cared what people thought of them- as long as people BOUGHT their product, by hook or by crook

At the same time, though, some wonder why there was a concern about monopolies anyhow. After all, Google and Yahoo are considered competitors.

At the same time, there's a problem with the government's approach, according to one individual.

If the government knew anything about running a business, they wouldn't be operating with a close to $1 trillion annual deficit.

(In comparison, Google is doing a lot better.)

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and Sphinn.

Webmasters Report December 2008 Google SERP Changes

Posted: December 4th, 2008, 3:36pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

It's December, the last year of 2008, and webmasters have started guessing what's up with Google this month once again.

New sites are fluctuating with their rankings; one webmaster reports that his new sites (2 months old or less) are showing up in the top 10 and then 12 hours later, they're not even in the top 1000. It seems that this is a cycle. Some say it's just a sandbox.

Another observation relates to sitelinks. It seems that there are questions regarding sites that have sitelinks in Google's results. Do those mean that those pages are refreshed more often? Crawled more often? Not necessarily; getting sitelinks means you're a more "popular" site (you have more attention), but having sitelinks isn't a factor. The former brought upon the latter, after all.

A third observation relates to a "disconnect" between index pages and inner pages of sites. These pages were never linked together in the SERPs. Tedster expounds upon this idea and says that he observed that the second results from a domain aren't always indented. Sometimes, though, they're indented too much.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google Mobile Maps Asking English Users to Accept Swedish TOS

Posted: December 4th, 2008, 2:25pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There are confirmed reports at Google Maps Help that users downloading the new Google Maps 2.3.2 to their phones are being asked to accept the terms of service before using it. The only issue is that the terms of service (TOS), in some cases, are coming up in a different language then the language the user knows.

For example, an English user said he opened it and the terms of service look to be in Swedish and thus he cannot understand it to agree to it. He asked if there was a way to switch to an English version of the terms of service?

Google Maps representative, Tom, confirmed the issue, saying:

Thanks for letting us know about this. I saw a similar instance earlier today (German text though) and it's currently being investigated. I'll let you know the outcome when I have more information.

Forum discussion at Google Maps Help.

Video: Google Launches Mobile iPhone Voice Application

Posted: November 18th, 2008, 4:13pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Guess what, iPhone owners? The Google Mobile Blog has some great news for you. Google has released an iPhone application with voice recognition that will return searches formatted for your phone. This eliminates the need for you to have to type any queries.

Barry has illustrated how this works:

Cool, isn't it? Most people do think so. One defines this move as "cutting edge technology," though I'd have to attribute that to Apple's superior iPhone rather than Google. Jill Whalen is looking for an iPhone application that does voice recognition dialing; you'd think Google would have thought of that!

All in all, the application has been very well-received.

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn and WebmasterWorld.

Google Maps for Mobile Working On Preloading Maps

Posted: November 18th, 2008, 2:12pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google Maps for Mobile has become an essential tool for maybe mobile warriors. I have spotted a Google Groups thread that asks Google if they would be willing to allow users to download maps to the application and then use those maps while being offline or not connected to the Internet.

This comes in handy when you:

Don't have a data plan but have wifi
Your internet connection is in a dead zone
When you are on an airplane with airplane mode on

Google Maps Tom, an official Google Maps representative has almost confirmed Google is working on it. He said:

There have been a number of posts in this group specifically requesting this functionality, and we're working to meet your needs - but for now, Google Maps for mobile requires a data connection for use.

How soon? Who knows, but it does seem like Google is working on this.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Jerry Does What Is Best For Yahoo By Stepping Down From CEO Role

Posted: November 18th, 2008, 1:59pm CET by rustybrick

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

Jerry Yang, from what I hear about him, is a kind, gentle, caring and giving person. To see the news that he is stepping down form the CEO role, for the betterment of the company, is sad but yet necessary. It is sad, cause he is a good guy, but if it was anyone else, I don't think I would be upset about it. Don't get me wrong, Yahoo needs a new CEO to step in and get the company back on track.

Between all the back and forth with Microsoft and Google, all leading to failure, it is a necessary step. Jerry Yang replaced Terry Semel as CEO in June 2007.

I like Mack's take at the WebmasterWorld thread, where he said, "I think Jerry's main problem was he was to attatched. In business you realy need to think with the head, not the heart. Yahoo! was clearly his "baby"."

Overall, I don't think anyone is surprised. Most wonder what took so long and many are not too confident about Yahoo's future.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, Sphinn and DigitalPoint Forums.

Gmail Adds Video and Voice Chat

Posted: November 14th, 2008, 2:56pm CET by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Want to see who you're talking to over your IM? You may want to use iChat or Skype, but now, Google Talk can support voice and IM chat. You can find out more.

For those who are dependent on Skype (and perhaps 3-5% of my friends actually use the service consistently), it's nice to know that Gmail will probably fill the void for the remaining 95-97%. Many forum members found that Skype's functionality was limited (you needed XP SP2, for example), so the Gmail solution should work pretty well.

That said, the actual integration of these new features hasn't come without its criticisms. One person expressed his disappointment that Google has not installed a folders system and he considers that important. (I see the point and I agree that Labels alone are NOT the suitable replacement. A future Gmail Labs feature, perhaps?) Other tweaks have been requested within Gmail that would make the *mail* experience a more productive one.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld, Search Engine Watch Forums, and DigitalPoint Forums

IM Broadcast is a YouTube for Internet Marketers

Posted: October 24th, 2008, 5:03pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Search Other Topics

Loren Baker of Search Engine Journal teamed up with two great guys, Jordan Kasteler and David Snyder of Search and Social to launch IMBroadcast, which is advertised as the "first ever UGC video site dedicated to the Internet Marketing industry."

If you've taken a look at the site already, it really appears to be one of those sites with a ton of potential. Since as you know, Barry loves Video Recaps, I bet this is right up his alley too. At Cre8asite Forums, forum member Barry Welford also sees the potential. Many forum members think there are still opportunities to add text to the video, and that's still true. But there are opportunities to enjoy video as-is too--and we're not talking about from the perspective of search (not yet, at least).

Forum discussion continues at Cre8asite Forums and Sphinn.

Google Labs Adds Canned Responses to Gmail -- and Emoticon Support is Now Here!

Posted: October 24th, 2008, 4:46pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google's Gmail is getting more and more interesting features. First, I heard via Mashable that Gmail Labs has added support for canned responses. The Official Gmail Blog writes:

If you're sick of typing out the same reply every time someone emails you with a common question, now you can compose your reply once and save the message text with the "Canned responses" button. Later, you can open that same message and send it again and again.

As I mentioned in the subject of this post, Canned Responses is only available if you actually turn on the feature in Gmail Labs. Head on over to Settings on the top right hand corner of your Gmail account, click on the Labs tab, and then Enable Canned Responses. Then, whenever you reply to a message, you'll see your Canned Responses; you can add as many as you want.

Given that I use Lifehacker's Texter to help me with canned responses, it's nice to know that Gmail cares and I could do without Texter -- which is helpful when I'm composing a message on a computer that doesn't have Texter installed. This is a much welcome change.

But that's not all Gmail has whipped up for us this week. A day later, we found out that Gmail now supports humor and emoticons, as seen below:

The Official Gmail Blog explains more. To be frank, I'm surprised it took this long. Still, it's nice that they finally included emoticons. Now how about converting my :) to an actual smiley face?

Forum discussion continues at Search Engine Roundtable Forums.

And Yesterday's Google Feedburner Subscriber Drop Was Brought to You By...

Posted: October 24th, 2008, 4:18pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Cynthia at Google Groups must be a new FeedBurner user. After all, Feedburner has seen regular drops in subscriber count (maybe once or twice a month) and even ran into a zero subscriber count issue with some users earlier.

But Cynthia dropped 300 subscribers yesterday, according to her FeedBurner count (which makes her lucky, because I dropped 700+). What could have possibly been wrong?

From Google FeedBurner's team, Matt S. informed us that there were issues with FeedBurner and Google Feedfetcher. Naturally, when you get a drastic drop in subscribers, it's no reason to be alarmed; it happens way more often than it should.

Personally, I think asking my peers on Twitter is a great way to be kept abreast of the situation. :)

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Google Webmaster Team Sending Letters To Sitemaps Users?

Posted: October 24th, 2008, 3:10pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

I am not sure about this, but it seems that Google's webmaster trends team is sending out snail mail letters to some Sitemap users in the Google Webmaster Help forums. I believe the letters read:

<url>
<loc>
http://www.google.com/webmasters
</loc>
<created>
2006-08-04
</created>
<priority>
Help webmasters create great sites.
</priority>
</url>

I think this is a gesture of appreciation to some of the more active members in the Google Groups support forum. Again, I am not 100% sure about this, because I do not have a picture to prove it and the language used in the Google Groups thread is a bit cryptic, but I think I am right about this.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Update: I have been informed that these are not letters, but rather T-Shirts that have the XML above written on the back of the shirt. I hope to acquire a picture of this T-Shirt. And here is a picture provided by John:

Yahoo's Q3 2008 Earnings Announced

Posted: October 23rd, 2008, 4:58pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

Yahoo has released its Q3 earnings report with some interesting observations. First, the earnings this quarter are $1,786 million, which is a a 1 percent increase compared to $1,768 million for the same period of 2007.

Currently, fifteen thousand employees work for Yahoo (though layoffs are being reported), and some forum members wonder why. Most importantly, they wonder why Yahoo's CEO is still in play especially given the huge missed opportunity with the Microsoft deal. Here's one statement about the poor direction of Yahoo:

Yahoo, IMHO is terribly mismanaged to the point that it no longer is credible as a search engine or directory as search results are severely lacking.

There's still hope, though, as some people say. Yahoo needs to be a lot more innovative. The question, probably, is: how?

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

On Columbus Day, Google Remembers Paddington Bear's 50th Birthday

Posted: October 13th, 2008, 12:50pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Today is Columbus Day and we have a special theme up for the day. It looks like this:

But if you visit Google, you will see a Paddington Bear 50th birthday logo up for today. The logo looks like this:

Boy does that bring back memories. Of course, the logo links to a Google search result for paddington bear.

Happy birthday Paddington Bear and happy Columbus Day also!

Forum discussion at Search Engine Roundtable Forums.

Google Local Business Center Access Issues

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:44pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A Google Groups thread reports many business owners having difficulty accessing the Google Local Business Center.

The error people are getting is:

System Error
We're sorry, but we are unable to serve your request at this time.

Please try back in a few minutes.

Personally, I have no problem accessing it, but it seems like many are having issues.

The issue has been reported back on September 24th and it still is an issue for many, even today. On October 1st, Google Maps Guide Jen said, "Thanks for bringing this to our attention; we're looking in to it right now." But even since then, many still are reporting issues accessing the Google Local Business Center.

There is no ETA on when the issue will be resolved for these users. Nor did Google explain what the issue may be.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Google Scholar Citations Cannot Be Removed

Posted: October 6th, 2008, 2:38pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google Scholar has citations for many the results it provides. Those citations are hyperlinked under the search result, and list out sources across the web the cite the resource.

A Google Groups thread asked how he can get his site removed as a link from a Google Scholar citation. This particular webmaster removed the page but the citation is still listed in Google Scholar.

Googler, Susan Moskwa explained that citations cannot be removed. Why? Susan explains:

In Google Scholar, a citation is generated basically whenever we learn that a particular item (book, article, etc.) exists. As soon as we learn that "Book A" exists--and we may learn of it because we find a link to it, because some other work cites it, or through some other means--we generate a citation for it. The citation doesn't necessarily link to Book A, or provide anything more than a title and author name (although it may); it just indicates that Book A exists, or existed, somewhere in the world. It also doesn't necessarily link to works that reference Book A, or provide any web results, because just because we know a work exists doesn't mean we have any references or web results for it.

This is why you see some citations in Google Scholar that are not hyperlinked.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Google Moderator Goes Live

Posted: September 26th, 2008, 4:35pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Yesterday, I went through a bunch of my feeds and saw Matt Cutts announce a new toy from Google, Google Moderator.

The idea behind Google Moderator is that questions are asked to a group of participants and these people can vote upon the question. Sounds like a social site to me. ;)

Barry suggests over at Search Engine Land that this is a bit like Yahoo Suggestions, and he may be right. But Barry also mentions that Yahoo Suggestions is specific to Yahoo feedback, and users can go crazy with Google Moderator -- it's not limited to anything.

Pretty cool tool. Check it out.

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.

Google Reader Keyboard Shortcuts Changed Without Warning?

Posted: September 25th, 2008, 5:48pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

People using Google Reader who rely heavily on keyword shortcuts aren't happy. A Google Groups thread has a few forum members baffled. The documented behavior follows:

I noticed that the "n" and "p" keys, used to scan down and up through the posts in list view, now causes the selected post to move to the top of the view's window whenever pressed. Prior to this, the displayed posts did not move, allowing movement through the displayed posts.

Many forum members echoed this sentiment. Roger of the Google Reader group says that the keyboard shortcuts will be replaced. I'm a bit curious myself as to why the behavior changed, especially since so many people are dependent on keyword shortcuts and are used to status quo, but I'm glad that the Google Reader team has opted to make the changes and listen to the feedback.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Is There a Third Google Co-Founder?

Posted: September 25th, 2008, 3:01pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A couple days ago TechCrunch reported that a man named Hubert Chang claimed to be the third co-founder of Google. Yes, not just Larry and Sergey, but now, Larry, Sergey and Hubert (has a ring to it).

Here is Hubert's video:

Google truth, the truth of Google's birth from googletruth on Vimeo.

Both Google and Stanford professor Rajeev Motwani has denied that he founded Google. Here is Google's statement:

There is no substance to Hubert Chang’s claims - he had no involvement in the creation of Google. Neither Larry or Sergey have any recollection of meeting him - however, given the number of people they’ve met in the last decade it’s impossible to say categorically that they never have. Rajeev Motwani, the Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at Stanford, believes he may have shared some emails from Mr. Chang with Larry and Sergey in 1997 or 1998. But in any case PageRank had already been developed by that time, and Larry and Sergey had already decided to start Google.

Here is Rajeev Motwani's statement:

To the best of my knowledge, his claims about being a founder of Google, coming up with the name and/or the business plan etc, are completely unfounded in reality. I am sure I would have noticed a third founder, if one existed, since I was working closely with Larry and Sergey at Stanford the time.

I do recall receiving a couple of emails from Hubert Chang in 1997 or 1998. Its been such a long time that I don’t have any recollection of their contents but it’s probable I shared those emails with Larry and Sergey. In any case, by that time the basic idea of PageRank was already in place and there was a clear intent of building a company around this. I am pretty certain that none of the three of us actually met with Hubert Chang during that time period.

So, do you believe Hubert is a co-founder of Google? Take our poll:

Forum discussion at Cre8asite Forums.

Google Maps Now Exclusive To Tele Atlas Data

Posted: September 22nd, 2008, 1:29pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google has primary used two sources of data for their Google Maps product. Google announced in a Google Groups thread, that they are going to be sticking with just one source for the foreseeable future. That source is Tele Atlas.

Maps Guide Adam explained that Tele Atlas powered Google Maps API and Google Maps for Mobile fully and will now power Google Maps fully. Adam explains that you should see many improvements, but there may be some issues with some locations.

While most of the map will look the same, and in many areas it will improve, there may also be some cases where the data may not be optimal.

If you find issues, Google recommends two things to help improve the map tool:

(1) Use the community edit feature.
(2) Tell Tele Atlas of bugs or mistakes over here

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Google Maps Adds Streets to Israel & Mobile Coming Soon

Posted: September 19th, 2008, 2:46pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Recently, maybe a few weeks or months ago, Google Maps added street data for Israel. Before, they only had limited Satellite data for the country. But now, you can get street outlines with very limited street names in the map product.

Here is an static image of the map of the "Old City" in Jerusalem. The blue markers represent where I stayed and learned for about 4 months of my life. The green patch at the bottom was a place we played soccer. The outline with the square box and circle in the middle, is the Western Wall and Temple Mount.

Notice the interactive version still has no street data. Here is a live embedded map, which will likely change to show streets in the future:

View Larger Map

In any event, a Google Groups thread asks when the street outlines will be coming to the mobile version. Google Maps Tom hinted that it would be soon, he said:

Map data that appear on the desktop version Google Maps generally makes its way over to the mobile version. I don't have an exact timeframe for when roads in Israel will be updated, but you can expect that they'll appear eventually :)

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Google Mobile Maps New Street Views & Walking Directions Not 100%

Posted: September 18th, 2008, 5:37pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Are you a heavy user of Google Maps for Mobile? Google has announced that both Street View and Walking Directions have been added to the handheld application. If you want to see it in action, go to google.com/gmm from your mobile browser and then download the application for your phone.

While this is promising and I'd love to see it myself, some forum members are reporting issues with street view. There are three separate reports that street view is not available on the new version for Windows (2.2.0.19). I just downloaded 2.0.2.0 for my Palm OS (yeah, sorry Google, I'm that old school) and I, too, don't see it.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Marissa Mayer of Google Speaks about the Future of Search

Posted: September 12th, 2008, 3:43pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

On the Official Google Blog, Marissa Mayer has spoken about her role at Google and the future of search. She explains that search will be becoming more mobile, that voice and natural language search will probably be more emphasized, and that other advances will be made as well. Additionally, Mayer talks about the impact of universal search and personalization. Finally, Google will likely emphasize language using machine translation.

Mayer concludes her insightful blog post letting us know that search will be forever improved and that it is "a science that will develop and advance over hundreds of years."

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

"The SEO Squares" - Are SEO's Squares?

Posted: September 11th, 2008, 4:10pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Search Other Topics

Want to see some industry figures dressed up in comics as ... erm, squares? Well, if you do, go to the Ranked Hard blog and check it out. You'll find a nude Vanessa fox, a Jim Boykin ninja, a guy named Brad Smart who I've never heard of (and who Ranked Hard says is a fictional character anyway, so I guess I'm not totally out of the loop), and more.

Check it out for your morning laugh :)

For old time's sake, this should remind you of that US game show, Hollywood Squares.

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn.

Google Says Private Registration Won't Hurt Your Search Rankings

Posted: September 5th, 2008, 5:10pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

With the number of scammers who try to usurp ownership of domain increasing (I got 2 letters for 3 domains last week), it's a surprise that few people really take advantage of private registration for their domain names. However, many people don't know about WhoisGuard or Domains By Proxy and instead leave their domain names exposed with all identifying information intact. It's no wonder I even got a call yesterday about my domain name. In a way, it's nice to know when people are checking on you. In another way, it's something that can be easily abused.

The obvious SEO question still hasn't been addressed though. If you have a private registration, will your rankings be impacted?

According to JohnMu, it typically doesn't impact rankings, so you need not worry if you are already implementing it.

However, if you're a business, why would you hide your identifying information? What does that say about your company? What happens if your web site gets hacked and there's no obvious or working contact form on your site? It'll be hard to get reached by Google or someone else who stumbles upon your site in that case. Thus, while it's a hassle at times to have to worry about your identifying information, losing your rankings altogether due to intrusions can be a lot more costly to your business.

Also, JohnMu suggests that you list valid contact information in your domain. This is actually required by the ICANN, not by Google. I spent a good chunk of last night updating my new address in the 40something domains I own and it was a hassle, but at the end of the day, it's better to do this than risk losing your domain altogether.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Search Community Shares Chrome Browser Stats

Posted: September 5th, 2008, 4:19pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

It's only been less than a week and a large percentage of internet folks are using the new Google Chrome Browser. (As for me, I haven't had time to give it a spin yet, but moving on...) Over at Search Engine Land, an extremely large early adopter crowd has surfaced. Barry has compiled all of the stats of the Google Analytics users and Chrome is emerging in an impressive third place position (on average).

Of the three sites sampled in the Search Engine Land post, 6.42% of site visitors are using Chrome. Barry solicits statistical feedback on Sphinn and a number of users are also seeing substantial Chrome representation. Matt Cutts, for example, finds that a whopping 19.44% of his visitors are using Google Chrome.

Here's the Search Engine Roundtable representation:

The average percentage of Chrome users among the Sphinn readership for September 3rd is approximately 3.87%. This includes a tally of 17 different responses in the Sphinn thread and includes some sites that had not reported any Chrome usage.

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn.

44% of SEO/SEMs Say Google's Chrome Won't Win the Browser War

Posted: September 5th, 2008, 2:51pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A few days ago, I asked you guys if you think Google Chrome will win the browser wars.

The responses were pretty much all over the place. We had a total of 162 responses, with 72 people saying no, 55 saying yes and 35 saying they have no idea.

Here is the break down:
:: No said 72 respondents or 44%
:: Yes said 55 respondents or 34%
:: No Idea said 35 respondents or 22%

Forum discussion continued at:

Google Chrome, Google's Browser Project, Google Blogoscoped
Google Chrome - Google's Browser Project, WebmasterWorld
Google Chrome, Google's Browser, Google Blogoscoped
Google Chrome, Google's Web Browser: Is it Real?, Sphinn
Google Chrome, HighRankings Forums
Google Chrome, Google's Browser Project, Sphinn
Will Chrome kill IE , DigitalPoint Forums

Submit Your Google Chrome Feedback Over Here

Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 4:16pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Yesterday, we covered the launch of Google Chrome, its new web browser. Just a day later, we have already spotted a Google Group dedicated to Google Chrome Help issues with a few Google employees working to solve problems (Google Chrome Guide 1, Google Chrome Guide 2, Google Chrome Help Owner).

So far the group is pretty active. It's a great place to visit to get help on Google Chrome. That said, I get a ton of emails about me helping random webmasters about specific issues, and well, the best recommendation (and only one) is that you all should check out Google Groups. It really is a great asset.

Check out the discussions on Google Chrome Help for more information.

Google Maps Finally Brings Back Reordering Destinations & More

Posted: September 3rd, 2008, 3:33pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

When Google Maps redesigned a couple months back, many users became extremely upset. Why? Because Google pulled a few features that users felt were critical to the mapping product. Those features included the ability to reorder the your destinations and also the time it takes to go between point A, B, C and so on.

Google's Maps Guide Brian has announced in a Google Groups thread that those features are back.

Here is a quick video of the new design and how reordering works:

As Brian explained and as you can see from the video above, "you can control everything in the box displaying all of your locations at the top of the left panel. When you scroll over the green circles, you'll notice that you can click and drag locations to rearrange them." Plus, Google added back the "driving times between segments of a multi-way trip."

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Can Google Win The Browser Wars With Google Chrome?

Posted: September 2nd, 2008, 2:44pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

I am sure many, if not all, of you have heard the news about Google Chrome, Google's open source web browser that is launching today. Techmeme is plastered with blog posts on the topic, it is seriously amazing! In any event, Google accidently sent out the email notification about this new browser they are beta testing to Google Blogoscoped. Google Blogoscoped posted the details based on the email from Google and then the news got going. Google quickly posted the explanation about it and said, to check back tomorrow (which is today) for how you can download the Windows based beta browser. Again, there are hundreds of articles on Techmeme on the story and many of these sites have videos, screen shots and opinions on the new browser.

I won't go through it all, you can read the information from the links above. Oh, for kicks, you can check out my old old post named The Google Browser from 2004.

We know Microsoft has been trying to stomp on Google's web search turf and has, so far, been unsuccessful. We know that Microsoft successfully beat Netscape in the browser wars. We know that Mozilla, with Google's help, has been gaining share in the browser market share game. Now, with Google developing their own browser, do you think Google can win the browser wars? Do you think Google can dominate IE and Firefox? Here is a poll:

Personally, I think it will be hard for Google to beat Microsoft in this space. I do think that Mozilla has a lot to worry about, as do the other browser companies like Opera. Safari, should be somewhat safe, just like I think Internet Explorer is somewhat safe. Why? They come preinstalled. Of course, Google can make deals with Dell and other manufacturers, like they have done with Google desktop, search applications and more.

Forum discussion at:

Google Chrome, Google's Browser Project, Google Blogoscoped
Google Chrome - Google's Browser Project, WebmasterWorld
Google Chrome, Google's Browser, Google Blogoscoped
Google Chrome, Google's Web Browser: Is it Real?, Sphinn
Google Chrome, HighRankings Forums
Google Chrome, Google's Browser Project, Sphinn
Will Chrome kill IE , DigitalPoint Forums

Webmasters Discuss Google Base and Shopping SERPs

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 5:18pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

A week ago, we blogged about the effectiveness of Google Base and the shopping SERPs. To reiterate, webmasters have wondered whether Google Base would help them achieve better traffic or if there was no change when utilizing this other Google product.

In a blog comment, an anonymous retailer says that using Google Base has helped him/her get an increase in traffic and the person encourages others to try it out.

On WebmasterWorld, many people say that it has helped them as well. Netmeg, for example, says that "everyone we've submitted a feed for is doing surprisingly well with it."

"What if you don't have reviews?" one member asks. A useful tip is provided:

Reviews are hard to get. We find that only 3% of the people who buy actually leave a review.
What you have to do is to break out the adwords budget a bit, get that nice badge and start driving traffic to your top 10 selling items. If you use two or three check out methods, offer some kind of discount for people to use Google check out for payment. We used a 5% off your order type of coupon we made in our Google Checkout panel if you placed your order online.

From there, service your customer and wait for the reviews.

As another forum member says that you don't have to focus your energy *all* on Google. "[T]he more shopping engines you advertise on the more reviews Google will pick up, assuming you get reviews on those other shopping sites."

Google Base program policies are here if you want to try it out.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google Map Maker Now Available in 57 Countries

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 4:51pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

At the end of June, we announced the launch of Google Map Maker. Now, two months later, Google has its own update. From a Google Groups thread, we're told that Google Map Maker is now available in 57 countries.

Again, here are some features available to you when you utilize the Map Maker:

There's a Map Maker User Help document for more ways to use this tool and a Google Map Maker Group as well.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Yahoo! Site Explorer Gets a Facelift

Posted: August 22nd, 2008, 4:22pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

The Yahoo Search Blog tells us that Yahoo! Site Explorer has a new interface with more dynamic features. Additionally, the redesign boasts a new Site Summary page that provides interesting statistics for sites that have been authenticated with Yahoo! Site Explorer. You can see this and more at [https:]. (The blog post already has some nice comments, including a bunch of spam comments that I hope Yahoo deletes, like this: "Hi, This new tool is ok, though i haven't checked it but just uploaded my new website on low cost health insurance..." Enough said.)

Barry has already blogged about the new features on Search Engine Land and explains that the new Site Summary page gives you a nice bit of information as seen below:

+ Site URL
+ Number of pages known
+ Number of pages crawled
+ Number of host on this domain
+ Number of inlinks
+ Number of inlink domains
+ Number of outlinks
+ Number of outlink domains

Here's an image of the new interface as well:

It looks good. Thanks for the update, Yahoo!

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

Google and Yahoo Share Details About Ad Deal

Posted: August 11th, 2008, 5:04pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Reuters has reported that Google and Yahoo have disclosed parts of their ad pact. The details, which were filed with SEC, "take the unusual step of disclosing the contract governing the partnership, but leave out any financial terms, such as the revenue split on their deal."

The article states that a number of people are upset by the possible partnership, especially since this will give the Google empire control of 90% of the search market. However, the article later states that Google and Yahoo wants to emphasize that this is a non-exclusive agreement "in which Yahoo is effectively contracting with Google to sell ads alongside a portion of its search results." This positions Yahoo to focus on its stronger suits.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google Maps Users Cannot View Maps Created by Others

Posted: August 11th, 2008, 4:46pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

In a Google Groups thread, users are reporting that they are not able to share or view maps that are created by others. This error has been reported since July 29th and a number of users are impacted (but others are not).

After heated discussions on the thread and 56 messages with a number of members trying to illustrate the problem, Maps Guide Mike says that this is a bug that was indeed fixed and that they will push the fix externally soon.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups. Additional coverage is at Google Personalizes Maps by Adding "My Maps" Feature and Google Maps Supports User Generated Reviews.

Does Google Index Flex Content?

Posted: August 7th, 2008, 5:01pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Web pages that are designed with Flex Content, that is, using "a module that allows for flexible display of introductory text, title, and an image from any content item," are not spidered by Google, from reports in Google Groups.

What are the options, then, if you're a Flex content developer? Just like Flash content, it seems, you should make the same content available in standard HTML for the search engine spiders. This would also help those users visiting your site using a browser that is not Flex compliant.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Performics Dropped by Google, Acquired by Publicis

Posted: August 7th, 2008, 4:47pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

The Washington Post reports that Google has sold Performics, its search marketing division of DoubleClick. Because of the conflict of interest, this was promised, as stated by Barry both here and over at Search Engine Land.

Is there surprise in the industry? Not so much. Most people consider this "fairly expected" and that Google really only needed an affiliate network.

Nobody seems particularly moved by the news reports, and they're happy that Google has ridden itself of the conflict.

Blog discussion can be read at Techmeme, our past coverage is here, and forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google and Microsoft's Second Quarter Results Revealed

Posted: July 18th, 2008, 4:16pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Techmeme has the big buzz about Google's second quarter earnings. Google claimed this was a strong quarter with 35% in profits ($3.92 per share), but their earnings still didn't meet analysts' expectations.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's earnings also rose. The company's fiscal fourth quarter ended on June 30th, with an approximate profit of $0.46 a share. While this is better than their earnings the previous year ($0.31/share), analysts were hoping for just a bit more ($0.47/share). Much of its failure, according to the report, is that Microsoft still has a weak online presence. Its profits are related to their operating systems and applications.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld (Google) and WebmasterWorld (Microsoft).

What are the Technologies Behind the Google Ranking?

Posted: July 17th, 2008, 4:42pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

The official Google Blog had a post yesterday about the technologies that are behind the Google ranking, following up from a post about how Google ranks results. Amit Singhal is at it again and he talks about the importance of information retrieval (IR). He goes on to say that Google crawls and indexes pages to understand them and associates important concepts to a page when they're not actually obvious on the page itself.

But what about what the users are looking for? Amit says that to understand queries, Google has incorporated a "best-in-class spelling suggestion system, an advanced synonyms system, and a very strong concept analysis system." Google often can read the typos and give you better options when you misspell words. It is a little more difficult, however, to work with synonyms. Also, Google tries to derive the main concepts from a query.

Finally, Google needs to understand users. Google's motto here is that the "best locally relevant results [are] served globally." Google also utilizes personalization and universal search in this area.

Google also has developed something called Cross Language Information Retrieval (CLIR). According to Singhal:

CLIR allows users to first discover information that is not in their language, and then using Google's translation technology, we make this information accessible. I call this advance: give me what I want in any language.

WebmasterWorld members are suggesting that a lot of what Google is saying here is reflected in many of their SERP changes reports. Specifically, there are changes in "relational term weight," probably as a result of the weight on concepts.

Some people think that Google used this to brag about how far they've come. Yet others are upset that Google didn't even really mention the "technologies" as stated in the title (instead, the article is more focused on results). Also, this article doesn't seem to be particularly groundbreaking.

Still, it's an interesting read.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

Viacom Lays Off Demands for YouTube Viewing Records

Posted: July 16th, 2008, 4:50pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Earlier this month, we reported that Viacom ordered Google to turn over YouTube records. Google will now have to give Viacom the records, but in a compromise, without data that will identify users, according to BBC News.

Many people are now breathing sighs of relief. But others think that this is Google trying to forge for itself a victory that was already assured and think it was just a public relations play:

But: (1) Viacom is still getting the data it wanted. (2) While Google will anonymize user names and IP addresses of YouTube users, Viacom has has said it never wanted the identities of YouTube users anyway. So it's just Google PR that claims victory. Hoorah!

Some people think that the way Google played this card is "sickening."

There really have been no opposing statements--they think this was the motive of Google all along.

As an aside, Danny Sullivan writes at Search Engine Land that anonymizing the data in Google's suggested way may still lead Viacom to actual video watchers based on personalized behavior. What comes to mind? Thelma Arnold.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google Improves Flash Indexing Again

Posted: July 15th, 2008, 4:47pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

On the first day of this month, we reported that Google and Yahoo were to begin indexing Flash files. According to the pertinent Google Webmaster Central blog post, Google is able to crawl the contextual elements in these blog posts. The post itself has been updated with Google mentioning that it rolled out even more features:

For our July 1st launch, we didn't enable Flash indexing for Flash files embedded via SWFObject. We're now rolling out an update that enables support for common JavaScript techniques for embedding Flash, including SWFObject and SWFObject2.

Those using SWFObject should appreciate this new functionality. But there's one concern expressed by tedster. Hopefully, the spiders won't ignore HTML content on those pages that also utilize SWFObject.

I use SWFObject to serve alternate HTML content to user agents that are not flash enabled. So I certainly hope this change doesn't mean Google starts to ignore the actual HTML! I can't imagine that happening, at least not intentionally.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google Fridges Begin To Melt Down

Posted: July 15th, 2008, 2:34pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Back in April of 2006, Google began sending out Google Fridges to some of their larger advertisers as a thank you. Well, I am now seeing reports via WebmasterWorld that those fridges are beginning to break.

WebmasterWorld's Hubie said:

I got the Google Fridge about 1.5 years ago, and the damn thing stopped working! the power cord still works, but my fridge aint getting cold anymore. I love this thing...how do I fix it? I'm assuming sending it back to google for repair is not an option:)

He is not the only one. Senior Member, Poster_Boy said, "of the 5+ fridges that I know of via various colleagues... all have broken."

I guess that is what you can expect from schwag that is a fridge. To be fair, Google did send out more Fridges last year and if you really need a new one, you may be able to buy one on eBay. We bought RustyBrick Fridges for clients last December and they are currently still operational - I wonder when they will blow up.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

comScore: Google Search Share is at 61.6%

Posted: May 26th, 2008, 4:11pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

comScore released its April 2008 rankings last week, and it appears that Google has increased its search share to 61.6% up from 59.8% the previous month.

Even though this is an overall view of search traffic, forum members wonder if the quality will improve in certain niches (especially Ask, now that it may target women -- of course, women would have to actually realize this and search Ask in order for this new arrangement to work for them). It all depends on the users, according to a forum member. Google performs very well in certain areas.

Looking at this data, another forum member wonders why Google, the "search giant baby," is worried about the Yahoo-Microsoft merger. That's one specific issue that will affect a lot of people for some time.

On a related note, Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land has graphed out the search shares of Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. The graph shows that Google search shares have increased, whereas Yahoo and Microsoft search has decreased for the most part.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Love Google Maps? Help Improve It With Your Suggestions

Posted: May 23rd, 2008, 1:55pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google Maps has really come a long way since it originally launched, a really long way. The mapping tools offered by Google are not only informative but very fun to use. From street views, directions, plotting your own points, user images, wikipedia data, data overlays and much more - it is really a great tool for users.

But it can be better and Google is looking for suggestions from us.

Google Maps Guide Brian posted a thread at Google Groups asking for our feedback and suggestions. He said:

We're always interested in hearing your feedback and feature suggestions. Use this group to share your thoughts, and I, along with the rest of the Google Maps Guides, will make sure that your comments shared with the rest of the team.

If there is any feature you want, this is your time to let Google know about it. Just go to the thread, join the forum and post your two cents.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Is Google Perfect? Not Always. Here are 10 Flops.

Posted: May 22nd, 2008, 4:28pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

While everyone talks about Google's market dominance and how it's taken over the world (naturally, because it's good at what it does), most forget that like any business, Google has made erroneous decisions as a company from time to time. PC World explores these flubs, flops, and failures in an article that proves to be a very informative read.

Some examples of Google mishaps include Google X (a homage to Mac OS X which mysteriously disappeared after a single day of being public), Google Video Player, Google Catalog, Google Web Accelerator, Google Answers, Google Coupons, Google Voice Search, Google Viewer, Google Checkout (especially related to a party-crashing incident), and Orkut (at least in the US).

The question is: do you guys really remember most of these? Probably not. With success will ultimately come failure, but you can certainly gain from learning what works and what doesn't.

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.

Chark Added To Google Search Quality Support Team

Posted: May 21st, 2008, 3:37pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

First spotted by John, a new Googler has been added to the Google Webmaster team, to help webmasters in Google.

The Googler's name is Chark, he goes by Char, and he is part of the Search Quality team. He promises to help put in the Google Webmaster Help Group.

In a post, introducing himself at Google Groups, he shared some of his personal stuff:

My foray into webmastering began with a personal photo gallery site I created years ago, which looks like it is perpetually stuck in the nineties. To redeem myself, I helped my last company bring its website out of the nineties. Currently, I co-author a personal blog and am working on setting up a personal website to host my own music fluff (domain name TBD).
In addition to creating music fluff, I also like listening to all sorts of music, trying different kinds of food, wandering around in general, and learning about people.

Welcome Char, it is great to have you part of the SEM family.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

The Next Five Years of Search

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 3:33pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Search Other Topics

Mike Grehan wrote an article on the future of SEO and shared his thoughts on Search Engine Watch Forums. Perhaps most importantly, Mike talks about the personalization of search among different verticals and how social search will have a predominant impact on the future of search in the next five years. He notes in the forum discussion that there's an advantage (perhaps an unfair one at that) because of some people having access to the web over others and poses the following question:

Should search engine ranking algorithms continue to be based only on the data they have about people who happen to have web sites and therefore have text pages and can link to others. Or is the voice and opinion of the end user now being heard much more clearly?

It's an interesting dilemma, but I think having a website means that you have a vested interest in the growth of the Internet (whereas if you didn't maintain/own a website, your motives are different). But that's just me. What about you?

Forum discussion continues at Search Engine Watch Forums.

Google Health Launches Amid Privacy Concerns

Posted: May 20th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Yesterday's big news was about the launch of Google Health which right now is likened to a "notebook" of your medical records (gender, age, medications, doctors, etc.)

Here's a screenshot of the portal once you're logged in:

Of course, the issue of privacy has come up in several forum discussions. It's enough that Google has other information about so many millions of users, but health is a step too far.

beu at Search Engine Watch Forums points out something interesting, though:

Some residents of New Orleans have no medical records as a result of Katrina! I'd love to know the adoption rate of Google Health in the State of Louisiana as compared to the rest of the US.

It'd be nifty to see if Louisiana adopted this system and made it mainstream.

Additional blog discussion is at Techmeme and forum discussion continues at Cre8asite Forums, Search Engine Watch Forums, and DigitalPoint Forums.

Yahoo Opens SearchMonkey Doors to Everyone

Posted: May 16th, 2008, 4:45pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

Are you a developer? You may be interested in SearchMonkey, Yahoo's new open developer platform, which was released to all developers yesterday.

The concept behind SearchMonkey is to empower developers to build applications that increase relevancy of search results. Developers can build Enhanced Results or Infobars under the Search Monkey API which can pull data from CitySearch, StumbleUpon, eBay, Epicurious, and more. According to the announcement, "Enhanced Results replace the current standard results with a richer display. All the links in the Enhanced Results must point to the site to which the result refers. Infobars are appended below search results and can include metadata about the result, related links or content, or links for user actions (such as adding a movie to a Netflix queue)."

Yahoo is also holding a contest that enables developers to create their own tools using the new API. Winners can receive up to $10,000.

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.

Google Strives to Help Myanmar Cyclone Victims

Posted: May 8th, 2008, 4:45pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

After a deathly cyclone ravaged the Myanmar (Burma) region, thousands of people are still hoping for aid while the death toll rises into the six digits. Fortunately, if you go to Google.com today, you'll see that they're looking to help. A screenshot of what my homepage appears as is included:

The link takes you to the Myanmar disaster relief page which allows you to donate through UNICEF or through Direct Relief International.

Forum members believe that the poignancy of this link is a great gesture and are happy that Google is taking a proactive stance to help out the victims and their families.

More disaster relief resources from other search properties are described in Greg Sterling's very useful Search Engine Land post.

Discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.

Yahoo and McAfee Partner to Give Users SearchScan

Posted: May 7th, 2008, 2:10pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

Yahoo has announced on its blog that since security is so important, together with McAfee, Yahoo has launched SearchScan to protect web surfers from sites that contain malicious software such as viruses or software and spam.

If you do a search for a phrase like "screensaver," you'll see the tool in action:

While the solution is great for security, forum members wonder why the questionable results have to be indexed at all. There are a few possible answers to this scenario, including the possibility that the site can be mistakingly flagged as dangerous if there are enough reports about it. This solution instead lets the web owner see it before it's taken off the results completely and gives some information into what could be causing the warning.

Malware reviews aren't new. Google has had the feature since the beginning of 2007. It's very good for Yahoo surfers that they get the added security as well.

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

Google Reader Adds "Share With Note" Feature

Posted: May 6th, 2008, 4:46pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Want to share something you found particularly useful on Google Reader with some more information? You now can, thanks to a new feature called "Share with Note" that looks just like this:

On the bottom of any feed item, click on "Share with Note" and the screen above pops up. You can then give some feedback into why you're sharing the particular blog post or news story. In other words, it's a feature that Google Reader users have been waiting for.

On your sidebar, now you can click on "Notes" (under "Your Stuff" to see your friends' shared notes. Since the feature is brand new, none of my friends are using the notes yet, but I expect that to change in the near future.

Overall, the response has been overwhelmingly positive, but a lot of people who are testing the feature out are unable to find a "Delete Note" button (or even an option to edit the note), so be careful when adding notes -- for now, they appear permanent!

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Google Combines Street View and Driving Directions

Posted: May 2nd, 2008, 5:28pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

In order to make it easier to get driving directions and see an intersection or area before you actually get to your desired location, the Google Maps team has integrated driving directions with Street View.

For example, take a look at this:

When you first click on the map, you get the driving directions.

More specifically, in this new update, click on the camera next to the driving directions to see the specific place where you'll need to make a turn:

Cool stuff. :)

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Update by Barry: More specifically, you can click from directly within street views to your next turn. Plus it shows you what turn to make from within the street views overlay:

Google's CEO Eric Schmidt Interviewed by CNBC

Posted: May 2nd, 2008, 4:42pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

CNBC interviewed Google's CEO Eric Schmidt earlier this week and the informative interview is now live for everyone to read. Video is available in three parts: part 1, part 2, and part 3.

In a nutshell (thanks to engine and nomis5), Eric Schmidt says that he is not aware of the specifics of the Microsoft-Yahoo deal. We know what he knows -- whatever the press people are telling us.

Additionally, Schmidt mentions the difficulty Google is facing when looking to monetize on social media. On the other hand, mobile growth looks promising. The scariest challenge for Schmidt in the future is language translation.

Finally, he says that there's dramatic market growth in the Japanese, Chinese, and European markets, and that Google is a very strong brand in Europe.

In other words, really good stuff. Sit down and give it a listen or read the 6-page interview that I found that nobody posted on WebmasterWorld. ;)

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn and WebmasterWorld.

Google's Vending Machine - Verdict: Cool

Posted: May 1st, 2008, 5:05pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Search Engine Journal has a very cool photo of a vending machine in Google's Japan office.

Since I'm not sure who took this photograph (update: it was Loren Baker!), I'm showing you a small size image here:

More photos of Loren's cool Google Japan journey are on Search Engine Journal.

Are you really surprised at such a welcoming vending machine? ;) Google, after all, is the best company to work for!

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.

Google Promotes iGoogle Artist Themes

Posted: April 30th, 2008, 2:52pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google is making a major promotional push for iGoogle (Google's personalized home page), with the new artist themes section. If you go to the Google home page, you will notice a special logo that looks like the logo on the right of this post, and a line that reads:

What happens when great art mixes with your homepage? iGoogle Artist Themes

Clicking on the logo or the link will take you to that special iGoogle Artist Themes page, for you to select from about 70 iGoogle personalized themes made specifically by artists. Here are a few sample themes:

This promotion is not just based in the US, Gabs notes Google is pushing it in the UK as well.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Roundtable Forums and DigitalPoint Forums.

Google Announces Software for VisualRank, Precision Image Search

Posted: April 29th, 2008, 6:06pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

The New York Times reports that "Google researchers say they have a software technology intended to do for digital images on the Web what the company’s original PageRank software did for searches of Web pages." The algorithm, dubbed VisualRank, weighs and ranks images that look most similar.

WebmasterWorld members fear that this could be a problem for spammers -- just like folks aim to build links for PageRank, so too this may happen in the image arena.

However, it may build traffic to images too, which some individuals are hoping for.

Perhaps this is the beginning of greater software technologies that will "index audio spoken in videos" and podcasts. Those transcription services would be super cool.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

Google Maps Stickers Gone Missing

Posted: April 29th, 2008, 2:49pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Remember the Google Maps stickers spotted throughout the UK? They looked like the image on the right of this post.

Well, a while back, probably a year or so ago, I convinced Google to send me one. It never actually made it to my office. I didn't really think about it until now, when I spotted a Google Groups thread that has word from Google that the stickers are forever gone!

Google Maps representative, Jen, said:

I've been trying to track down these stickers for months for some other people in this group but sadly it looks like they've disappeared into the abyss of aged promotional materials. If we ever make more, I'll be sure to follow-up with you. I don't know if we're planning to do that though ever, so... :o(

Say it ain't so! Can those stickers become collector items? Did I miss out on my opportunity on receiving one of these collectables?

Maybe a neat tip for Google would be to start a map game, to find the missing Google Maps stickers. Or maybe not.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Weekend Reading: Academic Papers by Googlers

Posted: April 25th, 2008, 4:54pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Have you ever wanted to see what interests Google employees? Now you can. Google has combined research written by Googlers in Papers Written by Googlers. Currently, there are a variety of sections that are broken down into the following:

Algorithms and Theory
Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining
Audio, Video, and Image Processing
Distributed Systems and Parallel Computing
Education
Human-Computer Interaction
Hypertext and the Web
Information Retrieval
Machine Learning
Natural Language Processing
Operating Systems
Science
Security, Cryptography, and Privacy
Software Engineering

Pretty heavy duty stuff and very computer-science oriented.

For search enthusiasts, tedster has found two really great papers entitled Finding Near-Duplicate Web Pages: A Large-Scale Evaluation of Algorithms by Monika Henzinger and Structured Models for Fine-to-Coarse Sentiment Analysis by Ryan McDonald et al. Ted believes that these two papers can shape the future of search, especially the latter one which deals with semantic processing.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google Introduces Image Advertisements on Cellular Phones

Posted: April 25th, 2008, 4:25pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Earlier this week, Reuters said that Google has announced technology to provide brand images on cell phones. In other words, based on a user's query, they'll be provided with some sort of image advertisement that has been scaled to fit on the screen of a mobile phone.

The ads work on a CPC basis and must link to a mobile-phone optimized website, according to the article. They are also currently available in 13 national markets (Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the UK, and the United States).

Beyond the initial suspicion, people are worried that mobile ads will penetrate even further beyond web surfing. One forum member says that he is dreading the day when his phone will ring with an ad instead of with his selected ringtone. You never know.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Most Our Readers Want To Work at Google

Posted: April 25th, 2008, 3:24pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

A little over a month ago, I ran a poll asking Would You Want to Work at Google? The results were a bit surprising, 69% of the 143 responses said they would like to work at Google.

98 respondents or 69% of our readers said they would like to work at Google, while only 45 respondents or 31% said they do not want to work at Google. Here is the cute pie chart:

The pie chart, is almost pacman like, sorry Matt.

Continued forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Google Spidering Encoded HTML in Urls?

Posted: April 24th, 2008, 9:13pm CEST by Phoenix

Tags: Google Other Topics

Maybe so, just a spidering glitch, weird links, or sitemap error? I was searching this morning in Google doing some tests on Google's new Whois feature. When I plugged in a domain what popped up in the first page of the results was a weird URL including encoded ampersand and other characters in front of the shown URL for the website (aboutus.org). Once I clicked on the link I got a 404 error.

Screenshot:

Link to Result.

Thoughts? Comments?

Google (GOOG) Stock Surges Overnight After Awesome Q1 Announcement

Posted: April 18th, 2008, 2:11pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Can Google disappoint? I am personally don't get it, but I did help cover the announcement last night at Search Engine Land with Google Beats Forecasts With 30% Increase In Profit. The news is still dominating Techmeme, here is the overview:

Google's reported revenues of $5.19 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 and a net income of $1.31 billion. Previous quarter revenues was $4.83 billion in Q4 and $3.66 billion in Q1 2007. Previous quarter income was 1.21 billion in Q4 2007. Google's shares are currently up over 12% in after market conditions, now at $506.87.

In short, they totally beat expectations and now their stock has climbed $77, 17% plus, overnight in after-market conditions.

The forums are buzzing about the news. Many are saying things like, "wow" and Google is making too much profit on their dime, and so on.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld,Search Engine Watch Forums and DigitalPoint Forums.

Buy A Google-Plex Tour on eBay

Posted: April 17th, 2008, 2:43pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

Beu posted a Search Engine Watch Forums thread on a new eBay listing to bid on getting a VIP tour of Google's Mountain View office, aka the Googleplex.

The private tour is for two individuals to get an "insider's look at the "best place to work." In fact, this is being organized by Foundation for the Future, an organization that "raises private funds that allow Menlo-Atherton High School to address the real-time needs of its diverse and high-performing students." Note that the winning bid will go in its entirety to the foundation.

If you win, you get to pick a date on the weekdays only for a two and a half hour tour, which includes lunch. Only catch is you need to pick a date before July 31, 2008.

The eBay auction runs until Apr-20-08 21:00:00 PDT and the current bid is only $265.00, with 15 bids already. So, if this is for you or if you just want to give a nice donation, go to the eBay listing and bid away.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Watch Forums.

How Do You Get Less Search Traffic?

Posted: April 15th, 2008, 6:07pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Search Other Topics

A Webmaster Talk forums member is trying to reduce the amount of search traffic he's getting.

Allow me to explain. Basically, he's looking to even out his traffic because other sources are yielding overall traffic success. Search alone hasn't been cutting it.

What can be done to reduce the emphasis on getting traffic through search engines? The usual: link building, tools and services, community involvement, a forum, a newsletter, advertising, word of mouth, and contests.

Or you can go the extreme measure and disallow search spiders by updating your robots.txt. Still, some search traffic would be nice, right?!

The idea here is a good one. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Focus on getting traffic from a variety of sources.

Forum discussion continues at Webmaster Talk.

Are 80% of Searches Really Informational, As Penn Study Says?

Posted: April 14th, 2008, 4:55pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Search Other Topics

A study performed out of Penn State College found with reasonable accuracy that "about 80 percent of queries are informational and about 10 percent each are for navigational and transactional purposes." At Search Engine Land, Barry breaks down the behaviors and says that the informational queries include searching for a fact or topic, navigational searches include looking for a specific website, and transactional queries address buying products or services.

According to Bill Slawski on Sphinn, this data was obtained from Dogpile. It appears, then, that the information may not be accurate if accounting for searcher behavior on Google. Indeed, as forum member evan420 points out, navigational searches make up for 5-7x what they cite in the study. He says that if the same study would come out on Google, you'd see different results.

Google has a nearly ubiquitous toolbar and is the "navigational gateway" for so many who bypass the browser address bar, so I have to think a new study using the major SE's search logs, while improbable, would yield far different results.

It makes a good deal of sense. Is anyone up for doing research on searcher behavior on Google? :)

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn.

Yahoo Does Exclamation Point Yodeling Again

Posted: April 11th, 2008, 2:37pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

I covered this years ago, with Yahoo!'s Logo Surprise (Yahoo! Easter Egg). Basically, if you go to Yahoo.com and click on the exclamation point in the logo at the top, it will Yodel for you. The Yahoooooo yodel.

I am pretty sure Yahoo took this down for a while and probably recently added it when they launched the new logo placement a couple weeks ago. Here is a video of it in action:

In light of all the Yahoo news, this bit fun is always welcoming.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Flickr Now Supports Video

Posted: April 10th, 2008, 5:00pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

Flickr has announced that it is supporting video in addition to the standard digital photograph or image. Videos are limited to 90 seconds in length and 150MB in size and will still inherit other Flickr features, including geotagging, comments, captions, and privacy restrictions.

Want to see it in action? Here's a video that Barry took:

The biggest gripe for many people is the 90 second restriction. Personally, since I'm not too keen on video, the 90 second limit is a breath of fresh air. Maybe this will actually get me to be more interested in video content knowing that I won't be confined to my chair for all the much longer. Some other video services have unpredictable lengths, and it's nice to know that I won't have to sit through video that long on Flickr. Additionally, some people don't have the attention span for it. I'm not saying I don't, but I'm always busy reading and video requires my undivided attention. ;)

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Yahoo to Acquire IndexTools Web Analytics

Posted: April 10th, 2008, 4:44pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Other Topics Yahoo

Yesterday, we learned that Yahoo will be acquiring analytics package IndexTools.

Forum members overall think it's an interesting move. While some gripe about past customer service issues with the analytics company, others have had better experience. They hope that the acquisition will improve things for everyone.

Why now? Yahoo is going to continue to improve their offerings. You can't really blame them. Maybe IndexTools will be available for free in the future. ;)

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

Can You Imagine a World Where Search Engines Banning Sites Would Become Illegal?

Posted: April 9th, 2008, 4:48pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Search Other Topics

If you're like me, you live on the internet for a big chunk of your day. You thrive on the internet. The internet is a big key player of your being, and if there's no internet, you can hardly imagine your existence without it.

This feeling is only going to grow with time. We become increasingly dependent on our online activities. We become increasingly dependent on search. Whereas 20 years ago, we had to do research in, uh, libraries, we can now do it at the tip of our fingertips at any time of day (wearing nothing or everything).

So what would happen in a world where, if you got banned by a search engine, you had some recourse? Imagine that if you got banned from Google, it would actually be illegal? In other words, search engines were not allowed to ban sites without a reason (assuming there is no reason already).

Search Engine Watch Forums members are discussing the possibility of exactly that. And forum members believe that it would be a great idea to take legal action against those search engines who ban you or who lower your position in the SERPs.

But more than that, search engines are becoming viewed as commodities and this can't necessarily be as far fetched as some folks imagine. Could they eventually be regulated by government entities? Probably -- or probably not. In a "probably" scenario, there would be rules on who would rank, where they'd rank, and the like.

I foresee that to be an incredible undertaking and waste of tax dollars if implemented. Right now, there may be a few unhappy webmasters, but overall, the state of search is pretty good. Bringing in a big player (like the US government) would be a mistake.

There's more to this really interesting discussion. Worth envisioning or not? I still think not. But if you want to read more about what forum members are saying, check out Search Engine Watch Forums.

Permalink for 'Search_Engine_Roundtable/2008/04/09/Individual_Files_Trademark_for__quot_SEO_quot_'

Individual Files Trademark for "SEO"

Posted: April 9th, 2008, 4:26pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Search Other Topics

I remember working as a private investigator and visiting the United States Patent and Trademark Office way too often as part of my job. And when I read Sarah Bird's post on SEOmoz about an individual named Jason Gambert who is looking to file a trademark for the term SEO, I knew exactly where to go.

The background: an individual named "Mr. Gambert" is trying extremely hard to get his "process" of SEO (or so that's what he claims it is) to be trademarked. He's been rejected but he's been narrowing his scope every so often so that he can persevere and succeed with the trademark filing.

This will hurt the industry heavily if such a thing actually pans out as any SEO could be held accountable (and have to pay) if the trademark goes through.

I encourage anyone interested in pursuing this further to speak with a lawyer (particularly one involved in trademark litigation) to dispute this filing.

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn and Search Engine Watch Forums.

Google Local Showing Twice As Many Reviews

Posted: April 9th, 2008, 2:58pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

If you take a look at virtually any Google Local listing with reviews, you might notice that Google is showing twice as many reviews, as the company really has. For example, my company listing shows a review count of 4, but in reality, I only have two reviews.

Here is a picture:

Yes, Google shows the number 4 but only really has two reviews listed.

A Google Groups thread has confirmation from Google that this is an issue that they are looking to address:

It's a known issue that we're working to resolve. Sorry about that. For now, it's best to just assume that you only have 4 reviews.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Hitwise Reports that Google has 67% of All US Searches

Posted: April 8th, 2008, 5:14pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Google is dominating the search share once again with over two-thirds of searches, according to CNN Money (which cites Hitwise). In March of 2007, Google only dominated 64% of the market. That number has jumped 3% in a year.

Surprised? Not so much. Forum members are used to hearing the news. One points out, however, that Baidu has 70% of the Chinese search share.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google Sued for Posting Pictures of Private House

Posted: April 7th, 2008, 5:20pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

This weekend, there have been numerous reports about a couple in Western Pennsylvania that has sued Google for taking photographs of their home and displaying it on Google Street View. Aaron and Christine Boring are suing Google for violating their privacy and causing them mental distress.

Some photos of the boring house include the following three photos:

The claim is that the photograph was taken from a driveway that was labeled "Private Road" and that Google did not acknowledge the Boring's right to privacy.

I've read reports about this all weekend, and a number of people have not found any signs that indicate that the drive is private. One person suspects that the sign was put up after the fact. A forum member echoes this sentiment:

If you look at the map and street views in question, it can be confusing as to where the road ends and where the private drive, if any, begins.

Further, members are a bit annoyed that the Borings never actually requested that Google take it down. Their first stop, it seems, was litigation.

As many folks say, what was the damage here? Google Street View shows images from thousands upon thousands of homes. Why does one family decide that their privacy is violated by starting a lawsuit against Google? Is this the way to handle private matters?

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Google Analytics Adds Beta Graph View

Posted: April 7th, 2008, 4:09pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Forum members are noticing a new feature to Google Analytics that allows you to select certain views (by day, week, or month).

The day view is what you're used to. On the other hand, the week and month views are entirely different.

Here's the week view:

Here's the month view:

On each of these, you can hover over the end points and get the statistics you're looking for (views per week or per month). Obviously, since it's only the beginning of April, you're expected to see a decline in your view for the month as it only calculates visits for the month of April.

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums.

A Look at Google Ad Manager Reports

Posted: April 7th, 2008, 2:38pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

There has been a lot of discussion over the reporting features in Google Ad Manager. Here are some threads, both praising and hating the reporting tools in Google's new Ad Manager, a free ad delivery system. We have two threads at WebmasterWorld, one loving it and another WebmasterWorld thread hating it. So I figured I show you some of my reports:

Order report

Creative Report

Sales Person Report

Advertiser Report

Targeting Report

Placement Report

Ad Slot Report

Whole Network Report

Those are all the reports within the reporting section. Of course, most working screens are reports, in themselves. But these are the standalone reports, as an admin of the reports.

If you are really wanting an invite, Google's Ad Manager Pro, in the Google Groups thread said they are working on processing applications as quickly as possible:

As you may be aware, there has been a tremendous response to the release of Google Ad Manager. We're working to process all of the applications as quickly as we can, and we're still working through a few kinks.

Reminder, I also a detailed tutorial on Google Ad Manager, if you are already using it.

Forum discussion at Webmaster World.

Google Search Results are Now Dated in Different Languages

Posted: April 3rd, 2008, 4:10pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Google Other Topics

Barry Welford spotted dated results on a variety of Google localized search engines.

For example, if you performed a search on Google French, you'd see this:

The same result occurs on Google Finnish:

Of particular note is the fact that Google is showing the date in your mother tongue.

Will adding dates become normal in the future? We can only keep watching.

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn.

Is an SEM Ranking System a Bad Idea?

Posted: April 1st, 2008, 4:09pm CEST by Tamar Weinberg

Tags: Search Other Topics

Kalena Jordan writes a blog about her concern over an SEM rating site called SEMCompare. She tells us that the Search Marketing Standard magazine has started this site to allow people to write reviews about the search marketing agencies they've worked on, whether it's positive or negative.

After doing an interview with one of the people behind the site, she was alarmed by a comment from said individual: "At the end of the day we can’t really endorse or condone reviews on the site.” Does it make sense to create a site if you can't vouch for its content?

The discussion moves over to Sphinn where sentiment is similar. Here are some reactions:

U gotta be kidding me right? So I can hire a gang of offshore monkeys to go by (spoofed IPs) and whack attack all the competition? I Love It.....

And another:

One of my concerns, which you didn't mention, was whether SEM/SEO firms would be able to buy their way to the top or to good reviews? To me, the site looks like one of those kind.

Finally, another valid point:

Another concern that I have that I don't think has been discussed is the conflict of interest in asking a client to review your agency and knowing that SEMCompare exists.
A positive review is great, but exposure to your compeitiion is not so.

Boris Mordkovich of SEMCompare responds to these concerns and says that the concept arose from several inquiries about SEM agency recommendations. They created a site driven by user generated content to do this. There are some safeguards they've put in place, including contacting people whose reviews don't match up. This should prevent the system from being abused. Users need to have a valid email and website and if their reviews are specious, the SEMCompare staff will ask the user directly.

Does it have promise? Perhaps. I still think that the service can be easily gamed. Also, it's interesting that a lot of marketing companies I haven't heard of have a solid 5.0 score whereas the more known companies have lower scores (between 1.7 and 4.9). Something about that just doesn't feel right.

The ongoing discussion (oh yes, there's a lot more) continues on Sphinn.

Google Goes Dark Saturday Night at 8 O'Clock

Posted: March 31st, 2008, 2:35pm CEST by rustybrick

Tags: Google Other Topics

The world was abuzz about Google.com going black around the world at 8pm local time. It happened a bit earlier at Google Israel, and then Saturday night it went black again:

Why? For Earth Hour.

Google users in the United States will notice today that we "turned the lights out" on the Google.com homepage as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. As to why we don't do this permanently - it saves no energy; modern displays use the same amount of power regardless of what they display. However, you can do something to reduce the energy consumption of your home PC by joining the Climate Savers Computing Initiative.
On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

Ironically, for me to take that screen capture, I had to have my lights on to power my computer. In any event, we have lots of forum reaction to Google going dark.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Roundtable Forums, WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums, and Cre8asite Forums.

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Posted: March 10th, 2010, 3:14pm CET by rustybrick

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