Search Pulse 5: Google Maps Bug, PageRank Update, 8th BDay, Links, Matt Cutts, Daniel Read, Ask.com, adCenter, Apax, & More

The fifth edition of the Search Pulse has now been archived. We had two special guests on this show. Matt Cutts from Google came on two discuss what he would ask a Google engineer if he was an SEO and he also commented on the new Google Reader. I then brought on Daniel Read, the Vice President, Site Product Mgt & User Experience at Ask.com to tell us why he feels SEOs should care about the Ask.com search engine. Other topics included a Google Maps bug, the PageRank update, Google's 8th birthday, some discussion on what types of links can hurt your rankings, a Google Analytics message and much much more. The topics we covered are listed below, in order of priority (based on search community buzz). You can download the MP3 file here and listen at your convenience.

Topics we covered:

1. A Serious Google Maps Bug
2. Google PageRank Update Underway
3. Happy 8th Birthday Google
4. Google's Adam Lasnik Speaks On What Links Can & Can't Hurt You
5. Can Competitors Damage Google Rankings?
6. Link Relevancy: The Seven Degrees of Separation
7. What Would You Ask A Google Engineer? * Matt Cutts *
8. Google Reader Updated: More Friendly to Power RSS Users * Matt Cutts *
9. Building Links To Rank Well In Other Countries
10. Google Analytics And Secret Messages
11. Apax Buys Incisive Media Owner of Search Engine Strategies & Search Engine Watch
12. Microsoft adCenter Bulk Uploads, Not So Bulk
13. Microsoft adCenter Bug Wont Allow Some Advertisers To Save Keywords
14. Ask.com Getting Noticed by SEOs * Daniel Read *
15. Google Sitemaps's Query Stats To Be Updated Weekly
16. Rotating Google AdSense Background Colors

Lightening round topics;

1. John Battelle's Interview of Matt Cutts
2. 3rd Google Experiment with Side Bar Navigation
3. MSN adCenter Introduces EU Outreach Representative to Forums
4. Live.com Indexing 301 Redirects As Redirects?
5. Ask.com to Upgrade Sponsored Search Program
6. Google Rents Garage to Google Again
7. Geographic Specific Words May Override Geo-IP Data in Google AdWords
8. MSN's Live.com Has Issues With Site Commands with 301s
9. How Hard Is It To Get Booted From Google AdWords

Having Matt Cutts from Google and Daniel Read of Ask.com on the show added a new dimension to the program. I am not totally confident I managed that all to well, but I am confident as I do more of these, it will become smoother. So a big thank you to Matt Cutts and Gary Price for getting Daniel Read of Ask.com on last minute. Enjoy!

The topic list is in order of how I wanted the conversation to go. I felt that these were the most talked about and discussed topics in the search community.

I wanted to again thank Ben and Chris for co-hosting the show with me. We will be live next week, with this weeks search news and debates on Tuesday 5pm (EST).

Past Shows: - September 26, 2006: Fourth Edition of Search Pulse Live: Google.com Rankings Anywhere, Live.com Fixed, Canada Not Welcome, Danny's B-Day, Yahoo! Ad Growth, Google Product Search Changes & More - September 19, 2006: Third Edition of Search Pulse Live: Live.com, AdWords Test, Intuit & Google, Yahoo! Ads, Supplementals, Belgian Cache, OneBox Spam, Adam Lasnik on Links - September 12, 2006: Second Edition of Search Pulse Live: Google News Archive, Sitelinks, AdWords Preview, Sullivan PubCon, ChaCha & More... - September 6, 2006: First Edition of Search Pulse Live: Sullivan Leaves SEW, AdSense Lawsuit, Yahoo Blog Search, Keywords in URLs, New URLs, Navigational Search, Google Apps & More