It is eleventy billion degrees outside, muggy, foggy, and there's supposed to be a thunderstorm late this afternoon. It feels like it's been just a long (hot!) week. How are all of you?
Here's what's new (and old) in the week of search.
The Forever Living SEO Dictionary
The SEO Glossary continually expands and grows as new tactics are discovered and named. Who is keeping track? A lot of people are, actually. We have guys contributing to a live glossary at WebmasterWorld. We have a glossary at SEMPO. Webmaster Brain has an SEO glossary. SEOConsultants also has one. Aaron Wall published one last year, and a brand new SEOmoz list has hit the streets. I think between those resources, you're bound to find what you're looking for. :)
Google Competition? I think not.
Jimmy Wales has high aspirations. He has just acquired technology that may compete with Google in the area of search. Will he succeed? Skeptics don't think so. After all, you saw what was said about Mahalo, didn't you?
Yahoo Search Rankings Change
With Yahoo's July 2007 update, people have noticed some drastic changes in rankings, but they're not necessarily very good. For example, people are seeing suspended hosting accounts ranking better. Weird.
Ask.com August 2007 Update?
There hasn't been official word from Ask about this, but people are noticing a change in their rankings. Is this part of an update? I don't know. Do you?
Goodbye, Google Supplemental
Really big news for webmasters this week. There is no more Google Supplemental results Label. That's because so many webmasters were overly concerned about their pages being "supplemental" that it overwhelmed the Google Webmaster Team. I can't say I blame them; "Supplemental Results" is a household term for webmasters. Not anymore, Google says.
How have you reacted to this? Do you embrace the news or do you dislike the news? Do you still want to see Supplemental Results? Barry suggests that Supplemental Results be moved to the Webmaster Center and I think that's a great idea.
Hello, Unavailable_After
Before the supplemental pages went poof, the unavailable_after tag went live. Basically, you can tell Google when you don't want the bot to spider pages on your site. But does it really have value? SebastianX doesn't think so. After all, who really wants to lose traffic?
IM IN UR GMAIL, HACKIN UR INBOX
We learned earlier today that a number of Gmail accounts were hacked. No word on why, but Google is attempting to reach out to all victims and fix the problem. Even so, Dave Naylor posts the scary consequences of the hack. His AdWords details were changed too, and 4 new emails were linked to his account. That's rather frightening. Truthfully, I hope Google finds out who did it and nails them.
How many horns are there on a unicorn?
Google knows the answer. See for yourself.
Google Tries Out New Sponsored Ad Results
When you combine Google Sponsored Listings with Maps, you get the newest version of Google Sponsored Results. This was spotted by a UK user who noticed that you can now view maps within sponsored results. I haven't seen it and haven't heard from anyone else who has, so it'll be interesting to see how that will pan out.
More on UK Ads: Target Terrorism
Google's Metropolitan Police is using Google AdWords to catch terrorists. Very clever.
Behavioral Targeting? No thanks.
Google is not enthusiastic about behavioral targeting, we learned earlier this week. Susan Wojcicki said that it's because Google wants to provide the most relevant information, but beyond that, it's a matter of privacy and knowing what the human intends to look for when they perform a search.
When Did Google Last Cache Your Site? 53 Minutes Ago
Google is now showing cached times in minutes. This is especially useful for those highly trafficked sites that get millions of visitors a day. Now you can know how updated the Google cache is. Cool.
Google Analytics Reporting Delay ... Fixed
Earlier this week, Google Analytics also had a reporting delay that caused people not to see their Google Analytics being updated. As of now, it's fixed.
Soon... Opt Out for AdSense for Domains!
Today's big news is that Google AdWords advertisers can soon opt-out of AdSense for Domains. This has been highly anticipated and will make the life of an advertiser a lot easier. I can't wait until it's in place.
Coming soon: UK meetups and SES San Jose!
It's August, my friends! We're going to San Jose at the end of the month! Also, the UK will have a meetup of their own in September. Check the Search Engine Serious Blog for more information.
