Now that most of you are stuffed with Turkey and are probably lounging around and buying really cheap discounts (and not working this lovely Friday), it's time to review the week in search. Fortunately, I'm doing the work for you, so just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
Thanksgiving in Searchville
Yesterday was Thanksgiving. The search engines celebrated, and a few forums did too. We're still sporting our Thanksgiving theme for the next few hours, so take a quick look or review our Thanksgiving theme page (if you miss it!)
And did you notice loss of search and earnings yesterday? Many publishers did; we were eating turkey, guys!
Holiday Buying Season is Here!
...and Google notices. The Google homepage has had a slight change and now features Product Search instead of Videos. It's time to go shopping, guys! (There are still great deals ongoing today in the States.)
SMX in Israel?
If you want to have a Search Marketing Expo event in Israel this February, you better vote for one on Sphinn. Now I just need to justify going there through Barry. (Pretty please?)
Google Scores!
According to Hitwise, Google dominated search last month. That's not a surprise given that a lot of webmasters think that Google gives them about 90% of search traffic (!!!).
But when it comes to Local, Ask Wins
Google is testing out new local search results and they're just not as good as the old ones. But Ask's new search results for local searches really wins out. You guys should really look into it. :)
Selling Links: Penalties Continue
If you used PayPerPost, your PageRank dropped to 0 unfortunately. Google is making it clear that selling links is just as bad as buying links. But will your rankings change? Not yet, at least.
Google AdSense Video Units Rolled out to Other Countries
We had access to the Google AdSense video units in the US first, but now UK, Ireland, and Canada publishers can take advantage of the new advertising program. Yay!
Microsoft adCenter: Pros and Cons
A few advertisers discussed what they like and hate about MSN adCenter: the adCenter console is probably the worst feature because it's confusing as all heck, but the ROI is awesome. If you can figure out how to master that console, you're in for a good return.
gOS: Will You Do it?
Are you going to install the Google Operating System? Most people say yes. I think that speaks for itself: Google is always on the mind.
Google AdSense Clickable Area Change Reaction
After all the brouhaha about the new Google AdSense clickable area changes, there's finally a reaction from publishers: it's not so bad. We polled the audience and asked them what they thought: most felt that it remained the same, whereas a few people noticed less clicks and only a small fraction had more traffic. Interesting.
Check your Robots.txt file!
Don't add noindex: / to your robots.txt file or you'll be deindexed. Careful, people! You need to really think about how your robots.txt file will impact your traffic.
Move that Google Maps Marker
Google has allowed you to change the placement marker on its maps and I walked you through how to do it. This makes things a lot easier for people who plot an address but get the placement pointer blocks away (like for my home address). Now you can customize it and let others see it.
Google Supplemental Index Changes for Country Searches
We reported earlier this week that you will not be able to see pages in the supplemental index when you perform a site: search if you refined the results to a specific country.
Your Shared IP is Fine
Got shared hosting? You need not worry if you share your website with a porn site. Google has confirmed that it's safe and is just as good as dedicated hosting. Hmmm!
SEO Tidbits
Here's some important information for you: Flash intro pages are bad, you can change your menu navigation via CSS, and you should carefully consider whether you want to go with a subdomain on your domain for SEO purposes.
That's all. Happy Black Friday!
