Snow! We're all stuck in our lovely little homes today while we admire the first real snowfall of 2008 up here in New York. Woohoo! But onward... much has happened this week (or has it?) in search.
Live now:
President's Day
Monday was President's Day. Some of the search industry celebrated with some nice themes: Dogpile and Ask had nice festive designs, and so did Search Engine Roundtable. But Google and Yahoo forgot. For what it's worth, we almost forgot also...
Google's Hydro Electric Data Center
Google is going green with a hydro-electric data center. This is a really great move for them financially and for the environment. Everyone wins.
Google Reader Spam Injection: It's Here
Guess what?! Google Reader users report spam injection attempts in their daily reading. They're seeing more ads that they've never opted in to. (I still use Bloglines.)
Google AdSense Publishers Making Less in '08
We've polled our wonderful audience and found out that 63% of you who are AdSense publishers are losing money in January 2008 compared to last year. Only 21% of you saw higher earnings and 17% of you feel that the earnings are about the same.
Adam Lasnik Speaks about Duplicate Content and More
If you have time for another video after watching Barry's recap of my recap, you can tune in to Adam Lasnik's interview with Lee Odden. He talks about duplicate content, nofollows, and more.
Microsoft Plans to Emphasize Search With or Without Yahoo
No matter what happens with the Microsoft-Yahoo acquisition or merger, Microsoft will emphasize search, according to Bill Gates. Perhaps this is why they are lessening the severity of their algorithm after acknowledging that it has been tough on sites.
Where's the Best Place for a Google Logo on AdSense Ads?
Well, we don't know. Neither does Google. They're still testing the optimal Google logo placement on AdSense ads.
Flickr Kills the Appeal by Nofollowing Links
Okay, not totally, but Flickr has nofollowed their links which is pretty unfortunate for many. It was expected, but it's still sad. I liked those links.
Tricky Google Results
A site was spotted using a video icon to get a lot of great exposure in the SERPs on Google. This is a pretty interesting tactic. How did they do it? How can I do it? ;)
Google AdWords Landing Display URL Changes
If you're using any redirects in your Google AdWords landing display URL, it must be the same as the landing page URL on April 1st. At that point, it's a requirement and is no longer optional, according to Google's announcement from earlier this week.
Google Health Coming Soon
Privacy pundits may grimace, but Google Health records are coming online -- as long as you opt in.
Google Sitelinks Update
This past week, webmasters have noticed a sitelinks update. Did you get a sitelink update?
February 15th: Google PageRank Penalties Revisited
We saw a slew of Google PageRank penalties on February 15th, and we guessed that it's from selling links. Google won't stop. Maybe you should? (Or better yet, you can do what Andy Beard did!)
Google Position 2-5 Update
Webmasters are noticing that there's a big shift in positions 2-5 of the Google SERPs and it's driving them batty. Some are seeing a pretty substantial drop in traffic.
Google Wants to Know if You Like Webmaster Tools
Google has created a Webmaster Tools Survey which gauges how much you like their service. I'll take it if there's free schwag.
Next Week: SMX West
Next week, we'll be in much sunnier Santa Clara, CA for SMX West. If you want to know where I'll be at night, check the SMX West party schedule. If you want to know where our livebloggers will be, check our SMX West conference coverage schedule. Looking forward to seeing you there!
