I am back from SXSW in Austin, TX and somehow I am still alive. I have no idea what really happened in search this week because I've been so immersed in the southwest, but thankfully Search Engine Roundtable is keeping me up to speed. :)
Happy 3/14
Until earlier this week, I've never heard about Pi day. Do people really celebrate it? I guess Search Engine Roundtable does. But that's news to me. Barry? ;)
Google Owns the Internets
Google's acqusition of DoubleClick has been finalized this week. Now Danny Sullivan suggests that they divest of Performics to make it more fair for others. As many people say, Google has an unfair advantage.
All Your [Military] Base Are Belong to Google the Government
Well, one thing Google didn't win this past week: the battle of keeping military installations in Google Street view has been lost. Too bad. I kind of wanted to see what they looked like.
Google PageRank = Abstract
Here's why you shouldn't live on Google PageRank: toolbar data is abstract. It's not updated frequently enough to be a metric that you should worry about that much. Calm down, everyone.
Digg's Algorithmic Changes Reduce Front Page Stories by 38%
After doing a pretty in-depth study, Pierre Far discovered that Digg's algorithmic change from late January reduced front page promotions by 38%. That makes me sad. :(
Do You Want a New Link or an Old Link?
When polling our readers, we learned that 65% of you would prefer links from old pages than newer ones. Tell us why in the comments!
Give the Google Content Network a Try
How many of you have never used the Google content network in your Google AdWords campaign? You're in good company. :) But Google is pushing for their advertisers to try the content network probably because of low AdSense earnings.
Welcome AdSenseAdvisor!
A new face has appeared in WebmasterWorld: Google AdSenseAdvisor has made his/her way into WebmasterWorld. Nice to have you join us! :)
Speaking of which, AdSenseAdvisor wants your AdSense wish list, so contribute right away! Also, what would you do if you had an AdSense account manager? I have to say that the new ASA is doing a great job with a lot of interesting questions to ponder.
Google Slap Reversed...for a Little Bit
What an emotional roller coaster. Google reversed the Google Slap on advertisers earlier this week, but then they switched back. Too bad :(
MSNBot Fails Reverse DNS Test
In case you're wondering who is crawling your site, it's probably MSNbot. Some IP addresses are not resolving properly, but it looks like some of us noticed.
YouTube Gives Great Opportunity to SEOs with Developer API
We learned this week that YouTube has expanded its API to add and edit titles and descriptions, upload videos to your site (without the need to host the videos), and more. This is a terrific opportunity for anyone really looking to dive into the video realm.
Google Search Quality Guidelines Leaked
Want to know if your page is relevant, vital, spammy, malicious, or perhaps unratable? Google's Search Quality Guidelines can give you some tips. A few very keen SEOs discovered this document this week, and it's a useful read.
Fun Stuff
If you like SEO, you'll love Steve's new license plate. I think that's awesome.
You can use the Show IP Firefox extension to see what datacenter you are on when you surf Google. It's a great extension in general. Get it!
Also, Google Sky is now an in-browser experience. Why does it rocks? In a place like NYC where there's light pollution, I can now see the sky without a lot of effort. :)
SES NY 2008: Next Week
We're headed to Search Engine Strategies 2008 in NYC next week (which is really not too far away) and we've posted our coverage schedule. For the record, Jeff Quipp has agreed to cover Thursday morning's keynote. It's not on that schedule, but Jeff, don't let me down. ;)
By the way, there's no video this week. (Yay!) Barry is too busy on this lovely Friday.
