Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Weekly Search Buzz Roundup - 04/11/08: Rapid Yahoo Changes, Google Local Algorithm Shift & Google Sued for Private House Images
Big news this week. Barry loved my weekly roundups so much that he now has a video podcast. And we're giving away prizes for people who watch the videos. As part of promoting the project, if you spot a piece of schwag in the video, you have to comment on the post and if Barry selects you, you'll be getting some schwag in the mail. As a heads up, if you want to give away - Where Do You Find Link Partners?
Some link builders spend a significant time just trying to build up some sort of rapport with other webmasters. Eventually, they may feel that the pool is drying out. With so many link requests nowadays, you can't blame but feel helpless since everyone seems to be getting numerous link swap requests daily. Where else can you go to build those valuable links? Perhaps your scope is too narrow. There are millions of sites on the - Low CTR: Is Google AdSense Encountering a Glitch?
A Google AdSense publisher at WebmasterWorld is reporting that his highest earning day had poor performance. He wonders if it has something to do with a new AdSense glitch or if this problem is just personally impacting him. Fortunately for him, he's not alone. One member reports that the ads were not very contextually relevant. Another reports that it may not be a glitch after all but is reporting instead that his earnings dropped after - Redirect Google AdWords URLs or Update Destination URLs?
We all have to make website updates some time or another. Sometimes it's an easy fix that you can do within the scheme of your web design. In other cases, a 301 must be implemented. How does this impact other activities? Well, if you have a Google AdWords campaign and you just established a permanent 301 redirect to the landing pages, is that enough? Will that cause an extra load time? Is it better to - What Should You Do to Your Content when You Change Domains?
Are you afraid of changing your domain because you're afraid that you'll lose your rankings? It's a valid concern and one that a Google Groups member is quite worried about. What's the best possible way to handle domain changes without any loss of rankings? Two Google Webmaster Central staff members, Wysz and JohnMu, explain that the best procedure is to implement a 301 redirect. In May of last year, this question was addressed on the - Yahoo Does Exclamation Point Yodeling Again
I covered this years ago, with Yahoo!'s Logo Surprise (Yahoo! Easter Egg). Basically, if you go to Yahoo.com and click on the exclamation point in the logo at the top, it will Yodel for you. The Yahoooooo yodel. I am pretty sure Yahoo took this down for a while and probably recently added it when they launched the new logo placement a couple weeks ago. Here is a video of it in action: In light - Google Does TV Ad Push: Offers More AdWords Advertisers TV Ads
A report from Search Engine Watch Forums says that all of a sudden, the option for Google TV ads appeared for him when he logged into his AdWords account. Just logged into my AdWords account and was greeted by a message announcing that TV Ads are now available. Not yet checked out the details. I don't see the option myself, but it appears Google may be doing an additional push to test their TV ad - Google Changes Local Ranking Algorithm
Back about 6 months ago, one of the main factors in ranking well in Google Local and other local engines, like Yahoo, was to have your address as close to the center of the city as possible. A new Search Engine Watch Forums thread comes out showing that this pattern seems to have changed. Whereas once it was the center of the city that seemed to be one of the most important factors in ranking - Is This Strange Google Site Command Behavior?
I don't think this is exactly related to Google mixing up titles and URLs from yesterday (if you have examples, please comment, so Matt can address them at Google). But over at Search Engine Roundtable Forums, PPCBlogger showed us an example of something I found to be a bit out of the norm for Google. A search in Google for www.quiltersguild.org.uk/index.php?page=56 returns no results: But when you search for that URL in this syntax, site:www.quiltersguild.org.uk/ - Google Ads Now Live on Yahoo Search
Yesterday I reported that one of the many Yahoo announcements were that Yahoo was going to test running Google ads on Yahoo Search USA. According to a Search Engine Watch Forums thread, the Google ads are now live on Yahoo. Note, if you don't want your Google ads to show on Yahoo, you need to opt your ads out on showing on third party search providers. In any event, some advertisers are noticing that their
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- 301 Redirects For Better Google 'local' Serps, HighRankings Forums
- Directory Links from Irrelevant Categories and Penalties, WebmasterWorld
- How Many Use this Forum to Build Links Primarily?, DigitalPoint Forums
- IAC Extends Vertical Sites Aimed At African-America Search, WebmasterWorld