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:
- Google Partners With Domain Tools For Whois Information
As Danny reported over the weekend, Google added a significant search feature (Matt Cutts mentioned it first to let us know). You can now type into Google, whois domain.com and get the whois information for that domain. For example, whois seroundtable.com returns this result: When you click on the whois link, you are taken to Domain Tools. Domain Tools is one of the most widely used whois databases out there. Curious if it was a - Google Members Concerned About Consolidated Account Security
A WebmasterWorld member discusses an interesting scenario regarding Google's requirement to have you log into your Google account when you access any service tied to Google. For example, if you have a Gmail account, you're likely also posting onto Google Groups with the same identity. What would happen, then, if you needed (for whatever reason) to share your login to Google Groups with someone -- say, a coworker? You'd be giving them access to everything - Microsoft Launches Revamped News Service
The Seattle Times reports that Microsoft has launched a brand new Live Search News portal that combines video, news, and video. It's not that different than Google News, WebmasterWorld member Robert Charlton says. He notes that Google feels more like a "big city newspaper" than Live Search News, but notes that there's some localized news on Live Search's end. (I'm still in Puerto Rico so I see no local news at all and I may - ASCII Art Improves CTR in Google AdWords Ads, Study Shows
Loren Baker reports at Search Engine Journal that copy that stands out from the crowd gets higher click through rates. He explains that a campaign which utilized ASCII art (e.g. //~vw^v^vw~\\ and the like) got a 50% higher CTR than without the art. Barry mentioned in January over at Search Engine Land that such a practice can "spice up your ads," but that Google may filter out such art because it obviously gives one an - Google: The Most Popular Brand (for Three Years Straight)
CNet News reports that Google is the best brand -- once again -- for the third year in a row, according to a market research firm. Google's brand, according to the data (which is calculated based on interviews and financial information), topped the charts at $86.1 billion. (Compare this to the second place holder which was GE with a value of $71.4 billion and Microsoft which hit third place with $70.9 billion.) Surprised? Probably not.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Google Ad Manager Release Notes - April 2008, Google Groups
- Google show different results by different "us" and "US", DigitalPoint Forums
- Jason Calacanis has pissed off SEO's... again. Seriously., Sphinn
- Optimisation tip of the week #7, Google Groups
- Optimizing For Google Maps, HighRankings Forums
- Serving Different Content To Search Engine Spider?, HighRankings Forums
