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:
- SES San Jose '08 Roundtable Coverage Schedule
It is that time of the year, where Search Engine Strategies (SES) comes to San Jose, California. SES San Jose 2008 is just one week away, starting Monday, August 18th. SES is offering up over 70 sessions and we hope to cover many of them. Tamar and I won't be attending this event, this is the first time in years that I won't be going. We have been covering SEO/SEM conferences in detail since 2003, - Google and Yahoo Share Details About Ad Deal
Reuters has reported that Google and Yahoo have disclosed parts of their ad pact. The details, which were filed with SEC, "take the unusual step of disclosing the contract governing the partnership, but leave out any financial terms, such as the revenue split on their deal." The article states that a number of people are upset by the possible partnership, especially since this will give the Google empire control of 90% of the search market. - Google Maps Users Cannot View Maps Created by Others
In a Google Groups thread, users are reporting that they are not able to share or view maps that are created by others. This error has been reported since July 29th and a number of users are impacted (but others are not). After heated discussions on the thread and 56 messages with a number of members trying to illustrate the problem, Maps Guide Mike says that this is a bug that was indeed fixed and - Google Provides More Information about Personalized Results
A WebmasterWorld member points out that Google has been a little more open with regards to personalized search results. For example, when you do a search, you might see something like this, where Google says that these are searches based on your web history: When you click on "More details," Google gives you more information about personalization: Google announced this transparency at the end of July, and it's been relatively welcome addition. They fear that - Long Title Tags Improve Google Search Rankings?
A WebmasterWorld thread has discussion around the topic of title tags. Now this title tag discussion is not a typical boring thread. In this thread, some webmasters and SEOs have been observing that longer title tags are returning higher rankings in Google, when compared to their counterparts. The example given by the thread creator, is a generic one. Search for Ie: [blue used widgets] will more likely return a number one result with a title - Google Places Product Results In 4th Position : Confuses Searchers
A WebmasterWorld thread reports that Google is now placing product results, for some searches, in the middle of the search results. For example, a search on ipod nano returns the Google Shopping results in the fourth listing, as opposed to above the web search results. Yes, this is Google Universal Search at it's best, but it is confusing some users. A WebmasterWorld member asked why Google was placing AdWords listings within the search results. Yes, - Google AdWords Sandbox Finally Supports Video Ad Creation
After hearing rumors of the ability to create video ads within the Google AdWords API Sandbox, and then hearing that the launch of that feature would be delayed, it is now officially here. Jeff Posnick, AdWords API Team said at a Google Groups thread that this feature is finally here: After a few false starts it does now look like video ad creation in the Sandbox environment is enabled for all users. I tested it - Google AdSense Adds Western Union Option To Five Countries
One of the most sought after payment options for Google AdSense publishers is the ability to be paid via Western Union. Google had announced at Google Groups and WebmasterWorld that they have expanded Western Union payment to the following five countries: BulgariaEgyptLithuaniaMoroccoTaiwan Western Union payments are also currently available in other countries, including Argentina, Chile, China (Mainland), Colombia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines and Romania. If you are in any of these 14 countries and would
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Google stops supporting the noodp tag?, DigitalPoint Forums
- Is Google demoting blogs? We see them disappearing from SERPS., WebmasterWorld
- Keep your eyes OFF the Search Engine Rankings, Sphinn
- Olympic killing your Adsense income?, DigitalPoint Forums
- Should Google Displace 20 Search Results Per Page, DigitalPoint Forums
- Tools to Explore and Validate Page Outbound Links, Sphinn
- When, Why and How to Use Noarchive, Sphinn
- Why You Don't Deserve to Speak at Conferences, WebmasterWorld
