Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, yesterday, and Tuesday, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Introducing Microsoft SearchPerks: Get Paid to Search ... Again
First, we had Microsoft Cash Back where Microsoft paid you to search the web with live.com. Now, we have Search Perks where Microsoft pays you to search the web with live.com ... well, almost. The difference between Search Perks and Cash Back are minimal, but the idea behind the new creation is that you get points for every search. Those accumulate and then you can win prizes. You're limited to IE6 or higher to participate, - How to Diagnose Your Site With Google Webmaster Tools
The Google Webmaster Central Blog talks about how you can use Google Webmaster Tools to learn about problems with your site. In the post, JohnMu (yes, that John) explains the variety of issues you can run into when you have an IIS server and are returning the wrong status codes. He also says that you can find out if there are broken links by reviewing the "Web crawl" area of Webmaster Tools and explains that - Google Lets You Search as if it was 2001
Want to see the old Google -- probably before half of you were born searching? Check out Google's search engine from 2001, and what Google calls its oldest available index. You'll probably notice that Gmail back in 2001 was a Gnome-based Linux mail client and that YouTube didn't exist. Searching for Barry Schwartz back in 2001 brings back some psychology dude who must've written a book (joking aside, I own the book). Searching for Tamar - Next Week's Charity Party is Coming Up at SMX East
We're gearing up for next week's conference, SMX East, to be held in NYC. If you aren't going, it doesn't mean that you can't participate in the great networking available. With the forthcoming charity party, you can mingle and network too! Here are the details: Where: 795 8th Avenue (between 48th & 49th street) When: Monday, October 6 from 8pm-midnight What: A charity party where your $50 supports Ronald McDonald house. Hope to see you - Yahoo Charging More & Giving Less
A couple days ago, Tamar reported that Yahoo Search Marketing raised the minimum credit card amount to $250 for the Yahoo Product Submit program. Yahoo then sent us a statement, calling this change "in line with the industry's competitive norm." Now, after being offline for two days, I come back to several threads complaining about Yahoo charging more but offering less services. Besides for the spike in the minimum charges for Product Submit customers, their - Google Images Adds "Photo Content" Filter To Search
Ever just want to search Google Images for just photos? Well, now you can. A WebmasterWorld thread reports that Google has added a new filter option to the advanced image search section of Google Image Search, for "photo content." So, now, if I am looking for photos of people with my name, I can easy find tons of them. If you do not like using radio buttons, just append the &imgtype=photo to the end of - Is Google's Matt Cutts Telling the Whole Truth & Nothing But The Truth?
I found a fun thread at DigitalPoint Forums with a poll that asks, "Do you believe EVERYTHING Matt Cutts says/writes?" Currently the poll is weighing on the NO side, of the answer. The question is valid. Matt is an extremely nice and caring guy. Anyone who knows him, will vouch for that. But at the same time, he and his crew are in a position that is extremely sensitive. He has to speak and write - Google Blog Search Relaunches With News Front Page
Everyone is talking about the announcement that Google Blog Search looks more like Google News, the home page and works a bit more like Techmeme. Danny has a quick post on it, ReadWriteWeb calls it a Techmeme Killer, but Matt Cutts explains the core differences between what Google is doing and what Techmeme does. Honestly, it feels like just yesterday when Google launched blog search. Well, technically, it was a little over three years ago. - Google Limits 500 Sites in Google Webmaster Tools
Got a lot of websites? Hopefully you don't have to monitor them all. That's because Google has limited the number of sites registered in Google Webmaster Tools to 500, according to Google Groups. Unfortunately, that number will not be lifted and you'd just have to get another account for additional monitoring if you're a regular John Doe. However, if you're a partner, it's possible for the number to be raised, but it's a manual process, - Google AdWords Rejects Legitimate Company for Trademark Violations, But Why?
A WebmasterWorld member complains that his company, which has been in use for over 10 years, is not able to make its own Google AdWords ads because part of the name is a trademark violation. Is it worth pursuing further or is this individual out of luck? Most forum members may have tried to beat the system and have had no success. According to many, because someone else got their first, it's not arguable. In - Using Google Translate for AdWords Destination URLs
A Google Groups forum member says that he has installed the Google Translate tool on his web site. He created ads with the translate tool and used the Google-provided URL as the target of the ad. Just a few days later, he was informed that he violated the Google Guidelines and the ads were disabled. What recourse is available? AdWordsPro.Steph says the following: The Google AdWords system automatically flags destination URLs that start with Google - Why Is There Only One Ad In My Google AdSense Block?
It is not uncommon to see a Google AdSense ad with either one big ad from a single advertiser or many ads from multiple advertisers. But why would Google decide to ever show only one ad, as opposed to many? That was the topic of a Google Groups thread where Google AdSense representative, Ashley, responded with the answer. She said that these single ads are called "expanded text ads" and can be displayed in either - Google's Share Price Dips Below $400 After Tense Monday on Wall Street
In case you have haven't watched the news in the last few days (or don't care) the US and worldwide markets have been on a steep roller coaster ride of instability as investors and politicians struggle to put together a package of relief for struggling credit markets and teetering investment banks. Amidst the struggle of this uncertain time technology companies have also suffered. There is a discussion on WebmasterWorld about Google's share price dipping below - Will Using Google Analytics Hurt My Search Engine Rankings?
In another one of those "I heard it from someone else" rumors circulating throughout the Internet, a High Rankings Forum member claims that he read an article that said that using Google Analytics on his site can hurt his search result rankings. The author's example was "do you really want Google to know that your visitors have stayed on your site for only 15 seconds?" All forum members don't believe that Google Analytics is any - Search Engine Optimization Improves with Site Size -- Or Does It?
On one Crea8site Forums thread, Barry Welford asks if size is a factor in SEO success. It seems from the results that bigger sites (1000+ pages, according to him) have biggest (45%) success. Smaller sites could still be improved upon, according to 27% of the respondents, and 18% actually find success with a sub-1000 page site. In the meantime, with such few respondents (I should have mentioned that only 11 people have responded), you can't - How Do I Get Backlinks for an E-Commerce Web Site?
When your business plan calls for a strict e-commerce site, you may be in a rut when it comes to building links. One WebmasterWorld forum member says that his service is superior to his competitors at half the price -- but yet doesn't have the links to validate that claim. So what can he do? Well, he could ask his customers to give him a link back (if they are webmasters). This is echoed by - Google AdWords API Report Download Timeout Issues
A Google Groups thread has reports from several Google AdWords API users that Google's report download feature is having some issues. In short, if you use the API to download reports, you may be having issues. Minutes after issuing the request for a report, they are able to be fetched from getGzipReportDownloadUrl. Now, API users are reporting that the getGzipReportDownloadUrl is resolving to a "URL not found" error. Jeff Posnick from the AdWords API Team
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Introducing AdSensePro William!, Google Groups
- 20 Great Google Secrets - PCMag Article, DigitalPoint Forums
- Google Displaying Dates before Snippets, WebmasterWorld
- How much do you pay your Adsense manager?, DigitalPoint Forums
- How to Use Wildcards in Robots.txt, Sphinn
- Microsoft's Ballmer On The Financial Crisis: "no company is immune", WebmasterWorld
- Optimizing For Google Maps, Cre8asite Forums
- Will Google Die if the U.S. Economy Collapses?, DigitalPoint Forums
- YouTube Insight , New Feature: Hot Spots, WebmasterWorld
