Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, yesterday, and the day before, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Recent Google PageRank Discussions & Observations
Michael Gray explains why PageRank sculpting is important. He explains that Google has downplayed the use of PR sculpting but it seems that it's working pretty well for some people. Using an analogy with two very different cars (one, an old shoddy car; two, an expensive powerhorse) he says: The links on your website are touch points between your website and Google’s crawling and indexing spiders. Much like cars not all websites are the same, - Yahoo's Q3 2008 Earnings Announced
Yahoo has released its Q3 earnings report with some interesting observations. First, the earnings this quarter are $1,786 million, which is a a 1 percent increase compared to $1,768 million for the same period of 2007. Currently, fifteen thousand employees work for Yahoo (though layoffs are being reported), and some forum members wonder why. Most importantly, they wonder why Yahoo's CEO is still in play especially given the huge missed opportunity with the Microsoft deal. - Google AdWords API Version 13 Released
AdWords API Advisor informs us via Google Groups that Google AdWords API v13 has been released. Though mentioned in the release notes, the these new features include enhanced geotargeting options, ability to retrieve only active campaigns/ad groups, campaign budgeting suggestions, new report types, mobile image ads, quality-based bid/Quality Score support, and more. On a somewhat related note (but not really), the AdWords API Blog announces that in time for the holidays, Google is offering a - Yahoo! Search Marketing Rolls Out New Features
YahooPete has written on three of his usual forums to let us know that Yahoo Search Marketing has come out with many desired features. They include: * Country-level targeting * City and zip-level targeting * Targeting English-speaking US and Canada Internet users The Yahoo Search Marketing Blog goes into these changes in more detail. As forum members are writing, these are changes that they really appreciate. Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld, Search Engine Watch Forums - Best Place to Get Webmaster Help for Live Search
Microsoft has been really focusing on building out support and tools for webmasters for their Live Search product. It is beginning to show. A DigitalPoint Forums thread reports one webmaster who has been trying to gain assistance for two years, was now able to get clear and useful feedback from Microsoft. Why all of a sudden? Well, because of Microsoft's Live Search Webmaster Tools and their now active Live Search Webmaster Forums. This particular webmaster - How To Serve Age Verification Pages to Google For Porn or Alcohol Sites
US law requires an age verification page for when someone visits a web page about pornography, alcohol or other adult oriented pages. But this comes with a challenge for webmasters who want to make sure those pages are accessible to search engines. For example, if you search for vodka one of the top results is for absolut.com, and if you click on it and in your in the US, you are taken to absolut.com/us and - Google Webmaster Tools Showing 0 Pages Indexed For Sitemaps Users
If you login to your Google Webmaster Tools account and notice that Google is reporting that they have indexed 0 of your submitted pages through Sitemaps, then don't worry - you are not alone. A WebmasterWorld and Google Groups thread has several webmasters who have noticed the same issue. I suspect it is either already fixed or that it is impacting a select number of accounts. I personally do not see the issue when I - Stop Google From Translating Your Pages with New NoTranslate Tag
Ever want to stop Google from translating your pages? You know, when you view a page in Google and it says, "translate" this page. Well, now you can. A Google Webmaster Central blog post explains Google has added a new class or meta tag, that allows you to block Google Translate from translating a whole page or a specific portion of the page. To block your whole page, add this meta tag to your header - Google Analytics Adds Features Plus AdSense Integration
As we expected, Google Analytics has integrated with Google AdSense. An AdSense blog post contains the details on how to hook up your AdSense account with your Analytics account - I personally tried this and I am unable to do so. As Google said, "this feature is not yet available to all our publishers, but please keep checking your account for an invitation." In any event, AdSense publishers are extremely happy about this new feature. - Welcome to Our Web Site, You Poor Thing
Maybe the reason why persuasive web site design fascinates me so much is because I'm a cold call sales person's worst nightmare. The best invention ever made was "Caller ID". They want me at the wrong time. For a web site or web-based application to rock someone's world, many factors have to miraculously kick into place at once. They may be credibility, trust, easy to read content, etc. And you can still miss your mark - How Do You SEO for an Unknown Product?
I'm inventing a whatchamacallit device that will enable me to run in circles, cut a chicken, and light up a lamp... or not. But what happens if you were enlisted to help someone optimize a website that performs activities that you never heard of or never meant to combine? A Cre8asite Forums member is running into this issue. SEOigloo says that she has been contacted by a company that wants her to optimize for a - How Much Traffic Does Yahoo Send You?
A WebmasterWorld thread asks how much traffic Yahoo sends to your site. So I thought it would be fun to poll our audience. I assume many of you use Google Analytics, so login to https://www.google.com/analytics/ and click on "Traffic Sources," and then "Search Engines." Then below the chart, but above the graph, it says, "Views", click on the circle or pie chat image. Then it will show you, by search engine, how much traffic each - How To Become a Google Audio Ad Specialist
Do you want to become a Google Audio Ad specialist? A Google Groups thread explains how. It's easy, but new specialist positions are not currently available. Still, if you ever want to become a Google Audio Ad specialist in the future, here's the application: http://www.google.com/support/adsmarketplace/bin/request.py Forum discussion continues at Google Groups. This post was pre-written and scheduled for publication on October 22, 2008. - Predicting How Competitive a Search Keyword Is
A HighRankings Forum thread has discussion around an old patent from IBM named Prediction of query difficulty for a generic search engine. In short, the patent describes ways to determine how difficult a specific keyword is. Now, the patent was filed back on October 19, 2004 and issued on July 29, 2008 - so it is old. What tools can SEMs and SEOs use today to figure out the competitive landscape of a keyword phrase? - Conversion Funnels
An interesting and detailed discussion on various marketing funnels looks at Traditional, Web 2.0 and Holistic methods. Most of us view conversions within a more restricted scope. And that scope is often prescribed by being one of four basic site types: content (conversion == subscriptions, ads), ecommerce (conversion == sales), lead-generation (conversion == form completions, whitepaper downloads), or self-service (conversion == fewer complaints). In the end, however, it is up to you to decide what - It's Holiday Time: Optimize Your Google AdWords Campaign
AdWordsPro.Sarah has utilized Google Groups to provide some insights into how to use Google AdWords to prepare for the incoming holiday rush (provided that the recession isn't going to cramp your holiday gift-buying style). Recently, an Inside AdWords blog post was written that explains some tips and tools for getting the most out of holiday preparation. Suggestions include leveraging Google Product Search, targeting your Google AdWords campaign with the proper keywords, using Google Checkout, and - Real Search Engine Optimization Experts are Invisible
A High Rankings Forum member questions the actions of current SEOs and wonders if the real SEO "doers" are actually working behind closed doors. He says that the SEOs who consistently tell secrets are putting themselves in danger -- the more secrets revealed, the less likely it will be for them to get clients since new "SEOs" who absorb that knowledge claim themselves to be experts and snatch up those who need SEO services. There's - Is a Great Design A Sure-Shot Way for Links?
What would you prefer: * A pretty website that has no content * An ugly website that has a lot of content If you were building links, which kind of site would you prefer to link to? In a WebmasterWorld discussion, it seems that appearances may not matter. A "nice clean" look may be fine, though. Some disagree and believe that aesthetically pleasing sites are likely to be linked more than other sites. Most people - Yahoo To Announce Layoffs Today?
I reported this news yesterday at Search Engine Land, in short, Yahoo is expected to layoff thousands of employees and cut costs across the board. Last time Yahoo laid off employees, we were sad - cause we knew several of those hit with the layoffs. I suspect we will know many of those hit by today's announcement. It is sad to see this happening, and it is not just Yahoo. Many companies are reducing their
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Adwords Changes Are Killing Me?, HighRankings Forums
- American Airlines Files Lawsuit Against Yahoo, WebmasterWorld
- Apple Posts Q4 $7.9 billion: iPhone Sales Strong, WebmasterWorld
- Google Deletes 2008 Election Portal After Scamming Adsense Publishers, DigitalPoint Forums
- Google Releases Android Open Source, In Full, WebmasterWorld
- Haunted by High Energy Costs? New link on Google homepage, WebmasterWorld
- Proof SEOmoz Owns the Dotbot?, Sphinn
- Adding Extra Content Just For Seo: Good Idea?, HighRankings Forums
- Baidu Reports Growing Chinese Search Engine Results, WebmasterWorld
- Donna's New Tool: Introducing The Ad Rate Calculator, Sphinn
- Google sites now in 38 languages, DigitalPoint Forums
