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:
- Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: October 16, 2009
This week was pretty busy over at the Search Engine Roundtable. We broke the news Google has dropped PageRank data from Webmaster Tools and we hope from more places. Yahoo was wrong about the meta keywords tag, they still use it. Yahoo dropped the controversial paid inclusion program. Microsoft Bing has major bugs preventing people from using their Webmaster Tools for over 3 days. Google launched a labs area for Webmaster Tools, adding Fetch as - Google Search Suggestions Smarter? Abbreviations Working?
Let me start off by saying I rarely use Google's search suggestions, so I am going by hearsay in the forums (which I mostly do anyway). A WebmasterWorld thread is of the general consensus that Google's search suggestions are getting smarter and figuring out abbreviations. For example, if you type in glgle, Google thinks you mean Google: Same with aho and other forums of "fat fingered" typos. WebmasterWorld admin, Tedster said: I noticed something like - Google Clicks Up 14% & CPC Drops 6%, Overall GOOG Up 7%
Google released third-quarter earnings last night and it was a very good earnings release. Overall, Google's earnings are up 7% this past quarter compared to last years Q3. They earned $5.94 billion in revenue with operating income at $2.07 billion, or 35% of revenues. Greg Sterling has more of the business news at Search Engine Land. Pulling out two snippets from the release, we see that search marketings are more spend conscious because the cost - Yahoo Dropping Controversial Paid Inclusion Program, Finally
It is true, Yahoo is dropping paid inclusion by years end, as I reported at Search Engine Land. Yahoo issued a statement, I'll cut out the part where they say they are committed to search and show you the relevant part: Yahoo! will exit Search Submit at the end of 2009. Yahoo! is providing those advertisers affected by the decision a sufficient lead time to assist in the transition. In addition, Yahoo! has recently announced - Beware: Google AdSense "Account Disabled" Phishing Scam
Yesterday, I, along with hundreds (if not thousands) of others received an email that appeared to be from Google. The email's subject line read "Google Adsense Account Disabled" and the email's from to looked to be from Google Adsense . It was actually caught by my spam filter and as I dug into the source code of the email, I noticed it was a scam. Beware, this is a recent phishing scam. Here is how - Yahoo's Senior Director of Search Got It Wrong, Yahoo Uses Meta Keywords Still
Last week, I reported that Yahoo dropped the meta keywords tag and stopped using it completely. Remember, I told you that I wasn't convinced when I heard that and I asked the Senior Director of Search at Yahoo if he was sure? Well, he said he was, but in reality, he was mistaken. Danny and others have confirmed that Yahoo is still using the meta keywords tag when ranking. People have set up test sites - AVG Calls Some Google Search Pages A "Threat"
A Google Web Search Help thread has several Google users reporting that the AVG Free virus scanner is prompting security alerts on some of the Google search results pages. Many are claiming the Google result pages with YouTube results are triggering the security threat. The AVG warning reads: Danger: AVG Search-Shield has detected active threats on this page and has blocked access for your protection. Several searchers reported this but I doubt there is much
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Google Plans to Launch an Online Bookstore: Google Editions, WebmasterWorld
- The effects of interest based advertising on my site, WebmasterWorld
- Password / sign-in questions? Here's a quick update!, YouTube Help
- The War on MFA Sites, WebmasterWorld
