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 Now Treats 410 Status Code As "More Permanent" Than 404 Status Code
Historically, Google treated the 404 (page not found) and 410 (gone) server header page status codes as the same. Both meant, the page no longer exists. Well, that has all changed now. Google is now treating the 410 as "more permanent" than the 404. Yes, this is a minor change but it is likely an important change for webmasters to note. JohnMu of Google said in a Google Webmaster Help thread: I followed up on - Yet Another Bing October 2009 Update?
Seven days ago, we reported on a Bing Search index update that many began noticing. Well, it seems like the WebmasterWorld thread has been updated by a webmaster that watches Bing closely. This webmaster has noticed a totally new update on Bing and the Bing search results. The webmaster, textex, said: I am seeing and even different set of results now. We improved nicely in rankings only to drop down to page 2-3. Anyone else - Google Answers Questions On Cleaning Malware Hacks
Like I said yesterday, it seems like a greater number of sites are being hacked and injected with malware and/or spam. Heck, I just reported this morning that Green Party was hacked into and removed from the Google index. Google recently posted a blog post named Best Practices for Verifying and Cleaning up a Compromised Site offering three tips. Verify Your Site with Google Webmaster ToolsIf Your Site Has Been Compromised, Perform a Comprehensive CleanupIf - Israel on Google Maps, Now in Hebrew
There have been some recent complaints in the Google Maps Help forum from English speaking people who live in Israel. In short, Google seems to have recently changes the Israel data to show street and city names in Hebrew (עברית). Here is one complaint: I too am having the same problem, in Israel for a month and it worked perfectly in English till two days ago then poof it changed to Hebrew which makes it - Google Social Search Now Live
Yesterday, we showed you a video demo of Google's Social Search. Well, now it is available for all to play with in google.com/experimental. Personally, I think this can work well for my searchers. But for most of those who do not have Google Profiles set up, it likely won't add much. Google currently promises to only look at information you give to them via your Google Profile or via Gmail. For Google to know who - Google Removes Green Party Web Site From Index Due To Hack
On Sunday, if you searched in Google for [Green Party] you would not find the official Green Party of United States web site, which is at gp.com. Even if you searched for gp.org, Google would not show you the site. One person complained about the issue at Google Web Search Help forums and a few days later, a Googler came in and told us why. In short, the site was hacked and included harmful malware
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Google Certified Ad Networks - How many are there ?, WebmasterWorld
- Google Trust Rank Patent Granted, Sphinn
- "Mark as viewed", New! and multiple file downloader, Google Docs Help
- API feed returning wrong verify values, Google Webmaster Help
- Does Google Local Business Maps Give Preferential Placement?, Google Maps Help
- How long to keep 301 redirects from old to new site?, WebmasterWorld
- Trojans and Adsense, WebmasterWorld
