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 Maps Changing Verified Listing to Owner-Verified Listing?
When you view a specific listing on Google Maps it may show "Verified Listing" or "Owner-Verified Listing." A Google Places Help thread asks what is the difference between the two? Some local experts are thinking that Google is simply testing different terminology to see what text works best. Linda said: Yes I'm seeing the same terms flip back and forth in the past day or so too. An update must be brewing. Forum discussion at - Google Magnifying Glass Page Previews, A Real Google Test
Patrick Altoft spotted a real winner, and at first I thought he had some weird browser extension, but he did not. Google is indeed testing page previews with a magnifying glass. Here is a picture from Patrick: Other people in the UK are seeing it, I cannot replicate it. In June 2004, Ask Jeeves went with binoculars on the SERPs, which is pretty much a similar concept. Google reportedly tested this concept in August 2004 - Google's Blurry Street Views & Embed Option Bug
A Google Maps Help thread reports there is a bug with a certain type of street views output. The output=svembed option, which can be used to show Panoramio images and works well in Flash, seems to be blurring the images. The person in the thread linked to an example but his major complaint is that the images on his site look blurry. His site is streetviewing.com and as you can see, the views aren't too - Twitter Revamps Search Engine Backend
Twitter announced they have "launched a new backend for search on twitter.com." In short, they moved from the original Summarize technology they bought years ago to a infrastructure and system that is completely new, home grown. Tedster at WebmasterWorld pulls out the key differences: Twitter's real-time search engine was, until very recently, based on the technology that Summize originally developed.[Now we have] a new, modern search architecture based on a highly efficient inverted index instead - More Google Properties Get Instant
Searchers in Australia, New Zealand, Korea and other locations are now reporting getting Google Instant as the default on their Google home page. Yesterday, Google Korea had flying balls which was a sign that Google Instant was coming to that property soon. The Google Korea Blog announced Instant is now there, and a user commented that they are seeing Instant results. A WebmasterWorldthread reports users seeing Instant results in Australia and New Zealand. In fact,
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Coping With The Increasing Complexity Of International SEO, Sphinn
- Top Bing and Google search tip: Cut to the chase, Sphinn
- Facebook Gives More Control Over Groups, Downloads, and New Dashboard, WebmasterWorld
- Pnïk, Google Blogoscoped Forum
