You may have heard, Penguin 2 has arrived, and I think many of us would agree its been a bit of mixed bag. Some people got hit reasonably badly, with many suggesting it had little impact at all. What we have seen is a slightly drawn out rollout of the update, with many significant changes still being reported by the day. We can therefore with certainty say that Google is taking link spam seriously – and if a recent tweet from Matt Cutts is anything to go by, updates such as Penguin are going to become better and better. (more…)
State of Search
Google Penguin Evolved – Do we need to be concerned?
It could be an interesting couple of weeks if recent tweets from Matt Cutts are anything to by. The first Penguin had a significant effect on many SERPs, and if early indications are anything to go by then this one could far exceed that
Talk of this update is not new. I was talking over in Barcelona back in late 2012, and Bronco’s David Naylor had mentioned that many of the engineers had expressed to him that there was a mass update in the offing, whose impact would significantly usurp that of previous Penguin and Panda updates. Rumour has it that this has been held back due to the potential impact of these updates -and the early rhetoric from Matt Cutts and indeed Google would tend to back this up.
I act on impulse and I go with my instincts – Applying Ramsay logic to SEO
I like most Mondays after football sat watching Channel 4′s Gordon Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares. For those that don’t watch this – particularly the US version its well worth a watch if not to revel in some US loving for the evening. Its not often I watch these programmes and can relate back to SEO but for some reason last nights episode seem to relate back to SEO – particularly in the light of recent changes to SEO.
What I am referring to is the barrage of Google updates which SEO’s have had to deal with over the course of the last 12 to 24 months. In that time, SEO has changed immeasurably – some would say for the worse, but when one surveys the SEO is approached certainly at an agency level, one can only say these changes have been for the positive. There’s no doubting snake oil still exists – and one would certainly be foolish to think that bad SEO doesn’t exist but in terms of a more mature approach to marketing things are certainly better than they have ever been – If only Google would work out accountability doesn’t just apply to channels which provide Google with revenue. (more…)
Test, learn, refine – Some learnings from a recent industry poll
At the end of last year, I ran a small vote on my Holistic Search site, to find the European SEO of the year. The poll itself is a bit of fun – however what I have learnt from running a number of these over the years has served me well in my day to day role time and time again.
EU vs FTC – Google to be Made to Change Search Results in Europe
A week can be a long time in search and no where is this better highlighted than in the ongoing Google Antitrust soap opera. Just a mere 7 days after the Federal Trade Commission in the US committed that there was not enough evidence to support claims that Google was favouring its own results in favour of others, the EU concluded completely the opposite – that Google was indeed taking advantage of its strong position in the search marketplace. Indeed, the EU’s Competition Chief Joaquin Almunia went one step further by using the words “abuse of this dominant position” – holding no punches in terms of where the EU’s perspective on this lay.
Its an interest backdrop against that of the earlier FTC judgement. According to the FTC, whilst Google offered its own products amongst the search results – this was for user experience purposes rather than any more sinister motives (I would suggest they merely type “reader” into Google and tell me that Google Reader should be above Acrobat Reader etc but anyway). Further to that the FTC’s role was to look after customers – not competitors – and outlining that the facts weren’t there to support any complaints to the contrary. Again when one considers what happened at the height of the Internet Explorer days, its an interesting contrast to what we see with what we have seen with Google. (more…)
Will Windows 8 change the search engine landscape?
Over the last couple of years we have seen the search engine landscape take a significant turn. Both the major players – Bing and Google – have increasingly turned scaled their mobile/tablet hardware options. Google in particular have been hugely successful with the launch of a number of hugely successful range of tablets using the Google tablet operating systems and the recent acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
Recently also we have seen Microsoft come to the table with a more serious competitor to the Apple and Android based alternatives – and one which has started to see fruition in the market with Microsoft now providing a serious alternative to Blackberry maker RIM in particular (recent figures – September 2012- suggest market share may be as high as 10.4%. As a sidenote Google dominate with around 62.4%, with iOS coming in at around 14%). (more…)
The Changing Landscape of SEO
With an ever changing landscape, SEO in 2012 has seen a significant shift in dynamics. We have seen the rise of content marketing and inbound marketing agencies, the decreasing influence of affiliates on the organic search landscape.
As such there are a number of things that we can no longer take for granted. (more…)
Over 40% more people click on the first result
As Head of SEO for Mediacom, I am fortunate to have access to a wide array of research studies. Recently one in particular grabbed my attention. The research piece in question was a research piece between Kantar Media/Compete and delved into the search behaviour of natural search – however perhaps more interestingly that of the paid search results as well.
The data itself was collated by Compete and analysed 10′s of millions of search engine results pages generated by a US panel in Q4 2011. That in itself presents a significant sample base and took into account a range of sectors and subjects. (more…)
Google Penguin – 2.0 or 1.2?
During SES a couple of weeks ago, Matt Cutts warned of a significant update to Penguin in the not too distant future – something which drew a mixed response across the industry. Given the impact of Penguin on launch, one would have to suggest that those types of words would spread fear across the industry, it seems that this has been meant with more of a sense of gentle caution.
One of the words I have seen used was the words “propaganda” following Matts quote last week, something both Huomah founder, David Harry and fellow State of Search Editor Sam Noble were keen to suggest otherwise – and suggested that for many in the industry have been expecting this for a while. I think for many of us, now familiar with the iterative updates of Panda, a similar approach to Penguin is certainly not unexpected, and looking at a lot of the crap still in the SERPs there is obvious work for Googles algorithms still to do. (more…)
How Big is the Geo-Opportunity?
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak at the launch of Linkdex’s new georanking tool. A number of other people from other agencies such as MEC, Razorfish and Mediacom (my London counterpart) were also there , and it was a good opportunity to discuss the impact of geo-rankings within the SEO community.
Prior to the launch, Linkdex had done a significant amount of research for the launch comprising around 2000 keywords and phrases across 8 locations. For those not aware of what much of this concerns, the launch by Google of Venice which geo-targeted results based on user location factors was the major factor behind Linkdex launching this tool – and its something I have felt has had a significant factor across a number of terms across Retail and FMCG. The net result of this has been the greater breakout of Local Places (Local+) results and a much greater bias of results where local factor or intent can be determined. (more…)
A Sign of Things to Come
I think for many people that have been doing this business for a while, but last week marked a milestone we have expected Google to do at any minute – and to be honest I can truthfully say its come a lot later than I thought it would. In a symbolic move Google announced that Google Product Search (ex Froogle) is getting a brand new name – that of Google Shopping. However that is not the big news – Google Shopping comes with a twist – and a significant change in direction for Google – with Google Shopping now following the framework of other recent Google products such as Google Compare by moving to a paid model. Yes – moving forward Google Shopping is being moved towards a paid inclusion model – which for me suggests the writing is on the wall for a number of previously ‘safe haven’ search opportunities towards a model more in line with Google’s new ‘commercially focussed’ mindset – and even more away from the mantra and philosophy of the Google that burst onto the scene over a decade ago. (more…)
Its Search Captain – But Not as we Know it!
The last couple of weeks have certainly been interesting . If your like me, you will have spent many of the last couple of days evaluating the new search landscape that we now find outselves operating within. Since the turn of the year, we have seen a renewed focus from Google, with a number of far reaches improvements made to the search results, and with it a significant number of web operators impacted – some for the best – but for others it has significantly operated much of the search landscape.
In particular I would suggest there are three significant updates I think need significant focus, two of which were announced during the recent raft of Google announcements. When Google announced a number of improvements to their results back in late March, many of us had to dig dip to see which ones may affect us. However two stood out, namely that of ‘iotfreshweb’ or Freshness and about 20 or so points down the mention of an update called Google Venice (more…)
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