Posts on State of Search about ‘Google’

The Unexpected Backlash of Google Plus Your World

Before we get started here I do want to take a minute to point out that SEOs are – almost unanimously – ultra critical of Google. In my opinion I think a lot of this is unfounded and that as a company Google has certainly been one of the most innovative and important companies in the last decade or two, but I can understand Google bashing is fashionable because we are so dependent on Google as search practitioners to make a living but also because we are the individuals (not machines) that actually interact with Google most on a day-to-day basis.

As such, many of us are quick to judge whether an algo change, product, feature, etc. is a better search experience – and far too often we do so with either: a. an oversimplified view of what an “average searcher” is actually like or b. based upon the percieved impact of such a change on the ability for us to do our job well and offer better results to our clients. (more…)

Search Plus Your World the Expert Views – part 2

Yesterday we saw some experts shine their lights on “Search Plus Your World”. Opinions differ and today we see even more blogposts and opinions around the web. Like yesterday we gathered some more thoughts on the matter.

In the meanwhile, make sure you let us know how you feel about the quarrel between Google and Twitter. Who is right and who is wrong? (more…)

Google Suggested Connections in the SERPS: It’s About Your Social Circle

In case you didn’t notice, there is a big discussion going on whether or not Google is pushing their own properties too much. And with the new “Search Plus Your World” that discussion focusses mainly on Google+. And with reason, because the suggested users in the right pane are all Google+ users.

You would expect those users to be, to say the least, active on Google+. But as pointed out before on other blogs, people like Mark Zuckerberg still are suggested even though they don’t actually use the service. This however is not a real big surprise, because it is about relevance and Mark Zuckerberg is relevant to the search term “Facebook” so it kind of makes sense. They should however maybe also show his Facebook account, but that is the discussion and I don’t want to focus on that here.

There is something else. Suggested connections do not only turn up in the right pane, they also show up underneath ‘regular’ search results. And it seems the connection doesn’t have to be relevant or because of Google+. (more…)

Who Do You Think Is Right? Google or Twitter?

There has been a lot of rumor around the web on how Google is ‘pushing’ their own Google+ profiles in the SERPS. This was originally triggered by Twitter’s first response to Google’s “Search Plus Your World”. Is Google ‘pushing the limits’ or is Twitter overreacting?

We’ve heard some of the experts shed their light on the developments and we will hear more of them tomorrow morning, but we also really want to know how you feel. So let us know your thoughts: who is right here, Google, or Twitter? (more…)

What the Industry Thinks of “Search Plus Your World”

Yesterday Google announced their newest step towards a completely socialized web. The integration of Google+ into the SERPS didn’t come as a surprise to most people in the search and social industry. It was after all ‘just a matter of time’.

The responses on the web differed from ‘a great development’ to ‘a terrible idea’. Luckily we didn’t see that many “SEO is dead” posts (haven’t seen one myself, have you?). But there were a lot of opinions. Below you will find some opinions from experts, but also an overview of some of the posts about “Search Plus Your World” and some Social Media activity as well. (more…)

Eric Schmidt: “Google Not Favoring Plus”

One of the main first responses to Google’s launch of ”Search Plus Your World” yesterday was that Google was favoring themselves over other Social Networks, an accusation which is in the line of many accusations in the past year: is Google favoring themselves in the search results? It never seemed more clear than this time that Google indeed is favoring themselves over others. Even Twitter responded to the launch with a statement which hinted in that direction, but more about that later.

At CES 2012 Danny Sullivan stepped up to Eric Schmidt to confront him with that issue. Schmidt was crystal clear in his comments: he feels Google is not favoring their own product, they would love to add both Facebook and Twitter to this feature, but hey, they don’t want to give Google their data. He clearly points at the ‘others’ in this part. (more…)

The Next Step in the Google+ Masterplan: “Search Plus Your World”

We know that Google is pushing Google+ as much as they can, trying to make Google+ the center of everything they do. And they would love it to be the center of everything they do. And as I highlighted right after the launch of Google+: we will be seeing integration with search results sooner or later.

Today Google has taken a next, very important and very big step towards just that: “Search Plus Your World”. From now on you will not just find content from the web, your search results will be mixed with personal results which have been shared with you personally. (more…)

Google’s Matt Cutts on Malware

If there is success there are is always the possibility that someone wants a piece of the pie. The same goes for ‘big audiences’. The bigger the audience, the bigger the chance that somebody would live to take advantage of that audience.

That is the core for hackers. They like to focus on mass, because that is the place where they are most likely to succeed. And that is where malware comes from. When your site gets ‘hit’ by malware, Google will not like that and it could affect your visibility in search engines. So you have to be careful not to get hacked. There are many things to look out for in that matter. Google has made a video in which they try to help you get started protecting your site. Useful and something each webmaster should at least take in mind. (more…)

New Google Search Improvements – Encrypted search goes regional

Like every month in the past few months Google posted a list of all recent improvements the team made to search on their blog. In December Google published about 30 improvements, 9 of these were blogged about earlier so 21, listed below, are fresh and new.

Codenames

In addition Google now will use codenames for almost all improvements because they are easier to talk about, to remember and they can also be funny. Google explains:

“Our old question-answering feature in search was codenamed “DAFFIE,” which stood for the “Database of All Fact Fiction Information and Exaggeration.” In 2010 the team did a complete overhaul of the system and released a new short answers feature. Amit Singhal, thinking of Daffy Duck, decided to codename the new system “Porky Pig”, because Porky Pig was trying to kill Daffy Duck. The team laughed thinking that Amit was just confused (everyone knows Elmer Fudd is the hunter). But, it turns out Amit was right, as he often is. In 1937 in the original cartoon to feature Daffy Duck, Porky Pig was in fact hunting Daffy.” (more…)

You Think Google+ Loses The Attention? December Saw Biggest Use Ever

Opinions about Google+ differ a lot. Some love it because of all the interaction they are getting there (more comments), others have lost interest all together. Fact is that as a social network it still has a long way to go.

But if you did lose interest because your feed kept showing the same people and you figured others would have lost interest too, you might be wrong. Experian Hitwise, who always checks the numbers, reported a few days ago that Google+ is not suffering at all. On the contrary, at least in the US. The month December 2011 was the “biggest month to date” for Google+. (more…)

Don’t Wait, Try The New Google Bar Right Now

Google announced last November the black navigation bar (codenamed Sandbar) above all products will be replaced only a few months after it was introduced with a new and bigger gray bar.

This means that all links currently above every property to different products like Google Images, Google Maps, Google News, etc. will be clustered in one simple dropdown menu. This new list is activated by hovering over the Google logo in the upper left corner as you can see in the screenshot below. (more…)

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