Webmastertools is a very convenient tool for site owners because it is a place where you can see how Google perceives your website and which changes should be in order. Its information which Google provides you with.
Usually Google informs web masters through an alert in Webmastertools. Now they will also start sending you e-mail alerts if something is up. (more…)
Professional network LinkedIn is currently testing a new layout for the homepage with a small group of users. If LinkedIn decides to roll out the new layout to all 160 million users it would mean the first big update since years.
As you can see in the screenshots below the white background of the website is now gray. At the top of the page there is a new gray / black bar which covers the full width of the screen and contains a white LinkedIn logo and the name of the user. Below that the new black navigation bar and of course the search function. Other pages also have the new black bars. (more…)
State of Search has been a media partner of A4U Expo ever since the site started and has been traveling with A4U to London, Munich and recently Barcelona. Next year our trip might be a bit longer, since A4U Expo now officially announced it will be taking the show to the US: in March 2013 A4U will be organizing the first show across the big ocean: Global Performance Marketing Conference New York.
The concept will look the same as the shows in Europe with two days of conference and speakers on different topics which will all be of help of affiliates and networks attending. (more…)
When you follow Mel Carson around on Facebook and Twitter you will see a lot of happy updates, about his daughter, his life in general. If you have met him in person you’ll know this is what he’s like. Mel has been a well known face in the industry over the past years advocating Microsoft to the community with a big smile on his face, speaking, interviewing and writing.
So when I saw Mel’s post entitled “Sad Face: My Role at Microsoft Advertising Has Been “Eliminated”” on his personal blog show up on Social Media my first thought was it was some sort of joke he was making. But when reading the post it became clear: his job really got ‘eliminated’: Microsoft seems to be pulling the plug on Microsoft Advertising. (more…)
We’ve reported not too long ago on the fact that Google was testing out a new feature in a special Google+ Group. Today Google is rolling out this feature to everyone. This feature changes the +1 button to become a recommendation button.
Until now the button was mainly used for acknowledging a page is to your liking and you could share through it as well. Now Google is adding recommendations.
The recommendations will be from the site you are visiting and will mean another boost for the usage of the +1 button without a doubt, because it suddenly became interesting for website owners to persuade you to click the +1 button, because it will show you more from that specific site. (more…)
Google recently introduced the Knowledge Graph, a big database filled with information about persons, places and more. Currently the Knowledge Graph is only implemented within Google.com, if it’s relevant the search engine will show more information related to the query.
For some time now Google Image Search has got a functionality to search by uploading an image. After you upload an image Google will try to recognize the image and gives back the best guess for the image and visually similar images plus search results related to the best guess.
These two things, Knowledge Graph and Search by Image are now combined. When Google recognizes the uploaded image the Knowledge Graph will kick in if relevant next to the search results. You can see this below in the screenshot, I uploaded a picture of Chuck Norris and immediately Google show more information about the world-famous actor from the Nineties. (more…)
After the Lionel Richie Easter Egg in the Knowledge Graph a few weeks ago there is another one hidden within the biggest search engine of the world. After searching for Lionel Richie on Google.com more information will show next to the search results with in this case the title ‘Hello, is it me you’re looking for’ referring to the line from the song “Hello” from 1983. This time it’s Chuck Norris who is subject of the Easter Egg.
After Lionel Richie you could expect more “Eggs” being hidden in the Knowledge Graph and the next Egg is related to Chuck Norris (Carlos Ray Norris) known for his role in the television show Walker, Texas Ranger from the Nineties. When searching for Chuck Norris on Google.com the search engine will show more information on the right but this time the Knowledge Graph will present you some interesting facts like ‘Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep. He waits’. (more…)
Today Eric Sykes died. For many outside of the UK that won’t mean a lot. For those in the UK it means that an illustrious figure passed away. As always events like this however also tell us a lot about the world we live in.
The online world now gives us instant insights in how we respond to events like this. It shows how engaged we are or not and it also shows how quickly some online players can respond. We saw for example that Google’s newest feature, direct answers, is not as quickly up to date as some others are. (more…)
Ever since Larry Page took his reign back from Eric Schmidt at Google one trend has been prominent: saying goodbye to products which are of no use anymore to Google. We’ve seen many products being closed in the past year or so and now we can add several more to them, amongst which iGoogle and Google Video. (more…)
Having issues with searching through your Chrome browser? You’re not alone. The browser seems to be playing up.
One of the reasons browsers became important for search engines was the new found option to search from the URL bar. Just start typing, hit enter and the search engine you’ve set as your default search engine will show the results. Handy.
Ever since a few years Google has got Chrome as their own browser. Next to the URL function Chrome gives Google a lot of information on the searcher. Many people using Chrome however use it because of the speed: it is a fast browser. A lot of people using Chrome have been having issues using the search through URL bar functionality. They are getting a blank page after a search. (more…)
Bing has launched a new feature in their Bing Webmaster Tools which allows you to ‘disallow’ links pointing at your site. You can now say you don’t want to be associated with a certain link and the ‘value’ of that link will not be counted in Bing’s algorithm.
The feature is something which can prevent negative SEO efforts, people buying links and pointing them at your site for example, but it is also useful for ‘cleaning up your act’ if you have foul links. It might also be a help stop those e-mailing other sites to take down links, threatening with legal actions. It sure is a feature which many people would love to see on Google as well. (more…)
Two more new design tests by Google have been ‘spotted’ in the wild. The first one is a follow up to the one we saw last week. The second one show more mixture in the local results but also might just be a bug.
As you know Google tests out a lot. Many of these tests just ‘disappear’ into nothing. A few people see the tests, they didn’t work, and then Google pulls them. When tests start returning, sometimes in a little bit different format, it’s an indication that something is up. Google now seems serious about the tests on their new design without the left sidebar and is changing their local results. (more…)
Stay up to date with the latest articles