Google 11/11 T&S update

Using our Services

You must follow any policies made available to you within the Services.
Don’t misuse our Services. For example, don’t interfere with our Services or try to access them using a method other than the interface and the instructions that we provide. You may use our Services only as permitted by law, including applicable export and re-export control laws and regulations. We may suspend or stop providing our Services to you if you do not comply with our terms or policies or if we are investigating suspected misconduct.
Using our Services does not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights in our Services or the content you access. You may not use content from our Services unless you obtain permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. These terms do not grant you the right to use any branding or logos used in our Services. Don’t remove, obscure, or alter any legal notices displayed in or along with our Services.

Source url : http://www.google.com/policies/terms/update/  

Now it's Google AdWords Ad Rank Algorithm Update

In a quiet but not entirely unexpected move, Google has announced they are updating and improving the Google AdWords Ad Rank algorithm to take into account some of the new features they have rolled out this year, primarily their new ad extensions.

Ad extensions and formats can now affect the positioning of your ads on the Google search results page. Google uses the example: If two otherwise identical ads were to appear with the same bid and quality score, the ad with the ad extensions most likely to perform would appear in the higher ad position.


Ad Rank will also play a factor in whether or not extensions appear for your ads; Google notes that a higher Quality Score or bid (or a combination thereof) increases the likelihood of extensions appearing.

Source url : http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2302663/Google-Rolls-Out-AdWords-Ad-Rank-Algorithm-Update 

Why No Pagerank update?

We already knew Google wasn’t likely to update the PageRank meter in the Google Toolbar this year. The head of Google’s web spam team, Matt Cutts, reiterated today that this will stay the case and explained why. Google’s ability to update the toolbar is broken, and it’s not a priority to fix it.

Speaking at Pubcon today, Cutts explained that the “pipeline” to send PageRank updates to the toolbar is broken. Google, feeling that too many people obsess over PageRank, doesn’t see it as important to fix that. Cutts said this probably won’t happen by the end of the year. It repeats his message from earlier this month.

Source url : http://searchengineland.com/pagerank-pipeline-broken-174926 

Google Penguin 2.1 or Penguin 5 update

Penguin 2.0 was the biggest tweak to Penguin since the update initially launched in April of last year, which was why it was called 2.0 despite the update getting several refreshes in between.

Cutts said this about Penguin 2.0 back when it rolled out: “So this one is a little more comprehensive than Penguin 1.0, and we expect it to go a little bit deeper, and have a little bit more of an impact than the original version of Penguin.”


Penguin 2.0 was said to affect 2.3% of queries with previous data refreshes only impacting 0.1% and 0.3%. The initial Penguin update affected 3.1%. While this latest version (2.1) may not be as big as 2.0 or the original, the 1% of queries affected still represents a significantly larger query set than the other past minor refreshes.

Source url : http://www.webpronews.com/google-penguin-update-2-1-has-launched-2013-10

Whats happening? now it's webmaster tools...

Encrypted search has been hard on SEO professionals and marketers. For two years, we've been hit with keywords "(not provided)" in Google Analytics. While the keyword data was still available in Google Webmaster Tools with impressions and click-throughs, it wasn't able to be tied directly to landing pages.

Now, it appears that Google Webmaster Tools is missing the keywords data, as well. At least, it doesn't appear query data has been recorded since last Monday, September 23.

Source url : http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2297717/Google-Keyword-Data-Goes-Missing-Again-This-Time-From-Webmaster-Tools 

Hummingbird algorithm by Google

Google has a new search algorithm, the system it uses to sort through all the information it has when you search and come back with answers. It’s called “Hummingbird” and below, what we know about it so far.

What’s a “search algorithm?”
That’s a technical term for what you can think of as a recipe that Google uses to sort through the billions of web pages and other information it has, in order to return what it believes are the best answers.

What’s “Hummingbird?”
It’s the name of the new search algorithm that Google is using, one that Google says should return better results.

So that “PageRank” algorithm is dead?
No. PageRank is one of over 200 major “ingredients” that go into the Hummingbird recipe. Hummingbird looks at PageRank — how important links to a page are deemed to be — along with other factors like whether Google believes a page is of good quality, the words used on it and many other things (see our Periodic Table Of SEO Success Factors for a better sense of some of these).

Why is it called Hummingbird?
Google told us the name come from being “precise and fast.”

When did Hummingbird start? Today?

Google started using Hummingbird about a month ago, it said. Google only announced the change today.

Source url : http://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816

What does a great Landing Page needs?

No matter how great of a designer, marketer, or copywriter you are, your website is never going to convert as well as it could. Why? It’s because you are trying to create a generic site that is supposed to convert well for all types of visitors.

The issue with that is not all visitors are the same. Visitors who come to your site from Google are going to be different from the visitors that come to your site from Twitter.

So, how do you maximize your conversion rates? You will have to create landing pages that are tailored towards each of your marketing campaigns. But before you head off and start creating your first landing page, there are 7 things you need to know:

Source url : http://www.quicksprout.com/2013/09/26/7-things-every-great-landing-page-needs/ 

Top Search Engines and Directories

Search engines – webmasters and search engine optimization (SEO) professionals follow their guidelines for the highest possible rankings on them; paid search marketers pay to be featured on them; and users turn to them when they're searching for answers, information, or entertainment.

Search Engine Watch has been covering search engines since June 1997 and has watched the industry evolve to its current state. Over time, many search engines have come and gone, as users have spoken with their keyboards (and literally with their voices – thanks to voice search technology).


In recent years, search market share has remained mostly unchanged – for much of the world, it's Google followed by every other search engine (in the U.S. the "Big 5" search engines consist of Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask.com and AOL, which combine for hundreds of billions of searches every month). Meanwhile, many of the players have consolidated or have become footnotes in history.

Source url : http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2048976/Major-Search-Engines-and-Directories 

New interface for searches on mobile phones by Google

Ben Gomes, the India-bred techie who oversees Google's handling of 100 billion searches a month, believes a new voice-based interface is needed for the next frontier of search centred round mobile phones and tablet computers.
"Now search is becoming mobile - on phones and tablets. The challenge is that it is on a small screen, so it's hard to type. The opportunity is that it's got a really good microphone and a touch screen," he said.
"It can enable a new kind of interface. So we realised we want to build an interface that was much like the way you talk to some person and ask a question," Gomes said.

Source url :  http://www.indianexpress.com/news/google-focusses-on-new-interface-for-searches-on-mobile-phones/1171356/?wc=EWJvGgpmBQVHGxVx

New Top Navigation: White Top & Box Bar by Google

This morning, Google is rolling out a new top bar navigation style worldwide. They have not yet announced it, but they have been testing various experiments with it. It seems very likely that Google will roll out this new navigation to all Google users over the next few days.

The picture above shows Google has dropped the black bar navigation and replaced it with a minimalistic white top, with fewer links but a box like button, which expands to show you additional Google services.

Source url : http://www.seroundtable.com/google-white-box-navigation-17362.html