AdWords Releases Two Great Features, Google Wants To Get Back With China, Everyone Has An Opinion On SOPA, & More

Google AdWords Offers Mobile Targeting By Specific Device Version

The newest Android and Apple mobile devices are never new enough after a few months. Not everyone upgrades their smartphone or tablet upon a newer version’s release, leaving users of older Android and iPhone devices frustrated after landing on a page uniquely qualified for the updated iOS and Honeycomb systems.

Google AdWords has relieved this problem for users and advertisers by offering specified mobile targeting based on operating system and Wi-Fi capabilities. The ubiquitous growth of smartphone and tablet use makes this a smart move by Google.

Source: Search Engine Land

AdWords Impression Share Metrics Are On Their Way To The Ad Group-Level

Google AdWords Ad Group view has offered limited insight into the overall effectiveness and visibility of that specific collection of ads. However, Google has now expanded impression share data in the Ad Group tab, also featuring lost impression share, and exact match impression share.

Source: Search Engine Land

It’s Not A Good Legislative Sign When PIPA/SOPA Co-Sponsors Are Jumping Ship

Wednesday’s Internet blackout spread from sites large to small as people across the U.S. rallied to protest the SOPA/PIPA bills making their way through Congress. The blackout was a success, as a handful of both bill’s co-sponsors have now withdrawn support for the legislation, citing public and personal concerns over the depth and breadth of power it gave lawmakers.

Source: Mashable

Study Debunks Social Media ‘Echo Chamber’ Theory

The echo chamber theory, as applied to social networks, dictates that people have a pension for consuming and searching for information that only reinforces likeminded beliefs. However, a recent study of Facebook has discovered users interact with information shared by distant contacts on a majority basis. They are likely to share and discuss information with close friends, but distant Facebook connections tend to provide access to new and different ideas. Whether they agree or not with the information presented, people often take the bait.

Source: Data Facebook

Google Attempts To Make Amends With China

Google isn’t on good footing with a lot of governments, but China is definitely at the top of their 2012 resolution to rebuild burnt bridges overseas. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is taking a lighter tone as they attempt re-entry into China’s good favor. There’s an obvious financial benefit to this quasi-groveling, as China currently has 400 million Internet-capable citizens and 800 million mobile device users.

Source: Search Engine Land

GoogleBot Pumps Brakes During SOPA-Inspired Internet Blackout

Google’s web crawler, GoogleBot, was slowed to a near stop during Wednesday’s Internet blackout SOPA/PIPA protest. While some webmasters claimed their sites weren’t crawled at all, Google said they took this action so as to not punish websites participating in the event.

Source: Search Engine Roundtable

A Watch As A Magic-8 Ball?

Can’t make a decision? A new Mr. Jones watch can help you out. The watch alternately displays “yes” and “no” as each second ticks, allowing you to let chance decide when you’re wavering on an answer.

Source: Washismo

All The SOPA You Can Handle

Ian Lurie provides an even-handed critique of both pro-SOPA corporations and Internet Jack Sparrows. Khan Academy has an 11 minute video explaining the devastating precedent put forth in both SOPA and PIPA. Finally, Chris Heald fantastically breaks down each bill bit by bit so you actually understand what you’re railing against. Read away!

Analysis By: Chris Heald, Mashable

Analysis By: Ian Lurie, Conversation Marketing

Analysis By: Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing

In Related News…Stalk U.S. Congress On A Mass Scale!

Want to know what all social media-using U.S. Congressmen and women are saying at all times? PolitickerUSA allows you to track Twitter movements from federal-level politicians, as well as parse out the feed by political topic, politician, or general public discussion trends.

Analysis By: Gary Price, Search Engine Land

Linking Out To Improve Google Rankings?

After noticing an interesting trend on his own site, Tad Chef at SEOptimise hypothesizes that ranking higher in Google can be achieved through linking out, as opposed to link building in. In some cases, linking out leads to inbound reciprocated links, but it’s definitely an interesting concept that Matt Cutts himself has acknowledged is something of a factor in the algorithm.

Analysis By: Tad Chef, SEOptimise

Google’s Think Quarterly Is Out!

Like a big bag of Skittles, Google’s Think Quarterly is packed with juicy bits of information of all flavors. One of the main takeaways: whether you’re serving up a website, responding to customers on Twitter, or marketing a new product, speed sells.

Analysis By: Think With Google

What Did You Learn About The Web In 2011?

A List Apart has compiled a large list of responses to the question, “What did you learn about the web in 2011?” The answers are interesting because they came from industry professionals, and range from app popularity, to always measuring performance, to social media’s Occupy Marketing Departments movement.

Analysis By: A List Apart Readers

Success Exists Beyond Ranking #1, Thanks To Rich Snippets

Every SEO loves flexing like Pumping Iron-era Arnold when one of their clients sits atop all other websites in Google’s SERPs. That isn’t the only measure of success for an SEO campaign, and rich snippets make it easier to boost conversion rates by catering to hidden user intent without striving for that #1 ranking.

Analysis By: Byrne Hobart, Search Engine Land

Is Search Plus Your World Too Much ‘Plus’ And Not Enough ‘Your World’?

Steven Levy explores the ramifications of Google’s “Search Plus Your World” update from business and personal ethics lenses. This integration of search and social has been in the cards for a long time, but Levy questions whether the results fall in line with Google’s focus on serving the most relevant information for users.

Benjamin Edelman also makes a solid argument why Google favoring its own brand over others in the social world follows a trend of only monopolistic tendencies for the search engine.

Analysis By: Steven Levy, Wired Epicenter

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