Google’s CEO Larry Page discussed Google’s future plans at last week’s TED 2014 event. Among the highlights, Page reveals that Google is a long ways away from their mission of organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible. For the future, Page discussed self-driving cars, going to Mars, and much more.
Source: Search Engine Journal
If your website isn’t ranking, Cutts explains how to figure out what’s to blame. Before anything else, check Webmaster Tools to determine if there is a penalty. Algorithmic changes are more difficult to identify, but to pay attention to the updates Google announces. Above all, Cutts says it comes down to best practices.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Oculus VR, a virtual reality company, was purchased by Facebook for $2 billion. Facebook hopes to extend their advantage in gaming to new areas like education and communications. Oculus fans are upset about the purchase and some developers have announced they no longer will work with Oculus.
Source: The Daily Dot
Google’s predictive tool, Google Now, is coming to desktops and laptops via the Chrome browser. The expansion could take several weeks to complete. Signed-in users should look for the bell icon in their status bar. Users can click the bell and it will bring up available Google Now alerts.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google filed for the patent in 2012 and has finally been granted the US patent. A detail of the patent worth highlighting is how it is designed to understand abbreviations for domains and how users refer to them. The patent is helpful for gaining a better understanding of the algorithm.
Source: Search Engine Journal
Users may notice the addition for certain search queries. If you click any of the related topics will bring up the actual knowledge graph of that particular topic. Barry Schwartz’s example shows a search for [equilateral triangle] and related topics of equilateral polygon, square, regular polygon, and more.
Source: Search Engine Land
This week Bing has launched a new bid simulator tool – Bid Landscape. It is found in the Keywords tab of the interface and is meant to give advertisers a better sense of what changes they are likely to see form adjusting bids. It works very similarly to AdWords bid simulator so advertisers should feel right at home using it!
Source: Search Engine Land
Google has rolled out new section of reporting with YouTube TrueView-specific metrics. These groups include Paid Views, Cost per View, Website Clicks and Engagement. The reports also have the capability to be segmented by Ad Content of Video. Google is also piloting GDN impression reporting designed to show conversions or actions taken after an un-clicked impression of vide view.
Source: Marketing Land
Bing has now launched Product Ads in the US after months of testing. Bing’s version of Product Listing Ads are powered by product feeds just like AdWords. They will display on the Yahoo Bing network for e-commerce searches and will display the product image, title, price and merchant name. Advertisers will also be able to import PLA campaigns from AdWords if they already have them running. Better late than never!
Source: Search Engine Land
Google penalized an entire site for a guest post written nine months ago. It has lead to a debate on the need for a fair search police for instances like this. A popular suggestion includes getting rid of penalties and instead just not counting the link if it doesn’t meet Google guidelines.
Analysis by: Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land
Good content isn’t enough anymore and marketers have to understand how content will be absorbed. Search Engine Watch has three steps that will help you create buyer personas and buyer journeys. Those steps are to interview your audience, segment the information to the marketing funnel, and brainstorm how to reach them at each stage.
Analysis by: Erin Everhart, Search Engine Watch
A new events feature that was previously only on desktop local search, now shows events amongst the other local profile elements on Android devices. Businesses that offer events need to make it very clear to Google that you do and make the information available via structured data.
Analysis by: Chris Silver Smith, Search Engine Land
Ever wonder how many ways you can optimize a Google display campaign? You are not alone, Joe Castro from Search Engine Journal has also asked himself this very question, and has come up with some answers as well. In a recent article he discusses interesting ways to optimize a Google Display Campaign.
Analysis: Joe Castro, Search Engine Journal
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