Google Confirms “Mayday” Update, Twitter Links in Ads & More

Google Confirms Organic Ranking Algorithm Changes

Over the last year, Google made between 350 and 550 changes in their organic search algorithms, with one of the most recent updates coming in early May. The “Mayday” update has had a particularly noticeable impact on ranking for a number of sites in regards to long tail search terms. The ranking change has most heavily impacted large ecommerce sites with a high quantity of item pages but not a lot of individual links to them. In the past, pages that were not high quality could still rank well if they contain high relevance signals. Now, these high relevance signals will not carry as much weight for page rank if the quality signals for the pages are not as high. This is expected to be a permanent algorithm change.

Google Tests Twitter Display Ad Integration

Google has quietly invited a handful of advertisers to test a new display-ad integration with Twitter. Just like Twitter, the layout of the ads is simple. The Twitter bird is in the left-hand corner with the advertiser’s most recent tweet is located in the center of the unit. To the right, reads “Follow on Twitter” which allows users to follow the advertiser without leaving the page. If the user clicks anywhere else on the ad, the user will be taken to the advertiser’s twitter page. Tweets will never be missed because the ads are linked to the client’s account.

Founder and managing director of Qualité, Magne Uppman, said that his company has seen only a modest increase in followers as a result of the ads thus far.

This is not the first time Google has incorporated Twitter into its network, as its included tweets in its search results for some time now. Google already allows searchers to see a timeline of archived tweets so they can see how a particular topic has been trending over time.

Facebook, Google, and YouTube Embrace Politics

Google and YouTube just did it and now here comes Facebook; social media has gone political. YouTube has created a You Choose 2010 Campaign Toolkit, Google has their own Google Campaign Toolkit and Facebook has launched theirs at Facebook.com/USpolitics.

These pages have been created to help politicians deliver their message to their audience in a better way. YouTube’s toolkit allows candidates to have their own channel which offers longer videos and custom thumbnails. Candidates utilizing YouTube can pay to add call-to-action on their videos and run TV spots as in-stream ads in other YouTube videos.

Shockingly, Google Campaign Toolkit is not as exciting; their toolkit points candidates to existing Google Apps. Facebook on the other hand has other advantages to offer. They show how elected officials, political campaigns, and U.S. politicians utilize Facebook to connect with the people. Currently President Obama has more than 8.6 million fans and former President George W. Bush who launched his page recently accumulated over 700,000 fans in about one week.

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Sources:

Search Engine Land – Google Confirms Mayday Update Impacts Long Tail Traffic
Search Engine Journal – Google AdWords Testing Twitter Display Ads
Mashable – Google Launches New Tools for Political Campaigns; Facebook Launches US Politics Page