This Week’s Industry News

Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff

Google Co-Founder Larry Page Becomes Company CEO

One of Google’s founding fathers, Larry Page, will become the CEO of an Internet giant that employs around 24,000 people. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO for 10 years, will be stepping back into a role as executive chairman of the company on April 4 when Page takes over.

Page’s only experience as a CEO was in Google’s infancy as a private company, where he was ousted after three years in favor of Schmidt’s “maturity” (Page is now 37, Schmidt is 55). As surprising as this change may be, the intrigue as to where the Internet giant goes from here will dominate headlines quickly.

Source: Yahoo News

Google Couldn’t Buy Groupon, So They Made One Instead

Remember when Groupon turned their noses up at Google’s purchase offer of $6 billion in late 2010? Well Google may have the last laugh with Google Offers. Google Offers is a coupon service that works (and looks) almost exactly like Groupon deals. Take a look at this screen shot to see for yourself:

Google obviously has a lot more money and people to work on improving the Groupon model. With Groupon, LivingSocial, and now Google Offers competing in the Internet coupon market, the true winners in this race are consumers and small businesses, regardless of which company loses.

Source: MSNBC

Steve Jobs’ Health Forces A Leave Of Absence

In other technology executive news sure to make shareholders nervous, Steve Jobs has announced he will be go on medical leave from Apple for the first time in two years to focus on his ailing health. Apple COO Tim Cook will manage the company’s day-to-day operations, and it is not known if or when Jobs will return and his specific health issue. Jobs had a liver transplant in 2009 and is also a cancer survivor.

Source: Business Insider

Google Considers Blank Pages Duplicate Content

If you happen to have two or more no-content pages, Google will view them as duplicate content and remove them from the rankings. It’s not an issue since you aren’t trying to rank for spaces, but if you ever did put something on the page, it might take a while for the penalties to go away.

Source: SEO Roundtable

Google Unveils An Upgraded Ad Preview Tool

Google has announced a new and improved version of the AdWords ad preview tool. Here are the highlights of the update:

• While you preview ads, you can now see integrated keyword assessment results. This allows you to see if a keyword is showing results in a market anywhere in the country without accruing an impression.
• The preview tool also now confirms whether or not your ad is displayed and has links to relevant campaigns and ad groups. If it isn’t displaying correctly, the preview tool diagnoses the problem.
• The newly created Device setting allows you to do everything above for mobile ad campaigns, including narrow down your desired campaign by carrier or device type.

Source: Google Inside AdWords Blog

Notable Commentary

Worth Its Click-Through Rate In Gold

Are You Ready For Paid Search Without Keywords?

This article looks into the rapidly changing landscape of paid search and offers insight into how the new territory should be approached in 2011.

Analysis By: Alex Cohen, Search Engine Watch

Matt Cutts Shares Best Practices For Mobile SEO

Ever wonder if you are being penalized for duplicate content when you index your mobile site with your main site? Matt Cutts has got you covered.

Analysis By: Matt Cutts, YouTube

Ask Snooki How To Get More Clicks From Facebook

This cleverly written article compares Facebook to Jersey Shore and looks into what it is that makes the majority of Facebook users tick…and click.

Analysis By: Danzarella, SEOmoz

Here’s To Hoping Google’s New CEO Is Just As Colorful As Eric Schmidt

The Wall Street Journal draws attention to ten of their favorite/hilarious quotes from the soon to be former CEO of Google. Here are Rocket Clicks, all of them would be considered ReTweetable.

Analysis By: Courtney Banks, The Wall Street Journal

Happy 10th Birthday, Wikipedia!

Anybody that has come to the internet desperately seeking information on the band Bread or famous French high wire artist Philippe Petit, join me in wishing Wikipedia a wonderful 10th birthday!!

Note to self: Friend Wikipedia on Facebook so you don’t embarrassingly forget their birthday next year.

Analysis By: James Temple, The San Francisco Chronicle