Search Lately: Issue 22 Weekly Search Round Up Highlights in the world of search this week include Google +1 button falling away, a new Google hotel finder companion ad, a PPC santa list and the launch of the Yahoo BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service) product suite. Google +1 Button Falls Away... 13 DECEMBER 2011 – Google have now removed the always visible feature of the +1 button beside search entries, to simplify Google SERPs further... searchenginewatch.com/article/2131918/Google-1-Button-Loses-Search-Visibility Google + Integrates With Gmail 14 DECEMBER 2011 – Google+ circles have now been integrated with Gmail as an additional filter within your email inbox... searchenginewatch.com/article/2132851/Google-Integrates-Google-Gmail-Contacts
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Search Lately: Issue 22 Google – New Hotel Finder Companion Ads Above Paid Search 14 DECEMBER 2011 – A new companion ad has been added for top competitive hotel related queries above existing paid and organic search results that leads the user to the Google Hotel Finder... searchengineland.com/google-tests-hotel-finder-as-comparison-ad-104661 POV: As this occupies a premium space at the top of Google SERPs, it will push the paid and organic search ads further down the page and therefore potentially reduce CTRs for hotel related paid search ads as Google drives users to their own hotel finder product. This will potentially impact the market and make it a lot more competitive as paid search market share of clicks on Google is reduced. This feature is also now available for credit cards, checking accounts, saving accounts and CDs as Google tries to force users towards their own products. – Kevin Ting
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Search Lately: Issue 22 Google Adwords PPC Santa List 12 DECEMBER 2011 – At this time of year every needs to have a santa list including PPC practitioners, including geo-targeting at ad group level, historical quality score reports and searcher’s time-zone ad scheduling... searchengineland.com/7-things-on-my-google-adwords-wishlist-for-santa-104235 POV: These suggestion are just some of the improvements that would help PPC practitioners to do a more effective and efficient job if Google were to implement them. A couple of these stand out as major improvements to Google Adwords in an ideal world: 1. Ad scheduling based on a searchers time zone would enable for countries such as
USA and Australia, to use this functionality across country without setting up separate campaigns for each time zone.
2. Geo-Targeting at Ad group level would enable brands especially at this time with
mobile and tablet use on the rise to be even more targeted with their advertisements and make the most of every opportunity that is available. – Kevin Ting
Yahoo launches Search BOSS 08 DECEMBER 2011 – Yahoo BOSS (build your own search service) originally created in 2008 has been relaunched and enables developers to overlay Yahoo’s search infrastructure to create a search widget for their own websites. It is designed to give more power and flexibility for publishers, developers and site owners. It also includes 3 additional features; BOSS Hosted Search, BOSS Site Search and BOSS Shortcuts www.yadvertisingblog.com/blog/2011/12/08/meet-%20the-new-boss-yahoo-searchlaunches-three-new-offerings/ POV: A key factor to bear in mind here is that this is not a free tool. Whilst the idea behind it is a good one and puts Yahoo! back in the game for a bit longer, I don't think Google have anything to worry about for the time being! The tool seems relatively easy to use and all users need to start playing around is a Yahoo! ID. This will help Yahoo! to continue building up their profile especially after the demise of Yahoo Site Explorer. Watch this space! – Jimisha Lakhani
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Sources www.yadvertisingblog.com searchengineland.com searchenginewatch.com
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Follow Us on Twitter @EmergingSpaces @SMGSearchUK @SearchLately Publisher Kevin Ting Contributors Jimisha Lakhani