Collected & Collated By Kevin Ting
Search Lately: Issue 4 Bumper Search Round Up Back from a mini-holiday Search Lately returns with a Bumper 4-page issue, bringing you back into the loop of most things new in search. This extended issue also includes a special ‘Take a Break’ section with some great jewels from across the World Wide Web to reward you for patiently waiting so long for the 4th issue. Since the last issue recent highlights include Google call metrics, brand new Gmail ad formats, an experimental Google hotel finder and a Google Adwords credit card.
Bing + Yahoo Merger Progressing 04 AUGUST 2011 – Bing now powers yahoo organic search results in 17 countries worldwide, with paid search results to follow soon. Despite this alliance Google still dominates with a 92% share of searches in June, as Yahoo & Bing combined had just 6% of the market share…
searchenginewatch.com/article/2099288/Bing-Now-Powers-Yahoo-Organic-Search-Results-in-6-More-Countries
Google + Reaches 25 Million 03 AUGUST 2011 – Google+ reportedly reached this landmark back on 24th June! Interestingly Facebook took 3 years to reach this figure while Twitter took 30 months. Meanwhile US visitors currently outnumber UK visitors 6 to 1, while India have 2.6 million more visitors than us… thenextweb.com/google/2011/08/03/google-reportedly-becomes-the-fastest-website-to-hit-25-millionusers/
Google – Experimental Hotel Finder 28 JULY 2011 – Google launches an experimental tool in the US that allows users to search and find the perfect hotel with selectable zonal areas all on one page… thenextweb.com/google/2011/07/28/google-launches-hotel-finder-a-new-experimental-search-tool/
POV: Another Google experiment that is only available State-side at the moment, as they get all the good things first! Hotel firms will need to firmly acknowledge and make sure their presence within this tool is handled with the greatest of attention and care, if it proves to be as successful for the hotel market as sites like comparethemarket.com have been for the insurance industry.
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Search Lately: Issue 4 Google - Adwords Credit Card 22 JULY 2011 – Adwords look to encourage even more spending and make even more money out of customers with a new Google Business Credit Card featuring an 8.99% interest rate and no annual fee… searchenginewatch.com/article/2096211/Google-Introduces-AdWords-Credit-Card-for-Advertisers
POV: Google hope to extract more money from small and medium companies that may not be able to afford to pay large sums and then reap even more revenue from the interest that accrues. Even for larger companies that can afford to pay premium prices, a credit card that allows advertisers to accrue points with discounts and rewards, would be an interesting prospect and encourage greater investment in Google Adwords platform.
Google – Fresh Gmail Ad Formats 20 JULY 2011 – Brand new sendable Facebook style ads are being trialled on Gmail accounts in the US… searchenginewatch.com/article/2095222/Will-New-Gmail-Ad-Formats-Be-Totally-Worth-Dating-EngagingMarrying-Having-Babies-With
Old Format
New Format
POV: The introduction of new Facebook-esque style ads to Gmail, could be a very interesting indeed, with the potential of targeting Gmail users by demographic and geographic location. The forwardability functionality of these ads draw comparisons with Apple’s iAds, and with the massive reach and integration Google now has on desktop, mobile and the growing social presence with Google+, this new format should see significantly higher interaction levels than the current Gmail ad formats.
Google + International Search Marketing 20 JULY 2011 – Already supporting 42 languages while still in Beta testing, Google+ also enables invaluable language and country targeting via its circles feature… searchenginewatch.com/article/2095228/What-Goodies-Does-Google-Hold-for-International-SearchMarketers POV: Google have put a lot of time and effort into their newest social venture, and with its unique circles initiative have set the world in its sights. The opportunity for international marketers to target audiences by language and location from one place could be a very exciting prospect. With already 42 languages supported and many more expected before public launch, international brands should be clamouring to get a foot into Google+ For Businesses as soon as it arrives!
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Search Lately: Issue 4 Google - Call Metrics 19 JULY 2011 – Google release additional reporting metrics for paid search advertisers in US and Canada to enable call tracking analysis through Google Adwords… searchengineland.com/google-opens-up-call-metrics-plans-bid-for-calls-marketplace-online86222?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=feed-main
Note following a recent discussion with a Google Rep. this is currently on hold while engineers work on some technical issues, with no set release date on the road map presently. POV: Google’s release of call metrics could potentially be set to open up great opportunities for paid search positioning, if ad rank starts to incorporate call through rates into its algorithm and the possibility of call through rate based bidding becomes a reality. Many DR focussed businesses already use phone numbers in their ad copy, so the introduction of call tracking through Google could dramatically improve performance for these brands.
Google - Sticky Search Bar & Infinite Scrolling 18 JULY 2011 – Google’s continues to experiment and re-design its search engine interface, this time with a google search bar that sticks to the top of your screen and scrolling that lasts forever… searchenginewatch.com/article/2094856/Google-Tests-Locked-Search-Box-New-Look-Instant-Previews POV: These changes could have significant SEO implications as there would only be a single page of natural results. It could benefit those that are currently positioned beyond the first page while potentially de-valuing the very top positions if it does indeed graduate from Google’s playground.
Google - Most Expensive Keyword Categories 19 JULY 2011 – 97% of Google’s revenue (that’s an incredible $33 billion) comes from advertisements with insurance, loans and mortgaging adverts bringing in the majority of this revenue… searchenginewatch.com/article/2095210/How-Google-Makes-Its-Billions-The-20-Most-Expensive-AdWordsKeyword-Categories?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Google + Posts In Search 18 JULY 2011 – Google + Posts have started to appear in personalised relevant search results… www.stateofsearch.com/google-plus-posts-showing-up-in-serps-now-to-rank-them/ POV: Anything that has a major influence in a brands natural search position should be seen as high priority for a business if it is to stay ahead of the game and fight of its competitors.
Google + Searching Through Posts 18 JULY 2011 – Currently the only way to search posts in Google+ is through a third party site such as Google Plus Search Engine, although that is expected to change with a simple and easy to use Search+ integrated feature into Google’s redevelopment project. techcrunch.com/2011/07/17/why-cant-you-search-google-on-google/ POV: Currently Google+ is the fastest growing social network in history with an estimated 18 million users in its first 3 weeks and 25 million visitors in under a month, while still in an invitation-only phase, and yet to officially launch Google + For Business. Google have clearly invested a vast amount of resources and time in Google+, as they slowly integrate into every aspect of Google life. This juggernaut cannot be ignored if it does indeed live up to hype that is currently surrounding it inside and outside of Google.
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Search Lately: Issue 4 Special: Take a Break Highlights this week include a bright idea to get LEGO into the work place, the promise of the phone of tomorrow and some rather riveting talks from the recent TEDglobal 2011 hosted in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Build a Better Tomorrow by Playing With Lego Can being a kid again and playing with Lego really help us build better websites, enhance innovation and improve performance? I think there is only one way to test it… thenextweb.com/shareables/2011/08/03/playing-with-lego-helps-you-create-better-websitesapparently/
An Android on Your Wrist Mobile phones powered by Android software that you can wear on your wrist may be closer than you think… thenextweb.com/gadgets/2011/08/02/coming-soon-an-android-device-you-can-wear-as-awatch/
Enthralling TED Talks Coming out of the TEDglobal 2011 held in Edinburgh are a number of fascinating talks, my recommendations include Thandie Newton’s Embracing Otherness (13:55), Julian Treasure teaching us to listen better (07:50) and Harald Haas talking about wireless data transfer via light bulb (12:51). Another talk that although not from TEDglobal, that is worth the 3 minutes and 27 seconds that it will take out of today is Matt Cutts attempt at to convince you to do something new for 30 days.
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Sources http://thenextweb.com http://www.ted.com http://www.techcrunch.com http://mashable.com http://www.googleplussearchengine.com http://www.stateofsearch.com http://searchenginewatch.com http://searchengineland.com
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Collected & Collated By Kevin Ting