Bigmouthmedia Search Engine News: /ppc/

Google brings Your World to your search results

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:24:00 GMT

Seeking to deliver on CEO Larry Page's promise of a more social Google, the search seraph announced earlier today another new initiative to infuse social signals in search.

Your World marks the third major revamp tooled toward social search in the approximately nine months since Page ascended the search throne atop Mountain View.

"We're transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships," Google Fellow Amit Singhal explained on the Official Google Blog. "We began this transformation with Social Search, and today we're taking another big step in this direction."

Google's three major plays with the revamp include finding results catered to individuals, and integrating the profiles of those with similar interest or who may be close to your social circle in results and autocomplete features. Your World also places Google+ pages related to search terms within easy reach for users to visit.

Mountain View has continually assessed social metrics and feature enhance search, and this latest update is set to make most searches even more unique to each user.

However, some may be less than thrilled to see personal information listed alongside popular results for something like "beach holidays".

"Until now we have not had the mixture of our personal information with our Web search results, and that makes even me a bit nervous," said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land, who affirmed Your World is one of Google's most significant overhauls.

The move also marks a hard strike against social media's biggest player, Facebook, as Palo Alto's metrics don't feed into the results. Instead, Google could be seen as favouring its own offerings (Google+, +1) in the place of market competitors.

While just how Your World plays out remains to be seen, the service will be automatically rolled out for most English-language users in coming days. Users must choose to opt out should they not want personal results displayed.

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Google demotes itself after paid-blog fuss

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:13:00 GMT

Google has fallen on the proverbial sword - demoting itself in search rankings after a Chrome ad campaign violated the company's own policies.

Google has found itself in hot water following the revelation that a Google Chrome ad campaign did exactly what the company has specifically banned in the past - paying bloggers for links to pad out search results.

To add insult to injury, the posts were of such low quality that they embodied the kind of "thin" content that Google has been working to eliminate from its search results.

So, to make amends it appears the search giant will be turning to a little self-flagellation of the corporate kind.

"We've investigated and are taking manual action to demote www.google.com / chrome and lower the site's PageRank for a period of at least 60 days," the company said in a statement from Mountain View.

"We strive to enforce Google's webmaster guidelines consistently in order to provide better search results for users... we can find no remaining violations of our webmaster guidelines, we believe Google should be held to a higher standard, so we have taken stricter action than we would against a typical site."

Google notoriously dislikes companies trying to game search results by paying other sites to link to them, and is partly blaming the advertising companies it partnered with for the fracas.

"Google never agreed to anything more than online ads," said the company. "We have consistently avoided paid sponsorships, including paying bloggers to promote our products, because these kind of promotions are not transparent or in the best interests of users. We are now looking into what changes we need to make to ensure this never happens again."

Searching for the keyword "browser" on Google will no longer bring up the Google Chrome home page anywhere in the top results, with it reportedly currently ranked in position 50.

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Google and Mozilla remain friends - and competitors

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:00:00 GMT

Recent research said Firefox users have higher IQs, so it appears that Google has made a smart decision to renew its search engine deal with Mozilla.

The Mozilla Corporation recently announced it "negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement" with Google for the next three years.

As a non-profit foundation, Mozilla relies heavily on the income generated by search partnerships.

"Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the world," said Gary Kovacs, Mozilla's chief executive.

Alan Eustace, Google's senior vice president of search, commented: "Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come."

The previous deal between Google and Mozilla, which was set to expire in November, had been signed before Google's Chrome browser gained a presence in the so-called 'browser war.'

Analysts heavily speculated Google would back out of the deal, as Chrome's launch and subsequent growth put it in direct competition with Firefox, all while Google remained financially responsible for Mozilla's survival.

However, Whit Andrews, an analyst for Gartner, said Google's decisions shouldn't be all that surprising.

"What Google really wants is more advertising on the internet. It's very simple. If it drives more ads on the internet, they're into it," he said.

"Google want[s] the shelf space. There's a shelf sitting there and they've got a product. The fact that the shelf is with a competitor, they don't really care. The alternative is that another competitor gets the shelf."

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Chrome closes in on Firefox

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:49:00 GMT

Chrome may soon have the upper hand in the browser wars, as the Mountain View browser closes in on Mozilla's Firefox.

According to Net Applications latest worldwide browser usage measurements, Chrome is only 4 per cent behind Firefox - which dropped in popularity by 2 per cent since January.

Stiff competition from both Internet Explorer and Chrome have caused the popular browser's numbers to flag this year - Firefox numbers slipped 0.4 per cent while Chrome inched forward 0.7 per cent.

Firefox and Chrome now account for 22.1 per cent and 18.2 per cent respectively - compared to Internet Explorer which holds a clear lead with more than 50 per cent of the browser market under its belt.

"Firefox once was the prime challenger to Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which for years languished in the doldrums of software development. Now it shares that role with Chrome and, to a lesser degree, Apple's Safari," said Cnet's Steven Shankland.

While Internet Explorer remains in the lead with a 52.6 per cent share of the market, Microsoft is working to develop Internet Explorer to a high degree once more; with IE9 being considered a very creditable browser and IE10 anticipated to be another quality release.

After declining in popularity for many years - though still maintaining the lion's share of the market - IE's market share turned around in November and has started to increase slowly.

However, if Chrome continues steady growth at this rate, then the browser landscape could be somewhat different in a couple of years - in January Chrome held an 11.5 per cent market share - a number that has jumped to 18 per cent in less than a year.

As the gap between Chrome and Firefox continues to close, users could soon see the race for top browser heating up even further as the industry's best browsers go head-to-head for top spot.

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Microsoft says Yahoo!

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 07:25:00 GMT

Reports that Microsoft may be eyeing a stake in Yahoo surfaced for a second time as rumours continue to circulate that several groups are preparing to bid for a minority stake to help return Yahoo to its halcyon days.

According to CNET, Microsoft is just one of several high-profile investors teaming up in a venture led by equity firm Silver Lake to bid for a stake in the company.

Though reports remain officially unconfirmed, sources close to deal are reporting that Yahoo's financial advisors set a deadline for bids early this week, and the board of directors is expected to discuss potential deals immediately.

Since the departure of Bartz in September, reports Yahoo was "open to selling itself to the right bidder" have circulated, with industry experts speculating a number of different options going forward - including sale and restructuring.

"The question is whether Yahoo can be a growth company again," said a source close to the situation. "And that is still unclear."

One of the most significant changes in the rumoured deal would see investor and Netscape co-founder Andreessen Horowitz - who already serves on the board of directors at Hewlett Packard - installed as chief executive.

A friend of Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, sources close to Yahoo report Andreessen would be a natural choice for Yahoo's board of directors, and in recent weeks, Andreessen has been in talks for a possible role in the company.

Elsewhere, China's Alibaba Group - of which Yahoo holds a 40 per cent stake - is also said to be working with private equity firms to prepare a bid to buy all of Yahoo. As a result of the close relationship between the two companies, sources say the deal may carry a lot of clout, though it's currently unsupported by Yahoo's board.

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Renaming Wi-Fi networks stops Google snooping

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:13:00 GMT

Users who want their Wi-Fi hotspot locations ignored by Google now have that option.

Google recently announced a way for owners of Wi-Fi networks to be removed from Google's crowdsourced geolocation database. To opt out, users must visit their access point's settings and change the wireless network name (or SSID) so that it ends with "_nomap."

For example, if the SSID is "HeyGetOffMyNetwork," it would need to be changed to "HeyGetOffMyNetwork_nomap."

"As we explored different approaches for opting-out access points from the Google Location Server, we found that a method based on wireless network names provides the right balance of simplicity as well as protection against abuse," Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel, wrote on the Google blog.

"Specifically, this approach helps protect against others opting out your access point without your permission."

The opt-out scheme is meant to address privacy issues raised by Google's location tracking as part of their Street View services. When Google's camera-cars were sent out to take photographs they also logged the location of every Wi-Fi hotspot they passed. That data was used as part of the search company's location-based services for mobile devices.

The controversial program that didn't just map Wi-Fi networks, however, but also gathered personal information transmitted over those networks. Since the practice was made known, Google has faced mounting pressure, particularly from European officials, to either kill the mapping service or let people opt out.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority ruled in August that "Google is obliged to offer uses the option to opt-out, so they can effectively object to the processing of data on their Wi-Fi routers at all time and free of charge."

Google proposed the "_nomap" strategy at the time, according the Dutch government. The company now hopes its official announcement will lead to other location providers using the appendage.

Fleischer added: "Because other location providers will also be able to observe these opt-outs, we hope that over time the "_nomap" string will be adopted universally. This would help benefit all users by providing everyone with a unified opt-out process regardless of location provider."

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Mountain View's Mad Men tweak mobile search ads

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:24:00 GMT

Mountain View's mad men seem to be burning the candle at both ends these days, as Google's suits have just rolled-out new mobile search ad formats hot-off-the-back-of the launch of the firm's new Dynamic Search Ads.

According to an official Google blog post, businesses and marketers will now be able to use search ads to better target and reach mobile-searchers as they use apps and carry-out local searches on-the-go.

Surojit Chatterjee, Google's senior mobile ad product manager, blogged that the firm would now be running customised in-app search ads to connect businesses and brands with searchers using a relevant mobile app - for example, a restaurant chain will now be able to run an a customisable search ad within a given restaurant-finding app.

Chatterjee also let slip that the firm will trial mobile app extensions so businesses can use mobile search ads to direct a searcher to a mobile shopping app (or related app) already installed on their device.

What's more, he also revealed that Google's mad men would be doing more to build local context into mobile ads to help businesses, marketers and advertisers capitalise on local search.

He explained that advertisers and marketers will now be able to target local searchers with circular ads featuring products, deals and special offers as well as with click-to-call ads and hyper local search ads (both launched a year ago).

Chatterjee also noted that proximity will now act as a mobile add ranking factor, with businesses that are physically closer to a mobile searcher's location likely to rank higher than businesses that are further away.

He added: "Mobile search helps people find what they need in a snap. Whether they're choosing between two restaurants, shopping for a new watch, or buying a movie ticket, people make better decisions when they have access to more information.

"Search ads are information - answers - and on mobile devices, they're able to connect people and businesses in new, useful and relevant ways."

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Google launches 'dynamic' ads to match searches

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:00:00 GMT

Operating one of the largest platforms for advertising anywhere, Google has revamped its offerings yet again in an effort to benefit user experience and, potentially, sales generated by its pay-per-click (PPC) ads.

Writing for the AdWords blog, Director of Product Management Baris Gultekin addressed the business benefits of the new offering by saying: "Dynamic Search Ads complement your existing keyword-targeted ads to help you sell more with less effort."

However, those with AdWords experience will know some degree of automation has been present in the platform for many years. And as the product's still in limited beta, the full scope of benefits and drawbacks of the new form may have yet to be seen.

The key of Google's new initiative would see the search seraph keeping tabs on a business's inventory, then automatically generating a PPC ad once a user enters a relevant query. Google algorithms would set to work and present a headline based on the search term as well as the ad copy that usually follows.

"When users see ads and landing pages that deliver exactly what they're searching for, they're more likely to click and convert," Gultekin said. "So it's not surprising that we've seen solid performance in limited testing so far.

But, as the process will be automated, PPC professionals would be remiss to count out the potential of misleading or incorrect advertisements being displayed, or the chance the new system could spew out gobbledygook on any given query.

The post went on to explain that businesses would have ultimate control over what types of searches Google would generate ads for.

"You can choose to target your whole site, specific categories of products on your site, pages containing certain words, or pages containing certain strings in your URL," Gultekin said.

Reporting and analytics of the Dynamic Search Ads will be familiar to those with AdWords experience, and will be supported by multiple third-party trackers as well, the post explained.

The new ads are currently in limited beta in all countries and languages.

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Yahoo shuffles the deck with new CTO

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:37:00 GMT

Yahoo executive Raymie Stata has stepped down from his role as chief technology officer, and moves into a newly created position - entrepreneur in residence. He will be replaced by Ash Munshi.

Over the course of his career at Yahoo, Strata has been credited with the firm's cloud computing technology, as well as overseeing search and advertising technologies.

The move marks the latest management shift for the struggling Silicon media giant, which also said goodbye to CEO Carol Bartz in September.

Yahoo told All Things D in a statement: "Raymie Stata, CTO, has taken on a newly created role of EIR at Yahoo to allow him to return to his entrepreneurial roots.

"Yahoo is excited to appoint Ash Munshi to the role of CTO. Ash has a well-established career managing successful global technology organisations at the most senior levels with a laser focus on meeting and exceeding customer needs."

Stata was appointed to CTO in June 2010 from his previous role of chief architect. He joined the company in October 2004.

While it isn't uncommon for former executives to take up residency roles at large venture capital firms, Strata's move from chief technology officer to entrepreneur in residence is unusual - typically, executives move on to other companies, whereas Strata will remain at Yahoo.

Speculation about the future and possible sale of Yahoo continues as the company undergoes a strategic review, bearing the brunt of criticisms from shareholders.

Shareholder and Third Point CEO Daniel Loeb - who currently holds a 5.1 per cent stake in the company - has been one of the most vocal about his displeasure in executive management of the board of directors at Yahoo.

He took aim at the board of directors, saying the constant shuffle of the management team highlights the "poor corporate governance Yahoo investors have been saddled with for too long."

"It is also now widely recognised that the board made a gross error in turning down the $31 per share Microsoft bid in 2008, which would have generated significant returns for Yahoo's shareholders. This mistake is all the more frustrating given Yahoo's current depressed stock price of $13.61 per share - far below the company's intrinsic value."

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Yahoo for sale ... to Yahoo?

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:49:00 GMT

Former Yahoo CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang is eyeing a private buyout of the internet giant, according to Reuters.

The news source reported that Yang is allegedly interested in a deal that would take the company off public markets with the help of private equity firms and Yang's own 3.36 per cent stake in the company.

To complete the privatisation of the company, Yahoo's other co-founder David Filo - who currently holds a 5.9 per cent stake - would likely follow suit.

Yahoo declined to comment on new speculation to Reuters, other than saying: "The entire board, including Jerry, is fully aligned and unanimous in support of the comprehensive scope of the on-going strategic review. As always, Jerry's singular focus remains to serve the best interests of Yahoo - its shareholders, employees, users and advertisers."

In recent years, Yahoo struggled to regain lost ground against search titan Google - in August Yahoo's market share clocked in at 16 per cent compared to market leader Google's sizable 65 per cent - and continuous management shakeups likely do little to ease the web portal's woes.

Rumours about the company's future began circulating in September following the departure of CEO Carol Bartz, who held the position less than two years.

Following the appointment of Tim Morse as interim CEO, Yahoo began a strategic review and the sale of the company became a distinct possibility.

Since then, there has been little more than hearsay and speculation; however, Reuters reported that Microsoft and Alibaba may both be considering making an offer for the struggling search engine.

Yahoo is expected to send information about the company's finances to interested parties this week.

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