Bigmouthmedia Search Engine News: /seo/

Microsoft challenges Google to "Bing It On"

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 05:48:00 GMT

Microsoft is squaring up to Google with its new campaign entitled "Bing it On", a comparison challenge that allows users to pitch the two heavyweight search engines against each other in a side-by-side stand off.

The 'Bing it On Challenge' prompts users to enter neutral search terms, producing unbranded results pages from both Google and Bing. The user can then compare and choose which search engine produced the most favourable results, or call it a draw.

The overall winner is decided after a best-of-five face-off.

Microsoft, taking umbrage against many people's automatic habit of "googling", is hoping the direct comparison test might show Internet users that "Lets Bing it" might have a better ring to it after all.

Senior director of Bing, Stefan Weitz, told CNET news the goal of the campaign was "to get users to take a look again at Bing.

"We want them to see Google's magic secret search sauce isn't really so magic."

Microsoft claim that users prefer Bing search results 2 to 1 over Google's, after commissioning a recent study involving 1000 people. Bing bosses hope that the campaign will encourage people to re-think their search defaults.

The tech giant, currently holding 28 per cent of the U.S search share, is launching the Bing it On Challenge in a flurry of publicity, promoting the campaign on nationwide American television stations as well as across the internet in the form of online ads and the twitter hashtag 'bingiton'.

Competitions will also be held, with prizes such as an Xbox 360, a Microsoft Surface and a Windows Phone up potentially for grabs for twitter users who share a designated Bing It On tweet.

The challenge is risky for Bing, who will no doubt report a short term surge in its user numbers, but if Google is victorious in the transparent side-by-side challenge, then Microsoft may have just put its search head on a very public chopping block.

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Gmail to be included in search results

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Google has announced it is to allow users to include Gmail messages in search results to help optimise findings.

The trial, which is limited to one million people, means email matches will appear on the right hand side of the results page on Google's search results.

Each search will be individual and only relate to the linked email account. Google has claimed it has developed a completely secure method for achieving these results, meaning there is no risk of a user's messages being accessed by outside sources.

Amit Singhal, Google's search chief, told The Telegraph that the move was a "baby step towards pre-emptive search...adding Gmail into search goes another step towards search becoming more useful and providing a person with all of the relevant information they need in one place."

Privacy watchdogs have criticised the move, with Google claiming that it is the only way to enhance the reliability of its search engine.

Amit Singhai expanded on the Google blog, saying, "Sometimes the best answer to your question isn't available on the public web- it may be contained somewhere else, such as in your email.

"We think you shouldn't have to be your own mini-search engine to find the most useful information- it should just work. A search is a search, and we want our results to be truly universal. So we're developing a way to find this information for you that's useful and unobtrusive."

The company also announced it will be extending its Google Knowledge Graph into the UK as well as including voice activated search on its IOS app for mobile devices.

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Google brings Knowledge Graph to Search

Thu, 17 May 2012 02:49:00 GMT

Google has set out to make search act 'more human' and taken its next step toward total search domination with the Knowledge Graph.

Previously, Google's algorithm matched keywords with user queries to produce results - the addition of Knowledge Graph will help the search engine better understand 'context'.

"The Knowledge Graph enables you to search for things, people or places that Google knows about - landmarks, celebrities, cities, sports teams, buildings, geographical features, movies, celestial objects, works of art and more - and instantly get information that's relevant to your query," Google SVP of Engineering Amit Singhal wrote on the company blog.

"This is a critical first step towards building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the web and understands the world a bit more like people do."

The Knowledge Graph compiles information from public sources - including Freebase, Wikipedia and the CIA World Factbook - and contains information on more than 500 million objects and uses some 3.5 billion facts.

Search results will be arranged into categories in which the search term has been associated, giving users the ability to zero in on results most relevant to them.

Further, Google will now also provide users with a summary of relevant information on key searches - for example important people - and will also provide what it believes are relevant related searches.

"We've always believed that the perfect search engine should understand exactly what you mean and give you back exactly what you want," Singhal said.

"And we can now sometimes help answer your next question before you've asked it, because the facts we show are informed by what other people have searched for."

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MPs Urge Google to Self-Censor Search Results

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 05:48:00 GMT

In a report published yesterday, Parliament's Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions concluded against introducing new privacy laws, but urged Google to censor its search results in accordance with existing privacy regulations.

The committee concluded: "Google and other search engines should take steps to ensure that their websites are not used as vehicles to breach the law and should actively develop and use such technology."

The report comes amid a growing global debate over how to best balance freedom of expression with the right to privacy, particularly on the Internet. Parliament was pressed to review the UK privacy laws after the 2011 super-injunction controversy, wherein footballer Ryan Giggs was repeatedly identified on Twitter and other social media sites as the 'anonymous' public figure that allegedly had an extra-marital affair with model Imogen Thomas.

Though they decided that new privacy laws would be unnecessary, the committee did urge the Attorney General to be stricter with web users who breach privacy laws. However, there remains uncertainly over how to go about prosecuting such offenders, particularly in cases like the Giggs super-injunction where he was 'illegally' tweeted about over 75,000 times.

While the individual behaviour of Internet users is discussed in the report, the activity of search engines and online media outlets was the primary focus. The Committee Chair, John Whittingdale MP, said in the report:

"It is clear that media self-regulation under the PCC did not work. We therefore wish to see a stronger self-regulatory system that is seen to be effective and commands the confidence of the public."

"The PCC's successor must have teeth; it must be truly independent of the industry; it must incorporate all major news publishers. Parliament should have a central role in scrutinising the process of media reform."

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Google plans search revamp

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:12:00 GMT

Google is shaking things up in search, as the company announces plans to give its web-search formula its most dramatic makeover to date.

According to the Wall Street Journal, in the coming months users will begin to see a lot more than web links when they query the popular search engine. Soon, users will also be presented with "more facts and direct answers" at the top of each results page.

For example, when a user searches "What are the 5 biggest cities in Britain?", rather than being directed to a website, Google instead might simply provide the answer.

The changes to the search engine are set to be among the biggest in Mountain View's history, and according to the WSJ, could significantly affect current page-ranking results. The changes won't see Google replace its keyword-search system, but rather will aim to provide "semantic search" technology to better understand what users are searching for.

According to Google exec Amit Singhal, a search database containing millions of "entities" - made possible with semantic search technology - will help associate and connect these entities with one another - for example, terms like "Google" might be matched with "Larry Page".

The new search, says Mr Singhal, will look "how humans understand the world."

He continued saying that for many searches today "we cross our fingers and hope there's a Web page out there with the answer."

Though plans for "semantic search" are already in the works - Google has been quietly collecting "entities" data for two years - there is no official word on when users might expect the changes to occur.

The process, according to Mr Singhal, is years in the making, and will usher in what he calls "the next generation of search."

The new system is also expected to help Google "better recognize the value of information" on websites, says the Wall Street Journal, and will examine a website looking for information about entities referenced on the page, rather than simply look for keywords.

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Social networks Focus on the User

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:48:00 GMT

Fed up with being ignored by Google, engineers from Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have joined forces to create a new tool that gleans search results from social networks other than Google+.

'Focus on the User' uses Google's algorithms to "determine what social content should appear in the areas where Google+ results are currently hardcoded."

By using the tool, users can see search results from Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, along with LinkedIn, Tumblr, Flickr, Foursquare, Crunchbase, FriendFeed and several other social networking sites across the web. Instead of automatically being met with Google+ results, users can see the most relevant social media results on any given search.

"When you search for 'cooking' today, Google decides that renowned chef Jamie Oliver is a relevant social result," the website said.

"That makes sense. But rather than linking to Jamie's Twitter profile, which is updated daily, Google links to his Google+ profile, which was updated nearly two months ago."

The bookmarklet - dubbed 'Don't be Evil', after Google's own motto - runs in Chrome, Firefox or Safari and automatically checks for any social profiles associated with a given search term, replacing Google+ profiles.

According to its creators, Focus on the User "looks at the three places where Google only shows Google+ results and then automatically googles Google to see if Google finds a result more relevant than Google+."

Google's Search plus Your World update has come under fire since its launch, with critics arguing the search giant is acting in its own interests on its quest to become more social.

Dissidents of Search plus Your World have also called foul on Google, arguing Mountain View is not doing what's best for the user and is abusing its power by edging out other social networks from search results.

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Google+ averts identity crisis

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT

What's in a name? Apparently a lot, when creating a Google+ profile.

Google+ took a controversial stand at its inception and required all users to use their real-world name to avoid pseudonyms and impersonations. When users originally signed up with an identity other than their real name, Google suspended many of those accounts.

While most people go by the name that appears on their driver's license or passport and wouldn't think twice about using their real name on a social network - some people have created images and lucrative brands around an established pseudonym. Take Madonna or Lady Gaga, for instance.

Google+ has heard the cries of identity anguish and announced it will change its policy.

"Over the next week, we'll be adding support for alternate names - be they nicknames, maiden names, or names in another script - alongside your common name," Bradley Horowitz, a co-leader at Google+, wrote in a Google+ post.

"This name will show up on your Google+ profile and in the hovercards which appear over your name. In the next few weeks, we'll be displaying it more broadly as part of your name on other areas of Google+ as well. So if you're Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jane Doe (Smith) you can now communicate your identity the way you want to."

Google+ will, however, have the last say and reserves the right to deny the use of a pseudonym that they feel doesn't represent an individual, like businesses and abstract ideas.

Users can appeal to Google+ if the name they intend to use is flagged by providing information to confirm an established identity. Back-up documentation could include references to an established identity offline in print media, scanned official documentation or proof of a meaningful online following.

Borowitz added: "Today is a small step towards improving the ways in which you can communicate your identity of Google+. We will be listening to feed from the community and will continue to refine all aspects of how we handle names and identity over the coming weeks, months and beyond."

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Twitter throws the first stone at Search plus Your World

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:36:00 GMT

As news about Search plus Your World spread like wildfire through the internet, the web's biggest microblogger was quick to throw the first stone at Google.

It seems Twitter is less than enthused about the proliferation of social search results in the latest Google update - users can now see a mixture of social and global results for search queries, including stories gleaned from Mountain View's own social network, Google+.

Former Google employee and Twitter general counsel Alex Macgillivray tweeted that it was a "bad day for the internet", and Twitter followed suit, releasing a formal statement:

"Often, [users] want to know more about world events and breaking news. Twitter has emerged as a vital source of this real-time information, with more than 100 million users sending 250 million Tweets every day on virtually every topic. As we've seen time and time again, news breaks first on Twitter; as a result, Twitter accounts and Tweets are often the most relevant results.

"We're concerned that as a result of Google's changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone. We think that's bad for people, publishers, news organisation and Twitter users."

As part of Google Realtime Search, Twitter signed an agreement in 2009 with the search titan to carry results gleaned from its microblogging site. When the deal expired this past July, Twitter opted not to renew it, and shortly after, Google announced it had disabled Realtime to explore other options.

Google responded to Twitter's statement, saying: "We're a bit surprised by Twitter's comments about Search plus Your World, because they chose not to renew their agreement with us last summer, and since then we have observed their rel=nofollow instructions."

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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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