October 2008
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Yellowbook Launches G1 Mobile Application
Google Integrates Custom Search with Knol
In July, Google launched Knol, a knowledge sharing platform. You can find all sorts of information from baking to AutoCAD.
Google says users have been asking for a more “robust” search platform for Knol. And who is Google to turn down such a request.
However, Google wanted to maintain the look and feel of Knol. So they used Custom Search to keep it feeling very Knol-y and not so regular Google-y.
What do you think of the Custom Search in Knol? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Related Reading:
Google SERP Bias? Google Knols Best
SearchMonkey Allows Apps to Go Experimental
SearchMonkey is a developer’s platform released by Yahoo earlier this year. But in order for searchers to make use of the apps, they must first be approved by Yahoo.
Now Yahoo is letting developers find an early audience by allowing apps to be classified as experimental before they’re approved. Searchers can use the apps like they’re a hotel swimming pool – i.e. at their own risk.
Want to test out some experimental apps? Click ‘Show Experimental Enhancements’ at the bottom of the SearchMonkey Gallery applications directory page.
Election Tools from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL
I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that election day is next Tuesday. Whether you’re observing or you’re breaking out the campaign gear for some hardcore get out the vote effors this weekend, here are some tools to help you keep up with the news and your efforts:
Google Earth
You can download a KML file that lets you search results from past elections, since 1980. The data is broken down and can show you how different regions of the country voted – even by county. I used to work as a political consultant, and let me tell you – this kind of data is heavily relied on. It’s a bit of a late release for campaigns, who already have this data. But it’s great for political junkies.
Google News
Trying to remember what a candidate said on an issue? Just type their name into Google News. If Google has indexed a quote by that person, it will appear on top of the search results in the one box.
Google Mobile
Want to know your precinct location? The Google Mobile team has created a special tool just for that purpose. Go to m.google.com/elections on your mobile phone, type in your address and you’ll be directed to your precinct.
The tool did not point me to early voting locations, which in my state are not the same as Election Day precinct locations.
As cool as that is, always verify with your local elections office. Google even helps you do that. They have a box where you enter your state’s abbreviation, and it will pull up relevant links to voting information.
Yahoo Elections Hub and Political Dashboard
Yahoo makes the most of its successful portal platforms with its Elections Hub and Political Dashboard. The dashboard is a super slick map showing the latest poll results. Hopefully they update it with real time results on election night. I can totally see myself keeping the dashboard open while watching results come in on the tv.
Microsoft Live Search xRank
xRank, Live Search’s buzz tool, has a politician section. It’s no surprise that the Rep and Dem presidential and vice presidential candidates take the top 4 spots today. The rest of the top 20 is filled with senate and gubernatorial races, with Hillary Clinton and George Bush thrown in for good measure.
MSN Election Live Q&A
Q&A is Live Search’s answer product, and over at the MSN Election Guide, you can find the Election Live Q&A. It’s pretty straightforward. You can ask and answer questions about the election in real time.
AOL Elections Toolbar
AOL has a toolbar for IE and Firefox that can keep you up to date with election news. If you like to surf the net while watching TV – this could be an ideal toolbar for you come Tuesday night.
Well, hopefully that’s enough to keep you busy and up to date.
Got any tools to share? Leave your suggestions in the comments.
Related Reading:
Obama is Winning the Internet War
ChaCha Selected by Rock the Vote for Mobile Answers
Regulators to Prevent Google from Bailing Out Yahoo?
Washington is on a bailout binge lately, so you would think they’d hop on board when it looks like the private sector could actually manage to work things out on their own.
Like, I don’t know, the search advertising deal between Google and Yahoo. Yes, there are concerns from the advertisers. But Yahoo keeps posting dismal profits. So, unless something magical happens to Yahoo (like an acquisition by Microsoft – oh wait), then antitrust issues won’t even matter.
But Google has been dropping hints that it might walk away from the deal because of regulations they don’t want to comply with, like caps.
It’s been projected that the deal with Google could infuse $800 million of cold hard cash into Yahoo in a year’s time. That certainly wouldn’t hurt. Of course, Yahoo would need to manage that influx well, and therein lies the problem. Perhaps regulators don’t think the deal, which could hurt advertisers, would ultimately save Yahoo.
Adding fuel to that fire is that regulators have been lobbied hard by Microsoft, who is probably looking to watch Yahoo’s stock fall into the single digits before coming back to pick it up. Microsoft may be struggling to grow its search market share, but as a whole, they have a ton of cash on hand and will weather the economic storm. Acquiring Yahoo (especially if a merger with AOL takes place) could create a stronger second place finisher in the search engine market, which would reduce anti-competitive concerns, indeed.
We Are What We Search
Bill Tancer, the General Manager of Research at Hitwise and one of the keynote speakers at Search Engine Strategies Chicago, will be interviewed by Matt McGowan, Global VP of Marketing at Incisive Media, during an SES Webcast on Friday, Nov. 7, 2008, at 1:00 p.m. EDT / 10:00 a.m. PDT. The title of Bill’s presentation is: “We Are What We Search.”
At a time when search engines are rapidly replacing the yellow pages (and news search engines are routinely scooping daily newspapers), Bill has access to a wealth of consumer information about Internet user behavior that was never available before. Bill is well known in the search industry for mining the latest Hitwise data, which is a sample of over 10 million Internet users U.S. and 25 million worldwide, to glean insights on the sites we collectively visit, what we search for and what that tells us about ourselves.
I spoke with Bill yesterday and he shared this news nugget with me: “I’m going to talk primarily about what search term data can tell us about the economy and consumer sentiment. I’ll also spend some time on finding insights on the effect of an economic downturn on search. You might expect that with recent contractions in online retail that search traffic to that category would be declining….Our data (while showing a recent small drop-off) indicates that search traffic to retail is up over the previous year….”
Bill’s webcast will cover other news-breaking search trends, implications for online advertisers, and he will give Webcast participants opportunities to ask him their most burning search trend questions! Oh, and Bill will give away 10 copies of his latest book, “Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters,” to the best questions fielded during the SES Webcast.
Google to Change Calculations for Quality Score and Ad Rank
Changes are coming to the way AdWords calculates its Quality Score and Ad Rank. The changes will be implemented in the coming weeks.
First up, Quality Score will no longer take ad position into account. The idea is that simply dishing out the dough for a higher position has nothing to do with the quality of the ad.
CORRECTION: Here’s what Google really said: “To calculate the most accurate Quality Scores, it’s important that the influence of ad position on CTR be taken into account and removed from the Quality Score.” Bloggers have been pointing out that Google has been doing this. When I get further clarification from Google, I’ll let you know! Stay tuned.
Next, Ad Rank is going to focus on quality for ads that appear on top of the search results. Ads must meet a “quality threshold” in order to appear in that prime real estate. It will be possible for a lower positioned ad to jump above a higher position ad in the sidebar ads to hang out in the box above the organic results if it meets the threshold but the higher positioned ads don’t.
Clearly, Google is making quality a key focus in AdWords. This may be an attempt to improve the program in the midst of a slowdown in growth for paid search. Or it could be an attempt to show that Google is more concerned about quality than price – and therefore advertisers need not be worried about a little thing like a search advertising deal with Yahoo.
What do you think about the focus on quality? Let us know in the comments.
Related Reading:
Google Makes AdWords Site Stats Logo Optional
AdWords Editor Version 6.5 Released
AdWords Conversion Optimizer Releases New Eligibility Requirements
AdWords API Gets an Update and Extra Quota
How To Write A Respectful and Insightful Eulogy For A Grandfather
When writing a eulogy for a grandfather it can be very difficult to find the right words. A eulogy, in essence, is very different from other types of writing. You can’t grab a bunch of words out of th…
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how to write a respectful and insightful eulogy for a grandfather
More International SEO Blunders
Before I continue with the other blunders that Tad Chef shared in his article titled “7 Weirdest SEO Mistakes Big Companies Make Abroad,” let me acknowledge some readers who left comments in the previous post. gMoney asked for the link to the original article – sorry for my oversight, it has been fixed. [...]
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