This Week’s Industry News
Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff
Yahoo And Bing Are Dead Even In Search Market Share
For the first time ever, Bing (15%) and Yahoo (15.1%) are neck and neck in U.S. search market share, according to a recent comScore report. This change marks a net gain of 4.6% for Bing since last November, when Yahoo sat at 16.4% to Bing’s 11.8%.
Source: Search Engine Land
Tracking The Impact Of Online-To-Offline Sales
Remember that Sam Adams commercial where bar patrons wildly over-estimated the brewery’s share of the American beer market? A similar situation would happen if you asked someone how retail market share e-commerce occupies (it’s actually less than 5% of the $4 trillion spent each year).
However, a recent study has discovered how paid search online really influences offline sales. Every $1 in online advertising revenue leads to an increase in physical store revenue by $6, according to two years worth of research compiled by retail marketer, RevTrax. The study also found that an average paid click is worth roughly $15 of in-store revenue.
Much of this previously hard-to-track information came about because of smartphone saturation and other new online-to-offline tracking technologies.
Source: Search Engine Land
To Paraphrase Liam Neeson: Release The Facebook Timeline!
After months of teaser roll-outs akin to the campaigns for a Christopher Nolan Batman movie, Facebook has officially unleashed its Timeline on the waiting masses. The service is already available on Android devices as well, and Mashable has compiled a very useful list of Timeline resources on and off Facebook.
Source: Mashable
Dynamic Google Media Ads Now Available For Tablets
Google has released a collection of new rich media ads that cater to the wants and desires of smartphone and tablet users. Inherently, both demographics look for interactive ads on their touch screen devices, and these templates will serve as a way for advertisers to give the people what they want.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Chrome 15 Has More Users Than Internet Explorer 8
As the computer-savvy world waits patiently for the Internet Explorer browser to crawl back to the hollowed volcano in the Pacific Ocean from whence it came, there is some good news about its biggest competitor. The most up-to-date version of Google’s Chrome browser (Chrome 15, 24.55%) has more users worldwide than the newest version of Internet Explorer (IE 8, 22.16%). Funny enough, Internet Explorer still owns the top overall spot in market share, which reveals quite a lot about the technological comprehension/interest of its users.
Source: Mashable
Enjoying Ad-Free Facebook On Your Phone? No More!
Facebook has never integrated advertising into its smartphone app, which has been nice for users that are subjected to advertising on the level of patients in Ludovico technique aversion therapy. Unfortunately, there’s profit to be had, so Facebook will soon be fully integrating ads onto its smartphone app by the end of March 2012. The world’s leading social network has remained tight-lipped as to how the ads will fit into its platform, however.
Source: Venture Beat
The Google+ Button Is No More On Google’s SERPs
Citing a need for a cleaner looking search results page, Google has opted to remove its +1 button from immediate visibility under each result. Instead, it has been relegated to anytime you hover over the instant preview of a website. Google has hinted that this may not be the last thing that is removed from the results pages, as they are committed to streamlining its overall appearance.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Search Engine Users Will Opt For Recognizable Domains Rather Than A Quality Experience
It’s been a long-held belief that search engine users focus on brand domains when deciding whether to click on a search result. A recent study that explored user behavioral tendencies reiterated this assumption, finding that a user will lean towards a trusted, authoritative domain, even if it presents a worse quality experience compared to another vendor.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google Webmaster Tools Now Includes Stats On Authors
“Author Stats” are now available in Google Webmaster Tools. The stats allow users to view the frequency with which their tagged content is displayed in Google, how many impressions it gets, and the number of clicks each article receives.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google Releases ‘Currents’
If you long for the day that magazines, newspapers, and popular web content are easy to read on your Android or Apple devices, rejoice! Google Currents is now available to make your casual or serious reading life much more accessible. The app features content from over 150 publishers, as well as a self-service platform that allows publishers to customize the design of their content on the tablet/smartphone platform.
Source: Google Mobile Blog
Like Siri? Google’s Got Some Competition For That
Did anyone honestly think Apple’s Siri would go a full year without any competition from Google, Facebook, and/or Microsoft? Google is working on releasing a similar virtual assistant named Majel. For all those Star Trek geeks out there, the name was influenced by the voice of the Federation Computer, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry. The initial release will only feature Google search queries, but Google obviously has plans to expand its abilities with time.
Source: Android And Me
Holiday Deal Sites Are Back On Bing. It’s A Festivus Miracle!
Remember when Bing Julius and Ethel Rosenberg’d Black Friday and Cyber Monday-related websites from its search results? Apparently they’ve been resurrected, and Bing claims the whole blacklisting process came about because of their algorithm’s heightened sensitivity to scam deal sites around the holidays.
Source: Search Engine Land
If You Had To Pick, Would You Want To Work At Facebook Or Google?
The Glassdoor.com annual best workplaces study was just released, and Facebook (#3) and Google (#5) made the top five. Of course, both workplaces have notorious reputations for attempting to keep their employees around long-term, from paying millions of dollars to do so and offering a very relaxed working environment. For the record, Apple came in at #10, and Groupon ranked at #40.
Source: Search Engine Land
An Original Apple Contract Is Worth WAY More Than Expected
An original Apple contract, signed by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, had a predicted auction worth of between $100,000 – $150,000. Instead, it went for a whopping $1.35 million before adding the seller’s 12% commission. Hope it looks good on the buyer’s personal Apple store section of their mansion. It’s also reasonable to assume part of this inflated worth is the fact that Steve Jobs died recently.
Source: Tuaw
Notable Commentary
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Video SEO Tips For The New YouTube
YouTube is the most visited video website on the Internet, hitting around 4 billion visits each month. Todd Bailey has offered up some SEO advice for tailoring any videos you post on YouTube to popular searches on the site.
Analysis By: Todd Bailey, Search Engine Journal
Let The Top 10 Lists Of 2011 Continue!
Digg’s demise, Facebook’s timeline, Google+, and of course, the kung-fu SEO panda. These are just four of the 10 most influential stories concerning the search and social marketing world. The top story should come as no surprise to anyone, but then again, neither should any of these impactful going-ons on the Interwebs.
Analysis By: Guillaume Bouchard, Search Engine Watch
Six Antibiotics For Toxic, Unwanted Links
Every website has inbound links they wish did not exist, especially if they are on or sitting at the fringe of Google’s index blacklist. SEOmoz’s Pete Meyers gives us a six-pack of solutions that can help remedy these issues.
Analysis By: Pete Meyers, SEOmoz
INFOGRAPHIC: Is Twitter Good For Your Business?
Social networks are becoming increasingly useful for promoting brand awareness and connecting with customers on a human level. However, sometimes they are not exactly worth a business’ time and effort. Search Engine Journal has a flow-chart infographic to help you determine how important Twitter should and could be to your business or clients.
Analysis By: Melissa Fach, Search Engine Journal
Twitter Re-Design Opens Door For Great Brand Opportunities
The new look of Twitter has a fairly obvious bias towards attempts at monetization, thus exposing opportunities for brands to increase their presence on the popular social network. Kaila Strong runs down how brands can utilize everything the re-designed Twitter has to offer.
Analysis By: Kaila Strong, Search Engine Watch
Just How Influential Is Google+?
Like Prince William, Kim Kardashian, and Tim Tebow, Google dominates headlines in their industry every time Matt Cutts feels a sneeze coming on. Google+ has certainly been no different, especially since its Google’s most successful attempt at social networking to date. Sarah Kessler recently sat down with Chris Brogan, the author of Google+ for Business: How Google’s Social Network Changes Everything.
Analysis By: Sarah Kessler, Mashable
