This Week’s Industry News

Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff

Google Just Updated Their Algorithm (Probably)

This past week, the SEO world was abuzz with Donald Rumsfeld-ian speculation about a Google update. We don’t know where, we don’t know when or how, but something probably happened. Cyrus Shepard and a few SEO forums have confirmed they’ve noticed a shift in their website’s traffic (for better or worse) since September 1. Google has yet to respond or comment on the matter, but it’s safe to assume there’s a new and improved Penguin/Panda at work.

Source: Search Engine Land

Twitter Now Offers Ad Targeting Based On Personal Interests

Twitter’s advertising options keep getting better. Advertisers can now target Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts to specific users based on over 350 interests. In a conjoined move, Twitter lowered the minimum bid floor from 50 cents to one cent, further aligning the platform with its contemporaries.

Source: Search Engine Watch

Microsoft AdCenter Answers ‘Where’s My Ad?’ Question

One of the biggest gripes about Microsoft AdCenter is its inability to verify an ad was live and showing up in front of the proper audiences. Thankfully, Microsoft recently announced they have an update in their ad preview tool that will allow advertisers to simply view where their ads are being displayed and who is seeing them.

Source: Search Engine Land

Facebook Targeting Fake Likes

Facebook has pledged to drop the hammer on scammers who employ malware and fraud to gather phony “Likes” on the social networking site. The effort will include increasing the use of automated tools that can sniff out and remove fake “Likes” as well as updating security measures to better detect suspicious behavior. Facebook said that on average, less than 1 percent of likes on any given page would be removed, “providing they and their affiliates have been abiding by our terms.”

Source: Search Engine Watch

Google Granted Patent On Logging In Via Facial Recognition

Google was just awarded a patent for technology that allows users to login when their computer recognizes their face. If implemented, this development would allow for quick access to their Google accounts just by looking like themselves. It also could allow Google to know when you’re touching one of their services even if you’re not logged in. No word yet on if you could access someone’s Google account simply by putting a picture of them in front of a webcam.

Source: Webimax

The FTC Knows Search Engines Don’t Comply With Its Paid Listings Disclosure Guideline

In 2002, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission implemented an order for search engines to reveal all of their paid placement/inclusions. Two months ago, Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan wrote a letter to the FTC asking for a compliance review. They recently responded with a terse statement that essentially says, “We know it’s a problem. No comment.”

Source: Search Engine Land

If You Own A Smartphone, You’ve Probably Cleared Your History Once Or Twice

Marketing for mobile devices is becoming a very necessary (and lucrative) practice, and the more mobile interaction data advertisers and search engines can collect, the better they’ll be. There’s just one problem: people know their smartphone is consuming their personal data, and it scares them (apparently cookies on desktop computers don’t though).

According to a recent Pew Internet Project study, 50% of smartphone users have cleared their search/browsing history, and 57% of app users have deleted an application because it asked for personal information. Additionally, 30% of smartphone owners turned off location tracking.

Source: Search Engine Land

Google And TV: ‘Game Over, Man! Game Over!’

When it comes to selling digital advertising, Google’s is second to none. Traditional television, however, is a very different story. Google has officially announced that, after a four year trial period, it is abandoning tradition TV ads. Funny enough, Google continually struggled to sell itself and its motives to big media companies.

Source: Search Engine Watch

Notably Commentary

Ready For Some Football

The YouTubers Guide To Video Analytics

The more popular videos become, the more resources Google will devote to building up its video platform on YouTube. Video analytics are in their adolescent stages of development, but there are still some valuable pieces of data you can pull from YouTube Analytics. Todd Bailey covers all the basics so you know what to look for the next time you post a video.

Analysis By: Todd Bailey, Search Engine Journal

50 Best Internet Marketing Blog Posts Of 2012

Sujan Patel lists the 50 best Internet marketing blog posts of 2012 to this point. The list is broken down into subgroups by topic. Subject groups include SEO industry changes, social media, link building, content marketing, conversion rate optimization and PPC

Analysis By: Sujan Patel, Search Engine Journal

Here’s Your Definitive Guide To Starting A Local SEO Campaign

Google’s increasing emphasis on the 7-Pak in its organic results has made focusing on local SEO more imperative than ever. Eric Covino at SEO Book has a stellar post laying the general framework for a local SEO campaign, applicable to any type of local business.

Analysis By: Eric Covino, SEO Book

Players In The World Of SEO

Oli Gardner offers a Magic card-like breakdown of the various “players” in SEO and their strengths and weaknesses-from the Big White Hat and The Lone Wolf to The Affiliate and The Con Man.

Analysis by: Oli Gardner, Unbounce

The Value Of Directory Links

David Harry attempts to answer the question “Are going after directory links still worth it?” His answer: It depends. The “a link is as link” mantra no longer holds true if it ever did and following it blindly can be problematic. With directories considering the source is important-Does it get traffic? Is it relevant? Is it a moderated list?

Analysis by: David, Harry, Search Engine Watch