This Week’s Industry News

Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff

Google Confirms Panda Update 3.92

It’s official: Google’s monthly Panda update (version 3.92) is live for September. Google claims the change will affect ~.7% of all searches, but we all know from experience that it’s likely to hit at least one website you work with on a daily basis.

Source: Search Engine Land

Google Begins Rolling Out Enhanced Sitelinks Globally

Google has begun rolling out enhanced sitelinks on desktop search ads globally. Initial tests demonstrated that enhanced site links appearing above organic search results could lead to much higher clickthrough rates for advertisers than standard 2-line and 3-line sitelinks.

Source: Google Inside AdWords

Google Adds Spending Flexibility To AdWords With ‘Shared Budgets’

Google is making it easier to allocate money across multiple campaigns, thanks to its new Shared Budget feature in AdWords. The program works by re-distributing unspent money from a less successful campaign to a better performing one that may have maxed out its budget on that day.

Source: Search Engine Watch

Google Updates Algorithm To Improve Search Result Domain Diversity

Rumors swirling about an update to Google’s algorithm this week have been confirmed. The update aims to improve the diversity of domains appearing in Google’s search results. Recently, many have noted that any given search can sometimes be dominated by listings form the same website.

Source: Search Engine Land

Businesses Must Pay To Use Facebook Offers

Facebook’s stock has atrophied since its IPO, and the company is scrambling to find any way to squeeze revenue out of its business model. Enter Facebook Offers, which essentially work the same way as Groupons in that businesses must pay Facebook to use the service, whether or not their chances of making a profit increase.

Source: BGR

Mobile Facebook Ads Now Showing In Non-Facebook Apps

Facebook is sticking to its “Priority: Mobile” pledge, as the social giant is slowly rolling out its ad platforms with test advertising on third party mobile apps. Facebook has continually enhanced its massive display ad network by partnering with multiple ad exchanges and DPS and sharing its vast amount of data for ad targeting.

Source: Search Engine Watch

Kickstarter Tries To Curb Abuse

Kickstarter is enhancing its vetting process in an attempt to prevent project creators from taking money and running, never heard from again. The new section of their site is called “Risks and Challenges,” which forces the visionary to openly expose the biggest obstacles between their idea and its physical manifestation in the real world.

Kickstarter hopes this change helps donors better determine whether or not the project is worth their money and commitment to the product/idea.

Source: Mashable

Bing Adds ‘Keyword Suggestions’ To Advertising Platform

In a recent blog post, Bing has announced it will provide keyword suggestions for ads. The suggestions are derived from current keywords used in various ad groups, and come gift wrapped with monthly search estimates, suggested first page bid costs, and an easy way to confirm the suggested keyword as relevant to your campaign.

Source: Bing Ads Blog

Google Will Soon Include ‘Do Not Track’ As A Chrome Setting Option

Google is adding the “Do Not Track” privacy option to its Chrome browser, according to a recent statement. Internet Explorer and Firefox already include the feature, and there is some twinge of irony in Google’s decision to conform to this standard, but so it goes.

Source: Search Engine Watch

Meta Keywords Are Making A Limited Comeback

Like Kajagoogoo, Extreme, Haircut One Hundred, and every other band featured on VH1’s “Bands Reunited,” meta keywords have returned to prominence. Sort of. Google has recently unveiled news_keywords, which are essentially metatags specifically tailored for publishers approved in Google News. The tags are limited to 10 per story, require commas for separation, and are just one of many signals Google uses to learn about a news-related post.

Source: Search Engine Land

App Search Results In iOS 6 Display One Result At A Time

The tech world is buzzing with the release of iOS 6 this week, and one of the most notable updates to Apple’s new mobile operating system involves its app search results. Apple justified the change by claiming most people don’t look beyond the top result, but many outside iXperts say that Apple’s search algorithm is not wired to display the best result first. We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple updates this feature to include more results in the future.

Source: Search Engine Land

FTC: Google’s Anti-Trust Punishment Must Be More Severe…

The Federal Trade Commission will make a decision by the end of 2012 on whether or not legal action should be taken against Google for the company’s potential antitrust issues. Although this seems unlikely at this point, one interesting wrinkle in the story is the FTC’s hire of Beth A. Wilkinson, who is essentially the 1972 Miami Dolphins of antitrust litigators (a 40-0 record in court).

Source: Search Engine Land

Mobile Coupon Searchers Still Love Restaurants, Clothes

According to a recent Chitika data dive, restaurants (22.4%), retail (17.7%), and general clothing deals (27.86%) are most sought after by mobile searchers looking for coupons. Considering all three categories essentially encompass everything you would find in a mall, it makes sense that they would make up 80% of all coupon searches. It also demonstrates just how important it is for local businesses to make themselves visible online, as well as offer some form of “deal” to attract potential customers.

Source: Search Engine Land

Playing “Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon” Has Never Been Easier

Google has answered the overwhelming public demand for a more efficient way to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. The popular game determines the number of connections between the Hollow Man star and any other actor. Searchers can now find an actor’s “Bacon Number” by typing in “bacon number” (no quotes) and then the actor’s name into the search bar.

Source: Search Engine Watch

Notable Commentary

Six Degrees From Eating Bacon

PPC Keyword Conversions And SEO

PPC and SEO strategies aren’t exactly the Capulets and Montagues of Internet marketing, but collaboration often requires some maneuvering around non-transferrable data. However, keyword research has always been the tactic that binds the PPC and SEO world. Nathan Safran has a great article explaining how SEOs can utilize paid keyword interactions to guide their organic strategies.

Analysis By: Nathan Safran, Search Engine Land

Tips And Tricks For Beautifying Your Excel Data With Conditional Formatting

Let’s be honest: we love data, but it can look pretty bland in black and white. Annie Cushing walks through all the steps you could possibly take using conditional formatting to colorfully segregate your data into an aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-read piece of number art.

Analysis By: Annie Cushing, Search Engine Land

Detected Bugs After The G+ Local Merge

Blumenthal’s reports that very few bugs have surfaced after Google’s initial rollout of a system allowing single location businesses to merge their G+ Local page into the fully social G+ Page for local. Still, a few glitches, while mostly non-threatening, have reared their ugly head. The article includes a list of detected defects compiled by the Blumenthal’s top forum contributors.

Analysis By: Mike Blumenthal, Blumenthals

Social Media’s Influence On SEO

Tommy Landry highlights the ways the ever more important social media sphere affects SEO. Overall social media profile is becoming more important to Google ranking, with signs like geotagged media and check ins being especially essential to ranking locally.

Analysis by: Tommy Landry, Search Engine Journal

SEO Competitive Analysis Advice From SEER Interactive

Competitive analysis is a pillar of any SEO strategy, and the folks over at SEER Interactive have a solid post revealing a few tips and tricks for laying the foundation of research effectively.

Analysis By: Brian Donohue, SEER Interactive

8 Non-Writing Apps For Writers

In the world of writing, apps that pertain directly to composing a given piece of writing get most of the attention. But other useful tools for writers do exist. Ben Ellis lists eight especially helpful Non-writing Apps for writers.

Analysis: Ben Ellis, Problogger