This Week’s Industry News
Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff
Bing Webmaster Tools Now Offers XML Sitemap Generator
With the addition of an XML Sitemap generator plugin, Bing is attempting to make it easier for webmasters to create and regularly update their Sitemaps. The plugin features two options that work on IIS and Apache serves to create a comprehensive Sitemap and a freshly updated Sitemap.
Source: Search Engine Land
U.S. Court Dismisses Lawsuit Over AdWords Bidding On Competitor Names
The Wisconsin Court Of Appeals has dismissed a right-to-privacy claim by a law firm against a top competitor that bid on their branded keywords in AdWords. The judge, in ruling against Habush, Habush & Rottier and for Cannon & Dunphy, determined this was the online equivalent of buying clearly marked ads in dead tree Yellow Pages.
This decision is consistent with one made in Australia a month ago, where the High Court of Australia ruled that Google itself was not liable for this practice.
Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Five Websites Currently Receive 20% Of All Search Engine Click-Throughs
If you’ve ever clicked on Facebook (8.48%), YouTube (5.55%), Yahoo (2.63%), Wikipedia (2.01%), or Amazon (1.40%) by way of a search engine, you’re part of the 20% of searchers that regularly gives these sites traffic from search results. On the paid search side, five websites (Amazon, eBay, eHow, Best Buy, and Yahoo! Shopping) take up 16% of all clicks.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google Shopping Beats Amazon Product Ads
A recent report from CPC strategy stacked up against Amazon Product Ads after making the switch to a commercial model in Q3 of last year. In the second half of last year Google Shopping sent 120% more traffic to retailers than Amazon Product Ads. Also, at $0.31, Google’s cost-per-click was 32.5% less than that of Amazon Products Ads, which stood at $0.41.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google Releases New Video Detailing Google Glass
Google posted a new video previewing Google Glass that shows an updated, more detailed picture of the headset’s user interface. According to the video, Google Glass will allow users to send voice-controlled messages, search the web via speech and execute onscreen directions. The video further suggest that the device will offer onscreen translation and voice-controlled photos. Google has said in the past it plans on releasing the product by early 2014 though developer editions are already available for $1,500.
Source: The Verge
World’s Most Expensive Starbuck’s Drink
Here’s a video about the world’s most expensive Starbuck’s drink, which came in at a price tag of $47.30. The 52 oz drink included 40 shots of espresso.
Source: Devour
No Two Web Pages More Than 19 Clicks From Each Other
In a claim that conjures up thoughts of six degrees of Kevin Bacon, a new study finds that no two web pages are separated by more than 19 clicks. The study, carried out by the intriguingly named The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. While the finding may seem enlightening, the website 19clicks.com has been making the claim since as early as 2005.
Source: Mashable
Notable Commentary
That Won’t Bid On Your Brand
Facebook Opens Up About Graph Search Origins In Reddit AMA
Facebook Director of Engineering Lars Rasmussen did a Reddit Ask-Me-Anything last week, focusing heavily on the five W’s of Graph Search. More specifically, he explains why the rollout was slow (privacy concerns), and how the search actually functions once a query is made. It’s a pretty interesting look into the brains behind Facebook’s newest toy.
Analysis By: Greg Finn, Search Engine Land
The 18 Meta Tags That Work In 2013
Meta data usage has often been met with a snicker or two by the SEO community over the past couple of years. However, with the emergence of structured markups leading the way, Google has narrowed their focus on the meta tags that carry the most influence. Michael King, writing at iAquire, has a very smart breakdown of 18 meta tags you should place on your website ASAP.
Analysis By: Michael King, iAcquire
Tracking Quality Score By Account Helps Optimize Your AdWords Campaigns
Frederick Vallaeys has a rather lengthy article explaining why you should monitor account-level Quality Scores. Although it is only tracked in Google AdWords on a keyword level-basis, Vallaeys provides a method for tracking this metric on the account level, providing an easier way to track success/failure based on changes you make to the account.
Analysis By: Frederick Vallaeys, Search Engine Land
Everything B2B SEOs Could Ever Know About The Importance Of Buyer Personas
At the heart of any business, B2B or B2C, understanding your customer is always the key to selling your brand, product, or service in the most successful and efficient way possible. In the case of B2B businesses, it becomes even more imperative, as most B2B buyers and sellers tend to be very narrow in their scope of intent, interest, and needs. Therefore, any SEO work done in the B2B space warrants extra attention paid to buyer’s personas.
Analysis By: Derek Edmond, Search Engine Land
20 Signals For Gauging Local Search Performance
Andrew Shotland breaks down 20 key signals that make your business easier to find in local search- categorizing them into relevancy, popularity, distance and advertiser value indicators.
Analysis By: Andrew Shotland, Search Engine Land
