This Week’s Industry News
Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff
Google Is Officially Testing Infinite Scroll SERPs
Google denied testing infinite search results last November, but it appears that initial suspicions about the change were proved correct over the past week. On occasion, you may notice the feature, which matches the already implemented infinite scroll on Image Search results.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google AdWords Gets Special Formatting Test Designed For Gmail
Google is currently testing a specialized ad format that is Gmail-unique. The ad is more graphic-based and interactive, but not explicitly similar to display ads. The ads appear on the right sidebar just above the Gmail text ads. If clicked, the ad is tailored to look and feel like an email message, allowing the user multiple other click-through options.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google Analytics Changes Some Features
Google AdWords is the most often subject of change in any Google product, but Analytics has made some news for changes to its Session ID and Image Referrals metrics. Sessions in Google Analytics are measured based on the full amount of time a user spends on a site, and are ended when 30+ minutes pass between pageviews, a day ends, and when a user closes their browser.
That last criterion was recently axed on the grounds that a browser can close for more reasons than the user’s desire to go offline. Google has also ruled that a new session is begun when a user leaves the site and returns through a different source.
Image Referrals are no longer considered separate from a standard organic search referral, and are now recorded as organic search traffic. If your site has experienced a drop in referrals and increase in organic traffic, this change should be the answer you were looking for.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Google Absorbs Motorola Mobile For $12.5 Billion
In a move that isn’t very surprising, yet surprising in the sense that there was no leaked rumors beforehand, Google has bought Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. Google had previously made a pledge to never make its own mobile phones, but clearly times have a-changed. A big reason why this move was made was to protect patents and the company from potential lawsuits.
Source: Search Engine Land
Google Sitelinks Now Featured In A Dozen Pack
Google has officially announced that a 12 pack of large sitelinks are a new permanent feature in their SERPs. Google’s reasoning for the move was that it allows users to access their chosen section of a site quicker.
Source: Search Engine Land
Bing Webmaster Tools Now Features Yahoo! Traffic Numbers
It only makes sense that, since Yahoo! features a Bing-powered search option, Bing should be incorporating Yahoo!’s traffic into its overall metrics. Evidently that is now the case, as Bing Webmaster Tools now includes traffic data from Yahoo! The changes are set to be implemented between August 12 and August 16.
Source: Search Engine Journal
‘Google Related’ Toolbar Reveals Content Similar To Your Current Page
Google has unveiled a new tool called “Google Related” that offers suggested pages at the bottom of your browser as you surf the Internet. If a video suggestion shows up, as in the screen shot below, you can watch the video from your current page and simply click off when it finishes.
Source: Search Engine Land
Content Links > Social Links
Social media is a major part of any blog or business PR campaign on the Internet, but a recent study from Outbrain indicates that content site links are far more valuable than social media links. The study also found that users are more engaged and less likely to bounce if they are referred from in-text content links.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Study Finds Identical User Patterns On Google + And Facebook
It’s evident to any casual social media-ite that Google + took a lot of cues from Facebook and made them more “Google”-y. According to an eye-tracking study from EyeTrackShop, users view both social networks in a nearly identical pattern. The study was originally designed to test whether users clicked on Google + ads more frequently than Facebook ads. It found that both click-through rates were near clones.
Source: All Things D
Using Google AdWords Express Eliminates Your Organic Listing
AdWords Express is intended to be easy-to-use for the local business unfamiliar with the more complicated aspects of AdWords, but it seems that using the local ad tool has adverse effects on local organic listings. Apparently using AdWords Express removes a business’ site from local organic searches, but this article was published on Tuesday, so it’s likely Google will have this bug fixed ASAP.
Source: Search Engine Watch
Notable Commentary
Wise Beyond Its Years
Microsoft Maps Out Email Usage Trends In, You Guessed It, An Infographic!
From overall Internet usage to social media trends to expensive keywords, we’ve seen a lot of pretty cool infographics over the past few months. Well, throw another one on the pile, as Microsoft has delved into how and why people use email. Some of the highlights include:
- 294 billion emails are sent and received daily
- We are expected to receive 1,000 more emails per year in 2015 than we do now (2011)
- 53 percent of email users are “deleters,” 26 percent are “filers,” and 18 percent are “pilers”
Analysis By: Ryan Singel, Wired
A Potential Bing And Firefox Team Could Be A Significant Move
With the Firefox-Google deal set to expire in November, Microsoft’s Bing could make a push to become the default search engine choice for Mozilla’s Firefox browser. If it plays out that way, Bing could get a nice boost in awareness and use.
Analysis By: Rob Young, Search Engine Journal
How To Deal With Google’s Expanded Site Links
Rob Young offers some advice to cope with Google’s 12 pack of sitelinks, and the benefits of the new permanent feature.
Analysis By: Rob Young, Search Engine Journal
Sins Of The Panda Victims, And How To Pay Penance
Did Panda maul your web site’s SERP rankings and subsequent traffic? If so, SEOmoz has generously compiled a list of common content sins that could have sent the Google algorithm version of Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt after you, and ways to boost your rankings. If Panda didn’t affect you, this is still an interesting read.
Analysis By: Cyrus Shepard, SEOmoz
T.co Is Kind Of A Big Deal
Tom Critchlow outlines the benefits of Twitter’s T.co link shortener and why it’s a major development in terms of measuring traffic from the social network. He also details some future plans Twitter has for the feature, including its importance in determining link quality and interest-level in Twitter’s algorithm.
Analysis By: Tom Critchlow, Distilled
Robot.txt Files And You, The PPC Specialist
Brad Geddes offers smart analysis concerning the importance of properly constructed robot.txt files and the problems associated with an erroneous one. He focuses on putting robot.txt files in the context of its use for a PPC professional.
Analysis By: Brad Geddes, Search Engine Land
Reactions To Google Acquiring Motorola
The tech world stood still for about three hours on Monday, as every known search engine blog writer scrambled to react to Google’s quest to buy Motorola. These are just a few of the most prominent pieces from reputable sources.
Analysis By: Danny Sullivan, Search Engine Land
Analysis By: Noah Davis, Business Insider
Analysis By: Jason Perlow, ZDNet
Analysis By: Tim Carmody, Wired
Analysis By: Jason Raznick, Forbes
Lessons Learned From A Search Marketing Startup
ClickEquations’ founder Alex Cohen, who was also a subject of our Interviews With Brilliant People blog, offers 10 things he learned from working at a startup Internet Marketing company.
Analysis By: Alex Cohen, Search Engine Watch
Research In Motion’s Month-Long Roller Coaster Ride
Tim Carmody runs down the long, strange month at Research In Motion, and brings up the possibility that Blackberry’s parent company will get bought out by Apple or Microsoft at some point in the future.
Analysis By: Tim Carmody, Wired
Some People Love Pretending To Talk On Their Phones To Avoid Others
According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 13 percent of cell phone owners admit to pretending to talk on their phone so they can avoid social situations. Some other notable findings include: 27 percent of people have reported difficulty performing a task within the last month because they didn’t have their phone, and 42 percent of people use their phone to occupy themselves during periods of boredom. Talk about a technological IV drip.
Analysis By: John C Abell, Wired
