SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 17, 2014

Jan 17, 2014 at 4:00pm ET by Matt McGee
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google Alerts Get A Shiny New Redesign Google flipped the switch this morning on a new design for its Google Alerts emails. The change brings Google Alerts closer in line with Google’s general aesthetic. The emails now have a similarly clean look-and-feel to the card-style layout that’s becoming so prevalent in Google search results, Google Now, on Google’s mobile apps and elsewhere. […]AdWords Cross-Device Conversions: How 1-800-FLOWERS Is Using The Data To Be More Customer Centric Yesterday, we got an early preview of the first case study Google will publish on the use of estimated cross-device conversions in AdWords. It features 1-800-Flowers and also addresses the company’s use of click-to-call. When Google first announced the release of estimated cross-device conversions in October, it seemed to be received with a collective shrug. […]Search In Pics: Bing Hawks Towels, YouTube’s Emmy & Android Sugar Cubes In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more. Seattle Seahawks Bing Towels: Source: Twitter YouTube Emmy: Source: Google+ Back To The Future’s Christopher Lloyd […]Google Issues Bad Ads Report: 59 Percent More Ads Pulled, But Fewer Bad Advertisers In 2013 In the ongoing battle to keep its ads ecosystem free of scammers and malware, Google says it pulled more than 350 million bad ads from its systems last year, up 59 percent from the 224 million it struck down in 2012. Looking back at last year’s bad ads report, it appears that for the first […]Tax Season: Plan Now For Great Advertising Returns Someone once said that Americans deserved a tax system that looked as it if were designed on purpose. No doubt, the world is a complicated place when tax time looms. Rule changes, exemptions, complicated deductions — it’s no wonder that people start to sweat a little as April 15 approaches. If there’s one thing taxpayers can […]5 Go-Tos To Make Online Reviews Work For Your Business By now, everyone knows that online reviews can have a tremendous impact on consumers’ purchasing decisions. Ultimately, a single review — positive or negative — can tip the scale in favor of one company over another. No doubt, the power of reviews on Google+, Yelp, Angie’s List and other local search directories continues to mount. […]Local SEOs Sound Off On Google+ Local Hijackings Earlier this week, Danny Sullivan reported on the hijacking of thousands of local hotel listings within Google+ Local. Those listings had been replaced by third-party hotel booking services. And while it’s unclear how long those third-party links were in place, several knowledgeable people have surmised it may have been at least a month, if not longer. […]
Industry
Link Building
Local & Maps
Search Marketing
SEM / Paid Search
Searching
SEO
International SEO, Shimon SandlerAre You Crazy? Cool, You Have A Good Future In SEO, Daily SEO TipOutrank your Competitors Using Moz’s Tools for Beginners, WrightIMCTD Canada Trust Mobile Site Is Main Site In Google Canada, Search Engine RoundtableThe SEO content writers’ manifesto, SEO CopywritingWill Keywords be Replaced by Topics for Some Searches?, SEO By The Sea5 Things a Marketer Needs to Tell Her SEO in 2014, Search Engine PeopleSEO Threatens Client With Negative SEO, Search Engine RoundtableSEO: How to Create a 301 Redirect Map, for Site Redesigns, Practical E-CommerceWhy Guest Posting and Blogging is a Slippery Slope – Whiteboard Friday, MozRelated Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap About The Author: Matt McGee is Editor-In-Chief of Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He recently launched a site dedicated to Google Glass called Glass Almanac and also blogs at Small Business Search Marketing. Matt can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. You can read Matt's disclosures on his personal blog. See more articles by Matt McGeeConnect with the author via: Email | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn
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SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 20, 2014

Jan 20, 2014 at 4:59pm ET by Barry Schwartz
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Matt Cutts: “Stick A Fork In It, Guest Blogging Is Done”
Google and Matt Cutts, in particular, has made a number of statements about guest blogging over the past year as the tactic has grown as a link building tactic. None of those statements are as clear as the one Cutts wrote today on his personal blog. Cutts, the head of Google’s webspam team, says that […]
Expedia Lost 25% Of Their Search Visibility In Google Possibly Over Unnatural Links
The major travel website, Expedia, seems to have lost 25% of their search visibility in Google according to Search Metrics. It appears that drop was due to an unnatural link penalty, where Nenad called out Expedia over a month ago for possible paid links on article sites. Expedia.com’s Google Traffic Decline: Patrick Altoft noticed a […]
Google Remarketing Ads Found To Violate Canadian Privacy Law; To Revamp Ad Review System By June
Google has agreed to several concessions after an investigation by Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner found Google in violation of Canada’s privacy rights for the use of sensitive health history in remarketing campaigns. The investigation began last January, when a man complained that his personal health history was being used for ad targeting purposes. […]
Local SEO Scam Of The Month: Craigslist SEO
Most SEO consultants I have met are pretty decent, hard-working folks. But there are plenty of SEO con artists out there, and it kills me every time I see a small business (or a big business) get taken. Recently, I had the privilege to witness a true Picasso of SEO con artists. I am sharing […]
5 Not-So-Common Reconsideration Request Errors
I’ve been struggling with a particularly difficult link cleanup project lately. On the occasion of my 100th reconsideration request (4th for this particular client), I thought it might be helpful to share five not-so-common problems that you might run into during your own link cleanup project. 1. Don’t Block Your Pages With Robots.txt One good […]
Searching For Gmail In Google Links You To Compose A Message To A Google Apps User
If you search for [gmail] in Google and if you click on the sitelink that reads “Google mail” — Google may push you to a page that composes an email to a Google Apps user. Here is the search result you may see when you search for [gmail]: Clicking on that sitelink below the main […]
Martin Luther King, Jr. Google Logo Marks Holiday Honoring Civil Rights Hero
Today’s Google logo marks Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday recognizing the civil rights leader. The illustrated logo includes a profile of Martin Luther King, Jr., images of doves to represent King’s 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, and the Lincoln Memorial where King made his iconic “I Have a Dream” civil rights speech. Michigan […]
Searching
SEO
SEM / Paid Search
Search Marketing
Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap About The Author: Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry SchwartzConnect with the author via: Email | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn
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