Videos: Comparing Cortana & Siri & Google Now
Today, Microsoft released the developer preview of Windows Phone 8.1 and with that, the ability to play with a preview of Cortana, Microsoft’s answer to Apple Siri and Google Now. Both Gizmodo and CNet have released video demos comparing Cortana & Siri & Google Now. I like the Gizmodo…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Report: Google Now Master Of Lobbying, Backroom Dealing
An article in the Washington Post asserts that Google has now become a master lobbyist and behind-the-scenes manipulator in Washington. It details the company’s increase in campaign contributions and outreach efforts to influence legislators. The message of the lengthy article is that Google…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Bing Ads To Give Agencies More Functionality To Manage Client Relationships
The way agencies manage their customer accounts using their agency login in Bing Ads is soon to undergo a revamp. Currently, client account lists are housed under the Agencies tab, but Microsoft acknowledges there have been limitations to the functiona…
Report: Google Running Another Test To Map In-Store Sales To AdWords Ads
When Google introduced Estimated Total Conversions in AdWords last September, the company made clear it was working on ways to measure the impact of online advertising on in-store sales as it outlined the initiative to give advertisers a complete view of the effect their search advertising has on…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Google Analytics Adds “Smart Lists” To Automate Remarketing List Optimization
Earlier this week, the Google Analytics team announced the release of Smart Lists, a new remarketing list type that automates list creation and management in Google Analtyics. Smart Lists are primarily powered by all that anonymized conversion data tha…
Twitter Quietly Adds Search For Timelines & Lists
Twitter continues to expand its collection of search filters with the recent addition of search for Timelines and Lists. I’m not aware of any announcement about this, but it’s showing up as a search filter on Twitter.com and in the official Twitter apps (both iOS and Android). The…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
WSJ: Local Businesses Losing Reviews After Yelp-Yahoo Deal
The recent Yelp/Yahoo partnership has angered some local business owners who say years of positive reviews are now gone from their Yahoo Local business listings. Some of their stories were told this week in the Wall Street Journal, including Colonial H…
The Aftermath: Clarifications & Expert Reactions To Google’s Move To Secure Paid Search Queries
Yesterday Google announced it is expanding secure search to clicks on paid ads. The change means that the search query a user typed in before clicking on and ad will be dropped from the referrer string in the URL and won’t be passed to analytics or other software other than AdWords. The move…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Search Was Largest Digital Channel In 2013 ($18.4B), Mobile Fastest Growing ($7.1B)
This morning the IAB released its full year 2013 report on digital ad revenue. Last year online advertising generated $42.8 billion, which exceeded broadcast TV for the first time, by nearly $3 billion. However broadcast and cable TV combined were wort…
Google Tests Video Search Results Without Thumbnail Images
For the longest time, videos found within Google’s search results contained thumbnail images of a frame within the video. That is how Google has displayed richer search results, ever since the days of Universal Search. It seems like Google is testing making those video results a bit less rich…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Official: Google Brings “Not Provided” To Ads, Will Withhold Search Query Data From Paid Clicks
As suspected, Google is moving to secure search for clicks on paid search ads. In an announcement posted by Paul Feng, Product Management Director, AdWords on the Ads Developer Blog, the company states, “Today, we are extending our efforts to keep search secure by removing the query from the…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Marin: If Google Applies “Not Provided” To PPC, Paid Search Management Platforms Will Still Work
Yesterday, we reported that it seems likely Google will soon stop passing search query data on paid search clicks, as it already has for clicks on organic search results. With the news came questions — among them whether paid search management platforms such as Marin, Acquisio and Kenshoo…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
MapQuest Aims For Reboot With New Content, Partners, UI
A few years ago, while others were investing in their mapping platforms, AOL was coasting with MapQuest. AOL’s sustained neglect of the online mapping pioneer cost the site its leadership in digital maps. Now the company hopes to claw its way back with new content and functionality in what…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Strong Start: Paid Search Grew 25 Percent In Q1, Mobile Shot Up 135 Percent YoY [Covario]
Covario released its Global Paid Search Spend Analysis for the first quarter of 2014 today. Its client set — made up of enterprise technology, consumer electronics, and retail advertisers –increased paid search spend on mobile devices by 135 percent year-over-year and 35 percent over…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Study: 78 Percent Of Local-Mobile Searches Result In Offline Purchases
Today comScore, Neustar Localeze and agency 15 Miles released the findings from their latest Local Search Study. Now in its seventh year, the survey of nearly 5,000 US adults was conducted in December 2013. Respondents “were individuals who [had] conducted a local business search in the last…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Google Responds To Misattributed Content Saying They May Show The Canonicalized URL
A few weeks ago we reported on cases where Google was misattributing content for select news publishers. We showed examples of Google showing URLs of large news publishers but those URLs listed were not the source URLs and thus redirecting from Google’s search results to a completely…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Report: Google To Block Paid Search Keyword Data With Not Provided; Like Organic “Not Provided”
There are reports we are receiving from a few sources, including AJ Ghergich who posted it on his blog, that Google will soon stop passing keyword data to analytics software even for AdWords advertisers. We expected changes to not provided in the near …
Google: News Sites May Have Seen A Decline In GoogleBot Crawling In March
Google’s Matt Cutts tweeted that news related sites, such as this one, may have noticed a drop in the crawl statistics within Google Webmaster Tools. If you did notice that drop, Matt says you do not need to worry. Google News added if-modified-since support in March, which would be the…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
AdWords Editor Version 10.4 Arrives With Bid Strategies Support
The PPC Twittersphere lit up today with word that Google dropped the latest version of AdWords Editor today. Here’s the lowdown on what’s new in Version 10.4. Bids and Bid Strategies: Much awaited, AdWords Editor now supports flexible bidding strategies. Users can update bid strategies…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Hotel Search Upgrade: Google Licenses Room 77 Platform
Despite its controversial $700 million acquisition of travel software company ITA several years ago and the launch of Google’s Hotel Finder site, Google has yet to emerge as a force in online travel. That may all be about to change. Bloomberg reported yesterday that Google “is licensing…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.