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Category Archives: Search Engines

Information on Search Engines.

Adding Google Friend Connect To Your Website

May 28, 2008 6:04 am ⋅

Google recently introduced “Friend Connect”. The service queries the databases of several popular social networking APIs and introduces an easy to manage interface for webmasters to add social networking features to their websites.

Here, Google explains it all quite clearly in this Video

As usual with Google products, the launch of Friend Connect has not been without controversy. Facebook has already blocked access by Friend Connect due to privacy issues.

Make sure to read up on all of the potential privacy concerns before installing Friend Connect on your website.

Posted in: Google ⋅ Tagged:

Are You Banned In Google?

May 27, 2008 3:00 pm ⋅

The question: “Am I Banned in Google?” is one that’s asked a lot, especially these day. Luckily, it appears that Google has a quick way for you to learn if your site has been banned.

# Verify that your site ranks for your domain name

Do a Google search for www.[yourdomain].com. If your site doesn’t appear in the results, or if it ranks poorly in the results, this is a sign that your site may be penalized for violations of the webmaster guidelines. If we find certain problems with your site – for example, malware – we’ll let you know via the Message Center You should also review your site against the webmaster guidelines and, submit a reconsideration request.

Voila! Simple as that. If you aren’t sure if your website has been banned by Google or not, just enter a generic search for the domain. If you see results, your website has not been banned.

Now there’s no reason for speculation if you think your website has been dropped due to penalties.

Posted in: Google ⋅ Tagged:

Google Crawl Rate Drops

May 7, 2008 11:03 am ⋅

Google is crawling the internet at a much slower rate than they used to, based on observations of data in Google Webmaster Central. It’s not on all sites, but I can notice a considerable decline on many. Google hasn’t made any commentary on the subject so far, but speculation is focused on several areas.

Possible reasons that Google’s crawl rate might have dropped:

1) New eco-friendly crawling schedule
2) Large infrastructure changes at Google (both hardware and software algo)
3) A big switch to using information gleaned from Sitemaps

I’m sure many other possibilities exists but all of these seem plausible, if not likely. Whatever it is, it comes on the heels of massive changes in Google’s program. Now is the time to remain calm and focus on core site metric improvement, rather than get bogged down in the meanderings of a third party.

Google is really up to something big these days. Hopefully we’ll all live through it! :grin:

Posted in: Google ⋅ Tagged:

What To Do During A Google Update

April 18, 2008 6:24 am ⋅

The current Google update appears to continue on in full swing. I am seeing terms moving around like Mexican jumping beans on meth. Now is not the time to analyze what’s happening, or to make wholesale changes about what you think Google might like. Actually, it’s never a good time to try and appease Google, because what they like today they’ll probably frown on tomorrow.

Read more →

Posted in: Google ⋅ Tagged: ,

Life With The New Google Index

April 14, 2008 5:40 pm ⋅

Life with the new Google index is not so bad. In fact, I’m beginning to like it, a lot. In fact, I like it so much I almost can’t trust my good fortune. If you’ve spend the last few years building “trust” at your websites, chances are you’ve noticed a large reward for your efforts.

Read more →

Posted in: Google ⋅ Tagged: , ,

Vicious Google Update Ends

April 6, 2008 8:18 am ⋅

If you’re like me, you’ve been noticing some sever flux in Google for the last month or so. It looks like the vicious updating is over. I hate to say it, but the same websites I have that are always affected by “Google Flux” took a beating, but the worst really does appear to be over.

Read more →

Posted in: Google ⋅ Tagged: , ,

Major Upheavals Continue In Google

March 18, 2008 8:45 am ⋅

The Google Index has been rocky lately. Normally I try to ignore Google and their fluctuations as much as I can. But I’m only human, and lately I can’t help but notice some major flux. Especially noteworthy is the huge variance between local search and all of the many Google dot something domains out there. A guy in Germany might see a SERP in position 12 and someone in Thailand may see it in position 60.

Read more →

Posted in: Google

In SEO, Crawlability Still Trumps Most Other Issues

March 16, 2008 8:12 am ⋅

Webmasters complain about their rankings, whenever they notice unexpected changes. It’s completely understandable from a human nature standpoint. Who the hell wants to lose something they perceive they’ve had to work hard to achieve? So when you sense your rankings slipping, you tend to get emotional. This is not the time to let those emotions gain control of your good sense.

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Posted in: Google

Google Is Fighting With European Regulators Over Privacy Issues

January 22, 2008 8:30 am ⋅

When you think about internet privacy issues, you realize that they are hardly solved, at all. More people use the internet every day for various and sundry uses, and many of them are unaware of how their personal information is used. The latest controversy finds Google in the center of a debate over privacy issues because of their deal to takeover DoubleClick.

Fleischer, asked about the deal rationale, said Google wanted to get into banner advertising. He said his firm did not build dossiers on individuals through searches, instead using the words of each search to decide what ads to display with it.

Contractual limits would prevent Google from using DoubleClick information from individuals, he said.

Stavros Lambrinidis of Greece, who chaired the meeting, asked whether Google turned information over to government authorities.

The DoubleClick deal has been at the center of much attention both in the United States and Europe, because of the impact it will have on web advertisers and surfers. DoubleClick has a complementary product line which will augment Google offerings.

This issue is far from resolved.

Posted in: Google

Average Time On Site Is A Very Important Metric

January 16, 2008 10:18 am ⋅

These days, Google knows as much about a website as its’ creator, or close to. If you have your website in Google Analytics, Google tracks every minute detail they can about your website’s visitors. To Google, certain factors mean a website is quality, and I’m sure one that is becoming progressively important as the web moves to Ajax is Average Time On Site.

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Posted in: Google