Keeping up with Google’s Panda

Google has been making significant updates lately. Google Panda 2.3 Update is now live as part of a commitment to “return high-quality sites to Google users”. Judging by comments on forums such asWebmasterworld, keeping tabs on this is very tricky business.

The initial premise was to weed out so-called “content farms” and other low quality sites from the SERPs. Along with some high profile casualties, a significant number of sites have been experiencing a massive drop in their rankings and consequently traffic. A couple of months ago Google stated that 12 percent of search results were to be affected in the US but Panda has now gone global and the effect may be greater than initially stated. Read more….

Three changes to Google ads you should be aware of

While Google Instant Preview pretty much stole the show this month, it wasn’t the only development in the wonderful world of search. Here’s a brief look at three subtle changes to text ads that occurred in November, which may affect user behaviour and ultimately click through rates from the Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). Sponsored Links are now Ads Sponsored Links have now been labelled as Ads. This change came into effect during November after testing was reported in October. It …

Everything you ever wanted to know about Facebook

Friends have been found, photos uploaded and tagged, gaming has gone social, status updates are now second nature and a movie, The Social Network, has been made. Keeping up with Facebook, its growth and the ways in which people are using it can be quite daunting task. But help is at hand. A nifty site called Facebakers allows you to explore the various metrics of the social networking giant. The site has been around for about a year now, but …

Google’s Broad Match Modifier for improved search results

Innovation seems to be happening continuously at Google, which results in better and better tools for people working with the web. A classic case in point is the Adwords targeting feature called Broad Match Modifier (BMM) which was introduced to the UK and Canada in May, and then rolled out worldwide in July 2010. Basically, as Google explains it…

Flu Search Query Trends in Google — Paid Search Opportunity?

If you live in temperate climes of the Northern Hemisphere, you should by now be searching for [flu” or [flu shot” in droves, according to Google. Year-on-year trend suggests that this will be the case in October. See [flu” and [flu shot” Google I…

On Google Instant

Google made some big announcements yesterday, most notably the ability to search as you type, aptly called Google Instant Search. Currently available in the USA, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Russia, older browsers and users who are not signed will not see the auto results. In essence, Google is turning search into an…

Search Trends: Digg vs. Reddit

The Digg vs. Reddit rivalry was reignited last week, sparked by a self-inflicted wound on Digg’s part. After Digg unveiled their new look site, all hell broke loose. Reddit benefited from Digg’s user backlash, reportedly receiving 250,000 extra pa…

How to create a marketing campaign using YouTube

YouTube continues to grow at an astonishing pace, with 24 hours of video uploaded every single minute. As an acquisition and branding channel, placing ads on YouTube has become a simple, yet sophisticated way of reaching potential customers. With a global audience now exceeding 400 million people and a massive diversity of available content, it’s important for marketers to know how to place ads on videos which are relevant to your brand. Google recently released a Beta version…

Getting More From Google Insights

Google Insights for Search can be a great tool for understanding how to most effectively target your campaigns and find out where you should focus your search efforts. While it uses the same data sources as Google Trends, its advanced features are…

‘Facebook Privacy’ Searches Plummet

Privacy concerns on Facebook have caused a great deal of furor over the last couple of months. The social network has been gradually amassing a great deal of criticism and it has sought to address these issues and has updated its privacy policy. …