The Google Webmaster Central Blog recently announced new features to the ever expanding Webmaster Tools data. The new features are set to allow webmasters to track the top searched queries that drive traffic to the site along with the following data being reported on each of the searched queries:
Impressions
Clicks
Click Through Rate (CTR)
Average Position
In addition to the new data that is now available, you can “star” a query so that you will be able to track those queries over time:
Overall, these are very good additions to the data that is already available. You are able to get a better picture of how your site is performing with this new data that is now available.
Google will begin sending photographers to a city near you to take photos of the inside of your business. This new feature will complement your Google Places (previously called Google Local Business Center) listing. Instead just having Street View photos of your business, Google is now adding “a new way for you to showcase your business to the world.”
And to top it all off, Google will send the photographers to your location for free! All you have to do is apply.
Right now the Google photographers are only visiting select cities in the US, Japan, and Australia. But Google says “demand will help us decide where to send our photographers next.”
On Friday, Google announced on their official blog, 3 new enhancements that will make searching easier.
More Localized Google Suggest They rolled out a version of Google Suggest that is tailored to specific areas in the U.S. When you do a search, the queries beneath the search box seem more locally relevant than it used to.
Spelling Enhancements for Names Google noticed that when people search for names of those they are not familiar with, they often struggle with the spelling. Google’s new technology is based on the concept that people often know something else about the person besides the spelling of their name. The correct name shows up in the “did you mean” link:
Spelling Auto-Correction in 31 Languages Another improvement to the Google spellingsystem is auto-correction, which started in the US this past December. Google auto-corrects if they are highly confident in their correction in order to get the user information faster. They expanded last week to 31 languages!
I think these 3 improvements all have great benefits for faster searching, but think it’s weird that Google can now read my mind.
The newspaper industry has been struggling over the last few years as people are turning to the Internet for their news. Newspapers and their supporters have been quick to blame Google for their problems. They know that Google provides the majority of their site traffic, but they are not happy that it is free. It was very interesting to hear Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, give advice to the newspaper industry
Despite their differences, Schmidt gave hope to the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) that things will get better. He spoke to the ASNE last night in Washington DC about the future of newspapers on the Internet in a very positive tone.
Schmidt said, “Newspapers will make money once again, but it will be from online advertisements and an altered subscription model.” In addition, Schmidt explained that Google is currently working on new ways to modify ads and content for consumers, based on their preferences. Schmidt advised that news needs to be more personalized and that news sites need to be tailored to mobile devices to continue growing.
Schmidt’s words took a negative tone when he addressed bloggers by saying that quality newspaper journalism is “an art”. This implied that blogging is less than newsworthy, angering bloggers worldwide.
Schmidt wasn’t able to provide many details but he did imply that Google is working on developing solutions for the dying newspaper industry. Newspapers rely heavily on Google to provide traffic to their site, so it might be worth swallowing their pride to work with the Search Engine giant. Check out Frank Reed’s post on Marketing Pilgrim to learn more.
Google Analytics has become one of the most widely used web site analytic solutions around. It is used on an estimated 55% of the top 10,000 websites, including Twitter and LinkedIn. It is installed via a small piece of JavaScript added to the end of each page on a web sites HTML.
We use this software solution as a way to analyze traffic to our clients web site and to identify trends. I personally have been using Google Analytics since before Google purchased Urchin back in 2005. Overall, Google Analytics offers one of the most robust solutions for tracking visitors and conversions. It’s also a free solution, so it makes it extremely appealing to webmasters and marketers alike.
One potential shortcoming may come directly from Google. Google recently announced a browser-based opt-out for Google Analytics end users. This opt-out will come in the form of a browser based plugin, similar to the Google Toolbar. At this time, it is unknown which browsers will have this plugin available and whether or not it will be added within the Google Toolbar itself.
This optional opt-out has the potential to adversely affect the traffic numbers within Google Analytics if enough end users to a site opt-out. Hopefully, there won’t be enough people who opt out. Otherwise we might have to look for another solution.
I recently came across an article that claimed that Google is partnering up with Dish Network, Corp. to combine Internet search with television! The service, which is said to run on TV set boxes with Google software, would allow users to watch normal satellite TV programming as well as web content such as videos on YouTube.
As an avid television watcher, I think I would definitely consider getting this new software. Would you get the Google TV box?
The Google and China dispute has become vastly overcomplicated by all of the “he said, she said” from both parties involved. We all know by now that China’s government reportedly attempted to access the Gmail addresses of several key Chinese human rights activists during the first few weeks of 2010. Google was outraged to make this discovery, especially after all of the problems that the company has had with China over Internet privacy in the past. The Chinese government has repeatedly denied these allegations, but has stated that they are “in talks” with Google.
So far Google hasn’t made any moves to pull out of China, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. As an American citizen and overly frequent Internet user, I would have to agree with Google’s push to protect the privacy rights of users. China’s abuse of privacy and over-the-top Internet censorship makes me glad that I am an American. Google could use this opportunity to make an example out China, the question is: will they?
So I ask again: is Google overstepping its boundaries in China? Should it just do what the government wants and quit protesting? Or should Google stand up for freedom of expression and fight back?
Social media is being integrated more and more into search engine results. Everyone is making deals with Twitter to pull real time updates into the search results, including Yahoo! . But another important, possibly more useful piece of social media will be appearing in Google search engine results: Facebook pages.
The Facebook pages are separate sections available for businesses, celebrities, and organizations. The big news here is the ability to have status updates pulled into the real time search results. Facebook’s status updates allow for full links (no shortening required) and much larger updates than Twitter allows. So if you’re business has overlooked Facebook as a viable strategy for social media, it may be time to take a closer look.
You can read more about Google adding Facebook into real time search results at Search Engine Land.
Yesterday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Eric Schmidt and Hartmut Neven demonstrated a new piece of technology aimed to help aid in language translation. This new technology allows people to take a picture of text with a camera on their phone (such as a menu at a restaurant) and utilize OCR (optical character recognition) to then translate the text into another language. Although at the moment the demo only does German-to-English translations, in the future they plan to be able to translate text from images between the 52 languages Google Translate currently supports.
This new technology shows a lot of promise, especially for those who travel. Google is really pushing the technology on mobile phones. I personally traveled to Europe a few years ago and can think of several instances in which this technology would have been useful.
There is a rumor circulating that Google is taking Street View off the streets and bringing it inside of businesses. Oh Nuts, a nut and candy shop, tipped off SearchEngineLand with news that a Google photographer came into the New York City store and took pictures of products, displays, etc. This could allow users to shop before they even reach a store – talk about planning ahead! Another bonus is that businesses listed on Google with this new feature should expect to gain some publicity and, ultimately, an increase in visitors. That is especially important in this economy – businesses need all of the help they can get!
It is important to take this news with a grain of salt; no other businesses have claimed that Google approached them with the new feature. Why would Google contact a small candy store in NYC before any other businesses? It seems fishy to me that Google didn’t start with big, well-known brands; I mean there are plenty of those in the Big Apple. Terrence O’Brien from Switched.com also noted that the Google photographer was “lugging around a pretty standard looking camera on a tripod” not the 360-degree camera that Google Street View is known for. There is plenty of mystery surrounding this story, but Google is so far staying quiet. No statements have been issued and no questions have been answered.
