Destruction of wildlife

The biggest lie in search marketing is that paid and organic search are separate channels. From the customer’s perspective, paid and natural search are nearly identical. In fact, according to this study done by Performics last year, around a third of all searchers don’t even know the difference between a paid and a natural search listing. This lie wouldn’t be a big deal except that it causes advertisers to under-optimize their search marketing programs. There have been several studies done to show that having a paid and organic listing on the same SERP can either cannibalize or have a synergistic effect on traffic. The problem is that most companies don’t know which one is happening for their listings. This ignorance means that companies are either leaving money on the table by not having both listings present, or wasting money cannibalizing their own traffic. The solution to this dilemma is to think about, organize your team around, and set goals with the idea … [Read more...] about The Most Destructive Lie In Search Marketing

Google has posted before-and-after images of the terrible devastation left behind by the tornadoes that hit the South and parts of the East Coast of the United States earlier this week, with close-up views particularly of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The easiest way to see the images is through a Picasa album that the company has posted. It explains more about these here. Below is a montage photo of before and after for both Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Jefferson County, Alabama: When you search for some areas impacted by tornadoes in Google Maps, the company also triggers a special alert that leads to maps of where tornadoes touched down and Red Cross shelters. Here you can see it happening for a search on Concord, Alabama: You can also use the two satellite imagery options to zoom in to where Google has updated Google Maps to show the destruction. When you check these boxes, you’ll see the areas that have refreshed images: The updates only show in this special map page. If you … [Read more...] about Google Releases Alabama Tornado Destruction Images & Maps Of Tornadoes

Everybody loves progress, but nobody likes change. This adage is particularly true any time Google announces major upgrades to AdWords. If recent comments on Twitter are any indication, Google this morning was gearing up to pull your hair, throw sand in your face and take your lunch money. None of this is true. The Sky Is NOT Falling For whatever reason, search marketers seem to have some sort of an inferiority complex. A lot of us are always on the lookout for new ways that Google is going to screw us over. Seriously, it’s like a laundry list of insecurities: @bigalittlea Kind of. Only Google would TAKE the pennies, not give them. #ppcchat — Susan Wenograd (@SusanEDub) April 22, 2014 It’s like Christmas morning! Only with really deceptive parents who always “surprise” you with presents you may not want. #ppcchat — aaron levy (@bigalittlea) April 22, 2014 Today should be interesting…I’m afraid for my clients in difficult verticals. … [Read more...] about Search Marketers: Keep Calm, Carry On

Back in March 2007, Google promised to begin anonymizing log data to better protect user privacy. That kicked off a wave of privacy pledges from competing search engines. In addition, by agreeing to limit itself, it inadvertently got the European Union to demand even faster data destruction. Below, a look at Google’s progress toward its initial 18 month anonymization plan, the 9 months it recently agreed to and that question about cookies — are they really deleted or not? Question: When did you start anonymizing data, and what’s been changed so far? We began implementing our 18 month anonymization policy this year and will apply it retroactively. We started anonymizing in May 2008, and we’re continuing to anonymize as data comes in. Although we had originally planned to begin anonymization in January 2008, we started anonymizing in May 2008 because we were working on better ways of anonymizing cookies and believed it was important to get it right the first … [Read more...] about Anonymizing Google’s Server Log Data — How’s It Going?

It’s a bad privacy day for Google, with Privacy International first accusing the company of having the worst privacy performance of any internet service company in a study it has just released and then accusing Google of conducting a smear campaign against it. But if you actually read the report, Privacy International itself comes off bad for putting out a haphazard condemnation of Google. Let’s do the smear campaign accusation first. An Open Letter to Google from the group says that Google is talking to journalists and implying that Privacy International favors Microsoft: Two European journalists have independently told us that Google representatives have contacted them with the claim that “Privacy International has a conflict of interest regarding Microsoft”. I presume this was motivated because Microsoft scored an overall better result than Google in the rankings…. According to our sources, your representative or representatives made particular … [Read more...] about Google Bad On Privacy? Maybe It’s Privacy International’s Report That Sucks