Archive for the ‘Google News’ Category

Google PageRank Is No Secret

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Recently the European Commission enquired into Google’s search market dominance, noting there there’s no secret approach the Google uses when ranking websites.

A Google engineer (Matt Cuts, Principal Engineer, Search Quality Team) has now hit back in the companies Europen Public Policy Blog by explaining just how Google does things when it comes to Google PageRank in SEO.

“One of the most widely-discussed parts of Google’s scoring has always been PageRank. That ’secret ingredient’ is hardly a secret,” he explains.

Google has always tried to help people understand how Google’s search ranking works. Being involved in multiple live webmaster chats online with hundreds of indiviual participants at once, experminting with tweeting, participating in podcasts, and giving advice to publishers.

“Criticising Google for its ’secret formula’ is an easy claim to make, but it just isn’t true. Google has worked day after day for years to be open, to educate publishers about how we rank sites, and to answer questions from both publishers and our users. So if that’s how people choose to define ’secret’, then ours must be the worst kept sercret in the world of search,” continues Mr Cutts.

“Criticising Google for its ’secret formula’ is an easy claim to make, but it just isn’t true. Google has worked day after day for years to be open, to educate publishers about how we rank sites, and to answer questions from both publishers and our users. So if t hat’s how people chose to define ’secret’, then ours must be the worst kept sercret in the world of search,” continues Mr Cutts.

Bing’s Current Battle Against Google Proves Positive

Friday, March 19th, 2010

It was announced not so long ago that Microsoft were to pump millions into an advertisement campaign to compete against Google with their very own search engine, Bing.

Nielsen Wire released stastical data for Bing’s market share, proving to be their best market share ever in February 2010. The information showed that Bing are now two percentage points from Yahoo after a surge in Bing’s numbers which means search engine optimisers should pay close attention if they are to capatalise on this new phenomenon.

Bing are still far from being the most used search engine by a long shot, with Google having nearly two-thirds of the U.S. search market, but that doesn’t mean they can’t settle with second place. With a strong advertisement campagin they have put in place in the UK, it shouldn’t be long before the two percent between Bing and Yahoo is diminished.

So if you’re a search engine optimiser and want to use this information to your advantage, it’s suggested you make your move now before it’s too late.

Duplicate Content With Consent

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

A Google software engineer, Matt Cutts, has revealed some information on what happens when pages contain duplicate information, which will come as a big help when it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO).

Google have always preferred original content when it comes to websites, but that doesn’t mean that pages will be dropped completely. “What we try to do is merge pages, rather than dropping them completely,” explained Cutts. This means PageRank will be passed on to one page rather than all pages.

This is good news for search engine optimisers who constantly worry about being penalised by Google for duplicate matches, but if a solid PageRank is wanted then duplicate content must be avoided at all costs.

301 Redirects Lose Success

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

A software engineer at Google, Matt Cutts, has explained in a recent conversation with Eric Enge of Stone Temple Consulting that 301 redirects can affect search engine optimisation.

Cutts has said that 301 redirects could result in a loss of PageRank, which many SEO experts know is bad news. “If you can get site architecture straight first, then you’ll have less to do, or no need to even think about PageRank sculpting”, Cutts explained.

Whilst most SEO experts knew this was likely, no confirmation by Google for the effects of 301 links was issued until now. Matt advised PageRank sculpting should not be a priority, imprving the site architecture is key.

So for all SEO experts who thought 301 redirects could be a problem, your prayers have been answered, now it’s your job to capatalise on this before its too late.

Bing Flashes the Bling

Monday, March 8th, 2010

After one unsuccessful attempt at challenging big names like Google you would think Microsoft would throw in the towel, this however is not the case.

Microsoft are planning on spending millions of pounds on promoting its search engine (Bling) with a number of TV adverts through next week to advertise Bing in the UK . This is to help them compete against “Goliath”, aka Google, who are reported to have a massive market share of 90%, whilst Bing a measly 3%.

Microsoft recognise the challenge they are creating for themselves,  President of Consumer and Online at Microsoft UK Ashley Highfield said “This is a big moment — we are taking out our slingshots and taking on Goliath,” but this doesn’t mean it is impossible. Success in the U.S proves there’s a chance it could work, but this can only work if the advertisement campaign works its magic on the public.

Google Set to Release App Store

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Early this week, as close as Tuesday, Google are to release a new application store which will be in aid of creating software for Google Apps.

This will give developers and third-party apps the opportunity to generate revenue from their efforts by selling their software to customers of Google Apps.

What this will have in store for users who base their lives around Google is yet to be found out, but it is definitely another move by Google to compete against Microsoft.

image display Google news

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

We are often asked why an image appears within the Google news feed and then does not show at times. For your image to appear also depends on the quality of the press release you have submitted. You need to have the image a decent size and non clickable. It is great that Google are now being transparent in helping you get images displayed better and a lot more valuable info on the Google news feed itself. To give you an advantage Google do provide tips for you to get your images appearing within the search results of the news feed. Follow this link to read more about getting your image displayed within the Google news feed http://www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/answer.py?answer=13369&topic=11662

Any more queries on optimisation for your Google news feed call us on the number provided or contact us on sales@weblinx.biz

duplicate content

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

When submitting content to Google news and then making amendments to the article Google will not retrieve the new data from the new amended article. The reason for this is that Google have already retrieved the information of the original article and will not bring the new article into the index. Google are currently working on this issue and will hopefully have the technology to retrieve new adjusted content. To read more on this subject follow this link http://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/psstsecrets-of-google-news-exposed.html

When we realise that Google have the technology to detect duplicate content and tracks the original source of the content, keeping the orginal content in cache ignoring the duplicate content in its index, then publishing duplicate press releases is of no benefit to your website. So when wanting to benefit from gaining exposure and perhaps in the long run, backward links, then having the press release submitted to 50 press release sites is of no benefit. The only way multiple PR is beneficial will be when each press release has unique content before submission.