StepForth SEO News Blog - by Ross Dunn and Scott Van Achte

Our Free Server Header Checker
& Other Recommended SEO Tools

StepForth SEO News Blog	>> Subscribe to the SEO Blog News Feed

THE SEO BLOG'S TOP MARKETING TUTORIALS

» How Glossaries and FAQs Can Improve Search Engine Rankings
» How to Troubleshoot Dropped Search Engine Rankings
» Is Your Website Search Engine Friendly - Your Personal SEO Checklist
»»» More top web marketing tutorials

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Google's Ad Quality Score Leaked

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 10:03 AM

This morning I arrived at my desk to find a very welcome message from my friend and colleague Eric Lander. Apparently Google made a colossal boo-boo and exposed the quality score and max bids for some advertisements. As far as I know this is a first. Check out Eric's article at Search Engine Journal.

Below is one of the screenshots of the leak from Eric's article

Labels: Algo, Google, PPC, Ross Dunn

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 10:03 AM.

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Friday, April 11, 2008

Google Now Fills Out Forms When Spidering

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 11:24 AM

I am in disbelief. Less than 40 minutes ago the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog announced that Google can now fill out web forms and spider the resulting content. Previously this was not only not done by search engines but it was well known that such content would be useless since it wouldn't 'necessarily' be formatted for the eyes of searchers. Apparently Google is now throwing this concept to the wind.

How to Block Google's Spider From Your Form
From the announcement it appears that Google is not yet spidering forms on a wide spread basis. Here is a quote that sums up their policy on forms quite nicely:

"Only a small number of particularly useful sites receive this treatment, and our crawl agent, the ever-friendly Googlebot, always adheres to robots.txt, nofollow, and noindex directives. That means that if a search form is forbidden in robots.txt, we won't crawl any of the URLs that a form would generate. Similarly, we only retrieve GET forms and avoid forms that require any kind of user information. For example, we omit any forms that have a password input or that use terms commonly associated with personal information such as logins, userids, contacts, etc. We are also mindful of the impact we can have on web sites and limit ourselves to a very small number of fetches for a given site."

So in short, if you want to block Googlebot from your form the easiest way is to use a Captcha or block the page entirely from spiders using your robots.txt file.

My Thoughts
Interesting indeed. I don't really see how this kind of data would be useful to Google but as the post states they do consider whether the content is of any use before adding it to their index. I suppose this is yet another corner of the Internet that Google wants to be sure it isn't missing in its ever long quest for indexing the world's information.

Special thanks to Google RSS Reader for bringing this breaking news to my doorstep :-) I love technology!

Labels: Algo, Google, Ross Dunn, SEO, SEO News

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 11:24 AM.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Google Now Fills Out Forms When Spidering

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Yahoo Algorithm Update Announced

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 3:56 PM

Today Priyank Garg of Yahoo announced that some changes to the Yahoo algorithm had been taking place over the past few days and will be completed soon. He has asked for feedback on the results... whether Yahoo will listen is another matter.

Labels: Algo, Ross Dunn, Yahoo

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 3:56 PM.

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Google PageRank Update Could Punish Many

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 2:50 PM

Google has upgraded its PageRank algorithm and it has negatively affected a whole host of popular websites.

What does this mean for you? First I should note that no one REALLY knows the reason these sites have been affected. After all, it is possible these PageRanks were reduced for another reason but with all of the righteous posturing from Google over the past year over purchased links I think it is a fair assumption that paid link advertising is the culprit. So with that in mind, if you have a high number of reciprocal or paid links on your website then it is quite possible you will also see a drop in PageRank soon. You should also ensure your site does not have links to websites that may have a vastly lower reputation - penalty by association.

Have rankings been affected? No it does not seem that the PageRank penalty has affected rankings yet. But it is too early for anyone to know exactly what Google has in mind for the sites that have been negatively affected by this update. Logically, however, it make sense that the PageRank is a warning of sorts from Google that they are beginning their crusade on sites that benefit from paid links or have links to websites that have a negative reputation.

Stay tuned! I will keep you up to date on any related news as soon as I hear it.

Other Sources for this News

For now here is a short list of affected sites that Rand Fishkin over at SEOMoz compiled today.
Here is TechCrunch's view on Google's update

Labels: Algo, Google, Ross Dunn, SEO News

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 2:50 PM.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Google PageRank Update Could Punish Many

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Google's New Algorithm Shake Up

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 4:51 PM

Back on April 19th Google announced it would be combining news results into the main body of search results over a few days and I discussed the pros and cons of such an integration. Well that integration did not happen on a wide scale and thanks to Andy Beal I think I know why. It appears Google might have put on the brakes in favor of a larger roll-out of blended results including images, news, video, base, web, etc. all included in the top 10 results!

I just came across this important breaking news from Andy Beal regarding Google's "universal search model" which, he announced today, is already rolling out to the masses in a measured manner (see the search for Darth Vader was Andy's example but Luke Skywalker appears to work as well).

According to Andy's Google source, Google is upgrading its infrastructure substantially to support this intensive melding of information:

"Google is also in the process of deploying a new technical infrastructure that will enable the search engine to handle the computationally intensive tasks required to produce universal search results. The company is also releasing the first stage of an upgraded ranking mechanism that automatically and objectively compares different types of information. As always, Google(TM) search results are ranked automatically by algorithms to deliver the best results to users anywhere in the world."

So what does this mean for you, the website owner that has top rankings and jealously protects them? If Google's roll out of universal search shakes up results as much as they appear they will, your top ranking(s) may slightly diminished in stature when compared to the other content on the page. If that is the case, SEO companies like StepForth will do what we do best... adapt and continue to provide you with the visibility you need to be successful online.

Stay tuned, I will be posting more on this new algorithm as it becomes available.

Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth SEO Services
Celebrating 10 Years of SEO Excellence

Labels: Algo, Google, Ross Dunn

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 4:51 PM.

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Any News on Google's Integration of News in Organic Results?

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 2:39 PM

Last week I commented on Google's plan to integrate news results with organic results. Search Engine Land noted the change was suppose to be completed by last Saturday but I have yet to see the integration anywhere.

Is this perhaps a limitation of my region? Is anyone seeing this update completed? I would appreciate any news on this. Search Engine Land is oddly quiet regarding the update so I wonder if they are waiting for the change to complete just as I am.

Labels: Algo, Google, Ross Dunn, SEO News

Email this News Post: 2 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 2:39 PM.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Any News on Google's Integration of News in Organic Results?

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Thursday, April 19, 2007

NEWS FLASH - Google to Add News to Main Search Results

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 2:03 PM

In a recent update to the Search Engine Land blog, Chris Sherman announced that Google will be mingling the latest news headlines into the main body of search engine results; wherever searches appear relevant to the news. According to Marissa Mayer, VP of search products at Google, "this allows us to rank news according to relevance in search results rather than at top of the page." The Google update will be happening over the next couple of days with a planned completion of the role-out on Saturday. It was not noted whether a organic algorithmic update would also take place but I highly doubt it since they will have enough on their hands with this change alone.

The Ramifications
So what will the ramifications of this Google update be? At this time there are no screenshots of how the news headlines will be combined into the results so I can only speculate. That said, I see this change as potentially HUGE. Just consider the following Pros and Cons:

PROS

Having and maintaining a business blog will have additional benefits.
Blogs that have been accepted by Google News as a news resource will now have the potential to attain a massive increase in traffic when they appear in search engine results.
There will now be even more benefit to writing quality blog posts that are on the cutting edge of news.
Google will most definitely make friends with the Press conglomerates by providing extra exposure. This strengthening of ties may open up different sources of media-rich content for Google's users.

CONS

Having and maintaining a business blog will be more important than ever. Why is this a con? Maintaining an active blog requires significant resources.
Search result pages may now be longer and force users to scroll farther down to see the complete top 10 listings. As a result, having top 5 rankings will become even more important.
The future potential for news SPAM will increase astronomically. After all, these sought after rankings will be prime targets for spammers that don't mind creating false news to generate clicks.

How Will Google Determine Which Headlines to Use?
At the beginning I expect it will be a rigorous algorithm devoted to news sources with only the highest credibility ratings in order to all but remove the possibility of SPAM or false news. Whether these sources will be restricted to only major news outlets (i.e. CNN, BBC, etc.) remains to be seen but I imagine they will cast a slightly wider net to include indisputable authority blogs.

Is this Good or Bad for Competing Search Engines?
It remains to be seen how this convergence of news with search results will appear, however, these changes could be positive for competing search engines. For example, if the first page of search results appear to be cluttered it may send searchers to other search engines for cleaner results. That said, if Google pulls off this integration flawlessly it may only increase the gap between the major search engine market shares.

Conclusion
I am waiting with baited breath to see how this Google update turns out. I have little doubt this change will send some positive and negative ripples throughout the search community but at the same time mingling news with search results is an inevitable step forward.

Labels: Algo, Google, Ross Dunn, SEO, SEO News

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 2:03 PM.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: NEWS FLASH - Google to Add News to Main Search Results

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Friday, April 06, 2007

Bulletin - Yahoo Weather Update

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 12:21 AM

Thursday evening the Yahoo Blog gave warning of changes to their algorithm.

"We are in the process of rolling out some changes to our search results. As usual, you may see some changes in ranking as well as some shuffling of the pages that are included in the index throughout this process. This update will roll out this evening and will be complete very soon."

Remember, do not react rashly to any short term changes. Updates tend to take a little time to stabilize so keep that in mind. All the best in the coming weather!

Labels: Algo, Ross Dunn, SEO, SEO News, Yahoo

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 12:21 AM.

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Google Protects Surfers from Harmful Websites

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 9:55 AM

In a move that has been long in coming Google has chosen to provide a safer environment for its patrons by blocking access to sites that appear to have malicious code.

The genius, in my opinion, is they are not blocking the sites from appearing but offering a warning under the title of a 'harmful' listing. The site may even appear number one and two as in the case of the search phrase "beautiful free screensaver" where the top 2 listings from the same site have the "this site may harm your computer" warning listed below the title.

So what happens if you click on the cautioned listing? Thankfully nothing, the page takes you to a site advisory page warning the website you were trying to reach may have harmed your computer. There is in fact no way to get to the website short of typing it in by hand or copying it into the address bar.

As far as I am concerned this is a brilliant move that will hopefully trigger similar implementations from the other major search engines. After all, search engines are there to provide us with a quality search experience, not to send us to websites that may have us tearing our hair out as the latest virus lays waste to our data.

More information on Google's malicious code / website warning label.
What happens if your site is tagged malicious?

by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Search Engine Placement Inc.

Labels: Algo, Google, Ross Dunn

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 9:55 AM.

Copyright ©2006-2012, The SEO News Blog, StepForth SEO Services
View this Article Only: Google Protects Surfers from Harmful Websites

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Friday, January 26, 2007

Google Bombing Will Be No Longer Says Google

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 8:26 AM

Yesterday Google's official webmaster blog announced that Googlebombing will be soon a way of the past thanks to some targeted attention from the search results team. Here is the gist of the posting:

We wanted to give a quick update about "Googlebombs." By improving our analysis of the link structure of the web, Google has begun minimizing the impact of many Googlebombs. Now we will typically return commentary, discussions, and articles about the Googlebombs instead. The actual scale of this change is pretty small (there are under a hundred well-known Googlebombs), but if you'd like to get more details about this topic, read on.

Ultimately they admit these algorithm changes will not catch every Googlebomb but they expect the changes will clear out the majority.

What is a Google Bomb?

Labels: Algo, Google, Ross Dunn, SEO, SEO News

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 8:26 AM.

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Monday, January 15, 2007

SEO Answers #10: "Do backlinks help just the linked page or the whole site?"

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 12:27 AM

QUESTION: When a high PR page within a 3rd party website links to a page within my website where is the benefit placed… on my home page or my page that was linked to? – Jose U.

ANSWER: The home page and the linked page benefit from the link… but to different degrees. The majority of the weight is applied to the linked page because it is the page that effectively deserved the vote of confidence but it also counts positively towards the integrity and credibility of your whole website; which in essence is represented by your home page.

Please note, this answer is totally dependent upon the quality of the backlink you received. For example, links from websites that are unrelated or have poor credibility will offer little or no benefit. For more information on what constitutes a ‘good’ backlink see my answer to a recent question from a reader: “What exactly are good backlinks?”.

This SEO tip by Ross Dunn, CEO, StepForth Search Engine Placement Inc.

Labels: Algo, Google, Link Building, Ross Dunn, SEO Answers, SEO Tips

Email this News Post: 2 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 12:27 AM.

ADD TO:

Blink

Del.icio.us

Digg

Furl

Google

Simpy

Spurl

Y! MyWeb

| Back to Top | Email Us Your Question |

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Yahoo! Applies Search Engine Update

Written by Ross Dunn and published at 8:07 PM

Just under a couple of hours ago Yahoo! announced a "Weather Report", which, in Yahoo terms means that their search results are getting revamped (if only slightly). Apparently the update began on Sunday and is expected to be completed by Wednesday morning. There isn't much to this notice other than it is being applied, but it is worth knowing about.

Remember not to panic if you see your Yahoo rankings fluctuate over the next couple of days. Search engine updates like this tend to produce a ranking shuffle and it is useless to act on any changes until the dust settles.

I will keep you up to date if any of the changes have a measurable impact.

Labels: Algo, Ross Dunn, SEO, Yahoo

Email this News Post: 0 Comments for this Post
This SEO News was posted by Ross Dunn @ 8:07 PM.