Study Shows No Clear Evidence That Google Plus Drives Ranking

At SMX Advanced, I presented results from a study we had done that convinced me that links in shares from Google Plus and Facebook behave like traditional web-based links. My statements at SMX Advanced were later disputed by Matt Cutts during his keyno…

Can we trust Google Keyword Planner?

While we mourn the loss of the Google Keyword Tool, we need to ask ourselves if the new Keyword Planner is trustworthy or not…

Post from on State of Search
Can we trust Google Keyword Planner?

Google’s Matt Cutts: Spammers Rarely Spam Using Multiple ccTLDs

In a recent video answer by Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, Google said that spammers rarely use multiple or mass number of ccTLDs in an effort to spam. This comment came from Matt Cutts when he answered a question on if it is duplicate content to have the same content on an IPv4…

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How Search Engines Work — Really!

For those of us in SEO (or aspiring to be), there are a lot of little details that fill our days. Server architecture, 301 redirects, 404 errors, title tags, and various other things. Sometimes, we forget to sit back and figure out what it all means. A…

Google Trends Gets “Trending Top Charts” To Show Interest Spikes; Hot Searches Go Back 30 Days

What’s hot in search? Often, it’s the same-old, same-old. That’s why Google Trends has added a new feature today, “Trending Top Charts,” to show interest areas that are spiking in popularity outside the norms. Most Searched For Vs. Trending For example, the Top Charts…

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Google Webmaster Tools Now Provides Broader & More Diverse Link Data

Google announced today that the link data within Google Webmaster Tools is much broader, more diverse cross-section of links. What does that mean? Well, instead of showing you links in alphabetical order, exported in “lexicographical order” – Google is now showing you sample links…

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August Search Market Share Grinds To Standstill, Though Google & Bing Grow In Volume

Today comScore released US search market share figures for August. I’m tempted to say, “Nothing to see here folks, move on.” All the numbers are basically flat compared with July. There was almost no movement across sites; everybody’s in the same position as last month. A…

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Google: Unlinked URLs Are A Source For Indexing New Content

John Lincoln from Ignite Visibility spotted a Google Hangout where Google’s John Mueller confirmed that Google will use URLs or domain names within content that are unlinked, i.e. without an a href attribute, to discover and index new pages of content. John went on to add that typically no…

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Google’s Matt Cutts On What To Do If Your Site Was Hit By Panda

Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts posted a new video today talking about the Panda update. The question he tried to answer was, “what should a site owner do if they think they might be affected by Panda?” Matt’s short answer to the question is to make sure to write…

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Could You Walk In Google’s Shoes? Making Tough Calls With Search Listings

It’s pretty easy to sit back and slam Google for how you think it should make decisions when it comes to search listings. It’s much harder to actually make those decisions, when you have a deeper understanding of all the implications involved. To experience this better, here’s a…

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Google Adds Automatic Authorship With Google+ Sign In

Google announced an even easier way to get your picture into the Google search results by adding automatic author attribution through Google+ signin. Google has integrated Google+ Sign-In with Google’s authorship program. Now if you sign in to WordPress.com with Google, the the articles you publish…

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Google’s Matt Cutts: Nofollow Links Won’t Hurt You Unless You Are Spamming At A Huge Scale

In a video released today on the Google Webmaster Help YouTube channel, Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts said typically links that are nofollowed can’t hurt your rankings in Google. That being said, while most cases are that links that have the nofollow attribute on them will…

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New “Concessions” From Google Seek To Avoid EU Antitrust Penalties

According to Reuters the European Commission (EC) says Google has submitted a new settlement proposal with “further concessions” in its bid to end the antitrust inquiry against the company. If the parties fail to reach agreement the EC has the ability to fine Google a percentage of its…

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AdWords Debuts Offline Conversion Tracking For Full Sales Cycle Optimization

Running lead generation campaigns on Google AdWords? Measuring success and optimizing campaigns for actual sealed-deal conversions, not just lead in-take, just got a whole lot easier. On the heels of rolling out cross-account conversion tracking and se…