EU Wants More Search Concessions, Google Defies French Authority

Round and round she goes. The European Commission is seeking a final round of “concessions” from Google in an 11th hour effort to settle potential antitrust claims against the company. EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia made public statements asserting that Google needs to…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google’s Matt Cutts: We Don’t Have Different Algorithms For Different Web Position Slots

Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, posted a video answering another webmaster question. The question was, “Are results in different positions ranked by different algorithms?” The answer is no, Google does not have reserve web search results slots or positions for ranking…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

The Big SMX West Preview – A Virtual Tour Of What To Expect

Amit Singhal has overseen Google’s search engine ranking algorithms since 2000. From the Knowledge Graph, to Google Voice Search, to Google’s new “Hummingbird” algorithm update, no one has better insight into Google’s many methods of trying to make sense of the world’s information than…

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google Publisher Plugin beta: Bringing our publisher products to WordPress

Cross-posted from the Inside AdSense blog.

We’ve heard from many publishers using WordPress that they’re looking for an easier way to work with Google products within the platform. Today, we’re excited to share the beta release of our official Google Publisher Plugin, which adds new functionality to publishers’ WordPress websites. If you own your own domain and power it with WordPress, this new plugin will give you access to a few Google services — and all within WordPress.

Please keep in mind that because this is a beta release, we’re still fine-tuning the plugin to make sure it works well on the many WordPress sites out there. We’d love for you to try it now and share your feedback on how it works for your site.

This first version of the Google Publisher Plugin currently supports two Google products:

  • Google AdSense: Earn money by placing ads on your website. The plugin links your WordPress site to your AdSense account and makes it easier to place ads on your site — without needing to manually modify any HTML code.
  • Google Webmaster Tools: Webmaster Tools provides you with detailed reports about your pages’ visibility on Google. The plugin allows you to verify your site on Webmaster Tools with just one click.

Visit the WordPress.org plugin directory to download the new plugin and give it a try. For more information about the plugin and how to use it, please visit our Help Center. We look forward to hearing your feedback!

Posted by Michael Smith – Product Manager

My Final Post as CEO: Sarah Bird Has the Conn

Posted by randfish

In case you missed the post on my blog last month, we have some big news to share: I’m officially handing over the reins as CEO, and am thrilled to welcome our President and COO Sarah Bird into the role. I sat down with Sarah for a conversation about our memories from working together these past seven years and our plans for the future at Moz.

Rand and Sarah Discuss Their Role Changes

Quick editor’s note: We’re working on a transcription, but wanted to get you all this video as soon as we possibly could. :-)

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don’t have time to hunt down but want to read!

Digital marketing and ecommerce trends for 2014 by Econsultancy CEO Ashley Friedlein

My five highlighted trends which are marketing/digital focused

1. Multichannel

Some people call this ‘omnichannel’ or ‘integrated marketing’. Whatever you call it this is a ‘megatrend’ for me that will last for years to come but will be big for 2014.

Angela Ahrendts, the Burberry CEO who is moving to Apple as SVP of Retail, says it succinctly: “Online, offline, it’s gotta be the same”.  

2. Real-time

In the same category as ‘always on’ and ‘agile’. Some of this is about technology (e.g. RTB or real-time analytics) but really it is about process and people.

2014 will see more focus on marketing teams trying to work in ways that are more ‘real-time’. 

3. Responsive

2014 will see big efforts to make all digital experiences responsive so they adapt to the screen and context of use. Most obviously this applies to optimising the mobile experience in its many forms. 

4. Personalisation

Another megatrend that I think will be big in 2014, but will continue for years yet.

2014’s efforts will still largely be about personalising digital experiences but increasingly it’ll be about personalised multichannel experiences (see my first trend). 

5. Marketing Automation

This is part of the megatrend that is data-driven marketing and decision-making. It sits closely alongside CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) that will also be a major focus for companies in 2014.

Marketing Automation has historically been largely the domain of B2B but this year we’ll see the thinking and technology applied to B2C too. 

And my five selected trends which are technology-focused

6. “Internet of Everything”

This has been big news at CES in Las Vegas last week. Connected cars, smart health services, and of course the ‘conscious home’ that Google’s acquisition of Nest for $3.2bn, announced yesterday, has further propelled into the limelight. 

7. Wearables

This is really a sub-set of the previous point but is worth highlighting. Google Glass was big last year.

The likes of Oculus Rift and Meta’s Space Glasses show what is possible. Internet-connected ‘wellness’ devices, watches, even fabrics will proliferate in 2014. 

8. Sensors

This too relates to the previous two points. Whether it is audio (e.g. Nuance), gesture (e.g. Myo), or structure sensors that can capture and transmit 3D images (for 3D printing among other things) the world of internet-connected sensors is exploding and will be exciting in 2014. 

9. Geotargeting

Apple’s launch of iBeacons late last year have propelled localisation and geotargeted communications back into the limelight. 2014 is being heralded as the year of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) as the tech that will really help this catch on.

Whichever technology wins out, 2014 and beyond will see more localised and personalised experiences delivered for both content, marketing and payments.

10. Payments

The payments space was exciting last year but will further accelerate this year with huge amounts of activity from both start-ups and the bigger players.

Payments will seek to become ‘frictionless’. They will become more mobile, integrated with social, and even voice-enabled. 

The above are just 10 that I’ve selected as the most ‘front of mind’ for me at the moment but do download the full 40+ page free report for all my trends and predictions across the 10 core digital topics Econsultancy covers.