Google's Founder Wearing Google Glasses

Thomas Hawk, an outstanding photographer, was at the Dinner in the Dark benefit for the Foundation Fighting Blindness where Sergey Brin was supporting his wife. Google's Sergey Brin was wearing a pair of the Google Glasses that probably were just for show and did not work at all.

Thomas posted the picture on his Google+ page. I cropped it a bit to just show Sergey wearing the glases, sorry Robert Scoble.

This post is part of our daily Search Photo of the Day column, where we find fun and interesting photos related to the search industry and share them with our readers.

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Google Webmaster Tools Search Queries Still Has Three Day Delay

If you go to Google Webmaster Tools and check out the search queries report, you might think that Google was able to show almost real time data in terms of search queries done related to your web site.

Google has changed the date range bar at the top right to be the current date. But if you look closely, you will notice that the charted data is still with a three or so day delay from the current date.

Here is a picture showing the date range at the top right being the current date and the chart showing March 31st data, which was a few days ago.

Or maybe Google is rolling out up to the day search query data and I don't see it yet? Do you see today's search queries in Google Webmaster Tools.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

PREVIOUS STORY: Google Maps Traffic By Day/Time For Roads

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Google's New Ad Format: Consumer Surveys?

Yesterday Google launched a new program called Google Consumer Surveys - it is basically taking an expensive thing to do, market research surveys, and making it fast and cheap. Will it last - I am not sure, but it does look exciting at this point.

How it works is simple.

Business and organizations looking to get market research data go to this service, create a micro-survey and decide who they want it to go to, how many responses they want and what questions to ask. Here is the step by step survey creation wizard:

Then when you buy it, results start coming in. Where do the results come from?

These surveys will begin showing up on select publishers web sites such as The Texas Tribune, the Star Tribune and Adweek in the form of a micro-survey box. In fact, many folks saw this happening before the announcement and felt it was a new ad type or AdSense type from Google. I received an email from a friend asking about it and there is a WebmasterWorld thread.

Here is a picture of one that we spotted:

Then as people see these surveys on publisher sites, they answer the questions and the responses go to the survey creator. The results look interesting, for example, Matt Cutts posted on Google+ a survey he ran for 150 as a beta test of the product asking the general US population, Have you heard of 'search engine optimization'?" The results said that only 1 in 5 people (20.4%) in the U.S. have heard of SEO.

Here is a video on how it works:

Now anyone can create market research studies and get flawed results based on how they ask the question. I am not implying that Matt's survey is flawed here, I don't think it is. But trust me, it can lead to issues. Fuzzy math.

Forum discussion at Google+ & WebmasterWorld.

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Google: Want More Organic Traffic? Buy Search Ads

My title is a bit extreme in summarizing the research study Google published namedImpact Of Ranking Of Organic Search Results On The Incrementality Of Search Ads.

In short, Google is saying that having search ads do help with incremental impressions and clicks on your organic search results.

Google said, "on average, 50% of the ad clicks that occur with a top rank organic result are incremental." They also noticed in this study that "on average, 81% of ad impressions and 66% of ad clicks occur in the absence of an associated organic result on the first page of search results."

Here is the abstract of the study:

In an earlier study, we reported that on average 89% of the visits to the advertiser’s site from search ad clicks were incremental. In this research, we examine how the ranking of an advertiser’s organic listings on the search results page affects the incrementality of ad clicks expressed through Incremental Ad Clicks (IAC) and as estimated by Search Ads Pause models. A meta-analysis of 390 Search Ads Pause studies highlights the limited opportunity for clicks from organic search results to substitute for ad clicks when the ads are turned off. On average, 81% of ad impressions and 66% of ad clicks occur in the absence of an associated organic search result. We find that having an associated organic search result in rank one does not necessarily mean a low IAC. On average, 50% of the ad clicks that occur with a top rank organic result are incremental, compared to 100% of the ad clicks being incremental in the absence of an associated organic result.

In short, having search ads with top rankings in the organic results does not hurt. In fact, it helps in most cases.

Here is the info graphic Google made out of this study:

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

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Google Analytics New Social Reports With $$$

A week ago Google announced on the Google Analytics blog a new set of reports named Social reports that enables webmasters and marketers bridge the gap between social media and how those convert to your business metrics, such as conversions, revenues and more.

Google said the goal of these reports are three fold:

• Identify the full value of traffic coming from social sites and measure how they lead to direct conversions or assist in future conversions
• Understand social activities happening both on and off of your site to help you optimize user engagement and increase social key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Make better, more efficient data-driven decisions in your social media marketing programs

Social Overview Report:

Social Conversions Report:

Social Sources Report:

Social Plugins Report:

Who is part of this? Which networks? Not Twitter or Facebook but these guys are, AllVoices, Badoo, Blogger, Delicious, Digg, Diigo, Disqus, Echo, Gigya, Google+, Google Groups, Hatena, Livefyre, Meetup, Read It Later, Reddit, Screen Rant, SodaHead, TypePad, VKontakte, and yaplog!.

Forum discussion at Google Analytics Help.

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Google: New Top Level Domains (TLD) Will Not Help Rankings

Yesterday Google's Matt Cutts went out of his way todebunk a story in Marketing Magazine named New top-level domains to trump .com in Google search results.

Adrian Kinderis CEO of ARI Registry Services made the claim as follows:

Will a new TLD web address automatically be favoured by Google over a .com equivalent? Quite simply, yes it will.

Wow! How can people spread such misinformation (I better be careful, I am sure I said things that weren't true as well). But seriously, this?

I am glad Matt Cutts called him out. Matt wrote:

Sorry, but that's just not true, and as an engineer in the search quality team at Google, I feel the need to debunk this misconception. Google has a lot of experience in returning relevant web pages, regardless of the top-level domain (TLD). Google will attempt to rank new TLDs appropriately, but I don't expect a new TLD to get any kind of initial preference over .com, and I wouldn't bet on that happening in the long-term either. If you want to register an entirely new TLD for other reasons, that's your choice, but you shouldn't register a TLD in the mistaken belief that you'll get some sort of boost in search engine rankings.

I hate when I hear people talk about proven SEO methods that they read from some marketing magazine, blog or even places like NY Times and claim it to be true because it was written. Something like this hurts the industry.

One thing, this is a great way for someone to lose his reputation as being an expert in anything. You said something so concret as fact and then a Google representative who knows the algorithm says you are absolutely wrong - well, that has to hurt your reputation.

What makes it worse is that he claims to have been "researching this topic" for about 6 years. Amazing.

Forum discussion at Google+.

Image credit to ShutterStock for sad presentation man.

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Google Webmaster Tools +1 Metrics Maintenance

Googler, Jonathan Simon announced in the Google Webmaster Help forums that the +1 metrics section in Google Webmaster Tools may have issues over the next several days.

He said Google is working on "housekeeping" tasks for that section of Google Webmaster Tools, which implies to me that Google is doing some sort of upgrade in that area.

Jonathan said:

Over the next few days we're doing some housekeeping in the +1 Metrics section of Webmaster Tools. While this work is underway the data for +1 Metrics will be intermittently unavailable. We expect to have +1 Metrics back online by early next week. Thank you for your patience.

Here is a picture of how the +1 metrics may look for some:

Any guesses as to how major of an update we can expect? Any ideas or wish list items for this section?

We know Google is pouring a ton of resources into the Google+ and +1 products, so honestly, it can be anything. Plus we know it is SMX this week, so maybe an announcement is expected there?

Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.

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Google Shutting Down AdSense For Domains

The Google direct AdSense For Domains program is being shut down by Google. The last day is April 18, 2012. This is not effecting the whole program, but specifically the "direct AdSense for Domains" program.

Google posted this news on this page and people have started to notice the news.

Here is the timeline:

• February 22: AdSense publishers can no longer start using the Hosted domains product.
• March 21: You will no longer be able to create new hosted domains.
• April 18: Hosted domains will become inactive and it will no longer be possible to earn from them.
• June 27: Hosted domains will no longer be available in AdSense accounts.

Google is also offering advice on how to migrate to another provider.

This is a smart move by Google since there have been numerous complaints on all sidesof the coin.

To be honest, I am a bit surprised they closed it down because they have fought off these complaints for years and years now. Now they decide to close it down? Google said:

After evaluating the benefits of our partner network, we’ve decided to retire the Hosted domains product within AdSense. Going forward, undeveloped domains will only be served through our existing AdSense for domains distribution network.

For more details on this change, see this page.

Forum discussion at Acorn Domains and Twitter.

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A Fake Google Store

We know Google has a Google Store in at their headquarters in the GooglePlex. We know they are thinking of adding one also to their Dublin office. But a random Google store somewhere in the Middle East?

This Google Store seems to not just sell Google Lava Lamps but instead, they sell fruits and vegetables.

I found this picture on ffffound.com. I am not sure exactly where in the world it was taken but it seems like somewhere in the middle east.

I assume this is not an approved and sanctioned Google Store. :)

This post is part of our daily Search Photo of the Day column, where we find fun and interesting photos related to the search industry and share them with our readers.

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Google Updates Average Position In Webmaster Tools & Analytics

As I reported last night at Search Engine Land, Google haschanged their definition for the "average position" as used in Google Webmaster Tool's search query reports and Google Analytics SEO reports.

Google is now using the top positions and averaging those, as opposed to using all the positions and averaging them. Google explains it best with this:

Let's say Nick searched for [bacon] and URLs from your site appeared in positions 3, 6, and 12. Jane also searched for [bacon] and URLs from your site appeared in positions 5 and 9. Previously, we would have averaged all these positions together and shown an Average Position of 7. Going forward, we'll only average the highest position your site appeared in for each search (3 for Nick's search and 5 for Jane's search), for an Average Position of 4.

Google said that the old reports won't change - instead, the new reports will, so historically this won't make much of a difference.

Google's John Mueller said on Google+, "I think it makes more sense this way." I guess it does.

Either way, this is a big change to the reports with little impact to you or I.

Here is how they look in the Webmaster Tools and Analytics section:

Forum discussion at Google+ and Google Webmaster Help.

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Yahoo's Co-Founder, Jerry Yang, Resigns

Yesterday, I was shocked to learn that Yahoo's co-founder, Jerry Yang has resigned from Yahoo effective immediately.

Yang told the Yahoo board:

My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.

This comes a couple weeks after Yahoo hired a new CEO, Scott Thompson. Yang took over as CEO of Yahoo in 2007 and then a year later was ousted from that position.

In any event, it is sad to see an internet legend leave the company he helped co-found. Yahoo was a great company and in the past several years have not found their way. Will Yang stepping down help Yahoo find their way - I don't think so but maybe it will give it a clear headspace?

Google's Bradley Horowitz, former Yahoo employee, but now head of Google+, said onGoogle+ a very passionate thing about Yang:

Wow. I didn't expect this, and wouldn't have expected this news to matter to me... but it does.

I worked at Yahoo for four years, and had an amazing, life-changing experience. Much of this was due to Jerry's support and enthusiasm for what I was trying to get done. Most of the projects under my purview (Flickr, Brickhouse, Yahoo Research Berkeley, Hack Days, etc.) flew against the grain of "Yahoo as Usual", and would have failed without Jerry's explicit endorsement. That he not only allowed me to do this, but encouraged me to (and funded the efforts) is something I deeply appreciate.

Best wishes to whatever is next for you Jerry. Thank you for giving me a chance to be part of Yahoo's history.

Thanks for sharing this Bradley! Best wishes to Jerry Yang for helping to build the internet as we know it.

Forum discussion at Google+ & WebmasterWorld.

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