Archive for August, 2009
Yahoo! Sets More SearchMonkey Features to Default
Yahoo! is expanding the number of SearchMonkey features set to default-on in their search results. The update is the result of the completion of testing microformat templates.
Now, sites that provide structured data according to Yahoo!’s specified formats will automatically get SearchMonkey default-on status, allowing an enhanced result to be displayed in the SERPs.
Enhancements can include:
- Video
- Documents
- Games
- Products
- Local Businesses
- Event
- Discussions
- News items
Yahoo! is also turning on SearchMonkey defaults for Entertainment and Social Networking sites. Look for enhanced results from sites such as Netflix, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Friendster and Britannica.
The new defaults join a list of previously set SearchMonkey defaults. Facebook, Wikipedia, Citysearch, Zagat, Yelp and LinkedIn SearchMonkey apps have already been set to default.
Google and SpotMixer Expand Partnership to Include In-Stream Video Ads
Google and SpotMixer are teaming up to provide do-it-yourself in-stream video advertising. The ads can be produced for viewing on YouTube or the Google Content Network.
The feature is free unless you want a professional voice-over. Those services begin at $50.
This isn’t the first time Google and SpotMixer have partnered up. This past January, they paired up to offer DIY TV ads.
Global Search Market Tops Over 100 Billion Searches a Month
comScore has just released a study of the global search market that shows more than 113 billion searches were conducted in July 2009. This represents a 41 percent increase compared to a year ago.
Google attracted significantly more searches than any other search engine with 76.7 billion searches conducted, giving it 67.5 percent market share. Yahoo! ranked second worldwide with 8.9 billion searches (7.8 percent share), followed closely by Chinese search engine Baidu with 8 billion searches (7.0 percent share). Most of the top search properties worldwide experienced significant growth in search query volume versus last year, with Russian search engine Yandex growing at the fastest rate (94 percent) among the top ten.
It is worth noting that Europe accounted for the highest share of searches at 32.1 percent, followed by Asia Pacific (30.8 percent) and North America (22.1 percent). Among the five global regions, Latin America exhibited the heaviest search behavior per person with an average of 13 search usage days in July and 130 searches per searcher. Europe had the second highest overall search volume per person (117 searches per searcher) while North America exhibited the second heaviest frequency (12.5 search usage days per searcher).
This makes it as important to attend SES Berlin November 24-25, 2009, as it does to attend SES Chicago December 7-10, 2009. Why?
As Mike Grehan, the newly-anointed VP and Global Content Director at SES, SEW, and ClickZ, told me earlier this month, search isn’t a static topic. The changes in the industry are accelerating. Can anyone afford to be behind the times in this new era?
Global Searches Increase by 41% Compared to a Year Ago
comScore has released global search market data showing that search is still on the rise in a big way all across the world. Overall, more than 113 billion searches were conducted in July 2009, up 41% compared to the year prior. Google dominated the market with 76 billion searches. No other search engine came close to that number of searches.
All the major search engines saw increases except for AOL. Yahoo! and Baidu were the only search engines to see single digit growth, while Russian search engine Yandex grew a whopping 94%
Europe enjoys the highest share of searches, at 32.1%, while searchers in Latin American conduct more searches per person than the rest of the world.
What do you think of comScore’s global search data? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Does Google Like It When You’re Fresh?
Posted by Dr. Pete
Warning: This post contains tactics that may be considered black-hat. SEOmoz does not condone these practices. I have simply done something dumb to my own website to prevent you from doing something dumber to yours.
If you believe the rumors, we all now live in something called the real-time web. The once steady trickle of user-generated content became a torrent, and search engines face the difficult task of drinking from a fire hose without drowning. It only stands to reason, then, that fresh content is becoming more important, and anecdotal evidence seems to back that up. Every day, blog posts and Tweets seem to get indexed and ranked a bit faster.
Freshness seems important, but what signals does Google use to determine freshness? Beyond the original cache date, do the spiders pay attention to on-page signals, such as dates in body content or URLs? I thought it might be fun to try and find out.
1. Manipulating URLs (non-301)
My plan started out simple: manipulate a URL on my blog and rename it to use a date-based format (as some blogs do by default). So, for example, a URL that normally looked like this:
http://www.mysite.com/topic-goes-here
…became something like this…
http://www.mysite.com/2009-09-01-topic-goes-here
I chose a blog post that was recent enough to still be archived and spidered but not so recent or popular that it was likely to attract new inbound links. I chose 3 long-tail keyword phrases to track for that post, and then flipped the switch and changed the URL. In part 1 of this experiment, I did not 301 the old URL to the new one. By not 301’ing, I was hoping to nudge Google into updating the original cache date. The graph below shows what happened:
The rankings axis is inverted to show low rankings at the top, with 1 line for each keyword phrase. Here’s where things got weird. Even after spiders indexed the new URL, that URL showed up in rankings on 3 different days for the 3 phrases (indicated by the gray, dotted lines). Some rankings dropped before the new URL appeared, others after, until they eventually stabilized slightly lower than the original URLs. Oddly, the one keyword that hit #1 after the switch also managed to cache the 404-error (so, that ranking was completely useless).
2. New URLs, Take Two (301)
Of course, outright changing a URL without 301 redirecting it is a bit unusual, and would mean that I lost whatever inbound link juice I had flowing to that page (it wasn’t much, but it still can’t be ignored). So, not generally one to learn from my mistakes, I tried again, this time with a new blog post but with a 301 in place.
Not surprisingly, the spiders were a bit better behaved, with all 3 rankings reflecting the new URL on the same day. Somewhat surprisingly, though, some keywords lost ranking, some gained, and the overall average ranking change was roughly a wash. Not a promising sign for my URL-based freshness theory.
3. Mad Science Is Science, Too
So, what can we learn from my little experiment in freshness? I’m not entirely sure, but I’d like to offer a few takeaways to trick you into believing that reading this post was a good idea:
(1) Google Isn’t That Dumb
If you were considering changing all your URLs to trick Google into thinking that your posts are brand, spanking new, here’s some advice: don’t.
(2) Always, Always 301
Although I had my reasons for not using 301s in the first experiment, don’t ever rename an important URL without redirects in place. If nothing else, Graph (I) should be a lesson in what can happen if you do.
(3) Proceed With Caution
Even if you do rename your URLs for a perfectly good reason, and you put 301s in place, expect some short-term consequences. Rankings may fluctuate, and where you end up when you’re done might not be exactly where you started. Changing your URL structure is a big job – sometimes, it’s necessary, but don’t do it just to make a minor SEO tweak.
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