Google and Spam Detection. What Google Knows About Spam

What Google Knows About Spam 10 Minute Video

Visit: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/what-google-knows-about-spam/

If you didn’t attend Web 2.0, you can watch Matt Cutts, the Google Guy ten-minute keynote about “What Google Knows About Spam” (and several other keynotes) on blip.tv. I’ll embed the keynote below as well

So if you want a great introduction to "What Google Knows About Spam" then spend 10 minutes watching Matt's Web 2.0 keynote video. It will be the best 10 minute investment you make all week.

Best Practices When Moving Your Site To A New Domain

Google Provides Best Practices Advice When Moving Your Site To A New Domain

Source: Webmaster Google Blog: Posted by Ríona MacNamara, Webmaster Tools Team

Planning on moving your site to a new domain? Lots of webmasters find this a scary process. How do you do it without hurting your site's performance in Google search results?

Your aim is to make the transition invisible and seamless to the user, and to make sure that Google knows that your new pages should get the same quality signals as the pages on your own site. When you're moving your site, pesky 404 (File Not Found) errors can harm the user experience and negatively impact your site's performance in Google search results.

Let's cover moving your site to a new domain (for instance, changing from www.example.com to www.example.org). This is different from moving to a new IP address; read this post for more information on that.

Here are the main points:

Test the move process by moving the contents of one directory or subdomain first. Then use a 301 Redirect to permanently redirect those pages on your old site to your new site. This tells Google and other search engines that your site has permanently moved.

Once this is complete, check to see that the pages on your new site are appearing in Google's search results. When you're satisfied that the move is working correctly, you can move your entire site. Don't do a blanket redirect directing all traffic from your old site to your new home page. This will avoid 404 errors, but it's not a good user experience. A page-to-page redirect (where each page on the old site gets redirected to the corresponding page on the new site) is more work, but gives your users a consistent and transparent experience. If there won't be a 1:1 match between pages on your old and new site, try to make sure that every page on your old site is at least redirected to a new page with similar content.

If you're changing your domain because of site rebranding or redesign, you might want to think about doing this in two phases: first, move your site; and second, launch your redesign. This manages the amount of change your users see at any stage in the process, and can make the process seem smoother. Keeping the variables to a minimum also makes it easier to troubleshoot unexpected behavior.

Check both external and internal links to pages on your site. Ideally, you should contact the webmaster of each site that links to yours and ask them to update the links to point to the page on your new domain. If this isn't practical, make sure that all pages with incoming links are redirected to your new site. You should also check internal links within your old site, and update them to point to your new domain. Once your content is in place on your new server, use a link checker like Xenu to make sure you don't have broken legacy links on your site. This is especially important if your original content included absolute links (like www.example.com/cooking/recipes/chocolatecake.html) instead of relative links (like .../recipes/chocolatecake.html).

To prevent confusion, it's best to make sure you retain control of your old site domain for at least 180 days.

Add your new site to your Webmaster Tools account, and verify your ownership of it. Then create and submit a Sitemap listing the URLs on your new site. This tells Google that your content is now available on your new site, and that we should go and crawl it.

Finally, keep both your new and old site verified in Webmaster Tools, and review crawl errors regularly to make sure that the 301s from the old site are working properly, and that the new site isn't showing unwanted 404 errors.

We'll admit it, moving is never easy - but these steps should help ensure that none of your good web reputation falls off the truck in the process.

Source: Webmaster Google Blog

Google Sitelinks. How To Get Listed Under Google Sitelinks

How To Get Listed Under Google Sitelinks

Many webmasters wonder how they can make Google display additional Sitelinks for their websites. What exactly are Sitelinks, how can you get them and are they worth the effort?

What are Google Sitelinks?

Google Sitelinks are a collection of links that appears below the result of a website. These additional links link to main pages of the website. They are randomly and automatically chosen by Google's algorithm.

Sitelinks only appear for general search terms. You'll get Sitelinks if you search for "HP" but you won't get Sitelinks if you search for a term like "HP printer supplies". Sitelinks show up most often for searches on brand names.

Which links does Google use for the Sitelinks?

Google seems to use the first level links on a website for the Sitelinks. That means that all links that are not present on the homepage of your site won't be used as Sitelinks.

The links should be descriptive text links or image links with a descriptive IMG ALT attribute. JavaScript or Flash links are not considered for Sitelinks. Google uses 2 to 8 links for the Sitelinks of a website. Unfortunately, it's unclear how Google assigns the number of links to each website.

The text that is used for the Sitelinks can be the text that are used for the link (anchor text) on the homepage or the title of the linked page. It seems that Google prefers links that appear at the top of a web page.

How can you get Sitelinks for your website?

Unfortunately, there is nothing certain about Google's Sitelinks. The following factors seem to influence whether Google displays Sitelinks or not:

Your website must have a stable #1 ranking for the searched keyword. Other websites don't seem to get Sitelinks.

Your website must be at least 2 years old. It seems that younger websites don't get Sitelinks.

The number of searches and the number of clicks that your website gets for a certain keyword seem to be considered. Keywords that aren't searched often enough don't get Sitelinks. It also seems that your website has to get many clicks for the searched keyword.

The number of links that point to your website with the searched keyword as the anchor text seem to influence the creation of Sitelinks. Sitelinks only seem to appear for the main keywords of a website, not for all keywords for which a website is listed.

If your website meets these criteria Google might assign Sitelinks to your website for your most important keywords.

Sitelinks can be a nice addition for searches for general keywords but they usually won't appear for searches that consist of two to four words. These words are the most important keywords for website promotion and search engine optimization.

People who search for multiple word keywords are more likely to purchase goods or services than people using fewer words (source: Oneupweb Research).

Google Gets Out Of SEO Biz. Leaves SEO To The Pros

Google Gets Out Of SEO Biz. Leaves SEO To The Pros

Google to cut DoubleClick jobs, sell Performics piece
The layoffs and business unit shuffling are significant but expected

By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service April 02, 2008

Less than a month after closing its DoubleClick acquisition, Google announced on Wednesday significant but expected changes in the ad services company that include reducing its staff and selling part of its Performics division.

Google will lay off or offer "transitional roles" to about 25 percent of DoubleClick's U.S. workforce, a source familiar with the plan said. The person, who asked not to be named, said that staffers offered a transitional role would be employed in a contract position for a certain period of time

Google acknowledged that DoubleClick's staff will be cut without offering details about the number of positions eliminated. "Since our acquisition of DoubleClick closed on March 11, we have been working to match and align DoubleClick employees in the U.S. with our organizational plan for the business. As with many mergers, this review has resulted in a reduction in headcount at the acquired company. Today, we are laying off some DoubleClick employees in the U.S. and placing others in transitional roles," Google said in a statement.

Prior to the layoffs announced Wednesday, DoubleClick had 1,500 employees worldwide, including 1,200 in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Google has decided to divest itself of the SEM (search engine marketing) and SEO (search engine optimization) group within Performics, a move that had also been anticipated. Providing SEO and SEM services puts Google in some potential conflict of interest situations that could damage its relationship with independent SEO and SEM firms and with Performics clients.

"It's clear to us that we do not want to be in the search engine marketing business. Maintaining objectivity in both search and advertising is paramount to Google’s mission and core to the trust we ask from our users," wrote Tom Phillips, director of the DoubleClick integration process, in an official blog posting .

Google doesn't yet have a buyer for the Performics business, but it has "received preliminary interest" from some current partners, according to Phillips. "Search Marketing will continue to run as a separate entity until the division is sold," he wrote.

Google will retain Performics' affiliate marketing business and integrate it into existing Google operations, Phillips wrote.

SEO and SEM firms, which provide services for improving Web sites' search-engine rankings and running effective search-engine ad campaigns, had been vocal about their displeasure at having Google, until now a partner, turned into a competitor via Performics.

A key concern in the SEO area was that Performics would get special access to inside information about Google's search-engine algorithms, putting independent SEO firms at a disadvantage. Meanwhile, there was concern that Google would push its in-house Performics SEM services at highly discounted prices, or maybe even for free, in competition with SEM service providers.

A potential conflict of interest situation involved the conceptually divergent missions of Performics and Google's ad sales business. Performics is supposed to get its clients the highest return on investment from their paid search campaigns -- spending as little as necessary to achieve their goals. But Google's business is to sell as much advertising as possible. This, critics pointed out, could lead Performics to put Google's interests above those of its clients.

The Performics SEO services also put Google in the business of taking money from clients in exchange for helping them rank better in search-engine results, something Google has always vowed not to do. Moreover, Performics provides paid inclusion services into search engines that engage in this practice, in which a company pays a search engine to include its Web site in its index. Google has always been highly critical of paid inclusion services, and doesn't offer them.

When you do need SEO services, contact OnTheAvenues. Over 15 years of successful search engine optimization services

Signals that Google uses to rank web pages

Signals that Google uses to rank web pages

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO posted his April Fool's I am sorry post to everyone today. Below is from his post:

To make up for playing pranks today, I recorded a brief movie about some of the signals that Google uses to rank web pages. We publicly say that Google uses over 200 different signals in our ranking algorithms, but we don’t always talk about them much. If you’re interested to hear more about the signals that Google uses, here’s the recording. (check it out)

Matt Cutts Said,
April 1, 2008 @ 10:32 pm

Oh, I think I got the wrong url for the video. Let me find the right one..

Added: this is the right video.

Free Google Wake Up Kit

Wake yourself up with our new Google Wake Up Kit!

Google Calendar, offers users a "Free Wake Up Kit" to help users get out of bed in the morning.

"The 'wake up' notification uses several progressively more annoying alerts to wake you up. First it will send an SMS message to your phone. If that fails, more coercive means will be used," the fake announcement from Google read. "The kit includes an industrial-sized bucket and is designed to be connected to your water main for automatic filling. In addition, a bed-flipping device is included for forceful removal from your sleeping quarters."

An 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button on Google Calendar schedules random dates.

(Credit: Google)Google Calendar also added one of Google's famous "I'm Feeling Lucky" buttons to its scheduling tool, creating random events on calendars that inevitably involved dates with celebrities. (Except I didn't really feel lucky. I was only offered "dates" with Tom Cruise, George W. Bush, and South Park's Eric Cartman. None of them are really my type.)

Wake yourself up with our new Google Wake Up Kit!
Do you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning? We do, too. In fact this problem became so serious at times that it sometimes resulted in lacklustre attendance at team meetings. To help solve the problem we've created an innovative solution called the Google Wake Up Kit.

"I could never wake up on time to get to our team meetings. But thanks to the new Google Wake Up Kit, I'm always on time now!"
Pedro C. In combination with the kit, you can receive a new type of notification from Google Calendar, called the "wake up" notification. This notification is relentless in ensuring your timely awakening from restful slumber.

The "wake up" notification uses several progressively more annoying alerts to wake you up. First it will send an SMS message to your phone. If that fails, more coercive means will be used. The kit includes an industrial-sized bucket and is designed to be connected to your water main for automatic filling. In addition, a bed-flipping device is included for forceful removal from your sleeping quarters.

By the way: APRIL FOOL!

Google Uses New Method To Detect Duplicate Content

Google's new method to detect duplicate content

Google doesn't like duplicate content. The reason for that is that the top 10 search results should offer users a choice of different web pages.

Google's new patent application on near duplicate content describes a new method how Google tries to keep its users from finding redundant content in the result pages.

Content may be duplicated for a variety of reasons

There are many reasons why content is duplicated on more than one page, or why documents are very similar:

The content of a web page is available in different formats: web page, printable page, PDF, mobile phone page, etc.

The content of a web page is syndicated, for example news articles or blog posts.

The content management system (CMS) displays the same content in different locations. For example, an item might be listed in a "Size" category and in a "Color" category.

The website owner offers mirrors to make sure that a website does not slow down when many people want to access the same page at the same time.

Someone stole the contents of a web page to reproduce it on other websites.

To avoid showing the same content more than once in the search results, search engines try to detect these duplicate pages.

What's in the patent application?

The patent application describes how Google tries to detect duplicate or near duplicate content at different web addresses. It seems that Google might combine several existing methods for detecting new duplicate content to identify more duplicates on the Internet.

The new patent application shows that Google is serious about detecting duplicate content issues. This new patent application is only the latest step in Google's attempts to detect duplicate content. For example, previous steps can be found here (PDF) and here.

What does Google do when it detects duplicate content?

It's hard to tell what Google will do when they find duplicate pages. There are many instances where duplicated content is used for a legitimate purpose.

If Google only removes the duplicate pages from the search results for a certain query that might be okay. If Google penalized duplicate pages by removing them completely from the index, Google might risk not being relevant for very specific queries and it also might penalize the wrong pages.

It's likely that Google will pick the web page with the best reputation and the best inbound links for the search results if it finds more than one page with the same content.

What does this mean for your website?

If you want to get high rankings, it is easier to do so with unique content. Try to use as much original content as possible on your web pages.

If your website must use the same content as another website, make sure that your website has better inbound links than the other websites that carry the same content.

Google To Beta Test Medical Record Storage

Google To Beta Test Medical Record Storage

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. will begin storing the medical records of a few thousand people as it tests a long-awaited health service that's likely to raise more concerns about the volume of sensitive information entrusted to the Internet-search leader.

The pilot project, announced Thursday, will involve 1,500 to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic who volunteered to an electronic transfer of their personal health records so they can be retrieved through Google's new service, which won't be open to the general public.

Each health profile - including information about prescriptions, allergies and medical histories - will be protected by a password that's also required to use other Google services such as e-mail and personalized search tools.

Google views its expansion into health-records management as a logical extension because its search engine already processes millions of requests from people trying to find more information about an injury, illness or recommended treatment.

But the health venture also will provide more fodder for privacy watchdogs who believe Google already knows too much about the interests and habits of its users as its computers log their search requests and store their e-mail discussions.

Prodded by the criticism, Google last year introduced a new system that purges people's search records after 18 months. In a show of its privacy commitment, Google also successfully rebuffed the U.S. Justice Department's demand to examine millions of its users' search requests in a court battle two years ago.

The Mountain View-based company hasn't specified a timetable for unveiling the health service, which has been the source of much speculation for the past two years. Marissa Mayer, the Google executive overseeing the health project, has previously said the service would debut in 2008.

Contacted Wednesday, a Google spokesman declined to elaborate on its plans. The Associated Press learned about the pilot project from the Cleveland Clinic, a not-for-profit medical center founded 87 years ago.

The clinic already keeps the personal health records of more than 120,000 patients on its own online service called MyChart. Patients who transfer the information to Google would still be able to get the data quickly even if they were no longer being treated by the Cleveland Clinic.

The Cleveland Clinic decided to work with Google "to create a more efficient and effective national health-care system," said C. Martin Harris, the medical center's chief information officer.

Google isn't the first high-tech heavyweight to set up an online filing cabinet in an effort make it easier for people to get their medical records after they change doctors or health-insurance plans.

Rival Microsoft Corp. last year introduced a similar service called HealthVault, and AOL co-founder Steve Case is backing Revolution Health, which also offers online tools for managing personal health histories.

The third-party services are troublesome because they aren't covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, which just issued a cautionary report on the topic.

Passed in 1996, HIPAA established strict standards that classify medical information as a privileged communication between a doctor and patient.

DIY SEO: www.ontheavenues.com

Google Postion 6 Penalty

Google backs out of the position 6 penalty

Some weeks ago, we informed you about Google's new position 6 penalty. At this time, it was unclear why Google assigned this penalty to some websites.

The theories were that Google considered usage data when calculating the rankings and that Google had a better understanding of word and phrase relationships.

Was this just a bug in Google's algorithm?

In a discussion about this problem, Google's Matt Cutts recently wrote the following:

"When Barry asked me about 'position 6' in late December, I said that I didn't know of anything that would cause that. But about a week or so after that, my attention was brought to something that could exhibit that behavior. We're in the process of changing the behavior; I think the change is live at some datacenters already and will be live at most data centers in the next few weeks."

This statement means two things:

It seems that Google made a mistake that sent many position 1 rankings to position 6.

Google has released a patch for this.
Indeed, many webmasters who experienced problems with the position 6 penalty reported that their rankings are now as good as before.

What was Google trying to do?

Even if Google says that the position 6 penalty was not intended, it is clear that Google tried to do something with the results.

What was it and will Google continue to do this without the unwanted position 6 effect?

The changes might have something to do with Google's increased integration of Universal Search in the results. In addition to the normal 10 web page results, Google now often returns results from Google Images, Google Maps, Google News or other Google services.

The way Google integrates Universal Search results into the normal search results changed during the last weeks. These changes also might have caused the temporary position 6 problem.

If your website has been affected by the position 6 penalty you can relax. Your web pages should have regained their high positions by now.

Google's Advice On Web Site Content and Search results

Learn what Google has to say about Web sites that contain little or no original content

There are genuine benefits to updating your site frequently with fresh, original content that has genuine value for your readers.

This is from Google Webmaster

Little or no original content

One of the most important steps in improving your site's ranking in Google search results is to ensure that it contains plenty of rich information that includes relevant keywords, used appropriately, that indicate the subject matter of your content.

However, some webmasters attempt to improve their page's ranking and attract visitors by creating pages with many words but little or no authentic content. Google will take action against domains that try to rank more highly by just showing scraped or other auto-generated pages that don't add any value to users.

Examples include:

Thin affiliate sites: These sites collect pay-per-click (PPC) revenue by sending visitors to the sites of affiliate programs, while providing little or no value-added content or service to the user. These sites usually have no original content and may be cookie-cutter sites or templates with no unique content.

Doorway pages: Pages created just for search engines
Auto-generated content: Content generated programatically. Often this will consist of random paragraphs of text that make no sense to the reader but that may contain search keywords.

Scraped content: Some webmasters make use of content taken from other, more reputable sites on the assumption that increasing the volume of web pages with random, irrelevant content is a good long-term strategy. Purely scraped content, even from high-quality sources, may not provide any added value to your users without additional useful services or content provided by your site. It's worthwhile to take the time to create original content that sets your site apart. This will keep your visitors coming back and will provide useful search results.

There is no problem in being an affiliate as long as you create some added value for your users and produce valuable content that gives a user a reason to visit your site. For example, you could create product reviews, ratings, and product comparisons.

Source: Google Webmaster

Google Reads Flash Text, So Optimize It

Google reads Flash text, so optimize it

by Jeff Muendel

With the recent admission by Matt Cutts to Stephan Spencer that Google is using Adobe Systems' Search Engine SDK technology, a new set of optimization opportunities opened up.

That fairly definite confirmation of how Google reads text within Flash files makes it possible to create Flash .swf files with some level of search engine optimization.

"It used to be the case that we had our own, home-brew code to pull the text out of Flash, but I think that we have moved to the Search Engine SDK tool that Adobe Macromedia offers," Cutts said. "So my hunch is that most of the search engines will standardize on using that Search Engine SDK tool to pull out the text."

This has long been the suspicion of Flash developers and SEO professionals concerned with .swf files, but to my knowledge, this is the most direct and clear confirmation to date. The implication is simple but important: if Web developers--and specifically Flash developers--have the ability to test .swf files during development for textual SEO parameters, then Flash files can be designed to offer specific text to search engines.

While the concept is simple, the practice may not be. Flash is a complicated multimedia program with tremendous flexibility and many layers of content. Also, parent Flash .swf files can load secondary, child .swf files ad nuaseum, and this is a very popular, load time-friendly technique. The path between viable textual content and the "front" of a given Flash presentation can be very intricate.

There ... Read more

For more great advice courtesy of Matt Cutts, I invite you to either read the transcript of my interview with Google's Matt Cutts at Pubcon or you can listen to the Matt Cutts at Pubcon interview podcast (31 minutes, 3.8 MB).

OnTheAvenues

FTC OKs Google's $3 billion purchase of DoubleClick

FTC OKs Google's $3 billion purchase of DoubleClick

WASHINGTON - U.S. antitrust regulators approved Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick Inc. Thursday, removing a key obstacle to a formidable combination in the burgeoning online advertising sector.

The transaction still faces substantial antitrust scrutiny from European regulators and cannot be completed without their approval. The European Commission has set a deadline of April 2 to finish its review.

The Federal Trade Commission appeared to accept many of Google's arguments that its online ad sales business doesn't compete with DoubleClick's ad-serving tools, saying its analysis "showed that the companies are not direct competitors in any relevant antitrust market."

"The FTC's strong support sends a clear message: this acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers," Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, said. "We hope that the European Commission will soon reach the same conclusion."

The deal, announced in April, will combine Google's leading position in online text ads with DoubleClick's ad-serving tools that help publishers place and track display ads.

Microsoft Corp., AT&T Inc. and other critics have argued the transaction would give Google a dominant share of the rapidly growing online advertising market. Google contends its business doesn't overlap with DoubleClick's and as a result a combination won't reduce competition.

Privacy advocates also strongly opposed the deal, saying the combined company will have access to a huge amount of data on individual Web-surfing habits. The FTC said it lacked the legal authority to block the deal on any grounds except on antitrust matters.

However, in an apparent nod to these concerns, the FTC on Thursday proposed a set of privacy guidelines for the online advertising industry, describing them as something that "clearly transcend" the Google-DoubleClick deal. It remains to be seen how such guidelines would be enforced.

Privacy advocates were not assuaged.

The FTC "sidestepped its responsibility today when it approved the merger of two companies whose new, extended data-collection reach will give it unprecedented access to track our every move throughout the digital landscape," Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, said. The CDD and the Electronic Privacy Information Center fought the deal on privacy grounds.

The five-member commission voted 4-1 in favor of the deal. Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour dissented "because I make alternate predictions about where this market is heading, and the transformative role the combined Google/DoubleClick will play if the proposed acquisition is consummated."

Online ad spending is projected to reach $21.4 billion this year, according to research group eMarketer, surpassing the $20.5 billion radio advertising market for the first time. EMarketer expects online ad spending to nearly double to $42 billion in 2011.

The size of the market and Google's bid for DoubleClick has spurred other purchases. Microsoft agreed to pay $6 billion for Seattle-based online advertising firm aQuantive Inc. earlier this year, and Yahoo Inc. bought Internet advertising exchange Right Media Inc. for $680 million in April. London-based advertising giant WPP Group PLC purchased online advertiser 24/7 Real Media for $649 million in May, while Time Warner's AOL bought Tacoda for an undisclosed amount in July.

Shares of Google added $5.88 to $683.25 in morning trading.

Google starts Wikipedia rival Knol

Google starts Wikipedia rival Knol

The web contains an enormous amount of information, and Google has helped to make that information more easily accessible by providing pretty good search facilities. But not everything is written nor is everything well organized to make it easily discoverable. There are millions of people who possess useful knowledge that they would love to share, and there are billions of people who can benefit from it. We believe that many do not share that knowledge today simply because it is not easy enough to do that. The challenge posed to us by Larry, Sergey and Eric was to find a way to help people share their knowledge. This is our main goal.

Earlier this week, we started inviting a selected group of people to try a new, free tool that we are calling "knol", which stands for a unit of knowledge. Our goal is to encourage people who know a particular subject to write an authoritative article about it. The tool is still in development and this is just the first phase of testing. For now, using it is by invitation only. But we wanted to share with everyone the basic premises and goals behind this project.

The key idea behind the knol project is to highlight authors. Books have authors' names right on the cover, news articles have bylines, scientific articles always have authors -- but somehow the web evolved without a strong standard to keep authors names highlighted. We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content. At the heart, a knol is just a web page; we use the word "knol" as the name of the project and as an instance of an article interchangeably. It is well-organized, nicely presented, and has a distinct look and feel, but it is still just a web page. Google will provide easy-to-use tools for writing, editing, and so on, and it will provide free hosting of the content. Writers only need to write; we'll do the rest.

A knol on a particular topic is meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read. The goal is for knols to cover all topics, from scientific concepts, to medical information, from geographical and historical, to entertainment, from product information, to how-to-fix-it instructions. Google will not serve as an editor in any way, and will not bless any content. All editorial responsibilities and control will rest with the authors. We hope that knols will include the opinions and points of view of the authors who will put their reputation on the line. Anyone will be free to write. For many topics, there will likely be competing knols on the same subject. Competition of ideas is a good thing.

Knols will include strong community tools. People will be able to submit comments, questions, edits, additional content, and so on. Anyone will be able to rate a knol or write a review of it. Knols will also include references and links to additional information. At the discretion of the author, a knol may include ads. If an author chooses to include ads, Google will provide the author with substantial revenue share from the proceeds of those ads.

Once testing is completed, participation in knols will be completely open, and we cannot expect that all of them will be of high quality. Our job in Search Quality will be to rank the knols appropriately when they appear in Google search results. We are quite experienced with ranking web pages, and we feel confident that we will be up to the challenge. We are very excited by the potential to substantially increase the dissemination of knowledge.

We do not want to build a walled garden of content; we want to disseminate it as widely as possible. Google will not ask for any exclusivity on any of this content and will make that content available to any other search engine.

As always, a picture is worth a thousands words, so an example of a knol is below (double-click on the image to see the page in full). The main content is real, and we encourage you to read it (you may sleep better afterwards!), but most of the meta-data -- like reviews, ratings, and comments -- are not real, because, of course, this has not been in the public eye as yet. Again, this is a preliminary version.

Source: Google Blog Posted by Udi Manber, VP Engineering

How Google, Yahoo & MSN Pick Your Organic Listing Description

How Google, Yahoo & MSN Pick Your Organic Listing Description

Having high rankings on search engines is a great thing. However, it's also important that your web pages are displayed with an attractive description in the search results. If the description is not appealing to web surfers then they might not click the link.

How do Google, Yahoo and MSN/Live create the descriptions and snippets that are used in the search results?

How Google creates descriptions and snippets

Google seems to use the description from the meta description tag if you search for a page by its URL, or if the searched keywords do not appear within the found page.

If the found web page doesn't have a meta description tag then Google seems to use the sentence that contains the searched keyword as the description.

If a web page is listed in the Open Directory Project (DMOZ.org) then Google might also use the description that is used in the DMOZ directory.

How Yahoo creates descriptions and snippets

Yahoo seems to use only the first part of the meta description which is complemented by a text snippet from the searched page that contains the searched keyword.

If a web page doesn't have a meta description, Yahoo will use the description of the web page from Yahoo's directory (if the page is listed there).

If a web page has no meta description and is not listed in the Yahoo directory, then Yahoo will display sentences from the found web page that contain the searched keywords.

How MSN/Live creates descriptions and snippets

MSN/Live seems to use the first sentence that contains the searched keyword as the description. If the searched keyword does not appear on the page, MSN/Live seems to use the first sentence that appears on the page.

If available, MSN/Live will also use the DMOZ directory description in the results.

What does this mean for your web pages?

If you want to make sure that your web pages are listed with an appealing description in the search results, you should use meta descriptions on your web pages. If you don't want to use the description that is used in the Yahoo directory and on DMOZ.org you should use the corresponding tags that prevent search engines from using these descriptions.

Google Doesn't Like Cloaking

Google Doesn't Like Cloaking

In a recent blog post, Google's anti-spam engineer Matt Cutts wrote about cloaking. The blog post makes several things clear:

Google doesn't like cloaking.
It doesn't matter if a small or a big company uses cloaking.
Websites that use cloaking will be removed from Google's index.
Google will detect all cloaking attempts sooner or later.
What is cloaking?

Cloaking is a search engine optimization technique in which the web page content presented to search engine spiders is different from that presented to the normal web surfers.

This is done by delivering web page content based on the IP address or the User-Agent of the user requesting the page.

When a user is identified as a search engine spider, a script on the server delivers a different version of the web page. The purpose of cloaking is to deceive search engines.

All major search engines consider cloaking to be a violation of their guidelines. For that reason, websites that use cloaking will be banned from the search results.

Google's opinion on "undetectable" cloaking

In his recent blog post, Google's Matt Cutts commented on a Danish company that offered 'undetectable' cloaking to its customers.

Google tried to check if this claim was true and they quickly found a website that used the services of the company. It turned out that their cloaking wasn't undetectable at all:

"If someone is trying to manipulate Google by deceptive cloaking, it means that a webserver is returning different content to Googlebot than to users.

That’s a condition that can be checked for by algorithms or manually, and such cloaking is certainly not 'undetectable.'"

Don't risk your search engine rankings

You might get short term results with shady SEO techniques such as cloaking but it is very likely that your site will be banned from search engines if you use them. You'll put your web business at severe risk if you use black-hat SEO methods.

If you want to get lasting results, better use ethical search engine optimization techniques.

It's not a good idea to trick search engines. They will discover this sooner or later. If you want to know how to get high search engine rankings without offending search engines, take a look at OnTheAvenues.

What are gadgets powered by Google

What are gadgets powered by Google

Gadgets powered by Google are miniature objects made by Google users like you that offer cool and dynamic content that can be placed on any page on the web. Google Gadgets can now run on Apple's Dashboard as a native Dashboard Widget. Now you can have the same Google Gadget on your iGoogle page and Google Desktop Sidebar as well as in your Apple Dashboard. From a developer's standpoint, now if you make a Google Gadget, that gadget can work easily on a Mac, without any extra code.

Gadgets might come in handy when you're at work (to-do list, currency converter, calendar), at school (calculator, Wikipedia, translation tool), or just passing time (news, blogs, games). You can add gadgets you like to your Google personalized homepage and, if you have Google Desktop installed, you can also add gadgets to your computer's desktop.

Add Google Gadgets to your webpageYou can now use Google Gadgets to make your webpages even more interesting and useful to your visitors. For instance, you can add your city’s current temperature or a quote of the day to your own page. Just pick the gadget you want from our directory of “Google Gadgets for your webpage,” customize that gadget, and copy-and-paste the HTML into your page's source code. Then, reload to see the gadget on your page.

Find gadgets for your webpage.

Make your own Google GadgetsGoogle Gadgets can be a great way to present information you care about to web surfers everywhere. People can add your gadget to their personalized homepages or to their other pages across the web (which countless other web surfers can then see).

Gadgets can be quick and simple, like the countdown gadget, or complex and professional, like the Entertainment Weekly gadget. And creating a gadget is easy — anyone with even a little experience with web design or programming can do it. Learn more.

Google Changing the Way it Ranks Sites

Google Changing the Way it Ranks Sites

For the past six or seven years, one of the most dominant factors in determining page or document placement has been an evaluation of incoming links. Google pioneered the method, known as Pagerank, in its original algorithm and has refined it ever since. The recent flap over Pagerank revaluations might provide SEOs a broader hint at changes happening behind the scenes at Google and other major search engines. While unintended, Google might be signaling a step away from Pagerank as a primary means of recommendation and valuation.

A shift away from link based scoring methods would be an enormous step for Google to make however, looking at the evolution of the Internet, it is a logical step to make. Information transmitted over the Internet is changing rapidly as are user-habits. While it will continue to be a primarily text based medium, today’s Internet infrastructure allows easier access to a multiplicity of file types and formats, many of which are not conducive to the link-loving Google grew up on.

Predictably, user-habits are changing as rapidly as improved technology or interactivity allows them to. Perhaps the most prescient example is the social network revolution currently being fronted by Facebook and MySpace. Internet users are beginning to use their social networks as web-portals, the same way they once used Google and Yahoo!. Social networks are all about linkage however many if not most links found within social networks are useless from a search ranking perspective.

Two Google patents particularly pertaining to the relevance of location are Shared Geo-Located Objects and Ranking and Clustering of Geo-Located Objects. Both outline how Google uses information drawn from various sources, including files shared amongst Google Earth users, to figure out which documents might be most relevant to unique users. These scoring methods demonstrate a movement away from algorithmic assumptions made through link-analysis, placing greater weight on objective comment from users.

Another patent, Identification of Semantic Units From Within a Search Query shows how Google is paying more attention to the intent of its users than it did the intent of site designers or search marketers. By tracking and matching similar keyword searches, Google is trying to anticipate the information needs of its users over the recommendations of web designers and search marketers as expressed in placed links.

Google’s movement away from link-based SERPs can also be seen in its graphic interface and in the result-sets returned to searchers. Over the past year, Google has experimented with several means of delivering information and search results to its users. Far from the basic blank face Google has long displayed, users are now searching Google interfaces that resemble news and information portals. The iGoogle homepage is the most stark example. Attempts at the personalization and “Univesalization” SERPs two others.

Google and the other major search engines are bringing more information into search results from a wider variety of sources. As those results begin to better reflect what each individual searcher is seeking, the means and methods of ranking those results are shifting.

SEOs should be looking for ways to vastly improve each document they work on from a user experience perspective. Knowing Google tracks the movements of search-users from query to completion, SEOs should think about how Google perceives the paths taken by each site-visitor as they extract information from any given document. Links will continue to provide pathways for search spiders to pursue however the enormous weight applied to links is likely to wane in importance over the coming months.

Source: Jim Hedger has written a widely read search marketing column for over five years. Co-host of Webcology on WebmasterRadio.FM, Jim is a writer and SEO consultant with Metamend Search Engine Marketing in Victoria BC.View all articles by Jim Hedger

Google Releases Video Filtering System

Google Releases Video Filtering System

Google released a long-promised video filtering system Monday that is designed to give owners of copyrighted videos more control over whether their material appears on YouTube.
As YouTube's popularity has soared, large media companies have grown increasingly frustrated by the prevalence of pirated content on the video-sharing site. Last March, Viacom, which owns MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, sued Google, which owns YouTube, for massive copyright infringement and demanded $1 billion in damages.

Zahavah Levine, chief counsel at YouTube, said the new system shows that Google has been operating in good faith. For months, Google has responded to complaints by media companies that it is working to create state-of-the-art technology to filter copyrighted videos.

Media companies have argued that existing technologies were already working to filter out pirated content on other video-sharing sites.

In response to the release of the new Google system, Michael Fricklas, general counsel of Viacom, said in a statement, "We're delighted that Google appears to be stepping up to its responsibility and ending the practice of profiting from infringement."

Google had been using technology provided by Audible Magic of Los Gatos to identify copyrighted music. David King, a product manager at YouTube, said the new system goes far beyond that and matches the content of videos.

King said it is "extremely complex" and took a long time to develop. He said

engineers attempting to describe the system created a power point presentation containing 50 pages of differential equations.
Dubbed "YouTube Video ID," the system creates an abstract image of copyrighted videos and compares that to similar images that are extracted from videos uploaded to YouTube.

While the filtering system began operating in test mode on Monday, the average YouTube user is unlikely to notice anything different - at least in the near future.

That is because Google needs copyright owners to submit copies of their material to the Google database. "We need their cooperation," he said.

Levine said without a copy of the content, "We don't know who owns what."

But it is unclear whether copyright owners will be willing to turn over decades of programming to Google. Google said nine media companies, including Disney and Time Warner, participated in an initial 10-day test.

The companies were not available for comment on Monday.

Copyright owners who give Google copies their content will have the choice of blocking content if it is uploaded without their consent or choosing to leave it on YouTube for promotional purposes. In that case, they will have the opportunity to make money from advertising provided by Google

Source Mercury News

What You Can Do To Get High Rankings On Google If You Have A Brand New Website

What You Can Do To Get High Rankings On Google If You Have A Brand New Website

It's easier to get high rankings on Google with older websites than it is with new websites. Why is this so and what can you do to get high rankings on Google if you have a brand new website?

Why is it easier to get high rankings with older websites?

Brand new domain names are often used by spammers to make a quick buck. These spammers buy hundreds of domains, fill them with automatically created scraper content and hope to make some money with the ads that appear on these sites.

In addition, some webmasters use new domains to test new search engine spamming techniques.

As it is difficult for Google to find out whether a new domain can be trusted or not, Google invented a set of filters that downranks new websites until Google thinks that they can be trusted.

What can you do to overcome Google's filters for new websites?

It's very difficult to get high rankings before Google trusts your website. For that reason, do things that make your website trustworthy:

Start with the right keywords

It's not possible to get a top 10 ranking for highly competitive general search term such as "cars" for a new website. However, it is possible to get high rankings for terms such as "used car dealer atlanta".

It's not just easier to get high rankings for more specific search terms, these terms are also much more likely to convert to sales. Take some time to find the right keywords for your site.

Get links to your website

It is not possible to get high rankings on Google without good incoming links. Try to get as many links from related websites as possible. If the right websites link to your site then Google will trust your website more quickly.

Optimize your web pages

While more links to your website greatly increase your chance of getting high search engine rankings, you must also tell search engines for which search terms you want to have high rankings. Optimize the content of your web pages to make sure that Google lists your website for the right search terms.

Search engines should be able to parse the content of your web pages easily. Consider this when creating a new website from scratch.

Wait

A website that has been online for several years is much less likely to game Google's ranking algorithms than newer sites. For that reason, your Google rankings will also increase just by waiting (given that you followed the steps 1 to 3).

If you do it correctly, getting high search engine rankings for brand new websites is possible. It's important that you do the right things in the right order.

A PR Release Can Get You Fast Exposure On Google and Yahoo

A PR Release Can Get You Fast Exposure On Google and Yahoo

Did you know that you can actually get exposure in Google and Yahoo newsfeeds within just 48 hours? Not only can you get your story published quickly but depending on how good your story is, you may actually get published by hundreds of other media outlets.

All of your SEO skills apply to working with news too!

Think about the impact of your link reputation here if it is linking back to you from hundreds of publications.

Will you be penalized for duplicate content?
Absolutely not, because news is 100% white hat. Search engines understand that news is meant to be syndicated across the Web.

Consider trying the services of http://www.prweb.com/