Tag Archives: google

Are your websites optimized for Google’s Universal Search?

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Google is changing the way we all view search.  Back in May, it introduced a “Universal Search” system that  blends listings from its news, video, images, local and book search engines among those it gathers from crawling web pages.

The move potentially should be a huge boon for searchers, while search marketers who have paid attention to the importance of specialized or vertical search will see new opportunities.

But it has now become more imperative to include video, images, news articles and other content that search engines will want to crawl. Because of this search engine marketers are going to now add this to the mix of “things to do” in order to rank well in Google’s SERPS.

Where this is all going is towards a more vertical type of search result. By being more vertical, the result is more targeted.  The end result is a blend of everything in one column, hence better and more relevance.

Because of this change in a more targeted approach to search results, it means that you as a web afficionado, better have more quality content on your site. The better your content, the more of it that which will be pushed up. By better I mean variety as well.

Google’s ultimate vision for universal search is to search across all its content sources, then comapre and rank all the information in real time, and then deliver a single integrated set of precise and personalized search results.

So when designing a page, or a site, as your goal once was to be in the top 3 on the first page, it’s now important to be on the first page. Why? Because you are now competing with images, videos, blogs, and new results in the organic listings. So the more eye catching your graphics are that appear in the results on the first page, the better your chance of being clicked on, even if your not in the top 3. So the more diverse your site is in it’s approach to content, the better your chances.

So how prepared are you?

Google Phone, fact from fiction.

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Here are the Google phone facts: 

According to the WSJ, Google will unveil its long-anticipated plan to bring its software to cell phones within the next two weeks. The “Google-powered” phones are expected to make it to market by mid-2008. The ad-supported phone will have services bundling Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail, the operating system would be open to developers to build additional features.

Google executives have complained that carriers have locked up the market and stifled innovation in the U.S. telephony market. They may bid on 700MHz wireless spectrum, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said last week.

Here are the Google phone rumors and speculation:

Unlike Apple’s iPhone, the Gphone probably won’t be an actual hardware device. Instead, it’s more likely to be a bundle of software and supporting infrastructure that allows a phone manufactured by someone else to access Google services, experts say.

Google will probably partner with France Telecom’s mobile-telephony division Orange and KDDI in Japan, says Stephen Arnold, author of The Google Legacy and a new book, Google Version 2.0: The Calculating Predator. Arnold has researched Google’s patents and found more than a dozen that relate to mobile telephony.

“There is going to be a Google phone as a reference device, probably more than one,” Arnold told CNET News.com. “They will hook into the Googleplex to deliver functionality that ranges from ‘search without search’ (information that anticipates what someone may be looking for), to mapping and calendar services. Google is positioned to move different ways in response to market behavior.”

 

UBS analyst Arthur Hsieh believes that Taiwanese handset maker HTC will ship 50,000 or so handsets by year’s end to developers with the Gphone operating system, according to a recent research note. That’s a sliver of the nearly 1.4 million iPhones that have been sold so far, of course, but it’s a start.

It’s likely the Gphone will be advertising-supported given that the company has filed a patent application for advertising-supported telephony, Arnold said. Not only has Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt expressed interest in the notion of subsidizing the cost of phones with advertising, but the company offers ads on its mobile applications today, said Greg Sterling, principal at Sterling Market Intelligence.

Look for applications like “search, mapping, communications like Google Talk instant messaging,” with ads, said Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research. “That’s their business model, selling ads.”

Don’t expect a fancy touch-screen interface that would compete with Google partner Apple’s iPhone and drive up the cost of the Gphone, experts said. Google may try to do a better version of the Windows Mobile device, only cheaper. If the iPhone is a Lexus, the Gphone will probably be a Honda, particularly if it’s supported by advertising.

Offering a low-cost or subsidized device would also fit in with the company’s strategy to leapfrog with wireless technology in emerging markets, analysts said. “There are going to be a billion or more mobile-phone subscribers in the next few years, and these are people who not only have never used a mobile phone before, but also have never used the Internet before,” Golvin said. “Their first experience of the Internet is likely to be on a mobile phone, not a PC.”

“I tend to feel it will be an operating system and they’ll partner with a handset company,” said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land. “There will be a Google phone. It will be mini-computer-like, the same way that the Windows Mobile Device is.”

Is it possible to One-Up Google?

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If so, who is willing to do it? Will they try to do it within Googles search space, or one of their lesser active business units? How much stock do you put into apps created by Google that have zero to do with search? Does Orkut have a chance? 

What do you think Google should be doing right now? If you were them, who would you be worried about? Should Google be doing something philanthropic with all that cash? Come on people, I know you have an opinion about Google!

The Most Frequent Searches On The Web

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The world’s most frequent searchers for Web sites using the keyword “sex” on Google search engines, according to statistics provided by Google are Egypt, India and Turkey.  And you thought all the pervs were here? The term “Jihad”–Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan. That’s right people in those countries just “want” to learn what the word means. Nothing more…errr. right! Taking it to the next level are the party nations of Ireland, The US and The UK who all need information on the term”Hangover”.  I wonder if the term “remedy” was inadvertently omitted.

Worried about your sexual performance? People in Italy, The United Kingdom,  and Germany were the most prolific when it came to searching for the term “Viagra”. I’m not really sure why they just didn’t check their email.

And lastly, for those who of course don’t inhale, “Marijuana” was searched on the most in Canada, The United States,  and Australia.

If Google was built with Google in mind…

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Here is a great link to show you what Google would look like, if the pages were optimized so that the Google index page could rank high in, well Google!  Let’s  optimize Google

Search Engines Suck

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Suck.. what you ask? or How? or Why?  My first thought was, How ’bout all of your cash if your trying to attract business and you have no clue what you’re doing in PPC land? Or how about just search results in general?  Or what about search engine algorithms? Why do they all have to keep changing them? I think that sucks. When they change them, the ripple effect is felt everywhere. Or better yet, whatever happened to finding exactly what you were looking for without bumping into 10 advertisers that were ranked right in front of the result your were looking for? I’d say that would be pretty sucky and a big waste of time!  

Or how about  how easy it is to find images that are not suitable for children? Why do we need an image search? Why does that need to be a part of a search engines capabilities. I think it sucks that I have to explain that to a child.  I’m a big champion of what a child should and should not see or find online, but filters, notwithstanding, The search engines are obligated to do a better job. 

I also think it sucks that  internet marketers are so tethered to the results of search engines. So much so, that it can make or break a deal, a company, a product and an industry. 

You know what else sucks about search engines? I need them. But they need me. They need us. We are the engine, not them. What would happen if we boycotted the search engines? We could have a national boycott the SE’s day. Would work cease? Would time stop? Would we have to revert back to fax machines and yellow legal pads? No, No, No and NO.

Think about it. What we would all do is type in the URL of whatever it was we were looking for and thus the importance of keywords in the title of the domain would skyrocket and supurfulous named sites would either be ingrained forever in our minds and thus we would continue to visit them; and others, alas would disappear. So cars.com, shoes.com, planes.com, these would all have more signifigance. In fact now that I think of it, these all could be Niche-y search engines about that specific item!!! 

Wait a minute, I just said Seach Engines suck. Ok, forget about it. I’ve changed my mind. Is niche-y a word?  Lastly,  speaking of Niche-y. I heard this the other day, “Nietzsche is Peachy but Sartre is Smarter”!

So tell me, what do you think of search engines are they the big brother of the 21st century?

Google Valuation. Where will it be in one year?

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Google stock closed over 6 bills the other day and you’re probably sitting here thinking, “Why didn’t I get in on the IPO?” Well chances are, you probably thought that $85 a share was too much for your blood back in 04. I think it’s safe to say that Google stock is not for the faint of heart. The shares trade at 28 times 2008 earnings estimates. But it would be unfair to suggest that Google is absurdly expensive given its strong track record of growth during the past few years.

In addition, analysts expect Google’s earnings to increase by 44 percent this year, 28 percent in 2008 and at an average clip of about 34 percent a year for the next five years. That’s a much higher projected growth rate than Yahoo – yet Yahoo trades at 46 times 2008 earnings forecasts.

So the question is, how high can it go? If we look historically at stock prices, the price for one Class A share of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) briefly topped $100,000,  SunWest Bank is trading at $2,475 and First National Bank of Alaska is trading at $2,010. So as you can see, Banks not withstanding, there is plenty of room there for Google to grow.

Should you get in now? The answer is yes. Should you borrow to get in? Why not? The stock won’t be backing up. I can’t see Google imploding anytime soon. I can’t see Microsoft or Larry Ellison positioning themselves for a hostile takeover. In fact the only thing that seems logical is to quit kicking yourself for not getting in sooner. Although as a fall back Yahoo doesn’t look to bad either. Personally I think by the end of 2008, Google will be trading at over $700. What do you think it will be at? If you think there was buzz for the iphone, watch what happens when the Gphone comes out!

It’s not about Google, It’s Yahoo… Sorry MySpace..

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Raise your hand if you use or access all three of the aformentioned.  Ok, I know we all use Google for something, and we all probably have a Yahoo mail account for some reason, and well MySpace… It’s something all together different, But I bet you have vistied a couple of MySpace pages. Hell, you might even have a MySpace page! If so…My bad..

 You see the first 2 sites have a specific purpose whereas MySpace is more “me-time” oriented.  The simple fact that we talk about MySpace in the same breath as a Yahoo mail or Google, is in and of itself an amazing phenomenon. Given it’s realtively short history.

As a social network app., MySpace doesn’t appeal to me that much. The technology that surrounds it does, but thats because I’m sorta “tech-y-geeky”. But we need to look at the demographic for MySpace to fully understand the impact of it. It’s geared towards 18-24 year olds, but it extends in either direction as well. i.e. 50 year olds use it and so do 15 year olds. But what it tells you, is that people are starved for self expression. Starved to meet someone or with the hopes that someone wants to meet them. They should call MySpace a Viral network thats connected by social norms. MyViralSpace.

I heard a comment last night on 60 minutes, that the internet is a  direct reflection of society. I always knew it, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it is so true.  We want to meet other people, we want to be with those people and we want to be rich and we are motivated by things that will pleasure us and we dont want to work for our money, we want to slack off and and we want to have fun. All of the motivators of our off line world transposed online. As if our lives our now 2-D. the online life and the offline. See–>Second Life.

So Yahoo seems to cover it best. Just compare the Google interface with Yahoo. Yahoo is a portal, Google is not. Google is search, Yahoo is more like the place you stop to get your coffee, grab the paper, talk to someone real quick, read your mail, pay a bill, check a score and find out who is sleeping with who before you head to work or start work. Google is for checking for George Clooney’s house pics in Italy, seeing if your old college roomate is in jail, and researching for jobs in a bigger city than the one your currently in. Google is a tool. Yahoo is a resource and MySpace is a nightclub. MySpace is where people go to cruise for others and share their sense of wannabe coolness.

Can all three exist? You betcha, but where they all will stumble is when they think they can  do something that the other is doing, and do it better. Google as a portal? Maybe. Google as a social network, no chance in hell. Yahoo as search, holding their own, Yahoo Mash? The jury is still out. MySpace as a search tool, uhhhhh no. MySpace as a portal, well it sorta is, but not in the literal sense.

Ultimately, as they say content is king and thus Yahoo has prevailed up to this point because the content changes daily, hourly etc. MySpace may have some value in it’s ability to mine the data, but as a destination location, not gonna happen. And Google, well Google is as Google was. The bottom line, they all serve an audience that wont’ be going away anytime soon. At least for the next 12 months

If Google went away, would you care?

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How would Google impact your life if by happenstance, they just,”went away”? As a casual user of the web, I would think that you wouldn’t miss a beat, you’d just migrate over to Yahoo or MSN or one of the hundreds or thousands of other second tier search engines out there. Would your results suck? Would they be tainted by gross inacurracies? I’m sorry to say, and it probably pains Google to hear this (not really) but the answer is more than likely, no and no.

You see, the other search engines are not that bad, in fact Ask.com for instance, is really really good. But when you are trying to compete against this Goliath of a company, you’re little pebbles will have no noticeable effect or impact, no matter how cool and powerful.

I imagine that if Google went away, their 10,674 employees would have to find new jobs doing something that we have no clue about. Since they are so secretive anyways… Then there are the tens of thousands of people that make money on Adsense. What would they do? Arghhhh!!!! Get real jobs?  I suppose they might go back to that fine affiliate marketing model that was and is still so annoying. Here’s a thought. Maybe the CTR on banners would go north of 1% if Google went away?

SEO and SEM professionals would naturally just shift their attention in the forums and their blogs to bitching about Yahoo and MSN’s “Algo” and why it’s so unfair, and why they never get back to you, and why they never give you a straight answer, and why you need to do it “this way”.  They also would be lost without having a Google toolbar that gave them their PR’s; Oh and Matt Cutts, the Google Guru, would probably be an authority on something, but it just won’t be in search.

Would there be less web sites if Google wasn’t around? What would be the ideal business model for making money on the web? Yahoo would own PPC outright at this point so what would they do differently if Google wasn’t around?

Would MSN be even more formidable if Google wasn’t around? Since Google has come on the scene, casual water cooler talk has shifted from, “I wonder what Microsoft will release next”? to “Did you see where Google’s stock is at”?

Are we better off socially because Google is so entrenched into our daily lives? Do they make us better at what we do? Do they solve nagging problems that previously existed before they came on the scene? Do they have our best interests at heart? Does Google care about you and I?

What do you think life would be like without Google? Does Google impact your life?

Google Envy

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 GE…  Google Envy. We all have it. Even if you don’t admit it because you are above that, deep down you know you have it.

In contemporary times, GE is the term used metaphorically to refer to the idea that we all wish  we worked for Google, had Google stock. or were bought by Google. In more subtler terms it refers to the anxieties we as marketers and site owners and SEO folks feel about our impact in Google’s search engine.

Think about our world and how Google has managed to work its  way into our lexicon.   Lik Pez, Google is a proper noun.  Pez is a candy and Google is…. Google. But where they differ is that I can’t “Pez you” but I can “Google you”.  You know this conversation happens a half million times a day… “Hey I Googled Thomas/Cynthia last night, and you won’t believe what I found!”

So alas, Pez is not a verb and Google has become one. How many companies can become a verb? Not Microsoft, Nike, Coke, McDonalds, Toyota, NBC, Rolling Stone, The Rolling Stones, Yahoo, The NFL, The NBA, Nintendo, Sony, The World Cup, The Olympics, Not even…. Microsoft-cue the reveal music.

I wonder if Microsoft has Google envy? I used to have Microsoft envy. In fact right after the bubble burst in my dot com world, I still had Microsoft envy. I wanted Microsoft to buy my company. Didn’t they buy anything that was cool and had a pulse back then? They were the big dog and I think we all worked for small start-ups with the hope that Microsoft would notice us and decide to buy us. It’s at this juncture that we should bring in Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes.

Andy: “Do you ever wonder if Microsoft has GE? or Google Envy? I bet they do. I know I do. I think we all have Google Envy. Even my dog has Google Envy.

As a world that now uses technology in every day life in every way possible, we now measure things by our ability to search for them on Google. It’s almost as if it’s the great judge of legitimacy. However, from the perspective of the marketer and the SEO’r, it’s also the gold standard by which one is measured. If you rank #1 in Google, then you must be good. Because Google said so. 

So it just goes without saying that Yahoo and MSN, the other 2 search engine’s, should have major GE. They fight over the scraps of what is left in Google’s vapor trail. And like it.  I envision Shaq going up against Herbie the wannabe dentist destined for Misfit Island, and The Keebler Elf. All fighting over the gold and girl, and it really not being much of a fight. It’s just not fair. But I like Shaq, he’s a likeable guy. I even think Herbie and the Keebler Elf are cool, but in the end, you know they wish they could trade places with the big man. Even if they don’t admit it.