Archive for February, 2012
Search Ads tested by Blekko
According to Media Post, Startup search engine Blekko has started to test ads on it’s site. Blekko does not have a direct relationship with large brands but it’s working with them through feeds from Google and Bing.
For startups like Blekko,both Google and Bing have an inventory which enables them to use their advertisers through search feed. It’s just in the test phase and majority of the searches on Blekko will not be showing any ads and it’s highly unlikely you will see PPC ads.
Rich Skrenta,Blekko founder and CEO told “Searches are linked to slashtags that help to curate content and they are still ironing out the links”
Search Traffic is worth between $50 and $100 and he belives that when someone types keywords into a box the intent increases.Blekko is backed by Russian search engine Yandex, as well as venture capitalists PivotNorth Capital, SV Angel and Marc Andreessen.
Health Search feature added by Google
A new feature health search results have been added to Google. Google will now list possibly related health conditions when searched for a symptom or multiple symptoms of an illness.
In it’s official blog,Google had announced the feature and also shown with an example [abdominal pain on my right side] to show how it will work. The results which appear over Google’s organic results are algorithimically generated and not written by doctors or medical experts.
A lot of people have started using the search engines for getting answers on medical questions. Out of 10 Internet users,eight people look for health related information online making it the third most popular activity.
The question which will arise is whether Google’s new suggestion will help people in need or just misguide them in a wrong direction. Your comments are invited about Google’s new search feature
Google pays people to use Screenwise
Screenwise, a new product from Google is paying the web users to make Google better.You need to search the web using Google web browser and share the data with Google.
The users need to install a black router on their home network to measure the internet usage.The black router acts as a screenwise data collector.People who will install this router will earn $100 for joining and $20 for each month of participation.
The project starts on March 1st and it is on the same day Google’s new privacy policy goes into effect. Google has created this program to learn how everyday people use the internet.You need to be atleast 13 years old,have a Google account and use Chrome web browser.
“As a panelist, you’ll add a browser extension that will share with Google the sites you visit and how you use them. What we learn from you, and others like you, will help us improve Google products and services and make a better online experience for everyone,” according to the website.
Google will be offering you a $5 amazon gift card to install the browser extension as an incentive for signing up. An additional $5 Amazon gift card will be offered every 3 months if particiapnts continue to participate in the Screenwise program.
Even though Amazon is not involved in the Screenwise program,Google has made it clear that they will be receiving Amazon gift cards.Knowledge Networks,an online research firm is the panel management partner for conducting analysis.
Google spokesperson said “Like many other web and media companies, we do panel research to help better serve our users by learning more about people’s media use, on the web and elsewhere,” according to a Google spokesperson.” People can stay long as they like and can leave at any time.
Google Panda Update Confirmed
The reports of a Panda update by Google has been confirmed and it may rolled out anytime this week. Google has also told that there won’t be any algorithm changes and the update is just a data refresh of Google Panda algorithm.
A lot of webmasters have commented about the loss in rankings and many sites regained their traffic to Pre Panda level.
Google Panda 3.2
A lot of people may ask why 3.2 and not 2.x?One of the Googler told that “one of the 2.x updates was labeled as “minor” update and should have likely named as major update”. The updates are not numbered by Google so it is not easy to keep track of the updates.
The current “data fresh” update is just a minor update so this update is referred as 3.2 update. The last update was done during November and there was a long gap between two updates because Google said there would not be any updates during holidays.