The court in Japan ordered Google to remove two negative customer reviews from Google Maps that were left anonymously on a location of a medical clinic. According to TechCrunch, Google is “considering our options”, so it is likely we could see an appeal. But it is unknown if the two reviews have been removed already. […]
Archives for 2015
Google Now Autocompletes Popular Brands for Non-Brand Searches
Google auto suggest to them going through some significant changes recently. The latest is Google is now auto suggesting brand names when you do a generic search – even if that brand name does not have a single one of the search keywords in it. Rand Fishkin of Moz was the first to notice the […]
No Need for Separate Mobile Sitemap Unless Designed for Feature Phones
When you have finished making your site mobile friendly, do you need to submit a mobile sitemap as well? In the Google Webmaster Help forum, the question was raised about mobile sitemaps, if a separate mobile sitemap is required once a site is made mobile friendly or if they should just duplicate the regular sitemap […]
Amazon Sues Companies Selling Fake Product Reviews
Amazon is fighting back against companies that sell fake product reviews for products on their site. Amazon has sued Jay Gentile, who runs the website buyazonreviews.com. They are also going after the unknown owners of buyamazonreviews.com, bayreviews.net and buyreviewsnow.com, according to GeekWire. “While small in number, these reviews threaten to undermine the trust that customers, […]
Google’s Mobile Friendly Algo Will Only Affect the “Ten Blue Links” & Not In the News, In-Depth Etc.
At BrightonSEO today, Gary Illyes revealed that local pack results are not affected by the new mobile friendly ranking algorithm that is due to arrive on April 21st, which makes perfect sense. Then Gary replied to me and tweeted this: @jenstar yep, just the "10 blue links" are, but of course teams who own the […]
Duplicate Content Will Not Trigger a Penalty… With One Exception
At SMX West, Gary Illyes talked about how duplicate content is not a penalty, it is merely a filter. In today’s Google Webmaster Office Hours Hangout, John was asked a question about duplicate content and whether it could trigger an algorithmic penalty or lower your rankings. Essentially, he said that Google will just pick one […]
New GWT Search Analytics Has a Release Date… But It’s Still Secret
Everyone is waiting for the new update of Google Webmaster Tools when the new Search Analytics is added… but no one knows yet when it will go live for all users. We do know they were still adding testers as of the end of March. John Mueller was asked today about the release date, and […]
Page Speed is Not a Factor in the New Mobile Friendly Ranking Signal
At Brighton SEO today, Gary Illyes, a Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, was talking about mobile and the upcoming mobile friendly ranking signal which will come into play on April 21st. Many SEOs have been emphasizing page speed rather aggressively when it comes to ensuring sites are mobile friendly before the 21st. At SMX West earlier […]
Google’s Mobile Friendly Ranking Signal Will Not Affect Local Pack Listings
Gary Illyes, a Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, was speaking at Brighton SEO today, discussing the upcoming mobile friendly ranking signal that will be starting on April 21st. And he had some interesting things to say about local businesses at their pack listings. According to Illyes, if a local business is appearing in the Google Pack […]
Yahoo Removes “Powered by Bing” From Some Mobile Search Results
Business Insider is reporting that some users searching on Yahoo from mobile devices are seeing the “Powered by Bing” removed from the footer of the search results page. The screenshots show a redesigned look to the search results, looking far different from how they appear to most users today. Could this signal something significant to […]