Google is beta testing a new feature within Google search console that will automatically remove a manual action on the site, once it has detected the hacked content has been removed from the site. In a new blog post today Google has said that in 2015 so far they have noticed a 180% increase in […]
Google Analytics Changes to Hourly Default View for Behavior Data
Google Analytics has made a new default change that details hourly page views when viewing a single day’s Analytics data in the behavior tab. Until now, Google’s default view from the behavior page is the “Day” option, although the option to view hourly has been available. Now, it defaults to the “Hourly” option, but only […]
Google AdWords Advertisers Win Appeal in Class Certification Case
A group of Google AdWords advertisers have won an appeal that would allow them to sue Google as a group. The previous court had denied the group class certification based on their claims. The appeal case is Pulaski & Middleman LLC v. Google Inc. The group argues that between the July 2004 and March 2008 […]
Google Loses Appeal; Must Remove Right to Be Forgotten Worldwide
Google has lost the appeal in France that requires the search engine to remove “Right to be Forgotten” removed results from all versions of Google – including Google.com – instead of just the Google results in the EU. Earlier this year, the CNIL (Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés) ordered Google to start applying […]
Spammers Hit Chilling Effects with Bogus Google DMCA Requests
TorrentFreak has discovered a huge amount of spam being hosted on Chilling Effects, in the form of bogus DMCA requests the site has published. And these requests all include huge descriptions filled with spam URLs of everything from viagra to designer handbags. Here is a typical example: The description looks like something you’d typically see […]
Google Taking Further Action for Abusing Reconsideration Requests
Google has a new blog post today, announcing that webmasters that repeatedly violate the Google webmaster guidelines could see their sites on the receiving end of “further action” being taken on the site. It isn’t uncommon for many SEOs to see sites pop up and down in the search results, and often the reason is […]
Twitter Moving t.co URL Shortener to HTTPS
Twitter announced in their developer forums that they plan to move their URL shortener t.co to HTTPS. Twitter is making the change to ensure the links are delivered securely to their users. It was an unsecure loophole that Twitter itself was HTTPS, but even if a link was clicked on that had a destination of […]
Google Sues Local Lighthouse for Impersonating Google in Robocalls
If you have ever been on the receiving end of one of Local Lighthouse robocalls claiming to be Google, you will be happy to know that Google has filed a lawsuit against the company for their business practices and particularly their marketing technique of referring to themselves as Google. Google posted about the problem on […]
Yelp Adds New Active Cleanup Alerts for Local Businesses in the News
If you happened to look at the Facebook page of River Bluff Dental – aka the dental office owned by Cecil the Lion’s killer – you would have spotted a ton of one star reviews that were not reviews for the business itself, but rather thousands of people expressing outrage about the dentist and his […]
Google No Longer Displaying 7-Packs for Local Results in Tablets
Last month, Google was still displaying the old local 7-pack to searchers who were searching from a tablet. But not any longer. Now doing a local search on a tablet device will trigger the same 3-pack that matches what we see in both mobile and desktop results. The 7-packs are no longer being shown at […]