Being a full-time SEM (Search Engine Marketer) I have been conditioned like Pavlov’s dog (not a pretty picture) to jump every time Google twitches. Lately Google has been doing a lot of twitching.

Specifically, the rather startling news from Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa that Google has ditched PageRank from Webmaster Tools.

“We’ve been telling people for a long time that they shouldn’t focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it’s the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true,” states Moskwa. “We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it.” (Source: WebProNews)

Now, for SEO reasons or for ranking in Google’s index, PageRank has long been eunuchified by Google. However, even missing a few dangling bits, history has shown us, eunuchs still wheel tremendous power. PageRank is no different.

Regardless of what Google wants to happen, PageRank is still extremely important to anyone marketing on the web, especially if you’re selling SEO services or operating a web business. Try selling SEO services when that little green bar on your site is pointing to PR0 or worst yet, pointing to a solid gray bar.

Obtaining a high PR7 or PR8 simply means more business and revenues… regardless of how Google is or is not using PageRank. People know how to count and they learned long ago, a ten is a lot more than a big fat zero.

Placed against a PR1 site, a PR8 will win more respect in the eyes of potential clients and can produce enormous profíts for the site owner and we won’t even mention the still widely practiced habit of selling links, which Google is desperately trying to stop. Total and full elimination of PageRank would be an honest start, but it will still be an uphill, if not an unwinnable battle, for Google to fully eliminate link selling.

Even with my modest sites, I have turned down a small fortune by not selling text links on any of my sites. When I had a PR6 site instead of a PR4 – those link requests were nearly doubled. So one can easily understand Google’s position and the need to downplay PageRank, if they want to put even a small dent in all this link selling and buying, which is still running rampant on today’s web.

PageRank is Google’s creation, and unless they drop it fully from their system and the Google toolbar, then PageRank still Counts. Actually, in the whole scheme of marketing your website on the net, PageRank counts big time. And in more ways than one.

There are several reasons why you shouldn’t count PageRank out.

For years Google has been downplaying the importance of PageRank and states it’s only one of about 200 ranking factors which determine how Google ranks its index for keywords. Obtaining top organic rankings for popular lucrative keywords in Google simply means money in the bank. Actually, even a movement of only one or two places on those first page SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) can make a major difference to any online marketer’s bottom line.

Now while you can have a lower PR number and still rank above other higher PR pages for your chosen keywords, I have even had many times when my PR drops but my actual SERPs rankings in Google goes up, mainly due to building related relevant backlinks. So PageRank counts little towards your keyword rankings, but it can’t be totally dismissed.

Mainly because, even if PR is just one ranking factor, in close competitive keyword battles (I am presently fighting tooth and nail for some very choice keywords) just one ranking factor such as high PR can make the difference of whether or not you get to the top spot. Big dogs are still jumping and for those of us who know how to count, getting a number one spot in Google makes all the difference in the world.

Not only because Google controls roughly 80% of all search engine traffic, but more importantly Google has established unmatched credibility and brand recognition in the eyes of potential customers visiting your site. Web users trust Google. Web users look to Google for guidance and direction. Web users believe what Google is telling them. In the online world, rightly or wrongly, perception is everything.

As an online marketer, I am completely amazed each day at the marketing power Google now commands with web surfers and with the general population. Google is king of online search and no other search engine even comes close to Google.

PageRank is Google’s ranking system, and in the eyes of those who notice these things, it still wields tremendous influence and power. By default, PageRank is Google’s opinion of your site, and web users can count (at least to 10) and if Google believes people are still not counting when it comes to PageRank, then they are fully mistaken.

About The Author
Titus Hoskins is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: Internet Marketing Tools. If you liked the article above, why not try this Free 7 Day Marketing Course here: Marketing Tools Copyright 2009 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

Last week Google launched a new Google Maps feature called Place Pages. The purpose of these pages is to include as much information about places (which can be businesses or cities) in one spot. So for example (the example Google used upon announcement), if I search for “Burdick Chocolate Cafe” on Google Maps, and I go to the more info link for its listing (it’s a place in Cambridge, MA), I will get reviews, photos, the map listing, directions, street view, and more.

Google says it is working on including one of these pages for all businesses. Businesses can submit specific categories they want to include in their own listings, which can be claimed through Google’s Local Business Center.

As I wrote in a recent WebProNews article, there is a bit of controversy surrounding these pages. For one, they may show up in natural search listings in regular Google web searches, meaning they could potentially become more attractive options for searchers to click on than the business’ site itself. Secondly, the pages have sponsored ads on them, and some are concerned that they could end up showing ads for competitors.

Based on the comments we received at WebProNews, the reactions from small business owners over the pages have been quite mixed. Some feel that Google is invading their turf by making it less of a necessity for users to visit their own sites, while others think it is a very positive thing and expect that it could help small business owners by getting potential customers the information they need, which could eventually lead to sales.

There are certainly valid points to both sides of the argument, and it’s probably not so black and white. Some businesses will no doubt benefit from these pages, and others will not. One thing is for sure – you don’t want to ignore them.

Right now, you should not expect to see these pages taking over your rankings in Google, although as demonstrated by the chocolate cafe example, they may appear in natural search results, but they are instantly accessible (for many businesses already) via Google Maps, which means they are out there for customers to find. You need to make sure you claim your listing and do what you can to make sure it has the information on it that you want it to.

The pages can include user-generated content, and that means this adds a new element to the management of your online reputation. If someone is leaving negative reviews and feedback pertaining to your business, and it is showing up on your page, it’s not going to be good for business.

About the Author:
Chris is a content coordinator and staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz and the iEntry Network. Subscribe to SmallBusinessNewz RSS Feeds.

We’ll be upfront about something here: only companies in San Diego and San Francisco can currently take advantage of this offer. But Google’s rolling out something that should at some point help small businesses in a lot of places reach potential customers online.

Greg Sterling was introduced to an experiment called Google Local Listing Ads yesterday evening. They’re small, text-only ads of the sort Google often displays, only the trick is that they’re shown when people near a company’s physical location search for a type of business.

Moreover, as a help page states, ads are shown on Google.com and Google Maps, the first 30 days are free, you then only need to pay “[a] flat monthly fee based on your location and business category,” there are no bids or keywords to manage, and you can get a “[f]ull report on the number of calls, clicks to your ad, requests for driving directions, and clicks to your info window on Google Maps.”

This is an interesting offering that should allow small businesses to compete in a pretty big arena.

If Google Local Listing Ads have caught your eye, Google’s inviting people to fill out a form in order to see when the program will be available in a given area.

About the Author:
Doug Caverly is a staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz.

When it comes to “cool tools”, Google is the master inventor. Say what you want about Google, but they know what they’re doing when it comes to giving the public what they want and need. Take the telephone for instance. An old invention that now has been given a new twist with ” Google Voice” (G.V.) . Hold onto your chair as I’m about to tell you how to have a lot more fun with Ma Bell.

Google is giving you the ability to manage all your phones with one centralized number. At the time of this writing, it’s only available to those in the U.S., and by invitation only. Upon registration, you’ll be given your phone number that you connect to any existing phone number. When someone calls the Google Voice number, it rings the phone number that you specified. The option of selecting a word for your personalized number is also given.

Now, if all Google Voice did was send phone calls to your cell phone, that would be great all by itself, but the amount of extra tools and features are truly amazíng.

When a call is received you can answer it, send it directly to voice mail, listen in on the incoming call to decide what to do with it, or start recording the call upon answering. How’s that for a few options?

After receiving a call you’d like to record, hit 4 on your phone to start recording. Different states have different laws when it comes to recording calls, so check your current federal and state laws before using this feature. Currently outbound calls cannot be recorded. Google does provide an automated verbal announcement when the recording starts and stops so the person you’re speaking with knows they are being recorded. So much for incriminating yourself (LOL).

Say goodbye to voicemail as you know it. When a voicemail is recorded, you can check it by going to the Google Voice website and logging in, or calling your Google number. You can even be notified by email, or text message of new messages needing your attention. The ability to listen in on voice mails as they are being left is a very handy feature.

Voicemail messages can be shared with others via Email, even downloaded as MP3 files and embedded on a website or blog. Messages are also transcribed as text and housed on Google’s site for later reading, or sent to you by email. When it comes to voice mail greetings, custom messages can be set for groups or certain individuals.

Google Voice is free for use within the U.S., but does give the ability to make low cost international calls to over 200 countries from your phone or Google’s site. You’ll first need to purchase credits through Google Checkout before making these calls. Rates vary per country.

Here are some other handy features:

• Phone spam filters which block calls and mark them as spam

• Conference Calling

• Temporary forwarding of calls to another number

• Access Google Voice from mobile browsers at http://google.com/voice/m

• Call Widgets – Easily add a “call me” widget to your blog or site with copy and paste code located under setup.

• Do not disturb option which sends all incoming calls directly to voicemail when you don’t want to be bothered.

So what about when you call someone and want it to appear you are calling from your Google Voice phone number? No problem. The ability to make calls that will display your G.V. number on caller ID can be done in three different ways.

1) Hit call from within Google Voice website
2) From G.V. mobile site on your cell
3) By calling your G.V. number and logging into the system.

Google will call you at the number you specify and connect your outbound call. It doesn’t get much better than that.

The technical requirements to use this service are a computer with Win XP, Vista, Mac or Linux, Internet Explorer 6.0 or above, Firefox 3.0 or higher, Safari, Google Chrome and Flash 8.9. To request your invitation go to – https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googlevoiceinvite/ .

So, if you thought using the phone was outdated, sign up with Google Voice and put some “FUN” back into an old relationship. This just might be the best thing old Ma Bell has seen in years.

About The Author
Merle’s Mission Blog – “Rants, Raves and Random Acts of Kindness” a self proclaimed “Internet Junkie” with a passion for net marketing, affiliate marketing, social networking. An avid Blogger and writer with several niche sites. Find out more at merlesworld.blogspot.com

Although denying it has anything to do with the recent launch of Bing, Google’s Matt Cutts unveiled their “secret project”, one of the biggest behind-the-scenes updates to Google search in three years and is now testing the next-generation architecture of web search, called Caffeine.

In fairness to Matt Cutts, he said changes to Google search have been in progress for a number of months and hence, by implication, that the launch of Bing had nothing to do with the development of Caffeine. Moreover, I would hesitate to guess, it has far more to do with speed in real-time, so as to address its place in step with the social networking giants.

Although initially unavailable for testing because of “system maintenance”, Matt Cutts, Google’s enforcer of the Google Webmaster Guidelines and the man who cracked down on link spam, has invited us all to test it. He said Google hasn’t made an update of this magnitude since 2006 and that it will make internet search much faster and more accurate than ever before, although “currently, even power users won’t notice much of a difference at all”.

He went on to say: “The new infrastructure sits ‘under the hood’ of Google’s search engine, which means that most users won’t notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences, so we’re opening up a web developer preview to collect feedback.”

The new architecture is said to include size, indexing, speed, accuracy and ranking changes and Google is asking searchers to give it a try it and report their feedback. While the version is still a pre-beta release at http://www2.sandbox.google.com, you can test the old Google against the new for yourselves at http://www.comparecaffeine.com.

With the surge in popularity of “real-time search” via social networking sites, Google has recognised that search engines have to deliver content at speed. Granted, but there have already been some negative comments, although I don’t wholeheartedly agree with them. According to marketingpilgrim.com, “…Google’s attempts to include more social media “real time” results, it turned the dial to 11, when 7 would have worked just fine. Another clue that Caffeine is focused on speed – perhaps at the sacrifice of relevancy – is there appears to be more ‘Similar’ only and less ‘Cached’ results.” Personally, I have only seen a shift in relevancy, not sacrifice.

So how does all this compare? According to tests at mashable.com, the new search was “lightning fast”; double the speed. Next, they tried accuracy. They commented that: “Both sets are very accurate, but subjectively, the set displayed by the new Google search more accurately reflect what a user would be looking for.” Then followed a test of temporal relevancy, or how breaking news was returned. The answer: “about the same”. Their conclusion was that Caffeine is:

• very fast and it often doubled the speed of the old Google;

• it relies more on keywords and;

• it places “more reliance on keyword strings to produce better results”.

“Clearly,” they wrote, “a priority for Google and Bing…with both Twitter and Facebook launching real-time search engines, they needed to respond.”

So, I tried out my own website and that of my partner’s. Maybe the caffeine hit kicked in somewhere along the line, as he has gone from #4 to #2 and I have gone from #3 to #1, which all sounds perfectly satisfactory to me. The reason I mention this is that both of these sites have been involved in article writing, social media, blogging and RSS for about three years, and I thought it about time a new infrastructure gave us some more weight for following the “rulebook”.

But not to be deterred in my research, I looked up many search terms, most of which returned similar results. However, one interesting oddity was to look up “search engine” to compare results of the old against the new. The figures weren’t too different in volume, at 246m against 243m, but with one surprising omission in the new: Bing does not feature on the first page of results. Oops!

Most site owners have been happy with Google’s results, with one notable exception: I read a piece by the Guardian in which a British husband and wife team have been waging a three-year battle to get their price comparison website recognised by Google. So I searched on “Search and compare prices”, the first part of their search string. Nothing much on the old Google, but Caffeine has elevated them to eighth position. Good news for their business. And goodbye lawyers?

In final conclusion, then, the update to the infrastructure seems to include:

• increased weight on authority domains and social media sites;

• slightly more weight on domain names (a practice I don’t favour);

• better use of linkage between keywords and phrases;

• less weight given to video.
To my mind, if you have followed the rules and what has been said in the SEO forums and articles over the past couple of years, Google’s Caffeine update has retuned forthcoming search results to be more in keeping with what they have for a long time recommended – and for those of us who have been doing so it offers us little more than a mild stimulus, as in Matt Cutt’s own words, “…most users won’t notice a difference”.

About The Author
John Sylvester is the media director of V9 Design & Build, a company specialising in web design in Bangkok, and who is an expert in search engine optimization and web marketing strategies.

Earlier this month, Google invited the public to take their next generation of web search, code named Caffeine, for a test drive.

The new search infrastructure is the beginning of Google’s advance towards improving indexing speed and scale as the size of the web grows increasingly cumbersome. Google is seeking feedback on the changes from experienced users and web developers by making Caffeine available via a web developer preview.

>From the official blog post:

“It’s the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions. The new infrastructure sits ‘under the hood’ of Google’s search engine, which means that most users won’t notice a difference in search results. But web developers and power searchers might notice a few differences.”

What Is It?

According to Matt Cutts of Google, Caffeine is essentially a rewrite of the search index and it roughly compares with the Big Daddy index of late 2005 / 2006. In other words, it’s a BIG change to Google search.

Here’s a couple of grabs from Mike McDonald’s video interview with Matt Cutts on the subject:

“We’re shooting to get results identical to previous version. We’ll open up a few datacenters with it first and then roll it out.”

“Caffeine will be more powerful, flexible and robust – allowing Google to index faster.”

“(Caffeine) builds a powerful foundation for including any changes we want to do with indexing. Not so much for taking advantage of semantic, real-time indexing, but for getting good infrastructure in place for growth and unlock more power.”

“Webmasters shouldn’t be concerned. Caffeine does not affect your site architecture”

Something that Matt Cutts hasn’t mentioned but has been discussed amongst my colleagues is whether the Caffeine rollout is at all related to Google’s BigTable technology.

Bigtable is a distributed storage system for managing structured data, designed to scale to accommodate huge amounts of data. Google uses BigTable to store data from their various load heavy apps such as Google Earth and Google Finance. It makes sense that this would eventually roll out to search. Perhaps Caffeine is the new algorithmic skin for the BigTable search infrastructure?

Search Technology Testing

In the SEO industry, we’re so used to Google rolling out algorithm changes without fanfare and reacting to them as we realize something has shifted that this announcement came as quite a surprise to me. Paul Carpenter made the same point on the DaveNaylor.co.uk blog:

“… soliciting direct feedback from users before changes are made is something I can’t recall Google embarking on before.”

My first thought was that this was a knee-jerk reaction to the Yahoo / Bing announcement last week. But in his Caffeine blog post, Matt Cutts insists that the announcement had nothing to do with Binghoo and that they’ve had engineers working on it for months. He says that Summer is simply a good time to roll it out for testing.

So I decided to conduct my own test to see if I could notice any changes.

The Experiment

I decided to compare de-caffeinated Google against caffeinated Google using five main benchmarks:

A) Index size
B) Speed
C) Site rank
D) Link type
E) Keyword density

My tool of choice for the comparison is Facesaerch’s Caffeine Compare. The search queries I decided to test were:

1) “iPhone cases”
2) “Les Paul”
3) “diamond earrings”
4) “Kalena Jordan”

See the Detailed Search Comparison Results Chart at:

http://www.sitepronews.com/images2/chart1.gif

Conclusions

• Probably the biggest eyebrow raiser for me was the marked jump in keyword density between SERPS on the old Google and SERPS on Caffeine. In nearly every comparison, the Caffeine SERPS featured site titles and snippets with a much higher phrase and/or keyword density. Coincidence? I doubt it.

• It’s definitely faster. Every search query I tried on Caffeine was returned at a faster speed than with the current Google. Impressive.

• Caffeine seems slightly fresher. Some of the results I observed in Caffeine SERPS and not in regular Google SERPS were more current. For example, blog posts published within the last couple of days.

• Apart from the ego search, old Google out performed Caffeine in the index size category. But this is likely because only a handful of data-centers have Caffeine on board so far.

• Caffeine definitely has a heavier emphasis on social media, with results from sites like Blogger, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google Profiles featuring more prominently, particularly for name searches. Wiki pages still seem to rank highly in both Caffeinated and Decaffeinated Google.

Other Observations

Interestingly, a couple of other bloggers have observed different trends in Caffeine SERPS. In his blog post on the subject, Paul Carpenter says:

“… maybe blended results are getting a little less prominence. Certainly some news and image results are appearing further down the page in Caffeine than in the regular, *decaffeinated* results.”

Personally, I didn’t notice this. In fact with product related searches, I saw more blended results with Google shopping links often ranking higher in Caffeine.

But Everflux is influencing Caffeine results too, as Matthew Rogers of EndofWeb found:

“The results for any search shift and change on a daily basis, because live-search results are added to the mix, causing a more fluid day-to-day search experience along with providing more relevant data upon request.”

Comparison Tools

Want to conduct your Caffeine comparison testing? Here’s a couple of tools to use:

Facesaerch’s Caffeine Compare

Black Dog’s Compare Google Caffeine

Doubleshot’s Get Caffeinated

About The Author
Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column , Kalena manages Search Engine College – an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

Over the past 12 years consulting on web marketing I have answered countless questions but one question I receive often stands out from all; how to clear a Google penalty. The following is an example of a question I receíved in the past from a person named Patrick:

Please Help! For the last 8 years we were #1 for a ton of search terms but then my site got penalized by Google because we had overused some keywords. We fixed the issue months ago but my top rankings are all still over the place. Sometimes we get back into the top 10 and we all breathe a sigh of relief, then just a few hours later we are on page 5. What is going on and how can I correct this? We are beyond frustrated!

First, Some Research

In order to answer Patrick’s question I needed to find out a couple of things about his website to make my answer more accurate:

• His site has excellent content right now and when I looked at past versions of the site I see the content was still great but definitely had keyword stuffing problems.

Key finding: his site is really well done so I can see why it had top rankings before.

• I took a look at competitors found in the top 10 under several keyword searches that were obviously main targets for his website. After reviewing the backlinks for each competitor’s sites I could see they were all very well entrenched but their content was not up to par with Patrick’s site. I reviewed Patrick’s backlinks and was surprised to find that he had very few.

Key finding: his competitors have a lot more backlinks than Patrick’s site does.

An SEO Tool Note: I use Yahoo Site Explorer for cursory examination of backlinks for my clients and their competitors. For more in-depth research I use OptiLink by Winrose Software [that is an affiliate link] which provides excellent statistics that are very useful for analyzing the quality of backlinks among other things. Here are more recommended web marketing tools.

• I checked the server headers for their home page and other key pages to make sure nothing was outwardly wrong with their server configuration; everything was fine.

• I took some time to surf through Patrick’s website and discovered that not all of the keyword stuffing had been removed.

Key Finding: Google may still feel his site deserves a penalty because it is not 100% clean.

My Answer to Patrick

First I will layout why it seems your site did so well to begin with. Your website has very few backlinks in comparison to your competitors who have significantly more. So, as near as I can tell your top rankings were so high because you had built an awesome reputation with Google by providing unparalleled content; I can’t find a single competitor that can match the quality of your content. For a long time you managed to stay at the top of your marketplace by continuing to provide great content. Unfortunately, you were over-optimizing the content by adding too many incidences of the same keywords (keyword stuffing) and Google took a disliking to it.

So why is it so hard to regain your ranking stability? Your site lost the glue that kept it competitive when Google penalized it. The glue, in this case, was your site’s reputation that was created based on your content which lost its stickiness due to Google’s penalty for the keyword stuffing. Without your content advantage your competitors have leaped ahead of you because they have far more links than you have and no ranking penalties (that we know of). Without links and with the Google penalty applied to your site your content hasn’t the power it had before so your rankings will fluctuate for an indeterminate amount of time; there is no sure time limit on a Google penalty.

My Recommendation for Removing the Google Penalty

1. Get rid of all of the keyword stuffing on your website. I know it is a large site and this is no small feat but it needs to be done. With your site cleaned and nothing remaining but quality content there will at least be an end in sight to the Google penalty and your site will also benefit from being more readable and usable to a visitor.

2. Begin an ongoing link building campaign now – there is no time to delay. Links are another path to building credibility for your website which it sorely needs right now. There is also a good chance that high quality incoming links will act as additional entry points to your website for Google to index your newly revised site and reconsider the penalty.

3. Review Google Webmaster Tools and attend to any errors/alerts/warnings that Google has provided. Also make sure to submit a fresh sitemap once the site is cleaned so that Google takes notice of any content that may have gone unnoticed and/or new content.

4. Freshen content on key parts of your website with rewrites or additional articles. This will provide positive activity that Google cannot deny adds value to its index.

5. Bolster your Pay Per Click campaigns so they can bear some of the burden during this dry spell of low organic rankings.

6. Be patient. If you do everything I have noted above, you are in a great position to succeed and your site will be stronger than ever before.
By applying these recommendations you will very likely discover that the Google Penalty was more a blessing than a curse because your site will come out stronger than ever before.

Is your website suffering from a Google penalty? If so, feel free to drop me an email and we can discuss your situation.

About The Author
Ross Dunn is the CEO/Founder at StepForth Web Marketing Inc.; based in Victoria, BC, Canada and founded in 1997. You can read more of Ross’s articles and those of the veteran StepForth team at http://news.stepforth.com or contact us at http://www.stepforth.com, Tel – 250-385-1190, TollFree – 877-385-5526, Fax – 250-385-1198

Finally, a 10-year deal has been struck between Microsoft and Yahoo! Last week it attracted global media coverage, which said it was intended to create a stronger rival to the powerhouse of Google search, but perhaps the counter-offensive with the launch of Chrome OS next year will be the real bullet in the gun?

Media reports on the Battle of the Bing mostly dealt with the facts of the agreement but fell way short of any concrete projections as to what web users will be searching with in the future.

Yahoo!, it seems, with Carol Bartz at the helm, is busy refocusing the company on being a producer of media sites and a marketer of online display advertising. It will also receive 88% of the search-generated ad revenues from its own sites for the first five years of the deal.

But a hint at the real story came from an unlikely source. This week’s Economist also ran a factual piece titled Bingoo! on the Microsoft-Yahoo! deal, but its cartoon in The World This Week section went somewhat further. It showed an outraged Yahoo! sitting atop the shoulders of a belligerent Bing, both cudgel-bearing and incensed, standing on the palm of a club-wielding Neanderthal-like titan Microsoft, shouting, “We think it is wrong to have a market dominated by one giant!”, to which the finger-pointing Palaeolithic Google responds, “Do a web search for ‘operating system’…”

Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010 and is open source, which is appealing. It is also a “lightweight” operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. It is said to include “speed, simplicity and security” as the “key aspects of Google Chrome OS”, according to googleblog.blogspot.com. It is reported to run with a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel, which is encouraging also in that Google will involve the open source community to accomplish their vision.

If the OS launch is anything like that of the Google Chrome browser, which has been around for around for some months now with over 30 million people using it, the Google Chrome Operating System may be just what is needed in response to Microsoft’s offensive with Bing. Many are crying out for competition in the web search market but neglect to mention operating systems when doing so.

Early reports on Bing have been very positive, which must be worrying to Google as Microsoft is challenging the supremacy of its heartland, internet search. Having said that, it is far too soon to predict how many users will change from the google verb to that of bing, but there are said to be huge armoured divisions of the faithful ready and willing to take up the cause and drop Google search altogether.

On the whole, search results from Bing are very similar to Google on tests, so it is difficult to differentiate which one is better. On some search terms though, Bing is way off target. In any event, it is unlikely that Google’s 65/30% dominance will be rent asunder by its launch.

Even though no one is quite certain about which search engine delivers the best results, Bing is being subjectively upbraided by its advocates as bringing genuine competition to the world of internet search. This is a good move but, as such, it is unlikely that Bing will revolutionise the web. Chrome OS, however, and over time, just might.

What is more at stake here is the release of Chrome OS. This has the potential to wear down the dominance of Windows if it can successfully bring about an operating system worthy of the new millennium. If so, there will be gnawing competition in the OS marketplace and a possible revolution in the way computers are used in the future.
Google has set out its stall to solve inherent problems associated with Windows, which is said to have too much of an overhead and that it wasn’t designed for web-based computing, while the minimalist Google is well known for its lightweight products and speed.

So, what are the potential advantages of Chrome OS over Windows?:

1) Initially, it will work on netbooks and they are cheap. Also, Chrome OS is based on Linux and could well be free. It is open source, which will help to bring about a superior operating system, unlike the proprietary nature of Windows.

2) Chrome OS has been designed to run on low-powered Atom and ARM processors. As Google posted on their blog: “The message is clear – computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up.”

3) One of the major problems with Windows XP is compatibility and that of its drivers. What Google is saying is that the new operating system can be downloaded on any machine and it “just works”. Users will then be able to use a portable operating system.

4) If Google can deliver an operating system that is fast, the roll-out of Chrome OS could be a revolution in the making, and free.

5) With the iPhone gaining in use and popularity, Chrome OS would seem to answer users’ needs in its application.

6) We may be ushering in an era where the web is the rightful place to store all our files and documents and use a pay-per-use system for accessing and using desktop software, which benefits systems like Chrome OS.
This scenario also puts Yahoo!, as the “leading web portal”, in a vulnerable position. Despite Chief Executive Carol Bartz’s recent shibboleth that the tie-up “comes with boatloads of value”, it is interesting to note that the company’s share price dropped 12% following the company’s announcement.

So, as each side lines up for a dogfight in the Bingle War, it won’t be too long before Google drops its cluster bomb. In the Battle of the Titans, we could well be witnessing a revolution in the making and it is certainly one that should be making Microsoft’s board nervous.

But the real question is, whilst there was a big media fanfare to accompany Microsoft’s deal with Yahoo!, it simply dwarfs itself on the periphery if the revolutionary nature of Chrome OS is to be believed and taken onboard seriously.

About The Author
John Sylvester is the media director of V9 Design & Build and an expert in search engine optimization and web marketing strategies.

If you haven’t started using Google Analytics on your website(s) or blogs, I highly highly recommend it. If you’ve set up an account but rarely look at it – I recommend you start looking.

First of all – what is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a free analysis tool which gives you information on where your website visitors are coming from, which pages they visit, how long they stay, and a lot more. There are plenty of paid stat counters available which present data in different ways, but Google Analytics is one of the best, and it’s free.

One can over-analyze or under-analyze any website. Some people spend too much time checking stats, analyzing, and planning, and don’t spend enough time writing good content and getting new readers to their blogs.

On the other side of the pendulum, you could go on week after week, blindly publishing content and flailing along with offsite promotíon, without seeing what results your campaigns are getting, which type of content is the most popular for your visitors, and which traffic-generation techniques are getting the best results.

The first is like tuning your car’s engine every day without ever turning on the ignition, the second is like driving in the dark.

In between, we have a happy balance.

I find that the best times to check stats are when I don’t have a lot of time to do a more intense project, or when I am a bit too tired to do anything more “heavy.” Sometimes just before I go to bed at night is a good time to check into what has been happening between my visitors and my websites’ pages. I can browse and poke around in my Analytics account and learn quite a lot – even with minimal energy.

Here are five simple and powerful ways to use Google Analytics:

1. Find out which of your website’s pages are getting the most traffic, and optimize those pages.

If you are running ads on the pages, make sure they are properly placed and updated. If you are linking to affiliate products, make sure your links are up-to-date and that you aren’t missing any links, or new products which should be there. If you are using that page for some other purpose, such as to generate subscriptions or whatever the case may be, make sure that the page is laid out as well as possible. This can be helpful if you have a large website which has a long “to do” list and many things to optimize or tweak. By just starting with the most heavily-trafficked pages, you will get the maximum results from your efforts and also know where to start.

2. Find out which referrers are generating the most traffic, and continue any actions you have been taking to generate traffic from those referrers.

For example, if you see that Twitter is generating a large amount of targeted traffíc, you can expand your activity on Twitter. If you see that your article submissions are getting new visitors from article directories, you can make a note not to drop those out – or possibly step them up. Conversely, if you see that you have been spending time/money on a traffic-generation method which is not getting very far, you can stop wasting your time on it (presuming you have given it time to take effect).

3. Find out which keywords you are ranking the best for, and see which ones you can “push to the top.”

If you had a website on dogs, for example, and found that you were ranking at #30-#40 on Google for many keywords, but ranking #11 for, lets say, “dog chew toys,” you might want to work on increasing your rankings on dog chew toys and focus more of your SEO efforts on this term (of course there are other factors you would consider as well, such as the searches and competition for this term). Climbing from position #31 to #20 will generally not get you a huge improvement in traffic. But climbing from position #11 to position #3 almost certainly will. Focus first on keywords or key phrases that have the best chance of ranking high in the near future, and then move on to the others.

4. Find out which pages keep your visitors’ attention for the longest.

If the average visitor on Page A stays for 5 seconds, while the average visitor to Page B stays for 150 seconds, the likelihood is that your visitors find Page B’s content more interesting than Page A’s.

5. Look at the graph of your bounce rate.

This tells you how many people left your site without visiting a second page. Depending on the website and the page, this may be a good or bad thing. But if you have a blog or a content site, it is usually a good sign when people stick around to view more of your posts and content before they leave. If your bounce rate increased or decreased after you made a certain change, you can opt to revert that change (if bounce rate increased) or keep it (if bounce rate decreased). For example, if I changed the theme of my WordPress blog and then noticed a date-co-incident jump in my bounce rate, I might consider changing it back :) This statistic can be used in many ways – it will depend on the nature of your blog.

There are many, many other ways to use Google Analytics. The above are great ways to start, if you aren’t familiar with or used to using this tracking system. Google Analytics can give you a far greater understanding of what’s happening on your site and can guide you to continue on successful actions and drop the unsuccessful.

About The Author
For more information on how to use Google Analytics, including video tutorials, and links to free information including a free eBook download on this subject, visit Anna’s blog, at BuildingFromNothing.com.

It didn’t look too promising at the launch but Bing has been constantly in the news ever since. Some say the results are better than Google, even going as far as suggesting Google is all but finished. I don’t agree.

On one of the search engine forums I often comment on, one of the moderators had this to say on the subject: “But overall this confirms my sense that Google, having abandoned the business model that got it to the top, viz. fast no frills search, in favour of added features and buying up other companies, is becoming increasingly fat and complacent, and along the way their search results are becoming less relevant.”

Now, I have to say that I had a small run-in with this guy as he supports everything Microsoft does, from its browser to its operating system and now to its new “decision engine”. So when he writes – “I’ve been using Bing lately and I’m finding a lot of advantages over Google. These are early days yet but this is the first emerging search engine that may provide a real threat to Google’s dominance – something I for one welcome,” – I’m a little suspicious.

There’s plenty of supporters out there giving online commentaries on Bing’s progress. TechCrunch.com, for example, analyses its early success by saying: “Microsoft sites’ average daily penetration among US searchers reached 16.7 percent during the work week of June 8-12, up 3 percentage points from the May 25-29 period (which was prior to Bing’s introduction) and up over 1 percentage point from its first week.”

However, on webpronews.com following its launch, Matt Cutts, Google’s spokesman and soothsayer, was reported, rather scathingly I thought, to have tweeted: “Matt Cutts: Congrats to @bing on the launch! Sad to see this not-so-relevant result at #4 for [matt cutts] though.” And then: “The #5 Bing result for [matt cutts] is spammy too.” Interesting that one should search one’s own name to find out if the results were “spammy”, but nevermind.

So, I did a little research on the subject of my own and tested my web turf to find on “web design bangkok” Bing returned very poor results, spammy even, with “Luxor Bangkok the Egyptian Design Hotel” and “Bangkok Metropolitan Administration” being placed in the top ten.

However, there is a site that offers users the opportuníty for us to choose for ourselves. Just go to bingdevelop.com and type in any search term you are unfamiliar with and see which search engine results you would choose. Select say ten of them. You are presented with randomised results from Bing, Google, and Yahoo placed in a three-column set. You don’t know which one is which at this stage until you make your choice. As a test, take a look and select the one you think delivers the best results.

I tried 10 searches for terms I’m not at all familiar with and Google came out on top in all but one. It did surprise me after my original test on my own search terms that Bing was very close on all of them.

For Matt Cutts to comment as he did in the wake of Bing’s launch, indicates Google is not too comfortable with Microsoft’s re-emergence into the search engine marketplace. For me, though, I am much happier to accept Google’s results as the test bore out. Others may be switching to Bing already, but I am not.

I then looked for commentary – they’re ubiquitous these days – and found money.cnn.com had run the headline: “Bing vs. Google: Consumers Can’t Tell a Difference”. Oh, but I think they can, I thought. While it’s true that on wider, more unfamiliar search terms the two are very close indeed (my own findings were “seo consultant” – Google, but Bing very close; “manchester city t-shirt” – Google because it returned MCFC official site; “polar ice caps melting” – Google again but Bing almost identical; “bank bonuses uk” – Google, as it had reports from BBC, Guardian, etc. but Bing again very close), Bing still has its teething problems.

So as I read the plethora of reports and opinions being spun as to whether Bing is better than Google, I wonder what drove them to that conclusion. Like that of the forum moderator, perhaps? But I’m sure he was being honest with himself about his choices. It’s just a matter of why he would choose a different set of listings to me. It can’t be just because he’s a closet fan of Microsoft; the three engines are hidden until one is selected and I can vouch for his integrity.

However, Bing’s campaign, or spin, however you look at it, seems to me to be communicating that in order to get “relevant” information, you should choose Bing over Google, with its grandiose promise of being a “decision engine”. Which is what, exactly? Another one of Microsoft’s tricks to decide matters for me? As if Word wasn’t frustrating enough at doing that already.

Maybe the differences are far too subtle for me to notice. Or just maybe the Luxor Bangkok the Egyptian Design Hotel is not the place I would go to find a web designer in Bangkok. But the moderator, of course, had the final say: “I was a big Google fan for a long time, but increasingly I find myself going to Bing first and only to Google if Bing doesn’t deliver the goods. There’s no question that Google still has more web pages indexed than anyone else. But if they can’t find better ways of sorting through them they are going to crash. They can’t count on brand loyalty forever. For those of you old enough to remember Alta Vista, I am reminded of their rapid and total fall from grace when Google launched. Nothing is forever on the net.”

My findings are that they are very similar and certainly not enough to make “Google crash” just yet. Personally, I don’t believe this is yet Bing’s time until they tighten up their results. I agree with Mr Cutts that right now Bing is just too, how do you say again, “spammy”.

About The Author
V9 Design and Build produce tasteful web design in Bangkok, Thailand, including ecommerce shopping cart solutions, with functionality that allows owners to set up and maintain their online stores.