The Search Engine Blog
News and Tips From The Search Marketing World
Google Analytics Data Will Be Off
A change in sessions definitions will result in Google Analytics reporting to be off. They’ve redefined what a session is resulting is throwing off your tracking of repeat visitors. Read more on their blog at Update to Sessions in Google Analytics.
Bing Webmaster Tools Update
Bing has updated their webmaster tools with some new features and an improved look. http://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmaster/
Google Data Feed Update
The specifications for Google product data feeds will be changing in September. By the 22nd you must meet the guidelines posted by Google or your feed could be rejected. Information is on their blog and specifications are found here. No doubt this will be costly for many people as they may have to enter data not currently in their store or have to hire a programmer to rewrite a custom export. Fortunately most of our customers use Miva Merchant so data entry will be their only major concern.
Google Health Dies
Say goodbye to a bad idea. Do you think putting your health information on the Internet is a good idea? Obviously not enough people did and just before the big FTC probe into Google, it’s shut down. What a coincidence. Read more on Google’s Blog.
Google Correlate: The New Google Tool
It’s a cool new tool for data junkies. Check out this write-up on the new kid on the block. Google Correlate
Facebook and Bing Integration
Bing has been gradually adding Facebook data into their search. Now the integration has been stepped up to a whole new level. Bing results can now be personalized based on your Facebook profile, friends, likes, etc. Be careful when searching…if you are logged into Facebook while on Bing, your search results can be very different than if you aren’t connected to Facebook. Read more from Bing.
You Must Be Secure
A post on Microsoft’s help forum makes it clear that you must have a secure site in order to be listed in the Bing product search. This user had a chat feature that wasn’t secure. Even though the site tested secure, the chat feature caused the check to fail. Overall a very good feature as online shopping sites should have SSL properly configured before selling online.
New Google Analytics v5
Google has rolled out their new version of Analytics. Users will be able to switch back and forth between versions. Information on Google’s Blog here and a video here at Search Engine Roundtable.
Google Map Maker
Frustrated that your location isn’t properly shown in Google Maps? While the ability to move the marker to your location has been around for a long time, what if the location isn’t there? Or a road is missing? Now users in the US can go to http://www.google.com/mapmaker and make edits to the Google Map. Successful in other countries, Google has given users this powerful ability to help improve their map….and help people find you. For the paranoid, maybe throw them off.
Another Round Of Google Updates?
It appears that Google is flexing their update muscles again. Did it impact your web site listings last time? Ready for another Farmer/Panda update? Discussion at Webmaster World.
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