Happy Halloween! The year is almost over, we're celebrating the spooky holiday, US elections are next week, and you're reading this. High five!
Halloween Hits the Search Industry
Today, you can check out the various Halloween logos around the search industry and see that many are happily celebrating. I noticed on Twitter last night that most people weren't too thrilled with Google's logo. (What do you think?)
Your CTR Will Impact Your Quality Score
Higher results in the SERPs usually get more clickthroughs than lower ones. Right? It makes logical sense. Google has decided that it will take ad position into account for the quality score, so you don't get penalized if you are in position 13 and aren't getting lots of clicks. This has always been the case but for some reason Google AdWords sent out emails to some AdWords advertisers about more precise calculations; perhaps that's what it is.
Subscribe to Google Alerts via RSS
Annoyed at all the Google Alerts you get in your inbox? Sometimes, I am. Subscribe to your alerts via RSS instead, then. You can check those alerts at leisure instead of feeling like you are obligated to read the email as soon as it hits your inbox (especially if you have email OCD).
PDF + OCR = Copy and Paste
Google has made it easier to copy and paste PDF files using OCR technology. Fortunately, if you wanted to plagiarize copy get inspiration from a PDF document, you can now just highlight the text, hit Ctrl C, and viola, it's in your clipboard!
Google Doesn't Know the Exchange Rate
You'd think Google, with all its information, is able to actually know the darn exchange rate and not screw it up hundreds of times. Well, you'd think wrong. Google has screwed up the exchange rate for Indian publishers -- AGAIN. Don't you get it, Google?
Google AdSense Ads Testing New Formats
Want to save big in this crappy economy? Get your Google AdSense coupons today! I wonder how many people will click on this -- probably a lot, don't you think?
Similarly, we observe a new Google AdSense ad style. I'm not sure I am swayed by the design.
Google AdWords Editor Continues to Be Annoying
There have been reports of slowness in Google AdWords Editor for a long time. There are also other issues being reported on forums about the new Google AdWords Editor. Google has released a fix, and that's great.
Google AdWords Accounts Hacked by Chinese
Sometimes, I wish we had a unified front in terms of policies relating to accessing domains that are abroad, because when Google AdWords accounts are hacked and you see the Chinese capitalizing off of the spam, you wonder if there's a way to beat up those pesky brats who are living abroad. Seriously.
Microsoft adCenter Changes Logo, Gets New Features
This week, we note upgrades in Microsoft adCenter that include improvements for campaign management, editorial improvements, user management, and content ads. They also sport a new logo that some people say looks like a drain. Well, if you insist...
Sadly, not everything is dandy for adCenter. Perhaps they don't have enough members to demand Sunday service, and thus, they've dropped Sunday support. There are other options if you are busy on Sunday, I suppose.
Google's Webmaster Chat Recap Live
So you're a Jewish chap and missed the Google Webmaster Chat like Barry and me since it was held during a Jewish holiday. Great! The recap is live and you can hear what you missed.
Jonathan Simon to the Rescue
We posted about lots of bugs in Google Webmaster Tools and Googler Jonathan Simon has given some good insights into what Google is working on. I have to say that the Google Webmaster Tools team rocks! GO JONATHAN GO!
Church SEO is Possible
So, you need religious links to your site. Is it hard? Not so much. Church SEO is a new discipline that helps non-profits gain fame in their communities. You can try it and you, too, can succeed.
Google CEO Makes Political Endorsement
We're running a poll on whether it was appropriate for Eric Schmidt to endorse Barack Obama. With all the information Google is armed with, what do you think?
Jeeves Retires, Becomes a Porn Star
Remember Jeeves? Sure you do. Well, did you know that he retired and became a porn star? If you link to his retirement website, you'll notice that he is. In fact, it makes sense in the bigger picture. In this economy, retirement funds are pretty lousy. You need to make supplemental income somehow.
Have a happy autumny weekend!
