Karissa Bell  says, “Gmail just made it easier to edit Microsoft Office documents from within your inbox. Google updated Gmail with a new feature that allows users to automatically open and edit Office files with Google Drive. “We realize that as a Docs user, you still sometimes have to work with different file types, so we often launch updates to make it a little smoother for you,” the company wrote on Google+. “It’s now even easier for you to edit Office files where you often come across them — as attachments in your email.” When Office files are emailed as attachments,... [...]

Craig Bradford says, “Problems in Google Analytics are causing you to get bad data, misunderstand reports and draw wrong conclusions. Many of these are not your fault, they’re due to settings, bugs and the configuration of Google Analytics. There are also some that are just easy to misunderstand and that I’ve seen trip up even experienced consultants. Read on to learn what you need to look for. Beware of sampling bugs My team and I have recently seen some strange sampling issues/bugs in Google Analytics. We were looking at the landing page report with an advanced filter. All... [...]

Brendan Hill says, “This time of year, with all the online shopping, shipping, and marketing to be done, you might find yourself signing up for several web-based products or services (like VerticalResponse). While it’s tempting to rush through these sign up processes to place your order faster or start using the product more quickly, you want to use a strong password (or passwords) to keep your information and data secure. With seemingly monthly data breaches of big companies like Home Depot and Target, data security is top of mind for more people. Aside from having a good password, we suggest... [...]

Stan Schroeder says, “The European Parliament voted on Thursday in favor of a resolution that would see search engines being “unbundled” from their other commercial services. The resolution, which was approved by 384 votes to 174 (with 56 abstentions), focuses on the online search market and its “particular importance in ensuring competitive conditions within the digital single market.” In other words, unbundling would safeguard against Google and other search engines favoring their own services in search results. The parliament called on the European Commission to “consider... [...]

Marcus Tober says, “Everybody talks about the need to provide quality content on your site if you want to rank well in searches. But how do search engines identify quality content? Successive Google algorithm updates (culminating in the recent Panda 4.1) aim to refine results so that they match the intent of the search query and deliver the most comprehensive, accessible and well-written answer. Put simply, Google (and other search engines) are always looking for genuine quality content, and are increasingly smart at finding (and dismissing) pages that try to game the system. For example, Google’s... [...]

Chipper Nicodemus says, “Google Webmaster Tools is a powerful resource for website owners, webmasters and SEOs alike. Once you’ve set up Google Webmaster Tools, you might be wondering what to do next. If you need basic tips, check out our Beginner’s Guide to Google Webmaster Tools. If you’ve dug around Google Webmaster Tools and are longing for more in-depth tips and advice, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s dive into five of the advanced Google Webmaster Tools features you should be using to improve your site’s SEO: 1. Adjust Your Sitelinks When someone does a specific and... [...]

Nicole Nguyen says, “Nothing is truly permanent—especially on the Internet—so Google is working towards allowing users access to e-mails anytime, even long after the company’s online services are gone. Google offers a one-click export system to download a copy of your data from Gmail and Google Calendar. Previously, users had to turn to not-always-effective third party backup or extraction services. Now, Gmailers can download their entire archive of mail or select labels as an MBOX file. MBOX is a common format for storing email messages, with all of the user’s email threads... [...]

Chow says, “Measuring the relative importance and popularity of a website has always been a rather tricky affair and several different metrics have emerged over the years to quantify this kind of quality. The thing is that the nature of the Internet has continued to change and evolve, arguably reducing the relevance of these metrics. Seriously, aside from a handful of networks and the random inquiries of some media buyers, when was the last time that you had someone bring up an Alexa ranking in any sort of real meaningful conversation? And sure, some people will argue that Alexa is still relevant... [...]

Allison Howen says, “Google is testing out a new program called Contributor, which essentially enables users to pay a $1 – $3 fee to avoid viewing ads on certain websites. On the Contributor website Google notes that today’s Internet is mostly funded by advertising. That said, the Contributor program enables users to directly support the people who create the sites that they visit each day. To participate, users simply choose a monthly contribution (from $1 – $3). Then, when users visit participating websites like The Onion, WikiHow and Imgur, they will see a thank you message... [...]

Karissa Bell says, “Yahoo will soon be the default search engine on Firefox browsers. Mozilla CEO Chris Beard announced the new five-year partnership in a post on the company’s blog Wednesday. “Our new search strategy doubles down on our commitment to make Firefox a browser for everyone,” Beard wrote. “We believe it will empower more people, in more places with more choice and opportunity to innovate and ultimately put even more people in control over their lives online.” Firefox will make the switch to the new “enhanced Yahoo search” for U.S users... [...]