Derek S says, “Nobody is immune to change. Not Facebook, not Twitter, not even Google. For a while now, author’s photos have shown up next to their work in Google’s search results. When photos were first added to search results, click-through rates increased for links with photos next to them. However, Google has now decided to do away with a couple of Authorships key features. John Mueller, a Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, wrote on his Google+ page that search engine giant is aiming to “clean up” and create “more consistent design across devices” with... [...]

Demian Farnworth says, “Have you ever wondered what the subreddit “ShittyBattleStations,” hammerhead sharks, and the Internet have in common? Yeah, me neither. But I recently discovered that the three seemingly unconnected entities all stretch my sense of nostalgia. ShittyBattleStations is a subreddit where people share photographs of their gaming environments. Imagine bad camera angles of a bean bag chair, milk crate, high-powered computer, and a gallon of water. It’s a place for snapshots of a subculture interested in avoiding the complex world — a subculture that reminds me... [...]

Tom Capper says, “Customer loyalty is one of the strongest assets a business can have, and one that any can aim to improve. However, improvement requires iteration and testing, and iteration and testing require measurement. Traditionally, customer loyalty has been measured using customer surveys. The Net Promoter Score, for example, is based on the question (on a scale of one to ten) “How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?”. Regularly monitoring metrics like this with any accuracy is going to get expensive (and/or annoying... [...]

Dan Shewan says, “In September of last year, when Google Hummingbird was officially announced, Matt Cutts said that it would affect 90% of all searches, albeit in a subtle way. Considering that Google handles more than 3.5 billion searches every day, this means Google Hummingbird affects more than 3.15 billion of them. Not exactly an inconsequential update”. How Google Hummingbird Changed the Future of Search Business2Community.com  [...]

Kevin Webster says, “Knowing the source of your web traffic — organic search, paid search, social media, direct — is important. But taking a look at what your visitors are actually doing and accomplishing on your website is also key. Studying traffic flow can indicate a few potential problems in website navigation or marketing messages, as well as point out what your website is doing well. Google Analytics provides a tool in the Behavior section that can help you visualize the intent of your web visitors, and determine where visitors are dropping out of your goal funnels”. Google Analytics:... [...]

Karissa Bell says, “Google had no shortage of announcements during its almost-three-hour developers conference on Wednesday. Some announcements, like Android Wear and Android L, were expected; others took us by surprise and played out differently than anticipated. Just in case you didn’t watch the full conference, we’ve rounded up some of the biggest highlights, below. Android L Google appears to be ditching its dessert theme with the latest version of Android, simply called Android L, which will roll out to users in the fall. (A preview version is available to developers now.)”. Google... [...]

Dan Rowinski says, “Google is about ready to set its yearly agenda. Its I/O conference, which starts Wednesday, is Google’s main opportunity to showcase what it’s been working on across its sprawling techno-empire. We don’t know if Google will continue to throw everything but the kitchen sink into its keynote address like it did in last year’s three-and-a-half hour extravaganza, but it seems safe to predict that there’s going to be one main star of the show: Android. Sure, Google will probably have something to say about its Chrome OS, its nascent but burgeoning... [...]

Dan Barker says, “Did Google make £3.768bn from users who had no idea they were being advertised to? Here’s a study of 2,000 people where we try to find the answer to that question & more. You may remember two studies which found that 40% of people did not understand that Google ads were ads in 2013, and that 36% still don’t understand this in 2014. These were researcher-led user tests, of around 100 people each, led by Bunnyfoot”. How many web users are unaware of Google’s PPC ads? ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

Allison Howen says, “For many brick-and-mortar businesses, the biggest challenge with building an online presence is using it to attract attention from a local audience. Google is looking to make local visibility less of a challenge with the launch of its new Google My Business platform. Local merchants and service providers can now create and manage their business listings across the Web, including on Google Search, Maps and Google+, from one location. With increased visibility on these popular platforms, companies are more likely to attract foot traffic from local consumers searching... [...]

Christina Warren says, “Watch out, GoDaddy. Google is making moves on your turf. It looks like the search giant is getting into the domain registrar business; Google has a “beta” site available at domains.google.com. SEE ALSO: First 100 Generic Internet Domains Include .Rich, .Sexy and .Ninja The service is invite-only for now, but it looks like it will provide a bevy of features typically found on registrars such as GoDaddy, Namecheap and Hover”. Google Is Getting Into Domains. Should GoDaddy Worry? Mashable  [...]