Marcus Miller says, “The UK Intellectual Property Office has announced what they call a “landmark agreement” between Google and Microsoft Bing for “reducing the visibility of infringing content” in the UK search results by June 1, 2017. But Google tells Search Engine Land that they are “changing nothing today as a result of the announcement/code of conduct.” Google already has a Pirate algorithm that is in place to deal with DMCA complaints and other forms of pirated content in the search results. So when we heard this announcement, we asked Google if they are changing this algorithm... [...]

Barry Schwartz says, “Google has added a new video to their do you need an SEO help document page. The 11-plus-minute video walks people through the process of hiring an SEO consultant or firm. It tells them what to look for, what questions to ask, what some of the red flags are and more. Maile Ohye from Google is the face of the video, and she does a very good job clearly documenting the main points one should look at during this process. She outlines the SEO hiring process in these three steps: Conduct a two-way interview with your potential SEO. Check that they seem genuinely interested... [...]

Barry Schwartz says, “Last Tuesday, Feb. 7, there seems to have been a Google algorithm change that adjusted how many sites rank — both for good and bad. I’ve been tracking the update since Feb. 8, and over time, more and more webmasters and SEOs have been taking notice of the ranking changes at Google. This seems to be unrelated to the unconfirmed link algorithm change from earlier in February. This new update seems to be more related to Panda, based on such things as content and site quality, versus link factors. Google has not confirmed the update and would not comment on what webmasters... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “In the past year, comScore has de-emphasized its search market share and mobile market share reports. Part of the reason is that the numbers don’t change that much anymore. In addition, for reasons that remain mysterious, the measurement firm has declined to present a consolidated view of the search marketplace that includes both desktop and mobile. Mobile search is now both larger and, in many respects, more important than desktop search. Across the board, desktop search queries are down vs. November. Google’s overall share remains basically stable at 63 percent... [...]

Emily Carrion says, “What if you didn’t have to wait months to find out how a new feature is resonating with your audience? What if you could hear from 25 percent of your audience on a regular basis — not just the vocal minority? I’m going to show you how you can leverage your mobile app audience for rapid feedback loops and why traditional focus groups are dead. The problem with focus groups Yes, focus groups are a great way to learn about how a potential demographic will respond to a yet-to-be released product. They can give you a sense of how your brand resonates in the market as... [...]

Fi Bendall says, “It is almost impossible these days to run a small business without an online presence of some sort. And it is almost impossible to have an effective online presence without at least a little knowledge of how to use the many tools Google puts at the disposal of businesses. A business owner who learns to use these tools puts themselves at a huge advantage over those who don’t. You will have more potential customers visit your website; you will be able to market your business more effectively; and you will be able to monetise your online presence. Google is constantly developing... [...]

The SmartCompany has released an ebook titled “How do I get found on Google?”. The SmartCompany team says, “Make it easy for customers to find you with this easy simple guide to search marketing. Search engine optimisation (SEO) may still be a buzzword for some, but its importance cannot be overstated if you want consumers to find your website online. The more refined and sophisticated your SEO and SEM strategy, the better your website ranking, and the more traffic you’re likely to get to your site for conversions. Download this guide, brought to you by Sensis, to gain insight... [...]

Russ Jones says, “There are a handful of data sources relied upon by nearly every search engine optimizer. Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) has perhaps become the most ubiquitous. There are simply some things you can do with GSC, like disavowing links, that cannot be accomplished anywhere else, so we are in some ways forced to rely upon it. But, like all sources of knowledge, we must put it to the test to determine its trustworthiness — can we stake our craft on its recommendations? Let’s see if we can pull back the curtain on GSC data and determine, once and... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, ” Back in October 2016, I wrote about how you can use a Python script to determine whether a page has been indexed by Google in the SERPs. As it turns out, Google’s webmaster trends analyst Gary Illyes wasn’t too happy with the technique that was being utilized by the script, so I cannot endorse this method. Shortly after, Sean Malseed and his team at Greenlane SEO built a similar tool based in Google Sheets (among other awesome tools like InfiniteSuggest), and Googler John Mueller expressed reservations”. How to check which URLs have been indexed without upsetting... [...]

Mimi An says, “Over the past few years, Google has made a lot of changes that can be challenging for modern marketers and SEO experts to keep up with. Recently, Google started indexing according to mobile search results, cracked down on intrusive pop-up ads, and removed right-side ads. What do all of these changes have in common? Google has been making changes to its algorithm, search engine results pages, and policies based on user behavior and preference. They’re observing what users are doing and making the search engine work more intuitively for them. This is great for the frequent... [...]