The latest post on ‘Mashable’ is titled “Sergey Brin: Google Was ‘Shocked’ When It Learned of NSA Snooping”. Lance Ulanoff says, “Google cofounder Sergey Brin said the company was shocked to learn that the NSA was snooping on backbone data. Speaking with Re/Code’s Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the inaugural Code Conference (the replacement for the “D Conference”), Brin explained that even though the company was surprised to learn of the NSA’s data-collection practices, Google had already started encrypting much of that backbone data anyway”. Sergey... [...]

The latest article on ‘Website Magazine’ is titled “Google Panda 4.0 – Was Your Site Affected?”. Travis Bliffen says, “As most Internet professionals have heard by now, Google started rolling out Panda 4.0 on May 20. Although Panda is refreshed monthly, this is a major update meaning an algorithmic change has been made. For those of you confused about the difference between Penguin and Panda, here is a brief overview of both, followed by a look at how to identify whether or not your site was actually hit by Panda. GOOGLE PENGUIN Google Penguin was first announced in April... [...]

The latest post on ‘Mashable’ is titled “Report: Google Close to Acquiring Skybox Imaging for $1 Billion”. Seth Fiegerman says, “Google may have its eyes set on yet another billion-dollar acquisition. The search giant is said to be nearing an acquisition of Skybox Imaging, a company that provides high-resolution satellite imager, for around $1 billion, according to a report inTechCrunch. The two companies have reportedly had several rounds of talks. Reps for Google and Skybox did not immediately respond to our request for comment”. Report: Google Close to Acquiring... [...]

The latest TopRank blog post is titled “SEO Storm or Light Shower? Google’s Panda 4.0 Update”. Lee Odden says, “The thunder clap of Google’s Matt Cutts’s Twitter post could be heard across the web this week with the announcement of the search engine’s latest update, Panda 4.0. Of course the type of Panda I’m talking about isn’t a cute bear from China. It’s the name of an algorithm used by Google to filter out low quality content from search results. The first Panda update in Feb, 2011 was fairly aggressive, affecting about 11% of queries on Google and millions of searchers.... [...]

The latest VerticalResponse blog post is titled “Google Releases 2 New Algorithm Updates: Payday Loan 2.0 & Panda 4.0”. Chipper Nicodemus say, “Google’s head of webspam, Matt Cutts recently announced two new Google algorithm updates that could affect your business. For SEO pros, updates to Google’s algorithms are commonplace, but for the busy small business owner, they can be a confusing mess of black and white animals (penguin, panda). Have no fear, we’ve broken down the announcements into layman’s terms. Now, let’s get down to business! Update #1: Payday Loan... [...]

The latest article on  ‘Marketing Land’ is titled “Study: Google Takes The Lead As World’s Most Valuable Brand While Apple Drops To #2”. Amy Gesenhues says, “After holding the No. 1 spot for three consecutive years, a recent study of the top 100 most valuable global brands revealed Apple now ranks second to Google. Commissioned by communications services group WPP, the study conducted by Millward Brown found Google’s brand value has increased 40 percent year-over-year, now worth $159 billion. Meanwhile, Apple’s value has slipped 20 percent according to the... [...]

The latest article on  ‘Marketing Land’ is titled “Google Adds More Recommendations To Its PageSpeed Insights Tool”. Barry Schwartz says, “Google announced they’ve updated their PageSpeed Insights Tool to included five new recommendations around mobile usability and speed. The new recommendations include: Configure the viewport: Without a meta-viewport tag, modern mobile browsers will assume your page is not mobile-friendly, and will fall back to a desktop viewport and possibly apply font-boosting, interfering with your intended page layout.Configuring the... [...]

The latest ‘Web Marketing Today’ blog post is titled “Google Analytics: Using Timeframe Comparisons”. Kevin Webster says, “Merely looking at graphs and numbers in Google Analytics for today, this week, or this month won’t tell an entire story. It will simply give you a glimpse of your current performance. To really analyze in depth, add context. One of the simplest ways to do this is by comparing two similar periods of time. By comparing and contrasting, you are trend spotting, and that is the real detective work”. Google Analytics: Using Timeframe Comparisons Web Marketing Today  [...]

The latest ‘Econsultancy’ blog post is titled “How to assess if your site is at risk of a Google penalty”. Marcus Tober says, “Many large brands are thought to have fallen victim to a Google penalty for infringing the search giant’s guidelines against web spam. How can you tell if your site might be at risk? The consequences of being penalised by Google can mean a drop in search rankings and visibility and thus a reduction in online traffic and revenue, a damaged reputation and (for listed companies) potentially a reduced stock market value. Google is becoming more... [...]

This is a reminder for the Website Magazine webinar scheduled on April 8. Website Magazine is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 20 at 2.00 pm ET. The topic of the webinar is “SEO in 2014: Fact, Fiction and Sensationalism”. The WM team says, “With search optimization now a regular part of the marketing equation, businesses are increasingly reliant on incoming search traffic to support growth goals. SEO is more important than ever, and Google’s recent algorithm updates have caused a flurry of speculation, joy, and panic! Separate SEO fact, fiction, and sensationalism – Join... [...]