SERPs | Internet Marketing Blog

Eyes don't lie: consumers cold to real-time results so far

If you listen to the tech set, you might think that real-time is one of the most important areas search engines should be focusing on. The search engines themselves do too.

Google, Bing and Yahoo have all done deals with Twitter to acquire real-time data. But what do consumers think? According to digital marketing agency OneUpWeb, real-time is real disappointing.

by Patricio Robles 05 March 2010 11:29am 2 comments

Are Google's SERPs getting too messy?

Google might as well have been called Simple. Back when Google was a new entrant in the search engine market and larger competitors were cluttering up their homepages with as much content as could be aggregated on a single page, Google took a different approach and offered internet users an alternative: a clean, if not sparse, homepage that focused on one thing -- search.

Relatively-speaking, that homepage hasn't changed much in the past decade. But what has changed: Google's SERPs.

by Patricio Robles 04 March 2010 13:34pm 11 comments

Bing keeps cooking up new recipes for vertical search

The 'verticalization' of search continues. Bing, which already serves up specialized search results for verticals including travel and shopping, is adding another niche to its portfolio: recipes.

Its new recipe results pull in data from popular recipe websites and give searchers the ability to display and filter recipe results via a recipe-specific interface. The goal, obviously, is to give consumers searching for their next home cooked meal one more reason to use Microsoft's 'decision engine'.

by Patricio Robles 22 January 2010 11:59am 4 comments

Scotland Yard crackdown exposes Google's flaws

British police have shut down more than 1,200 websites selling fake designer clothing in jewelry in the past week. And along with those websites, they've taken out some of Google's top results.

Thanks to a tweet tip, the aftermath of Scotland Yard's crackdown can be seen with a Google UK search for 'ugg boots'. As I write this, no less than seven of the top 10 results on the first page for this search are inaccessible. One of the websites that can't be accessed includes the top-ranked site: okuggboots.co.uk.

by Patricio Robles 07 December 2009 10:32am 56 comments

Google: expect a Caffeine jolt after the holidays

Google's Caffeine update is coming. Billed by Google as "the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions", Caffeine is not your regular Google update.

When Caffeine was announced, Google did something it had never done before: it offered up a sandbox so that the public could preview search results with Caffeine and provide Google with feedback. While that sandbox is no longer available, you won't have to wait long for your Caffeine jolt: according to Google's Matt Cutts, Caffeine is coming after the holidays.

by Patricio Robles 12 November 2009 09:02am 5 comments

The five biggest myths about Google

On the internet, few companies receive more attention than Google. And for good reason: Google touches so many individuals and businesses. From search to its 'side projects', just about everything Google does creates interest.

Google's prominence, not surprisingly, has led to the creation of many myths. Here are my top five.

by Patricio Robles 06 November 2009 11:00am 7 comments

Six inconvenient truths about SEO

You've probably seen them: programs claiming to teach you how you can use SEO to boost your Google rankings and in turn build a successful internet business that runs on cruise control. All for the low price of $49.95.

While such programs almost always fall into the 'scam' category, there is truth to the notion that SEO can be a pathway to success. If you run any sort of website, chances are you need traffic, and SEO can deliver it. But there are some inconvenient truths about SEO that often get ignored, especially in 'newbie' circles. Here are six of them.

by Patricio Robles 30 October 2009 08:46am 19 comments

Search experts weigh in on Google and Bing's real-time deals with Twitter

Twitter's deals with Microsoft (Bing) and Google have the blogosphere and Twittersphere abuzz. 'Real-time search' has been a hot topic in 2009 and there has been much speculation on Twitter's strategy vis-à-vis the real-time search opportunity. It appears that we now know what that strategy is: sell firehose access to the Twitter stream to the search engines and let them do what they do best.

The Bing and Google deals could be significant. Depending on what Bing and Google decide to do with their Twitter firehose, internet users could potentially see SERPs that are heavily influenced by Twitter activity, which would mean that SEOs will have to deal with Twitter as a 'ranking factor'. Of course, nobody knows all of the details yet, which is why I thought it would be worthwhile to see what experts and observers are saying about the deals.

by Patricio Robles 23 October 2009 12:48pm 3 comments

Four steps to profiting from a decent domain name

If you're an entrepreneur, or budding entrepreneur, making money online can sometimes seem like a real challenge. In my opinion, that's often because entrepreneurs focus on the wrong thing. They want to create a 'startup' and become the next Facebook or Twitter.

That's a tall order and, for most of us, a recipe for disappointment. But if you're willing to start out small and work hard, profit on the internet isn't so elusive.

by Patricio Robles 23 October 2009 10:28am 3 comments

10 reasons people criticize SEO

SEO is a polarizing subject. Bring it up in the company of the tech set and chances are you'll get a debate not unlike one you might get when talking about religion and politics.

A lot of the criticism of SEO is misplaced while some of it isn't. When addressing SEO criticism, it helps to have an understanding of why critics are so skeptical. Here are top 10 reasons.

by Patricio Robles 16 October 2009 11:31am 30 comments