Searching the Internet Boosts Brain Activity
A team of researchers at UCLA have found that for older people, using the Internet, particularly searching on the Internet, causes enhanced neural stimulation leading to better reasoning and decision-making. I knew it was good for something!
Google Voice mails exposed for all to see and hear
Apparently, even the most secure and private information isn’t.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=4694
Makes me wonder what sort of cross-departmental communication is happening at Google. Fix it quickly guys!
Yahoo Favicon Test for Branding in Search Ads
I’ve been on the lookout for ways to get an image thumbnail in Google SERPs. Since so many search engines are largely text-based, image thumbnails that do display catch the eye like little else. I would go so far as to say that image thumbnails in search engine results pages realign the golden triangle to originate at the image thumbnail.
In other words, image thumbnails should increase the click through rate for your link. At least, in isolation, or without every link on a SERP displaying a thumbnail. That’d be overwhelming.
I was alerted to Yahoo! experimenting with image thumbnails in a brand new way. Yahoo! is testing placing Favicons (that small graphic next to the URL or in the tab of your browser) next to search ads. These 16×16 iconic graphics should easily attract searchers, and add value to the searchers experience by communicating through graphical branding. It’s important to note that branding in SERPs has existed since their inception. The brand has been the domain. And will continue to be. The Favicon display experiment from Yahoo! is enabling the advance from text to graphics in branding and communication through their SERPs. Fantastic!
What do you think of this test? Think Google will ever adopt the favicon in SERPs aesthetic? Leave your thoughts in the comments. Thanks!
Related Articles:
- Ask.com Implements Canonical URL Tag (searchenginewatch.com)
- Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! Create Canonical Tag (appscout.com)
- Do Search Engines Look at Keywords in URLs? (seobythesea.com)
- Search giants join to tidy up Web addresses (news.cnet.com)
- Yahoo! Tops March 2009 Mobile Benchmark Study by Gomez and dotMobi (searchenginewatch.com)
- Google Study Shows Use of XML Sitemaps Helps Index Fresh Content Quicker (seobythesea.com)
- The Web Search Engine Ranking Friendly Website (marketersdaily.com)
Video | Image Thumbnails in Google – Update
I’ve been testing a few theories to get image thumbnails in Google search results (SERPs). I just noticed that video/image thumbnails that were previously displayed in SERPs were removed. I am unsure why Google placed the thumbnails, and why they were recently removed. I was watching these results to see if thumbnail placement remained over time. Is image thumbnail placement in Google results arbitrary?
Though I think it’s a bit too early to tell whether or not influencing how video|image thumbnails display in Google SERPs is a skill, I’m reminded of a quotation from Brad Callen:
The only difference between “Pet Rock” fads and SEO fads is that the search engines change their algorithms to end a fad.
I think Google just ended my faddish analysis of this. A little sad. Don’t leave me this way! Anyone hear of an update that changed how Google decides which image thumbnails to display, or have any spot on references to getting this going right? Thanks yall! :)
Related Articles:
- Google Mobile: New Image SERPs for Android and iPhone (blippitt.com)
- What Are You Looking At? Google Details Results of Eye Tracking Study (readwriteweb.com)
- Necessity Of Search Engine Optimization (content123.com)
- Meta Tags and Web 3.0 (sciencetext.com)
- Get to Page 1 on Google with Content Optimization (wordsellinc.com)
