Search Engine Watch

4 Localization Tips for Savvy Global Businesses

by Christian Arno • February 17, 2012

International websites are a serious game and require serious thought and attention. Here are some top tips on how to tackle the localization of your product's website and online presence, and land gracefully on a cushion of dollar bills.

Media Attribution: How to Start Optimizing Your Media Allocations

by Ted Rooke • February 17, 2012

If you’re ready to begin seeing the “true value of media performance†and get the most out of your digital budget, you need to know how to get this boulder moving… And fast. Your boss expects results this quarter! Now what?

Twitter Makes HTTPS the Default Setting for Users

by V3 • February 16, 2012

Twitter will use encryption by default when users sign in. Although Twitter is making HTTPS the default setting for users, you can turn it off in your account settings. Twitter joins Facebook and Google+ in giving users the option sign in via HTTPs.

Google Falsely Flagged as Malware by Microsoft

by Danny Goodwin • February 16, 2012

The world’s most popular search engine was falsely identified by Microsoft as malware for four hours on Valentine’s Day due to a faulty software security update, leaving many frustrated Internet Explorer users unable to access Google.

App Store Optimization

by Peter van der Graaf • February 16, 2012

The arena of app stores is much like the way organic search results used to be. Knowledge on app store optimization can still provide a big advantage over your competitors and it can be a lucrative way to exploit your old fashioned SEO skills.

Social Media Insight from 6 Successful Brands on Google+

Google+ is slowly but surely attracting a more diverse user base and big brands are taking notice. Many have fully integrated the platform into their social media strategies. Is Google+ a part of your social media strategy? It should be!

Spring Forward with Search Strategies for Travel Marketers

by Dave Ragals • February 16, 2012

We are quickly approaching the travel industry’s high season. Roughly 40 percent of the industry’s annual impression volume takes place between May and August, leaving only a few months for travel marketers to get their accounts in order.

Facebook Advertisers Testing New Sponsored Stories Actions: Want, Own, Played & More

by ClickZ • February 16, 2012

A limited number of Facebook advertisers are testing what appears to be the next iteration of Sponsored Stories. They are targeting the social site's users who have played video games, watched videos, or listened to songs, among other examples.

DuckDuckGo Hits New Milestone: 1 Million Searches

by Danny Goodwin • February 16, 2012

DuckDuckGo has good reason to quack. The small startup search engine announced that it received more than 1 million searches for the first time on the eve of Valentine’s Day. More than a million searches were also conducted on Valentine’s Day.

Romney, Gingrich Latest to Join the Search Engine 'Spreading' Game

by Miranda Miller • February 15, 2012

Hey, you know what this country needs? Another reason to keep normal people out of politics. Rick Santorum’s icky problem might be a little less problematic for him now that all the cool kids are getting their own Spreading sites.

Nomenclature: The Industry Case For and Against SEO

by Miranda Miller • February 15, 2012

"SEO is dead" is the debate that just won’t die. Last week, Andy Betts inspired us to consider again the role and definition of SEO in the age of convergence and collaboration. Search marketers and industry leaders share their thoughts.

Beginner's Guide to Google Analytics: What to Track

by Sarah Carling • February 15, 2012

Before you can do anything else with Google Analytics, you need to understand what you're trying to track and why. Here are a few ideas for some types of data you may want to track correctly from the beginning in Google Analytics.

SEO: A Force for Good

by Simon Heseltine • February 15, 2012

Think about what the web would look like without SEOs working to help legitimate sites rank for the terms that they should rank for. The more optimized and targeted a website becomes, the greater the chance a potential customers will find it.

How Local Small Businesses are Evolving Their Online Marketing Strategies

by Tim Judd • February 15, 2012

Small businesses are merely scratching the surface when it comes to penetrating the web for marketing needs. Are decades-old mom-and-pop businesses finally open to reaching a target audience through alternative means like Google and Yelp?

Google Tries to Diagnose Health Conditions on Symptom Searches

by Danny Goodwin • February 14, 2012

Google is adding a new health search results feature. Whenever you search for a symptom or multiple symptoms of an illness, Google will show you a list of possibly related health conditions related to your query to get you to answers more quickly.

Search Engines Crazy in Love on Valentine’s Day 2012

by Danny Goodwin • February 14, 2012

All the major search engines are celebrating Valentine’s Day this year with special logos or pictures on their home pages. In addition to Google’s Valentine’s Day Doodle featuring Tony Bennett, Bing, Yahoo, Baidu and others are sharing the love.

Google-Motorola Acquisition Approved in U.S., EU

by V3 • February 14, 2012

In a pair of announcements made just hours apart, the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission each announced that the $12.5 billion acquisition had been cleared by their respective anti-trust authorities and could proceed.

4 Ways to Kill Your PPC Health

by Melissa Mackey • February 14, 2012

An agency/client PPC relationship is a lot like a doctor/patient relationship. Both parties are responsible for the health of the campaign, and they need to work together. Not doing so can lead to less than optimal PPC well-being.

How to Make PPC Count Without Conversion Tracking

by John Lee • February 14, 2012

Imagine for a second a PPC advertiser’s worst nightmare: You log into AdWords and your keywords, ads and campaigns all have zeros in the conversion stat column! Worse yet, it isn’t a performance problem – just a tracking problem. Here’s what to do

Valentine's Day 2012 Searches: Gifts.com, Yelp Win Big [Infographic]

by Miranda Miller • February 14, 2012

In anticipation of Valentine's Day, Gifts.com appeared in the top five search results for 60 percent of non-geographic “gifts†keywords during January; RedEnvelope.com placed a distant second, with a 37 percent share of search, Conductor reports.