Citysearch Has New Way for Local Businesses to Advertise
March 8, 2010
Citysearch recently announced a set of APIs to make all of Citysearch’s local listings content and advertising available to other Websites and mobile apps. It's called CityGrid. Today, the company announced an online advertising solution called CityGrid Complete, as an extension of that.
CityGrid Complete was built around an investment from Citysearch in OrangeSoda. CitySearch tells WebProNews that with the investment, they will offer local advertisers:
- Access to a pay-for-performance advertising platform and campaign management tools
- Scalable search engine optimization solution on the Web, including targeted keyword optimization, and reporting (ranking, conversation tracking and trending)
- Local listings optimization, including business profile optimization and phone call tracking and reporting
- Wider distribution across CityGrid
"Whether it's driving new customers to our advertisers from major search sites or mobile applications, CityGrid Complete is about delivering local businesses the highest quality leads for the best value," said Citysearch CEO Jay Herratti. "By combining the distribution power of CityGrid with OrangeSoda's platform, every small business in America now has access to a one-stop local advertising solution with SEO strategies and tactics that historically required a large dedicated team of experts."
"Every search engine has introduced local directory listings prominently in their organic search results and this has given small businesses another way to get featured in the search engine results real estate," said Jay Bean, CEO of OrangeSoda. "For over 15 years, Citysearch has helped small businesses gain exposure on other websites, and now they want to help small businesses gain better exposure through organic search results. By bundling our expertise and tool set with CityGrid, we are offering small businesses a revolutionary local online advertising package that no other company offers."
OraneSoda has provided SEO services to brands like International Truck, Remax, and Jiffy Lube.
Google Testing a Revamp of the Search Results Page
March 1, 2010
Update 2: One of my co-workers is seeing the new SERPs:
Update: Danny Sullivan reports that "slight variations" of this design are "live in the wild," and "still being shown to a randomly selected group of people," and that Google doesn't have an expected launch date for a complete roll-out.
Original Article (11/19): Google is testing a new user interface for its search options feature. If you are unfamiliar with the search options feature, it is the link on your search results page that says "show options" and brings up a menu on the left-hand side of the screen providing a number of ways to filter your results.
According to Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land, a "small number" of Google users will see the new interface starting today. The aim of the new interface is to provide users with a cleaner display. Sullivan says that if the testing goes well, Google may roll it out after the New Year. He quotes Google's Marissa Mayer as saying, "We're basically looking at a new look and feel for Google. It's an overall cleaning up of the search engine results page."
Do you think Google's results pages need a new look and feel? Talk to ArisYulianta and Friends... what you think.
Images of this new look and feel look strangely familiar - similar to that of a certain "decision engine." Take a look:
Of course, the Google's search options and Bing have been compared in the past (and other search engines utilize a similar design too for that matter), in terms of the general layout. Their functionalities differ on various levels. It's important to note that this will just be how the search results pages will look, without having to click the search options link to get to it. There has been discussion in the past about how much users actually use Google's search options, simply because the feature is easy to overlook. Such a change would put the options right in your face.
Besides being visually different, the options themselves are different in some areas. For example, a "see also" section has been added, which suggests related queries. There is also a section called "show search tools," which now contains things like the Wonder Wheel, Timeline View, and "more shopping sites."
Google may start messing around with the top navigation on search results pages next year, but the company has acknowledged that it works well right now. It will be interesting to see the change in use of this top navigation if the left-hand options go mainstream.
What do you think of this re-working of Google's search results pages? Do you want to see it go mainstream, or do you like it better how it is right now? Share your thoughts.
Have You Read This?
> Google Launches Search Options
> Google Presents New Image Search Options
> Google's Search Options Increase
Advocacy Group Asks DOJ To Probe Google Search Results
February 25, 2010
Consumer Watchdog today called on the Justice Department to guarantee that its ongoing antitrust probe of Google's business practices include an investigation into if the company is manipulating its search results to favor its own products.
The nonprofit advocacy group said it sent a letter to Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Division, after news that the European Commission had received three complaints against Google alleging the company manipulated search engine results in an anticompetitive way.
Also this week U.K. based price comparison site Foundem filed papers with the Federal Communications Commission with examples of how Google products were allegedly favored in its search results.
"We know and appreciate that your department is conducting an ongoing antitrust investigation of various business practices by Google, some of that related to the proposed Google Books settlement," wrote John M. Simpson, consumer advocate.
"Today I write to call upon you to ensure that included in that probe is consideration of how Google may use its search algorithms to manipulate Internet search results to favor its own products."
With around 70 percent of the search market in the U.S., Consumer Watchdog says Google is effectively the Internet's gatekeeper for most consumers. The group says whether a website is ever visited can depend entirely on where it lands in Google search results.
"As part of your continued antitrust investigation we call on you to shine a light on Google's black box, and require it to explain what's behind search results," Simpson wrote.
"If, as it appears, Google is tweaking results to further its narrow agenda, this anticompetitive behavior must be stopped."
Beware Tiger Woods Accident Information Sources
November 30, 2009
The Tiger Woods car accident has had the web abuzz over the weekend. Like nearly anything else that creates such buzz, cyber-criminals will find a way to exploit it. This incident is no exception.
According to security company Symantec, interest in Tiger's accident and rumors surrounding its cause has given scareware peddlers "ripe opportunity" to "poison web search engines." Because the story has generated such a swell in web traffic and searches, malicious entities surely couldn't resist. The story has appeared frequently in the top Google searches since the news broke.
Symantec says it has observed that some search results redirect users to different malicious domains, such as:
- vir-curemypc-now.com
- egafuki.cn
- online-scanner-free.net
"From an IT security point of view, this unfortunate incident is just another fruit ripe for the picking as far as malware writers are concerned," says Symantec's Hon Lau. "It comes as no surprise that the creators of rogue antivirus or misleading application software have already jumped on the bandwagon and attempted to poison web search engine results to take advantage of this spike in web search activity."
Naturally, the company is advising web searchers and those interested in the Tiger Woods story to be on guard. Symantec reminds us that when you search for info on the web, it is best to make sure your computer is secure. In addition, stay away from online sources that seem to "strong-arm" you into buying anti-virus software.
On a related note, Tech Blorge notes that the Tiger Woods story was broken on Twitter, as opposed to traditional media. These cases always provide for an interesting look at how new media is changing in the era of social media.
Have You Read This?
> "Kanye West Died" Rumor Used as a Scareware Tactic
> Security A Concern For Online Holiday Shoppers
