Google really wants you to share your personal information with them, and in an effort to get a little closer to you and all that valued marketing info … they're now offering a personalized Google account. Here's what Google says….
When you're signed in to Google Accounts, you'll now get more relevant, useful search results, recommendations and other personalized features. For example, if you use Google Bookmarks or Google Search History, you'll get more targeted web search results and recommendations for videos or gadgets. You can easily access these recommendations by adding the Interesting Items" gadget directly to your personalized homepage.
Like most of you, I have a Google email account … so, like you I'm probably going to cuddle in a little closer with this search mega-giant.
Well, it seems that Google does one thing really well and only one thing. The search engine company tried their hand at competing with other startup ventures and according to Ben Charny of MarketWatch, Google failed miserably.
What's troubling for Google, analysts say, is how far behind it has fallen in markets considered key to its future. The impact won't be felt now, but years from now when Google can no longer rely on its search engine for the bulk of its revenues.
"Google hasn't succeeded in most things it has tried outside of search," said Nate Elliott, an analyst with Jupiter Research. "They just don't seem to have done a lot of other things right."
Bottomline is that Google needs to diversify if it's going to enjoy a long life span. That's why we're seeing Google offer us free email, mapping, blogs, etc. We've also seen Google jump into the Affiliate Marketing space with their new CPA ads.
My guess is that Google will keep doing what they do well, and just buy what they want eventually. I mean, every startup has it's purchase price.
Reseller has pulled out a post at WebmasterWorld linking to a Google Groups post by a Google Employee saying;
There are a few things to consider about our overall crawl and indexing pipeline. As part of some recent updates (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/bigdaddy/) we're taking a much closer look at affiliate links, linkfarms, duplicate content, and other factors as described in our webmaster quality guidelines.
As with the Florida update, when Google went after sites that were perceived as going against Google Quality Guidelines, some good & clean sites were hit in the cross fire. With this, the same has happened, and it will always happen.
So if you are suffering, you can try posting in the Google Group or emailing Google, as specified in the thread.
One of my sincerest hopes in blogging here is to bring new ideas to light and one of those ideas that I'm most excited about in the affiliate space is seeing affiliates move beyond Google.
You know, a few years back Google had us all convinced that we would never get an rank in their search engine if we all didn't put Google ads on our websites. What a load fly dung that was! One had nothing to do with the other.
But what did happen was that Google successfully took over the Web, and we helped them do it. Remember when Google was the search engine that webmasters endorsed? What were we thinking?!!
So, now we're seeing new income streams for affiliates.
Life beyond Google includes NetTraction, Adgenta, CrispAds, Text Link Ads, Intelli Txt, Peak Click, DoubleClickTribal Fusion, Adbrite, Clicksor, Industry Brains, AdHearUs, Kanoodle, AVN, Pheedo, Adknowledge, YesAdvertising, RevenuePilotTextAds, SearchFeed, Target Point, Bidvertiser, Fastclick Value Click and OneMonkey, MSN Adcenter and YPN from Yahoo.
I'd really encourage you to check these advertisers out and see how they can help your affiliate future.
Brad Fallon says, StomperNet has exceeded my wildest expectations. At $800 a month to join the StomperNet, that has got to be some nice return on investment for Brad Fallon and Andy Jenkins.
The recent release of the StomperNet program was heavily monitored by the SEO and Affiliate Marketing communities … and apparently by Google as well.
In the early releases of their promotional videos for StomperNet, Brad Fallon used his own business website … myweddingfavors.com … as an example of how successful the StomperNet methods can be if followed. Brad brought a lot of traffic and attention to his business website for sure, but he might have also captured the attention of Google.
Google recently updated their Page Rank algorythms and shook up the internet business world yet again, and guess what?! Brad Fallon's myweddingfavors.com is no longer in the top 10 for its keywords wedding favors … not sure it's even in the top 50!
Now Brad and Andy say they don't use black hat techniques at all, and myweddingfavors.com had a ton of backlinks which Google should like as much as a flea likes dogs. So, if myweddingfavors.com followed all the Google rules … why did it get the G-boot?
Google punishes websites for no apparent reasons and of course, they will never tell you why they do what they do. I noticed they pulled all my PR on my blogs, but I've chalked that up to the price I have to pay for switching servers because I only use white hat techniques with my blogs.
Just like Brad and Andy, I'll never know for sure because Google is just a steamroller in the world of search. You know, they say affiliate marketing will be a bigger player than search in the next few years … the question is, do we take Google along for that ride too?
Search engine mega-giant Google has lost their European battle for the right to register the term "Gmail" as a wide-ranging European trademark.
The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM), rejected Google's appeal. OHIM is responsible for the European community trademarks.
That means that Google has lost its battle with the German venture capitalist Daniel Giersch. Giersch held his trademark years before Google launched its email service in 2004. Giersch had already founded a same-day mail delivery service called GMail, designed to offer a swifter alternative to the Deutsche Post.
In 2006, a district court in Hamburg had awarded Giersch victories at both the preliminary and final stages of their litigation with Google. Google was ordered to remove all Gmail references from their German services.
Now, Giersch has also filed lawsuits to defend more recent registrations of the trademark in Switzerland, Norway and Monaco.
Google offered to buy the trademark rights from Giersch for $250,000, but Giersch turned them down saying that Google's behaviour is "very threatening, very aggressive and very unfaithful." I know a few booted affiliates who would agree with that assessment.
As an intersting sidenote, Google also had to rename their Google Mail service in the UK in 2005. That time they lost to research firm IIIR whom had registered "Gmail" for its financial analytics software. Google did an out of court settlement that time.
Maybe if they had offered Giersch more than $250,000 they would have their trademark in Germany. Doesn't that offer seem a tad low?
I received a nice email from Google today letting me know that they've upgraded their analytics tool. Here's the deatils….
We are happy to announce the release of a new version of the Google Analytics reporting interface. Since you are an existing user, you will automatically be upgraded - there is no action required on your part. To access this new version click the "View Reports" link next to any profile in your account by logging in at http://www.google.com/analytics.
For a smooth transition, we've listed some helpful resources and notes below. Also, you will still be able to access your old reporting interface for at least a month by clicking "Previous Interface" below the "View Reports" link for any profile in your account. Other than a few improvements detailed in the version notes below, your data and configuration settings remain unaffected by your choice of interface and your data continues to be tracked in the same way as it was prior to this redesign.
*What is new?* In the new version, your reports have been redesigned for clarity, greater visibility of important metrics, and ease of use. Here are just a few of the features you'll notice:
- Email and export reports: Schedule or send ad-hoc personalized report emails and export reports in PDF format.
- Custom Dashboard: No more digging through reports. Put all the information you need on a custom dashboard that you can email to others.
- Trend and Over-time Graph: Compare time periods and select date ranges without losing sight of long term trends.
- Contextual help tips: Context sensitive Help and Conversion University tips are available from every report.The new interface has everything the previous interface had and more. In addition, links within reports make it easier to navigate related information and explore your data.
The following resources are available to help you get the most from the new Google Analytics interface:
- Report Finder Tool: will help you see where data from the previous interface is located within the new version (it is also linked to from within your reports on the left nav menu.
- Support: if you encounter any issues with the new version that you can't resolve with the help center, you can contact our support team through the Contact Us link at the bottom of the help center web page, or receive higher-touch support through a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant. Find one here: http://www.google.com/analytics/support_partner_provided.html
- Analytics Help Forum: If you would like to discuss the new version or get tips from experienced users, please visit the Analytics Help Forum in English within Google Groups at: http://groups.google.com/group/analytics-help
Help people discover more of your web pages with Google webmaster tools
Google's suite of webmaster tools provides you with a free and easy way to make your site more Google-friendly. They can show you Google's view of your site, help you diagnose problems, and let you share info with us to help improve your site's visibility in Google's search results.
Recognize traffic trends with Google Analytics
Get easy access to intuitive graphs that show exactly what's happening on your site. You can pinpoint exactly which links and pages on your site are popular with your readership and which aren't. Or see exactly where your readers are coming from - which website, country, state and city.
Drive traffic to your site with Google AdWords
With Google AdWords you create your own ads, choose keywords to help us match your ads to your audience and pay only when someone clicks on them. That is, you only pay when your advertising works.
Make it easier for users to find your content with Google Base
Google Base is a place where you can easily submit all types of content, which we'll make searchable on Google properties. You can describe any item you post with attributes, which will help people find if when they do related searches.
Harness the power of Google search to create a free Custom Search Engine
Create a highly specialized search engine that reflects your knowledge and interests. Place it on your website, and using our AdSense for Search program, make money from the resulting traffic.
Add interactivity and community to your site
Enrich your site with Google Video
Explore
Google Video and you'll find a wide selection of content that can be displayed on your site, for free. It's fast and easy to
upload a video or embed videos on your site to instantly share them with your users.Engage your readers with Blogger
Use a blog to easily update your readers with your news, photos and videos and encourage feedback and interaction through user comments. Choose from a range of designer templates to get started in minutes.
Integrate Google's interactive maps into your site's data using Google Maps API
Integrate your site's data into Google's interactive maps and embed them in your web pages with JavaScript. You can plot points and lines and display information windows with the Google Maps look and feel. The Google Maps API is a free (beta) service, available for use on any website that is free to consumers.
Enable your users to work together more effectively with Google Apps
Google Apps provides your users with innovative applications to help them become more productive through better communication and collaboration. Give them the tools they need with your own special branding, color scheme and content. Take advantage of Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Docs & Spreadsheets and Page Creator and have it all hosted by Google without any hardware and software to install or maintain.
Share documents and spreadsheets online with Google Docs & Spreadsheets
You and your colleagues can collaborate in real time, even from different locations, and everyone will always see the most current version. AdSense publishers can use Google Docs & Spreadsheets to create and share site content, edit webpage mockups in HTML or text, or manage marketing plans, contracts, proposals, and budgets.
Collaborate with your users with Google Groups
Create a customizable group to co-author pages with your users, upload and share files (including photos), form email lists and start discussions.
Generate more revenue with AdSense features
Earn more by spreading the word about AdSense and Firefox through referrals
By adding a referral button to your site, you can help connect users to useful products like AdSense and Firefox - while generating additional earnings in the process. If you're not already an AdSense publisher, you'll need to sign up in order to use referrals.
Combine Google search and AdSense with AdSense for search
Adding a Google search box to your site means monetizing more web pages while offering your users an even better site experience. Visitors hang around longer, since they can search from right on your site. And since AdSense serves targeted ads on search results pages, you can make more money from your Google search box as well. If you're not already an AdSense publisher, you'll need to sign up in order to use AdSense for search.
Jennifer Slegg, author of JenSense blog, announced today that you can now officially run other types of contextual ads on the same page as your AdSense ads.
Yet, as I posted yesterday, its removal from the policy pages did not mean much in itself, as the AdSense terms still included a clause (If You have elected to receive content or Site-based Ads, You further agree not to display on any Serviced Page any non-Google content-targeted advertisement(s).) that would prevent other contextual ads on the same page.
I followed up with Google on the situation, to find out of the removal of the clause would mean that competitor's ads would be allowed on the same page as AdSense, provided they didn't resemble or mimic AdSense ads, and that the AdSense terms would eventually be updated to reflect this policy change. And the answer is yes!
Don't' get too excited though, because Yahoo is still saying no to other ads on the same page as theirs.
Using Yahoo Publisher Network is still a no go, because the YPN terms still contain a clause (For any webpage or RSS feed that includes the Ad Code, you agree not to display or link to any other advertising (including but not limited to any listing) that is mapped to or responds to the content of the Ad Page) preventing publishers from using another contextual ad network on the same page as YPN ads.
Update: I spoke with Yahoo Publisher Network on this issue, and they say that as of today, page level exclusivity still exists. This means you still cannot run YPN on the same page as another contextual ad network. However, they will listen to publisher feedback on this issue and take it into consideration for future YPN terms updates.
My first thought after hearing this news was what's the catch?! Google always has a catch!
And any other contextual ads are now fine to run, provided their own terms do allow other contextual ads on the same page, and they do not mimic the AdSense ad units on the page you currently run.
There's the catch I thought. They're going to say that some networks are mimicking their look, but upon further reading Jenn explained more.
If you are using the border-less technique, the simplest solution is to add a border or change the background color of the competitor's ad unit. It is still unclear just how much of the text within a blended ad unit (an ad unit that matches the border and background to the background of the webpage) would have to be changed, but I would guess all three elements would need changing, the colors of the title, description text and the URL.
