Google Officially Rolling Out the New SERPs

Now Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products & User Experience has officially announced the new design, and included the following video:

Mayer says, "We’ve added contextually relevant, left-hand navigation to the page. This new side panel highlights the most relevant search tools and refinements for your query. Over the past three years, we've launched Universal Search, the Search Options panel and Google Squared, and it’s those three technologies that power the left-hand panel."

Update 4: According to Brad Stone with the New York Times Bits Blog, Google is rolling out the new SERP design gradually right now (Tuesday and Wednesday).

Update 3: More people are reportedly seeing the new design today, assuming this isn't April Fools material.


Update 2: One of my co-workers is seeing the new SERPs:

WebProNews - New Google SERP

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? Tell us what you think.

Images of this new look and feel look strangely familiar - similar to that of a certain "decision engine."


Resources: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/11/19/google-testing-a-revamp-of-the-search-results-page

Netflix Leads In Online Retailer Satisfaction

Satisfaction with the top 100 e-retailers has increased from a decline this time last year, to an all-time high score of 78 points on a 100-point scale, according to new research from ForeSee Results.

The research found consumers are more satisfied with their online experiences than ever before. Nearly every individual retailer reached a score that matched or exceeded previous satisfaction levels.

"The state of the economy really forced e-retail to step up their game," said study author Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results.



"Since so much of the financial downturn was out of their control, companies turned to those things they could improve, and now they are reaping the benefits. Customer satisfaction is not a byproduct of a healthy economy. Instead, a healthy economy is a consequence of satisfied customers."


Netflix ranked as the top retailer for the sixth year in a row with a score of 87, up tow points from last year. Amazon trailed by a single point and maintained its second place position for the sixth year running.

In 2009, only five websites scored more than 80 (generally considered the threshold for excellence), but in 2010, 28 websites score 80 or higher. Not a single e-retailer scored below 70 (usually the cut off for bottom performers), an unprecedented event in the research's six-year history. Several companies made huge jumps in score, the most improved being MarketAmerica.com (+12 to 75), Etronics.com (+10 to 73) and Ambercrombie.com (+9 to 79).

The study quantifies that a highly satisfied online shopper is 73% more likely to purchase online, 47% more likely to purchase offline, 72% more likely to recommend, 53% more likely to return, and 67% more like to purchase again than a dissatisfied shopper. The study also shows that a one-point increase in online customer satisfaction (as measured by this study) translates to roughly $89 million in increased sales for a top e-retailer.

"The impact of customer satisfaction on an e-retailer's bottom line has never been clearer," said Kevin Ertell, Vice President of Retail Strategy at ForeSee Results.

"This research proves that customer satisfaction is still the number one driver of loyalty, positive word of mouth, and future purchasing intent. Despite a serious dip in 2009, e-retail has jumped back in line with the other industries we measure, an indication for many that the economy is finally on the way back."

Resources : http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/05/05/netflix-leads-in-online-retailer-satisfaction

Site-wide links can hurt your rankings

If a site links to another site from every page, those links are called site-wide links. If you are buying links, it may look as a good option to receive hundreds of incoming backlinks for the price of one link, however, most search engines would count only the most powerful link which is relevant. Site-wide links also make your link profile to look artificial, as you’d have hundreds of incoming links with the sama anchor text. Many SEO forums have reported that side-wide links can actually hurt your ranking in search engines like Google, especially when site-wide links constitute a large percentage of the incoming links.

If most of your link popularity comes from purchased site-wide links, Google will eventually find and eliminate the value of these links. So it is advisable to buy few single links that would fly under the radar.

However, it makes me wonder how Google treats blogroll links. Most blogroll links, by default, are site-wide links – Going by the logic of anchor text, it would mean that it is better not to receive blogroll links from huge blogs having hundreds of pages.

Resources : http://www.google-success.com/site-wide-links-can-hurt-your-rankings.htm

Google Reclaims Gmail Name In The UK

Four and a half years ago, Google lost the right to use the term "Gmail" in te UK due to a trademark dispute, and ever since, "Google Mail" is what its email service has been called in the region. Only now, Google's finally ditching the two-word moniker and going back to good old Gmail.

A little background info: Independent International Investment Research first objected to Google's use of "Gmail" because it offered a G-mail service of its own. And Independent International Investment Research wanted $500,000 per year, plus "the same amount in advertising credits," in exchange for standing aside.

Unfortunately, no one's talking about whatever sort of settlement Google's reached with the company. Google Software Engineer Greg Bullock was happy to explain the ramifications on the Gmail Blog, though.

Bullock wrote late yesterday, "If you already have a Google email account in the UK, you'll soon have the option to switch your existing @googlemail.com address to the matching @gmail.com one, but you're also free to stick with @googlemail.com. And starting later this week, anybody who signs up for a new account in the UK will get an @gmail.com address."

This should make things slightly more convenient for users and decrease the chance of typos occurring, considering that Bullock stated, "Since 'gmail' is 50% fewer characters than 'googlemail,' we estimate this name change will save approximately 60 million keystrokes a day."

For whatever it's worth, Bullock also claimed, "At about 217 microjoules per keystroke, that's about the energy of 20 bonbons saved every day!"

Resources - http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/05/04/google-reclaims-gmail-name-in-the-uk

Google Changes Analytics Authorized Consultant Program

Last week Google changed its Google Advertising Professionals (GAP) program to the Google AdWords Certification program, and introduced a new badge for AdWords Certified Partners. Now Google is making a similar change with its Analytics Authorized Consultant program.

Partners in the program are now being called Google Analytics Certified Partners, and also have a new badge that looks very much like the one AdWords partners get. The company says it's part of an effort to produce consistent naming and badging for all Google product partner programs.

Google Analytics Certified Partner Analytics Authorized Consultant benefits include (I assume this doen't change outside of the naming):

* The "Google Analytics Authorized Consultant" logo and designation
* Possible client referrals from Google sales teams
* Elevated technical support for Google Analytics
* Listing on the Google Analytics Partner page
* Invitation to attend annual GAAC summit at Google offices
* Access to exclusive GAAC web forum to share ideas and technical tips with Google and other GAACs

"If you are looking for help with your Google Analytics account, look for companies that display this Google Analytics Certified Partners logo," says Eva Woo of Google's Analytics Team. "Companies displaying this logo have met our rigorous requirements demonstrating a level of expertise, agreed to our terms and conditions, and have proven experience to work with you."

"Yes, we’ve made them jump through hoops because it’s important that we vet the best to service you," adds Woo. "We don’t take it lightly because optimizing your Google Analytics account is serious business. So, whether it’s a quick consultation, help with an implementation or tracking a campaign, or long term support or training - look for companies that display the new logo."


Resources : http://tinyurl.com/26gfg7z