What always happens immediately after a Google link update? A Google Page Rank (toolbar)update, that’s what!

The bad news for me is that for the second time in a row, my original domain pdxtc.com has taken a hit. The good news though is that I’ve checked a few clients sites, and all seven I checked have gone up. Hmm…

Since Google has discontinued their labeling of pages as Supplemental Results, what shall we call them now? I guess until Google names them officially, I’ll call them the “CrappyPages”.

The words, “Supplemental Results” always required a long explanation anyway, with many different interpretations of exactly what it meant, and many different theories on how to get rid of them, or whether or not, you even needed to get rid of them.
Crappypages sort of sums it right up, and tells you exactly what they are, doesn’t it?

Well, yes they are… Google seems to be updating the link: command over (at least) the past three days, and for me, it is showing less links than before in many cases.

Does this mean that Google is no longer “counting” certain links for ranking purposes? Well, that’s anybody’s guess right now…

In Fridays post, I pointed out that when Yahoo sells out, they are calling it a “partnership program”. However, when Google sells out, what do they call it?

Google is even sticking extra search tools right in the ad itself, while also removing the “sponsored links” text that we’ve all grown accustomed to.

I just noticed that Google is now identifying personalized search results, in a way that I have to applaud. When did that happen?

It’s now shown clearly, right there where it tells you how many search results there are. When the fact was hidden early this spring, Aaron Wall of SEO Book said, “…so you don’t know when they changed, which sucks.” and I couldn’t agree more.

Google created the custom search engine to allow site owners to easily add a search box to their websites, but it also allows you to do a couple of other things.

You get to choose what websites you want to be included in the search engine. You can invite others to participate and contribute to the search engine. Finally, you can even prioritize your search results in your custom search engine.

My city Portland is included as one of the cities for planning your public transportation trip in the new Google Transit section.

Only a few cities from nine states (California, Florida, Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington) are included at this time, but all regional and national railroad, all domestic airlines and even fairies are included in Japan, which gives you a good idea of where this is going.

Dear Google,

I need clarification. Am I putting myself or our clients in jeopardy by buying or selling text link ads, or are you really just trying to filter them out of the ranking algorithm?

Someone sent me a link to this post, and I found it extremely interesting. According to the article, Google is following and factoring “no followed” links for ranking purposes.

Back in November, “no follow” was given the white stamp of approval by Matt Cutts, and I heard him say with my own ears that Google will not follow them, or assign any Page Rank either.

According to CNN, Google announced that they changed last Wednesday,  integrating all of the different types of search results onto the home page of Google, including news, images, video, and a new menu along the top, for access to all of their different Google services.

Google’s Webmaster tools have become invaluable, but the more they add, the more opportunity there is for improvement.

At Danny Sullivan’s upcoming SMX show in Seattle, the intimate setting should offer ample opportunity to talk with some of the people that you’ve been reading about for years now.  Googlers like Matt Cutts, Vanessa Fox, and others will also be on hand, soliciting feedback from attendees,  as well as providing information.

A search engine consultant these days needs to know a lot more than the basic SEO tactics they may have learned over the years. They really need to know how to efficiently navigate Google’s Webmaster Central, and make good use of the tools they have provided.