SE-optimization Updates

Is Google going to add their own links to your web pages? A recent patent application of Google indicates that this might be coming. The name of the patent is "Enhanced document browsing with automatically generated links to relevant information". It is an update of the patent application that Google filed in 2006.

What is Google's patent application about?

Here's the official abstract:

"Additional documents are automatically located that are relevant to an original document, such as a document being read by a user, and also potentially relevant to personal information of the user.

The additional documents may be located based on descriptive information that includes personal information of the user and content information of the document being read.

The additional documents, or links to the additional documents, may be incorporated into the document being read. In some implementations, the additional documents may be presented in-line with the document being read, such as through an in-link link or text snippet. The user can thus be efficiently presented with additional information that is relevant to the original document being read."

In other words: Google wants to read the contents of your web pages and then might insert their own links on your web pages.

According to the patent application, the links will be based on the personal search history and the geographic location of the web surfer as well as on the contents of the page on which Google will insert the links.

How can Google change the content of your web pages (technically)?

Changing the content of your web pages is easy if the web surfer has Google's toolbar installed.

Google's toolbar does not only send information about every page that you visit to Google, it also allows Google to change the content of each page that you visit through the document object model.

If you use Google's toolbar then Google can add any content to the web pages that you visit and you wouldn't notice that the original content has changed. Note that Google could do this. That does not mean that Google actually does this.

What type of content would Google insert on your web pages?

Google might enter simple text links on your pages, they might link existing content or they might add whole new paragraphs on your web pages. Technically, all of this is possible. It's not clear what Google will do with the methods described in the patent.

However, since there are several documents about this topic, it seems that they are serious about this.

Google knows a lot about you and they control a lot of the information that we get on the Internet. Will they also change the content of your web pages in the near future?

Being listed on Google's first result page is becoming more important than before. Google can only recommend your website as a link if they know your site. To optimize your website for Google, use the top 10 optimizer in IBP.

Last week Google changed the Local Business Center to Google Places, and along with that change came some new features for local businesses. We looked at those here.

Among those changes was the addition of Google's tag advertising. For $25 a month, businesses (in certain cities) can use Tags to highlight their listings on Google.com and Google Maps. These are yellow markers that let you promote important aspects of your business. They can be used for things like coupons, photos, and other select features. They don’t affect the rank of search results, but they give customers more information and may prove beneficial.

Google promised that while the offering was starting out in a limited number of cities, that number would be expanding. The expansion process is underway. Google has now announced the addition of 11 new cities.

The new cities are: San Jose, Houston, Austin, Atlanta, Washington DC, San Diego, Seattle, Boulder, Chicago, San Francisco and Mountain View.

"You'll notice that we’ve added Mountain View, CA to the list of cities participating in the trial," says Product Manager Shalini Agarwal. "Because we are still tweaking the product a bit, we thought we’d make it available in our hometown so we can get quick feedback as we work on new features."

Businesses in the available cities can sign up for Tags from their Google Places accounts.

In a couple weeks, Google says it will launch a new tag type: "post to your Place Page". This will be a freeform text field that will let business owners highlight custom messages announcing sales or events.

The company did not indicate when more cities will become available, but I would expect the feature to make regular expansions in the not-too-distant future.

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/04/30/google-expands-tag-advertising-for-local-businesses

A lawsuit filed by language software firm Rosetta Stone against Google for copyright infringement has been dismissed by a federal judge.

In its lawsuit, filed in July 2009, Rosetta Stone alleged that Google allowed third parties including individuals involved in software piracy to purchase the right to use Rosetta Stone trademarks or other terms confusingly similar in Google's Adwords advertising program.

Google said the ruling was "consistent with a growing line of decisions" about the Internet.

"Users searching on Google benefit from being able to choose from a variety of competing advertisers, and we've found no evidence that legitimate use of trademarks as keyword triggers or in the text of advertisements confuses consumers. We're pleased that the judge has ruled in Google's favor, consistent with a growing line of decisions in the Internet space," Google said in a statement.

Rosetta Stone expressed its disappointment about the ruling, charging that Google does not do enough to stop such practices on its AdWords platform.

"We are deeply disappointed that Rosetta Stone was not given an opportunity to present at a public trial the facts underlying Google's practices and the motivation that led Google to adopt its current trademark policies," stated Tom Adams, President and CEO of Rosetta Stone Inc.

"Google has a corporate responsibility to protect consumers and promote trust in its search results. Without question, Google knows that counterfeit software is being advertised in its Adwords program and takes no effective steps to stop this illicit activity."

Rosetta Stone said it plans to review the decision and will consider an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/04/30/google-gets-favorable-ruling-in-rosetta-stone-case