SEO Industry News - Local Splash

Keeping up with all the news in the Internet marketing and local SEO industry can be tough. Let this be your source for all the latest news about online marketing, social media, local SEO and more. Stop by weekly to get your dose of up-to-date, accurate and entertaining search marketing news.

Top Internet Marketing News Stories:

Week of April 16, 2012

Yahoo’s Re-Organization: Search Stays Alive, At Least on Paper
Following the layoff of about 2,000 employees, Yahoo’s new corporate structure will take effect on May 1st. The company will split into three primary divisions, Consumer, Regions and Technology, according to Search Engine Land.

comScore Releases March 2012 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, recently released its monthly search analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. View the results here.

Google Grows Revenues 24% from Last Year, Plans New Class of Stock
In the first quarter of 2012, Google’s revenues rose to $10.65 billion, making Google’s net income $2.89 billion, or $8.75 per share. Read more details here.

Wordwide Social Media Usage Trends in 2012
According to eMarketer, there will be 1.43 billion social network users in 2012, which is a 19.2% increase from 2011. A Pew Internet survey found that 65% of Internet users in the U.S. use social networks which is up 4% from last year. For more details, read the full article.

Google-Oracle Trial Begins Today, Could Change Android Forever
The Google-Oracle trial starts today concerning Oracle’s lawsuits against Google over Java-related patents owned by Oracle. Google used Java when developing its Android mobile operating system. The outcome of the trial could change Android drastically.

Week of April 9, 2012

Yahoo Confirms 2,000 Employees Getting the Axe
Yahoo recently stated that it plans to restructure and lay off 2,000 employees. The company currently has 14,000 employees and has not yet stated which departments the layoffs will occur.

Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg just announced that Facebook bought photo sharing application, Instagram, for $1 billion. The company plans to bring the 8-person staff of Instagram to Facebook so they can work together to keep improving on the photo sharing ability of both popular social networks.

Google Ads Adds Zip Code Targeting, Location Insertion; Updates Location Targeting
Google recently announced new features in Google Ads that will help users create ads that are more relevant to local customers.

Google Analytics is Making its Way to Google+
According to Marketingland, slides from an official Google deck that show how to connect a Google+ page with Google Analytics have been leaked.

Pinterest Now 3rd Most Popular Social Network
According to a recent study by Experian, Pinterest is now the 3rd most popular social network. The network attracted 21.5 million visits in one week in January, which is almost 30 times the total number of visits six months prior. This now gives Pinterest a larger audience than LinkedIn.

Week of March 26, 2012

Google Eliminates Another Link Network, BuildMyRank.com
Google’s battle with websites that try to get around the search algorithms in order to manipulate search results seems never-ending. However, according to Search Engine Land, on March 19, Google deindexed one of these websites, BuildMyRank.com.

Facebook Timeline Provides 46% Lift in Brand Page Engagement
According to a recent study by Simply Measured, brands are getting an average of 46% more engagement with Facebook Timeline. Read more details about the study here.

How the Web Uses Anchor Text in Links
SEOMoz recently conducted its annual ranking factor summary and found that page level link metrics are the most important ranking factor when paired with domain level link authority features. Read more here.

Despite Bing’s Rise, Google Still Dominates Search
According to Statista, while Google has been dominating Yahoo for several years, Bing has been steadily climbing. Check out the rest of Statista’s findings in this Inforgraphic.

Twitter Turns 6: From 140 Characters to 140 Million Users
According to Search Engine Watch, Twitter celebrated it’s 6th anniversary by announcing that is now has 140 million users.

Week of March 16, 2012

Bing Fires Two Marketing Execs Over Vendor Issues
According to Search Engine Land, Microsoft recently fired two Bing executives for “mismanagement of company assets and vendor procurement.”

Google Shares 7 Tips With Free Web Hosting Sites to Avoid Penalties
Google recently shared reasons why it will remove websites from its index. The main reason why a website would be removed is if it doesn’t meet Google’s quality guidelines. Google’s main objective is to rid its index of spam websites that its users have no need for.

Too Much SEO? Google’s Working on an “Over-Optimization” Penalty for That
According to Search Engine Land, Google’s Matt Cutts made an announcement that Google is working on a search ranking penalty for websites that are “over optimized” during a panel at SXSW. The new penalty will be launched within the next few weeks.

9 Hot Social Networks to Watch
Although they haven’t had the same amount of success as Facebook and Twitter or the seemingly overnight success of Pinterest and Foursquare, these social networks are worth paying attention to. Don’t miss out on these 9 up-and-coming websites designed to connect people online and in real life.

Bing, Not Google, Favors Wikipedia More Often in Search Results
According to a recent study, when you conduct searches on Bing you’re more likely to see Wikipedia in your search results than for the same search on Google.

Week of March 12, 2012

Google is Watching You (Or Not): New Privacy Policy Takes Effect Today
Google’s new privacy policy is now in effect. Google states that the new policy will “simplify privacy across Google’s many properties and make it possible for the company to build a range of new products and services for consumers, including on mobile.” Read more details here.

Localeze/15miles Fifth Annual comScore Local Search Usage Study Reveals SoLoMo Revolution Has Taken Over
According to a recent study, social, local and mobile (SoLoMo) is currently dominating the search marketplace. Read more about the study here.

Bing Testing New, Google-y Local Search Results
Bing’s new display for local search results looks very similar to Google’s local search results. Compare the two, read the full article here.

comScore Releases January 2012 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, released its monthly analysis of search. View the findings of the study here.

Foursquare Co-founder Naveen Selvadurai is Checking Out
Naveen Selvadurai, the co-founder of the social network, Foursquare recently announced that he will be leaving the company to pursue new projects.

Week of March 5, 2012

Bing Testing New, Google-y Local Search Results
Bing’s new display for local search results looks very similar to Google’s local search results. Compare the two, read the full article here.

comScore Releases January 2012 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, released its monthly analysis of search. View the findings of the study here.

Week of February 6, 2012

Facebook Turns 8, and Together We’ve Grown
In honor of Facebook’s 8th birthday, Mashable takes a look back at the evolution of the social network.

Google’s January Search Update: Panda in the Pipelines, Fresher Results, Date Detection and More
Check out the latest updates from Google, including a new Panda algorithm update, fresher results, autocomplete, date detection and more.

Social Media Ad Spend: 89% on Facebook, 39% on Twitter and 18% on Google+
See which social media networks advertising agencies plan to use in 2012 with this report from Strata.

Latest Google Search Revamp Brings Opportunities for Local Businesses
Google’s newest updates will likely allow local businesses to combine their SEO and social media strategies using Google+.

Google Instant: Only On When Your Computer can Handle It
Google Instant now has a new default preference, it’s only enabled if your computer can handle it, otherwise Google will automatically disable the application.

Week of January 30, 2012

Report: Twitter Will Begin Enhanced Profile Roll-Out in February
According to BusinessInsider, Twitter’s enhanced profile pages for brands may launch as early as February 1.

Google, Yahoo Form Group to Tackle Phishing
The top search engines, Google, Yahoo!, Bing and AOL recently joined forces to create DMARC.org, an organization to battle phishing.

Pinterest Becomes Top Traffic Driver for Retailers
Pinterest, the social bookmarketing website that lets users share photos they like online is driving a significant amount of traffic to retailers’ websites. The site’s popularity is quickly growing and the traffic Pinterest is sending out to other places on the web is steadily increasing.

Study: Reviews and Images Drive Clicks in Mobile
According to a study conducted by Mediative, a Canadian digital agency, images and reviews are very important to people using the Google app on their mobile phones.

Yahoo! Shutters 10 Mobile Apps
Yahoo! recently announced that 10 of its apps will no longer be supported on both the Android and iOS platforms.

Week of January 9, 2012

6 Mobile Search Optimization Trends for 2012
Find out the top mobile marketing trends for this year from Search Engine Land.

Reddit Sees 2x Growth In 2011, Now Serving 2 Billion Pageviews A Month
One of the most popular social news communities, Reddit recently hit record numbers. The website had over 2 billion pageviews in the month of December, which is up 1 billion views since February 2011.

Google+ Sees Massive Membership Growth
Google+ recently had it’s best month ever according to Mashable. The site had 49 million U.S. visitors in the month of December which is up 55% since November. According to the article, Google+ how has over 62 million members, which is a highly significant growth rate.

Google Chrome Beta Released, Now Even Faster and More Secure
According to the official Google Chrome blog, a new beta version of the web browser was recently released that improves security and increases speed.

Google Announces “Megasitelinks,” Image Search Improvements and Better Byline Dates
Google recently announced a new project it calls “Megasitelinks” as well as some improvements to the image search tool and a few other updates.

Week of December 19, 2011

Search Trumps Social For Local Business Information
A recent survey shows that search engines are the top sources for information about local businesses online. Thirty-eight percent of people surveyed get their information from search engines where only 3% rely on social networks and Twitter.

Bing, Yahoo Now Neck & Neck in US Search Market Share
According to a study by comScore, Bing and Yahoo are almost tied for the US search market share, Bing with 14.80% and Yahoo with 15.20%. Both are significantly behind Google, which currently holds 65.60% of the market share.

Google and Bing Have “Won a Major Victory” Over Content Farms, Study Says
According to the newest issue of New Scientist magazine, search engines have “won a major victory” against content farms. According to the study, Google has been the most active in the fight against content farms, dating back to the initial launch of the Panda update in February 2011.

How the World Googled in 2011
Google recently released its annual Zeitgeist report which displays the most popular search terms of 2011. Google also compared the searches from this year to last year to show emerging trends and other information.

Google+ Overhauls Photos, Stream Control and Notifications
Google recently added new features to Google+ as a result of popular user requests. Google also made improvements to the already existing features of the new social network.

Week of December 12, 2011

The New Twitter: Everything You Need to Know
Twitter recently went through an update, gaining a variety of new features and a visual makeover. Check out this guide to the new Twitter.

Google +1 Button Hides in Search Results
Google has changed the placement of the Google +1 button in the search results. It’s now hidden until you put your cursor over the search results, then it is displayed and clickable.

Marketing Land, Search Engine Land’s Sister Site Launches
Search Engine Land recently turned 5 years old and launched its sister site, Marketing Land.

5 Key Digital Media and Advertising Trends for 2012
Check out these new media predictions for 2012 so you can help your company stay ahead of the online marketing curve.

Survey Says SEO The Single Most Important Marketing Channel for SMBs
A new merchant confidence survey conducted by MerchantCircle/Reply.com shows that search engine optimization is the marketing channel most small businesses would choose if they could only use one.

Week of November 28, 2011

Google+ Is Slowly Invading Google’s Main Search Results
Content from Google+ is starting to show up in the Google search results. Check out the recent changes here.

Shoppers Research Deals via Mobile and Online Ahead of 2011 Black Friday Sales
According to comScore, Black Friday online shopping spend in the U.S. increased 26% this year when compared to last. Shoppers are now going online on Thanksgiving night to begin shopping early, resulting in more money spent.

Google News Gets Social, Adds +1’s
Now when Google users are logged in, they’ll sometimes see socially promoted stories in their news spotlight.

Google Searchers User Autocomplete Most, Ignore Google Instant (Eye Tracking Study)
A recent eye tracking study from Rosetta gives interesting insight on Google Instant, local search and more.

YouTube Passes 20 Billion Video Views in One Month
According to comScore, online video viewership reached record levels in October. YouTube received over 20 billion views for the first time.

Week of November 21, 2011
Check out the top SEO, search engine and Internet marketing industry news stories from around the Web this week.

Google+ Pages Give the Social Network Another Big Traffic Push
According to a report from Experian Hitwise, Google+ received more traffic last week due to the announcement of Google+ Pages.

Google+ Adds Mutual Circle Chat
Google+ now allows you to chat with people in your circles as long as those people have you in their circles as well.

Google Launches Music Store, Artist Hub and More
Google recently launced its Google Music program which offers several new music features for both consumers and artists.

comScore Releases October 2011 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
A leader in measuring the digital world, comScore, released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace.

Yahoo Site Explorer Closing Down Monday, November 21
Yahoo is officialy closing down Yahoo Site Explorer as of November 21, 2011.

Week of November 14, 2011

Eye-Tracking in Google Maps: Study Shows Value of No. 1 Ranking & Social Content
Eye-tracking studies conducted by Mediative shows that it’s important for local businesses to be found in the top spot in Google’s local search results. The study also shows that social content and signals can boost rankings further down the page.

Twitter, Mozilla Strike Deal That Bakes Twitter Search Into Firefox 8 Search Box
Twitter and Mozilla Firefox have made an agreement that makes Twitter search one of the default search options in the new Firefox 8 web browser. Firefox 8 is available for download now.

Local Digital Ad Revenue to Hit $37.9 Billion by 2015
According to BIA/Kelsey, spending on local digital ads will grow from $23.3 billion in 2011 to $37.9 billion in 2015.

Secret Lab Hides Google’s Boldest Future Projects
According to the New York Times, Google has a secret lab, unknown to most of the company’s employees where engineers are working on hundreds of interesting and innovative projects.

Possible Google Music Store Screenshots Surface
TechnoDroidVe, a Spanish-language blog recently leaked screenshots that are believed to be from the new Google Music store, a service that Google may be announcing on Wednesday.

Week of November 7, 2011

Check out the top SEO, search engine and Internet marketing industry news stories from around the Web this week.

Deal With It! Discounts Drive Brand Love on Social Media
A new survey conducted by Nielsen shows that the top reason for following or liking a brand, company or celebrity on a social networking site is to receive discounts and special offers.

Search Engines Primary Source for Local Information
According to an infographic from MDG Advertising, 74% of consumers use search engines when looking for information related to local businesses online. According to the article, search will continue to be the primary source of local information in the future and by 2015, MDG predicts that 30% of all searches will have local intent.

Google+ Pages Now Open for Businesses, Brands, Places & More
Google+ Pages are launching today and will be available to everyone within the next two days. Now brands, businesses and places will be able to participate in the Google+ social network.

Google Search Algorithm Change for Freshness to Impact 35% of Searches; Twitter Firehose Remains Off
Google recently announced a new algorithm change that will help make search results “fresher.” According to Search Engine Land, the results will change for about 35% of all searches.

Confirmed: Google Testing New “Sources” Display in Search Results
Google has confirmed that it’s testing a new content application in the search results called Sources. Learn more about this new content module here.

Week of October 31, 2011

Check out the top SEO, search engine and Internet marketing industry news stories from around the Web this week.

Facebook Says 600,000 Accounts Compromised Per Day
Facebook stated that 600,000 log-ins are compromised daily. The social network’s answer to this problem is “trusted friends,” which allows users to choose 3-5 trusted people who Facebook can send codes to if they are ever locked out of their account.

Search Dominates Other Sources for Local Information – Study
A new study performed by Harris Interactive showed that search is the most dominant way people look for local business information. The study also showed that on mobile devices, review sites have just as much influence as search engines.

Powered by Nokia, the New Yahoo Maps Goes Live
The new Nokia-powered Yahoo Maps (NokiHoo) was just officially launched in the US and Canada. Find out one search engine expert’s initial review of the new application here.

Google Introduces “Bid for Calls” on the PC
Google is currently getting ready to release, “bid for calls,” a pay-per-call (PPCall) offering on your PC.

Do You Have Duplicate Content Issues Across Domains? Google Will Now Alert You
Google recently launched a new message alert to let site owners know when a particular URL doesn’t appear on Google because it has been flagged as a duplicate URL on a different domain. Read the full story here.

Week of October 24, 2011

Google Mulls Buying Yahoo
According to Mashable, Google is thinking about purchasing Yahoo and has contacted at least two venture capital firms to help buy the company. There hasn’t been a formal proposal yet, however Google and prospective partners have held discussions about the possibility.

MC Hammer Unveils New Search Engine Venture WireDoo
According to TechRadar, former rapper and current reverend, MC Hammer recently announced his plan to launch a new search engine, WireDoo. WireDoo will aim to bring something new to the search market, “relationships search.” This will present content that is similar to a search query as well as content relevant to it.

Meet Shelby, Your Personalized Channel for Web Video
A new application, Shelby.tv helps organize the YouTube videos your friends post on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr into one stream. Users will be able to watch the videos in full-screen mode within the context of their friends’ recommendations.

Google Set to Launch Service to Rival iTunes
According to an article published by Guardian, Google is one month away from launching a new service that will rival Apple’s iTunes store.

Google News Moves Advanced Options to Search Bar; A Sign of Things to Come?
The advanced search options in Google News have recently been moved from their own page and placed right inside the main search bar. To view screenshots of the new appearance, read the full article.

Week of October 17, 2011

YouTube Merch Store to Sell Songs, Concert Tickets and Merchandise
YouTube recently launched a new merchandise store where musicians can sell digital downloads, concert tickets and branded merchandise on their YouTube channels.

RIP Google Buzz
Google has announced that it’s officially shutting down Google Buzz in order to focus on Google+. The social network was initially launched in 2010 and was seen as a threat to Facebook and Twitter, yet never really lived up to its hype.

New Social Network Combines Twitter, Blogging and Reddit
Chime.in, UberMedia’s new take on social networking combines Twitter-like sharing, the depth of blogging and the voting mechanics of Reddit. Learn more about the new social network here.

comScore Releases September 2011 U.S. Search Engine Rankings
comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has just released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the U.S. search marketplace. Read the findings here.

Bitly Launches Search Platform & Reputation Monitoring for Shortened Links
A leader in shortened URLs, Bitly, recently launched a new search platform that allows it to crawl and classify each shortened URL.

Week of October 10, 2011

Apple Pays Tribute to Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs, the co-founder and long-time leader of Apple passed away at the age of 56. Apple.com pays its respects to the brand’s visionary leader.

Bing Expands Local Business Portal: Group Deals, Virtual Punchcards and New Print Collateral
Bing’s local business tools are growing. Here’s a look at the newest tools.

How the Remote Workforce is Changing
Working remotely has increased drastically over the last 10 years due to advances in technology. Read on to find out how it’s changing.

HootSuite Integrates LinkedIn Company Pages and Groups
Popular social media management tool, Hootsuite, is now adding LinkedIn Company Pages and Groups, giving companies the option to send company status updates and start group discussions through the program.

Google+ Traffic Falls 60% After Public Launch
Google+’s traffic increased 1,200% in the first few days after its public launch on September 20, however it has since dropped 60%.

Week of October 3, 2011

Facebook Delays Public Launch of Timeline
Due to a lawsuit filed against Facebook by Timelines.com, the launch of Facebook Timeline will be delayed until at least Tuesday, when representatives from both companies will meet in front of a federal judge to debate whether an injunction should be issued against Facebook.

Google Shows “Helicopter View” of Routing on Maps
Google recently added the new “Helicopter View” feature on Maps which allows users to get a bird’s eye view of the route between two points.

Yahoo! and ABC Join Forces
Yahoo! and ABC News have announced an agreement to share content including stories and web videos.

Google Gets Into Ratings Game With Trusted Stores
In an effort to give customers more confidence when buying products online, Google is launching an e-commerce certification program called “Trusted Stores.”

Facebook Introduces Expandable Ad Unit
Facebook is introducing a new type of ad that will expand if a friend “liked” the brand.

Week of September 26, 2011

comScore Releases August 2011 U.S. Online Video Rankings
comScore, Inc. released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 180 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in August for an average of 18 hours per viewer. The total U.S. Internet audience engaged in a record 6.9 billion viewing sessions.

Google+ Gains Nearly 10 Million Users in First 2 Days of Being Open to the Public
Google+ experienced a 30% growth in just 2 days of being open to the public.

Facebook Changes Again: Everything You Need to Know
Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote at the F8 conference in San Francisco revealed that Facebook will be going through some major changes within the next few weeks. This guide will help you get an idea of what to expect.

Google +1s on Ads Added to Google Display Network, Will Influence Auction
According to Search Engine Land, Google +1 data will now serve as a signal of relevance in the Google Ads auction, for display only.

Google Senate Hearings: The Post-Game Show
Search Engine Land examines the Google hearing we mentioned last week in more detail.

Week of September 19, 2011

Google Wallet Launch Largely Symbolic but Important
New Google application, Google Wallet is set to launch today. The application is meant to “make your phone your wallet,” and will only be available to a small number of individuals to begin with.

Facebook Plays Nice with Twitter, Will Allow Users to Turn Wall Posts Into Tweets
It’s been reported that soon users will be able to sync their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Content Strategy: 7 Tips to Make Your Blog Stickier
Learn how to engage your readers so they’re more likely to stay on your blog and read your content rather than click on the link then bounce off within a few minutes.

comScore Media Matrix Ranks Top 50 U.S. Web Properties for August 2011
comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world released its monthly analysis of U.S. web activity at the top online properties for August 2011 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Download the press release for more information here.

Google, Yelp, Others to Appear at Antitrust Hearing Wednesday
The Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommitee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights will hold antitrust-related hearings on Google this Wednesday, September 21. The hearing is titled “The Power of Google, Serving Consumers or Threatening Competition?

How Consumers Interact with Brands on Facebook
Studies show that people interact with their favorite brands on Facebook more than any other social network. A recent study conducted by Constant Contact revealed how people interact with businesses on Facebook.

Week of September 12, 2011

Carol Bartz Resigns from Yahoo Board of Directors
After stating she would not resign from the Yahoo! Board of Directors after being fired as Yahoo!’s CEO, Carol Bartz stepped down from her position on the Board.

Hacked NBC News Twitter Account Issues False Reports of Ground Zero Plane Crash
The NBC news Twitter account was hacked Friday evening and reported false information about a plane crash at Ground Zero in New York. The hackers have identified themselves as “Script Kiddies,” an account that Twitter has temporarily suspended as it looks into the situation.

One Year Later, Bing-Powered Search Takes 4% Market Share from Google
One year after Bing began powering the natural search results on Yahoo!, the results are in. The Bing-Yahoo! combo has gained a little more than 4% marketing share in the U.S. Google has dropped 6% during this time.

YouTube Founders Aim to Revamp a Site for Link Sharing
The two men behind Internet sensation, YouTube, have recently begun to give social bookmarking site, Delicious, a makeover.

How Social Media Affects Content Relevance in Search
Search engines are beginning to incorporate social media data into the search results, which could be great news for smaller companies hoping to achieve visibility in search.

Week of September 5, 2011

Bartz Reportedly Out as Yahoo CEO
Carol Bartz has been fired from her position as CEO at Internet company, Yahoo!. Find out more details here.

58 Percent Use Geosocial and Location-Based Services
According to a study conducted by Pew, roughly 58% of smartphone owners use “geosocial and location-based services,” including maps, directions and websites like Yelp, Foursquare, etc.

Google Launches Offline Versions of Gmail, Calendar and Docs
Google is launching a new Gmail Web application as well as updates to Google Calendar and Docs in order to increase the offline productivity of its products.

Twitter Renews Deal with Bing, Google Deal Remains MIA
Twitter and Bing recently announced that they have extended their deal that allows Bing to tap into Twitter’s information. This announcement was made via Twitter. Twitter says there’s still no progress t o report regarding a similar agreement with Google.

Yahoo Forms “Executive Leadership Council” to Replace Carol Bartz
Following the firing of its CEO, Carol Bartz, Yahoo! has formed an “Executive Leadership Council” to help manage the struggling company.