Category: Google

Goog 411 : Say it and find it

Have you heard about Google new phone directory service?
I just got a call for my listing and they wanted me to update/ confirm my listing with them.
So I did.

Watch the video to learn about this new free service from Google
1-8000goog-411

You don’t need a computer, an Internet connection, or even the keypad on your phone or mobile device. GOOG-411 is voice-activated, so you can access it from any phone (mobile or land line), in any location, at any time. For free. (*)

Dial (1-800) GOOG-411. Say where. Say what you’re looking for. GOOG-411 will connect you with the business you choose.

If you are calling from a mobile device, GOOG-411 can even send you a text message with more details and a map. Simply say “Text message” or “Map it.”

7 New Features in Google Analytics

Sent to me this morning:

Hello Google Analytics users,

Google recently added powerful new features to Google Analytics account. With these seven new features you’ll be able to get quicker insights, create deeper customizations, do more advanced analysis and track more mobile marketing!

Read on to learn more and then sign in to your account to try these features.

Analytics Intelligence with Custom Alerts
Using an algorithmic driven Intelligence engine, Analytics Intelligence monitors data patterns over daily, weekly and monthly periods. Significant changes in data trends and insights you may not have noticed are surfaced directly in your account. You can also create your own Custom Alerts that monitor your selection of dimensions and metrics that can be sent by email or displayed in the Intelligence reports.

Expanded Goals and New Engagement Goals
You can now track even more conversions by creating up to 20 goals per profile. Measure user engagement and branding success on your site with Time on Site and Pages per Visit goals. Set up your first Engagement goal in minutes.

Expanded Mobile Reporting
Google Analytics has expanded support for mobile websites and tracking for iPhone and Android mobile applications tracking. Adding server side code to your PHP, JSP, PERL, or ASPX mobile websites enables you to track non-Java-Script enabled phones. For mobile application developers, access the SDK and technical implementation details here. You’ll also be able to see breakout data on mobile devices and carriers in the new Mobile reports in the Visitors section.

Unique Visitors Metric
Include the Unique Visitors metric in your Custom Report or Advanced Segments to see how many actual visitors (unique cookies) visit your website. You can select Unique Visitors as a metric against any dimensions in Google Analytics.

Advanced Analysis Features
Dive deeper into your data with Pivoting, Secondary Dimensions, and Advanced Table Filtering. These combined features enable you to perform in-depth, on the fly data analysis within your account.

Share Advanced Segments and Custom Report Templates
Share the URL link for an Advanced Segment or Custom Report with anyone who has an Analytics account. Sharing the link will automatically import the pre-formatted template into the person’s account. Also available now is the ability to share or hide your Advanced Segments and Custom Reports by profile.

Multiple Custom Variables
Custom variables provide the power and flexibility to customize Google Analytics to collect the unique site usage data most important to your business. Define and track visitors according to visitor attributes (member vs. non-member), session attributes (signed in or signed out), and by page-level attributes (viewed Sports section). Use custom variables to classify any number of interactions and behaviors on your site. Start learning more about them now.

Sign in to your account to try the new features.

Happy analyzing,
Google Analytics Team

Google-certified (external ) ad networks in AdSense

An upcoming update in your AdSense account is designed to help you generate the maximum revenue from your ad units. You’ll soon be able to allow multiple ad networks to show on your pages, which means that advertisers from external Google-certified networks will be able to compete with AdWords advertisers for your ad space.

If you’re unfamiliar with what ad networks are, they’re companies that partner with advertisers and publishers to buy and sell ads on sites they don’t own themselves, similar to AdSense. Ads from these networks will compete with Google ads to show on publisher sites, and the ad generating the highest revenue for publishers will be displayed.

To ensure the quality of the ads appearing on your sites, we’re certifying all participating ad networks for adherence to our standards for user privacy, ad quality, and speed. You’ll also have control over which networks can show ads on your pages — you can choose to opt out of receiving ads from specific networks, or all networks completely. This means you can continue to show ads from only AdWords advertisers if you’d like.

New Google Search-based Keyword Tool

The Search-based Keyword Tool generates keyword and
landing page ideas highly relevant and specific to your website. In
doing so, the tool helps you identify additional advertising
opportunities that aren’t currently being used in your AdWords ad
campaigns. The tool goes one step further by tailoring the keywords and
other data (such as the amount of competition for the keyword, the
suggested bid, and more) based on your language or country/territory
settings.

Based on your URLs, the Search-based Keyword Tool displays a list of
relevant user queries that have occurred on Google.com (and on other
Google search properties, such as google.co.uk) with some frequency
over the past year; these suggestions can be found under the Keywords tab, in the New keywords related to (site) section. In the Keywords related to your search section, you can see a broad list of keyword ideas that are also relevant, but aren’t necessarily based on your site.

The keywords are also organized by category. Click any category
to expand and view its subcategories. If applicable, you’ll also see
the keywords organized by brand names.

Important note: We can’t guarantee that these
keyword suggestions will improve your campaign performance.
Additionally, we reserve the right to disapprove any keywords you add
to your campaigns. You’re responsible for the keywords you select and
for ensuring that your use of the keywords doesn’t violate any
applicable laws or our Terms of Service.

This information is taken from the google tools faq. Best of luck to you using the new offerings from google

Getting More Google Tools

Just Found this in my inbox and I wish I had the time to really explore what this can really do for me. I hope to get around to it later….would be great if this was direct marketing to ad space on my sites. Sort of like what Linkworth offers. I will get around to looking at this deeper, or some other wiz marketing blogger will post details and I’ll find it through my RSS feeds later in the week. Or if you know, please post in the comments.

Dear AdSense publisher,

You’re invited to test a new publisher feature that can help you increase your earnings potential by making it easier for advertisers to find your sites. Last year, we launched a media planning tool for advertisers called Google Ad Planner, and heard feedback from publishers that they wanted a way to edit their site profiles in the tool and share their Google Analytics traffic data to ensure advertisers saw the most updated site information.

In response, we’ve just released the Google Ad Planner Publisher Center, which you can use to:

– Claim your site profile in Google Ad Planner.

– Make updates to your site’s public information, which will be displayed to advertisers.

– Ensure Google Ad Planner is showing the most compelling description and traffic data for your site.

As advertisers gain a better understanding of your sites, they can be more confident in bidding for ad placements on your pages. To see how your site is currently displayed in Google Ad Planner, visit the Google Ad Planner Publisher Center and search for your site. To get started managing your site profile, simply log in with your Google Account.

We hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to market your site more effectively to the tens of thousands of advertisers using Google Ad Planner. If you need help, please visit the Google Ad Planner Help Center.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team

 

Feedburner is now GoogleBurner…what?

Aftering reading about the Toads on roads that Google has added to there Google Earth, I headed over to Feedburner to check out my stats. Low as they are I like to look at them anyhow.

Turns out that if I want to continue to use “Burned Feeds”  I am required to move my feeds over to an exisiting Google account or no longer have them hosted/burned. Well, that made the choice more clear. Do it or Lose it. SO even more of the online world is being overtaken by the big G. I love all their services, but it starting to get a little scary out there on the planes of Cyberspace, or should we start calling it Google’s Space? They have their fingeres and toes in so many projects that many interenet users, markerters, affiliates, and domainers use on a daily bases.

Welcome to Googlespace, isn’t just part of Google Earth anymore!
Below is what they gave me once the transfer was complete.

We have successfully moved your feeds from FeedBurner account xxxx into your Google Account xxxxxxxx@gmail.com.

You will no longer be able to sign in to feedburner.com. From now on, you may now view and manage your feeds by visiting:

http://feedburner.google.com

Your old FeedBurner feeds (at feeds.feedburner.com) will automatically redirect traffic to their new addresses on the feeds2.feedburner.com domain. All of your feeds have been moved into your Google Account, along with your traffic stats. If you see “0” for the most recent day, don’t panic! It may take up to a week for a feed’s full dose of stats to appear in your Google Account.

Toads on Roads, Marked on Google Earth

Found this little piece this morning on theRegister.

SO Google Earth is a little more than a very cool mapping tool. Now it is starting to save the lives of frogs!
In the Uk the group Froglife has convinced search giant Google to add more than 700 crossing points to help motorist keep the slaughter of the anmphibians to a minimum. Sounds great. Now it is more in the hands of those who have there hands on the wheel.

Full story here

Yahoo launches search tool like one Google killed

By Alexei Oreskovic

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Yahoo Inc (nasdaq: YHOO – news – people ) is panning for gold in waters that Google Inc (nasdaq: GOOG – news – people ) abandoned.

Yahoo said in a blog post on Wednesday that it was testing a new tool to help people better organize the bounty of information that crops up while doing research on the Web.

Search Pad is similar in concept to Google Notebook — a product the Web-search leader opted to halt development on last month.

But the fact that Google threw in the towel on a product does not mean Yahoo is wasting its time, say some analysts. The companies’ differing financial and competitive positions mean what is right for one might not make sense for the other.

Google, which controls roughly 63 percent of the U.S. search market, is taking a hard look at its operating expenses to preserve its operating margin in a slowing economy, including the slew of non-essential projects it traditionally supported.

Yahoo, whose 2008 revenue rose 3 percent to $7.2 billion, is in dire need of a new growth strategy, say analysts.

Investors might be more tolerant of projects that pressure profit margins at Yahoo if there is a chance of a payoff, said Sandeep Aggarwal an analyst at Collins Stewart, speaking in general terms and not of Search Pad specifically.

Source

Google Earth 5.0 – the new upgrade

 The Highlights


  • Dive beneath the water surface (videos are on some locations!)
  • explore 3D underwater terrain and browse
    ocean-related content
  • Historical
    Imagery     (travel back in
    time through archival satellite and aerial imagery)
  • Touring (create a narrated tour in &
    share it with the world)
  • Google Mars 3D, which features hi-res
    imagery and terrain of the red planet


And if you have never heard of Google Earth, you need to crawl out from under your rock and plug-in to the net.

Get Google Earth Here

Happy virtual traveling!