A merchant who participates in Google Shopping has received a warning from Google that the images they are using in their Google Shopping feed violate their guidelines because watermarks are included. According to the message from Google, the merchant has 14 days to comply with Google’s request to remove watermarks in their images–or be suspended from participating in Google Shopping. [Read more…]
Consumer Watchdog Tells FTC: Google Shopping Is Deceptive
Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit public interest group, has officially complained to United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the way Google displays results in its comparison shopping engine, Google Shopping, is unfair and deceptive to consumers. [Read more…]
Google to Remove Image of Slain Teen from Google Maps
Google has decided to accelerate the updating of satellite images in Google Maps that appear to show the body of a slain teen from 2009. At a certain location in Richmond, California, in the satellite view, there it appears that there is a police car and officers standing around viewing something. Apparently, according to reports, “Kevin Barrera, 14, was shot and killed in 2009. Police discovered his body near a railroad track in Richmond on August 15 of that year, at an address that roughly matches the one of the scene in question.” [Read more…]
Is The New Google AdWords Ad Format Too Sneaky?
There are new Google AdWords ads that are starting to show up with different formatting that I’ve seen before. Essentially, the background does not have a color: which in the past has distinguished Google AdWords ads from the regular organic search results. I bet these new ads are going to get a lot more clicks than before. [Read more…]
Google Penguin Recovery: Did Your Site Suffer from the Google Penguin Algorithm Update?
How can you tell whether or not your website has suffered a traffic loss or some sort of penalty as a result of the Google Penguin updates? And if your website actually did suffer a traffic loss, you actually might not know it: especially if you are looking at your Google Analytics. Recently, I took a look at a site’s Google Analytics to see if the site suffered from Google Panda, Google Penguin, and if my intervention into the Google Penguin recovery process was needed. [Read more…]
Google Thinks Domain Names Are Like Guns
So, here’s an interesting question: when are domain names like guns? Well, apparently if you are searching Google, then domain names are so related to guns that Google shows a popular domain name registrar along with search results related to, you guessed it: guns. [Read more…]