There’s been a lot of shifting around in the Google Search Engine Results Pages for the past few days. Matt Cutts has confirmed that an update is rolling through. The SEO community is dubbing it “Dewey”.
This means you may see a webpage ranking in one place one minute and in another the next. It’s often due to different data centers showing different results. Don’t panic. Don’t make any changes. Just hold tight until the dust settles.
It has recently come to our attention that a scam website is sending out emails to some clients asking them to update their Google AdWords account information. This is a scam. All Blizzard clients who have pay per clicks that are maintained by Blizzard will have any information updates performed by us through their login dashboard. Anyone sending emails asking you for sensitive information most likely isn’t on the up-and-up.
Here is an image of the contents of the email:
The Domain that this link points to is a Chinese domain - adwords.google.com.treoo.cn
Here is a snap of the warning you come upon if you click on the link in the email above:
This warning came up in the Firefox browser - and might not happen every time. So to be safe, never follow the URL in ANY email asking you to login and “update information.” Instead type in the URL you’ve been given previously, use login information used prior to receiving the email and check for the same information within the dashboard of the platform.
If you receive an email from Google AdWords and are unsure if it needs to be addressed, go ahead and forward it to your Blizzard Account representative - we’re all happy to help out!
AOL and Citysearch have partnered up to provide Citysearch content, user generated reviews and local ads for the AOL websites. This includes not just AOL, but also MapQuest, CityGuide and AOL Local Search.
So, if you are an AOL aficionado, you’ll see more local content and if you’re a Citysearch advertiser, you’ll have AOL users seeing your ads across their network. That’s pretty sweet for everyone involved.
There’s some good news about Google news this month. As of a week ago, searchers can go to Google News, enter a city name or zip code and receive news pertaining to that location.
Google considers the source of the news to determine relevance. For example, they know that the Aspen Times is a source of news for the Aspen area and that HeraldNet.Com is the online news site for the Everett, Washington area. In addition, Google says:
“We’re not simply looking at the byline or the source, but instead we analyze every word in every story to understand what location the news is about and where the source is located. “
Right now, the pickin’s are really slim for small towns and rural areas, but the reality is there’s often not much news associated with those places. There are days I never get past the headlines of our daily newspaper here in Glenwood Springs, Colorado because there’s nothing of interest to draw me in. However, when you live in a small town, no interesting news can be a very good thing.
The Local News results definitely need tweaking. A search for Aspen brought up and article about Aspen Ranch, which is in Loa, Utah and another about a company called Aspen Tech and their Nasdaq problems. Neither of these has the tiniest bit of relevance to Aspen Local News. From what I’ve seen, you can generally expect to get more relevant results when you put in a city name rather than a zipcode.
Fortunately, Google often releases beta versions of their search products and then rapidly improves upon them. I think we can expect that with this one, as well.
To keep up with the latest at Google News, visit the Official Google News Blog and subscribe to their RSS feed.
Glenwood Springs, in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, is Blizzard Internet Marketing’s hometown. This is where we live and work and play. Have you ever wondered where the heck Glenwood Springs is? Or why anyone would want to live there? Believe it or not, it’s not quite as small or out of the way as you may think.
Last week, Glenwood Springs made the big city news as a featured destination in the New York Times Travel Escapes section. The article, by travel writer Helen Olsson, tells the rather interesting history of our town. (It was originally named Defiance, if that gives you any clues to our hometown character.) Then, she goes on to write about all the outdoor fun we have in every season and describes some of the unique attractions in our area.
Legend has it that the Ute Indians, the original Glenwoodies, placed a curse on our valley and that anyone who visits will not be able to leave. I arrived here on a temporary job assignment nearly 30 years ago. I guess the curse worked!
We’re under siege - The mountains of Colorado are experiencing record snowfall and the Blizzard home office has received so much snow there’s nowhere else to shovel it! We’re in desperate need of some sunny weather and maybe a little sand between our toes.
If you have any sunny beach pictures or snow photos that make ours look tropical - send them to editor@blizzardinternet.com and we’ll feature them in the newsletter - with a LINK!
Blizzard Ranked Among World’s Best SEO Companies in February 2008!
The new year is starting out great! Blizzard Internet Marketing has been included on TopSEOs.com top SEO companies for February 2008.
Blizzard has been included on this prestigious list for several months, and during February is ranked in 20th position. This is further evidence that Blizzard is committed to delivering top-shelf results to our clients. Staying on top of the changing internet marketing trends is time consuming and tricky.
Our in-house Research and Development team watches and tests trends and new media to ensure we’re giving our clients the best of the best.
Our clients are our partners, and our success is in no small part due to your understanding and cooperation with our Project Managers and Marketing Professionals. Knowing how to rank a site is only half the battle, being able to implement suggestions and trust our expertise is what delivers the best forms of success to our clients. Without you doing what you do – we couldn’t do what we do!
Since 2002, TopSEOs.com has evaluated the leading internet marketing companies and is a trusted resource in the SEO industry.
TopSEOs.com ranks internet marketing firms based on a wide range of factors; Blizzard was included on the list because of industry presence, customer service, overall performance, and innovation in search engine marketing.
