Not sure what this will be about, or what will come from it, but it might be worth watching: Embedded Link Open Penguin Data Project The Open Penguin Data Project Seeks to Determine a Reasonably Effective Prediction of which Sites will be Impacted by Penguin Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made […]

The idea that Penguin is not a penalty (it is) and that sites can actually get a boost from Penguin (they cant) is bizarre in the extreme. Shocking that people are reading this and sadly believing it: http://www.branded3.com/blogs/early-thoughts-on-penguin-2-0/ Embedded Link Early thoughts on Penguin 2.0 | Branded3 Google+: View post on Google+ This post was […]

This and the reply from Matt Cutts is interesting: Embedded Link Penguin 2.0 rolled out today We started rolling out the next generation of the Penguin webspam algorithm this afternoon (May 22, 2013), and the rollout is now complete. About 2.3% of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice. […]

Go, go do-follow image ads! SEO has never been so easy or so much fun Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

If you're an established website who didn't manage to become a "brand" in Google eye's you're fucked. If you're a new site you're sorted. If your a brand you're "God". If I was an investment advisor I'd be telling you all to buy NSEO stocks. Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made […]

google.ie [car insurance] #1 site has nothing but paid image links. If they cant pick this shit up then it just shows that blackhat wins. Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

Votes welcome: Embedded Link View Discussion Be heard. Vote on questions and submit your own. Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

Seems authority doesn't matter. The flip side to this is that new sites should be ranking more easily since they have no negative markers (yet). Again, this tells me that Google's long term plan is to remove SEO from the equation. I don't think this is about search quality at all.  Google+: View post on […]

* far less negative than original Penguin – sites hit still in top 10 with nothing but spam links* sites hit by Penguin 1.0 still nowhere – not clear if there was any data refresh with this* looks very much like disavow has had no impact with this – again this calls into question whether […]

https://productforums.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!category-topic/webmasters/crawling-indexing–ranking/98WGPhaqRbA I think if Google is going to direct webmasters to the support groups they need to try to make it a more friendly environment. I know better than most how difficult it is to help there, but it's always far easier to be nice than nasty. Embedded Link Reconsideration Failed, What should be my […]

Want to know how to succeed at SEO?  Google.co.uk [value my car] has this at #1 www.quickcarvaluation.com One page site, whois privacy, 250k baklinks in under 30 days. https://www.majesticseo.com/reports/site-explorer/summary/quickcarvaluation.com?IndexDataSource=F Google+: Reshared 1 times Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

Good example of a high-value EMD hit by Google's EMD update (and likely Penguin and/or Panda): Embedded Link One word EMD – blessing or curse? – Google Product Forums Google Product Forums > Webmaster Central >. Categories: Crawling, indexing & ranking : One word EMD – blessing or curse? Showing 1-27 of 27 messages. One […]

You'd swear Google must have had a big poster hanging in Mountain View "Build it and they will come": Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

So someone as busy as Google's Head of Webspam has to take time out of his day to answer questions on Google's Webmaster Central support group regarding a SPAM Notification sent to Sprint: http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/webmasters/K_Ck1vIeDfM/discussion When are they going to sort out their communications?  They could just fix the bloody stupid messages they send out, but […]

1. Google may be releasing algo updates which don't impact all sites at once. Online chatter seems to indicate changes happening on various dates in May, and it strikes me that no one is able to tie this down. If I wanted to screw with SEOs one of the things I'd change was updates which […]

I wonder if they'll ever get back into search?  Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

It seems that the latest theories abounding on WebmasterWorld are that "thin" is the new "black" Google's WebSpam team are certainly succeeding at confusing SEOs, but they are failing miserably at rewarding webmasters who are genuinely trying to fix their past transgressions. Sadly Google are also helping to create an increasing volume of tin-hat theories […]

 They show offers which are US only, and then I discover their Offers site – more shite. I go to /offers/ and they list "Your Favourite Brands".  No idea where they pull this shit from, but apparently I have 13 favourite brands. All are US brands, absolutely none of which I've ever visited or interacted […]

#3 is a 1-page WP site http://www.bangkokflorist.net/.  No contact details, no products, no address.  Surely Google can do better than this? Embedded Link bangkok florist – Google Search Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

 Definitely find myself squinting a lot more since yesterday… Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

I know now why humans love lists so much – sequentially consuming information is far easier. After a few hours of looking at 2 columns here, with little in the way of consistent break-points, I'm really missing a single column flow of information. I'm not sure who this was tested on, but for me personally […]

 It looks tremendous, and I'm really amazed at what's becoming possible in the browser these days. I can see this sort of application improving development cycles. A really interesting application from Mozilla.  Still Alpha, but if it blends a number of new web techs very well: Embedded Link Mozilla Labs : TowTruck A service for […]

Nice useful list of common usability issues to watch out for: Embedded Link Usability checklist | Userium | Catch common usability problems before user testing. Userium – Usability Checklist – Simple, research based, usability checklist, which can be used to catch common usability issues on websites before doing user testing. By fixing obvious usability problems […]

Interesting to see where this one goes: Embedded Link Negative SEO vs. MattCutts.com – Martin MacDonald my opionions on: Negative SEO vs. MattCutts.com post updated May 14, 2013 Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

OK does anyone else notice that the up/down arrow keys now control the sub-nav on the left (Home, Profile…). What moron decides to hijack keys which are needed to scroll the page?  Even if this is a test it's bloody moronic. Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne […]

Good to see some SEOs can see through Google's smoke and mirrors: Embedded Link Twitter / CygnusSEO: Will 2013 be the year negative … Instantly connect to what’s most important to you. Follow your friends, experts, favorite celebrities, and breaking news. Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne […]

Kinda gives away that 1.1 and 1.2 were merely hand tweaks.  So does this mean that if you're hit by Penguin 2.0 you'll be dead for a year or more at the best? At least we know now that starting a new site is the way to go.  Or maybe just go black altogether… Google+: […]

Here we go: Google+: Reshared 4 times Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

This is a very elaborate scam: Embedded Link Exposed: How online fraudsters dive deep into IATA processes to secure payments The classic Nigerian bank account email scam is as old as the internet itself and pretty much remains about as sophisticated as your average Saturday night reality TV show. Google+: View post on Google+ This […]

Still on the hunt for an ace WordPress developer who knows the WordPress API well and understands how to integrate plugins. If you know someone who fits the above please let me know! Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

Weird. Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the Richard Hearne Google+ profile.

It's kinda sad so few people understand that Google uses time as a major factor in spam detection. New sites can rank well very quickly using spam techniques that Penguin targets, but Google cant use short term signals as this opens the door to NSEO. This is being further compounded by Google not refreshing Penguin […]

Interesting Penguin info – blog comment spam to be hit hard by Penguin 2.0? Embedded Link Twitter / seosteve: @google @mattcutts … Instantly connect to what’s most important to you. Follow your friends, experts, favorite celebrities, and breaking news. Google+: Reshared 1 times Google+: View post on Google+ This post was first made on the […]

I've never seen so much subdomain spam in Google: https://www.google.ie/search?q=mcdermott+pool+cue&hl=en&source=lnt&tbs=ctr:countryIE&cr=countryIE&sa=X&ei=EqWOUZ71CpOB7Qbo2YDYDA&ved=0CBYQpwUoAQ&biw=1440&bih=799 – #1 and #2 both spam https://www.google.co.th/#q=mcdermott+pool+cue&hl=en&source=lnt&tbs=ctr:countryTH&cr=countryTH&sa=X&ei=o6WOUb_COMmw7AaD0YGoDQ&ved=0CBQQpwUoAQ&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46340616,d.ZGU&fp=df01afe18861cc9e&biw=1440&bih=799 – all 10 results are spam from same spammer, using 2 domains http://www.google.co.uk/#q=mcdermott+pool+cue&hl=en&source=lnt&tbs=ctr:countryUK%7CcountryGB&cr=countryUK%7CcountryGB&sa=X&ei=5qWOUZOLA4iu7AbFxYC4Ag&ved=0CBUQpwUoAQ&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46340616,d.ZG4&fp=3bd076e9ccc6ec86&biw=1440&bih=799 = #4 and #5 are spam I've never seen so much spam in Google.  All using subs.  Worst results I've seen in yonks. Google+: View […]

I'm looking for a new WordPress developer/s to help me build out upcoming sites. Projects generally include: * single and multisite set ups* custom plugin development for things like bookings, events etc.* multilingual setups using WPML* payments integration* api integrations* frontend js development Happy to work with experienced freelancers or agencies who can work to […]

Interesting if you're involved in a domain rebranding: Embedded Link Domain name change leads to 20% drop at HomeAdvisor Switch from ServiceMagic.com to HomeAdvisor.com leads to organic search traffic drop. IAC underestimated the challenge from switching its ServiceMagic business to a new domain name, the company dis… Google+: Reshared 5 times Google+: View post on […]

So apparently if you have a manual action revoked but site still affected by algorithmic penalty you get this message: "We've now reviewed your site. When we review a site, we check to see if it's in violation of our Webmaster Guidelines. If we don't find any problems, we'll reconsider our indexing of your site. […]

I think Amazon are really pushing their luck with the cookie-cutter placeholder pages for unreleased products. I searched for [archos tv connect] and see this page at #4. You can see that it's not even in the correct product category under Amazon's site: www.amazon.com › … › Car Electronics › Car Audio › Satellite Radio‎ […]

Q. Why not tell people exactly what’s wrong with their site, to the degree you can do this and especially when it involves some specific URLs, when notices go out? We’ve significantly improved our webmaster messages over time and we’ll continue to look at ways to make the messages more concrete and actionable. Q.) If […]

"[...] here's the nub that many people are missing: Penguin overnight created NSEO.  I'm working with a few clients trying to fix Penguin (which Google are not refreshing).  In nearly all cases the damage was done by third party agencies. What's stopping me hiring these same agencies to "promote" my competitor?  It will take time […]