SEO Eclectic – Web, Google, Etc.

Ok, so my wife got a Google Chrome Notebook (also known as the CR-48). But that counts as me getting one, because according to God and the government, we are one entity. Right?  Plus she lets me log on to it every now and then and agreed to let me blog about it…

That’s how the beginning of this post was supposed to go, when I started working on it 6 weeks ago and never finished. The funny thing is, I put off writing the post long enough to get my own Google Chrome OS Notebook! That’s right, I’m not kidding.  We are now a 2 Google Notebook family. I’m not sure what went wrong in the science behind Google’s distribution algorithm but that means 2 were shipped to the same address. And that means I’m a lucky buzzard. So I figured I better get on it with the whole “sharing this info with the world” thing. And by world, I mean the 3 readers that accidentally end up on my blog (hi guys!) Watch for future posts on usability, bugs, etc.

This post is the un-boxing of the Google Chrome Notebook CR-48.

Let’s start with the packaging: Read the rest of this entry »

As I went to login to my Google Places account this morning, I arrived at a very different place than I normally do. A completely redesigned landing page with a big bold graphic and an invitation to “Discover Yours – Local recommendations powered by you and your friends” and a button asking me to Start Rating now with Hotpot. So Google has entered their offering into the local-check-in-review-social-community-ratings race.  Took them longer than the others, but here’s to hoping it’s better than the others (not like the Nexus One Google phone).

Will Google Hot Pot (or Hotpot) incorporate Google’s mobile check-in app SCVNGR?  Probably.

And is the choice of the name really just a coincidence given the recent California legislature voted down, to legalize marijuana? Or is Google keyword stuffing?

You be the judge, but one thing is certain – Google maps has changed.

If you’ve gotten this error since Google Instant launched:

“We’re sorry… but it appears your computer is sending automated requests.”

…you’re not alone. It seems, (thanks to Google Instant Search) that the increased searches per user per minute trigger a red flag in Google’s Automated Requests department.

The problem is, the Google Automated Requests (GAR) team and the Google Instant team work on opposite sides of the building and are on rival softball teams in the company’s intra-google softball league. Ok I made that last part up, but it definitely seems like there was some lack of communication going on at Goog headquarters – but just because it seems to be Google’s fault doesn’t mean it is (this time). Evidenced by the fact that Instant Search as a whole is working for most users.

So who’s fault is it? The answer is found in the following question… (mischievous laugh)

How do I fix whatever glitch or bug or setting is triggering the Instant Search Error “We’re sorry… but it appears your computer is sending automated requests” ?

Here’s how: Read the rest of this entry »

I was catching up on some reading, including Matt Cutts’ blog, and found something he wrote that made me laugh.

Google typically returns search results in milliseconds, but it takes several seconds for you to type a query. In other words, the limiting factor on a typical search is you. :-)

I think my favorite part was the apologetic smiley face at the end. Wow.

Way to point the finger Matt. Don’t worry I’m not offended. It is funny, though, that advances in search technology have brought us farther than users can even appreciate. Are we (meaning the web and technology – obviously not people) going too fast? Isn’t it sometimes beneficial to take a second to think about your search as you type it in? Or maybe just to breath in between keystrokes, haha. I’m starting to really like Bing’s slogan – “What has search overload done to us?”

So if every time I type a letter into the Google search box it brings up a search. And each additional letter brings up a new search… what’s telling Google the difference between my normal search behavior and automated search result requests coming from a program or computer?

Apparently nothing…

Read the rest of this entry »

I’d say neither. He’s just doing his job. He made a guest post announcement Wednesday, the source of which – Google Instant Search – has created quite a panic among SEO professionals and noobs alike. I even got an email from my boss checking to be sure I was up on the news. I just wanted to post a few thoughts… Read the rest of this entry »

So the Bing Yahoo search extravaganza has begun. Bing now provides all the search results for Yahoo’s searchers – both paid and organic. The funny thing is I haven’t tried it out yet. I mean, there’s not much to try out – Bing’s results have always been there. But regardless, I needed to see it with my own eyes. So I went to yahoo.com and put in a search (after being distracted by an article on the World’s Fastest runner, Usain Bolt and his dreams of playing soccer) for the term ‘movers’ and got this:

I went back to the yahoo.com homepage 2 more times, trying the same search query Read the rest of this entry »