Webmasters to report bad links

After the recent Panda and Penguin updates, Google seem to be coming up with a tool that enables webmasters and SEO professionals to be reported for “bad” inbound links. Google’s Head of Web Spam, Matt Cutts, said in a Q&A session in SMX Advanced that Google were talking to the tool webmasters to add a disavow link tool in the future. This would mean that webmasters would be able to have a clear indication of what websites they do not want to be linking to them. Previous advice from Google had been to simply look through all your links and cut off all the links that had been purchased or came from ill reputable sites. This tool (as and when it comes out) would certainly be a more viable solution, long term.

Google+ Local

Last week, Google rolled out Google+ Local, a new tool that is to completely replace Google Places as a way of locating nearby points of interest which is integrated into Google Search and Maps. So what’s different? Well, it is also going to be integrated into Google+, as an added tab. Location owners (i.e. restaurant/ shop owners) can now create and edit their own Google+ pages so that details and photos can be included and shown in the search. Google have utilised Zagat (the restaurant review site bought last year) to provide reviews for the locations which will be included on the Google+ pages. Their point scoring system is also to be used so that users can see accurate reviews based on various categories of quality. The information provided on desktop search is now to be fully available on mobile searches as well.

Infographic of the Week

With the significance of user data becoming more important all the time, it is vital to keep a track of what you can and cannot see of your visitors. Advertisers are finding more ways of tracking their users, and the lines of morality and legality are becoming ever wider and more blurred. Below is a great infographic showing the recent developments in user tracking, and website privacy standards:

LinkedIn Hacked – 6.5 Million passwords leaked

Millions of active LinkedIn account users were told this week to reset their passwords, after it became apparent that classified security information was stolen. The business networking site boasts over 160 million users worldwide, was compromised and members details were posted online by the hackers. LinkedIn Director Vicente Silveira released a statement saying, “We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts.” He went on to say that those who were affected are likely to find that their login does not work. If so, contact site admin immediately. We would recommend you login whilst you still can and change your password accordingly!

Google Maps to go 3D

Google announced this week at a conference in San Francisco that they are going to deploy a fleet of Google exclusive small camera-fitted airplanes above several major cities. This comes as Google intend on reaching its ambitions as setting up a 3d digital map of the world. It is hoped that the first maps should be released and available for view at the end of 2012. We are yet to know the exact cities to be chosen, but Google did already display some images of a 3D map of San Francisco. “We’re trying to create the illusion that you’re just flying over the city, almost as if you were in your own personal helicopter,” said Peter Birch, a product manager for Google Earth.

Facebook close to allowing under 13s to register

According to The Wall Street Journal, Facebook is getting closer to allowing under 13s to register for an account. Apparently, Facebook is testing features that would limit children’s activities on the site and protect them from unsuitable content and users. One of the features rumoured to be tested and near completion is that a child’s account is to be linked to their parents, so that they can control the account too. Friend invites, app downloads and picture uploads will all have to be checked by the parent or guardian. Recent reports have found that over 33% of young people on the social networking site are under 13 anyway. The new features would encourage more users on the site, and more parents to be protective over what their kids can or cannot see.

It has been a month since Google announced its most recent updates to its search engine (52 to be precise), aimed (like always) to improve the content of the pages that appear in the SERPs and punishing sites it sees as using unethical SEO practices, i.e. Spam and duplicated content (mostly). However, a different loveable creature with similar colour features to the typical Panda has been used to identify a slightly different change to the algorithm, which webmasters have been noticing this month… The so-called Penguin update was said to be released around about the same time as the Panda update. Almost immediately many web-masters hit the forums complaining of dropped rankings having long conformed to Google’s ranking guidelines. So what’s the Penguin about? Essentially, where the Panda updates have usually been about the originality and standard of the on-page content, the Penguin update created to filter sites that used questionable linking techniques to improve rankings in the SERPS. Google’s Search Quality guru, Matt Cutts, said that sites with “unusual linking patterns” (i.e. irrelevant anchor text or links from unrelated sites) were most likely to be targeted with this update. Quick Tips: If your site has been negatively affected by this particular update, fear not! Over the last month we have found a few of the best ways of dealing with it and recovering from it as well.

1. 1. Paid Links

If you have bought any links from directories or sites that aren’t related or look “spammy”, count your losses and cut them off, these are the biggest dead-weights.

1. 2. Guest Posts

Guest posts can be great, especially from good sources. However you run the risk of linking with someone who themselves have a poor ranking. They will only pull you down, so check their rankings and SEO credibility.

1. 3. SPAM Comments

If you get a lot of User Generated Content, it may be hard to keep an eye on all posts. However it’s worth putting in the time to check over your comments and get rid of obvious Spammers. Google doesn’t like it, and neither should you.

1. 4. Bad Sites

If you hadn’t gathered by now, Google knows who you know. A site may genuinely link to you without your request or acknowledgement. Check your incoming links too and look for any suspicious domains that could be malware or irrelevant. Good link building can do great things for your website and your SEO rankings. It’s really not worth taking any short cuts, the sooner you get rid of your bad habits and take part in good link building, the sooner you can reap the benefits.