Google learns to crawl Flash

Posted by Ron Adler and Janis Stipins, Software Engineers

Google has been developing a new algorithm for indexing textual content in Flash files of all kinds, from Flash menus, buttons and banners, to self-contained Flash websites. Recently, we've improved the performance of this Flash indexing algorithm by integrating Adobe's Flash Player technology.

In the past, web designers faced challenges if they chose to develop a site in Flash because the content they included was not indexable by search engines. They needed to make extra effort to ensure that their content was also presented in another way that search engines could find.

Now that we've launched our Flash indexing algorithm, web designers can expect improved visibility of their published Flash content, and you can expect to see better search results and snippets. There's more info on the Webmaster Central blog about the Searchable SWF integration.

Gabriela Vergara (Galeria 2)

Fotos:
Revista H para Hombres (USA) y TV Azteca

Otras fotos:

Gabriela Vergara (Galeria 1)

Gabriela Vergara (Galeria 3)

Gabriela Vergara (Galeria 4)

Making it better

Posted by Kristen Holway, Account Executive, Media Sales

Over the summer solstice weekend, Seattle/Kirkland Googlers posed this question to people attending the Fremont Fair: "How would you make our world, or our city, better?" The goal of the Fremont Fair "Make it Better" Project was to engage the Seattle community in an active discussion around improving our world. This is the second year we've partnered with Solid Ground to participate in the fair, a free event organized by The Workshop to benefit local efforts to address homelessness, hunger and racism. Check out the video responses to our question that were just posted on the Solid Ground YouTube channel.

Whether it's about ending poverty, improving equal access to education or any of the myriad of other challenges our world faces, we want to use our technology to stimulate creative discussion about the ideas that are important to Seattle-area citizens and to local Googlers.

We are retiring the pay-per-action beta

As part of Google's integration of DoubleClick, the DoubleClick Performics Affiliate network is now part of Google. To consolidate our offerings, we will be phasing out the AdWords pay-per-action beta in the last week of August 2008. As an alternative to pay-per-action advertising, Google offers two products that allow you to manage your advertising on a CPA (cost-per-acquisition) basis: the Conversion Optimizer and the Google Affiliate Network.

The Conversion Optimizer is an AdWords bidding feature that lets you specify a maximum CPA goal for ads on the Google search and content networks. It uses historical information about your campaign to automatically adjust your CPC bid for each auction to help you meet your CPA goal. In addition, the Conversion Optimizer is now supported in both the AdWords Editor and the AdWords API. You can learn more on the Conversion Optimizer homepage.

The Google Affiliate Network, previously known as DoubleClick Performics Affiliate, has been in operation since 1998. Through the network, advertisers can open their ads to all publishers in the network, or select specific publishers that match their criteria. You can set a CPA for your entire campaign or establish custom payment schedules for specific publishers -- such as a higher CPA for a particularly optimal placement. The Google Affiliate Network is currently a separate product from AdWords and AdSense. As with AdSense, publishers must apply and be accepted into the network.

If you're interested in learning more about the Google Affiliate Network, please visit our website.

Update 7-1-2008:

After receiving questions from our readers, we wanted to clarify that the Google Affiliate Network is currently available only for advertisers in the US.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Inside AdWords crew

New Favorite!

Have you seen Southern Weddings Blog!!! It's my new favorite! You must add it your Google Reader, Favorites, Linkbacks, whatever you do, you've gotta do it now!

Great Weddings, Great Contests, Great Stuff.... check it out!

Allied Business Schools Success Story

If you have clients in the education space or are looking to bring on new ones, you may be interested in reading our latest Success Story for Allied Business Schools. Here's a sample of what you'll find:

• Founded in 1992
• Specializes in distance learning alternatives
• 365 employees, based in Laguna Hills, CA
• Started using AdWords in 2002

What they needed:

• To generate qualified leads and increase student enrollment
• To target individual states with different messages
• To improve website functionality and performance

What they accomplished:

• Used AdWords to generate 30% of total leads, with a lower cost-per-conversion than other marketing programs
• Implemented Website Optimizer and tested variations of their landing page, resulting in an increase in visitor conversion rates
  
  

"When we realized how well we could geographically target online, that made all the difference. It allows us to separate out costs, traffic, leads and cost-per-conversion from state to state."

-Ali Haris, search marketing specialist for Allied Business School


To read the full Allied story, download the PDF, and visit the AdWords Success Stories Site if you'd like to read more. We've recently added new videos and an updated form so you can tell us your story.

Posted by Maris Gersh, Creative Team

What I used in the Wedding Bag!

Our "What I used in the Wedding Bag" Series has moved to a more appropriate home, Be A Planner!



Be sure to check out Be A Planner for it's fun updates and great articles!



Hey, while you are thinking about it, add it to your Google Reader now!

Blue and Brown, Revisited

Christina in my office did this board! She has got the hang of this doesn't she!

This is for the fundraising event for Queen of Peace Academy and their colors are Blue and Brown, this is one of our inspirations another next week, whattcha think?

Sources:M&Ms, French macaroons, Cappuccino, Shoe, Welcome bag, Suit, Cootie catcher,
Favor gift cards, Motorcycle, Cupcakes, Chocolates, Brown dress

I got married... with Google

Posted by Jonathan Rochelle, Product Manager, Google Docs Team

We love hearing stories about how our products help people, and let's face it -- weddings are one time when help is needed. For many couples, planning a wedding can be an organizational nightmare. But for David and Bergin Boyle, the planning turned into a fun experiment on the web.

The Boyles used Google Calendar to pick a wedding date that fit both of their schedules. They created to-do and RSVP lists with Google Docs and shared them with their relatives and friends. And they created a site containing the wedding details for their guests, complete with a personalized Google Map featuring the local Stonington, Conn., sights as well as places of note in the surrounding metropolitan areas.

As a result, David reports he was undaunted by the planning process. And with the help of Blogger's "future-dated posts" feature, the couple was able to post their wedding story on the groom's blog at the same time that they strolled down the aisle. Here's the full story in their own words. Our best wishes to the Boyles!

Betty Monroe (Galeria 3)

Fotos:

Revista FHM y TV Notas (Scans por HDS)

Otras fotos:

Betty Monroe (Galeria 1)

Betty Monroe (Galeria 2)

Using data to fight webspam

Posted by Matt Cutts, Software Engineer

This post is the latest in an ongoing series about how we harness the data we collect to improve our products and services for our users. - Ed.

As the head of the webspam team at Google, I'm in charge of making sure your search results are as relevant and informative as possible. Webspam, in case you've never heard of it, is the junk you see in search results when websites successfully cheat their way into higher positions in search results or otherwise violate search engine quality guidelines. If you've never seen webspam, here's a good example of what you might see if you click on a link in the search results that's spam (click on the image to see it larger).

You can see how unhelpful such a page would be. This example is filled with almost no original content, irrelevant links, and information that is of little use to a user. We work hard to ensure you rarely see search results like this. Imagine how annoyed you would be if you clicked on a link from a Google search result and ended up on a page like this.

Searchers don't often see blatant, outright spam like this in search results today. But webspam was much more of an issue before Google became popular and before we were able to build effective anti-spam methods. In general, webspam can be a real annoyance, such as when a search on your own name returns links to porn pages as results. But for many searches, where getting relevant information is more critical, spam is a serious problem. For example, a search for prostate cancer that's full of spam instead of relevant links greatly diminishes the value of a search engine as a helpful tool.

Data from search logs is one tool we use to fight webspam and return cleaner and more relevant results. Logs data such as IP address and cookie information make it possible to create and use metrics that measure the different aspects of our search quality (such as index size and coverage, results "freshness," and spam).

Whenever we create a new metric, it's essential to be able to go over our logs data and compute new spam metrics using previous queries or results. We use our search logs to go "back in time" and see how well Google did on queries from months before. When we create a metric that measures a new type of spam more accurately, we not only start tracking our spam success going forward, but we also use logs data to see how we were doing on that type of spam in previous months and years.

The IP and cookie information is important for helping us apply this method only to searches that are from legitimate users as opposed to those that were generated by bots and other false searches. For example, if a bot sends the same queries to Google over and over again, those queries should really be discarded before we measure how much spam our users see. All of this--log data, IP addresses, and cookie information--makes your search results cleaner and more relevant.

If you think webspam is a solved problem, think again. Last year Google faced a rash of webspam on Chinese domains in our index. Some spammers were purchasing large amounts of cheap .cn domains and stuffing them with misspellings and porn phrases. Savvy users may remember reading a few blogs about it, but most regular users never even noticed. The reason that a typical searcher didn't notice the odd results is that Google identified the .cn spam and responded with a fast-tracked engineering project to counteract that type of spam attack. Without our logs data to help identify the speed and scope of the problem, many more Google users might have been affected by this attack.

In an ideal world, the vast majority of our users wouldn't even need to know that Google has a webspam team. If we do our job well, you may see low-quality results from time to time, but you won't have to face sneaky JavaScript redirects, unwanted porn, gibberish-stuffed pages or other types of webspam. Our logs data helps ensure that Google detects and has a chance to counteract new spam trends before it lowers the quality of your search experience.

Update: Enlarged image.

Travel Industry Knowledge Center

For some, the first day of summer marks a time for vacation and relaxation, but if you have clients in the travel industry things may just be getting busy. With more people searching for summer getaways, there’s no better time to check out the new Travel Industry Knowledge Center.

Designed for advertisers in the travel space, you can get a list of recommended Google products, read stories about travel companies who have found success with AdWords, and get tips on making the most of your clients' AdWords campaigns.

Here's an excerpt from the "Get more bang for your buck"section:

We hope you find these tips helpful so you can spend more time doing some traveling of your own.

Posted by Laura Hood, Creative Team

Cake Week has come to a Close

How fun has Cake Week been!

Here at the office we are on a total sugar rush!

If you need more cake, check out Let's Eat Cake! we feature a new cake with every post!

KB Kake Week!

I personally feel we saved the best for last!!! Kathy and Erika from KB Kake Kreations are some of the most fantastic people - PERIOD... but really are the best you will/can work with in the Gainesville wedding industry.

Not only do they make gorgeous cakes, but they are also super sweet themselves. Their specialty cakes will make your wedding memorable! They can customize anything your little heart desires and are always open to new ideas! The groom’s cakes are always a hit.

The signature (and most popular) flavors at KB Kake Kreations are Signature Wedding White with Raspberry filling and The Chocolate Truffle with Ganache. Both of which are oh so tasty!

Although these are their most popular combinations, you can create your own dream cake from a variety of flavors.

Not only are these cakes a looker…but they taste amazingly delicious too! Kathy only accepts one wedding per weekend, so be sure to reserve your date as soon as possible, she fills up fast!

To learn more about KB Kake Kreations, visit their new and improved website and brand spaking new blog.


Thank you Kathy and Erika for allowing us to feature you in MasterPiece Weddings Cake Week 2008!
{written mostly by Bossy Intern Kristin}

(Ad)Word of the Day: Ad Variations

Did you know that we have an AdWords Glossary? It's a great resource for learning more about AdWords; so we're starting a new series here at Inside AdWords entitled (Ad)Word of the Day. Each post in the series will cover one term in the glossary and talk a little bit about it.

For our inaugural post, we'll start with ad variations:

Ad variations are multiple versions of an ad for a single product or service, all based on the same set of keywords. Variations are a good way to test many versions of the same message to see which works best with potential customers.

One advantage of using ad variations is that AdWords can automatically show the best performing ad. If you are not sure which message will work best with your potential customers, you can simply create multiple ads for an ad group. AdWords will automatically show the best performing ad more often over time.

We hope you've enjoyed the first part of our new series. If you have suggestions for words you'd like to see, we're always listening at inside-adwords@google.com.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Inside AdWords crew

Investigating with the Impression Share report

Unlock the mystery behind a campaign’s low search traffic. Knowing how your ad stacks up against others in your market can help you make more effective changes to your campaigns. So, before you start restructuring the whole account, get clued in by running an Impression Share report (IS).

The IS report will tell you the percentage of impressions where your client’s ads were shown out of the total available impressions in the market you were targeting. With insight into potential traffic, you can make more informed decisions by getting answers to these questions:

• Do I have room to expand in my targeted market?
  
  
• Am I losing impressions due to rank?
  
  
• Am I losing impressions due to budget?
  
  
• What's my impression share for specific keywords I'm using? (Hint: use the IS Exact Match report)

The next step is to learn how to improve your client's impression share, and the mystery is solved.

Posted by Josephine Tsay, Agency Team

Free cross-product webinar for webmasters

Posted by Jon Stona, Product Marketing Team

Three of our most useful products for website owners are Google Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, and Google Website Optimizer. On July 8, we're joining forces to bring you a free webinar about all of them so you can learn more about how they can boost your website when used together.

Here's the trifecta:

Google Webmaster Tools is a resource to gauge the visibility of your pages on Google. It shows you which of our search queries drive traffic to your site and lets you see where your site is included in the top search results. You'll even be able to identify your top content and view the words that other sites use to link to it.

Google Analytics provides further insight on how people land and navigate on your site, regardless of whether they arrive through Google search, pay-per-click ads, or other means. You can see which geographical regions people come from, view your top landing pages, and compare the effectiveness of all your ads, e-mail newsletters, affiliate campaigns, referrals, and keywords on Google and other search engines.

Google Website Optimizer then enables you to act on the information you've gathered about your site and make concrete improvements. After identifying your high-traffic but low-converting pages, you can test different combinations of content to determine which one most yields the outcome you're looking for.

To be clear, we keep a strict wall between search and ads; your site ranking won't affect your ad placement and vice versa. Still, by using all three tools together, you'll gain a complete, detailed picture of how your site's visitors arrive, interact, and respond to changes in content or design. And if you're already using one tool, you can use your same login for the others.

Our first-ever joint webinar for Webmaster Tools, Analytics, and Website Optimizer will take place:

DATE: Tuesday, July 8
TIME: 9:00 a.m. PT (Pacific Time)
JOIN US: Register to attend

If you can't make that date, you'll be able to access an archived version of the presentation via the same registration URL. And lest you forget, you can always visit Google Webmaster Central to see everything we offer to help you build and maintain your best site.

Summer Lovin'

My sister just sent me some pictures of my nieces! And they are just too adorable, so I had to share!

{Peyton with her shades ready for the pool}

{Sydney thinks the water's just fine}

{Peyton is all too pretty in her dress}

So sorry for the wedding interruption, but I thought those were too fun to not share them with you!

More Cake Week!

Cakes by Jenny is actually one of the first cake company I worked with as a Wedding Planner in Gainesville!- 13 years ago!! She is amazing! These pictures don't even do her justice!!!

She is thoughtful and meticulous, and she'll do anything you need! In fact, I remember a time, a client of mine was trying to figure out what to do for a grooms cake, and we started talking about things he liked, her list included: Watching TV, playing basketball and drinking beer, I suggested a replica of HIS chair, and Jenny came up with this:

Jenny even does Cheesecake Wedding Cakes! Her cakes are delicious and beautiful - she even opened up a little dessert bakery in Downtown Gainesville! So if you are ever in the area, check out Cakes!

Jessica Alba (Galeria 2)

Hollywood Press

Otras fotos:

Jessica Alba (Galeria 1)

Jessica Alba (Transparencias)