GOOGLE SECRETS (PART 3)

Google: Friend or Foe?----

Don’t get me wrong, almost all of us love Google to death. It has single-handedly changed the direction of this entire industry to something that is accessible for everyone. However, while Google is the darling poster child of Wall Street and the general public, there lurks a danger of abuse. We will cover this in a bit, but first let’s look at a few years ago when the World Wide Web was still a novel concept.

We had a handful of methods of finding information. They were so-called search engines. Their names were Yahoo, Excite, Lycos, and of course Alta Vista. If someone wanted to find a piece of information on this “World Wide Web”, they would enter their keywords into one of the above named search engines and would then begin the long arduous process of sorting through a lot of garbage before finding what they were looking for. Somewhere along the way, each of these companies got it into their corporate heads that what people wanted was even more fluff thrown at them.

This is when they became portals instead of search engines. Instead of offering just search results for what we were looking for, we now had stock quotes, weather reports, movie reviews, news reports, health tips, beauty tips, sports scores, horoscopes, dating tips, entertainment gossip, shopping links, financial hints, games, and lastly ads. Lots of ads. In the late nineties, enter Google, which had a very simple vision and unique philosophy.

While every portal was busy trying to deliver us critical information about when to kiss our date and how to shave our pet, Google was refining its search algorithms to make it so it would yield our searched keywords in a more efficient fashion without us having to endure that arduous process of sifting through garbage data. This coupled with the unique philosophy of do-no-evil, garnered them much deserved attention and fame.

Their approach to a lot of the services they now do to this day is very well executed. Some would argue that they’ve become what they said they wouldn’t become in the beginning, which is a portal. However, if you really think about it, they did this in such an elegant and well thought out system. The entire portal features are completely optional, those that do not wish to utilize them, are not forced to look at it or participate in it.

However, as good as the methods and intentions of Google may be, there is indeed a danger to our continued dependency on them. If you use Google regularly, then you more than likely have a Google Account with them and utilize one of their specialized services. One of the automatic ones is that they hold your search history for you by default. Every time you run a Google query, it is recorded and stored by Google for your convenience at a later date.

It even records what sites you jump to from the Google search list. As our dependency on Google increases, we are putting all of our eggs in one basket per se. We trust Google with a lot of information about our personal lives. After all, why should we think twice about a company who has a philosophy of Do-No-Evil and actively shows its good intentions to the technology community? Perhaps we should be thinking twice about it though. It may not be Google that we have to worry about, but rather, the governments of the world. If they are able to tap into Google via legal means to garner information about its own citizens, then this is a serious breach of privacy and security. A current example of this is still ongoing in the United States of America.

Robert Petrick, an American citizen, is being held on trial for the murder of his wife. A terrible act that should go punished, yes. However, the interesting portion is how their prime evidence against him was obtained via Google, in which it was found that he searched for terms such as neck and snap days before the murder took place. I’m not here defending his acts, I along with mostly everyone else believe that murder is not an act to be taken lightly and the man, if guilty, should be prosecuted and sentenced to the fullest extent of the law. But my point is here that it is possible for the government to tap into Google to research about their own citizens.

The possibilities of abuse here are paramount. Google is unable to really defend our privacy in this regard, as they must comply with the law and divulge our information. Next time you are Googling, remember the fact that they record it. After all, searches can be quite telling of the person and their current intentions.

Google, Updates, Upgrades, Penalties And Filters---

My site dropped from no.1 spot to nowhere. Google tech people replied to my email telling me I must have hidden text or used some kind of 'illegal technique'! Why don't they just admit it's their mistake?

Standard reply
It's a standard reply, nothing else. I would imagine that 9 times out of ten when Google get an email about a site that has dropped into oblivion it has something to do with using techniques that go against their webmaster guidelines. It may not be the case with you but from their perspective I should think it a reasonable reply in the circumstances.

There seems to be some confusion about 'penalty'
A 'penalty' is applied to sites using tricks and sneaky stuff to boost their rankings in Google. A good recent example would be BMW who were using one page for the search engines and another for the web visitor. Since this was contrary to Google's guidelines, BMW were removed from the index entirely -- they were penalised (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ramping-up-on-international-webspam/).

Filtered
Another type of 'penalty' although it really is a purely an algorithm filter, is a webmaster using things like hidden text or keyword-stuffing, for example. This gets aggressively filtered (assuming the site is not removed from the index) by the application of the filter(s) which then causes the site to drop down the search engine rankings. It may seem like a penalty but it is the result of filtering, not penalty.

Penalty is different from 'ignoring' links
When links are ignored, there is no penalty being applied, the links simply don't count. The site itself is not penalised, it is merely the case that some of the links into that site are not counted. This measure not only filters out link farms and spam techniques but also prevents a competitor from acting against another site by spamming in order to attempt to incur aggressive filtering.

Google does not owe you a living
Google does not owe any webmaster a living! I must mention this as many webmasters seem to forget at times, that it is up to them to keep their sites filled with visitors, not Google, or for that matter, any search engine.

If Google are busy with rebuilding their infrastructure, their database, their spiders, their algorithms or for that matter, the breakfast bar at Googleplex, and it adversely affects your website, then it's just too bad!

Complaining to Google that your website isn't at the #1 spot any more is like complaining to the bestseller booklist that you should still be at the top of the bestseller list even though your book isn't selling as well! If your site no longer meets the current market requirements then you need a new product. The market isn't going to change to suit you.

Panic, Florida and Big Daddy
Now is definitely NOT the time to panic. Google are upgrading. Things will be all over the place for a while yet. If you take drastic measures for what was up until recently a highly placed site, you run the risk of completely ruining your placements.

During the infamous 'Florida update', many webmasters panicked and began changing, tweaking and altering things that had no bearing on their ultimate placement. However, thanks to the 'adjustments' made in haste, they did manage to bring problems on themselves that took months to recover from once the dust had settled and everyone had a much better understanding of what had occurred.

Steady at the wheel, Captain!

Google Adsense: How Formatting And Color Schemes Can Make Or Break Your Click Count!----

With Google adsense even the slightest adjustment on your website can make a world of a difference. Adsense requires little effort at all on your part, but the changes you can control can vary the amount of clicks you receive. That is why the formatting and colors you use for the ad will allow you to collect a higher income and raise your adsense revenue.

When placing the Google adsense it is crucial you place it directly in the heart of your content. You want the ad to be noticed but at the same time not take away from the content on your website. You want the adsense to compliment your content, not BE your content. Square and wide rectangular ads tend to fair the best and receive the most clicks for people.

You want to place your adsense above the main fold to maximize your clicks. The higher up on the page your ads are the more likely people will click on them. This is because not everyone reads all the content on your website, but by putting your adsense towards the top it is one of the first things they see.

Placing objects around the ads are a sure way to increase your adsense revenue as well. If you place images next to or above, the ads the images will draw the readers’ eyes towards your ads with more potential for people to click on them. You do not want to place too many images as this will drop the quality of your page, but placing one or two images will look professional and serve its purpose at the same time.

When adjusting the background color and border color of your google adsense box, you don’t want to make it stand out from the rest of the page. Have the background and border colors be very similar, if not the same color, as the background of your webpage itself. The color of the ad link URL should always be a lighter shade than that of the text. If the text is black then make your adlink a light gray shade. All in all your goal is to make the adsense have the same color scheme as your website has to help it blend in as oppose to looking like an ad that stands out.

It is important that you pay attention to the formatting of your Google adsense and maybe even adjust it from time to time. Make sure to keep records of how you fair as far as clicks go if you do make an adjustment. Testing will help you find what works best for your website. While it may seem like a very little adjustment on your webpage, it will ultimately determine how many clicks you receive. The formatting and color schemes you use are a vital aspect towards your success with adsense.

Google Adsense: Your Content Better Not Suck----

I wanted to take a few minutes and write to you about something that is vitally important in building websites with Google Adsense for fun and profit.

I’m sure that you’ve heard this before, but I’m going to beat a dead horse right now, because it’s really, REALLY important to understand, and newbies and even experienced people STILL don’t get it (or maybe want to get it).

Let me shout this from the rooftops, so all will hear it...

Without good content, your venture into Google Adsense, and getting any kind of profits from Adsense is going to be tough, tough tough.

In fact, I’d say that it was almost impossible to generate any long term profits without good, solid content of some kind on your website.

Content is something that you simply can’t ignore, and it's a crime above crime if you do. Search engines love content and depend on it to kick back quality content results to its end users, people like you and me, or that guy who's looking for what you've got to give him, whether it's actual products, a service or just a Google Adsense ad.

Without good content for search engines to use and direct people to you, your website will never be found by anyone. In short, without content, your isolation from your end user is pratically guaranteed.

In case you haven't gotten it about the importance of content, let me one more thing. The big search engines, in many cases, even check your page for content and relevancy when you buy pay-per-click traffic. And without relevant content, they won't accept your ad.

So guess what? You need to be relevant, and you need some content to be relevant with.

Then there the problem with Google Adsense dropping advertisements into your site that have nothing to do with your site. I'll talk about PSAs (Public Service Ads), and how to avoid these no-paying ads in another message soon.

Readers love content, and will go out of their way to find good things to read in the subjects they care about. And if you provide them good content, they'll come looking again for you.

Without good content that people will come back to again and again, you’ll be a one shot website, and people won’t come back.

I’ve seen different webmasters and builders use specialized programs for page building. These programs build what is commonly called “scraper sites”. These sites take info from other web pages, and assimilate keyword-rich pages that supposedly will rank high on search engines. Granted these pages are total nonsense, and while they generate huge traffic from their high rankings, they usually don’t stay around long.

This scraper strategy may work for a while, but eventually search engines like Google will find out, and penalize your site.

Many sites are using programs that generate content. But people know what those sites are about the minute your page opens up on their browser. And once again, the search engines may very well pick up on the fact that you’re using artificial means to generate pages on your site, and ban you. It’s not worth it.

So you ask: how do I find relevant info to use in my site?

1. Explore Other Sites

No, don’t steal articles word for word from other places. But ideas for stories? That’s a different story (literally).

As Solomon said the Bible, “there’s nothing new under the sun.” But there’s always a “new” slant on content, and you’re a good brainstorm away from finding it.

Use your head. Check out what others are doing on their sites, and then combine the things you like in their content and ideas to make your content sing.

Be objective when looking other people’s content. If something grabs you, ask yourself why? Ask yourself why that angle of idea appealed to you when you came across it? And when you visit each site, ask yourself as you leave, “why would I come back to this site?”

2. Remember: The News Of The World and Your Adsense Site Are Connected.

If you’re maintaining an Adsense-oriented site, you need to be a “mini-expert” on your niche. That means reading material from others, and seeing how they can affect your Google Adsense site. You may think I’m repeating what I said above. I’m not. I’m talking about being personally involved in your content.

In your niche, affected by the winds of change, fickle buyers and surfers, and the ever changing landscape of the world and the web are sub niches. By keeping even the slightest tabs on your niche, you can align it to happenings outside of your niche that will affect your niche itself.

Example: One of the heavy keywords that came up this week when I was putting together my Top 500 Google Adsense Keyword List (available every two weeks for free, by the way, from http://axalda.info/topkeywords.html) was “cheap student airline tickets”. Of course, people always want to travel cheap, but why students?

Because it’s Spring Break, and kids are looking to spend Mom's and Dad's money for two weeks. If I had a niche, that I could have tied that information into a page on my travel or vacation website, I’d probably do very well in Adsense.

3. Read Magazines

Read a book or two. In many cases, magazines don’t follow trends—they make them. If you can get your hands on a publication or two that covers aspects of your niche, plunk down a buck or two, and get inspired.

There are a lot more ideas about how top get good content. Use your head, and fix it on your niche. Remember, like I said, you’re only one good brainstorm away from Adsense gold.

Google Adwords: A Quick Word Of Advice----

Over the next few weeks im going to be offering some advice and solutions on specific mistakes that people make when venturing into google adwords. It also Helps to refresh my memory now and again to. Heres the first.

A problem that i see crop up time and time again is when people choose their keywords before they find there niche market. Many people that get into PPC advertising set up a campaign, set their CPC's high, add a truck load of keywords that they think will convert, and then begin to research the product that there trying to sell. This is all wrong!

It is very important the you seek out your market before you find a product to promote to them.Try going on forums or visiting newsgroups and focus groups...see whats hot, what people are having problems with or complaining about and looking for a solution to -- and then deliver a product to these people.

Lets look at it from a different angle. If you have a stand that sells pizza in a demographic where everyone likes to eat only Chinese, you are not going to sell many pizzas, no matter how delicious. The same goes for online promotions, if you are promoting the wrong products to people or trying to sell to people who simply are not hungry to buy, they are not going to purchase from you.

So whats the lesson? Focus on market research before promoting a product. Spend time to learn your audience, what they buy, why they buy, and then look at what fellow affiliates are doing. This will give you a great starting point before you jump into the "deep end".

Only then should you start looking at your chosen market and product on a keyword level, buts thats an entirely different article!!

Google Ca$h Machine: Success Finally!---

My name is Brandy Gleeson. Over the last few years I’ve tried everything from Amway to Ebay. As an Amway distributor, I contacted plenty of prospects. I bought the products and sales literature. I even paid to attend the sales conventions and seminars. In the end I realized I was spending far more than I was making, and the people above me, who had been doing it longer than I had, weren’t making a profit either. Eventually, I started seeking other opportunities.

I’d heard plenty of stories about people striking it rich on Ebay, so I thought I’d try it. First of all, the Ebay system takes a lot of work to figure out. You can spend days reading the help files and when you finally get something posted, it looks so unprofessional, no one wants to buy. Most people who get good sales on Ebay have spend many hours making their ads look professional. That can take a lot of time, especially when you have multiple products and single items to sell. Secondly, you have to have plenty of resources. You have to have a digital camera and a scanner, because no one will buy items that aren’t listed with pictures. Also, you have to sink a lot of money into your business to keep inventory on hand. Studying buying patterns to see what people are buying and what makes them buy can take years and a lot of money spent.

Throughout the process I began to realize how much work was involved in all the business opportunities, with little or no return. For awhile I gave up. At the time, I was making minimum wage and taking care of my two boys and my brother’s daughter, after he robbed a gas station and went to jail. My sister in-law was in treatment for drugs and alcohol so she couldn’t take care of her daughter. I was a month behind on the rent every month, and had to use payday loans all the time just to keep up.

Things were going like that for quite awhile. Two months ago I ran into an old classmate from high school. He was wearing a suit and drove a Lexus. I told him things weren’t going too well, and he admitted he felt bad for me. He told me he might know of an opportunity I might be interested in, but he would tell me more that night over dinner. I accepted his invitation.

The next part is going to sound like something from TV. It’s going to sound really corny, but it’s true. Over dinner, he told me all about Google Cash Machine by Sebastian Foss. Over the last few months he had researched practically every single business opportunity out there. Then he found Google Cash Machine. He said over the last two months he watched his profit grow from $50 a day to $250 a day with an automated cash making system that practically anyone could learn and do. He said Sebastian Foss gave him all the information he needed to make substantial profit from a business that he only had to maintain 15 minutes a day. Of course, that got my attention, and I signed up.

There’s a lot of marketing claims that say you’ll be making cash within 15 minutes. That’s a big exaggeration. It takes about a day or two days to set everything up, but now over the last two months my profit has grown to 125 dollars a day. That’s 3750 per month! Now, I’m able to buy my kids the clothes they want, eat good food, and pay the rent on time. Next, I’m going to start saving up for a house.

I’m not going to lie. If I sign people up I get a commission from each sale, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, because if you sign up you’ll have the same opportunities to make a steady income, payoff debts, buy the things you need and want, and live the lifestyle you want to live.

Google Earth - Zoom in!-----

Cartography, uptil some time ago, was the only way of mapping or charting the globe. Map-reading and map-making is a science, the subtleties of which might not be available to every lay person. However, commercial-use maps have been available for a long time now. They are especially useful for tourists and for drivers. The major drawback of paper 2-D maps was that they have always been location or area specific. While an atlas, in theory, is a collection of maps of the whole globe, minute details can never be divined from them.

Google Earth, the latest software application from the Internet giant Google, aims to change all this. One of the main features of this application is that it promises you minutely detailed maps of any location in this world. Even pictures of man-made building, trees, parks, mountains are available, if you so desire, in 3-D. It’s a method of information gathering for any specific location in this world. Google Earth is quite simply, an extraordinary technological feat. At a stroke, it has dominated the cartographical business. All you need is a computer and an Internet connection. Just download the software and you can discover the world from your desktop.

Google Earth employs the use of satellite imagery, conventional maps and extremely sophisticated streaming technology to deliver the data to your desktop. Just type in the location in the software (powered by the award-winning Google Search) and the map is immediately available to you. Also, Google Search makes available a list of local facts about your search object. This technology makes searching for schools, parks, apartment buildings, even hotels and restaurants anywhere in the world extremely easy. Not only does it make driving instructions available to you, location to location, the software also allows you to rotate and full tilt the maps. This makes it easier for you to explore the urban location or terrain in 3-D detail.

A great number of customization tools are available for the individual user. You can bookmark or save your favorite searches and share them with family and friends. Google Earth also makes use of KML. It is a data exchange format which allows the user to add their annotations to the map or the view and also enables the sharing of this information. The map is formatted in the form of layers-with some features characteristic to each layer. For example, a specific layer would shoe the geographical features, while another will make information regarding schools, hospitals, shopping and airports available to you.

Google Guide----

Introduction

When we surf on the internet, we all need a guide. For me, and I am sure for most of you, that guide is Google.
However, do we know how to take advantage from all this guide is offering us? In the next article, I will try to present the operators used in searching along with some words with special significations.

Operators

The minus operator (-) can be used for terms you want excluded from your search.
If you put a phrase in (“) Google will display the result containing that phrase.

The stop words

These words will be excludes from Google searching because Google is considering them very usual ones (for ex. “to”). If you want your searching to contain those particular words you will have to use the plus operator (+) before them.

Memorized page

Google acquires an image of each examined page during its checks on internet, and keeps it in case the original page is not available. If you click on the“Cache” link, you will see the page in the same format it was when indexed.

Similar pages

If you click on “Similar pages”, Google will give you similar pages with that page. This function is useful if you want to buy a product with the lowest price.

Calculator

Google can be used in the same time as a calculator. All you have to do is to write the equation in the search box and to press enter.

Ex. 5*658*89+56

Special words

Some words, if followed by two points (:) , get a special meaning for Google. It is very important not to put spaces between (:) and the next word because in that case, those words will not going to have that special function but simply searching terms.

Dictionary

You can also use Google for definition of some words. You must use the word “define” and the word whose definition you are looking for.

Searching on specified site

If you want your search to contain only results from a specified site you have to use the word “site” followed by it address and searching terms.

Connections to a page

Use the word “link” and sites address and you will find pages sending you to that site.


Other functions
There are many other functions, such as maps, air travel information or stock market values but are valid only for United States, so, I will not pay to much attention to that.