Google announced today they're going to take a step toward user privacy by hiding keywords used by searchers signed into their Google accounts. We'll leave the discussion regarding their real reason for doing so for another day or someone else to blog about. Me, I'm going to talk about what I think this means for the industry and why I think so many people that are freaking out over this change are missing the bigger opportunity here.

In August KISSmetrics created a fantastic infographic and we want to share it. Google has been doing an ongoing study of web browser behavior.

Since the launch of Google+ in June, the new social network has grown rapidly to over 40 million users. On Friday, Google announced that they would be closing down Google Buzz in an effort to fully concentrate on the further development and growth of Google+. Bradley Horowitz, the vice president of product at Google, said the following in a blog post: "Changing the world takes focus on the future, and honesty about the past. We learned a lot from products like Buzz,

WordStream released a very cool infographic today that details Facebook's criticisms, missteps and outright failures over the seven years since its inception. It is a must see due to the fact that every part of it is so true! © 2011 WordStream, Inc.

Do you spend hours hacking around Microsoft Excel every month to create a compelling SEO report for your clients, knowing that they are probably not going to get read or even opened? In my post below I have provided five tools that can help improve your SEO reports, taking them from being the standard Excel spreadsheet to a report that can be given to anybody at any level within your client's organisation.

YouTube, which has over 800 million monthly visitors and three billion daily video views, recently announced a new feature: Merch Store. The new service will allow YouTube's users to download music, purchase merchandise, and buy concert tickets through YouTube's partners. Christian Weitenberner, the senior technical account manager for YouTube, said the following of the new service in Sunday's YouTube blog post: "Fans will be able to buy artists' merchandise,

I hate the term "Mobile SEO." What exactly is it? Besides being a buzzword thrown around at every conference, seminar, and new business pitch it's a topic that nobody seems able to accurately explain. Google it; the results are all over the place. In a perfect world, there would be no need for mobile SEO at all. It's an emerging topic that, thanks to smart phones, is dying off quicker than it emerges. Like most buzz words though,

For years on SEJ we've been a proponent of listing sites web directories as a form of traditional organic link building. And over these years many web directories have come and gone. As linking gets less oriented on brute force anchor text overload and moreso is taking a natural approach, sometimes it can be very easy to overlook the fundamentals.

Over the past few days there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the coverage of Google+, particularly focusing on the measured 60% downward trend seen in the site's traffic as reported by Chitika Insights. In further investigation of this matter, Chitika researched traffic patterns of the social network to determine whether the downward trend witnessed was a short term fluctuation as some proposed, or just the start of a longer term trend.

The last barrier to entry when launching an SEO firm is the most intangible one " your It's "will" more than "wealth" that makes a startup succeed. personality. Suffice to say, it takes a special kind of person to be able to start a company. You need to be a self-starter, have the confidence required to sell your product and market yourself as an expert in the industry, possess the work ethic required to get a company off the ground and make it successful,

Five months ago, after failing to reach agreements with record labels and publishers, Google launched a cloud based music service that was essentially a cloud based locker service for individuals who already owned music. Prior to launching the scaled down service, Google had negotiated with the music labels for over one year and eventually offered them $100 million for the rights to sell their music. At the time, Jamie Rosenberg,

SEO - Google Maps On Right Side Of Web Results - How I Found 400 Qualified Link Prospects In Eight Minutes - The Importance of Split Testing a Prospect Conversion System - 60 SEO tips & Online Marketing techniques for ecommerce Websites - Google's free Page Speed Online tool has graduated from Google Labs. - How to Create a Custom 404 Page - Local SEO Is Like Real Estate: Location, Location, Location - Are You Tracking All That Happens on Your Website?

I heard Dennis speak at the BlueGlass Tampa conference last month where he mentioned relationships with IT departments. Dennis worked at Ebay for nearly 10 years and he is now the VP of Internet Marketing at Geeknet. I thought he would be the best guy to ask about creating good and effective SEO /IT working relationships. There is much talk in the SEO industry about negative issues with IT departments. What are your theories on why these problems seem to occur?

Last month on September 20, 2011, StumbleUpon started sending out emails to their users informing them that on October 24th, 2011, Groups, Themes, and both photo and html blogs would be discontinued . Stating the change was being made in an effort to focus attention on making sure the content that you discover through their system is high quality, fast, and relevant to your interests. Like with any change, a small group of users were upset ,

After the markets close today, Google is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings, which will let investors know how Google's core business of search-related marketing is performing. When compared to $7.64 profit per share on $5.5 billion of total revenues during the third quarter of 2010, the estimate )whisper number( of $8.74 profit per share on $7.2 billion of revenue indicates strong growth in spite of investors' concerns related to spending, competition,

As my career progresses in the merchant account space, I've had opportunities to observe and monitor sales figures for several major e-commerce sites. In analyzing the figures, I've come across a few interesting practices that can help merchants increase their bottom line and conversions with simple strategies. Whether you're an affiliate, an SEO consultant or account manager, helping the merchant increase revenue definitely benefits all parties involved.

Although the iPhone 4S will not be available until Friday, Apple consumers with older products will begin to see changes before then. Apple, who is introducing iOS 5 today, is making the new mobile software available free of charge to individuals who own either an iPhone 4 or iPhone 3G. In addition to rolling out iOS 5 today, Apple is releasing the iCloud, which was the most anticipated new feature. The iCloud, which Steve Jobs first announced in June,

Unlike the significant capital required to start up most businesses, opening up an SEO company requires very little upfront expense. You'll need to pay state incorporation fees, and you'll probably need to enlist the help of an accountant to get started. You'll need to purchase a domain and web hosting, and if you can't make a decent enough website yourself, you'll need to pay a designer to help you out. )Go deeper on the build-or-buy decision for a website.

Google is celebrating the 90th birthday of Gumby creator Art Clokey in the U.S. today with an interactive homepage logo featuring Gumby. Check it out and hover over the logo at Google.com . Also, Gumbyworld.com officially debuts today and includes the full history of Gumby and friends.

Through the years I have spoken with many people who are tempted to pitch for a speaking spot at a conference. I know that although many people may pitch well they may not do well at the podium. For some it is not easy to speak in public and it really is not easy an effective speaker at a conference in front of all your peers. I contacted some people I consider conference experts and they have some advice if you are going to speak at a conference.