The Best Websites
June 20, 2018
The Best Websites
Apple has switched back to using Google for their search results needs in both iOS and their Mac operating system over Spotlight search, TechCrunch reports. Google and Apple spokespersons confirmed this with Search Engine Land via email. The “search the web” results you get in both search interfaces will no longer be pointing to Bing,
Yesterday, at a pre-emptive event in Seattle, Amazon introduced new Alexa devices to keep its lead in the battle for the smart home. Google is having its own hardware event on October 4. Amazon introduced six products. First and foremost, it presented a more compact, cheaper Echo with better sound. It comes in six different
Google generally doesn’t do as well when it builds “follower” products — think Google Plus or Allo. But there are other examples where Google has excelled with later entries (e.g., AdWords, Maps). Right now, Google Home is a follower product seeking to break out of Amazon Echo’s shadow. On paper, Google should win in this
Yesterday, Google announced several Accelerated Mobile Pages Project (AMP), technical updates. These included scrolling animations, an improved responsive-navigation sidebar, support for video analytics, fluid ad support and other features to improve ad targeting. Here’s a little more color on the list of new capabilities: Scrolling animations: enables “parallax effects, subtle zoom or fade-in of images,
A number of Google Home Mini devices that were distributed to members of the press had a defect that caused them to record everything being said around them. This discovery renewed privacy concerns surrounding smart speakers as surreptitious listening devices in our homes. The problem was first discovered by Android Police. Once being notified, Google investigated
In Google’s world, site speed matters. And the search giant is pushing hard on AMP, its open source initiative to improve web page speed and performance for mobile users. But that speed comes at a cost for digital marketers. AMP eliminates scripts — including the scripts that help you track mobile calls. Join Eric Enge
In the highly competitive footwear vertical, no season matters more than late summer, when shoppers spend $27 billion on supplies and clothing for the coming school year. According to the Deloitte back-to-school survey for 2017, some 55 percent of that spend, about $15 billion, is devoted to clothing and accessories. Late summer may be only
The battle of the smart speakers and home assistants is in full swing. And both Amazon and Google think that gaming and fun will help provide a competitive edge. Amazon introduced Echo Buttons, which enable families to play Alexa-based games together, in September. Today Google announced a trove of games for families and kids: “[T]he Google
As every SEO knows, the rise of mobile searches has prompted Google to prioritize mobile signals in determining search results. To that end, the search giant is in the slow-going process of rolling out its mobile-first index, which is expected to be fully implemented sometime next year. In the meantime, getting sites ready is a
Unlike VR headsets or wearables, smart speakers are rapidly emerging as a mass market technology platform. The latest to document relatively high satisfaction and usage of these devices is call-tracking and analytics company Invoca. Earlier this year, Invoca surveyed 1,000 people in the US who own an Amazon Echo or Google Home device. The survey
In 2012, Google paid $22.5 million to settle an FTC claim that the company “misrepresented to users of Apple Inc.’s Safari Internet browser that it would not place tracking cookies or serve targeted ads to those users . . .” The company bypassed Safari’s cookie-blocking settings, it said, to deliver a “signed-in” user experience. Google explained
Apple says it will bring more installs with less effort “at a predictable cost.” That’s how the company is pitching its new Search Ads Basic offering. Apple rolled out Search Ads for the App Store in September 2016. Since that time, Apple has seen significant adoption by developers seeking to drive app downloads. Search Ads Basic
Like Taylor Swift, Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) have a reputation. In a not-very-official Twitter poll, 53 percent claimed AMP was “breaking the web.” What do you think about AMP? — Maximiliano Firtman (@firt) March 23, 2017 The mobile ecosystem is already complex: choosing a mobile configuration, accounting for mobile-friendliness, preparing for the mobile-first index, implementing
Twitter is broadening its support of AMP (accelerated mobile pages) to include article analytics. According to the announcement on Twitter’s developer blog, when Twitter loads an AMP version of an article, it will now ping the original article URL to record the view, in addition to passing the query arguments from the original article redirect
Google Lens has gone live or is about to on Pixel phones in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, India and Singapore (in English). Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been using it extensively and have had mostly positive results — though not always. Currently, Lens can read text (e.g., business cards), identify buildings
Microsoft has launched Outings, a new travel app for iOS and Android. Designed by the Microsoft Garage Project, the app curates travel-specific content and images to help users find potential travel destinations. “Whether you’re looking for a fun hike near town or planning your next vacation destination, often the hardest part of travel is just
Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller recently asked for feedback on why webmasters are looking for Google to separate voice search queries in Search Console. If you, like me, want to see voice searches in Google Search Console, definitely submit your feedback on Twitter as John requested. I hear folks asking about voice search data
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