Gold Stars for Reviews Are Back….In a Different Way

On one of our previous posts we pointed out that Google had gotten rid of the “gold stars” that appeared on a Google+ local listing that had several reviews and replaced these with the Zagat rating system. Zagat ratings are…
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Paid Search Ads Can Double Your Clicks Even if You Rank First Organically

Last year Google released the Search Ads Pause research study  that looked at the correlation between paid and organic search results. Google concluded that if you were to remove your paid ads you would see an 89% drop in clicks.…
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The Future of Mobile Search

The use of mobile technology continues to be one of the hottest trends in the world of local search. Mobile technology continues to grow at a pace that is unlike anything we have seen in the past. With this ever…
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Google’s New Privacy Policy Goes into Effect Today

As many of you may be aware, there has been a lot of discussion about Google’s new privacy policy that goes into effect starting March 1, 2012. It would be a bit of an understatement to say that the news…
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Majority of Google’s Revenue is From Paid Ads

A study was done earlier this month by technology writer Dan Frommer of Splatf. The study was aimed at determining how diversified the top technology companies are. There are several ways that you could dissect a study of this nature…
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Online Ad Spending to Exceed Print for First Time Ever in 2012

According to eMarketer, US online ad spending will grow almost 24% in 2012 to close in on $40 billion. This number is expected to reach nearly $53 billion by 2014 and $62 billion by 2016. In 2012 online ads in…
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Google to Start Penalizing Pages With too Many Advertisements “Above the Fold”

Are you tired of doing a Google search only to land on a page that has an entire army worth of ads occupying the top part of the page? Does this make you feel deceived and taken advantage of? Well…
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Search Engines Are Number One Choice for Finding Local Businesses

A recent survey was conducted by Pew Internet to determine where people get information about local businesses. For the study, 1100 adults (18 and older) were interviewed by landline and cellphone in both English and Spanish. People looking for information…
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Top 20 Paid Search Advertisers on Google in the U.S. for 2011

In 2010 Google brought in $29 billion. Of this, 97% was revenue from paid search advertising. So who exactly is spending all this money on Google? Kantar Media has been trying to answer this question. According to Search Engine Watch,…
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Study Shows Paid Ads Are Major Factor for Offline Business

Over the last few years, e-commerce has seen a tremendous growth all over the world. Although this trend continues to get bigger, e-commerce still only accounts for about 5 percent of all retail sales. As more and more marketers focus…
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