Google Enhances Organic Search Semantically

          "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."
                              ~~Peter Steiner, author, cartoonist and contributor to The New Yorker

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Technology section (today, 3/15/2012), within the next few months, Google will be enhancing its search algorithm and providing more relevant information to organic search results. Semantically, search results issues are due to the arbitrary nature of language/keywords and the barrage of irrelevancy arising from this.

This latest enhancement purports to provide a more humanly-intuitive Web world for searchers including answering questions instead of receiving more links thus avoiding arbitrary irrelevancy … "we cross our fingers and hope there's a Web page out there with the answer," says Mr. Singhal, a top Google search executive (see WSJ article by Amir Efrati). More information can be found online at Wall Street Journal, Google Gives Search a Refresh.

Will this Impact Privacy? According to an earlier WSJ interview back in 2010 with Google CEO, Eric Schmidt on the issue of privacy, "I actually think most people don't want Google to answer their questions, they want Google to tell them what they should be doing next," said Schmidt (WSJ, Google and the Search for the Future, August 14, 2010 by Holman W. Jenkins Jr.) Would this be contradictory? Privacy issues do not matter to Google, but what about the rest of the Web world? Incidentally, Privacy International ranked Google as "Hostile to Privacy", its lowest rating on its report, making Google the only company on the list to receive the lowest ranking.

On a higher note, The Doodle 4 Google 2012 competition is now open to all K-12 students in U.S. schools (including home-schoolers). Completed entry forms must be received by March 23rd, and pre-registration is no longer required! Google is asking students to exercise their creative imaginations in real "Dr. Suessesque style" around the theme, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit…" and I might add "Oh the Places You'll Go..."

The Doodle 4 Google Competition (the “Contest”) is designed to encourage eligible U.S. school students (“Entrant(s)” or “You”) to use their creativity to create their own interpretation of the Google logo. Judges will choose the winning entries, and prizes will be awarded in accordance with these Official Rules (the “Rules”). Spread the news by sharing this Doodle 4 Google 2012 competition link.

This year, The New York Public Library and Crayola are partnering with Google for this year's Doodle 4 Google contest.

The one lucky student artist will see his/her artwork appear on the Google homepage and take home some prizes--and as a special bonus, the winning artwork will appear on a limited edition of Crayola's iconic 64 box!

Google Search Results and Winter Olympians on Sports Illustrated 2010 Swimsuit Issue: Are the Feminists or the Beauties Making It More Exciting than the Olympics? by Gloria Buono Daly

Google search results and SEOlympics: Are the Feminists or the Beauties Making It More Exciting than the Olympics, and is this an OxyMoron?

From last month to a few days ago, the 2010 Winter Olympics received less than a few hundred thousand Google search results and as of today (February 10th) received 4,350,000 Google search results, less than 24 hours after the release of Tuesdays, Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue featuring bikini-clad Olympian beauties Lindsey Vonn, Hannah Teter, Clair Bidez and Lacy Schnoor. See Google exact search engine results spreadsheet below for detail information of all 32 swimsuit models; this total includes the "fab 4 Olympians." Interesting to note a total of 22,708,040 Google Exact hits for ALL 32 swimsuit models in the 2010 issue with 8.34% coming from the Fab 4 Olympians:

Feminists appear clawing, complaining for attention about Sports Illustrated’s famous Swimsuit Issue (Tuesday, February 8th issue, and on newsstands now) as being sexist due to the treatment of 4 accomplished Olympian beauties posing in what they describe as sexual positions wearing bikini-clad swimwear and half-nude wear. Feminists’ main issue, besides the sexist poses, is why are these Olympians not being recognized for their athleticism instead of their beauty? Is the way SI treats women athletes sexist? Is the sky blue? If these 4 beauties choose to pose, isn't it their choice, their bodies? Wouldn't this net out the "sexist" part since they're getting something out of it too?

No matter how they pose, from Lindsey posing in a tuck-stance downhill ski position in SI’s Preview Issue, Thursday, February 4th issue, (the cover photo feminists refer to as a "doggy style sexual position"), to others photographed with crossed legs, lying down, legs opened, etc., there will always be criticism and celebration. OK, I admit, this photo (see left photo) might accent her derriere a bit. Of course SI photographers were having a ball but I’m certain these beauties were also enjoying every moment of their photo shoots. To all  feminists, myself included, “isn’t feminism about choice?” These young women are accomplished Olympians, feminists and mold breakers, who have made their own choices. Why can’t they celebrate being both beautiful as well as being one of the best skiers in the world any way they choose to?

From a marketing and communications perspective, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues have been around for decades and every year this issue brings about controversy, media frenzy, and with all the attention, big money, advertisers, web presence, etc. that comes with it.  Yes, feminists and afeminists all know “Sexy Sells.” We cannot ignore the marketing aspect and realize that this is overriding the Winter Olympic Event (regardless of feminists protesting the Winter Olympics). Real feminists know that freedom of choice matters most and that feministic double standards have been downhill since the eighties.

But Now I’m wondering, in light of our tough economic conditions, are more and more feminists speaking out simply to be a part of the action and media frenzy to draw attention to themselves and their causes? In essence doing exactly what they complain the media and Sports Illustrated are doing? Isn't it about time we reach that plateau where feminism means never having to say you're feminist, never having to say your opinion is better than someone who has a different feminine viewpoint? Why does it seem that so many feminists still believe that to be a true feminist you must be a liberal elitist, graduate magna or summa cum laude, read tons of feminist literature, etc.?

Below are some quotable quotes from comments by these Olympians on posing for Sports Illustrated. Since I’m not sure which of the 4 said what I’ve put my guess in parentheses. If anyone knows for sure, please reply and I will correct accordingly. Thanks.:
- “It’s fun to be sexy. Growing up in Vermont in the woods always covered I never dreamed of being half-naked being risqué.” (Clair Bidez?)
- “To pose topless wasn’t that hard cause I was always covered up. I was a little bit nervous though.” (Lacy Schnoor?)
- “We work hard on these bodies and are always covered up in helmets and ski suits…” (Hannah Teter?)
- “I enjoyed the opportunity to be in Sports Illustrated without my helmet and my ski clothes." (Lindsey Vonn?)

For NBC, sponsor of this years Winter Olympics, there was disappointing news. After NBC Today's Matt Lauer interviewed Lindsey Vonn yesterday morning (Tuesday, February 9th) we learned that she may not be able to compete in the Olympics due to a deep contusion to her shin (deep muscle bruise). According to Lindsey, it is excruciatingly painful for her to even put on her boot. According to Chris Chase of Fourth-Place Medal, “this news is just as bad for NBC, which has built a huge marketing campaign around Vonn and her quest to become the Michael Phelps of Vancouver.” The Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver begins Friday, February 12th. Chase also believes that NBC will lose money on Olympics and will not ever broadcast another? (Blog, Fourth-Place Medal, Chris Chase January 11, 2010.)


P.S. For those curious, here's the sexiest pose of me on the slopes, back in 2002 at Lake Tahoe.

What's Your New Year reSEOlution: Top Ten reSEOlutions for 2010

You’ve tried several years before but this time, come January 1, 2010 your New Year reSEOlution is to be more SEOrganized, pay more attention to the detail, save on SEM spending and track those milestones once and for all. You’ve been ready since January 2007 but are so busy that you get off track and end up putting it back in the rainy-day pile for next quarter. Hundreds of rainy days later and you have no idea what your SEO program is let alone the basic concept of relevant keywording and linkbuilding. There are probably hundreds to thousands of FREE SEO tips you can incorporate into your internet marketing program. I’ve listed below a top ten list to help jump-start your 2010 New Year reSEOlution. Along the way, I’ve included a few helpful URLs that will provide you with many more SEO tips to choose from.

1. Review your SEO stats for the past 3 years, if possible, and analyze and incorporate SEO strategies and plans accordingly

2. Create a spreadsheet of your SEO program and include timelines, milestones and all the other relevant items. Make sure you update and review this sheet on a daily to weekly basis and adjust your SEO strategy accordingly; Don’t forget to leave plenty of space to add on to as you move down this list

3. Review meta tag keywords and make sure a comma is after each keyword and that the max is no more than 250 characters (including spaces); This is a common error that is overlooked, however, this can make or break you organic positioning

4. Incorporate keywords in your anchor text; this can take a very long time to complete depending on how many links are on your web site. You may want to segment and delegate this to several on your team and schedule updates on a regular basis

5. Update meta tag descriptions regularly, and make sure the characters do not exceed 200 (including spaces); Meta tag description is the snippet that is included with your organic search listing. The more creative and appealing your copy with relevant keywords that match your web site the better chances you have of being indexed more prominently

6. Review title tags and make sure you use 3 to 4 relevant keywords, repeating them each at least 2X but no more than 3X; Characters should not exceed 150 (including spaces) For example, a jewelry site might have the following title: "AnnHarringtonJewelry.com, discount diamond rings, diamond jewelry, diamond engagement rings, antique jewelry, modern jewelry" – note the web site URL address is 1st, then followed by the use of keywords "diamond" used 3X, "rings" used 2X, and "jewelry" used 3X, all relevant to this the web site; All following the SEO industry standard as mentioned in this section (see 1st sentence).

7. Maximize the social networks, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. For ideas on how, visit these 2 resourceful sites that have plenty of suggestions - searchengineland.com and seomoz.org

8. If you have many images, make sure you are incorporating image tags into your code otherwise you risk spiders and crawlers ignoring your site

9. Optimize your site map; I’m amazed at how many web sites are not optimizing their site maps; Yes you’ve had a site map since the web site was first created but is it optimized to include relevant keyword descriptions, etc?

10. Submit your site to reputable search engines such as Yahoo, DMOZ, Aviva, Business.com, etc.

Remember your 2010 new year reSEOlution program is a WIP (work in progress) and the more regularly you review, update and add to your existing SEO program, the more impact your SEO will have to your bottom line.

Wishing you and yours a healthy and prosperous 2010!

written by Gloria Buono Daly (c) 2009