In December, 100,000 brick and mortar businesses in 5,000 cities who had claimed their Local Business Listings got snail mail from Google in the form of Favorite Place stickers, with instructions to put them in their windows and use them to promote their business.

Included on each sticker is a bar code that some smart phone users can scan to pull up Local Business Listing information, including coupons, on their phones. Outwardly, this appears to be just another bribe that Maps is offering to get businesses to claim their listings. In reality, Google could be testing any number of things relating to smart phone use, mobile search and local businesses. It's worth noting here that Google encouraged Local Listing Ad advertisers to link their ads to their Place Pages instead of to their websites because the Place Pages render well on small screens and contain all of the information a mobile searcher is likely to be interested in.

Google is continually testing and tweaking, so changes are no surprise to those who watch it. But in 2009, the number, frequency, acceleration and anticipated impact of the changes both in paid advertising and organic results regarding Local Search at Google have been remarkable. In my opinion, these increasingly louder rumblings indicate that once Google finds the optimum combination of the right user interface and profitable local advertising to display, it will unleash a formidable storm in the world of Local Search. Are you ready?

For full article and more information, check out Search Engine News: http://www.searchenginenews.com/se-news/content/search-engine-strategy-and-optimization-updates-for-january-2010#2

To help get set up in Google's Local Business contact ICND today.

A few months ago Google released a video demoing their revolutionary product, Google Wave. It promises to be everything Google is as a whole, all rolled up into one easy to use interface, not to mention make email obsolete. That's a pretty big promise, and if anyone can accomplish something so huge it's Google.

If you watched the entire hour and twenty minute video or read anything about Wave, you know a little about what it's capable of, but even so, you probably weren't one of the lucky folks to make it into the beta to test the software. That's where we come in.

First logging into Wave, I'll admit, was overwhelming. We had all watched the whole demo video, and I felt I understood the interface and how it worked. The good news is that the overwhelming feeling goes away pretty quickly. If you're like most and have a Gmail account, you'll notice that the interface is set up to mimic the Gmail interface.

In the center of interface is the Wave inbox. This is just like your inbox in your email, with the subject of the wave, and the icon or avatar of some of the people in the wave. On the left side of the interface will be a link to start a new wave. This will open a window to the right of the inbox one where any current wave you are interacting with will be. From here is where the magic all happens. Also note these windows are collapsible so you can maximize your screen real estate with what you are currently reading or maybe just hide your inbox during a meeting to stay focused.

Basically Google will allow you to do just about anything you could think of inside of a wave, and this is why it has the potential to be the biggest thing to happen to the Internet since...well since email. The wave combines Gmail, Gtalk, Google documents, Google maps and probably some other Google things that I can't remember.

That means if you want to send an email, instant message, directions with a map, or create an entire collaborative presentation or document that everyone can edit in real time - you can do it all with a wave. Plus, you can drag and drop photos from your PC, or Google image search and you can even embed YouTube videos straight into the wave. Sounds like a lot of content to suddenly fall into if you get added to a wave late. Google thought of that and made it possible to use what that call a playback ability to see the progression of the wave from the beginning - edit by edit.

Of course the ability to install extensions means that Google Wave has unlimited potential. Right now there are only a few basic extensions created for the beta, like a yes/no/maybe chart for decision making with your friends, a weather extension, and a couple map and trip builders. The most basic, but probably the most convenient is the Google Search extension that comes by default. Anything you search within this small window can be inserted into the wave for others to see.

The most amazing of the extensions Google has in the works though, is the universal translator. Though it's not quite complete, Google did demo it in the video, and it did allow them to translate from one language to the next in real time, and with Wave's ability to display all sorts of characters, the language possibilities are seemingly endless. Though, there are also some addons for things like prettying your code so you can share HTML/MySQL/PHP/etc. code while developing and have it look nice and be color coded. There are so many possibilities with the bots/addons that can be created we are all very excited.

We're very impressed with the ambition and the ease of use of the program. The Google design team has thought of almost everything when it comes to things like drag-and-drop, which makes the program so much easier to use. As a challenge, we tried to figure out how many different ways we could do the same action within a wave. (I'm not sure we've named a winner yet.)

It's important to mention that some news has come out suggesting that Wave will have some security issues with bots, but seeing as how it's not officially released yet, it's unfair to assume that Google won't deal with that before release.

For more information on Google updates, please see our friends at SearchEngineNews.com.

For more information on Google updates, please see our friends at SearchEngineNews.com.

Don't forget, ICND specializes in SEO, so if you have any problems installing or monitoring and element of your website, from hosting, analytics, webmaster tools, emails, or just content, we can help. Schedule a free SEO consultation, and the Internet Marketing team at ICND will walk you through every step.

For more information on Google updates, please see our friends at SearchEngineNews.com.

For more information on Google updates, please see our friends at SearchEngineNews.com.

To give a little history, PageRank used to be a major indicator in determining where your website (web page) ranked in the search engines. PageRank ranges from 0 to 10, 10 being the best.

The higher the PR (PageRank) the better you ranked (historically) for that particular page (each page is assigned its own PageRank).

PageRank was important before other behavioral factors/indicators took the limelight. Google and other search engines used PageRank as an indication of popularity among web searchers (almost like a meta-behavioral indicator). Now Google (and others) have been tracking real behavior, like click behavior, search history, geographic location, etc. Its a web users actions that will determine a web page's "popularity" and relevancy, which in turn has helped to make PageRank (mostly) obsolete.

Has Google dumped PageRank completely? No. They haven't said that officially. They have officially said that following PageRank as the sole indicator of ranking and indexing of your website is foolish and incorrect. Much like putting all your time and effort into ONLY optimizing your meta keywords on each page.

Google has always said that there are 200 indicators that they look at for each page when determining ranking and indexing. PageRank is still one of those indicators (as is meta keywords). You need to monitor as many of these factors as you can to keep a good mark on why your web pages rank the way they do.

As Google says, a high PageRank might not mean that you rank well for a certain term, but a low PageRank can be an indicator of why you DON'T rank for a certain term.

Read more at "Google Ditches PageRank in Webmaster Tools"

What is Google "Caffeine"?

First of all, Caeffeine is just a code-word (like Shock and Awe) for the secret project Google has been working on. Project was revealed in the last few days on Google's official blog. So, it's not so secret now. And it's no big surprise that Google would reveal some fire power after Microsoft and Yahoo inked their deal.

What is Google Caffeine's purpose?

Reportedly, Caffieine is an under the hood version of their existing search engine. What does that mean? "Caffeine" or whatever it will be called, uses the existing algorithm to produce results. However, those results will be "more comprehensive and streamlined". As the code name suggests, this under-the-hood version will be faster. Faster how you ask? Who knows. Perhaps it will have a separate indexing process, or a more streamlined quality guideline that will be more black and white. If your website is built to Google-perfection, you're in. If not, you're out. Your guess is as good as any ones.

Google could be doing some spin-doctoring here, revealing a reportedly super secret, revolutionary product to pull headlines (and rising consumer use) from MicroHoo. Google is a multi-national state unto itself, so you shouldn't be surprised if it starts acting like one.

Should businesses be worried?

For those business who live and die by their Google rankings, the answer is maybe. Google won't do anything too detrimental to their advertiser base. But, they will shake things up in the name of consumer progress. But if you're business is chasing the dragon (so to speak) with Google, you should get your hand slapped. Diverisify. Diversify. Diversify. Have you learned nothing from the current American economic meltdown? If not...remember what you're grandmother used to tell you. Don't put all your eggs in one basket...even if that basket is Google.

Will Caffeine's search results be any different from the standard Google SERP?

Well. According to Google. Yes. In reportedly "minor but significant" ways. I checked it out and found no differences as of yet...but perhaps this under the hood version relies more on user behavior? There have been rumors that Google has been enamored by real time search results fed by real time source like Twitter. Maybe Caffeine takes a snapshot of real time search behavior rather through the traditional bot indexing process. Is that what makes it like Caffeine, that it keeps you alert? This is all just speculation of course. But if I lose my life in some strange and unexplained way, then you'll know I was right about something. You've seen Conspiracy Theory I'm sure.

Can I try out Google Caffeine?

Sure can. It's sandboxed, so Google is keeping the program a safe distance from their Standard Google search engine. After all, they wouldn't want a coding error to pull down the whole sha-bang. Check out Google Caffeine. I would be really interested in hearing what difference people discover while searching.

I'll keep you posted as more is revealed.

Oh my. A lot has been going on in the Search Market. There hasn't been this much buzz since Google went in cahoots with China on censorship and Ashton Kutcher saved someone from a not so glamorous suicide. Wow.

So Microsoft and Yahoo, the number 3 and number 2 companies in the Search Market respectively (and respectively WAY behind Google) have inked a 10 year deal to combine their efforts. Combine ad platforms mostly...letting Bing (Microsoft's used-to-be MSN used-to-be LIVE) handle that. But it's that what it's all about.

From what I see from the individual SERP's, I personally think Bing is way ahead of Yahoo in its clearer quality guidelines and sensible indexing. Yahoo has been all over the place for the past year. Especially in it's PPC results. So, it just makes sense that these two giants combine.

But Google doesn't seem to frightened by the prospect, though certainly there will be a round of anitrust suits to follow the deal. And why not? Google gets in trouble for every company it acquires...and it should. Why should Google, Microsoft, and NewsCorp own EVERYTHING (directly or indirectly)?

Which brings us to Twitter. Though Twitter burns through cash faster than American auto-makers, it's still just a pebble in Google's shoe...but the prospect of real time search results, getting indexing on a real time basis - what's hot NOW because of behavior, NOT because of a long list of code and content protocols - is interesting. Interesting enough to be a game changer. Or so they say.

Check out this article on the top contenders in real time search, and the problems each one faces in immediacy, popularity, and relevancy.

I'm always talking about segmentation and how it's important to try to tie all your internet marketing efforts together. So, here's a great way to pull in your favorite and must have information via RSS feeds onto your iGoogle page. Some people don't use iGoogle - but a lot do.

If you don't, check it out. iGoogle is a great interface where you can pull in alot of Google-owned info, functions, etc into one page - including gmail, blogs (blogger.com), orkut, google notes, google videos, gadgets, widgets...you get the idea. It's your own personal webpage and there are gadgets that pull in your facebook and twitter stuff. So you can get a lot of you do right from one screen (at least from a monitoring point of view).

But I digress. If you're using social media as a marketing tool, you want to make sure that your posts don't stay segmented. You don't want them only to LIVE within that one channel. You need to give your readers (and accidental readers) the ability to pull your stuff into where THEY want to read. And THEY may be using iGoogle.

So without any further ado. Here's how to add an rss fee to your iGoogle page. (I'll use this blog's RSS url for the example...besides you need to stay updated on what's cooking in Internet Marketing any way, right?)

Step 1:

Log-in iGoogle.

Step 2:

Click on “Add stuff”.

Step 3:

Click on “Add by URL”.

Step 4:

Insert the RSS Feed URL, (for example: http://www.icoastalnet.com/Internet-Marketing/rss.cfm?mode=full).

Click on “Add”.

Step 5:

Return to the iGoogle Homepage, you should now be able to see the new Gadget (and if you added ours, you should see all of the posts from the InterCoastal Net Designs Internet Marketing Blog).

Click on the top-right small arrow, and then on “Edit settings”.
Select how many items you want it to display, and “Save”.

That’s it, enjoy!