After all my warnings about scareware, Google comes along with a warning on its search results pages that many of you might believe is scareware, but it’s not – it’s real.
Google Malware Warning
According to Google’s Online Security Blog
This particular malware causes infected computers to send traffic to Google through a small number of intermediary servers called “proxies.” We hope that by taking steps to notify users whose traffic is coming through these proxies, we can help them update their antivirus software and remove the infections.
This malware is actually a result of scareware, or fake anti-virus software that infects computers. And, Google admits, there may be a whole new slew of fake scareware ads that look like the Google warning. A valid Google warning will only be seen at the top of a search results page.
So, if you see this warning it’s time to run an AV scan. You do have anti-virus installed, right? And it’s up-to-date, right? If not, Google will even help you at their Help Center..
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Google has just announced they are willing to photograph the inside of your business for free and add the photos to your Google Places page. They are starting off in five areas in the US. But why wait?
If you haven’t already done so, go to Google Places and click on the Get Started button under “Claim your business listing on Google – for free”.
Add as much information about your local business as you can, including hours of operation, credit cards accepted and especially some photos, including inside shots. If you can’t take decent pictures yourself hire a local photographer. The money spent should be well worth it.
During the process Google will call your business number and provide you with a PIN to confirm you actually own the business.
The result will look something like the picture below…
Google Search, Google Maps and Google Places are all becoming intertwined and it’s up to you to take the necessary steps to claim your business to promote it online.
Once you’re done, move on to claim your business at Yahoo Local and the Bing Business Portal.
More Info on Google Places:
Getting More From Your Google Place Page
Local Product Listings on Google Place Pages
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Here are some quick online marketing tips:
- Use basic SEO techniques
- Don’t try to fight Google
- Write content for your visitors, not Google
- Google shouldn’t be your only online marketing strategy
To clarify that last tip, as an online marketer you can’t spend all your time chasing your Google search ranking – it will go up and down as Google’s algorithm changes.
You see, Google is in a war. It’s always been in a war. A war against shady marketers who try to “game” the system to come out on top.
In the Internet Marketing world there’s always been tons of ways to get to the top of Google’s search results “the easy way”. Google wants inbound links? Get your auto link generator or join “link farms”. Google wants content? Get your auto content generator and create hundreds of crappy “articles”.
What Google really wants is decent, informative content that answers the user’s question to be at the top of the list.
So, every once in a while Google changes the algorithm it uses to figure out who’s on top to counteract all the spammy sites that have been using so-called black hat SEO methods to get there.
They recently announced a new release that affects about 11.8% of the queries.
Here’s another part of the story. To help your personal browsing, at least using the Chrome browser, there’s an extension called Personal Blocklist. It’s kind of like a “Dislike” button I’ve outlined in red below.
Chrome Personal Blocklist extension
While Google didn’t use data it monitors to create the algorithm, it did compare the new results with the block list and found it matched up pretty well.
However, we did compare the Blocklist data we gathered with the sites identified by our algorithm, and we were very pleased that the preferences our users expressed by using the extension are well represented. If you take the top several dozen or so most-blocked domains from the Chrome extension, then this algorithmic change addresses 84% of them, which is strong independent confirmation of the user benefits.
A few of the white hat marketers have already come out saying their page rankings have improved since the algorithm change.
What we tell our clients is “you can’t game the system”. Other than basic SEO techniques that help Google bots – like accurate page titles, descriptions and headings – what you need is legitimate, informative content that helps the searcher.
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How would you like to receive an email every time your company name is mentioned online? Actually, it’s easy.
The solution came to mind when I came across an article about a company in Orlando, FL that found out there was a global identity-theft scheme using its company name to build fake web sites and solicit job applicants’ personal and financial information. The only way they found out about it was from people calling their company to ask about a job application they had submitted.
It makes sense to monitor your business name or brand to see whether you are getting comments, both good and bad, online or if someone is misusing your company name.
The solution is called Google Alerts. While you don’t need a Google Account to use it, it’s better if you have one set up. That way you can also use their tools like Google Analytics, Website Optimizer or Webmaster Tools at a minimum. It’s also easier to manage (i.e. delete) Alerts. You can also see the results via RSS feed.
Try it yourself. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts and type in your search term. Add what you want searched, how often to be notified, how many search results and where to send the results email. But, I would just preview the results. I haven’t found any way to delete a Google Alert other than through a Google Account.
If your business name has common terms in it, like Joe’s Accounting or Sally’s Dry Cleaners, make sure to put the search phrase in quotes so you don’t get results from just the ‘accounting’ or ‘dry cleaners’ terms.
If you don’t see anything in the results, don’t be discouraged. It’s not a complete search of the web, just “new” items from that day, or that week if you opted for “once a week” under ‘How often’.
But, this way if you are mentioned in a blog or a forum you can go there directly and respond. It’s also a good way to keep track of your competition – to see if they are coming out with new products or services, for example.
With Google Search now showing results from social media and YouTube it’s also a great way to get your company involved online..
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Google recently rolled out its new “Google Instant” in the U.S. with more countries to come. How will this affect small businesses, especially those advertising online?
First, what is Instant Search? For awhile now, when you start a search at google.com they will add suggestions as you type in your search query. With Instant Search Google will actually start producing results as you type, supposedly saving 2-5 seconds on your search.
One of the main reasons for this launch may be because Google is expanding into mobile search. Any saving of time or typing can be a big advantage there.
But for small businesses, it appears that the first results that Google posts are for mostly major brands. Of course, they may show up at the top of the list after a complete entry, but Google Instant may be changing the behavior of the searchers.
iCrossing came up with a list of single letter results, like I for Ikea, J for Jet Blue, L for Lowes, etc. Your results may be different depending on your location and past search behavior, but here’s what I mean…
While Google says its final results will be the same, I’m worried that searchers will be clicking on major brands before the whole search phrase is completed. Why? Because Google is “predicting” what the user wants.
So, if you are doing business online, you may see some lessening in your organic click-throughs and even variations in your impressions if you are using Adwords, which Google talks about in more detail here.
Try Google Instant yourself and see what results you get. Keep an eye on your stats and see if I’m right..
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Or call anywhere else, for that matter. What started as a Gmail to Gmail service (with both users at their computer) has expanded to allow Gmail users in the U.S. and Canada to call regular telephone numbers for free (to the U.S. and Canada, at least through January 2011) with low rates for International calls.
The posting on Google’s blog – Call phones from Gmail lays out the process. Essentially, you log into your Gmail account and under Chat choose Call phone.
If you have a Google Voice account that number will be listed as the caller ID. This feature has been slowly rolling out over the last week or so, but is now available to everyone with a Gmail account.
You can use Google Checkout to pay for International calls. Here is a list of phone rates. But calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan—and many more countries—are as little as $0.02 per minute
You use it just by entering a telephone number or, if your contact list has phone numbers in it, just enter the contact’s name. But first, you will be prompted to install Google’s Voice and Video Chat software.
This is another great added service from Google, one that may actually compete with Skype. Give it a try..
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