Despite pressure from privacy groups, Bing and regional players Baidu and Yandex, Google still rules the search landscape.
Google’s ‘keyword apocalypse’ has huge implications for search engine optimisation- marketers being pushed towards paid search for true accountability
Products like HummingBird and Google Now show where Google thinks digital is going- are mobiles and wearables the future?

RIP keyboards (and keyword analytics)?

Is this the end of SEO as we know it? Google’s controversial decision this year to encrypt all searches left marketers in the dark when it comes to keyword analytics. While there are workarounds (AdWords and Webmaster tools), marketing via organic search will become harder to track as Google focuses on its paid AdWords business. As part of our 2013 review series, we look back at the 10 biggest headlines that shaped search, from Penguins to Hummingbirds.
Indeed, despite increased pressure from Bing and the growth of regional players Baidu and Yandex, Google continues to dominate the search landscape as we enter 2014- leaving marketers with little option but to follow the search giant’s lead if they want visibility on search results pages.
This year saw Google continue to move away from its traditional ’10 blue links’ and onto voice activated, conversation-based search as it anticipates a move to mobile and wearable technology, with non-keyboard-based interfaces set to make their mark in the coming years.
Under the name ‘Hummingbird’, the internet giant tinkered with its search formula to better cope with the changing nature of search queries, such as longer keyphrases or voice commands. Google Now was also pushed out to iOS and Android users alike for a mobile-centric search that learned from its user to anticipate their behaviour- bringing up relevant information before they even ask for it.
This year we also provided key tips and trends on how to get the most out of search campaigns- all included in our review of the 10 biggest search headlines of the year below…

Google revamps AdWords- targets by situation, not device

February 2013
Google has revamped its hugely popular search advertising system AdWords with ‘Enhanced Campaigns’, letting advertisers target people by ‘situation’ rather than device. The changes will let advertisers manage bids for ads across a variety of device platforms as consumers increasingly turn to tablets and smartphones to access the Web. Google is hoping the changes will boost its mobile revenue, following a year-long decline in revenues for its cost-per-click payment model on AdWords.
Watch a demonstration of how the service works below:

Paid search ‘a waste of money’ for big brands (according to eBay)

March 2013

eBay has courted controversy by claiming that paying for search ads has little effect on sales for large companies, according to its own research. The eBay study, presented at an economics conference held at Stanford University, found that most people who clicked through as a result of paid search ads were loyal customers who would have come to the site anyway. “Incremental revenue from paid search was far smaller than expected because existing customers would have come to eBay regardless, whether directly or through other marketing channels,” said an eBay representative.

Interflora wins 5-year search keyword battle with M&S

May 2013

Interflora has won a high court battle over Marks and Spencer in the UK, ruling that the supermarket chain could not use the florists’ trademark as a Google AdWord to boost its visibility on the search engine. A High Court judge found in favour of Interflora, which claimed that M&S’s use of its trademark as a Google AdWord to advertise its ‘Flowers and Gifts’ website was trademark infringement. The judgment means that Marks and Spencer cannot bid on the trade marked term “Interflora” in the Google AdWords programme.

Top 6 SEO trends- What factors boost rankings in Google searches?

June 2013
Web pages that rank higher in Google searches tend to have more Google+ plus ones and Facebook shares, but keyword domains are becoming less important, according to new US research. The study, from Searchmetrics, examined factors that correlate with ranking highly in Google US searches in 2013.
Top highlights of 2013:
1. Keyword domains and keyword links have lost relevance
2. Brands are the exception to many rules
3. Social signals continue to correlate very well with better rankings
4. Good content is always important: it comes to quality!
5. The number of backlinks remains immensely important
6. On-page technology remains one of the basics

Google’s biggest revamp yet? Hummingbird caters for voice and ‘conversational’ searches

September 2013

Google has revamped its search formula to better cope with the changing nature of search queries, such as longer keyphrases or voice commands. The new ‘Hummingbird’ algorithm could have a major impact on traffic to websites, and marks one of Google’s biggest changes to date. Hummingbird was secretly launched a month ago, and was revealed yesterday by Amit Singhal, senior vice president of search. Singhal said the new version currently affects 90% of worldwide searches via Google.

Keyword SEO apocalypse: Google encrypts all searches

September 2013

In a dramatic move, Google is switching all searches conducted on its site through secure search (HTTPS), meaning that marketers and developers will be unable to monitor any keyword data via Google Analytics. The switch comes two years after Google’s first decision to start encrypting users’ keyword data. In October 2011, Google started redirecting all ‘logged-in’ users to this encrypted search URL. The internet giant has now extended this to cover all searches, whether they are logged-in to their Google account or not.

Google forced to put rival logos on search results?

October 2013

Google’s long-running battle with the European Commission could be coming to an end, with the search giant potentially agreeing to link to rival sites on specific channel searches, such as shopping or maps. Under the new proposals, Google will offer a larger space in its search result for rivals’ sites for “vertical” activities. These would appear as logos in Google search results pages with their logo and explanatory text, with their position chosen by an auction system. Rivals have the possibility to display their logo next to the link, and there will be a dynamic text associated to each rival link to better inform the user of its content. The proposal would apply not just to desktop searches but also to mobile phones, which are a growing source of hits for Google, which has around 90% of the market for search in Europe.

Google ‘Endorsements’ puts user names and photos into ads

October 2013

Google has sparked more privacy controversy with new Facebook-style ads that include user names and photos, as the internet giant looks to make its ads more social and personalised. Under the new scheme, Google can add users’ name, photo and product reviews posted through its social network Google+ in ads that it sells to businesses. For example, friends might see that a user rated an album 4 stars on the band’s Google Play page, or the +1 they gave a favorite local bakery could be included in an ad that the bakery runs through Google.

Google tracks mobile shoppers’ location to link browsing and buying habits

November 2013
Google is reportedly testing a tool that uses smartphone location data to monitor when consumers visit stores, providing a vital link between online and offline purchase behaviour. Technology blog Digiday quotes ‘agency executives briefed on the program by Google employees’ in its report. The publication goes on to report that Google will use the data to correlate store visits with smartphone searches, to demonstrate that its mobile advertisements are effective. For example, if a person searches for ‘chopping board’ on their smartphone and is delivered an ad for a local kitchenware shop, Google can then match up the location data on that phone with its database of store listings to see if the person who saw the ad subsequently visited the shop.