So I went to visit Google in Mountain View …

… and learned that every second sentence has to be prefixed with “so”. Wait, that’s not all.

I’m sure you’re all just reading this to hear about the secret information they’ve been feeding me, heh. Sorry, you’ll have to join Google yourself to find out more about that part. It’s been really interesting so far, so many documents to read and digest, so many neat people to meet and chat with, so much good food to eat (good thing I’m only here for a week). The Google campus is really neat, but it’s also good to get out and do something else, like getting some neat toys for the kids (bribe my way back to getting them to recognize me when I’m home)…

Where are you in local search?

So I’m off to find a neat toy store that has more than the average plastic junk. Of course I’ll try to use Google local search to help me find one, I’m sure there are lots of really great stores around here…
Continue reading ‘Opportunities in Search’ »

Hi Richard, welcome to my blog! When I look through the top posters in the Google Webmaster Help groups, you’re almost always in there – it’s great to have you there and your posts bring in a lot of background knowledge that I’m sure many site owners appreciate. It’s interesting that you are – as far as I can tell – the only one of the top posters who is professionally active in the website-area.

Hi John. Thanks so much for asking me to participate – it’s a great honour to talk with you. Odd that you mention about my professional background. It has dawned on me that I might be the only professional SEO on the group (I wasn’t sure about this), and I’m slightly surprised that there isn’t more participation by other professionals. I’m quite sure that there are lurkers from the SEM industry, as the group is an excellent educational resource. More thoughts on this aspect a little later. Back to your questions now.

Why do you spend so much of your time in the Google Webmaster Help groups – isn’t that almost like giving away the work that you would normally charge for? What’s in it for you?

Funny, I’m a little embarrassed that I don’t get more time to contribute on the group. I’m not sure why that is, but I suppose I feel a small amount of ownership having posted as regularly as possible. I actually went to my profile recently to try and see how I first came across the group. I can’t say with 100% confidence how I found the group, but I was able to uncover what it was that sent me there. I was trying to find out whether Google would give .EU cTLD any special treatment in terms of country level searches. My first interaction with the group was with another ‘regular’, and that individual gave his time and knowledge freely. There’s something very endearing to actions which are without motive.
Continue reading ‘Interview with Richard Hearne (“Red Cardinal”)’ »

Another month goes by, here are the statistics for August (and some comparisons to July in brackets) 2007.

The numbers

• Number of new threads = 1329 [+5.3%]
• Number of new posts = 7676 [-1.0%]
• Average number posts/new thread = 5.48 [-4.5%]
• Number of posts by new users = 1061 (13.8%) [+30.0%]
• Number of threads by new users = 813 (61.2%) [+13.4%]
• Average number of posts in threads by new users = 4.9 [-2.0%]
• Number of new threads started by Googlers = 4 [+33.3%]
• Number of new posts by Googlers = 54 [-36.5%]

More posts by new users is nice to see – I hope that’s because the “feel” of the Groups has improved and not just because of strange things going on in the index .
Continue reading ‘Google Webmaster Groups statistics for August 2007’ »