Start Testing Your Sitemaps before Submitting Them to Google

Google has added a new feature to the Google Webmaster Tools which will allow end users to test their sitemap files before submitting them on Google.
Pierre Far, a Google Employee, confirmed that Google had added this brand new feature to help webmasters debug their sitemap files prior to submitting them.

Google Sitemap Files are often criticized for causing uncertainty with webmasters, who though create them but are never sure about their validity.
The latest feature facilitates creation of these sitemaps besides testing them on the Google Webmaster Tools prior to submitting them on the search engine.

To test these files, one simply logs in to Google and clicks directly on Site Configuration, then on Sitemaps. At the top right, there is an “Add/Test Sitemap” button.

Some other features were added to the Tools as well, such as ‘Changing the Average Position Calculation’ and ‘New Download Options’.

Contributed by:
IDS Logic
Google has recently published a blog post on this latest development.

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‘Search Plus Your World’ Makes Google Results More Personal

Google has decided to make search more personalized, transforming it into a search engine that understands content, people and relationships.

It has introduced ‘Search Plus Your World’, a combination of 3 new features that promises to make search like never before.

Personal Results will enable end users to find information just for themselves, such as Google+ photos and posts. These would be both your own and those shared categorically for you that only you will be authorized to see on your results pages.

Profiles in Search will enable you to immediately find people you are close to or might be interested in following. This feature will be available in 2 forms, auto-complete and results.

People and Pages will help find out people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest and will enable the user to follow them with just a few clicks. Behind every query, there lies a community.

These 3 features combine to form ‘Search Plus Your World’. They make search better. These are signs of better things to come.

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IDS Logic

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Google Re-Lists CO.CC Domains after 6 Month Ban

All co.cc sites make a comeback on Google. A search on site:co.cc returns 105,000 results.

6 months back, Google imposed a ban and delisted all websites with a co.cc domain name.

Google originally de-listed these as it saw “a very large fraction of sites” on the sub domain to be “spammy or of low-quality”. The search engine felt the de-listing was warranted to block the entire sub domain from showing up on Google’s Results.

It is unknown what prompted the recent change. Whether it was intentional or simply a bug remains uncertain.

Now that the results are back, perhaps you can check yourself to see how “spammy” or “low quality” co.cc websites really are or are not.

Contributed by:
IDS Logic

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IDS Logic Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

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Google and Mozilla Extend Firefox Search Deal by a Further 3 Years

Google and Mozilla have renewed nuptials. Google will continue to be the Default Search Engine on Firefox browsers for another 3 years.

No financial terms were disclosed. A blog post on Mozilla says the agreement extends the already existent agreement “for at least three additional years.”

This renewal comes 3 weeks after their contracted expired. The 2 companies had entered another 3-year agreement that had expired by November-end.

Mozilla published a couple of quotes regarding this latest deal:

“Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the world,” said Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla.

“Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come,” said Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President of Search, Google.

The deal’s importance to Mozilla can hardly be understated. Earlier this year, the Company revealed 98 per cent of its revenue comes from search royalties.


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IDS Logic

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