Posts Tagged ‘google’

Google Indexes URLs Posted in Gmail Chat Status

August 22nd, 2010

I’ve been working on SEO and studying search engines since 2004.  It’s been a while since I last had a real serious ‘wow’ moment related to search engine behavior.  Today I had one such moment.

While doing some work-related searches in google, I stumbled across a URL that I 100% know isn’t linked to from any public web page.  I dug around to make absolutely sure of it, but couldn’t uncover a single link or mention anywhere of the URL in question.

Then I remembered something small, which I nearly dismissed, but am now almost certain is the cause of the unwanted URL in Google’s index.  A colleague of mine set his Gmail chat status to the URL in question in order to share it with a select group of people.  Two weeks later, the URL is in Google’s search index.  The URL is now disabled, but frankly it’s a little alarming in my opinion that Google would grab a private URL that is only shared between a small group of people, and include it in their index.

So take heed, if you don’t want Google including a specific URL in their public search index, don’t share it via Gmail chat (at least don’t set it as your status, even if it’s only shared with a few people).

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Posted in SEO

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Google AdWords Keyword Tool Price Data Bug

February 15th, 2010

Google AdWordsThe Google AdWords Keyword Tool is in my opinion one of the most useful tools available on the web.  When you enter one or more terms or phrases, Google returns data on approximate number of searches for the terms you entered, as well as similar terms/phrases and their corresponding search volumes.  I tend to use this tool primarily for keyword research when I’m working on SEO efforts for my various websites, but I also believe that search data is immensely powerful for other applications as well.

While doing some SEO work the other day, I stumbled across a really interesting bug in the Google AdWords Keyword Tool.  I found a stupidly simple way (no, I’m not the Chinese government and I didn’t hack Google) to extract some limited pricing data for the suggested keyword results when you enter one or more keywords or phrases into the tool.  I highly doubt Google wants this data to be public, which is why I’m assuming it’s a bug.

For example, when I entered “new york pizza” into the tool, I was able to extract the following pricing data (showing data for the first 10 results):

  • new york pizza delivery    1 – 3    $1.91
  • new york pizza    1 – 3    $0.93
  • new york pizza menu    1 – 3    $0.34
  • new york pizza restaurants    1 – 3    $0.66
  • new york style pizza    1 – 3    $0.93
  • new york pizza restaurant    1 – 3    $0.72
  • new york ny pizza    1 – 3    $0.05
  • best pizza new york    1 – 3    $1.23
  • new york pizzas    1 – 3    $0.05
  • new york pizza shipped    1 – 3    $0.05

Google AdWords Keyword Tool bug

What does it mean?

The way I interpret this data is that the average cost per click (CPC) for a sponsored search listing in the top three AdWords results will cost you the dollar amount shown next to each keyword.  For example, if you want to buy the first term “new york pizza delivery,” it’s going to cost you roughly $1.91 per click if you want to appear in the top 3 sponsored search positions.

How did you do that?

If you’re from Google, shoot me a note and I’m happy to discuss.  By the way, I just applied for a summer internship so bumping my application to the top gets a faster response ;-)

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Posted in SEO, Search, Technology

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Your Online Presence: Putting Your Best Foot Forward

January 20th, 2010

It’s summer internship interview season here at NYU Stern, and my fellow MBA classmates are roaming the halls looking sharp in their suits with polished résumés in hand.  Everyone has spent countless hours crafting their ’stories,’ conducting mock interviews, and casing with fellow students.  I’m fortunate to go to school with some exceptional people who I know will do well in this structured recruiting process.  But what about for those of us who are not pursuing the traditional post-MBA routes of investment banking, consulting, or a management role in a large corporation (among others)?

Several students like myself are opting for less structured career paths in fields such as venture capital, startups, or tech companies that may not recruit at NYU (if they formally recruit at all).  While I believe that putting your best foot forward, both offline and online, is important for just about everyone (especially so you don’t end up Facebook fired, dumped or evicted), I would argue that it’s even more so for those of us in the ‘non-traditional’ bucket.  I would expect that people conducting their career search primarily through networking, or applying to jobs cross-country, are even more likely to have someone seek them out online to learn more before deciding whether to accept an introduction, or to pursue a geographically remote job candidate.

Last month Albert Wenger of Union Square Ventures spoke to the NYU Entrepreneur’s Exchange Club about VC and working at startups.  One thing that really struck me is that Union Square Ventures doesn’t really review formal résumés when looking at new analysts/associates – they say “point me to your online presence.” Wow.  That’s partly what got me moving in creating this blog (that I had planned for so long but had never really gotten around to).

Even if other firms aren’t this explicit, you can bet that recruiters or people who are making hiring decisions are Googling you, or looking for you on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube or the myriad of other social media outlets.  Fortunately you have a lot of control over what surfaces on these sites and with a little work, can put your best foot forward with the content that places you in the best light for anyone seeking you out online.

I plan to do a series of follow-up posts highlighting both basic and more advanced tactics on building and shaping your online presence.  Stay tuned.

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Posted in MBA, Technology, Uncategorized

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