Craig Labovitz, Chief Scientist of Arbor Networks, stated on his company’s blog, "If Google were an ISP, it would be the fastest growing and third largest global carrier.  Only two other providers (both of whom carry significant volumes of Google transit) contribute more inter-domain traffic.  But unlike most global carriers (i.e. the ‘tier1s’), Google’s backbone does not deliver traffic on behalf of millions of subscribers nor thousands of regional networks and large enterprises.  Google’s infrastructure supports, well, only Google."

Those are some fairly astonishing observations.  Then here’s another fascinating tidbit: Labovitz continued, "Based on anonymous data from 110 ISPs around the world, we estimate Google contributes somewhere between 6-10% of all Internet traffic globally as of the of summer of 2009."

It’s hard not to see Google’s fiber network experiments in a different light after absorbing this information.  The company might not just thrill the residents of a few towns and make ISPs nervous; Google really does appear capable of changing how the industry works, and may even be able to do so without breaking a figurative sweat.

We’ll be sure to keep an eye on ISPs’ reactions as Google moves ahead with its tests.

You will want to research hidden links:

(!) When you need to diagnose a recently hacked site;
(!) When you need to test a web design (some hidden text may be totally innocent and only appear illegal);
(!) When you need to identify the reason of the possible penalty;
(!) When you want to resd possibly rearch your competitors’ grey tactics (and possibly report them);
(!) If want to find out if your hidden links can be found manually by search engineers or competitors;
(!) Etc.

For the sake of an expriment I have hidden a link in my blog sidebar and will now try to find it using the three methods listed below.

To hie the link, I created a new div class of links that have the same color as the site background and used it for my link:

Now, what wil the tools say?

1. Spam Detector

Spam Detector Tool: This tool analyzes a web page, searching for red flags that search engines could consider spam: keyword stuffing, doorway farms and hidden text.

Well, the tool didn’t find the link, probably because:

Any trick based on Javascript or on CSS positioning/layering will not be detected (for now).

To be absolutely fair to the tool, I do use it from time to time and it successfully found some red flags for me previously. It just doesn’t work for all kinds of red flags.

2. Web Developer Toolbar (FireFox)

With web developer toolbar you can play to your heart’s content and if you spend half an hour or so you are more than likely to find hidden links if there are any on the page – but unlike with the above tool, it takes more time and you need to know or at least to suspect that there is something shady on the page:

From the toolbar you can:

1. CSS -> Disable Styles – > All Styles (if the hidden text is hidden using CSS, like in our case)
2. Disable -> Javascript > All Javascript (if the hidden text is hidden using Javascript)
3. Disable -> Page Colors (also works in our case, see the screenshots below)
4. Images -> Disable images -> All Images (if the hidden text is hidden on the images)
5. Images -> Hide Background Images
6. Information -> Display > Link Details (to see the details of the hidden links)
7. Information – > View Link Information
8. Information -> Display Topographic Information
9. Outline -> Outline Links > Outline External Links

Now, see how we managed to find our hidden link using a few of the methods above:

1. Disable CSS:

2. Disable page colors:

6. Display link details:

3. SEO browsers

SEO browsers also display CSS- and Javascrip-free versions of the page so you become able to see hidden text and links (but it does require some considerable amount of time to compare the browser and SEO browser versions to spot the difference):

Also, be sure to read this post: 4 Ways to Hide Content From Google : And Google’s Reaction as well as the linked discussion.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

3 Simple Tools to Find Hidden Links (and Text)

Different SEO and web marketing companies will of course employ different methodologies to promote a site and more often than not you get what you pay for so to speak. Equally there is bound to be a crossover in campaign strategies the debate of which could go on for months, but the purpose of this article is to highlight the key differences and aims of each type of campaign not what any single campaign should contain.

Generic Search Engine Marketing

Typically the aim of a generic search engine marketing campaign (SEM) is to develop relevant and targeted anchor text back links to specific pages on your website to increase your site’s link profile and authority in the eyes
of the search engines.

This of course is all aimed at improving your website ranking and to ensure your website becomes “known” in the search engines for the particular key phrases you are most interested in ranking for.

Low level or cheap link building services often include article marketing, content distribution and directory submissions, although most professional SEO practioners will probably dismiss directory submissions as the quality of these links is generally very poor at best and sometimes dubious also.

Low level or cheap link building services can also take advantage of what have become known as social websites; typically these are in the form of blogs and other Web 2.0 properties and even low level social bookmarking sites. Forum posting just for the sake of links would also fall under this category.

The quality of budget link building services can vary wildly but they are not to be sneezed at though, as in many cases especially in less competitive or tight niches, they can prove to be very effective indeed and are often all that is needed to rank a site well.

Social Marketing Campaigns

Social marketing campaigns are quite different to generic search engine marketing campaigns although there can be a degree of crossover in many cases. A true social marketing campaign is much more focussed to generating leads and brand awareness as well as meeting the targeted marketplace in its own backyard.

A social marketing campaign however is also generally considered to be much further up the evolutionary tree of link building so to speak and while it will still develop and reward you with good quality back links to your site, social marketing campaigns are generally of much higher quality in both their make up and also can require a significant amount of planning and preparation.

Typically social marketing campaigns will take advantage of prime and highly focussed Web 2.0 properties and business networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Ecademy and so on, as well as other complementary web sites and social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us to name but a few.

The aim of a good social marketing campaign is not to specifically develop back links per se (although this is bound to happen) but to develop either brand or business awareness in a defined market place where the products or services you or your company supply will or could be in demand.

It is also to establish you or your company as an industry authority, go to person or trusted advisor, or even a business that can help other people solve their own problems or critical business issues by the provision of quality goods and services.

The Downside of Social Marketing Campaigns

While the advantages of a social marketing campaign are undeniable, there are a number of downsides which it pays to be acutely aware of.

The main downside of social marketing campaigns is the sheer amount of time and work that needs to be maintained to develop a business’s authority or profile across many sites.

These types of campaigns are very hands-on and involve ongoing social networking and subtle promotion of a business or brand as well as the generation of useful/helpful relevant content either for general publication or for posting on your own site as quality information pages or blog posts, or as donated content for other complementary sites that are not in direct competition to your own.

It may be for example that you want to develop a profile on forums relevant to the markets you are trying to penetrate by posting quality useful help and advice (not just a link post), but if not kept up-to-date or live these profiles can quickly lose ground and your on-line identity will fade.

Most businesses pursuing social marketing campaigns as an ongoing strategy will be spending at least 10-20 hours plus a week in one form or another and although this can be outsourced (often at considerable cost), typically this is done in-house by either the business owner or the marketing person, primarily because the business has the internal product or service expertise to maintain a long term focus and generate quality content.

What Is Right For Your Business?

The correct or most successful strategy required for each business will vary tremendously which is why most SEO professionals will not even conduct a web marketing campaign
without some form of initial consultancy or competitive market assessment.

If time is not one of your assets or your budget is tight, then a generic link building campaign may be all that is affordable to you, but if you are in a competitive market and serious about your on-line business then it simply does not make good business sense to second guess your requirements.

Bite the bullet and employ the services of an SEO consultant even if only for initial consultancy as the advice you receive more often than not will be highly beneficial to the success of your on-line venture.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Social Marketing Versus Generic SEO – What’s The Difference?

Allowing these ad networks would mean more ad networks would be competing now for display ad space on publishers’ sites.  And this would lead to more ads to appear on sites serving AdSense display ads – more earning for site owners.

So the next time you check out your Ad Review Center account, don’t be surprise to see more ad networks queuing up on your display ad space. It’s up to you to select which of these ad networks you would allow to display their ads on your sites.

If you’re afraid that you might get an influx of ad networks which are not related to the subject of your sites, well, you don’t have to worry since some of these ad networks adhere to Google’s interest-based ad program which stipulates that only relevant ads are to be served on sites they visit. If you don’t like this arrangement, you can always opt-out of  this feature anytime.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Google-Certified Ad Networks for All AdSense Publishers

Bing’s “Find more sizes” option not only lets you find different sizes of a particular image yield by your search but other available formats of that image as well.

So, the next time you use Bing’s image search, you can click on that “Find more sizes” option to get a page listing where all of the “same” images appear online in various format, resolution or minor editing. You will also see how these images have been used, that is whether the image was used for mockups, editing, cropping, framing and more. This way, you’d know exactly which image is appropriate for your needs and you don’t need to click on the image search results one by one.

The new feature also list all the pages that reference that particular image online and you can simply click on any of the page that you think would help you with your research.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Bing Adds More Sizes Option to Image Search

Or, "If you are searching for something else, like the MGM Grand Las Vegas hotel or the movie studio MGM, you can select one of those instead from the drop-down menu."

Look for this change to roll out over the course of the week.  Then enjoy spending less time typing all sorts of stuff, and not just your best friend's name.

According to the Facebook blog, this new feature is aimed at helping Facebook users to quickly find and connect with people, pages, groups, events at applications on Facebook based on user’s preferences.

Facebook’s search suggestion features takes into account not only the people, events, groups and Pages that you are connected with but your friends connections as well. This opens up opportunities for discovering new connections while at the same helping you find the information you need on Facebook.

In addition to specific search suggestion, the drop-down menu also shows a “see more results” which if you click will bring you to a full search results page where you can refine your search further or sort the results by categories. Unfortunately I don’t see this link yet on the search suggestion drop-down menu. It would be interesting to see how Facebook’s search results page looks like and how it compares with the SERPs of the major search engines.  According to Facebook this new  feature will be rolled out on the next few days .

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

Facebook Rolls Out Search Suggestion Feature