Truth on a Scandal

 

There has been a story in the news recently, where the UK Press was stopped from naming names. If you type one of the people who have been named into the Google toolbar, it automatically fills in all of the others in the story.

Privacy is dead!

Is that a good or a bad thing?

If you've done nothing wrong or have nothing to hide, then it's fine. But what if you are someone who has chronic dandruff or some other serious embarrassment.

How to Test a Page is Indexed

 

The web site has been submitted to Google and the other search engines, but you don't seem to be getting any traffic.

Sometimes, this is because the pages have not been indexed yet, as search engines do sometimes take up to thirty or so days to get around to looking at your pages.

At other times, this may be because the page that is not getting indexed is not connected to the index page of the web site. This can be down to a coding mistake, but it can also be because the menu system you are using is not readable by one of the search robots.

There is a simple way to check if a page has been indexed.

Take a phrase of about eighty to a hundred characters in the page, that you feel may be fairly unique, add quotes to it and put it in the search box of the search engine. If I was searching for this message, I might use.

"At other times, this may be because the page that is not getting indexed"

Note the quotes, as these make sure that the phrase will be searched for in exactly the way it was entered.

If you don't find the page, then it has not been indexed.

It is also a good idea to set up a Google Alert for a new web site or page. this way you'll know when it has been indexed.

A Complete Film on Google

 

That's what it looks like.

Click here to have a look.

It's two hours though, but who knows how we will watch films in a few years.

Iran

 

I've just noticed from Google Analytics, that I'm getting a lot of visits to my web site from Iran. They are all going to the page on Search Engine Optimisation.

I hope the Yanks don't get the wrong idea about my dealings with the Iranians.

Blogger and Cookies

 

I've just had a bit of trouble with a client's blog. He couldn't log into it from his computer and the problem was that his cookies were a bit awry.

So if you get this sort of problem, the simplest thing is to delete your cookies that refer to Blogger.

There are some good articles on the web about this. Type "cookie problem blogger" into Google.

Click here to do the search.

If you want to know more about cookies, go to this article in Wikipedia.

Searching Blogs

 

If you are worried about something like a new e-mail from an unknown company, that you think might be a scam, then always search blogs as well as the Internet.

Although, the blog search does get to the search engines fairly quickly sometimes there is a delay of a few days, so check both places.

Google's blog search is at http://www.google.co.uk/blogsearch.

Search terms for current scams include, "Sydney Car", Viscard, Minaro, Walsh, Palker, Albrook and Langton.

Google's Fast Reaction

 

The last post on Sydney Car Centre turned up in Google within a couple of hours and if you type that phrase in quotes into Google, it's top.

This seems to validate the updating-by-blog route for web sites.

Google Hell

 

If you know your European history there is something called Danegeld, a term that has come into common usage.

If you are paying someone to push your site, through adverts, links or whatever, eventually the whole thing will go belly up as it's built on sand. Remember there's a lot of snake oil salesmen out there, using these dubious techniques to sell even more dubious products, so you'll get tarred with the same heavy brush. The only way to get high places in Google and the other search engines is to add content. Strangely, I believe that the content doesn't have to be that relevant.

So if anyone offers you SEO services which mean you pay them a regular fee and they don't change your site, tell them politely to talk to your competitors.

This morning, I was in the top ten on Google twice for myself and my company, when you searched for James Miller. So I must be doing something right. I add about two to three posts a week to my blogs.

Does Google Add Blogs Immediately?

 

This is a test to see if Google now adds blogs immediately.

qwertyuiop23

This phrase will be searched for to see how long it takes to get in the search engine.

Google Maps

 

The image shows a satellite view of Portman Road from Google Maps.


Note that South is to the bottom of the map, which gives the time at perhaps eleven in the morning. The long shadows indicate that this picture was probably taken in the winter. the pitch is covered in plastic, which also happens during the winter.

This type of mapping is excellent for all sorts of purposes.

We've been trying to use it to locate the direction of the drains on a field on the stud. Not very successfully, I should say, as there isn't a high definition image of the farm on Google and what images there are were taken at the wrong time of year.

Blogging as a Spam Source

 

This was posted by Robert Tarrall on the SPAM-L spam list, which is a good source for trends as to what the spammers are up to and who is going to be their next victim.

Blogspot.com is quickly becoming a favourite hosting site for the spammers; about 20% of the blogspot.com URLs coming through our mailserver recently are spam.

Worse, Google (owner of blogspot.com) ignores email-based spam complaints and refuses to accept Spamcop reports. You're supposed to VISIT THE SPAMMER'S SITE and flag it as in violation; once enough people have flagged the site Google will supposedly take it down. Doesn't seem to be working very well - less than 10% of the spammer sites are taken down within 2 days so these are essentially guaranteed to stay up long enough for the spammer to get his results.

The porn spammers are setting the sites up so they immediately redirect to the real porn site, or at least something outside of Blogspot. You could turn off Javascript and avoid the redirect but then of course you couldn't flag the blog, so it is *impossible* to even follow Google's instructions for reporting the site.

In the past, this "refuse abuse reports, don't take down spammer sites" would ensure a quickly expanding listing (in the MAPS RBL in the early days, more recently in SPEWS) and other proactive blocklists. Didn't always work but in Google's case appearance is everything and if it became widely known that a Google property was a favoured refuge for porn spammers you could be sure that Google would change their tune.

Shame we no longer have that kind of leverage. Unlikely that Spamhaus would take this on and I'm not aware of any other blocklists with sufficient penetration to make a difference.

Here's a random sample of the spamvertised blogspot.com hostnames coming through our mailserver in the last couple of days. The *one* hostname marked [D] was either deleted or never existed. The ones marked [*] are redirects to porn sites using javascript embedded in the blog post.

debtalaiekhila
debtslaonen
foc-fuckk-com [*]
fsktsrmf-p-stars [*]
hvakjailekaakear [D]
local-a24fpkm8-7478
local-a334lskx-5209
local-av8xj3i7-2857
local-az5kher8-5888
mortenakahto
mortenakehlkhi
mortenakjaihl
mortenskjaih
mortenskjaxxo
vit-beavermovies-com [*]
yvyhhncb-p-stars [*]

I hope that Blogger do something about this worrying development.

Thanks to Robert for giving me permission to post this here.

Short of a Couple of Rolls of Wallpaper

 

We are currently wallpapering the hall and guess what. We may be a few rolls short.

So I just typed the name; Arbutus and the code; WR8466/3 into Google and found two people selling the paper. As we bought the paper a year or so ago, a quick e-mail will confirm if they have the correct batch number.

This just shows the power of Google.

Google's New Toolbar

 

I've recently installed the new Google toolbar. I wasn't sure about it at first but I'm beginning to like.

It does do some interesting things though.

Today, Tony Blair met Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazahstan. They appeared to have enjoyed themselves but what does Google know about Mr. Nazarbayev.

So I put Nazarbayev into the new Google toolbar, which always suggests words that you might like to use in the search. In this case Google only had one suggestion, corruption.

Perhaps you should always judge a man by the friends he keeps.

Google AdSense

 

Last night I added Google AdSense advertisement links to my three blogs.

I'm not really a lover of adverts on web pages, but I wanted to see how the links behaved and whether they were beneficial.

Perhaps, this was best answered by the first link that came up on my Coeliac Diary blog. It was for a company called Wiltshire Farm Foods that sell all sorts of ready meals over the Internet.

I'm not sure whether I will taste them or not, but it does show how Google can target the right sort of advertisement for your site.

I've also put a link in the sidebar so that you can sign up for Google AdSense.

I'll let the adverts run for a bit and see if they make any money. That is the real test.

Getting to the Top in Google

 

There is no substitute for solid hard work.

I always use Google Webmaster Tools to check why your site is being found in Google. Have a look every day and see the changes. If the company is in the news see if this changes the pattern.

Think, analyse and write it all down.

Also find a search in Google that finds the company on the second or so page. Make sure it's not company specific, by using the company name or a product. Then track how the position of this search goes up and down.

In my opinion, there is only one thing that gets your web site to the top of the lists. And that is good solid content, which is constantly being added to. Does the company have a news page which it updates daily? Or does it let the site grow old and mouldy like a sandwich in the fridge?

As you will see elsewhere in this letter, I've been using blogs integrated into the site as news pages. They are also great ways of generating traffic. Think of all those words, that Google can index. So does your CEO, Support Department or whoever run a blog.

Remember though that paying for position in Google, is much the same as feeding a drug habit. When you withdraw, the site's life goes quickly downhill.

Integrating Google

 

On the links page for my web site, I have placed a Google search box.

Use that and the results of the search will be shown in a similar format as my web site. All you have to do, is register with Google, update a few default settings and then copy the generated code into your web site.

Yet another case of Google providing a powerful engine for web developers.

Thoughts on Integrated Blogs

 

I have been doing some experiments with blogs.

I put up a post and then searched for it using the Blogger search facility. The post appeared in the search after only 56 seconds. I tried it again and it took longer, but it still appeared very quickly.

This must be because every time you post, Blogger searches and indexes your post.

I've also checked and Blogger doesn't add these results to Google. But how long before it adds them immediately to the main Google index? And the other results it gets from posts and searches in YouTube! It is much quicker to index something that is presented to you on a plate, rather than search pages and pages of information that may not have changed.

So it would appear that if you want a quick reaction to news and updates you post on your web site, then you should use something like Blogger and integrate it fully into your web site.

There is also the fact that if the blog is stored on your web site, that every time it is updated, then Google itself, will find more pages to integrate, with new words describing your products and services.

Will this take you to a higher position in Google?

YouTube and Marketing

 

I should say that I have used YouTube and have put the only Dory Previn video up there. It is a very easy site to use and one of the reasons for its success, is that anybody can upload a video very quickly and without fuss. I think that the site has tremendous potential and although at present it has a stereotypical market, that will expand dramatically.

I have invented a post puller that is a simple example, where showing a video should sell the product, as it is quite a difficult concept to explain on the flat page as it would need a whole series of still images. As to whether it gets stolen, I'm not actually bothered, as in the largest markets, I would have patent protection and there are plenty of lawyers who'll tackle copyists on a no-win no-fee basis. My wife and son are both lawyers, too!

Supposing that YouTube became the place of choice where any instructional video was placed. Let's say you sell laser printers! A ten minute video can show a lot of how it works, how you install it and how you do simple servicing and change cartridges. As YouTube can be integrated into your site, it doesn't matter whether anybody finds it on YouTube or not.

Just look at blogs. They started as something nerdy and fairly pointless. Now they are serious.

It's not surprising that Google bought Blogger a few years ago now. Perhaps, we will say they got a bargain with YouTube in a couple of years.

Fighting Terrorism

 

The Internet is one of the keys to fighting terrorism.

Most people leave a footprint that can be found by Google. More intelligent programs that use the power of the search engines and other databases can distil and process the details to collect a profile of individuals and companies. In a small but very sophisticated way, I wrote a program to do just that and it was applied successfully to business databases to look for possible fraud.

The main problem with the Internet, that hinders successful searching for terrorists, and common criminals for that matter, is all of the spam for erectile dysfunction drugs, pump and dump scams and dollar mortgage loans.

Spam could be stopped if the United States in particular and Russia, China and a few other countries put their act together.

It would so be much easier to find a naked terrorist.

Getting Listed

 

People always expect their web site to be listed immediately. Obviously as Google and the other search engines don't read every site every day, it takes a few weeks to get listed.

This blog has just been added to Google with the first listing on the 13th June 2006.

If you want to test that your site is actually listed take a phrase that won't appear anywhere else and use that. In this site I used "Spam Fighting with Outlook 2003".

The big rule of getting listed is be patient and don't get angry with the search engines.

Google Spreadsheets

 

This is a very interesting development.

Watch it!

Thoughts on Search Engine Optimisation

 

Take my main web site www.jamesmiller.com.

If you search for James Miller, I'm usually in the top four, despite not being by any means the most famous and the fact that my name is one of the most common in the world. I'm second today, behind the film maker who was murdered by the Israeli Army. (It's actually quite chilling to hear your name mentioned in such terrible circumstances.)

So why do I think I'm consistently high.

1. There is a lot of text on a wide range of subjects.
2. I have a blog, which is updated regularly.
3. I have a book on lulu, which gets a large number of hits and the two are linked.
4. I have put a large number of pictures on the site, that are all indexed in Google.

On the other hand I don't use Ads on the site or to promote it.

I've just started a web site for a large group of lawyers in the Midlands of England; Nottingham, Derby, Mansfield, Leicester etc. One of the things I'm doing to make the site lively, is to add an interesting set of pictures to the banner on the site. I've also decided to put a free library of these pictures on the site, so that it helps with searching.

It'll be interesting to see if it does work.

Google Pharmacy Update

 

For full details see the article in The Register.

New Google Pharmacy

 

This was the e-mail I received today.


It actually came from an e-mail address on GMail, but I am pretty sure it is nothing to do with Google.

Well I hope it isn't!

If you read it carefully, there are mistakes in the English. Surely Google would be more professional.