Google penalizes French link network
In 2014, Google’s Matt Cutts tweeted, “Today we’re taking action on a French link network that violates our quality guidelines (Buzzea).”
Buzzea was less than thrilled about being called a link network, saying they “oppose this assertion since we never stopped wanting to keep the ethical side of sponsored articles focusing on quality and natural links created.” As a result of the penalty, Buzzea officially called it quits.
Read all about it in Google Takes Down Another Link Network, France’s Buzzea.
This was hardly the first link network Google had gone after:
Buzzea would be just the first of several link networks Google identified and took action against later in 2014:
Also on this day
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Video: Lisa Barone on the early days of SEO blogging
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2019: Search marketing experts offered feedback on when to pay for search analytics tools, factors to consider and making the most out of what you buy.
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2019: Google added a microphone to the Google.com search field on Android phones to enable mobile web voice search.
Tell Google which report you are really missing in new Google Search Console
2018: A button in the beta Search Console explained why all of the old reports had not been migrated.
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2018: Bing and Yahoo saw search ad spend jump 32% year-over-year. Google spend slowed slightly from Q3.
Adobe: Paid Search Spend Growth Slowed In Q4, Mobile Continued To Eat Into Desktop
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Search In Pics: GoogleBot Band, Inside Out Post-It Art & Hangouts Pillow
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2014: That was Cutts’ answer to “Should I build links using article directories?”
Report: Google Close (Again) To EU Antitrust Settlement
2014: Two previous antitrust settlements were strenuously opposed and thus defeated by Google critics and competitors.
Google May Be Forced To Pay $1 Billion To Patent Troll
2014: Google was asked to pay $15.8 million in 2012. The plaintiffs were also seeking ongoing royalties, which the court awarded.
People, Videos, News: Twitter Adds New Search Filters
2014: There were also “photos,” “people you follow” and “near you” filters to further refine results.
Seattle Seahawks Take The Lead In 33 States For Bing Super Bowl Searches
2014: Bing also measured player searches, with Broncos’ quarterback Peyton Manning winning 72% of the searches over Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson.
Bing Rewards Program Now Available On iOS & Android Devices
2014: iOS and Android users could earn Bing Rewards credits (toward gift cards for brands like Amazon, Xbox and Dominos) by performing searches on their phone.
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2013: Those advertisers were rewarded with higher click-through rates and lower cost-per-click than text ads.
Study: Reviews & Images Drive Clicks In Mobile
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Google Mobile Image Search Gets Popular Images
2010: When you visited Google Images on a smartphone, you would see “popular images” and a link to browse more popular images.
Yelp Ratings Appear In Google AdWords
2010: Google confirmed it was “testing a feature in which text ads on Google search results pages may include star ratings and links to third party sites that have reviewed the advertiser’s business.”
Microsoft Earnings Beat Estimates Online Services Post Loss, More On Bing And The iPhone
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Google AdWords Testing New Interface
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Google Toolbar For Firefox Adds Chrome-Like “Most Visited Sites” Tab
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YouTube Searchers: It’s All About The Music
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Live Search “Auto Suggest” Add-On For Firefox Released
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Google TV Ads Tells How DVRs Affect Your Ads
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Google Street View Car Kills Bambi, Removes Pictures Afterward
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Microsoft adCenter To Power Ads On Wall Street Journal Digital Network
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Once Again, A Google Murder Case
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Google’s Brin Calls China Censorship A “Net Negative”
2007: Brin was arguing that some information is better than no information.
Google TV Rumors Not Legit
2007: ‘Twas a hoax.
Google To Build Second Life Metaverse On Google Earth In China?
2007: Just lots of rumors.
Topix.net And Tribune In Mutual Classifieds Syndication Deal
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News Search + Personalization + Social Media = Wikio
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From Search Marketing Expo (SMX)
Past contributions from Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
These columns are a snapshot in time and have not been updated since publishing, unless noted. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.
< January 28 | Search Marketing History | January 30 >
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About the author
Danny Goodwin is Managing Editor of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo.
Prior to joining Search Engine Land, Goodwin was Executive Editor at Search Engine Journal, where he led editorial initiatives for the brand. He also was an editor at Search Engine Watch. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.