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joi, 27 iunie 2013

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Posted: 27 Jun 2013 12:15 PM PDT

Awesome unscripted movie scenes.

Gun vs. Sword
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Director - Steven Spielberg

While chasing Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) after she's been kidnapped, archaeologist and adventurer Dr. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) runs into a large sword-wielding bad guy dressed all in black. Instead of fighting him in what would surely be a losing whip versus sword battle, Indy simply pulls out his revolver, puts the man down with one shot and moves on.

The original script called for a long sword fight but a day earlier Ford got a severe case of food poisoning and didn't have the energy to film the scene as written. After a discussion with director Steven Spielberg, the scene was changed and became an iconic part of Indiana Jones mythos.

Why Male Models?
Zoolander (2001)

Director - Ben Stiller

In this scene involving former hand model J.P. Prewitt (David Duchovny) and the dimwitted male model Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), Prewitt - a conspiracy theorist - explains how the fashion industry has been behind every high profile political assassination of the last hundred years.

Zoolander asks, "Why male models?" Prewitt answers with a lengthy explanation, after which Zoolander responds again, "Why male models?" Stiller forgot his original line and just repeated his previous line instead. This prompted Duchovny to ad-lib his response "Are you kidding? I just told you like a minute ago."

The scene ends up reinforcing the movie's narrative of the brainless male model stereotype and Stiller turned a gaffe into one of the funniest parts of the film.

The Cat
The Godfather (1972)

Director - Francis Ford Coppola

Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) is more than the cold-hearted head of a powerful Italian mob family. That trait shows when he sentences a man to be beaten as retaliation for the beating of another man's daughter - all while gently stroking a cat.

Thing is, the cat was never part of the original script. Some reports say that Coppola plopped the feline into Brando's lap just before filming began. Other reports say Brando found "il gatto" roaming around the set, picked him and gave him an offer he couldn't refuse (heh).

I Don't Care
The Fugitive (1993)

Director - Andrew Davis

In this famous showdown between Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) - a doctor wrongly accused of murdering his wife - and U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones), Kimble gets the jump on Gerard in the sewers. Instead of shooting the Marshal and making things worse, Kimble pleads his case to him saying, "I didn't kill my wife!" Gerard, with a sober tone and intense look on his face, responds with a simple, but brilliant and ad-libbed, piece of dialog, "I don't care."

The line wasn't part of the script but those three words reinforced to Kimble, and audiences, that it didn't matter to Gerard whether the doctor was guilty or innocent of the crimes for which he was accused. He was going to get his man - no matter what.

Slow Clapping
The Dark Knight (2008)

Director - Christopher Nolan

As the Joker (Heath Ledger) waits quietly alone in jail after having been arrested by Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), Mayor Garcia (Nestor Carbonell) shows up to look over Gotham's latest scourge. While there he also promotes Gordon to the position of Commissioner.

As the officers in the room applaud the announcement Ledger begins, unscripted, to slowly clap - never changing his facial expression. It was just a simple improvisation but one that was unsettling and darkly brilliant.

Spitting Blood
RoboCop (1987)

Director - Paul Verhoeven

When antagonist Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) is taken to the police precinct after receiving a solid whooping by RoboCop (Peter Weller), Boddicker spits a bloody glob onto the paperwork of the desk sergeant, followed by the line "Give me my f*ckin' phone call!"

Smith and Verhoeven briefly had discussed the unscripted moment before filming the scene but neglected to inform the extras - which was evident by their real and disgusted surprise as the scene unfolded.

Necklace Laugh
Pretty Woman (1990)

Director - Garry Marshall

In what became one of the most famous scenes from the film, Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) presents call girl Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) with a gorgeous and rather expensive diamond necklace. As Roberts reaches out to touch the precious jewels, Gere - in an unscripted playful moment - quickly snaps the box shut genuinely surprising her.

Her laugh was so honest, and the scene so good, that Marshall decided to leave it in the film as is.

Think Fast!
Being John Malkovich (1999)

Director - Spike Jonze

Shortly after John Malkovich meets Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) on the side of the road he wanders off mad. As he does, a car passes by with a man leaning out the window. The man throws a can hitting Malkovich square in the back of the head while yelling, "Hey Malkovich! Think Fast!" - causing the Oscar nominated actor to scream out in legitimate pain.

Neither the can throwing nor the reaction were scripted but the drunken extra in the car felt the opportunity was too good to pass up. Jonze thought the scene added to the character's frustration and left it in.

Instead of being fired, the extra was added to the final cut of the film and given a raise.

The Cinderella Story
Caddyshack (1980)

Director - Harold Ramis

One of the best and most quoted scenes from this film is "The Cinderella Story" where groundskeeper Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) mutters a story to himself about an unknown golfer winning The Masters.

This entire scene was developed by Murray on the spot saying in his 1999 book Cinderella Story: My Life in Golf: "The Cinderella Story was a spur-of-the-moment idea. 'Get me some flowers,' I said. 'Four rows of mums."

Most Annoying Sound in the World
Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Director - Farrelly Brothers

There are many scenes in the film that show how moronic and simple-minded best friends Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) can be but this one showed how annoying they can be on car trips - and it was entirely unscripted.

Even hitman Joe Mentalino's (Mike Starr) hissy fit reaction to the scene was unscripted, which makes the scene that much funnier.

Know How I Know You're Gay?
Knocked Up (2007)

Director - Judd Apatow

Crafting a good and funny insult is one of the hardest things to do but Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd are two of the best - proving it in this scene of put down jokes.

This entire exchange between Pete (Rudd) and Ben (Rogen) while in the car was completely ad libbed by the two actors. The scene is only a few seconds long on the final cut but as an extra on the DVD, the scene goes on for over six minutes.

Farting Wife
Good Will Hunting (1997)

Director - Gus Van Sant

In this scene between therapist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) and math genius Will Hunting (Matt Damon), Williams proves that comedic-minded actors usually give the best ad libbed scenes.

The entire story about Maguire's flatulent spouse was made up on the spot by Williams and not a part of the original script.

Delayed Explosion
The Dark Knight (2008)

Director - Christopher Nolan

Originally, the Joker (Heath Ledger) was supposed to walk down the street while the explosion at the hospital began, get on the school bus during the scripted pause, and the bus would drive away while the explosion finished.

However, Ledger stopped walking during the pause and in a moment of improvisation began fidgeting with the remote detonator in a very Joker-esque manner - bringing a slight amount of dark humor to what would have just been a serious scene.

Game Over Man
Aliens (1986)

Director - James Cameron

Chaos and confusion are everywhere after the first attack by the xenomorphs decimate the Space Marines and their drop ship crashes. As the crew tries to get their bearing and fully understand what just happened, Private Hudson (Bill Paxton) - ever the pessimist - laments "That's it man, game over man, game over! What are we going to do now?"

The original line didn't include the "game over" part and was ad libbed by Paxton.

Party Talk
Tootsie (1982)

Director - Sydney Pollack

During this scene, aspiring playwright Jeff Slater (Bill Murray) was required to appear to be talking throughout the entire party; however, there was no dialog written for the character.

As a natural entertainer and comedian, Murray improvised the entire scene.

The Line Up
The Usual Suspects (1995)

Director - Bryan Singer

Christopher McQuarrie wrote only one line for this scene - "Give me the keys, you f*cking c*cksucker!" - it was up to the individual actors to deliver it however they wanted. McQuarrie actually plays the cop speaking with the suspects and both his line to Fred Fenster (Benicio Del Toro) "In English please?" and Del Toro's reaction were unscripted.

According to interviews on the DVD, the laughing during Del Toro's delivery was due to his constant farting while filming - boys will be boys.

Come Out to Play
The Warriors (1979)

Director - Walter Hill

In this scene, the script called for Luther (David Patrick Kelly) - leader of the vicious New York gang the Rogues - to drive up and provoke rival gang The Warriors to a fight in the streets by clinking bottles together.

Kelly spontaneously added the now famous line "Warriors, come out to play!"

Take the Cannoli
The Godfather (1972)

Director - Francis Ford Coppala

Corleone family capo Peter Clemenza (Richard Castellano) orders his henchman Rocco Lampone (Tom Rosqui) to carry out a hit on Paulie Gatto (John Martino) for his betrayal of Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).

Castellano's original line was "Leave the gun" but drawing from an earlier scene where Clemenza's wife reminds him to bring home some cannoli, he improvised the now famous line "Take the cannoli."

Mein Furher, I Can Walk
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Director - Stanley Kubrick

Nuclear scientist Dr. Merkwürdigliebe or Strangelove (Peter Sellers) was confined to a wheelchair for the entire film - but Sellers decided to spontaneously stand at the very end of the film, take a couple of steps and proclaim, "Mein Führer! I can walk!"

In a process known as "retroscripting", Kubrick changed much of the script he co-wrote with Terry Southern to incorporate much of Sellers' improvised dialog, including this now famously unscripted scene from the end of his black satirical comedy.

Remembering the Brothers
Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Director - Steven Spielberg

During a brief break from fighting, Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) sits with Private Ryan (Matt Damon) swapping stories about what it was like back home for them both. The story Damon tells about his brothers and the barn was made up entirely by him during filming.

None of the story was part of the original script.

You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat
Jaws (1975)

Director - Steven Spielberg

While chumming the waters in an attempt to lure the deadly great white shark within range, Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) gets his first look at exactly how massive the killer shark truly is.

Stunned, startled and filled with fear he stands up and utters the now famous line to Orca Captain Quint (Robert Shaw) completely off-script, "You're going to need a bigger boat."

Turns out, he was right.

I Know
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Director - Irvin Kershner

As smuggler-turned-hero Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is about to be encased in carbonite, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) reveals her love for him. The script called for Leia to say "I love you" to which Solo was supposed to respond with "I love you too".

Ford decided that Solo wouldn't say something like that and instead, changed the line to simply "I know."

Can You Hear Me Now?
Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Director - Quentin Tarantino

The script for Tarantino's violent, freshman project called for jewel thief Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) to torture Officer Nash (Kirk Baltz) by cutting off his ear with a straight razor - however, Tarantino didn't give Madsen any specific direction what to do once the gruesome deed had been done.

All of Madsen's lines and actions with the ear were improvised by him.

Here's Looking at You Kid
Casablanca (1942)

Director - Michael Curtiz

The scene of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) putting Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) and Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) on a plane bound for America with the help of Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) is chock full of memorable lines but the line listed as 5th in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes wasn't even part of the original script.

According to reports, Bogart said the phrase "Here's looking at you kid" multiple times to Bergman while teaching her to play poker between takes.

The Sneeze
Annie Hall (1977)

Director - Woody Allen

Neurotic Jewish comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) is at a party when his friend passes him a small tin filled with cocaine. As Alvy takes the tin in his hands he has a violent sneeze - sending white powder everywhere. The surrounding actors' uncontrollable laughter was spontaneous and genuine and Allen decided to leave it in the final cut of the film after it tested well with audiences.

So one of the most famous sneezes in cinema history was never actually intended to be part of the final film - it actually occurred during a scene rehearsal.

Here's Johnny!
The Shining (1980)

Director - Stanley Kubrick

Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duval) and her son Danny (Danny Lloyd) hide from the deranged novelist Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) in a hotel bathroom. As Jack begins chopping through the door with a fire axe and sticks his face into the splintered opening, he utters a phrase previously made popular by Ed McMahon on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson - "Here's Johnny!"

The line was not part of Kubrick's original screenplay and was improvised by Nicholson.

Like Tears in the Rain
Blade Runner (1982)

Director - Ridley Scott

As ex-blade runner Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) attempts to "retire" the replicant known as Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), he finds himself in a precarious position. The battle worn replicant shows mercy on Deckard rescuing him from the edge of the building - only to "die" shortly after giving a moving monologue.

As he reminisces about his past he says, "All those moments will be lost in time...," but then Hauer adds the unscripted and philosophical phrase "...like tears in rain."

I'm Walking Here!
Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Director - John Schlesinger

As want-to-be gigolo Joe Buck (Jon Voight) and crippled scam artist Ratso (Dustin Hoffman) cross a street in New York City, a REAL NYC taxi cab driver who ignored all the "Street Closed for Filming" signs drives through the scene.

Obviously this wasn't scripted and Hoffman's response and actions were all improvised, in character, as a result.

Singing in the Rain
A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Director - Stanley Kubrick

Alex (Malcolm McDowell) breaks into a happy song as he and his "droogs" perform a bit of "ultra-violence" and rape. Reportedly Kubrick filmed this scene several times and wasn't happy with it each time - until he told McDowell to just "do anything he wanted".

McDowell decided to belt out "Singing in the Rain" and Kubrick was so pleased with how much better the scene became that he acquired the rights to use the song immediately.

You Talking to Me?
Taxi Driver (1976)

Director - Martin Scorsese

When screenwriter Paul Schrader wrote this scene it simply said "Travis talks to himself in the mirror" - there was no specific dialog given. Everything that insomnia-plagued taxi driver Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) says during his faux-conversation was improvised by De Niro on the spot.

To this day, whenever someone walks by a mirror they can't help but utter his now famous line "You talking to me?"

Hsssss!
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Director - Jonathan Demme

The famous "hssssss" sound made by Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) during his story about eating a liver with "fava beans and a nice Chianti" to FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) wasn't in the original script.

Apparently it was something Hopkins did during rehearsals to creep out Foster - and Demme decided leaving it in was the best way to creep out his audience too.

Drill Sergeant
Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Director - Stanley Kubrick

Originally, R. Lee Ermey wasn't even cast in the role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman but after Ermey submitted a tape of himself spewing insults at group of Royal Marines for 15 minutes straight, Kubrick cast him immediately

Ermey wrote 150 pages of insults and Kubrick estimated that 50% of the character's dialog was improvised by the former drill instructor.

Via: screenrant

The Economics of Going Viral [Infographic]

Posted: 27 Jun 2013 10:52 AM PDT

Until recently viral YouTube videos were one-time flukes.Now an entire industry surrounds YouTube stars: Managers, PR programs, award shows, and content networks!

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Source: The Economics of Going Viral

How about this week?

Hello, everyone --

When was the last time you can remember a week like this? On Tuesday, President Obama committed the full weight of American leadership to the fight against carbon pollution and climate change. Then on Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act and took us one step closer to marriage equality.

It's not all been good news. Before the President spoke on Tuesday, the Supreme Court struck down one of the core provisions of the Voting Rights Act that has helped to protect one of Americans’ most fundamental rights for nearly 50 years. As the President said, it’s now up to Congress to ensure that every American has equal access to the polls.

But the most incredible thing about this week is that it's not over yet.

Today, 68 members of the U.S. Senate, Republicans and Democrats, came together and voted to reform our nation's immigration system. They voted for a bill that secures our borders and cracks down on employers who refuse to play by the rules. They voted for a bill that provides undocumented immigrants with a way to earn citizenship so they can come out of the shadows. They voted for a bill that provides visas to foreign entrepreneurs looking to start American businesses, reunites families, and helps the students and young people who've never known any home but America fully embrace the country that they love.

And if you support this set of ideas, we want to hear from you. Tell us why immigration reform is important for people like you, and we'll make sure your voice is part of the conversation in Washington.

For weeks, people from all over the country have been sharing their immigration stories with the White House.

We heard from a 24-year-old honors student named Ruben who told us that he has dreamed of joining the U.S. military since he was 17 years old. "Since then," he said, "there has not been one day in which I do not think of the day that I will finally become a U.S. Marine."

We heard from a man named Miguel who arrived in the United States at 12, speaking hardly any English. He's now a citizen, a taxpayer, and the president of his local Chamber of Commerce.

We heard from a woman named Ramona whose father landed on Ellis Island in 1920, then helped build the New York subway system. "We all have come from someplace else if we go back far enough," she wrote, "and, as you said Mr. President, 'we've always been better off for it.' "

Each of these stories is representative of others like them. For these people, immigration isn't a chance to score political points or win an abstract debate. It's a common heritage that unites us all. And in the weeks ahead, we're going to do everything in our power to lift up their voices.

Today, we took a big step forward with this Senate vote. But we haven't won the debate. This bill isn't yet a law, and there are a lot of policymakers who are still weighing their options. As the conversation unfolds here in Washington, we need you to be part of it.

Tell us why immigration reform is important for you:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/immigration-support

Thanks!

Cecilia

Cecilia Muñoz
Director, Domestic Policy Council
The White House

P.S. -- Want to learn about the President's plan to combat climate change? Click here. Want to read the President's statement on the Supreme Court's DOMA decisions? Click here.

This email was sent to e0nstar1.blog@gmail.com.
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See the White House Through a New Lens

Featured

See the White House Through a New Lens

We are proud that President Obama is committed to giving Americans an unfiltered look at life inside the White House, but you can't always go #nofilter.

Yesterday morning, the White House posted its first photo on Instagram, an image of the First Family taking off on Marine One for their trip to Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania.

Click here to learn more about how you can engage with the White House on Instagram.

The First Family takes off for a three-country trip across Africa captured in Earlybird.

Early Look at Google's June 25 Algo Update

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 06:51 AM PDT

Posted by Dr-Pete

If you follow our MozCast Google "weather" tracker, you may have noticed something unusual this morning â€" a record algorithm flux temperature of 113.3Â°F (the previous high was 102.2Â°, set on December 13, 2012). While the weather has been a bit stormy off and on since Penguin 2.0 and the announcement of 10-day rolling Panda updates, this one was still off the charts:

MozCast Temperatures

Iâ€™m usually cautious about over-interpreting any single day's data â€" measuring algorithm change is a very difficult and noisy task. Given the unprecedented scope, though, and reports coming in of major ranking shake-ups in some verticals, I've decided to post an early analysis. Please understand that the Google algorithm is incredibly dynamic, and weâ€™ll know more over the next few days.

Temperatures by Category

Some industry verticals are naturally more volatile than others, but hereâ€™s a breakdown of the major categories we track in order by the largest percentage change over the 7-day average. The temperature for June 25th along with the 7-day average for each category is shown in parentheses:

68.5% (125Â°/74Â°) â€" Home & Garden
58.2% (119Â°/75Â°) â€" Computers & Consumer Electronics
58.1% (114Â°/72Â°) â€" Occasions & Gifts
57.8% (121Â°/77Â°) â€" Apparel
54.8% (107Â°/69Â°) â€" Real Estate
54.1% (107Â°/69Â°) â€" Jobs & Education
50.6% (112Â°/74Â°) â€" Internet & Telecom
49.4% (112Â°/75Â°) â€" Hobbies & Leisure
49.4% (102Â°/68Â°) â€" Health
44.9% (105Â°/73Â°) â€" Finance
44.5% (116Â°/80Â°) â€" Beauty & Personal Care
43.0% (116Â°/81Â°) â€" Vehicles
39.7% (104Â°/74Â°) â€" Family & Community
38.0% (109Â°/79Â°) â€" Sports & Fitness
37.3% (89Â°/65Â°) â€" Retailers & General Merchandise
34.7% (101Â°/75Â°) â€" Food & Groceries
32.4% (107Â°/81Â°) â€" Arts & Entertainment
25.9% (92Â°/73Â°) â€" Travel & Tourism
25.6% (93Â°/74Â°) â€" Law & Government
25.5% (92Â°/73Â°) â€" Dining & Nightlife

Every vertical we track showed a solid temperature spike, but â€œHome & Gardenâ€ led the way with a massive 51Â° difference between the single-day temperature and its 7-day average.

Some Sample Queries

There are so many reasons that a query can change that looking at individual cases is often a one-way ticket to insanity, but that doesnâ€™t seem to stop me from riding the train. Just to illustrate the point, the query â€œgay rightsâ€ showed a massive temperature of 250Â°F. Of course, if you know about the Supreme Court rulings announced the morning of June 26th, then this is hardly surprising. News results were being churned out fast and furious by very high-authority sites, and the SERP landscape for that topic was changing by the hour.

Sometimes, though, we can spot an example that seems to tell a compelling story, especially when that example hasnâ€™t historically been a high-temperature query. Itâ€™s not Capital-S Science, but it can help us look for clues in the broader data. Here are a couple of interesting examplesâ€¦

Example 1: â€œlimousine serviceâ€

On the morning of June 25th, a de-localized and de-personalized query for â€œlimousine serviceâ€ returned the following results:

http://www.ultralimousineservice.com/
http://www.uslimoservice.com/
http://www.fivediamondslimo.com/
http://www.davesbestlimoservice.com/
http://www.aftonlimousine.com/
http://www.awardslimo.com/
http://www.lynetteslimousines.com/
http://www.chicagolandlimo.com/
http://www.a1limousine.com/
http://www.sterlinglimoservice.com/

The following morning, the Top 10 for the same query was completely rewritten (yielding the maximum possible MozCast temperature of 280Â°).

http://www.carmellimo.com/
http://www.crestwoodlimo.com/
http://www.dial7.com/
http://www.telavivlimo.com/
http://www.willowwindcarriagelimo.com/
http://www.asavannahnite.com/
http://www.markofelegance.com/
http://tomscruz.com/
https://www.legrandeaffaire.com/
http://www.ohare-midway.com/

One possible pattern is that there are no domains in the new Top 10 with either the phrase â€œlimousine serviceâ€ or â€œlimo serviceâ€ in them, which could indicate a crack-down on partial-match domains (PMDs). Interestingly, the term â€œlimousineâ€ disappeared altogether in the post-update domain list, although â€œlimoâ€ still fares well. This could also indicate some sort of tweak in how Google treats similar words ("limo" vs. "limousine").

Example 2: â€œauto auctionâ€

Hereâ€™s another query that shows a similar PMD pattern, clocking in at a MozCast temperature of 239Â°. The morning of June 25th, â€œauto auctionâ€ showed the following Top 10:

http://www.iaai.com/
http://www.autoauctions.gsa.gov/
http://www.americasautoauction.com/
http://www.copart.com/
http://www.interstateautoauction.com/
http://www.indianaautoauction.net/
http://www.houstonautoauction.com/
http://www.ranchoautoauction.com/
http://www.southbayautoauction.com/
http://velocity.discovery.com/tv-shows/mecum-auto-auctions

Just one day later, all but the #1 spot had changedâ€¦

http://www.iaai.com/
http://www.copart.com/
http://www.autoauctions.gsa.gov/
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/
http://www.naaa.com/
http://www.mecum.com/
http://www.desertviewauto.com/
http://www.adesa.com/
http://www.brasherssacramento.com/
http://www.voaautoauction.org/

In the first SERP, eight of the top ten had â€œauto auction(s)â€ in the URL; in the second, only two remained, and one of those was an official US government sub-domain (even that site lost a ranking spot).

Top-View PMD Influence

Ultimately, these are anecdotes. The question is: do we see any pattern across the broader set? As luck would have it, we do track the influence of partial-match domains (PMDs) in the MozCast metrics. Our PMD Influence metric looks at the percentage of total Top 10 URLs where the root or sub-domain contains either â€œkeywordstringâ€ or â€œkeyword-stringâ€, but is not an exact-match. Hereâ€™s a graph of PMD influence over the past 90 days:

PMD Influence Drop

Please note that the vertical axis is scaled to more clearly show rises and falls over time. Across our data set, thereâ€™s been a trend toward steady decline of PMD influence in 2013, but today showed a fairly dramatic drop-off and a record low across our historical data (back to April 2012). This data comes from our smaller (1K) query set, but the pattern is also showing up in our 10K data set.

For reference and further investigation, here are a few examples of PMDs that fell out of the Top 10, and the queries they fell out of (including some from the same queries):

"appliance parts" â€" www.appliancepartscenter.com
"appliance parts" â€" www.appliancepartscenter.us
"appliance parts" â€" www.appliancepartssuppliers.com
"bass boats" â€" www.phoenixbassboats.com
"campagnolo" â€" www.campagnolorestaurant.com
"divorce papers" â€" www.mydivorcepapers.com
"driving school" â€" www.dollardrivingschool.com
"driving school" â€" www.elitedrivingschool.biz
"driving school" â€" www.ferraridrivingschool.com
"driving school" â€" www.firstchoicedrivingschool.net
"driving school" â€" www.fitzgeraldsdrivingschool.com
"mario game" â€" www.mariogames98.com
"monogrammed gifts" â€" www.monogrammedgiftshop.com
"monogrammed gifts" â€" www.preppymonogrammedgifts.com
"nickelback songs" â€" www.nickelback-songs.com
"pressure washer" â€" www.pressurewashersdirect.com
"tanzanite" â€" www.etanzanite.com
"vibram" â€" www.vibramdiscgolf.com
"wine racks" â€" www.wineracksamerica.com
"yahtzee" â€" www.yahtzeeonline.org

Iâ€™m not making any statements about the quality of these sites (except nickelback-songs.com), since I havenâ€™t dug into them individually. If anyone wants to take that on, though, please be my guest.

The â€œMulti-Weekâ€ Update

Recently, Matt Cutts warned of a multi-week algorithm update ending just after July 4th â€" could this be that update? The short answer is that we have no good way to tell, since Mattâ€™s tweet didnâ€™t tell us anything about the nature of the update. This single-day spike certainly doesnâ€™t look like a gradual roll-out of anything, but itâ€™s possible that weâ€™ll see large-scale instability during this period.

Some (Quite a Few) Caveats

This is an imperfect exercise at best, and one day of data can be misleading. The situation is also constantly changing â€" Google claims Panda data is updating 10 days out of every 30 now, or 1/3 of the time, for example. At this early stage, I can only confirm that weâ€™ve tracked this algorithm flux across multiple data centers and there is no evidence of any system errors or obvious data anomalies (we track many metrics, and some of them look relatively normal).

Finally, itâ€™s important to note that, just because a metric drops, it doesnâ€™t mean Google pulled a lever to directly impact that metric. In other words, Google could release a quality adjustment that just happened to hit a lot of PMDs, even though PMDs werenâ€™t specifically the target. I would welcome any evidence people have seen on their own sites, in webmaster chatter, in unofficial Google statements, etc. (even if itâ€™s evidence against something Iâ€™m saying in this post).

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What You Need to Know Before Conducting a Technical Website Audit

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 01:57 AM PDT

You have just spent the last week knee-deep in data and technical issues whilst crawling through a website. You have identified a large number of technical issues, and a major blocker that will drastically help improve search engine rankings. You have put together the document, talked the client through it, who thanked you for putting it together and said that it looks great, and can’t wait to see the results of the changes.

A couple of days later, you get the call. Oh don’t you hate it when you get THE call! We can do the implementations no problem, but! Oh no, not the dreaded but. It’s going to take some time, the IT team have said they need to spec out the requirements, work out how to do half of it, and it’s probably going to take six months to implement the basic recommendations. Head, smack!, desk!

How many times have you heard that story? But whose fault is it? Is it the IT team, who didn’t inform you of what is required for each change, or is it yours because you didn’t ask about the process to get website changes made, no matter how simple they may be?

Below I have provided five key questions to ask before you start your technical audit.

Who are the key stakeholders?

This for me is an essential first question. Who is responsible for the website? When I say who is responsible, I mean who is going to make all the technical changes that have been requested, who is going to be uploading content, title tags and meta descriptions that are provided if you are not doing them?

From experience there could be multiple stakeholders within the business who deal with different aspects of the website that you are working on, as well as possible 3rd party agencies. You need to know everyone, from the project manger to the person implementing your title tags and making the technical changes to the infrastructure. I’d recommend using this spreadsheet to collect a complete list of all people who would be involved.

Timescales

Understanding how long changes take and when they have been requested is great knowledge to possess. There are some key questions that I feel that you need to ask:

Does the web development team work in sprints?
How long does it take to implement each task?
Does the website go through any code freezes during any time of the year? Peak seasons tend to have code freezes.
How long would it take to add/edit/delete content if required?

These are just a few questions that you should be asking, and will help manage your expectations of how long each of your recommendations would take to implement.

Involvement

By now I would hope that you have an understanding of who the key stakeholders are. Now you need to understand what is involved in making those changes happen. You should look at this from both agency and client side. Here are some initial questions that you should be asking:

What is involved in making each change?
Business case
Conference calls
Face-to-face meetings
Site visits
3rd party agency timetables
Is any documentation required?
Instruction guides
Examples

This research phase is about understanding what you need to provide to the client to make the process as smooth as possible. Once you have made the recommendations, you don’t want to go back and forth editing documentation to ensure it is in the right format to be progressed and implemented.

Internal Processes

It is easy to assume that when you make recommendations, it simply goes straight to the development team and they implement it. On most occasions this is true, but there are times (mainly in large businesses) when it needs to go through an internal sign-off process.

The internal sign-off process could include a number of people, all of whom have to sign off different aspects. Does it affect marketing? Does it affect operations? Does it affect user journey? Get an early understanding of who is involved in the internal process and get to know them. These are the people that are going to get your recommendations signed off, and signed off quickly. Make sure that you note them down on the Key Stakeholders spreadsheet, and ensure that you spend time building those relationships.

Once you clearly know (create a flow chart) what the internal process is, you can cross-reference them with estimated timescales, providing a much better idea of time required.

Technology:

Each website we work on is generally run on different technology. This maybe the same for you, unless your agency solely works with the same CMS platform, but even then you may have additional bespoke plugins to improve the website.

With rich media types evolving, and the content that you are creating becoming more and more advanced, it is important to understand if any of your future recommendations will be compatible. Having the knowledge of what technology is behind the platform, and what can be added, is a great place to start. Here are some of the questions that I would start with:

What type of server is running the website?
What language is the website coded in?
What CMS is being used?
Can the website handle HTML5?
Is there any tag management in place?

You are more than likely going to come across a range of CMSs whilst working in an agency. To ensure that you are efficient, you should create a matrix to ensure that you don’t go over old ground. Here is a basic example of a CMS matrix that I have already created – feel free to add to it. When you come across a new CMS that you haven’t used before, I would suggest adding them to your matrix.

Limitations

You don’t want to be wasting your time, or the client’s time, trying to implement fixes that just can’t be fixed. Identifying the limitations of the platform should come at the same time as you are understanding what technology is behind the website. With most of the more common platforms, there are either add-in modules or enough good developers that allow you to fix most issues. However, there are also companies that are using old platforms that are not built to be as SEO friendly as most platforms are now.

Speak to those involved with developing and enhancing the platform to see what is possible and what isn’t. This may sound like a standard item, but I have come across platforms that have either been unable to implement the basics (including title tags) or everything that you want to change comes at a cost. Knowing this allows you and the client to determine the best course of action, what resource is required, and more importantly, what the cost is.

Some questions that I generally ask are:

Can I edit the basics? (Titles, Metas, H1)
How frequently can changes be made?
Is there a reason that you don’t have a sitemap? Or is out of date by two years?
How easy is it to make technical changes?
How many templates is the site running on, if any, and can they be altered?

Above are five areas that I feel you need investigate before starting an audit for any website, and these should form part of any kick-off meeting that you have with your clients.

Do you ever come across any of these issues? What impact have they had on your project and the results? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts below in the comments or at on Twitter @danielbianchini.