Central Perk

marți, 28 mai 2013

Faith

Good morning --

On Sunday, I was in Moore, Oklahoma. Today, I'm headed to the Jersey Shore. Those two communities are separated by half a continent but united by a common sense of purpose. Like Joplin, Tuscaloosa, and New Orleans, they are home to people who've seen nature at its worst and humanity at its best. And they're filled with those who have made the choice to rebuild after disaster, to come back stronger than ever.

The scene on the ground this weekend was one we all know too well: homes wrecked and neighborhoods devastated. But the memories I'll take away from Moore will be of people standing tall, of neighbor helping neighbor, of survivors working to ensure that no one suffers through tragedy alone. And that too, was strikingly familiar. I could have been back in Brigantine Beach after Hurricane Sandy. I could have been in Joplin in 2011.

It's because of those past experiences in places like New Jersey and Missouri that I have faith that Moore will emerge from the wreckage of this tornado stronger than ever. And that's in part because I know that they won't undertake the road to recovery alone. This was a national tragedy, and that demands a national response.

If you want to help, the best way to support those affected by this storm is to make a financial contribution to the voluntary organization of your choice. The best way to volunteer is to affiliate with an organization that is already providing support to survivors.

We've set up a page to help steer you in the right direction. Check it out to get started:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/oklahoma

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

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Serving Those Who Serve America

Your Daily Snapshot for
Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Serving Those Who Serve America

Yesterday, President Obama traveled to Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate Memorial Day, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and thanking our armed forces for their dedication and service:

Let it be our task, every single one of us, to honor the strength and the resolve and the love these brave Americans felt for each other and for our country. Let us never forget to always remember and to be worthy of the sacrifice they make in our name.

President Barack Obama participates in a Memorial Day wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., May 27, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Disavowed: Secrets of Google's Most Mysterious Tool

Posted: 27 May 2013 07:31 PM PDT

Posted by Cyrus Shepard

To many webmasters, Google’s Disavow Tool seems a lifesaver. If you’ve suffered a Google penalty or been plagued by shady link building, simply upload a file of backlinks you want to disavow, and BOOM - you’re back in good graces. Traffic city!

Or nothing happens at all.

Few Google products have produced more fear, rumors and speculation. No one outside Google knows exactly how it works, and fewer understand how to succeed with it. To better understand, I used the tool myself to disavow 1000s of links, and talked with dozens of SEOs who used it in attempts to recover from Google penalties.

How Dangerous Is Disavow?

When you first log into the Disavow Tool, Google does everything in its power to dissuade you from actually using it with scary messaging.

Do Not Disavow

What’s the worst that could happen?

To find out how much damage I could do, I performed an experiment: Disavowing every link pointing to my website. Over 35,000 of them.

In this case, no reconsideration request was filed. Would the disavow tool work on its own?

Experiment

Disavow 35,000 Links to a Single Website

URL: http://cyrusshepard.com

Process:

Download all links from Google Webmaster Tools
Upload 35,000 properly links to Google's Disavow Tool
Wait 2 Months

Results:

Disavow-experiment

After 2 months, nothing happened. No drop in traffic.

The evidence suggests one of three possibilities:

You must file a reconsideration request after disavowing your links, or...
The disavow has built-in safeguards in order to protect you from disavowing good links, or...
It takes longer than 2 months for Google to process all the links.

We’ve heard conflicting accounts from Googlers whether the tool works automatically, or if must file a reconsideration request for it to work. The data implies the later, although some SEOs say they’ve seen results from using the Disavow without filing a reconsideration request.

Google also states they reserve the right to ignore your disavowed links if they think you made a mistake, much like rel=”canonical”.

Best Advice: Safeguards or not, you might still shoot yourself in the foot. Be careful disavowing links!

Can You Use Disavow for Penguin?

Can you use the Disavow Tool if you haven't received a manually penalized? For example, will it work for Penguin?

The answer: maybe.

Here's a reminder: Google updates like Panda and Penguin are part of Google's overall algorithm. They automatically affect your rankings without direct human intervention. On the other hand, a manual penalty is often applied when you violate Google's guidelines. These can be both applied and lifted manually by Google's Webspam team.

Google representatives, including Matt Cutts, have gone on record to say the Disavow Tool could be used to help if you’ve been hit by Penguin (an algorithmic action), but also suggests that this applies to links that also violate Google’s Quality Guidelines.

Penguin and Google’s Unnatural Link Warnings often go hand in hand. So if you were hit by one, you are often hit by the other. Conversely, certain SEOs have claimed benefits from using the disavow on sites that were not penalized.

Best Advice: If you’ve been hit with a manual penalty, you need to file a reconsideration request if using the Disavow Tool. If you haven't been manually penalized, the benefits of using the tool are inconclusive.

1. Remove First, Disavow Last

Google wants you to remove links first. Disavow is a last resort.

100% accuracy isn’t required, but effort counts.

Google’s Webspam team keeps a historical index of your backlink profile, so that when you file a reconsideration request they can see the links you’ve worked to remove.

2. Gather Your Links

You can use any source you want, but Google recommends downloading your Latest Links report directly from Webmaster Tools.

3. Find the Bad Links

You can do this two ways, with either automatic tools or manual analysis. Realistically, you should use both. Best Manual Analysis Resource:

Easy Step by Step Guide to Finding Low Quality Links

Best Link Removal Research Tools:

Link Detox
Remove’em
SEOgadgets Link API Extension for Excel. They also have contact information on file for millions of URLs.

Link Removal Resources

4. Outreach, Outreach, Outreach

Next, you’re going to send emails to get those links removed. Lots of emails.

Resources for Link Removal Outreach:

4. Trust in Google Docs

When you document your efforts, don’t submit random links to the Webspam team; they may not click on them. By sharing all your evidence via Google Docs, you provide a level of protection that helps ensure the Webspam team sees your evidence.

5. When in Doubt, Disavow Entire Domains

Google’s Disavow Tool gives you 2 options when disavowing links: individual URLs or entire domains.

Many webmasters fail at their reconsideration requests the first time because they miss too many links. The fear is that you’ll disavow something valuable, but if you’ve been rejected time and time again, this one change often leads to success.

Here’s a screenshot from Dr. Pete’s post showing both formats.

Disavow Format

Best Advice: If you are rejected after disavowing individual URLs, try disavowing entire domains.

6. Formatting Counts

Google rejects many disavow files because of bad formatting, but webmasters usually never know. Guidelines state the file type should be .txt only and “must be encoded UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII.”

7. Bonus: Extra "Removed" Links with Screaming Frog

Google’s link index of your site is rarely up to date. They undoubtedly include links that no longer exist. To find dead links quickly, download a complete file of your latest links from Google Webmaster Tools into Screaming Frog (use List Mode) or another crawler of your choice.

When finished, take any links that return a 404 and download these into a spreadsheet. Be sure to include these dead links as "Removed" when you submit your reconsideration request to Google, otherwise they may not know about them.

Conclusion

The Disavow Tool is useful, but damn tricky.

Someday, perhaps Google can get away from tools like the Disavow. Today, good SEOs can't keep up with what's considered a good link or a bad, and Google continually cracks down on what it considers a “bad link.”

For successful marketers, it’s much more fulfilling to build new links, than disavow old ones.

I suppose that's Google's point, no?

Additional Resources:

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

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Seth's Blog : A hierarchy of failure (from brave to shameful)

A hierarchy of failure (from brave to shameful)

Mistakes! A series of failures as you follow a path of persistent long-term effort characterized by ongoing learning and a reputation that improves over time.
The giant flame out
Giving up in the dip
Shortcuts
Not starting
The critic, on the sidelines
Empty hype
The scam, the short-sighted selfish pitch

It's the flameouts and the scams that get all the publicity, but it's the long-term commitment that pays off. I have nothing but applause for those brave enough to fail, and fail again. It's not so much a failure as it is one more thing that won't work.

And the critics and the non-starters? They will get little respect from me.

Some say, "go big or stay home," but I prefer, "keep going." Drip by drip.

• Email to a friend •

luni, 27 mai 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Evolution of Spanish Public Debt and Pension Promises

Posted: 27 May 2013 06:24 PM PDT

Inquiring minds may be interested in a chart of Spanish public debt over time to see how the policies of Spain and the Troika are working out in practice.

Evolution of Spanish Public Debt Over Time

I picked that chart up from estrategiastendencias.

My stab at a translation of text regarding public debt reads "Spanish banks are deluded. They must think we are going to save them from the assets that they have purchased."

Pension Benefits Need to Drop 22-45%

Regarding pensions, here is a Mish-modified translation of various paragraphs from site: "Pension benefits need to drop between 22% and up to 45% on average to avoid bankruptcy of the system. The projected costs and revenues of Social Security until 2050 and the population pyramid ensures an inevitable adjustment to retirement benefits. We are up Spain creek without a paddle. The state does not have money for anything."

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Dutch Defined Benefit Pension Plans, Second Largest in Europe, Face Forced Cuts

Posted: 27 May 2013 10:57 AM PDT

Things are getting rather interesting in the Netherlands as low interest rates have increased pension deficit liabilities. Unlike the US and other parts of Europe where deficits are ignored, Dutch law requires 105% funding and the plans fell from 152% funded in 2007 to 102% funded today.

This has forced pension plans to cut benefits by as much as 7% for some trades. As might be expected, this has given rise to a 50 Plus Party, which won election to the Dutch parliament for the first time last year on promises to defend the interests of pensioners.

Please consider Yawning deficits force Dutch pension funds to cut payouts.

A combination of record low rates, sluggish economic growth and lives that last far longer than anyone imagined even a decade ago have resulted in yawning deficits. At the end of 2012, the funds were €30bn short of what is needed to cover promised benefits.

For the Dutch, the cutbacks are the first ever in a nation which has the second largest "defined benefit" system in Europe. But defined benefit provision, under which pensioners are guaranteed a portion of their salary for as long as they live, is unraveling under the pressure of the financial crisis and ensuing recession.

In April, under orders from the Dutch central bank, 66 of the country's 415 pension funds started cutting their payouts. The average cut is around 2 per cent of the monthly benefit, but that figure conceals a wide range.

Last September the parliament, under pressure from older voters, approved new rules that allow pension schemes to use a higher rate to gauge the pace at which inflation will erode liabilities.

This has lowered liabilities, and funding targets. The sector as a whole now has a coverage ratio of 105 per cent under the new rules, but just 101 per cent under the old rules, according to an analysis by Aon Hewitt.

As at 2007, a quarter of Dutch retirees were below the age of 60. Early retirement has proved extremely expensive for defined benefit schemes, especially as longevity has risen sharply. On average, Dutch men aged 65 can expect to live for another 18 years as of 2011, up from just 15.5 years a decade earlier.

Head in the Sand Solution

Burying your head in the sand is not a solution to the problem but that is exactly what the Dutch parliament did by assuming higher rates of inflation (and interest on bonds) in a low-yield world.

This is yet another consequence of central bank policy to drive down interest rates. When the US stock market heads south again (and it will), US pension plans, already trillions of dollars underfunded, will become even more underfunded.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Oferta: ajungeţi la clienţi noi cu ajutorul programului AdWords

Ajungeţi la clienţi noi cu ajutorul programului
Google AdWords

Difuzaţi un anunţ online

Google - Transformă cei 50 RON ai tăi în 250 RON* - Expiră pe 24 iunie 2013

Google vă salută!

Sperăm că rapoartele din Google Analytics vă oferă o perspectivă valoroasă asupra modului în care utilizatorii identifică site-ul dvs. şi interacţionează cu acesta. Dacă doriţi să generaţi mai mult trafic spre site, Google AdWords poate fi alegerea perfectă pentru dvs. şi pentru clienţii dvs. potenţiali.

Informaţiile despre site-ul dvs. obţinute cu ajutorul serviciului Google Analytics vă ajută să vă bucuraţi de succes în programul AdWords. Puteţi difuza anunţuri care atrag mai mulţi clienţi potenţiali direct în cele mai de succes pagini ale site-ului dvs. De asemenea, puteţi afişa anunţuri pentru cuvintele cheie care vă aduc cele mai bune rezultate, dar care nu apar în partea de sus a rezultatelor căutării Google.

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Codul dvs. de activare: C7GAE-VWGEF-NHDQ
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	*Termenii şi condiţiile acestei oferte: • Sunteţi eligibil pentru credit promoţional dacă sunteţi nou pe AdWords şi aveţi un cont AdWords care nu este mai vechi de 14 zile la momentul în care aţi introdus codul promoţional. • Pentru a activa această ofertă trebuie să introduceţi codul promoţional prin tabul de facturare (Billing) de pe contul dumneavoastră înainte de 24 iunie 2013. • Codurile promoţionale nu sunt purtătoare de valoare, completarea codului promoţional servind doar pentru iniţierea calificării dumneavoastră pentru creditul promoţional aferent. • Pentru a vă califica pentru creditul promoţional trebuie să acumulaţi o sumă cheltuită pe publicitate în valoare de 50 RON în intervalul a 30 de zile de la introducerea codului dumneavoastră promoţional. De exemplu, dacă introduceţi codul pe 27 mai 2013 va trebui ca până la 26 iunie 2013 să acumulaţi o sumă cheltuită pe publicitate în valoare de 50 RON. În orice caz, trebuie să introduceţi codul dumneavoastră promoţional înainte de data de 24 iunie 2013 pentru a activa prezenta ofertă. • Contul dumneavoastră trebuie să fie facturat fără probleme de AdWords şi să-şi păstreze solvabilitatea pentru a vă califica pentru un credit promoţional. • Creditul promoţional va fi aplicat în termen de aproximativ 48 de ore de la atingerea de către contul dumneavoastră a pragului de valoare cheltuită pe publicitate acumulat precizat mai sus, cu condiţia să vă fi activat contul folosind codul promoţional şi să îndepliniţi toate condiţiile menţionate în ofertă. După aplicare, creditul promoţional vă va apărea pe pagina de sumar facturi (Billing Summary) din contul dumneavoastră. • Citiţi termenii şi condiţiile complete, aici: http://www.google.ro/intl/ro/adwords/coupons/terms.html. © 2013 Google Ireland Ltd, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland. Acest e-mail a fost trimis la adresa e0nstar1.blog@gmail.com deoarece aţi specificat că doriţi să primiţi noutăţi privind integrarea Google Analytics cu alte produse Google. Dacă nu doriţi să primiţi astfel de e-mailuri în viitor, dezabonaţi-vă aici: http://www.google.com/appserve/mkt/optout/1l6zShXW2qLmXLZcpFOcv4bBIzABapx0b?e=e0nstar1.blog%40gmail.com&hl=en-US De asemenea, vă puteţi schimba preferinţele în pagina „Informaţii prin e-mail despre Google Analytics" din contul dvs. conectându-vă la https://www.google.com/analytics/settings/my_account

marți, 28 mai 2013

Faith

Serving Those Who Serve America

Disavowed: Secrets of Google's Most Mysterious Tool

Disavowed: Secrets of Google's Most Mysterious Tool