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marți, 21 ianuarie 2014

Google AdSense Newsletter - January 2014


	Adsense Newsletter

January 2014

Publisher ID: ca-pub-1492172262972996

Dear Publisher,

Even though it's already a few weeks into January, we'd like to wish you a happy new year. As you begin your 2014 resolutions, consider adding some of these AdSense goals to your list:

•	Update your opt-in preferences
•	Prepare for every platform
•	Try custom-sized ads
•	Understand your audience
•	Pursue your passions
•	Help maintain the value of AdSense for everyone

See you online,

Julia
The Google AdSense Team

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Updates

Update your opt-in preferences so that it's right for you

As you start the new year, don't miss out on important information that can help your business grow. In addition to the Google AdSense Newsletter, you can subscribe to receive occasional emails from AdSense including performance suggestions and special offers. Make sure you're getting the most relevant information on your account by updating your opt-in preferences.

Prepare for every platform to capture every device

Today, the majority of media consumption is screen-based and 90% of people use multiple screens at once. Responsive ad units will help you capture users on every screen. Check the new multi-screen category in your publisher scorecard to see what percentage of your pages are multi-screen optimized, and review how this compares to other AdSense publishers.

Try custom-sized ads for a better user experience

Creating custom ad unit sizes for your website will enable you to better design your site for your audience. We now have 434,216 new ad unit options which behave just like their standard sized counterparts. Check out our blog for more information on getting started with custom ad units.

Understand your audience with Analytics reporting

The key to growing a loyal and engaged audience is to understand your users. This year, we're planning on giving you more guidance on how to pull key insights from your Google Analytics reports. Want to get targeted site tips from our optimization specialists? If you've linked your AdSense account with Analytics, opt in to the Account specialists data sharing setting.

Case Study

Pursue your passions

Looking for inspiration as you make your AdSense resolutions? Meet Dave Taylor tech support expert and founder of AskDaveTaylor.com. He started using AdSense in 2003, and, shortly after, his site brought in enough revenue to cover his monthly mortgage repayment. Watch the video below to hear how AdSense has helped Dave turn his site into a business and enabled him to spend more time with his family.

Share your AdSense success story.

Program Policies

Help maintain the value of AdSense for everyone

As part of our ongoing efforts to increase transparency around our policies, we've recently launched a policy FAQs section in our Help Center. Stay up to date with our policies by checking responses to the commonly asked questions that we receive from our publishers. AdSense works well because it equally balances the interests of publishers, advertisers, and users. By adhering to our policies, you'll help maintain the value of AdSense for everyone.

Find out about our different support options.

More about AdSense:

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In just one week:

Hello, everyone --

In just one week, President Obama will head to the Capitol to lay out his plan for the upcoming year of action, and what we need to do so that every working American can succeed.

It will be the President's fifth State of the Union address since taking office -- part of a tradition that dates back to our Founding Fathers.

Now, I've attended dozens of these events, and it's a big moment for the country.

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough sat down to give you a look at this tradition. Watch the video, then RSVP to watch next Tuesday.

This year, there will be more opportunities than ever for you to take part in the State of the Union: brand new ways to interact with the speech on the night of the address and during the days that follow it, and a glimpse beforehand of interesting behind-the-scenes content.

Over the next week, stay tuned for updates on what's going on around the White House. It will be quite a week, and I want you to take part in it.

Be part of the tradition. RSVP now.

Thanks,

Vice President Joe Biden

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Watch: FLOTUS Dunks on LeBron

Featured

Watch: FLOTUS Dunks on LeBron

Last week, the Miami Heat visited the White House to celebrate their 2013 Championship win. During their visit, they teamed up with the First Lady in support of Let’s Move! to highlight the importance of eating healthy and drinking water in order to perform like a champion.

Make sure you watch the video:

Getting Authorship to Work: A Moz.com Case Study

Posted: 20 Jan 2014 03:14 PM PST

Posted by Ruth_Burr

Having author markup working on your site is importantâ€"especially if, like Moz, you're producing new blog content daily. Not only does having an author picture snippet in the SERPs help increase clickthrough, it also builds trust with users when they see an author they already know and respect has written a piece of content. Author markup may also help sites get other special results such as the in-depth article result. All in all, Google seems to be doing a lot to encourage blog owners and writers alike to implement authorship markup on their sites.

So why is it so $@%#! hard to get working properly?

Behold the epic saga of trying to get authorship working on Moz.com. It's been almost two years, and we've finally gotten it working (mostly) correctly. I wanted to share our journey with you in the hopes that it will take you less time to figure out what's going on with your own site.

Part I: In which we have a brief hiccup followed by success

When I started at Moz back in 2012 (in the before times; the long long ago; the SEOmoz), authorship wasn't working properly on Moz.com becauseâ€¦ wellâ€¦ it hadn't been implemented properly. In the "Join the Moz Community" buttons you see to the right of each blog post, the link to our Google+ page was overriding author markup on individual posts. This meant that Google thought that the Moz page was the author of each posts. We were getting a nice little author snippet with Roger's picture, but individual authors were out of luck.

A friendly Moz community member pointed this out right after I started, and we were able to get it fixed up pretty quickly. The result: SUCCESS!

We started seeing correct authorship snippets almost right away. And I was all like:

But then, something changed.

Part II: In which everything is terrible

After several months of authorship appearing for content on Moz.com with no problems, our authorship snippets disappeared. Poof! Suddenly we couldn't find a single example of the snippet appearing for Moz content.

The worst part was that Google's Structured Data Validator tool claimed that our author markup was working just fine:

What often happens in situations like this is that Google changes the criteria for a snippet to appear, but doesn't update the validator tool until much later. In this case, what I suspect happened is that Google got stricter about how markup could be implemented and still work, probably due to too many false positives. Our markup wasn't perfect, but it was close enough for Google to connect the dotsâ€"until they decided not to anymore.

Unfortunately, this also meant we couldn't rely on the validator tool to tell us whether or not we'd fixed the problem. With no more information than "it stopped working for some reason," I set out to troubleshoot everything I could think of.

Part III: In which things are tried

We were using the 2-link method for authorship markup, in which we link from the author's byline to his or her Moz profile with "rel=author" and then from the author's profile page to their Google+ page with "rel=me." Like I said, this was working fine until it wasn't anymore.

Here are the things we tested to try to get authorship working again:

Nofollow links from social sharing buttons to Google+. Remembering our earlier fiasco, we tried nofollowing links to Google+ from our social sharing buttons. I remember thinking "if this is the problem, that's really stupid" but it wasn't.
Result: No change.

Linking directly from author byline to Google+ profile. Historically on the Moz blog, the post author's byline links to his or her profile page in our community section. Concerned that this made for too many links for Google to parse, we tested linking directly to authors' Google+ profiles from their bylines.
Result: No change. Also, you guys HATED it. Turns out that the ability to click through from an author's byline to read more posts by that author is a feature our readers love.

Adding nicknames in Google+. Many of our authors don't blog under their real names. For example, Dr. Pete's first name isn't really Doctor. To see if the nickname thing was throwing Google off, we got a few of our authors to add their nicknames in Google+.
Result: No change.

Start using authors' real names. In your Moz community profile settings, you have the option to tell us whether or not you're comfortable with us displaying your real first and last name, as opposed to your username. Because not everyone chose this option, our default was to show everyone's usernames. Since Google+ is such a stickler for people using their real names and faces, we updated our settings so that users' first and last names were their author bylines instead of their usernames.
Result: No change, butâ€¦

Link to Google+ with real names. Feeling sure we were onto something with the whole "real names" thing, we tried switching the anchor text on profile page links to Google+ profiles. Now, instead of saying e.g. "randfish on Google+," links to Google+ from Moz profile pages would say "Rand Fishkin on Google+."
Result: Successâ€¦?

Our "use real names" initiative got authorship snippets appearing in the SERPs again: hooray! However, in many cases they were the WRONG results:

This is a post by Rand.

This is a picture of Erica.

Part IV: In which all (OK, most) is revealed

It turns out that Google is currently very sensitive to byline information. Any instance of the word "by" followed by someone's name â€" especially if that person also has authorship set up on the site as well. On the Moz blog, any comment that had been edited after posting had a notice that said "Edited by (user) on (date)." That extra instance of "by" followed by a name was messing Google UP. We changed the wording on edited comments, and authorship was fixed! Mostly!

We are actually still seeing this problem crop up from time to time in posts where we say "by (person's name)" in the body of the blog post, and then that person comments on the post. It's not a super common occurrence, but it does happen, especially since people tend to comment on posts in which they're mentioned. Beyond removing the instance of "by" and changing the post wording, I haven't figured out a systemic fix for that yet. Further bulletins as events unfold!

TL;DR

In order to get authorship working, here are some things to keep in mind:

You can't always trust the validator tool. Check your SERPs (in an incognito window or with personalization turned off) to be sure.
Google takes any instance of "by (person's name)" seriously, so if you're getting the wrong author snippet, check for that first.
Adding nicknames in Google+ is much less effective than using your real name. Wherever possible, use real first and last names to get author snippets.
For more on troubleshooting authorship, read Mark Traphagen's post from last year (notice I didn't say "this post byâ€¦" well, you get the idea).

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 : Who has a seat at the table?

Who has a seat at the table?

When designing a new product or program, it's pretty clear that a successful organization will invite:

The lawyer, so you don't break any laws.

The CFO, so that you'll understand how much this thing will cost and how well it will pay off.

The CTO/Tech folks, so you'll spec something that can actually be built and will work.

And probably designers, marketers and lobbyists--all the people you need to bring the thing into the world.

But where's the person in charge of magic?

In our quest to get it done, to survive the project, to avoid blame, to figure out a solution, it's magic that gets thrown under the bus every time.

Who is obsessed with creating delight, with building in remarkability, with pushing the envelope (every envelope--money, tech, policy) to get to the point where you've created something that people will be proud of, that will change things for the better, that will make a dent in the universe?

It won't happen on its own. It never does.

• Email to a friend •

luni, 20 ianuarie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

U.S. Postal Workers' Union Criticizes Staples-Run Post Offices; French Air Traffic Controllers Strike Again; PATCO Solution

Posted: 20 Jan 2014 06:19 PM PST

Here is a pair of related posts, one from California, the other from France. Union nonsense is at the heart of both.

The LA Times reports Postal Workers' Union Criticizes Staples-Run Post Offices.

California leaders from a national postal workers' union are criticizing a Staples pilot program that has installed dozens of small post offices in the office-supply stores.

American Postal Workers Union leaders said that opening retail units staffed by Staples employees is a "disservice to postal workers and the nation's mail service."

Staples Inc. and the U.S. Postal Service announced late last year an arrangement to allow 82 small post offices to operate at Staples stores in California, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

Who Doesn't Want Lower Prices?

In general, if it lowers costs (with quality constant), as long as it does not impede on rights of others, I am all in favor of the idea. So is any rational thinking person.

So, who doesn't want lower prices?
Only three groups.

Unions and Union Supporters
The Fed
Economic illiterates in academic wonderland (Paul Krugman types)

Even union workers want lower prices (on everything they buy) but certainly not everything they sell. That's the nature of union hypocrites, especially those who shop at Walmart or buy online from Amazon.com.

Let's now turn our attention to France to pick up the second part of this story.

French Air traffic Controllers Strike Again

Via translation from Les Echos, please consider Air Traffic Controllers Strike Again in Late January

Air traffic controllers are on strike from January 27 to 31, with a black day 29. They oppose a proposed Brussels lower royalties.

Three months after strike against the plans of the European Commission for the "Single European Sky", the French air traffic controllers will strike again, for the same reasons, from 27 to 31 January. SNCTA, the main union called a five day strike that should significantly disrupt traffic to and from French airports. Other European unions controllers also call for strike on January 29.

Launched in 1999 with the aim to remove the air borders in Europe, a source of huge cost overruns, the single European sky is still divided into 27 national systems, sixty control centers and 650 airspaces.

As in previous strikes in June and October 2012, air traffic controllers reject a draft Brussels to impose a cost reduction of air traffic control, two times higher in Europe than in the United States.

PATCO Solution

Gee, who coulda thunk that 27 national systems, 60 control centers, and 650 airspaces would raise costs?

And of course unions don't want those costs lowered. Unions never want their costs lowered. So they go on strike.

They have union sympathizers in their pockets (primarily politicians like president Obama and governors of states like California and Illinois). Those politicians are generally willing to bankrupt taxpayers to keep the unions afloat.

I happen to like the PATCO solution: Firing every air traffic controller who went on strike was the single greatest thing president Ronald Reagan ever did.

To understand the implications, please see a Wikipedia Report on PATCO.

I recommend the same solution for police officers, firefighters, prison guards, and teachers. If you do not show up for your public union job, you are fired on the spot and lose all accrued pension benefits.

Roosevelt and Unions

It's high time we break the backs of public unions and the influence they have on cities and states. Even president Roosevelt, the bastion of liberal presidents, understood the problem of public unions.

Message From FDR

Inquiring minds are reading snips from a Letter from FDR Regarding Collective Bargaining of Public Unions written August 16, 1937.

All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management.

The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations.

Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of Government employees.

A strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable.

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

Highland Park Michigan Skids Towards Bankruptcy, Public Union Pensions to Blame as Usual; Fifth Third Bank and Highland Park in Pension Funding Lawsuit

Posted: 20 Jan 2014 09:17 AM PST

Highland Park, Michigan is on the brink of bankruptcy. There is no other realistic way out of the fiscal mess the city is in. As is typically the case, public union pensions are at the heart of the problem.

Michigan Live reports Highland Park pensions in jeopardy if Fifth Third Bank halts loan payments.

The city of Highland Park is operating on financial fumes and the pensions of its retirees could be in jeopardy if Fifth Third, one of the banks providing loans to the municipality, cuts of the money stream.

According to the Associated Press, the bank has threatened to cut off loan payments to the city, which has prompted a legal battle that may have to be settled in court.

At this point, Highland Park is a risky investment. It's ran nearly $500,000 over budget in 2012, the Associated Press reports, and under Public Act 436 will soon have to decide between accepting a consent order with the state, installing an emergency manager or filing bankruptcy.

In any case, the city's creditors could face losses if the communities finances don't recover.

Voters in Highland Park, which currently owes Detroit $18 million in water bills, voted in 2007 to take on $27 million in debt in order to maintain pension payments.

Comment of the Day

The comment of the day award goes to "Group W Bench" who responded to the Michigan Live report with: "When you already owe $18M you can't pay, for something so vital as water, why would you agree to take on an additional $27M to cover pension payments? Why would a lender agree to loan this much money to a municipality that obviously cannot pay the debt back?"

Without a doubt the voters were stupid. So stupid, that I strongly suspect union and city official coercion to get that vote through.

Regardless, it's going to backfire in a huge way.

Fifth Third Bank, Highland Park Lawsuit

The Detroit News reports Highland Park, bank battle over loans for pension costs.

Officials from financially strapped Highland Park and a bank providing loans to the city could appear before a federal judge after the bank threatened to halt the funds to cover pension costs.

Fifth Third Bank informed Highland Park last month it would stop providing loans the city uses to help pay worker pensions. Highland Park filed suit in Wayne County Circuit Court, saying that without the money, retirees would lose earned benefits.

According to court documents, Fifth Third Bank wants to cut off the loans over concerns that the city will not be able to pay up.

In a Dec. 12 letter to Mayor DeAndre Windom, the bank outlines its reasons for suspending the loans "based on the city's incurrence and continuance of debt relating, among other things, to the city's failure to pay amounts owed to the city of Detroit and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department."

The city sought a temporary restraining order in Wayne County Circuit Court to block Fifth Third from halting the line of credit.

The bank responded by requesting the case be moved to federal court.

Gov. Rick Snyder called for a review board to decide by next month whether bankruptcy will be declared or if the city will operate under a consent judgment. The city could also get an emergency manager to oversee the day-to-day finances rather than the community's elected officials.

Time to Cut Losses

Fifth Third Bank is correct to cut losses.

A state review last year of Highland Park's finances found violations of the Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act during fiscal year 2012. The general fund went over budget by $491,161.

Breaching state-approved deficit elimination plans and violating the state budget law for municipalities are grounds for state takeover.

Unable to Pay Electric Bills Highland Park Shuts Off Lights

This is not the first time Highland Park is in trouble.

In 2011 Yahoo!Finance reported Unable to pay bill, Mich. city turns off lights.

Not only did the city turn off the lights, contractors from DTE Energy Co. began rolling through the streets, taking out two-thirds of the light poles.

Councilman Christopher Woodard called shutting off the lights a "winning proposition".

The city has a $4 million electric bill it cannot pay. DTE considers the electric bill "uncollectable".

Wikipedia notes:

In June 2001, because of the Highland Park's mounting fiscal crisis, an emergency financial manager for the city was appointed under the supervision of the State of Michigan. In April 2009, state officials fired Arthur Blackwell as Highland Park's emergency financial manager for over-payments that Blackwell received, and appointed Robert Mason as the new emergency financial manager.

In August 2011, over two-thirds of the streetlights in Highland Park were removed by the city, due to an inability to pay a $60,000 per month electric bill. The street lights were not only turned off, but decommissioned, or removed from their posts. The city advised residents to keep porch lights on in order to deter crime.

Highland Park IS Bankrupt

There is no question regarding the bankruptcy of Highland Park. The only open issue is when the city files.

Those running the city ought to understand that and do what's right for taxpayers. The sooner the better. How many more "winning propositions" can residents take?

Since city officials are resisting bankruptcy, one can only suspect they are out to protect their own pensions.

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

marți, 21 ianuarie 2014

Google AdSense Newsletter - January 2014

In just one week:

Watch: FLOTUS Dunks on LeBron

Getting Authorship to Work: A Moz.com Case Study

Getting Authorship to Work: A Moz.com Case Study

Part I: In which we have a brief hiccup followed by success

Part II: In which everything is terrible

Part III: In which things are tried

Part IV: In which all (OK, most) is revealed

TL;DR

Search Engine Optimization Now Provided By Entireweb

Seth's Blog : Who has a seat at the table?

Who has a seat at the table?

More Recent Articles

luni, 20 ianuarie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

marți, 21 ianuarie 2014

Part I: In which we have a brief hiccup followed by success

Part II: In which everything is terrible

Part III: In which things are tried

Part IV: In which all (OK, most) is revealed

TL;DR

luni, 20 ianuarie 2014

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

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