The history and evolution of SEO

Ever wondered when links became such an influential component of SEO? Or when Google released the infamous "Florida" update and what effect it had on search engine optimisation? Perhaps you're interested in the origins of the unsolicited link exchange, or want to know when (and why) nofollow was created. All these questions and many more are answered in Greenlights SEO History of the Internet, a graphical two page "cheat sheet" plotting the evolution of SEO and key events that have happened during the fourteen year history of the industry. Here at Greenlight the history of SEO is something we find quite fascinating. But while there are many disparate sources of information on the topic, I was unable to find a single source that packaged all of the key events that have happened in our industry in a single, graphical timeline. Thus, I give you the History of SEO (click for... Read full article

Farecast could be Bing's best point of leverage

I've always liked the Farecast interface. It gives that feeling of true flexibility of refining your choices without you having to keep going back and endlessly redo your searches. It is one of those few great examples of professional and expert power, put in the hands of the consumer by new web technologies. The fact that it also lets you compare your results with other agent sites like Expedia is a boon too, because the consumer always wants to know what they could be getting elsewhere, and showing them, which no doubt will lead to a commission should they take that route, works out for everyone involved. Integrating it into Bing's search results is a very nice touch, too, and puts it squarely ahead of Google on travel integration, and makes the Google SERPS seem almost vanilla by comparison. This will increase the reach of these powerful, yet underused services... Read full article

If it looks like Google, it must be Google, and therefore we're ok with it!

Fascinating and slightly intimidating research reported in Adage this week about internal research at Google, which suggests that as long as you badge it Google, user perception and preference on search results goes up, even if it's not Google's results. The research which took search results from other search engines and then re-badged them and retreated them with the Google styling, found that people still preferred them to the results of other engines. Its a damning insight that puts the ky-bosh on the 'build a better mousetrap' scenarios that have pre-occupied every search engine for years in trying to win market share from Google. It also illustrates very clearly the power of the brand, suggesting that only a major drawn out brand building offensive is likely to have any impact for Microsoft, in its war to acquire decent search distribution. Whilst the search battleground is littered with expensive campaigns that... Read full article