Google’s own definition of Rich Snippets can be seen below:

“Google tries to present users with the most useful and informative search results. The more information a search result snippet can provide, the easier it is for users to decide whether that page is relevant to their search. With rich snippets, webmasters with sites containing structured content—such as review sites or business listings—can label their content to make it clear that each labelled piece of text represents a certain type of data: for example, a restaurant name, an address, or a rating.”

Read more about Rich Snippets by going to: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=99170

Here at Click Consult we have been doing some digging around and found that a large number of different types of Rich Snippets are now being used by a wide range of sites.

Below is a list of the Rich Snippets we have found that are currently live in the SERPs:

At this stage Rich Snippets have no effect on SEO or rankings. They can however help to improve the Click Through Rate (CTR) of a site significantly by giving the searcher more information at the decision stage. Basically a searcher is more likely to click on a site that shows 10 Reviews than a site that shows none.

Judging by the growth of Rich Snippets we predict that some of the following things could soon be appearing within the search results too:
-    Primary Image on Webpage (primaryImageOfPage)
-    Movie, Music and Event durations (duration)
-    The base salary on Job Postings (baseSalary)
-    Menu Snippets or Link to Menu for Food Establishments (menu)
-    Nutritional Information, including calories, fat content, carbohydrates and more (calories, fatContent, carbohydrateContent)

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1. Bottomless Search

This was an idea suggested by several people – Google should have bottomless SERPs. Currently the user needs to click a button to reach subsequent results pages from after the first page of results. Bottomless SERPs would mean that instead of clicking, when the user’s scrollbar reaches the bottom of the page, another set of results instantly load up. Alternatively, there would be some sort of toolbar that would say ‘Click here to see more results’. There is currently a similar setup in Google’s ‘Image Search’.

So, would this affect SEO or digital marketing, and if so, how? My first thought is that it would make rankings lower down in the SERPs more accessible because it requires less work from the searcher to reach them. On the other hand, it could be said that this will dilute the overall quality of the search results that Google produces because of the increased accessibility to less relevant results.

2. Wayback Machine-like functionality

The ‘Wayback Machine’ was a kind of digital time capsule that was used to store archived versions of webpages – it is still currently in beta format at www.waybackmachine.org . Several people suggested that a similar functionality could be implemented directly into Google as an additional service.

I think this feature would appease user curiosity more than it would offer any technical SEO value; however, there are still several things internet marketing professionals could use it for. Research, for instance, because it could be used to examine how competitor websites used to be structured and where they were getting their links from. So, while search engine optimisation value is limited, it could offer a few useful features to our industry.

3. Less emphasis on local search results

Quite a few people voiced dissent at the increasing number of Google Place’s listings in the SERPs. Concerns were raised over Place’s results being so open to manipulation from SEO black hatters and because they are so dependent on reviews, it has been suggested that some companies manufacture them.

Lots of companies work hard to rank highly in Google Place’s listings and it’s particularly important for smaller companies focusing on local SEO. However, if Google did choose to put less emphasis on local search (which I don’t think they will), it would free up more room on the first page of Google results meaning that organisations with quality websites wouldn’t suffer too badly. As I said, I don’t think Google will place less emphasis on local search results, although perhaps they will come under closer scrutiny from Matt Cutts and his spam busters. I believe that the businesses investing in ethical local search will maintain high rankings and positive results.

While these are just a few suggestions taken from Matt Cutts original blog, there are loads of others that raise other interesting points about possible developments of Google and SEO in the future. If you have any suggestions you’d like to make why not leave a comment?

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We had our campaigns split out to target devices with the following 3 ways:

1.    Computers – by checking ‘Desktop and laptop computers’ only

2.    iPads – by checking ‘iPhones and other mobile devices with full Internet browsers’ then selecting ‘Target only selected mobile devices’ and checking ‘iPad’ under ‘Advanced device and operator options’

3.    Mobile -  by checking iPhones and other mobile devices with full Internet browsers’ then selecting ‘Target only selected mobile devices’ and checking ‘Android’, ‘iPhone/iPod Touch’ and ‘Palm webOS’ under ‘Advanced device and operator options’

We generally do not target WAP Phones in most campaigns so this has been left out of the above.

However we noticed that Google had started to roll out the new device targeting options in the image, and we saw that our Computers campaigns were suddenly targeting Computers and Tablets! So we had 2 campaigns targeting duplicate keywords on Tablets, thanks Google.

This has not been fully rolled out yet so not all AdWords accounts will have the options in the image above but beware if you currently target iPads in a separate campaign, when Google do roll this out to your account you will need to change your targeting.

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The concept that users only choose one medium for their social networking and stick to it certainly doesn’t ring true for myself or many people I know. However the reason I use Facebook AND Twitter AND LinkedIn etc is because each one offers me something different. Will Google+ be offering me something that I can’t get elsewhere already? I suppose only time will tell if this is the case, because the current pool of users testing Google+ are not going to be typical of my online social network contacts/friends/followers yet.

Moving back to privacy, it seems that despite telling us they have learnt lessons from the Buzz debacle, Google+ isn’t without its flaws. It took the Financial Times just a few hours to notice that users who share content (photos included) with others can have that content circulated (reshared) by the recipient regardless of original privacy permissions, even to the extent of making it totally public. Resharing can be disabled once something has been published, but apparently not before. A case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted maybe?

Whilst I’m sure Google will iron out this particular issue quickly, it isn’t going to breed confidence with those who left Facebook for privacy reasons and thought that Google would have covered the basics this time. However, I’m sure that this is what the current Google+ phase is for, with limited membership to contain any teething problems until they get it right.

Whilst I don’t know many people with non-geeky tendencies who will be rushing to sign up to Google+ just yet, I expect that by the time it rolls out to anyone who wants in, it will be a bit more obvious to ‘normal people’ just what Google+ will offer them which can’t be done elsewhere. Privacy loophole aside, the early signs seem to be good.

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And now Italy’s getting involved! Google has just been successfully sued for libel by a gentleman who complained that, when typing his name into their autocomplete function, brought up words with terrible connotations such as ‘con man’ and ‘fraud’ – all of which he wasn’t. He won and, as a result, the autocomplete function will now cease to exist in Italy.

Carlo Piana, lead counsel, blogged: “All I have to say is that it is by no means an endorsement to censorship, as notice to the sued company was given well in advance, the allegations of the complainant were fully discussed with them before even considering to go to court, and the requests was and is only for a very exceptional set of string (two). All cases are different, therefore there is no assurance that similar cases would see the same outcome.”

Google argued that the results were automatically generated based on user search behaviour, meaning that results would be very hard to censor. The court though ruled that Google had created the content and was therefore liable, meaning the plug was pulled on autocomplete in Italy.

So what next for those who have invested heavily in search marketing in the region? No change at all, really – the only one this judgement affects is Google and its efforts to advance its technology further. Another challenge then for new CEO Larry Page to solve…

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Remember the fuss Google caused when they accused Microsoft’s Bing of copying certain search results? Bing’s response was timely, mature and won them a lot of friends. The dust has since settled somewhat on the spat, but there’s no doubting that it helped to stoke an obvious grudge between the two search behemoths. That grudge now looks set to explode into an all-out war – today, Microsoft filed a formal complaint about Google to EU antitrust regulators.

So what’s the beef? Well, Microsoft feels that Google unfairly impedes the online search competition. They claim that Google impedes its search competition through a “pattern of actions” which helps them to keep hold of their incredible 90 per cent of the European search market.

Al Varney, spokesman over at Google was quick to respond: “We’re not surprised that Microsoft has done this, since one of their subsidiaries was one of the original complainants. For our part, we continue to discuss the case with the European Commission and we’re happy to explain to anyone how our business works.”

Microsoft feel they have a serious challenge, as highlighted by a quote in their blog from Microsoft’s heavyweight lawyer, Brad Smith: “As troubling as the situation is in the United States, it is worse in Europe. That is why our filing today focuses on a pattern of actions that Google has taken to entrench its dominance in the markets for online search and search advertising to the detriment of European consumers.”

Which sets the scene for a very public and very ugly battle. We’ll keep you updated when first blood is drawn…

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Dennis Woodside, Google vice-president, has recently reported that revenue from the Latin America region jumped by approximately eighty per cent last year, and to help meet demand Google has recently opened branches in Lima, Santiago and Bogota.

Dennis couldn’t be happier with the way things are going: “What we are seeing is the internet coming into its own in all the Latin American markets. There are 650m people in the region, and a lot of them are coming online for the first time. Our business in Latin America is booming.”

Its Android platform is also seeing steady growth in the region, and the revenue from the Latin Americas is vital, coming at a time when Google’s presence in China looks to be waning more than ever. It shows that the country is embracing search marketing and online advertising, using the search giant to help them find what they need and more.

Whether engaging in website development or pay per click management, people in Latin America are discovering the benefits of the planet’s largest search engine and are making good use of it. There are other places that Google has yet to explore across the globe, and it’ll be interesting to see the countries in the future that adopt Google as its search engine of choice.

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The logo is a world away from the typical Google logo that’s so instantly recognisable across the globe. The theme is decidedly ‘underwater’, in homage to his famous story ’20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’. But how does Google get away with shifting its logo on such a regular basis without alienating searchers and confusing people?

Is it because the brand is so strong? That’s certainly a factor. It’s also fun! But whenever Google perform one of their image swaps, they make a point of going back to the original design. It’s always just a bit of fun for a day or two, not sweeping changes that are going to startle the community and confuse people about the future direction of the search giant.

We pointed out how radical Gawker Media’s web development strategy was yesterday, and we’d like to highlight this as exactly the opposite way to do it. Google keep things fresh and relevant. Jules Verne is a cultural icon, someone that fits into what Google feel is their overall philanthropic philosophy. They’re tickling people’s interest and telling people why – not changing their whole layout or design and expecting people to get used to it.

When search marketing yourself, make sure you use a degree of common sense before you look to make changes to your business structure. What’s the context of it? Is it a large-scale redesign? Then let your core visitors know long in advance, so as they can get used to the idea. Or is it a bit of fun for a day or two, as in Google’s example? It’s still crucial to keep them updated – explain why in a light-hearted blog post. Context is key when you’re running an online business.

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So what is the Art Project? It’s a wonderful piece of web development, where Google have utilised their Street View technology to allow searchers to tour some of the most famous museums on the planet, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery in London and many others.

Visitors will be able to view famous works of art for free. We, for example, have spent the morning looking at incredible works of art such as Van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’ and Cezanne’s ‘Château Noir’ in incredible detail without leaving the office, saving us considerable flight costs to New York.

The works aren’t just blurry jpeg representations either. Google has gone to the trouble of photographing some of the pictures with gigapixel photo capturing technology, which presents each piece in fascinating super high resolution. Approximately seven billion pixels are in each image taken with this gigapixel technology, and allows people to see every brushstroke in intricate detail, as though you were there yourself.

Many in the art world – and we’re in agreement – believe that art of this calibre should be free for everybody to view and enjoy, and it’s fantastic that Google are trying to do that with their Art Project. It might not have any relevance on the world of search marketing, but we’re immensely impressed with Google’s efforts to bring high-quality art to a wider audience.

There have been some grumblings and groaning in the media that Google Art Project defeats the purpose of going to see art in galleries ‘in real life’. What nonsense. Anything that introduces people to the world of fine art in such an easily-accessible, presentable manner can only be good.

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Via GeoEye, Google took aerial pictures of the Pétionville golf course – Haiti’s only golf course – as it filled up with tents occupied by the homeless and became a relief site. The progression of how the site developed can be viewed on Google Maps, and it’s astonishing to see the progression over time as people flock to the area.

Instant, visual representations through Google Maps helped to keep the global population updated about the human devastation caused by the quake, and offered a window into the troubles in the area on a consistent basis.

Google though went one step further, sending out a small team to help restore the area’s internet connectivity, and put a landing page on Google.org to keep people updated with the latest news and information on how to help. Google also asked their web development team to build a small tool from the People Finder Interchange Format to help the public try and locate missing loved ones. Within three days records of over 50,000 people were built up.

The Google database project, Resource finder, which helped people to find medical centres and more as the crisis lengthened. Crisis project leader, Prem Ramaswami, said recently: “The 82nd Airborne was using Google Maps because it’s a tool they know and understand. We just wanted to find something Google could do, to use its strengths to help the NGOs. Ushahidi, Doctors Without Borders and lots of other organisations were doing amazing things on the ground, and we wanted to use engineering to solve problems.”

It’s small touches like this that show Google is trying to be more than a company that offers pay per click and a wonderful seach service, and though Google Maps can be great for SEO, it showed an infinitely more useful purpose by helping save those in need.

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