Google Makes Two Ranking Changes Per Day

Satisfied with your Google ranking? It just may change before the day is out. Marissa Mayer on Google's race against spammers...

"We have two, three, five changes every week that are visible to the end-user in the user interface. We don't [publicize] the ranking changes. We are making changes to our ranking algorithm at the rate of two per day. Interestingly, some of our competitors haven't made any changes to their ranking function for quite some time. Search needs to evolve: the user interface, the ranking function. It's a process of making lots of small changes all the time and to constantly make things better."

Now factor in personalization and that people are using more words per query and you get the sense that SEO as we know it really could one day be extinct.

The Case for a Status Update Standard

LinkedIn and Twitter announced a status update syncing arrangement yesterday. From LinkedIn...

"The idea is simple: When you set your status on LinkedIn you can now tweet it as well, amplifying it to your followers and real-time search services like Twitter Search and Bing. And when you tweet, you can send that message to your LinkedIn connections as well, from any Twitter service or tool."

We're seeing a movement toward status syncing, There's this partnership but also the emergence of tools like Tumblr, Ping.fm and Posterous, which can also accomplish the same across multiple services. 

So, why doesn't Twitter and others team to submit the status update to a standards body? This will ensure that we don't see a repeat of what occurred with incompatible instant messaging services. If there's one protocol that everyone can adopt and build off of, it will make the real-time web faster, easier and more innovative. Let's hope this is a first such step.

Five Incredibly Useful Things You Can Do Without Ever Leaving Facebook

I have been spending a fair amount of time on Facebook since they updated the news feed feature, mostly because I can get a quick read on what's new. I like how they show you "trends from friends." In the process, I am discovering that it's becoming a one-stop shop for many of my day-to-day activities. Here are five things that I recently found you can do right from within Facebook without having to leave...

1) Read, search and post tweets via Twitgether, a full-featured Twitter client

2) Watch TV streams via Hulu

3) Catch up with the local weather, using WeatherBug

4) Read blog and news RSS feeds with Frontpage News

5) Follow sports scores and more via Citizen Sports

See the full gallery on posterous

Moms More Influenced Offline, While Kids Are Online

Two new studies point to a growing divide in how moms and kids communicate and are influenced...

First up, Nielsen/Pete Blackshaw's Pocket Guide to Social Media and Kids:

"In the hands of children and tweens, today’s cell phones are primarily used as text messaging devices, cameras, gaming consoles, video viewers, MP3 players, and incidentally, as mobile phones via the speaker capability so their friends can chime in on the call."

And, via AdAge, parents are relying more on offline conversations to make decisions:

"A study due out next week from the Parenting Group found that while moms are avid web and social-media users, they still turn to family and friends first, whether by phone, e-mail or in-person, when making decisions about product purchases."

More in the images below.

PR Pros on Press Releases - Meh

MarketingCharts uncovers some fresh data on how PR people feel about press releases. It's ugly.

"(only) 49% of today’s professional communicators say they think press releases are 'as useful as ever,' according to recent poll of corporate communicators conducted by Ragan Communications and PollStream."

And on why we can't kick the drug...

"The poll also found that another 33% of the the 401 respondents see press releases as 'a necessary evil that won’t go away soon,' in large part because of disclosure rules for public companies set forth by the US Securities and Exchange Commission."

And how social media is filling in...

"One of the main reasons for the decline of the press release is the recent explosion of the use of social media in public relations and the perception that releases are less relevant in those venues. A majority (64%) of respondents who issue releases say they target them most often to print outlets, while 23% send them to online news and financial sites."

It's been awhile since there's been some fresh logs to throw on the press release bonfire. You have to wonder if the laws were changed if that would mark the end of an era.

Still press releases have their place - especially in financial situations. Also let's not overlook the potential SEO value too.

Over time though our reliance on them will wane as people demand more real-time engagement that's human to human and action oriented.