We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.

As you can see, the intent behind the new policy is to move towards Google’s aim of a single, unified Google product encompassing the browser you use, your preferred search engine and social network, your email client and everything else you can do with your Google account.

In short, Google are saying that they’re adopting a unified policy to make it easier for you to have a lovely, wonderful online experience.

They’re not adopting a unified policy to make it easier for you to have a lovely, wonderful online experience.

According to pretty much everyone who isn’t Google, they’re doing this for the ad revenue.

What the New Google Privacy Policy Means

All Google products can now share data. That means that Chrome has access to your gmail account, Calendar knows what you’ve promised to do on Google+ and that the AdSense network has access to everything.

And that means one thing. In the interests of relevancy, AdSense is going to trawl through everything you do on Google to find out what you’re most likely to buy. Search history, email content, appointments – all of these and more will inform the ads that you see on Google and the AdSense network.

Unsurprisingly, there’s another backlash looming.

Google’s new policy doesn’t let you decide which services can see what data – and that’s upset privacy campaigners. After March 1st 2012, you either accept Google’s new policy and give the whole product range access to everything you do online, or you need to find an alternative to those Google products you think you can’t live without.

Somehow, we think this might be mentioned in the next anti-trust case…

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Oh Google. When will you stop getting into the news for all of the wrong reasons? The BBC are reporting that the world’s favourite search engine has a lucrative sideline in selling knock-off Olympics tickets and mail order cannabis.

Of course, they’re not selling illegal products themselves, but they’re yet again profiting from AdWords ads that flout Google’s own rules, as well as laws including the “London Olympic and Paralympic Games Act 2006″.

The BBC’s 5 Live Investigates programme is up in arms over the fact that Google keep the money they’re paid for illegal adverts before they’re spotted and removed (instead of refunding criminals directly?), and that Google’s automatic filters aren’t stopping as many illicit AdWords adverts as they should.

Due to huge demands for first page listings using Google’s pay per click system, adverts cannot be manually examined before appearing in the search engine listings unless a filter is triggered – as a Google spokesperson explained in a statement made to the BBC:

We have a set of policies covering which ads can and cannot show on Google. These policies and guidelines are enforced by both automated systems and human beings.When we are informed of ads which break our policies, we investigate and remove them if appropriate.

Our aim is to create a simple and efficient way for legitimate businesses to promote and sell their goods and services whilst protecting them and consumers from illicit activity.

However, this hasn’t stopped people who’ve not been able to get their adverts to the top to complain that Google’s system is inherently corrupt, slow to react, and generally biased against them. As these statements only mention the amount that businesses are bidding, and not quality scores or any other factors, we’re unable to tell you whether the companies complaining have a point.

This isn’t the first time Google have received a slap on the wrists over AdWords, after being forced to pay out 500 million dollars for providing US citizens with cheap, Canadian medicine.

If you need assistance getting your business to the top of the AdWords pile, give FirstFound’s pay per click experts a call on 0161 909 3400.

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Since co-founder Larry Page replaced the controversial Eric Schmidt as Google CEO, revenue has increased massively. In the first quarter of 2010, Google reported that they’d made $5.06 billion in revenue. This year, that’s up by almost a third to $6.54 billion.

Key to this increase has been a rise in paid clicks. The number of times that people have clicked on sponsored links has rised by 18% (so you might want to consider an AdWords campaign)

The trend is set to continue, so it’ll be some time before Google are toppled as undisputed search engine kings.

Online advertising spend has increased by over 12% since last year, with British companies spending over four billion pounds per year on reaching new clients through the internet. That means that online marketing is now growing quicker than more traditional forms of print and TV marketing.

And with the vast majority of British people now having regular access to the internet through computers, smartphones and tablets like the iPad, this news could hardly be less surprising.

Search advertising takes the lion’s share of online advertising spend, as despite the growth of social networking sites, people still prefer to use search engines to inform their purchasing decisions.

In a discussion with the BBC, Ian Barber of the Advertising Association said there’s one obvious reason that people are continuing to invest in online advertising; it’s the easiest way to target your products at specific audiences. And that means higher returns on your investments.

If you haven’t yet invested in online advertising for your business, contact FirstFound now on 0161 909 3400.

Go0gle has finally decided that they shouldn’t let unscrupulous types advertise knock-off or counterfeit goods using their AdWords and AdSense services.

In the second half of 2010, the search company suspended over 50 thousand AdWords accounts for attempting to advertise counterfeit products, and they’ve just announced three new initiatives that should cut down adverts for imitation and passed-off products:

1. Adverts promoting counterfeit products will be removed within 24 hours of Google being notified
2. AdSense will be improved so that people can leave reviews flagging ads up as unscrupulous
3. A new help centre page will be launched to make it easier to report offending adverts

Google have admitted they’ll need help on this issue, and will be working closely with big brands and legitimate companies to stamp out adverts that infringe on corporate identities.

If you’ve got a legitimate product to advertise using AdWords, keep an eye out for April’s issue of Optimise Magazine, where FirstFound will be running an offer for discounted AdWords campaigns.

If you’ve eagerly opened up your Google Analytics account to discover just how much traffic stopped by your site yesterday, don’t be surprised if your counter reads ’0′.

Don’t worry, people haven’t stopped using your website. Google have had a little hiccup and accidentally lost all the data Analytics collected yesterday. Nobody ever said  the search engines do things the easy way!

This glitch should be corrected soon, and your data should be restored – but it could we worth keeping a close eye on the Analytics blog for any updates.

While you wait for your analytics stats to reappear, why not visit our Facebook page?

As anyone who’s read up on FirstFound will know, we’ve been providing expert search engine consultancy services to clients for over ten years. That being the case, we’d like to hand today’s blog over to our clients, so that they can share some reviews of FirstFound’s services:

I can honestly say, without SEO, my business would not have survived longer than three years.   We would have been overtaken by competitors. We really feel that for the relatively small amount FirstFound’s search engine optimisation costs, we get a far better service than we are paying for.

Open Fireplace Centre

SEO Client since 2009

As the country tightens its belts, there’s never been a better time for businesses to market themselves online. That’s why we contacted FirstFound to get us higher up the search engine listings.

Art House Design

SEO Client since 2009

For the first six months of this year a staggering 78% of our business was generated from online enquiries.   90% of our new customers say they found us via Google.  Timing-wise the work carried out by FirstFound has been a life-saver for us.

Task Development

AdWords Customer since 2007

In the past year, directly due to AdWords, business is up by 30% I have absolutely no qualms about recommending FirstFound to handle your AdWords account.

Online Signs 4 U

AdWords Client since 2007

Hits to our website have quadrupled since FirstFound came on board. All in all, our campaign has seen turnover in the first quarter of 2009 exceed the whole turnover of 2008, which in itself was our record year. Our search engine optimisation costs us under £60 a month. It is an absolute bargain.

Motorsport Developments

SEO and PPC Client since 2008

We’d like to thank all of the clients who’ve provided case studies, testimonials and reviews of FirstFound’s services over the years – and hope that there’ll be many more to come!

Take a look at the latest Optimise for more FirstFound Reviews, or call our experts on 0161 909 3400 so that your business can benefit from our expertise.

The criteria, described in detail on Google’s help pages are as follows:

Ads which use the term in a descriptive or generic way, and not in reference to the trademark owner or the goods or services corresponding to the trademark term.

• Ads which use the trademark in a nominative manner to refer to the trademark or its owner, specifically:

o Resale of the trademarked goods or services: The advertiser’s site must sell (or clearly facilitate the sale of) the goods or services corresponding to a trademark term. The landing page of the ad must clearly demonstrate that a user is able to purchase the goods or services corresponding to a trademark from the advertiser.

o Sale of components, replacement parts or compatible products corresponding to a trademark: The advertiser’s site must sell (or clearly facilitate the sale of) the components, replacement parts or compatible products relating to the goods or services of the trademark. The advertiser’s landing page must clearly demonstrate that a user is able to purchase the components, parts or compatible products corresponding to the trademark term from the advertiser.

o Informational sites: The primary purpose of the advertiser’s site must be to provide non-competitive and informative details about the goods or services corresponding to the trademark term. Additionally, the advertiser may not sell or facilitate the sale of the goods or services of a competitor of the trademark owner.

These changes will affect all AdWords ads in the UK, Ireland and Canada.

If you’re interested in an AdWords campaign, FirstFound are offering half price on AdWords set up fees. This offer won’t last for long, so take advantage of it quickly.

Despite the sponsors, it’s not telling you to drink more cola, move your money to a particular bank or wear a certain pair of trainers.

And despite the players, it’s not telling you to swear at referees, roll around on the floor or spill a ball into your own net in a tragically comedic fashion.

No, what the World cup is really trying to make you understand is that success isn’t about one person striving out on their own. It’s about a team effort.

Whether you want to win the World Cup or succeed in the online marketplace, you’re going to need to put together a team. So let’s introduce you to the players at your disposal.

Goalkeeper – Search Engine Consultants

Without a good ‘keeper, you’re going to struggle to get out of the group stages, let alone win the final. Your goalie’s job is to keep you in the game, stop anything unexpected from causing you trouble and help you build from the back.

Sounds like your search engine consultants to us. They’ll be there to bring your SEO and AdWords into play, stop a sneaky breakaway from the search engine algorithms derailing your whole campaign, and generally to provide a safe pair of hands when you need them most. Just make sure you select a Gordon Banks or Dino Zoff. Robert Green need not apply.

Centre Backs – On Page SEO

Good centre backs are the solid foundations on which winning teams are built. Unflappable, dependable and consistent, they’re essential to any side. And if they can pop up with a goal or two from set pieces, so much the better.

Your on page SEO needs to be just as reliable. By consistently ranking on the search engine results pages, on page SEO provides a sustainable level of traffic – and just like a towering centre back rising to score at a corner, it will lead to a fair number of conversions too.

Fullbacks – AdWords

In the modern game, a fullback has to do it all. Remain steady in defence, and rampage forward in attack to create space. Versatility is the name of the game, and speed is needed to back that versatility up.

Fast and versatile? Sounds a lot like AdWords to us. When you need to keep it steady, your AdWords campaign can focus on your core areas. Then, in an instant, it can switch, probing forward to find spaces, trends and unexploited key phrases.

Holding Midfielders – Inbound Links

Possession. Holding territory.  Supporting the defence. You can’t win a World Cup without a holding midfielder, as Gennaro Gattuso can attest. By supporting the defence and neutralising the opponent’s advantages, the holding midfielder is the key to a team’s success.

And by supporting your on page SEO and giving you a competitive edge, inbound links are the key to your online success. Good quality inbound links fortify a website’s rankings, and building new links is a great way to gain ground on the competition. It might not be pretty, but it’s rewarding.

Wingers – Social Media

Always probing forward, looking to link up play and create openings and opportunities – the winger is the prime creative force for any football side. Nobody in the side reacts quicker, and the winger is always looking to turn a situation to his advantage.

In the modern game of online marketing, social media is your way of reacting quickly to unfolding events. It also helps you create openings for conversions by building up relationships, and by monitoring what potential customers want and need, it shows you a myriad of opportunities.

Strikers – Online Shop

Despite what Emile Heskey’s apologists will tell you, a striker has one job. Convert chances into goals. Simple.

Your online shop has one job. Convert visitors into customers. Simple. So make sure it can do its job, and then set up the rest of your side to create opportunities for your star striker to convert.

The Manager – You.

Football is a team game, but there’s still got to be someone to stand up and take responsibility. Someone to put the strategy together and make everyone on the team pull in the right direction. And the same is true of your online marketing strategy.

It’s your company on the line, so you need to be the one to take charge. Sure, you can rely on your goalkeeper to command the defence, but you need to give him clear instructions.

But if the pressure gets to you, remember one thing. Unlike the World Cup, there’s no chance of you being knocked out on penalties.

If your team needs a safe pair of hands at the back, call FirstFound now on 0161 909 3400. We’ll even coach your wingers for free with our handy Social Media Guide.

1999 – Larry Page and Sergey Brin invent Google…

Now, a good ten years since anything of note has happened to the online world, comes another Earth-shattering and epoch-defining moment:

 October 2009 – FirstFound launch The FirstFound Blog!  

 That’s right. Leading UK search engine consultants FirstFound have finally decided to enter the blogosphere, ten years after the company first formed. Still, good things come to those who wait, and you’ll be treated to all of the SEO news, insights and tips that your heart could desire.

 That’s not all though – this isn’t just another SEO blog. We’ve put together our company’s best and brightest minds to offer everything from social media strategies and E-commerce advice to web development assistance and PPC hints. We’ll even be giving you reviews of the latest movies, and developments from the world of sport.

 What we offer isn’t set in stone. We want to hear from you, our readers, to find out what you want in a blog. If you think we’re wittering on too much about Twitter, or we’ve completely ignored an important development from Google HQ, let us know.

 For now though, sit back, relax and enjoy The FirstFound Blog. You never know. You might just learn something.

 This week, Andrew’s been working like a dog to get content ready for the site, and isn’t going to let some Johnny-come-lately steal the kudos that comes with the first post.