Search Concepts We All Should Know - From Google

This is actually pretty reading. I am signing websites up to Googles Search Console and this was one of the pages that was on it. Considering it is Google that supplied this document I consider it very worth reading.

And here goes...

The reports in Search Console are organized according to the general outline of the Google Search pipeline: Content is first crawled (discovered), then it is indexed (parsed and analyzed for content), after which you, the website owner, analyze the search traffic to your site and also consider how search results are displayed to the user or linked to by other sites.

Crawl

Google’s web crawlers follow links and sitemaps to generate a list of publicly available URLs to visit and index for content. This is the first step in the process of being added to Google’s search results.

• Property
  A generic term for a website or an app that you have added to your Search Console account. You can see a list of your properties on your account homepage.
• Verify
  To prove that you own the website or app referred to in your Search Console account. A property must be verified before you can start seeing any data for it. You’ll be asked to verify a site after you add it to your Search Console account.
• Googlebot
  Google’s web crawler. Google has a few different Googlebots that request your pages as different device types (a smartphone, a feature phone, or a desktop computer) to calculate different search results for users searching on these devices.
• Canonical
  If you host the same page at different URLs, your search results can be diluted across these duplicate pages. For example, you might have the same page at http://example.com/dogs and http://www.example.com/dogs; a search might then show separate, lower ranked results for each page than if you had only a single page. In this case, you should indicate to Google that these pages are the same, and choose one to be canonical (the official page) to show in search results. Indicate canonical pages or sites using a Sitemap, HTML tags, or Search Console settings.
• robots.txt
  The name of a file on your site that tells Google which pages not to index or show in search results.
• Sitemap
  A list of URLs in your site that Google uses as starting locations to begin crawling a website. A sitemap is contained in one or more files stored on your website.

Index

The process of visiting URLs and analyzing the content and meaning of each page. This helps Google determine the best search results for a user’s query.

• Resource
  A web page typically loads many additional resources such as CSS, JavaScripts, and images. Be sure that Googlebot isn’t blocked from accessing any resources that affect the meaning of the page during the indexing process.
• Render
  Google tries to display all pages that it indexes in order to view the page as a user would. Rendering is the process of displaying the page with the images and layout to help Google analyze the meaning of the page.

Search traffic

• Manual action
  If your page violates one of Google’s quality guidelines, such as spammy content, it can be subject to a manual action, which will demote it in Google search results.
• International targeting
  Explicitly targeting your search results at users by language or country. This can be done using hreflang link tags or the country targeting setting in Search Console.

Search appearance

How your page or app appears in search.

• Structured data
  A public XML standard way of describing information about your pages in a format that the Google crawling engine understands. For instance, you can add ratings, event information, or video information. Some types of structured data are used to create rich snippets.
• Snippets
  The small descriptive lines of text that appear under each result in Google search results. These are generated programmatically by Google during indexing, and can have visual characteristics known as rich snippets.
• Rich snippet
  A visually enhanced Google search result, such as star ratings or event times. Rich snippets are often generated from structured data added by the page author.
• Sitelink
  If your website has a logical hierarchy or structure, Google might display a set of sub-links below the main search result. For example, for an airline site, the main result will be the airline home page, and the smaller links below would be direct links to the booking page, the flight status page, the baggage policies page, and so on. You cannot specify sitelinks for your site.

Get Google Play Store working on your Amazon Fire

What is an Amazon Fire? Well first of all what is Google Android?

Android, as most of you realistically know, is the operating system that is distributed by Google. Android enables the user to interact with the physical hardware of the machine that you are using. Have a Samsung Galaxy? Odds are that it is running Android. However without Android you would have alot of expensive computer equipment just sitting like a brick. Android tell the computer what to do, and lets the user browse, take pics with the camera, Skype etc etc.

So what is the Amazon Fire? Like the previously mentioned Samsung Galaxy, the Fire is a piece of hardware that would sit uselessly like a brick unless it had some software to run it. It needs an operating system of course, and the operating system that it uses is Google Android. But it is not a "vanilla" install of Android, it is a pretty modified version of Android that Amazon call - "Fire".

So, my cousin came over with an Amazon Fire that they had just gotten that day as a present and they were wondering why they could not install Google Android apps on it, When I heard the problem I told them about the who Android / Fire thing and I got to work.

First I went over to http://rootjunkysdl.com/files/ where I selected Amazon Fire 5th Gen from the list of links. Here I downloaded the zip file named "Amazon-Fire-5th-Gen-Install-Play-Store.zip".

Next, while that was downloading I went into setting on the ADB Fire and I sound the Serial Number and I clicked on it more that seven times in a row, this simply enables the Developer menu. I went into the developer menu and I enable ADB (Android Debugging Bridge - lets you in this case connect the Amazon Fire to the computer).

Then I unzipped the file I had just downloaded, I ran the one and only .bat file that was in the zipped folder and when I was presented with a menu I selected "2" to install Google Play store.

Along the way you might have to agree with various thing both on and off the device, but you are doing something here that essentially Amazon does not want you to be doing, so you have going to have to agree with some thing outside of your expectation, however nothing bad was forced upon me anyway when I was doing this.

I rebooted the device, and scrolled down the page, and boom, Google Play Store. Thanks to howtogeek for help for this.

Easy as pie.

Google to big to fail?

I did something today that I found very interesting. Interesting to me I am sure, but I do measure by bemusement against my own experiences and expectations and now against what others might generally accept.

Having recovered from an operation I am well enough now to only need be seen by the fine doctors that saw to me twice a year. So last Friday I set the appointment for 6 months hence. Today I got the letter, proving that the top heavy administration that is crippling our healthcare system is at least doing its job.

Then I set about the task of reminding myself. This is where my fascination set in. I was about to set my appointment in Google Calendar. Six months time. Interesting really isn't it. I had conversation about a week ago about a company that is too big to fail. Funnily, I can't even remember what I argued! Did I argue that Google is too big to fail? Or did I argue that Google was bound to eventually fall from grace like every other big company before it, lets face it - Microsoft is not what is once was. Apple fell and came back - but it fell. IBM once owned the market. Dell had a good byte (lols) of the cherry. But all these companies are clearly still here. What about Commodore, Atari, Amstrad.

Now someone could come back at me with every example I give and argue the toss. Excellent go on.

But think also of Yahoo! who fell (big time) and is back. Blackberry, Nokia. There clearly are examples of what I am talking about. And this is why it is good what I can't remember what I argued. It makes the conversation objective. It helps me remember that a lot of big, and I am really only talking about the BIG companies here, do at least fall. And when they fall the next giant either fumbles or falls strategically into its place.

The interesting example here is IBM who lost their superpower status to Microsoft in the eighties with the operating system wars and Yahoo who lost their superpower status to Google in the search market in the 90's.

All things come and go, all things. Period. Everything is in a constant state of flux. Mountains, time, physics, even Google. So when will Google change, and how suddenly and how much and for how long? Well, I hope they around for the next six months so I can remember my appointment!

:)

146 - Google = Skynet

Google purchased a company in the last few days, well now that is nothing new, I read somewhere that Google has purchased a new company at least every week for the last few years. No, what is so significant about THIS company is that it is an AI company. An Artificial Intelligence company.

The company is called DeepMind. Now the press loves this - Google is creating Skynet from the Terminator!!! Ahhhh everybody run somewhere in panic. For a start even if they were there is no use in running.

So then other people are asking why Google has purchased an AI company? Damn it seems kinda obvious to me. DeepMind has alot of very skilled people working there, Google might keep the people with the company, it now has even more brains to add to its current brains. But it is an interesting thing to think about when you talk of AI. I spoke to a few people about AI and they were saying that the computer will not actually be intelligent, it will just be simulating intelligence. That for me simply does not convince me. I do really believe that computers will be intelligent. Some day computers will have rights. Some day men and women will fall in love with computers probably.

A thing that happens to people when I begin talking like this is that they look down the road a few year and think of AI and look at their toaster, then think of AI again and look at their laptop, AI, fridge, AI television. No no no... again all wrong! Think of 30 years in the future, 50 years! Think 100 years. Think 1000 years.

What an amazing place the world will be in a thousand years! My god. I would do anything to be able to live that long.

Test Your Browser... HTML5test.com

Hi there.. it has been a while since i was on and I missed it alot. Enough of that! Onto browser testing...

Go to html5test.com and you will be presented with a page telling you how well your browser can handle HTML version 5. Why would you want your browser to handle html 5? Well version 5 supports alot of things that make your web experience better... alot better when it is implemented.

So on my computer I have Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome... I have not updated all of the browsers yet and I have run the test to see how they do before and after latest versions of the browser. Now remember the following... these marks are out of 500... ahem Microsoft....

I don't know what version exactly this is.. What is Version compared to Update Version? Stupid Microsoft!

• Microsoft Internet Explorer v9 - 138 plus 10 bonus points!
• Mozilla Firefox v16.0.2 - This got 372 plus 10 bonus points.
• Google Chrome Version 25.0.1364.152 m 463 plus 10 bonus points 

Microsoft Internet Explorer v9 - 138 plus 10 bonus points!

Damn thats kinda crap! Microsoft really bad...

Mozilla Firefox v16.0.2 - This got 372 plus 10 bonus points.

Firefox did ok....

Google Chrome Version 25.0.1364.152 m 463 plus 10 bonus points 

Google Chrome did very well...

So then I attempted to update the 3 tested browsers again to see what would happen... lets see if the scores improved or got worse!

Before

• Microsoft Internet Explorer v9 - 138 plus 10 bonus points!
• Mozilla Firefox v16.0.2 - This got 372 plus 10 bonus points.
• Google Chrome Version 25.0.1364.152 m 463 plus 10 bonus points
• Google Chrome on my Samsung Galaxy S3 Android version 4.1.2  - 417 plus 11 bonus points.

After

• Microsoft Internet Explorer v9 - Do not know how to update browser easily.. fail again MS
• Mozilla Firefox v19.0.2 - This got 393 plus 10 bonus points. - Up 21 points!
• Google Chrome Version 25.0.1364.160 m 463 plus 10 bonus points - Same score...
• Google Chrome on my Samsung Galaxy S3 Android version 4.1.2 - Didn't test yet...

Conclusion...
Keep your browsers up to date.. this test shows how updating can be very useful .. not only from the obvious security point of view but also from the experience you will get from your daily browsing... 

2012 - Day 40 - Google Adsence

Ok folks, I really need your help here. I am at a cross roads and I really need an answer. You see I am wondering if I should Google Adsence to my site.

I can taste it! Only messing... ahem... really.

For me there are pros like I might get some money. We not talking much money here... cents kinda thing. But for all those cents I could have that add... just one add I think... on the right hand side of the page there. See, where the pics are at the moment.

Basically this whole blog for me is a test and I would like to have the add there are a further part of that test. But guys, if it is going to ruin the site, tell me.

Should I or shouldn't I?

2012 - Day 33 - Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics

As a once powerful leader said there are "Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics"

I believe that it was Stalin that said it, but then again I have just read that Mark Twain said it too. Well here are my statistics.

"Carraroe And The City" has had 6,804 page views! Now this number has rocketed up since I began the 2012 series of blog posts.

In the last month I have had 1,171 page views... so at this rate there should be around 10,000 page view by some time in the end of April or the beginning of May! Cool...

The post that has had the most views is for some reason 2012 - Day 4 - Colin McRae This page has had 216 page views! Mad.

Here are the details of my audience:

Ireland

3,097

United States

2,372

United Kingdom

361

Germany

126

Russia

114

Canada

46

China

46

India

40

Australia

34

France

33

Cool eh... good old USA. There are many reasons why I love America.


More information on browers...


Pageviews by Browsers

Internet Explorer 3,437 (52%) Firefox 1,887 (28%) Chrome 664 (10%) Safari 359 (5%) Opera 81 (1%) Mobile Safari 61 (<1%) Mobile 20 (<1%) GranParadiso 14 (<1%) Jakarta Commons-HttpClient 9 (<1%) Java 8 (<1%)

This piece is pretty self explainatory I guess although I never heard of GranParadiso.. thats like huh? Finally there is the page views by Operating System.

Pageviews by Operating Systems

Windows 4,973 (73%) Macintosh 1,089 (16%) BlackBerry 214 (3%) Linux 122 (1%) iPod 109 (1%) Other Unix 85 (1%) iPhone 57 (<1%) Android 56 (<1%) iPad 23 (<1%) Nokia 20 (<1%)

So I think I have to make my page more relevant to Android and Apple users... see the stats... the reason that more smart phones is not visiting my site is not to do with blogger.com as we can see from the fact that BlackBerry is 3rd on the list. 

So there is loads of statistics. All brilliant and all for free from Google. When you think about it, it's brilliant. You've got to love that company. They certainly are not evil...