Archive: November, 2007

Google Webmaster Tools seems to be having some problems today with its web site verification process. Many of the sites we have listed in Webmaster Tools are no longer “verified” and the problem is reported as being due to “server timeout” and “domain name” errors. This is in spite of being able to navigate to the verification file using the link provided in the “Verify a Site” section.

This outlines the importance of frequently logging into Webmaster Tools to keep up to date on your sites search health and not assuming that this useful tool is “set and forget”. Google seems to be having periodic website verification and Sitemaps errors of late, has anyone else has noticed this?

It is the US Thanksgiving today so there is a serious lack of action or attention happening in and around the North American tech industry. Perhaps that lack of attention explains why this short item appeared in yesterday’s Barron’s Blog.
Google: The Evidence Mounts; They’re Taking Share

The piece outlines how Google holds almost 59% of the search market share in the United States and nearly 70% of searches globally using comScore and Hitwise data reported here and in other search blogs earlier.

To me, the brief piece points out and reinforces how far behind the curve the mainsteam media and investment communities are in understanding the true scope of Google’s dominance in search. Since 2003, Google has served a minimum of 45% of all search results, peaking at nearly 85% in 2004 and 2005 when it directly produced Yahoo! results and indirectly produced MSN results.

Google’s dominance has had an enormous effect on how the Web has evolved with results that could be characterized as both good and evil. Its existence helped pull the North American tech world out of the dot-com bust of 2000 and its innovation has propelled the tech world further than any company before it with the possible exceptions of Microsoft and Sun. For SEOs and SEMs, Google is far and away the most important venue and is the one first thought of when contemplating a search marketing campaign.