is the 20th anniversary of search marketing:

Google ceases to support meta news keywords tag

We learned in 2018 that Google had quietly discontinued support for the news meta keyword tag.

Google didn’t announce the change, although it had been made months before.

John Mueller, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, was the one who confirmed this via Twitter:

“It appears that we stopped supporting this feature around the time we removed it form the help center. It’s fine to keep it on pages, but we don’t use it anymore for Google News.

Google cannot understand the news meta keyword tag. Google ignored it in the same way as they ignored the normal meta keyword tag.

Google created the news meta keywords tag for 2012 publishers.

This day, too


Google: Spam less that 1% of Maps content

2020: spam represented less than 1 percent of the 20,000,000 daily contributions Google received to Maps.


Google has added new metadata to image license metadata. is a licensable image tag.

2020: Google beta-tested a new way to allow sites to display licensing information for content appearing in Google Images.


Advertisers now have access to Google mobile speed scores for additional landing pages

2019: Google Ads has modified its mobile speed score algorithm in order to reduce the amount of clicks required to generate a result.


Addiction Recovery Advertisers will need LegitScript certification

2019: Ad campaigns that use lead generators or drug and alcohol addiction recovery centers must be certified.


Yelp tests offline attribution using guest WiFi and email matching

2018: Based on total transaction data, the company claimed that for every $1 spent on Yelp ads, there was a $110 off-line return.


Google: No algorithm changes in new deal to degrade pirated content in UK searches

2017: Google, Microsoft Bing reached an agreement to reduce the number of search results containing pirated material. It was called the Voluntary Code of Practice.


Google AdWords Now Offers New ‘Call Only’ Ad Types to Make Mobile Easy

2015: ad type will allow mobile-centric marketers to create conversion-only campaigns via phone calls.


Yahoo Wants To Syndicate a Search To 600,000. Mobile Apps

2015: Yahoo set out to expand the reach of its display, search and video ads by launching a new Mobile Developer Suite.


Search in Pics: Google Glass Book & Android Mobile & Pebble Beach Box seats

2015 These images show what people eat at search engine companies, their play habits, where they go, and what toys they own.


Bing Webmaster Guidelines Revised To Add Demotions for Keyword Stuffing

2014 Bing warned that keyword stuffing sites could be delisted or demoted by it.


Yahoo Offers $10 Million To Support Next-Gen Siri and Better “ContextualSearch”

2014: Yahoo donated $10 million to Carnegie Mellon University for “InMind”, a project to create an intelligent assistant and enhance personalization.


Yandex Reports 37% Increase in Revenues In Q4, Ad Network Revenues Nearly Double

2014 The company claimed that it had over 270,000 advertisers in 2014, an increase of 30% year-over-year and a 10% increase from Q3 2013.


Google has not yet released unannounced Penguin updates

2013 Google’s recent video suggested that Google was pushing Penguin Updates, but it wasn’t.


Amazon Product Ads Tops

2013 In 2012’s second half, Google Shopping drove 120% more traffic than Amazon Product Ads to merchants.


Google Allows You to Block AdWords Results Using Block Site Feature

2012 You could block websites from appearing in paid search results.


Googler Killer, Cuil, Patent Applications Acquired by Google

2012: Cuil was launched in June 2008, but went out of business in September 2010. In September 2010, Google acquired their patent applications.


AdCenter Revamps The Location To Mimic AdWords

2012: Microsoft AdCenter updated its location targeting functionality to align it with industry standard Google AdWords.


The Microhoo Bunch

2010 A recently approved Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal, which was set to a TV theme tune.


Google Suggests Ways To Prevent Hacking

2009 Google site search can help you identify spammers by identifying common content. Google Alerts can be used to monitor for spammy keywords and phrases.


Google Changes Display URL Policy: One Domain Per Ad Group

2009: Advertisers can only display the same domain in a particular ad group’s display URL field.


Google Maps: Transit Updates, Map Maker In 27 Languages

2009 This product had one goal: to allow local developers to create maps data and content for locations around the world that are not available in commercial databases.


Google AdSense Adds Font Selection

2009: Publishers can choose between Arial, Times and Verdana font styles and they will be available on all Latin-based character units.


Google Reintroduces Video & Drops Shopping From Top Navigation

2009 November 2007 Google did the exact opposite.


Search In Pictures: Ask.com At Daytona, Vint Cerf At SMX & Yahoo Hack Day India

2009 These images show what people eat at search engine companies, their play habits, their favorite toys, and where they live.


Lee Odden Interviews Google’s Adam Lasnik

2008: Topics covered duplicate content issues and penalties.


Microsoft & Google Sued Over Paid Search Patent Infringement

2008 Paid Search Engine Tools Of Liberty Township claimed that Microsoft’s AdWords products and Google’s AdWords infringe their patent, “Paid Search Engine Bid Management”.


Gates on Yahoo Acquisition: It’s the Engineers We Want

2008 Microsoft didn’t want the traffic, advertisers or brand to be there. It was the engineers who wanted the Yahoo acquisition.


Yahoo Search Index Now Supported by Open-Source Hadoop Architecture

2008: Among other benefits were cost savings, scalability, and flexibility.


Van Natta to Leave Facebook, Yahoo Offers Enhanced Separation To Retain Employees

2008 The package was designed to retain employees in an uncertain climate, which had accelerated the departures a few high-profile Yahoo employees.


Newspond Lauches News Aggregation Website That Uses A “Tireless Electric Brain”

2008: Newspond is a news aggregation website that boasted “No Editors.” No voting. Only an AI news engine.”


SES London 2008 Day Two Recap


Mobile Search Still A Close Runner

2007 Google had approximately 4.75 million U.S. customers in the fourth quarter 2006, which is roughly 1.1 million more than Yahoo.


Google’s Products Show Video & Blog Increasing, While Froogle & Directory Decrease

2007 “Super Performers”: Google Video and Google Blog Search.


Listing Of Lists Of Google Products

2007 A list of Google products.


Let Google Drive Your Car For You

2007 Page “proposed giving computers the control over cars” to reduce accidents.


Google Teaches Programming Classes At University Of Washington

2007: This course “teachs students to use 40 computers in order to solve problems such a how many times the word “mild” appears on the Internet, and which’mild’ is most relevant to Internet users.”


Viacom Signs With Joost over Google’s YouTube

2007: Joost was a YouTube-like service, but they were specialized in commercial videos.


Text Messaging: Where the Volume and The Dollars Are Today

2007: Mobile Advertising as a Mass Media would Take off. But the question was, when and how?

Search Marketing Expo ( , SMX).

Past contributions by Search Engine Land’s Subject matter Experts (SMEs).

These columns represent a snapshot of time. They have not been updated since publication, except where noted. These articles do not reflect Search Engine Land’s views.

Search Marketing History

The post This Day in Search Marketing History: February 20 was first published on Search Engine Land.

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