Eric Siu says, “On February 26, Google dropped a major bomb in a seemingly-casual blog post on mobile-friendly search results. While the engine has always made mobile-readiness and the easy access of information a priority, it has now spelled out that it will use mobile-friendliness as a stronger ranking signal than ever before. It will also increase the presence of relevant app content in the search results. So what does that mean for you? Basically, if you’ve been holding out on implementing a mobile strategy for your business website, it’s time to make this a top priority. Here’s... [...]

Travis Wright says, “Google+ is unofficially officially dead. Now, what? Google’s Bradley Horowitz announced on Google+ last month that the platform will be split into two new services: Streams and Photos. “Photos” are self-explanatory, and “Streams” are going to cover just about everything else. If you’re fond of Google Hangouts, don’t worry — the video/messaging service survived the fallout as a separate offering. However, Hangouts is just about the only part of Google+ that has a clear future. It seems to be full-on transition mode for Google, with Google+ seemingly “still... [...]

Brian P. Rubin says, “On Wednesday, Google opened the beta of its latest developer tool—the App Runtime for Chrome, or ARC—to anyone on any computer running the latest version of the Chrome browser. With the ARC Welder app installed in your browser, you can theoretically run any Android app in a virtual environment without having to use any actual Android devices. Better yet, ARC Welder makes porting an Android app into a Chrome app ridiculously simple. In theory, ARC should also let anyone run an Android app install file (typically referred to as APKs because of their .apk file extensions)... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “The Wall Street Journal is reporting that EU regulators are possibly just weeks away from slapping Google with antitrust charges based on complaints similar to those levelled against it in the United States. Despite the fact that staffers at the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concluded that Google harmed “innovation in online search and ad markets” the search giant managed to dodge antitrust charges that could have threatened the company’s search dominance. According to the Wall Street Journal’s sources, EU regulators have been seeking... [...]

David Nield says, “Google has pushed out a couple of app updates for Android, as it often does, but there’s more going on here than a few code tweaks. The new features introduced today in both Gmail and Google Drive are signs of the pressure the tech giant is starting to feel from competing apps on its own platform. There are plenty of fronts that Google now has to fight on simultaneously, from self-driving cars to video content. But with eyeballs shifting to mobile and rivals such as Cyanogen in the wings, smartphone apps are one of the most important fronts of all”. Why Google... [...]

Matthew Job says, “More and more, would-be entrepreneurs are using smartphones to study and reach out to franchises at a rising rate. Consider the Landmark Interactive study analyzing 139 franchisors and about 36,000 units for the year ended August 2014. According to that study, the percentage of prospective franchisees using smartphones to research and contact franchise opportunities online nearly doubled, to 42 percent, up from 23 percent. Along the way, many of these mobile prospects likely used smartphones to view these franchise recruitment websites. Franchisors also likely... [...]

Karissa Bell says, “It’s already April Fools’ Day in Japan and Google isn’t wasting any time. In a video posted to Google Japan’s YouTube page, the company introduced Google Panda, its new adorable take on voice-enabled search. “Google Panda is engineered with state of the art emotional and conversational intelligence,” promises vice president of engineering, Chris Yerga, in the video. “All you have to do is speak your mind.” Later, a Google engineer takes the stage to walk through the design inspiration (a real-life panda, of course) and the various... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “They can make or break a site, and many website operators and search marketers await their arrival with a certain level of anxiety. They have strange names like Panda and Penguin, and when they affect significant numbers of websites, they can be written about and analyzed for months. I’m referring, of course, to Google algorithm updates. But is it possible that the major Google algorithm updates that captivate us are largely a thing of the past? In a post on Search Engine Land, Nate Dame, the founder and CEO of search and content marketing firm Propecta, observes... [...]

Jeff Sauer says, “We analyze the performance of our content every day. Sometimes it’s subconscious, like when we check the number of tweets we get from a new blog post. Other times, we make more conscious efforts, like reviewing performance metrics in Google Analytics. This feedback—both formal and anecdotal—informs what we do next. It influences future blog posts and validates our strategies. Reviewing content performance on a regular basis has been key to the growth of many online publishers. We should all be taking note of these successes as we build our own content marketing... [...]

Pete Prestipino says, “Google launched its Places API for Android and opened a beta program for it on iOS last week and it is aiming to bring some practical, local context on what’s around users. While the Places API web service and JavaScript library have actually be around for some time, providing native support for Android and iOS devices will enable developers to take advantage of a device’s location signals, and further optimize their apps’ mobile experience“. Google Places API Offering Greater Local Context Website Magazine  [...]