Top SEO News, 2017

Google will keep in secret the number of search quality algorithms Oct 08/2017 How many search quality algorithms does Google use? This question was put to the John Mueller, the company’s employee during the last video conference with webmasters. The question was: 'When you mention Google's quality algorithm, how many algorithms do you use?' Mueller responded the following: 'Usually we do not talk about how many algorithms we use. We publicly state that we have 200 factors when it comes to scanning, indexing and ranking. Generally, the number of algorithms is a casual number. For instance, one algorithm can be used to display a letter on the search results page. Therefore, we believe that counting the exact number of algorithms that Google uses is not something that is really useful [for optimizers]. From this point of view, I can’t tell you how many algorithms are involved in Google search.'

Gary Illyes shares his point of view on how important referential audit is Oct 08/2017 At the Brighton SEO event that took place last week, Google rep called Gary Illyes shared his opinion about the importance of auditing the website's link profile. This information was reported by Jennifer Slagg in the TheSEMPost blog. Since Google Penguin was modified into real-time update and started ignoring spam links instead of imposing sanctions on websites, this has led to a decrease of the value of auditing external links. According to Gary Illyes, auditing of links is not necessary for all websites at the present moment. 'I talked to a lot of SEO specialists from big enterprises about their business and their answers differed. These companies have different opinions on the reason why they reject links. I don't think that helding too many audits makes sense, because, as you noted, we successfully ignore the links, and if we see that the links are of an organic nature, it is highly unlikely that we will apply manual sanctions to a website. In case your links are ignored by the 'Penguin', there is nothing to worry about. I've got my own website, which receives about 100,000 visits a week. I have it for 4 years already and I do not have a file named Disavow. I do not even know who is referring to me. Thus, in the case when before a website owner was engaged in buying links or using other prohibited methods of link building, then conducting an audit of the reference profile and rejecting unnatural links is necessary in order to avoid future manual sanctions. It is important to remember that rejecting links can lead to a decrease in resource positions in the global search results, since many webmasters often reject links that actually help the website, rather than doing any harm to it. Therefore, referential audits are needed if there were any violations in the history of the resource. They are not necessary for many website owners and it is better to spend this time on improving the website itself, says Slagg.

Googlebot still refuses to scan HTTP/2 Oct 08/2017 During the last video conference with webmasters Google rep called John Mueller said that Googlebot still refrains to scan HTTP. The reason is that the crawler already scans the content that fast, so the benefits that the browser receives (web pages loading time is decreased) are not that important. 'No, at the moment we do not scan HTTP / 2. We are still investigating what we can do about it. In general, the difficult part is that Googlebot is not a browser, so it does not get the same speed effects that are observed within a browser when implementing HTTP / 2. We can cache data and make requests in a different way than a regular browser. Therefore, we do not see the full benefits of scanning HTTP / 2. But with more websites implementing push notification feature, Googlebot developers are on the point of adding support for HTTP in future.” It should be recalled that in April 2016, John Mueller said that the use of the HTTP / 2 protocol on the website does not directly affect the ranking in Google, but it improves the experience of users due to faster loading speed of the pages. Therefore, if you have a change, it is recommended to move to this protocol.

Google does not check all spam reports in manual mode Oct 08/2017 Google employee named John Mueller stated that the search team does not check all spam reports manually during the last video conference with webmasters. The question to Mueller was the following: 'Some time ago we sent a report on a spam, but still have not seen any changes. Do you check each and every report manually?' The answer was: No, we do not check all spam reports manually. ' Later Mueller added: 'We are trying to determine which reports about spam have the greatest impact, it is on them that we focus our attention and it is their anti-spam team that checks manually, processes and, if necessary, applies manual sanctions. Most of the other reports that come to us is just information that we collect and can use to improve our algorithms in the future. At the same time, he noted that small reports about violations of one page scale are less prioritized for Google. But when this information can be applied to a number of pages, these reports become more valuable and are prior to be checked. As for the report processing time, it takes some considerable time. As Mueller explained, taking measures may take 'some time', but not a day or two. It should be recalled that in 2016, Google received about 35 thousand messages about spam from users every month. About 65% of all the reports led to manual sanctions.

Google intends to improve the interaction of a person with AI July 25/2017 Google announced the launch of a new research project, which goal is to study and improve the interaction between artificial intelligence (AI) and human beings. The phenomenon was named PAIR. At the moment, the program involves 12 people who will work together with Google employees in different product groups. The project also involves external experts: Brendan Meade, a professor of Harvard University and, Hol Abelson, a professor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The research that will be carried out within the framework of the project is aimed at improving the user interface of 'smart' components in Google services. Scientists will study the problems affecting all participants in the supply chain: starting from programmers creating algorithms to professionals who use (or will soon be using) specialized AI tools. Google wants to make AI-solutions user-friendly and understandable to them. As part of the project, Google also opened the source code for two tools: Facets Overview and Facets Dive. Programmers will be able to check the data sets for machine learning for possible problems using the tools mentioned. For instance, an insufficient sample size.

Google ignores canonical links when an error is suspected Aug 03/2017 Google ignores canonical links if it is suspected that an error could have been made during their implementation. This was told by the search representative, John Mueller during the last video meeting with webmasters. One of the participants asked Mueller at the meeting: 'If a large number of canonical links points to the same page, can this lead to some problems with website?' Mueller replied the following: 'No, it is not necessary. The only problematic situation that may occur is when all these pages point to the main page as canonical. In this case, our systems understand that the rel = canonical attribute was wrongly implemented and thus, they ignore this data. But if the website contains a large number of pages with the same content (URLs with different parameters, etc.), using the rel = canonical attribute is an ideal option in this situation.' It should be recalled that earlier this month the Moz founder, Rand Fishkin, prepared a review of the best practices for the URL canonicalization.

Google tests a new format for price extension in Product Listing Ads Aug 04/2017 Merkle agency specialists noticed that Google is testing a new format for price expansion in product listings. Testers put the product price, which is shown at a discount, and the crossed-out original price on the right side. As a result, users immediately see that the product participates in the promotion. Testing is carried out in the mobile and desktop Google versions. As noted in Merkle, this format of displaying information about the discount allows you to save space in the ad and show other extensions (free delivery, product rating). In addition, it helps to increase CTR ads and highlight company offers among competitors' ads. Testing is conducted on a limited scale. Google representative said to the Merkle Company that they are constantly testing various formats to give users the most useful information.

Google tests a new search results format with ready-made answers July 11/2017 English-speaking users noticed that Google is testing a new format for the search results that would include ready answers. From now on the website, the content of which was used to generate a response will no longer be displayed in the search results. The reference to it is contained only in the block with the answer. 'Google removed the result from the search on the page that was already shown in the block with the answer for this query. Now the block with the answer is the only result for the page on a specific request, 'says The SEM Post blog It is noted that the new feature is currently available for many users, but not all of them. This can mean a large-scale testing or a gradual launch.

Google Image Search loses market share to Amazon and Facebook Aug 14/2017 The share of Google in the search market grew from 58.84% in October last year to 64.8% in March 2017. At the same time, the share of Google Image Search fell to 21.8% in favor of Amazon and Facebook. This information has come from analysts of the American company Jumpshot in partnership with co-founder Moz Rand Fishkin. During the research, they analyzed search data in Google Search, Images, Maps, YouTube, Yahoo, Bing, Amazon, Facebook, Reddit and Wikipedia for the period from October 2016 to May 2017 with a sole purpose to determine the resources that accounted for the largest number of search engines Sessions and traffic. Generally, at this period Amazon's share went up from 0.4% to 2.30%, and Facebook's 0.8% to 1.5%. Bing and Yahoo both showed growth of up to 2.4%, while Google Maps was ranked up to 1.2%. The activity of Google Search, Bing, Amazon and Facebook showed growth, while Google Images, YouTube, Yahoo and Google Maps lost their positions. The report also included data on search volumes and CTR in the US. The number of search sessions in Google has exceeded 30 billion a month (as of October 2016). By May 2017, the growth trend remained at the level of 10-15% compared to the previous year. The results of the organic search in 2016 went down to the bottom. In December they were ranked at 54% (despite the fact that in January and February of the same year their level was at 57% and 56%, respectively, and taking into account the traditional activity stop after the winter holidays). November 2016 gave the highest rates of search activity without clicks and was ranked at 45.5%. At the same time, the lowest indicator was in October, which is only 40.3%. According to Jumpshot, the largest traffic is generated by Google: about 63% in May 2017, with about 60% in October 2016. During this period, YouTube also showed better results and went up by 0.2%, while Amazon rose by 0.1%. Traffic from Facebook, Yahoo, Reddit, Imgur and Bing almost died, and that’s only Wikipedia that remained at the same level.

Google Search Console sends thousands of verification requests to webmasters by mistake Aug 14/2017 The webmasters who work with Google Search Console have been receiving numerous letters from the service in the last two days asking them to confirm the data. In some cases, thousands of such messages are going to inbox. Google’s search quality department specialist John Mueller suggested that the problem may be related to the beta version of Search Console, and apologized: 'I also noticed that it was happening. I think it started yesterday or the day before yesterday. We sorted out the problem together with the Google Search Console team, and, in our opinion, it does not mean that there is something wrong with your websites. It seems that the problem is on our side, we have confused something, I think this is related to the beta version of Search Console. Perhaps there are some processes that need to be re-tested. But this does not mean that you have to make any changes on your websites, or that you have been attacked by hackers, or something like that. I'm embarrassed and apologize for all these messages that dropped to you inbox mails.' It should be recalled that Google is working on a new version of Search Console, which became known in July. The company officially confirmed this information in early August and shared the details of the two reports for testing. The new Search Console version will not only change the interface, but also make more data available.

Shining Tears (シャイニング・ティアーズShainingu Tiāzu) is an action role-playing game co-developed by Nextech and Amusement Vision and published by Sega in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 as a part of the Shining Force video game series. It tells the story of a mysterious boy named Xion.

An anime adaptation for the game was announced by Sega, entitled Shining Tears X Wind. It was produced by Studio Deen and began airing in early April 2007. A sequel, Shining Wind, was released in 2007, with return appearances by all the main characters of Shining Tears.

Gameplay[edit]

Plot[edit]

In the beginning of the story, an elven girl named Elwyn finds Xion washed up on the shore of a river. She checks if he is still alive and as she looks, a ring falls by the water. As Elwyn tries to take it, she sees that Xion is on the verge of death so she takes him quickly to the village doctor, Pios. When Xion wakes up, he finds himself in The Heroes' Hearth, the tavern of the town Heroes' Way.

He is then confronted by Pios and Elwyn, questioning him on what happened. He says he cannot remember and only vaguely remembers his name. The two introduce themselves to him and he finds both his hands have two strange rings. They will not come off his hands as Pios tries to investigate the rings. The two then explain that the rings could possibly be the Twin Dragon Rings, the legendary rings of power. Discarding the thought, Pios investigates more on the rings as Xion falls asleep.

A feature of this game is that there is a unique ending involving each of the eight characters that Xion can team up with, making up a total of eight endings. The ending is determined by the character that Xion has developed the highest relationship with.

Characters[edit]

The game's characters were designed by the Japanese artist Tony Taka.

• Xion: He is an amnesiac boy who carries the Twin Dragon Rings, which he received from his Mother, Zenovia, to use for his training. Xion was washed up on a shore near the inn Heroes Hearth. He is found by the elven girl Elwyn and introduced to Doctor Pios, who nurses him back to health. Xion becomes involved in a series of battles to defend the nation Shildia from aggressors. Xion has three personalities within him: A somewhat insecure, good hearted young boy (when no one is wearing the other Twin Dragon Ring), a serene, noble hero (when the other bearer of a Ring has a dark soul), and a battle-crazy, insult-flinging fighter (when the other bearer of a Ring has a light soul) though he retains his kind traits even in this form. In the Japanese version his voice actor is Sōichirō Hoshi, who also performed the theme song for the game.

• Lazarus: He is the Dragonian guardian of the priestess Ryuna. As is the rule for Dragonians, Lazarus was raised from the day he hatched to protect the current priestess of the Etwarl Temple, the house of worship for the Dragon God, at all costs. Lazarus's enormous strength and defense are his most noteworthy traits, as well as his protective nature that extends to all his allies. Lazarus is also slightly jealous of Xion. At one point in the game, Lazarus sacrifices his life to protect the party from a devastating magic attack. If the player has developed enough of a friendship with Ryuna, Xion will journey with her to the Tower of Heaven to revive him, though Lazarus will return from the dead at the same point in any case. Upon his revival, Lazarus's soul changes from Light to Dark and this alters the qualities of some of his moves. Lazarus is voiced by Daisuke Gori.

• Neige: Often referred to as the Ice Witch due to her specialization in ice magic, Neige was first identified as a member of Volg's Weissritter group. It is later revealed that she is crown princess of Runevale Kingdom (one of the opposing forces). She was targeted for a murder by her younger brother Galahad, but was rescued by Cupido and taken to Shildia where she joined Weissritter. She is cold, sarcastic and antisocial, but intelligent. She first doubts Xion's potential, but changes her mind once she is fought alongside him. As time passes, her cold personality fades and she is revealed to be a nice and honorable girl. In the war against Runegeist (the new name of Runevale), Galahad is killed, much to her dismay. Her Japanese voice actress is Megumi Hayashibara.

Music[edit]

Opening Theme

• 'Shining Tears'

  Lyrics by: Natsuko Kondo

  Composition and arrangement by: Gou Takahashi

  Performed by: Souichiro Hoshi

Ending Theme

• 'The Light's Silhouette' (光のシルエットHikari no Shiruetto)

  Lyrics by: Yurie Kokubu

  Composition and arrangement by: Masaki Iwamoto

  Performed by: Souichiro Hoshi

These theme songs were also used in the anime version, Shining Tears X Wind.

Reception[edit]

Mischievous kiss season 2. The game received 'mixed' reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[1] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one eight, one seven, and two eights for a total of 31 out of 40.^[3]Gun serial number lookup.

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Shining Tears for PlayStation 2 Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
2. ^EGM staff (March 2005). 'Shining Tears'. Electronic Gaming Monthly (189): 124.
3. ^ ^ab'New Famitsu scores (Minish Cap did not get 38)'. NeoGAF. October 27, 2004. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
4. ^'Shining Tears'. Game Informer (143): 130. March 2005.
5. ^Massimilla, Bethany (March 28, 2005). 'Shining Tears Review'. GameSpot. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
6. ^Padilla, Raymond M. (March 18, 2005). 'GameSpy: Shining Tears'. GameSpy. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
7. ^Aceinet (April 7, 2005). 'Shining Tears - PS2 - Review'. GameZone. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
8. ^Dunham, Jeremy (March 23, 2005). 'Shining Tears'. IGN. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
9. ^'Shining Tears'. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 101. March 2005.
10. ^'Review: Shining Tears'. PSM: 73. March 2005.
11. ^Leeper, Justin (February 15, 2005). 'Shining Tears Review'. X-Play. Archived from the original on February 18, 2005. Retrieved March 3, 2017.

External links[edit]

• Shining Tears at MobyGames