Links from Google Books
-
Hi
Interested in your views on this and any references to research on the subject
Using Google Books recently I have discovered multiple citations of a web site I produced years ago in a whole load of publication. Really quite touching to find these 10 years afterwards
I imagine that this must have a positive effect on search engine listings for this site. The site has really good listings still. Has any research or any announcement been made by Google about this.
Pushing this a bit further ; An advertising hoarding has a web site address http:// ... would Google StreetView pick this up and could it be used as a signal too ?
- Neil
PS No I don't sell adversing hoardings
-
Great question Neil! Google uses optical character recognition (OCR, more specifically OCRopus) to convert visible print into search searchable text; hence, you're able to find terms in Google books via Google search. Link text is also recognizable due to the standard 'http' format, so even though you'd never be able to click it via an old book in the library (who knows what new ones will do!) Google Books is still able to recognize the link and treat it as such in the digital, Internet realm. Now, a website that is being mentioned in books has a high likelihood of having a robust backlink profile, but that notwithstanding, I'd bet that Google would give an high amount of trust to a link that makes it into its OCR database.
As for street view, that is pushing it! Who knows though, there's merit in giving a website online exposure for the offsite work they do via billboards, store fronts, etc. I think you and I both would love to know the people that could truly answer that one though, huh?
-
These are physical signals, no way for the algorithm to interpret them. Street view may be possible, but its highly unlikely google would dedicate its resources to endorse paid advertizing to influence SERPS. Sure its benificial if someone uses street view and happens to see your site, but other than that its worthless to SEO. Same thing with the scanned image in google books.
-
Yes I was thinking that these would be a seperate signal rather than somenting passed through links. The PrintRank?
- Neoil
-
Hello Neil,
Since advertising banners hoardings are paid ads as a general rule even if Google is able to somehow read the urls we can right away disqualify the SEO benefits. Plus, there is no flow of link juice from these image ad links.
Google book is definitely interesting one. Google books are a scanned image of the actual book so the links are not an actual link that could pass the link juice. Google also provides an ebook version of some books and the links on the ebooks are highlighted like a regular link but these are not clickable. It could be possible that Google will soon enable these links and link page rank juice will flow from these links the to the destination site. The only issue I see here is since these are hosted on Google is could very well be a nofollow so it could be given similar weight like a brand or social mention if Google decides to use the links for SEO ranking.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Ranking App Store page in Google
Hey - has anyone had any experience in getting their App Store listing page to rank highly in Google for one of their primary keywords? If so, have you been successful and have you any pointers?
Image & Video Optimization | | GrowTraffic0 -
Philosophical: Does Google know when a photo isn't what your meta data says it is? And could you be downgraded for that?
Not something I've ever heard discussed before, probably still a bit too esoteric for present day, but I've always been one to be guided by where I see Google headed rather than trying to game the system as it exists now. So think about it: Most stock and public domain photos are used repeatedly throughout the internet. Google's reverse image search proves that Google can recognize when the same photo is used across dozens of sites. Many of those photos will have alt and/or title text that Google also has crawled. If not it has the content of the page on which the photo exists to consider for context. So if Google has a TON of clues about what a photo is likely to be about, and can in theory aggregate those clues about a single photo from the dozens of sites using it, how might Google treat a site that mislabels it, old school "one of these things is not like the others" style? Would a single site hosting that photo be bolstered by the additional context that the known repeated photo brings in, essentially from other sites? If 10 sites about widgets are using the same widget photo, but the 11th uses an entirely new, never before published photo, would the 11th site then be rated better for bringing something new to the table? (I think this would be almost certainly true, drives home the importance of creating your own graphics content.) Anyway, like I said, all theoretical and philosophical and probably not currently in play, especially since an image can be used in so many different contexts, but it's New Years and things are slow and my brain is running, so I'm curious what other folks might think about that as the future of image optimization.
Image & Video Optimization | | BradsDeals1 -
Google Places for Business - multiple accommodation listings
Hi there I have a client who runs a holiday rental accommodation business in Australia. The business model is: a single brand (+ website) with multiple holiday homes (each with their own physical address). So, I have two questions: 1 - She currently has her Google Places for Business configured where there is one 'brand' Places account with an individual listing for each holiday home. How is it best to link the Google Places account to a (yet to be created) Google+ profile? 2 - Google's quality guidelines are a little grey around 'rental accommodation'. She does not run a real estate company but the properties are technically being rented which I fear contravenes Google's quality guidelines for Google Places. Does anybody experience in this area (the competition is doing it left, right and centre). Thanks in advance! Laurie
Image & Video Optimization | | turnbullholdingsltd1 -
Google Places, Google+ Local, or both?
I understand that Google is in the process of merging Google Places into Google+ Local, but the current state is very confusing. There are still two separate signup pages, and neither even MENTIONS the other. If someone is establishing a business web presence today, what should we set up?
Image & Video Optimization | | LunaGraphica0 -
Google + Local for client with no physical address and multiple phone nos
Hi I have a client who is service-based and goes out to his local customers' homes to conduct his business. He operates from home so does not want to show his home address, he also has a number of local telephone numbers that divert to his mobile. I was wondering which type of category to put his business into, my ideal would be local business but for that I need to add the address the question is can I still hide the address the way you used to in the old format or is there other recommendations to optimise his local placement?
Image & Video Optimization | | AllieMc0 -
How do you get links from a photo pointing to a third party site in Google Places?
How do you get links from a photo pointing to a third party site. I’ve seen a number on other Places accounts but I can't figure out how to do it. They had a picture/logo and the url underneath it (instead of it saying 'from the owner' underneath it), when you clicked the photo it took you to the website instead of just a page with only that photo on it. Please see image as an example. I've highlighted the image links below. Thanks in advance for your help 🙂 i0HxK.jpg
Image & Video Optimization | | HICRM0 -
Why is here no extra section for Google Shopping
does really nobody care for the most important search result for shops beside organic result? google shoping results mostly pop up in organic results on 3rd place. Vertical SEO Video, Image, Local etc. etc. is not really Shopping Results!
Image & Video Optimization | | kynop0 -
Is my Google Places page ok?
Hey everyone, Google Places is incredibly frustrating for me. One day we are listed, the next we are gone. If I am logged in to my Gmail we rank differently altogether. I have a few questions... http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1421&bih=726&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=pet+medical+center+of+las+vegas&fb=1&gl=us&hq=pet+medical+center+of&hnear=0x80beb782a4f57dd1:0x3accd5e6d5b379a3,Las+Vegas,+NV&cid=13431404354265657899&ei=wbQITujpFpSLsALbuenkDQ&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=placepage-link&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ4gkwAA First off, does the page look to be optimized for the best results? Trying to rank for vet las vegas (ideally. Any tips or thoughts? Are there any sites that will track your rankings in Google Places for different listings? Is my places description ok? How often does Google Places update their listings - find new reviews, update their "find our more about this place" section, etc.? Anything else? Thanks for your help! Brant
Image & Video Optimization | | PMC-3120870