Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster's reports that "Blog" tops their list of the 10 words of the year. Merriam-Webster Inc. said on Tuesday that blog, defined as "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks," was the most looked-up word on its Internet sites this year.

The list is compiled each year by taking the most researched words on its Web sites and then excluding perennials such as affect/effect and profanity. The company said most online dictionary queries were for uncommon terms, but people also turned to its Web sites for words in news headlines.

Source: Reuters http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041130/us_nm/life_words_dc_2

With the proliferation of RSS feeds in state and local governments, a unique opportunity is developing to expand the delivery of the critical information contained in these feeds by leveraging the most ubiquitous personal communications device in the world -– the telephone. Governments that use RSS to deliver information to citizens using RSS feeds can also leverage VoiceXML, an open standard for developing telephony applications, to expose RSS content via cellular and traditional telephones.

VoiceXML is a web technology that can turn any telephone, even a rotary phone, into an Internet device. VoiceXML is a non-proprietary, web-based markup language for creating vocal dialogues between humans and computers. VoiceXML is similar to another common markup language -- HTML, the basic language of visual web pages. Just as a web browser renders HTML documents visually, a VoiceXML interpreter renders VoiceXML documents audibly. In this respect, one can think of the VoiceXML interpreter as a telephone-based, voice browser. As with HTML documents, VoiceXML documents have web URIs and can be located on any web server. However, instead of pointing a client-side web browser at a specific URI, citizens can access a VoiceXML application by calling a toll free telephone number from any ordinary telephone - cellular or traditional, touch-tone or rotary.

It’s not hard to think of a scenario where a local government or a university could publish an RSS feed with topical news, and have a phone number for students or citizens to call for more information. Depending on how the VoiceXML is structured, the caller could have the option of being transferred directly to the number associated with the information.

The trick would be, in my opinion, finding the right place within the RSS feed to put the phone number (if the publisher wanted to provide the option of an automatic transfer). Ideally, the phone number would be contained within its own RSS element. Glancing quickly at the RSS 2.0 spec, this could be something like the guid element. So, if a publisher was using a software package to author and publish RSS feeds, they would probably need to do a little experimenting to find the right place to place the phone number.

Because RSS and VoiceXML are both XML vocabularies, there are a number of standards-based methods for converting RSS to VoiceXML and using RSS feeds from within VoiceXML applications. The first method involves the use of eXstensible Style Sheet Language Transformations (XSLT). I have created a tutorial covering this technique and some of the issues relating to it. This technique is generally agnostic to the underlying technology used; XSLT transformations are supported in technologies like JSP, PHP, Perl, .NET and others.

To see it in action there is a demo application available at (800) 289-5570. Enter the following PIN when prompted: 9991422919. This example uses the latest headlines news feed from CNET News.com (news.com.com) and the XSLT file covered in my tutorial. This is only running on a demo platform, so I can’t guarantee anything on performance. Still, it gives you a sense of how an RSS feed sounds. This technology could allow travelers only equipped with cell phones to get the latest NOAA RSS weather reports, lobbyists to dial-in for legislative floor calendars, and rescue teams to phone for the latest operational instructions.

The other method for using RSS from within VoiceXML applications is to leverage the new data tag, an addition to the VoiceXML specification that is part of the developing VoiceXML 2.1 standard. Some excellent examples of this technique can be found on the VoiceXML Forum website at http://www.voicexmlreview.org/apr2004/columns/apr2004_speak_listen.html.

VoiceXML also allows for the playback of recorded audio. If one had an audio file that they want to include in a feed, a VoiceXML application could actually invoke the audio file and play it to the caller. There is a VoiceXML service at (800) 555-TELL that plays audio files. Give it a call and try listening to the “News Center” option.

One caveat -- most VoiceXML platforms only support certain audio formats, but the more common ones (WAV, MP3) are usually supported. VoiceXML also supports recording the audio of a call, so if one wanted to let callers post comments the application could record their audio and save it for later playback. There is actually a project called “Phone Blogger” that takes this approach (see www.wombatnation.com/phoneblogger).

By using these techniques, governments that make information available to citizens through RSS feeds can dramatically expand the accessibility of these feeds by making them available to anyone with a telephone.

Mark J. Headd
Voice Technologies for Government
www.voiceingov.org
mheadd@voiceingov.org





[Editor's note: Commenting is turned off because of spamming. Mark is interested in hearing from readers who are interested in how that can use VoiceXML to augment what they are doing with RSS. Please email the author with your comments and we'll invite him to write a follow-up here at RSS in Government addressing your ideas and suggestions.]

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

I posted the November 2024 Google webmaster report a bit late this month, sorry about that. Google is testing anchor text based links in the AI Overviews. Google Ads has unpaused the election ads today. Google Ads Editor version 2.8 is out. Google is testing removing the site name and favicons from the search results. Google Maps finder may or may not show the sponsored label on the left side. HARO is being closed next month.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• November 2024 Google Webmaster Report
  While Google has yet to confirm a Google search ranking update, we have seen tremendous volatility in the Google Search results this month. Google did however confirm it can downgrade sections of content that is starkly different from the main content. We also posted an update on the helpful content update. Finally, Google did say a new Google update is coming soon.
• Google AI Overviews Testing Anchor Text Based Hyperlinks
  Google is testing showing real blue anchor text based hyperlinks in the AI Overviews, instead of showing that paperclip icon. This may encourage searchers to click on the links within the AI Overviews more - or maybe not - we have no data to validate this because Google won't give it to us.
• Google Ads Allows US Elections Ads Again Today
  Google has lifted its pause on US election and political ads today, Monday, November 11, 2024. The pause of US based election ads was temporarily instituted after the US election polls closed on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Google has now lifted the temporary pause and you can begin those ads again, if you so want to.
• Google Tests Dropping Site Name & Favicon From Search Results
  Google is testing removing the favicons and site name from the mobile search results. As you may remember, Google first launched these in the mobile search results back in October 2022 and yes, Google has had its trouble with these favicons and site names over the years.
• Google Map Finder Ads Sponsored Labels Not Always Showing
  Google may be testing displaying sponsored labels in different positions within the local map finder view. Some of the ads have sponsored labels on the left side, where it lists the local listings. While others don't show the sponsored label until you hover over the listing.
• Google Ads Editor Version 2.8 Is Now Out
  Google has released version 2.8 of the Google Ads Editor. This new update brings a number of new features including AI-generatged images, export to Google Sheets, brand guidelines, image cropping, strict age and gender targeting, a new help center and more.
• HARO / Connectively Platform Closing Down December 9
  HARO, Help a Reporter Out, now known as the Connectively Platform is being discontinued, and shut down, on December 9th. For SEOs, it was a way to get attention and potentially links, from journalists and it is a topic we've covered in the past.
• Google Hosts A Plant Party
  This isn't a joke, they have parties centered around plants. Google had a "plant party" at its Kitchener, Ontario office the other week. Googlers sat in a big room and made plants, it was a party.

Other Great Search Threads:

• For those wondering about what @JohnMu answered to my question related to the validity or not of es-419 as language code for Latam Spanish in the #hreflang , here his answer confirming it's still not considered, Gianluca Fiorelli on X
• Nothing has changed, the documentation for this is pretty stable. If we decided to support different code sets, we would make a big deal about it., John Mueller on LinkedIn
• This is great to see, an HCU-affected site (which Google specifically acknowledged as having good content) is now ranking in position 2 organically for a valuable, relevant keyword (above REI & Switchback Travel). Green line in t, Lily Ray on X
• Google is displaying schema prices in bold, Sachin Patel on X
• Heads-up: Looks like there have been some huge surges and drops in the recipe space over the past few weeks. And Oct 26 was a big day for a number of those sites impacted. Some were tied to the August 2024 broad core update... and t, Glenn Gabe on X
• We took a revenue hit in our Moz SEO business, partially due to the MozCon conference moving out of the quarter, but also due to a softening a new customer acquisition" Ziff Davis are usually pretty quiet about their Moz acquisit..., Glen Allsopp on X
• I'm delighted to announce the<< #SEOFOMO News: Your Real-Time Source for SEO and Digital Marketing news. 'SEOFOMO News<< is a news community designed for SEO and digital marketing professionals to stay current with the, Aleyda Solis on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google to unpause political election ads Nov. 11
• The latest jobs in search marketing
• Google shifts Demand Gen audience categorization to 'signals'
• Google sunsets Local Services Ads mobile app, shifts focus to web platform
• Google's srsltid= parameter: What it means for SEO and attribution
• YouTube expands shorts monetization, adds new analytics features
• How to brief a content creator effectively for social search marketing

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• Google Analytics launches data access monitoring tools for security control, PPC Land

Industry & Business

• OpenAI loses another lead safety researcher, Lilian Weng, TechCrunch
• A.I.-Powered Painting of Alan Turing Sells for $1.1 Million, New York Times
• How ChatGPT Brought Down an Online Education Giant - WSJ, Wall Street Journal

Links & Content Marketing

• 100+ Winter Content Ideas to Keep Your Marketing Momentum, WordStream
• 10 Content Optimization Tips From 13 SEO Experts, Surfer SEO
• Optimize Content for Search Engines: From Invisible to Unmissable, Level343

Local & Maps

• Edit your Business Hours on Google Business Profile, Sterling Sky
• Google Maps now lets you pick and paint your own virtual car, Android Police
• Has Google Maps seemed a lot less reliable to you lately?, Android Police
• Siri Finally Gets Local Search, Near Media
• Google Maps Introduces AR For Paris Landmarks With Rock Paper Reality, Forbes

Mobile & Voice

• Gurman: Apple Vision Pro 2 on track for release between Fall 2025 and Spring 2026, 9to5Mac
• Standalone 'Google Gemini' app spotted for iPhone with Live, 9to5Google

SEO

• AI vs. SEO: What does the Future of Search look like?, SISTRIX
• News sites 'don't have genuine choice' over Google AI crawlers, Press Gazette
• SEO Poisoning: Google Search Traps Cat Lovers with Malware in Surprising Bengal Cat Scam, Bill Hartzer
• SERP Features Beyond Google '" Analysing China, Advanced Web Ranking
• What if Schema.org is just'... Labels?, Jono Alderson

PPC

• 9 PPC Metrics to Track & How to Optimize Them, Semrush
• Google Ads Speeds Up Access to Automated Asset Settings, PPC News Feed
• How To Design Effective A/B Tests for PPC, PPCChat
• Video: How to Set Up Attribute Rules in Google Merchant Center Next, ZATO Marketing
• What Is Keyword Advertising? A Guide to How It Works + Tips, Semrush
• Customize Your Communication Preferences with Google Ads Reps, PPC News Feed
• Google AdSense unveils enhanced features for 2024 holiday season monetization, PPC Land
• Performance Max Is transforming Google search results - But at what cost?, PPC Land
• Google Ads RLSA: How to Retarget Your Search Campaigns, Jyll Saskin Gales

Search Features

• The Google app is testing a convenient way to check your search history, Android Police
• How search engines changed with proxies, TechRadar
• Veterans Day 2024 Doodle, Google Doodles

Other Search

• ChatGPT told 2M people to get their election news elsewhere '" and rejected 250K deepfakes, TechCrunch
• AI didn't sway the election, but it's eroding voters' grip on reality, Washington Post
• OpenAI Shifts Strategy as Rate of 'GPT' AI Improvements Slows, The Information
• Researchers at Peking University Introduce A New AI Benchmark for Evaluating Numerical Understanding and Processing in Large Language Models, MarkTechPost

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

Google is testing placing a second link directly under the main ad headline link, some call the title link, that pull from your Google Ads assets or extensions. It is unusual to see these links right next to each other, sometimes you'd see them as sitelinks under the ad description but not directly under the main headline link.

This was spotted by both Anthony Higman who posted it on LinkedIn and X - here are his screenshots:

And this desktop variation by Jonathan Cottrell on LinkedIn:

This seems weird but it can probably have a huge impact on an ads click through rate, but again, it is just a test right now.

Forum discussion at X and LinkedIn.

Google Search has been rolling out this new expandable section in the search results titled "current sales." I guess Google is able to figure out what is a sale and what is not, maybe from structured data or Merchant Center and then have a section in the search results for that...

This was first spotted by Khushal Bherwani on X and then by Sachin Patel on X - here are some screenshots:

Then when you toggle it open it looks like this:

Here are more screenshots:

More finds , noticing this in wild on serp pic.twitter.com/ckiNaxS1Wg

— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) November 10, 2024

@rustybrick Google SERP has a current sales section. pic.twitter.com/AkFiIBvIia

— Sachin Patel (@SachuPatel53124) November 7, 2024

Forum discussion at X.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google released the November 2024 core update, so far, we are not seeing much movement but I have a lot more details in the story below. Have you seen term drift in SEO and Google Search. Google has SEO advice on version history pages. Google Ads is testing subheading links. Google is testing seller and product ratings on the same shopping ad. Google is testing a current sales section in search.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google November 2024 Core Update Is Now Rolling Out - What We Know So Far
  Google has begun rolling out the third core update for the year, the November 2024 core update. This update started to roll out on November 11, 2024 at around 3:30 pm and will take about two weeks to complete rolling out. This seems like a typical core update, without any new specifics about what changed or what improved.
• SEO Advice On Version History Pages From Google
  Google's John Mueller posted some SEO advice on how to handle version history pages, for product releases, specifications, APIs and other version history. This advice is pretty similar to how to handle recurring event pages, like conferences and events. In short, the main page should keep the same URL and then archive the older version history details on an archive page URL.
• Term Drift In SEO - Why It Matters
  The meanings of words and brands can change over time. The terms can drift to different meanings. Term drift happens, although it is rare amongst words and less rare with rebrands - but still, it happens.
• New Google Travel Ads Feed Format May Be Rolling Out
  A couple of weeks ago, Google announced the new features for travel search ads through integration with travel feeds. These may now be out in the wild, as we are seeing pricing and other rich markup showing up for hotel ads in Google Search.
• Google Search Current Sales Expandable Section
  Google Search has been rolling out this new expandable section in the search results titled "current sales." I guess Google is able to figure out what is a sale and what is not, maybe from structured data or Merchant Center and then have a section in the search results for that...
• Google Shopping Ads With Both Seller & Product Ratings
  Google is showing both seller ratings and product ratings on a single Google Shopping Ad unit. It is a bit weird to see both ratings, and it can potentially be confusing to see different ratings for the same retailer but one is for the rating of the specific product and one is for the rating of the company selling that product, i.e the seller.
• Google Ads Tests Subheadline Links Under Search Ad Title Links
  Google is testing placing a second link directly under the main ad headline link, some call the title link, that pull from your Google Ads assets or extensions. It is unusual to see these links right next to each other, sometimes you'd see them as sitelinks under the ad description but not directly under the main headline link.
• GooglePlex Sign: Please Refrain From Touching The Androids
  Here is a sign at the GooglePlex that is politely asking visitors to not touch the Androids. It says, "Please refrain from touching the Androids - Thank you." I often see photos of people climbing on them, so maybe that will help?

Other Great Search Threads:

• chatgpt went down for 30 mins today :( we are much, much better at reliability than we used to be, but clearly more work in front of us., Sam Altman on X
• Here are two key takeaways from Google's Search Central Live Taipei 2024., Hope Lui on LinkedIn
• Marigold Magic! From the flavors to the culture, India left us spellbound. That's a wrap on the Gurugram #PESummit24. We loved connecting with PEs in person and virtually!, Google's Product Experts Program on X
• Nothing has changed with the way audiences work in Demand Gen campaigns., Ginny Marvin on LinkedIn
• Several readers are asking me why Search Engine Roundtable won't come up in any Google AI Overviews. I don't have a good explanation but they are right. Even based on third party tools that track them, SER does not show up at all. I assume it is some sort, Barry Schwartz on LinkedIn
• Site reputation abuse reminder: Marketplace Operations Inc & Forbes Marketplace Holdings Inc are responsible for the content on Forbes Advisor, Health, Wheels & Home Improvement. Remember them + Thomas Callahan as we uncover how th, Goog Enough on X
• You can add voiceover to your Pmax videos to increase users attention., Thomas Eccel on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google November 2024 core update rolling out now
• Data: PMax performance stable, but Search CPCs increasing
• Google debuts Sale Event promotion type in Merchant Center
• Google integrates seller and product ratings in Shopping Ads
• Google Ads Editor 2.8 launches with AI image generation
• Server access logs and SEO: Everything you need to know in 2025
• Knowledge graphs: An introduction
• How to gain visibility in generative AI answers: GEO for Perplexity and ChatGPT

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• How to use Google Analytics 4 to track social media performance, Hootsuite

Industry & Business

• Google Executive Picked to Supercharge News Efforts Has Resigned, Wall Street Journal
• Acodie Interview Series: Barry Schwartz, Founder of the Search Engine Roundtable, Acodez

Links & Content Marketing

• NEW: Topics, Interests, and Content Ideas Now Live in SparkToro V2, SparkToro

Local & Maps

• Coming Soon: An All-New Moz Local, Moz
• Goodbye, Google Maps? Apple Maps Envisions Revolutionary Traffic Light Navigation Feature, AutoEvolution
• Google Maps moves the weather for a cleaner map on Android, 9to5Google

Mobile & Voice

• ChatGPT is currently down; Siri integration in iOS 18.2 affected, 9to5Mac
• Google Gemini tests an overlay that looks like you're texting your assistant from any screen, Android Police
• Google's Android-exclusive Gemini Live could be about to launch on iPhone, TechRadar
• Why 'Type to Siri' Is My Favorite New iOS 18.1 Feature, Lifehacker

SEO

• Introducing our Bing Webmaster Tools API Python Client, Merj
• Technically Wrong, But Worth Fixing?, Chris Green
• What we learned at NESS 2024 (pt. 2), SEO For Journalism
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider Update '" Version 21.0, Screaming Frog

PPC

• 5 Ways to Maximize Your Ad Performance with AdCreative.ai, Semrush
• CMA demands changes to Google Privacy Sandbox after cookie deprecation reversal, PPC Land
• Google Lifts the Lid (a Little) on AI Buying Tool Pmax, Giving Buyers More Ways to Test, AdWeek
• Taboola reports Q3 Growth and raises 2024 targets amid AI expansion, PPC Land
• Unpacking the Data Behind Trump and Harris' Presidential Election Ad Spending, PPC Hero
• Updated PMAX Table View Now Displays Ad Strength, PPC News Feed
• What Digital Marketing Agencies Are Saying Behind Your Back, DAGMAR
• Image Asset Gallery Combines Square & Horizontal Images, PPC News Feed

Other Search

• Ecosia, Qwant partner on search engine tech to counter Google's power, CNBC
• LLMO: 10 Ways to Work Your Brand Into AI Answers, Ahrefs
• OpenAI and others seek new path to smarter AI as current methods hit limitations, Reuters
• Two Upstart Search Engines Are Teaming Up to Take on Google, Wired

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

A couple of months ago, we reported how Google Search will label if an image was AI-generated, edited by photo editing software or taken with a camera by working with Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) as a technical standard. Well, now Google officially supports C2PA metadata in the about this image feature.

Google wrote this morning, Google Search now supports this [C2PA] metadata in the "About this image" feature."

Google updated its image meta data documentation to add a new section for "How C2PA metadata can appear in Google Search results."

The new section reads:

If an image contains C2PA metadata, Google can extract those details and may show information in the "About this image" feature, such as how the image was created or if it was edited with AI tools. This metadata comes from a signer, which is usually an app, device, or service (for example, photo editing software, the camera itself, or other services that modify or create images) that meets the following conditions:

• The app, device, or service has adopted C2PA version 2.1 or later.
• The image's manifest must be signed by a certificate from a Certification Authority on the C2PA Trust List.

It does seem like Adobe products, like Photoshop, Illustrated, and others, do support this metadata.

I just wonder how it handles the image above, which I generate using Midjourney AI and then edit later in Photoshop.

Forum discussion at X.

Happy New Year to everyone. Here’s to a spectacular fresh year and lots of cake.

The post Happy New Year 2023 appeared first on The Red Ferret Journal.

Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have discovered an ingenious new way to recycle Lithium Ion batteries, and it’s so simple that even your mum could do it. Maybe. The problem with battery recycling has always been that it’s rather cumbersome. Traditional methods involve breaking down batteries into their constituent parts, then extracting the valuable materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. The process works, but it’s not exactly what you’d call efficient, and it can be quite costly....

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This week, SEO expert Brie Moreau doesn’t share his business results but, rather, the results of an incredibly in-depth study he did analyzing 260k search results to find an answer to a major question: what does Google want exactly? Using…

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Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast! This week Jared and guest host Morgan Overholt break down the biggest news affecting publishers and SEOs and cover the latest moves by Google. After the news, they talk…

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When Dave Chesson was in the US Navy, he would spend lots of time away from his family. And he hated it.  He decided to create a portfolio of niche sites in an attempt to earn enough to quit his…

The post How Dave Chesson Earns Up To $14k/Month Publishing Books on Amazon appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

Spencer is back with Jared to host this week’s episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast.  Like they always do, they discuss the major happenings related to SEO, small publishers, Google, and beyond, and it has been a very eventful…

The post DOJ Tries to Break Up Google Chrome, Android, and Search Monopoly appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

Jamie Northrup is no stranger to the “make money online” scene. He’s been doing it for almost 20 years with varying success, depending on the strategy.  For years he has been developing different income streams, focusing particularly on side hustles…

The post How Jamie Northrup Earns +$6k/Month From Multiple Income Streams appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

Jared and guest host Morgan Overholt are back together this week to cover the latest news in SEO and beyond, to talk about progress with their respective side hustles, and to share some weird niche sites and discuss their strategies.…

The post Semrush Buys Search Engine Land! Google Search Falls Apart? appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

Jared and guest host Thomas Smith are here this week to offer an overview of the main news affecting Google, small publishers, and SEOs. They also share some interesting side hustles and a few very weird niche sites. They kick…

The post Fixing Google Search? Site Reputation Abuse Crackdown! appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

Welcome back to another episode of the Niche Pursuits News Podcast! This week Spencer and Jared break down the latest news affecting SEOs and small publishers, they share their side hustle progress, and they talk about some weird niche sites…

The post This 8 Letter Tweet Just Changed Search Forever appeared first on Niche Pursuits.

Shareablee, la herramienta líder en medición de audiencias en redes sociales y digitales habilita 26 nuevas métricas de medición enfocadas en la plataforma de TikTok para Latinoamérica

It feels like just yesterday Google announced its plan to phase out the third-party cookie and sent the entire advertising industry into a tailspin.