The 10 Important URLs That Every Google User Should Know

What does Google know about the places you’ve visited recently? What are your interests as determined by Google? Where does Google keep a list of every word that you’ve ever typed in the search box? Where can you get a list of Google ads that were of interest to you?

The 10 Important Google Links

Google stores everything privately and here are the 10 important links (URLs) that will unlock everything Google knows about you. They are hidden somewhere deep inside your Google Account dashboard and they may reveal interesting details about you that are otherwise only known to Google. Let’s dive in.

1. Google stores a list of usernames and passwords that you have typed in Google Chrome or Android for logging into various websites. They even have a website too where you can view all these passwords in plain text.

passwords.google.com

2. Google creates a profile of yourself based on the sites you visit, guessing your age, gender and interests and then use this data to serve you more relevant ads. Use this URL to know how Google sees you on the web.

www.google.com/settings/ads

3. You can easily export all your data out of the Google ecosystem. You can download your Google Photos, contacts, Gmail messages and even your YouTube videos. Head over the the Takeout page to grab the download links.

www.google.com/takeout

4. If you ever find your content appearing on another website, you can raise a DMCA complaint with Google against that site to get the content removed. Google has a simple wizard to help you claim content and the tool can also be used to remove websites from Google search results that are scraping your content.

support.google.com/legal

5. Your Android phone or the Google Maps app on your iPhone is silently reporting your location and velocity (are you moving and if yes, how fast are you moving) back to Google servers. You can find the entire location history on the Google Maps website and you also have the option to export this data as KML files that can be viewed inside Google Earth or even Google Drive.

google.com/maps/timeline

6. Create a new Google Account using your existing email address. The regular sign-up process uses your @gmail.com address as your Google account username but with this special URL, you can use any other email address as your username.

accounts.google.com/SignUpWithoutGmail

7. Google and YouTube record every search term that you’ve ever typed or spoken into their search boxes. They keep a log of every Google ad that you have clicked on various websites, every YouTube video you’ve watched and, if you are a Google Now user, you can also see a log of all your audio search queries. OK Google.

history.google.com (Google searches)
history.google.com/history/audio (Voice searches)
youtube.com/feed/history (YouTube searches and watched videos)

8. You need to login to your Gmail account at least once every 9 months else Google may terminate your account according to their program policies. This can be an issue if you have multiple Gmail accounts so as a workaround, you can setup your main Gmail account as the trusted contact for your secondary accounts. Thus Google will keep sending you reminders every few months to login to your other accounts.

www.google.com/settings/account/inactive

9. Worried that someone else is using your Google account or it could behacked? Open the activity report to see a log of every device that has recently connected into your Google account. You’ll also get to know the I.P. Addresses and the approximate geographic location. Unfortunately, you can’t remotely log out of a Google session.

myaccount.google.com/security

10. Can’t locate your mobile phone? You can use the Google Device Manager to find your phone provided it is switched on and connected to the Internet. You can ring the device, see the location or even erase the phone content remotely. You can even find the IMEI Number of the lost phone from your Google Account.
google.com/android/devicemanager

How to Display Alternate Content to AdBlock Users

Ad blocking software like AdBlock and Ghostery are installed on millions of computers and thus affecting the bottom line of web publishers who are dependent on online advertising networks like Google AdSense to pay their bills. It takes time and effort to maintain a website but if the visitors are blocking ads, the revenues are reduced. Ars Technica says this is equivalent to running a restaurant where people come and eat but without paying.

As a website publisher, you have a few options. You can detect Adblock on the visitor’s computer and hide your content if the ads are being blocked. That’s going too far but you may ask for donations (OK Cupid does this) or request social payments (Like or Tweet to view the whole page) from AdBlock users.

The other more practical option is that you display alternative content to people who are blocking ads. For instance, you may display a Facebook Like box or a Twitter widget in the place of ads, you may run in-house ads promoting articles from your own website (similar to Google DFP) or you may display any custom message (see example>>>)

to the visitor.

Before we get into the implementation details.  It contains regular AdSense ads but if you are using an Ad blocking software, a Facebook Like box will be displayed inside the vacant ad space.

It is relatively easy to build such a solution for your website. Open your web page that contains Google AdSense ads and copy-paste the following snippet before the closing

tag. The script looks for the first AdSense ad unit on your page and if it is found to be empty (because the ads are being blocked), an alternative HTML message is displayed in the available ad space.

You can put a Facebook Like box, a YouTube video, a Twitter widget, an image banner, a site search box or even plain text.

<script> 
  
  // Run after all the page elements have loaded
  window.onload = function(){ 
  
    // This will take care of asynchronous Google ads
    setTimeout(function() { 
      
      // We are targeting the first banner ad of AdSense
      var ad = document.querySelector("ins.adsbygoogle");
      
      // If the ad contains no innerHTML, ad blockers are at work
      if (ad && ad.innerHTML.replace(/\s/g, "").length == 0) {
        
        // Since ad blocks hide ads using CSS too
        ad.style.cssText = 'display:block !important'; 
        
        // You can put any text, image or even IFRAME tags here
        ad.innerHTML = 'Your custom HTML messages goes here';
      
      }
      
    }, 2000); // The ad blocker check is performed 2 seconds after the page load 
  }; 
  
</script>


One more thing. The above snippet only detects blocking of AdSense ads and replaces them with alternate content. The process would would however not be very different for BuySellAds or other advertising networks.

Find How Many Visitors Are Not Seeing Ads on your Website

Adblocking software like AdBlock Plus have become mainstream and now pose a significant threat to web businesses that are dependent on online advertisements. The problem is so severe that Google and Amazon are paying the writers of AdBlock Plus to whitelist their ads. This may be seen as some kind of extortion but with billions of dollars at stake, the advertising companies have chosen to take the more profitable route.

It is estimated that ~5% of website visitors are blocking ads (PDF report) and the situation could be far worse for websites that have a more tech-savvy audience. If you are curious to know how many people visiting your own site are blocking AdSense and other ads, here’s a little trick.

Track Adblock Users with Google Analytics

Open your website template and copy-paste the snippet below before the closingbody. This code will detect the presence of adblocking software on the visitor’s browser and, if found, an event gets logged into your Google Analytics account.

<script> 
  
  window.onload = function() { 
  
    // Delay to allow the async Google Ads to load
    setTimeout(function() { 
      
      // Get the first AdSense ad unit on the page
      var ad = document.querySelector("ins.adsbygoogle");
      
      // If the ads are not loaded, track the event
      if (ad && ad.innerHTML.replace(/\s/g, "").length == 0) {
 
        if (typeof ga !== 'undefined') {
 
            // Log an event in Universal Analytics
            // but without affecting overall bounce rate
            ga('send', 'event', 'Adblock', 'Yes', {'nonInteraction': 1}); 
 
        } else if (typeof _gaq !== 'undefined') {
 
            // Log a non-interactive event in old Google Analytics
            _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'Adblock', 'Yes', undefined, undefined, true]);
 
        }
      }
    }, 2000); // Run ad block detection 2 seconds after page load
  }; 
  
</script>

The snippet works for both Universal Analytics and the older version of Google Analytics tracker that used the _gaq object. As a web publisher, your only option is to serve alternate content to AdBlock users so the visitors at least see some content in place of the ads.

One big caveat though – it will fail if the ad blocking extension installed on the visitor’s computer has blocked Google Analytics as well. Some of the popular choices like μBlock, NoScript and Ghostery do block Google Analytics so the approach won’t work and you may have to build your own in-house solution – like downloading an image hosted on your own server and then counting the hits to that image through the Apache server logs.

Newsgator vs Bloglines vs Google Reader

Here, we are comparing the three most popular web-based RSS readers - Newsgator Online Web Edition, Bloglines and Google Reader. All of them are server-based aggregation systems. 

For our comparison, we created a new account in each of the services and imported the CNet's Blog 100 OPML Source File [#] The scores for comparison categories are mentioned in brackets.

Setting up a New Account:
Bloglines and Google Reader require an email address to create an account that also becomes your login. Your email is verified before you can start using these services. In Newgator Online, the username and email address are different. The e-mail address is also not verified. (NG: 5, GR: 4, BL: 4)

Adding New Feeds:
All these services allow importing of OPML file or directly adding new feeds by specifying the URL. Google Reader was faster than Newgator and Bloglines when importing new content from the OMPL file. During the Import process, only Newsgator lets you further select or deselect feeds mentioned in the OPML file. Bloglines and Newsgator imported all the feeds without giving any such option. (NG: 4.5, GR: 4, BL: 4)

Navigating the Feeds:
Unlike Newsgator Online, Bloglines and Google reader support shortcut keys. With a single key, you can mark the entire session as read. Or open the original post in a new window. (NG: 2, GR: 4, BL: 4.5)

User Interface:
Bloglines displays information in two HTML frames - the left pane has all the feeds listed while the right pane shows corresponding posts, search results and other tips. Newsgator sports a similar interface to Bloglines but it scrolls both the panes together. This gets annoying particularly when a feed has long posts or lot of posts. Google Reader has a very different interface based on Ajax technology . It shows individual posts title on the left pane and the actual post on the right pane. To read a post, you will need to click it. I like Bloglines simple yet uncluttered interface. (NG: 3, GR: 4, BL: 5)

Finding New Source:
All these three services provide a search feature. In my comparison, I searched for feeds related to "Google" - Most of the search results in Newsgator were irrelevant. Even the Official Google blogs were missing in the search results. Google, as expected, wins by a huge margin, both in terms of relevance and freshness of content. Though Bloglines results were disappointing, Bloglines is the only service that lets you limit your search to your subscriptions only. (NG: 1, GR: 5, BL: 2)

Customization Features:
In Bloglines, you can choose either to view complete entries or Summaries or Titles only. You can also attach notes to individual feeds. Google Reader uses labels. Bloglines provides multiple options for sorting feeds. You can filter items in Bloglines based on the time the item was published. In Google Reader, feeds can be filterned based on labels or Title of the feed. (NG: 2, GR: 3, BL: 4)

Other Good Features:
Newsgator Smart Feeds let you track reference to any URL. This is a feature similar to the Google link: syntax. 

Both Newsgator and Bloglines display the number of subscribers associated with each feed but Bloglines even goes a step further, it displays the list of public subscribers. Google has no such option till now. 

Bloglines let you create a custom blog (hosted on Bloglines) to store and share your clippings and favorites. Clipping facility is available in Newsgator also but Bloglines provides a nice WYSIWYG editor for further rich-editing of clips. (NG: 2, GR: 2, BL: 4)

Conclusion:
Here are the final scores:

Google Reader: 26
Bloglines: 27.5
Newsgator Online Web Edition Free: 19.5

Bloglines wins but Google Reader, still in beta, is close. Google Reader outperformed everyone when searching for new content but Bloglines interface and usability make it a big winner.

Which Adsense Format and Color Scheme Performs Best

Should I use the 300x250 Adsense Rectangle or the much wider 336x280 for maximizing clicks? What do I select - 4 or 5 ads per adlink unit ? Will text only ads perform better than text+image ads ? Should I hide the colored border ?

These are some very common questions among web publishers especially those who have just gained admission to the University of Adsense. While the answer is to keep on experimenting, most Adsense experts employ a simple technique called "AB Split Testing" to optimize their Adsense ads.

The basic idea is to display different Adsense formats at the same location simultaneously but randomly. [This is done using the random() function in Javascript that generates a number between 0 and 1 with equal probability]

Here's a sample scenario to help you determine what format works best for your site - 300x250 or 338x280 ?

Step 1: Create two custom Adsense channels - name them as 300x250 and 336x280.

Step 2: Generate the Adsense Javascript code for each of these Adsense formats. Everything will be common in two code snippets except the value of following variables: google_ad_channel, google_ad_width, google_ad_height and google_ad_format.

Step 3: This is an important step, you will merge the two Adsense snippets in such a fashion that each makes an appearance on your web pages nearly 50% of the time. Here's a sample code:

<script type="text/javascript">
 var google_ads = Math.random();
    if (google_ads < .5){
      google_ad_channel = "300x250Channel";google_ad_width = 300;
      google_ad_height = 250;google_ad_format = "300x250_as";
    } else {
      google_ad_channel = "336x280Channel";google_ad_width = 336;
      google_ad_height = 280;google_ad_format = "336x280_as";
    }
      google_ad_client = "pub-xxx";google_ad_type = "text_image";
      google_color_border = "FFFFFF";google_color_bg = "FFFFFF";
      google_color_link = "0000FF";google_color_text = "000000";
      google_color_url = "0000FF"; 
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" 
      src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script>

Monitor the performance (CTR, eCPM) of the two Adsense channels for a week or two to know which of the two Ad formats are converting better. [Switch to Advanced reports, select the two Adsense for Content channels and group by both date and channel]

In the next iteration, you may try the same trick with two different color schemes but keeping the Ad format same - just create separate Adsense channels for each color scheme.

If you are displaying Adsense ads on the homepage of blogs or other places where content changes very frequently, it's a good idea to test between Text and Text+Image ads. 

The contextual ads may not be very relevant on blog homepage or archives because of the dynamic content and therefore CPM based Image ads may bring in more revenue.

Blog Smartly and Let the Cash Pour In

To be really popular as a blogger, you must encourage visitors from commenting on your posts. After writing a long opinion about something on your blog, the best way to conclude is by saying – “What do you think”? When your blog receives frequent comments, new site visitors will also get the impression that your blog is popular and they too may consider subscribing to your blog.

Always respond to user comments. Most visitors who leave comments tend to return after some time to read other comments on the topic. If their comment remains unanswered, it could discourage them from posting new comments in the future.

Don’t get discouraged by negative feedback. You will always find some people who have bad things to say about what you have written. If the comment is too aggressive or uses foul language, it is best to remove it from the blog. After all, your blog is not a public restroom.

More visitors mean more ad impressions, which in turn means more revenue. From the perspective of search engines, a blog is no different from a website. All the basic search engine optimization rules equally apply to any blog, for a good search engine ranking. Search engines love blogs more than regular websites, since blogs are content-rich and turn up new content more frequently than websites.

Discussing Search Engine Optimizer, SEO, techniques may be beyond the scope of this article but still, I would mention some of the most important things, that bloggers should bear in mind while designing their blog and posting content:

Write good titles: Blog titles is one of the best ways to attract readers to your blog. Write meaningful titles that convey the essence of your blog posts. A title like “Look at this cool wireless device” is likely to fetch very few visitors when compared with “Nikon P1 Wireless Digital Camera Review”.

· Time is always a problem for most web surfers – a usability study has shown that people merely scan a site and don’t read the content word by word. Therefore, highlight the important words (make them bold), italicize the lines to get people to at least read the most important portions of your story.

· Don’t substitute text with graphics. Agreed, that a picture is worth a thousand words in real life but the same may not hold true for search engines. You can always complement your posts with a nice looking, small graphic but in doing so, don’t replace the text content. Google or Yahoo cannot read the text inside your pictures – they understand only textual content.

· Before using multimedia content like audio-video clips, flash files – think of the user who visits your website using a slow dialup connection – the site may take ages to load on the user’s screen and you tend lose the all-important visitor. It’s highly unlikely that he’ll ever visit your site again. Use small graphics instead.

· Don’t write lengthy content, as visitors are very likely to lose interest. Instead, break the content in different parts and link them together.

More than 60% of the web population cannot understand English. But thanks to online translation services like Google Translate, Babel Fish or World Lingo, you can let non-English speaking visitors translate your blog into their native language.

· Use web analytics software like Google Analytics (formerly, Urchin), Statcounter or Sitemeter to track what visitors are doing on your website. These free services can help you discover what sections on your website are more popular, how did people reach your site, how long they stayed, their browser, screen resolution and tonnes of other important details. Using this information, you can estimate what people are actually looking for on your website. Understand what content is popular and why is it popular. You can apply these lessons learned to the less-popular content.

· Not everyone in this world understands RSS – many internet users won’t now how to use a RSS reader like Newsgator or Bloglines, but they definitely know e-mail. There are tons of RSS-to-email services like FeedBlitz or Bloglet that let people subscribe to your blog by e-mail. You must use them to widen your subscriber base.

There are plenty of other things that can help increase the visibility of your website. If you like to contribute your own tips, please leave them in the comments section.

The next big thing – we have talked about visitors but what ads which will actually generate money. Let’s look at some effective techniques for monetizing your blog:

· Use ads above the main page fold – that’s the most important thing in my opinion. Users should notice the ad as soon as they land on your site without scrolling further.

· Wide Rectangle Formats (300×250) generally perform better than leader boards and small rectangles because the eyes are used to reading content from left to right.

· Your ad placement should blend with the content. Use colour schemes that match with whole page theme – if you use highly contrasting colours assuming that it will attract attention, it won’t work, as the ad clearly tells the user – “Hey, I am an Ad”

For short posts, ads work best when they are placed above the content, while for lengthy ones, try an ad placement at the bottom of the post. When readers finish reading the content, they generally look for related resources to learn more.

· Organize a party of your friends and relatives – Show them your website and look at their navigation pattern – this could give important pointers about which areas on your website attract more attention and which areas are likely to be ignored by the users.

· Don’t make heavy use of stop words like death, murder, kill, etc if you are using the Adsense programme. Google would stop displaying ads on pages that use these stop words. There are exceptions as well, like in one case, a user wrote on Dead Pixels on LCD screens – the post had the word ‘dead’ in multiple places and Google did accept the page.

· Remember not to clutter your website with too many ad units. This could leave a bad impression on your user and he may go away forever. Use your own judgment – if you see a similar layout on a third website, what kind of impression would you form of that website.