We’ve just received a updates from Google AdSense that Singapore, Cambodia and Laos will now be able to get their AdSense earning through Western Union rather than through a cheque. See below announcement from Adsense :

We understand that payment options are very important to you, so we continuously work to improve them. Today we’re happy to announce that we’ve expanded Western Union Quick Cash® as an AdSense payment method to three additional countries: Singapore, Cambodia and Laos.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with this form of payment, Western Union Quick Cash payments are free and will reach you faster than checks.  Payments follow our normal payment schedule and are available for pickup in  your local currency at your local Western Union agent the day after they’re issued.

It’s important to note that at this time we can only send Western Union payments to publishers that have an individual account. Also, the payee name on your account must exactly match the government-issued ID card that you’ll use when picking up your payments. For more information on how to sign up for and pick up Western Union payments, please visit our Help Center.

For those of you who don’t yet have Western Union Quick Cash as a payment method in your country, we appreciate your patience as we work to make this available. Please continue reading our Inside AdSense blog to learn about future launches.

Posted by Julia Peppiatt – AdSense Payments team

I know that there are lots of Filipino bloggers in Singapore that will benefit with this new feature. I wonder when will AdSense use PayPal as their type of payment. PayPal would be more convenient in receiving payment since we don’t have to fall in line and fill up forms in Western Union. Saudi Arabia and Philippines has been using Western Union for a long time. With this new improvement, AdSense publisher will not pay $24 just to cash the cheque that they are receiving. Go AdSense..

Incoming search terms:

• location map of manila water
• adsense saudi arabia account
• adsense western union for cambodia
• adsense western union quick cash
• how to create an available for pick up in a western union
• Western Union in Singapore

Image Credit : tech2digest.com

Google is becoming more transparent, just lately they have blog about the changes that they have made last December. Just for information, I have felt the changes for this blog just after new year.

Here’s the list for December: Google Inside Search

• Image Search landing page quality signals. [launch codename “simple”] This is an improvement that analyzes various landing page signals for Image Search. We want to make sure that not only are we showing you the most relevant images, but we are also linking to the highest quality source pages.
• More relevant sitelinks. [launch codename “concepts”, project codename “Megasitelinks”] We improved our algorithm for picking sitelinks. The result is more relevant sitelinks; for example, we may show sitelinks specific to your metropolitan region, which you can control with your location setting.
• Soft 404 Detection. Web servers generally return the 404 status code when someone requests a page that doesn’t exist. However, some sites are configured to return otherstatus codes, even though the page content might explain that the page was not found. We call these soft 404s (or “crypto” 404s) and they can be problematic for search engines because we aren’t sure if we should ignore the pages. This change is an improvement to how we detect soft 404s, especially in Russian, German and Spanish. For all you webmasters out there, the best practice is still to always use the correct response code.
• More accurate country-restricted searches. [launch codename “greencr”] On domains other than .com, users have the option to see only results from their particular country. This is a new algorithm that uses several signals to better determine where web documents are from, improving the accuracy of this feature.
• More rich snippets. We improved our process for detecting sites that qualify for shopping, recipe and review rich snippets. As a result, you should start seeing more sites with rich snippets in search results.
• Better infrastructure for autocomplete. This is an infrastructure change to improve how our autocomplete algorithm handles spelling corrections for query prefixes (the beginning part of a search).
• Better spam detection in Image Search. [launch codename “leaf”] This change improves our spam detection in Image Search by extending algorithms we already use for our main search results.
• Google Instant enhancements for Japanese. For languages that use non-Latin characters, many users use a special IME (Input Method Editor) to enter queries. This change works with browsers that are IME-aware to better handle Japanese queries in Google Instant.
• More accurate byline dates. [launch codename “foby”] We made a few improvements to how we determine what date to associate with a document. As a result, you’ll see more accurate dates annotating search results.
• Live results for NFL and college football. [project codename “Live Results”] We’ve added new live results for NFL.com and ESPN’s NCAA Football results. These results now provide the latest scores, schedules and standings for your favorite football teams.
• Improved dataset for related queries. We are now using an improved dataset on term relationships to find related queries. We sometimes include results for queries that are related to your original search, and this improvement leads to results from more relevant related queries.
• Related query improvements. [launch codename “lyndsy”] Sometimes we fetch results for queries that are related to the original query but have fewer words. We made several changes to our algorithms to make them more conservative and less likely to introduce results without query words.
• Better lyrics results. [launch codename “baschi”, project codename “Contra”] This change improves our result quality for lyrics searches.
• Tweak to +1 button on results page. As part of our continued effort to deliver a beautifully simple user experience across Google products, we’ve made a subtle tweak to how the +1 button appears on the results page. Now the +1 button will only appear when you hover over a result or when the result has already been +1’d.
• Better spell correction in Vietnamese. [project codename “Pho Viet”] We launched a new Vietnamese spelling model. This will help give more accurate spelling predictions for Vietnamese queries.
• Upcoming events at venues. We’ve improved the recently released places panel for event venues. For major venues, we now show up to three upcoming events on the right of the page. Try it for [staples center los angeles] or [paradise rock club boston].
• Improvements to image size signal. [launch codename “matter”] This is an improvement to how we use the size of images as a ranking signal in Image Search. With this change, you’ll tend to see images with larger full-size versions.
• Improved Hebrew synonyms. [launch codename “SweatNovember”, project codename “Synonyms”] This update refines how we handle Hebrew synonyms across multiple languages. Context matters a lot for translation, so this change prevents us from using translated synonyms that are not actually relevant to the query context.
• Safer searching. [launch codename “Hoengg”, project codename "SafeSearch"] We updated our SafeSearch tool to provide better filtering for certain queries when strict SafeSearch is enabled.
• Encrypted search available on new regional domains. Google now offers encrypted search by default on google.com for signed-in users, but it’s not the default on our other regional domains (eg: google.fr for France). Now users in the UK, Germany and France can opt in to encrypted search by navigating directly to an SSL version of Google Search on their respective regional domains: https://www.google.co.uk, https://www.google.de and https://www.google.fr.
• Faster mobile browsing. [launch codename “old possum”, project codename “Skip Redirect”] Many websites redirect smartphone users to another page that is optimized for smartphone browsers. This change uses the final smartphone destination url in our mobile search results, so you can bypass all the redirects and load the target page faster.

I have seen changes in the Google algorithm in Philippine based keywords. Since I optimized with Philippine related keywords and my Google webmaster is set to Philippines, I have noticed an improvement in Philippine traffic. Actually other bloggers have also felt the same as seen in their reply at my Facebook comment. It seems that the dates in the blog post is also important since they are getting signals from the date. Image is always important in every post. The update shows that they have change some algorithm about the image search, make sure that you have images in every post that you make.

In addition make sure that the image is relevant with the post that you are posting.

But what amaze me is that they never discuss about the Panda that hit 40-50% of my visitors.

In my over all observation I think changes is positive for this blog. I have increased about 10% to 20% of visitors from search. More visitors will definitely mean more income for this blog. Google keep giving me visitors.

Incoming search terms:

• powered by phpBB bowl
• taken with galaxy mini
• powered by phpBB regional map of united states
• manila us embassy location map
• powered by phpBB bowl game tv
• powered by phpBB bowl game winners
• powered by phpBB google games
• rich snippets phpbb topics
• why google philippines dont have google rich snippets

Image Credit: ubergizmo

Google entry in the tablet arena is going to be the most exciting event to look forward to this 2012. As rumors start to surface with the so-called features of Google tablet which according to Digitimes upstream source, Google will not compete directly with Apple iPad instead will produce a 7-inch tablet PC in order to compete closely withKindle Fire of the Amazon.

That Google will launch the new tablet around March-April of this year, taking Android Ice Cream Sandwich to run the tablet. What’s more intriguing is that, the price of the tablet is said to be cheaper than $199.

Definitely, the price issue will raise an eyebrow from experts in terms of quality of the tablet PC. In fact, report from the Washington Post last November 2011 stated that, Amazon is losing $3 for every Kindle Fire unit sold while its capability is in questioned. But in this case, it’s a strategy that Amazon executed to gain profit with the sale from its vast media products online through the tablet.

Now the question is, if Google would like to take the same path Amazon has initiated? This one is another wobbly speculation that people may not take seriously not until a real launch will take place by main source.

Incoming search terms:

• specs of samsung galaxy tab gt p1000
• best and cheap tablet pc in philippines
• dexter honolulu park place
• how to run pinoy tambayan in kindle fire
• kindle fire availability world wide
• kindle ice
• new kindle ice march 2012
• nicole uysiuseng of pbb

Image credit: nexus404.com

Google will likely to produce its own tablet mid next year according to the report as Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was quoted in an interview with Italian newspaper, “in the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality.”

Mobile enthusiasts believe that the comment of Eric Schmidt starts of the fiercest competition to leading brand iPad and Amazon Kindle Fire which is said to be the close rival tablet to date.

Following the acquisition of Motorola, Google will likely to align the new tablet with Nexus series of devices. For sure it will not be just one of those devices that will be just pushed around after being compared to iPad and Kindle fire.

The question if Google will manufacture its own tablet and to sell it, is another guess and only time can tell. But definitely Google will deliver its promise as the development of an app called “Majel” is on its way early next year. This app, also known as a mystery voice-assistant is obviously intended to challenge Siri of Apple iPhone 4s.

This is going to be an exciting event to look forward to in the future, with Google search to compete the giant Apple and Amazon.  Sound like Google is invading the world.

Incoming search terms:

• samsung mobiles price in philippines 2012
• blackberry price list philippines
• google high quality tablet specs
• invitation to disposal for 2012 philippines
• latest tablets selling price philippines 2012
• tablet market in philippines

Google informs the public that they are going to inform the public on monthly basis about their algorithm information that has been hidden for a long time. This is what Google Search Blog says about the recent search algorithm changes. I have made my observation and comments after each changes.

Related query results refinements: Sometimes we fetch results for queries that are similar to the actual search you type. This change makes it less likely that these results will rank highly if the original query had a rare word that was dropped in the alternate query. For example, if you are searching for [rare red widgets], you might not be as interested in a page that only mentions “red widgets.”

Above mentioned Google algorithm changes only shows that we need to use other keywords variation from our main keywords. So in our link building it is better to use different variation of keywords in our anchor text.

More comprehensive indexing: This change makes more long-tail documents available in our index, so they are more likely to rank for relevant queries.

Long tail keywords have always been more targeted than short keywords. Remember that when buyer searches for something in the internet, most of the time they use specified specification for their search.

New “parked domain” classifier: This is a new algorithm for automatically detecting parked domains. Parked domains are placeholder sites that are seldom useful and often filled with ads. They typically don’t have valuable content for our users, so in most cases we prefer not to show them.

So this is the death of earning big bucks from domain parking. It will be better to buy articles and post it in your domain and let it stay there to earn a passive income. A domain owner can use BlogSpot blogs if no hosting is available.

More autocomplete predictions: With autocomplete, we try to strike a balance between coming up with flexible predictions and remaining true to your intentions. This change makes our prediction algorithm a little more flexible for certain queries, without losing your original intention.

Therefore using of keywords synonyms is also important and may also show up in the search results.

Fresher and more complete blog search results: We made a change to our blog search index to get coverage that is both fresher and more comprehensive.

This has been discussed in my previous post about fresh results.

Original content: We added new signals to help us make better predictions about which of two similar web pages is the original one.

This is good for those article owners that are really spending time for their article. I always discourage scraping an article since it will do harm to a blog or web page in the future.

Live results for Major League Soccer and the Canadian Football League: This change displays the latest scores & schedules from these leagues along with quick access to game recaps and box scores.

It only means a tough competition in the SERP for Sports Blog.

Image result freshness: We made a change to how we determine image freshness for news queries. This will help us find the freshest images more often.

This is good changes since most of the time the image that shows in the SERP is irrelevant to the keywords that are being used in Image search. This is just my observation.

Layout on tablets: We made some minor color and layout changes to improve usability on tablet devices.

Well this is good for tablet users.

Top result selection code rewrite: This code handles extra processing on the top set of results. For example, it ensures that we don’t show too many results from one site (“host crowding”). We rewrote the code to make it easier to understand, simpler to maintain and more flexible for future extensions.

So will in not see results with the same domain occupying the top 4 spot in the SERP?

Above mentioned changes says only one thing, Google now loves fresh information to appear on the SERP. This is good for news sites and blogs. If this changes continues, those who owns statics site needs to make their own blog too, to stay on top. It will also mean new opportunity for content writers.

Incoming search terms:

• sigar rashad evans
• gasoline engine sketch
• how google shows the contents when we are searching for something
• recent google algorithm change

The updated version of Google Search for iPad tablet has launched with a cool voice recognition feature. It also has a visual search history tab and a version of Google Instant. Voice activated application is a big craze in mobile gadgets nowadays. Apple created a huge hit with iPhone 4S with the Siri application. The newly released iPhone 4S’ major come-on and the thing that sets it apart from iPhone 4 is the Siri voice activated software.

The new search app for iPad has multiple panes so you can go to your favorite websites much faster. Google is creating a lot of applications for iPad- being the dominant player in the tablet market with big steps ahead of the Android market. Meanwhile, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is slowly making its way to tablets and smart phones with the goal of using these two operating systems with a single cool app.

It was a surprise that Google is riding on the iPad popularity. The two companies rival in the computing world but are now making strategic marketing moves that do not only allow them to profit, but in essence, allows us users to take advantage of great and useful apps.

Incoming search terms:

• how to make google my search engine on ipad
• aquino with the Obamas
• google search history dots
• rezound phone
• sea world manila
• steps for google voice search in iphone for internet search
• voice recognition for iPad
• x500

Good news is that you can have chance to get free songs for downloads. Music downloads range anywhere from $0.69, $0.99 and $1.29.Some of the popular artists are already on the bandwagon like Pearl Jam, Drake, and Coldplay, among others. So far, Google offers about 13 million music tracks from major recording companies such as Universal Music, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Group Ltd and other independent labels.

Google also have a very nice social network feature that allows users to share their purchased music over at Google Plus. People belonging in one circle can listen to the songs at no cost. It also features an online locker where purchased songs are saved and can be streamed over cell phone and computer browsers at no extra fee.

If you have an iPad, you can use Google music streaming via Safari browser. Google’s cloud storage can hold up to 20,000 songs. While you need to pay for Apple iTunes Match at $25 a year, the cloud music services of Google allows you to listen to your music when you want it. You can listen to your purchased songs with any mobile browser or computer browser without having to download the music that you already paid for.

Google Music is still in Beta and is currently available in the United States. But with Google’s reach, it is not a surprise to find its availability in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world in a couple of months.

Incoming search terms:

• Spongebob Games To Play
• pomeranian philippines
• google music
• google music asks me to increase to 25 Mb on ipad
• the engin that could christmas song

Following are the changes:

• Completely new app and new visual design
• Battery life improvements
• Navigation and performance improvements
• Significant improvements to notifications
• Brand new posting UI
• Several bug fixes
• Support for Google Apps users
• Ability to sign out
• Add people to a circle from circle profiles

These changes will go along a lot with the new Ice Cream Sandwich design (a.k.a. Android 4.0) which he (JR Raphael) excitedly introduces from Google+ social network. This feature will deliver a whole new look and feel for the Ice Cream Sandwich phone users.

Google Reader and Google+ Integration

Another improvement is the rolling out of the new Google Reader design with the sole purpose to streamline with Google+ features. This integration will provide Reader users a lot better experience according to Allan Green, Google software engineer. Features such as:

· New look and feel that’s cleaner, faster, and nicer to look at.

· The ability to +1 a feed item (replacing "Like"), with an option to then share it with your circles on Google+ (replacing "Share" and "Share with Note").

So expect today that existing features from Google Reader will no longer work in favor for Google+ functionality.

Incoming search terms:

• appreader samsung
• downloadgoogleplus
• google reader google android

The wait is over, Google and Samsung unveiled their latest mobile just in time after iPhone 4s and Motorola Razr launch. They launch the new phone and the new OS at Hongkong. Galaxy Nexus, the first smartphone to feature Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), the next major version of Google’s mobile operating system, and a HD Super AMOLED display, wan unveiled during a news conference in Hong Kong October 19, 2011.

Specifications :

• 4.65-inch Super AMOLED display with an impressive 1280×720 resolution.
• Curved form factor that is said to give it a natural feel despite its large size.
• 1.2GHz dual-core TI OMAP4 CPU
• front and rear-facing cameras
• 1GB of RAM
• separate models with HSPA+ and LTE connectivity will available depending on region.
• Bluetooth
• WiFi
• NFC
• It also has the full array of sensors, including a built-in gyroscope and barometer.
• Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• Dimension : 5.33 x 2.67 x 0.35 (135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94 mm)
• Weight : 4.76 oz (135 g)
• Processor: Dual core, TI OMAP 4460, 1200 MHz
• Memory: 1024 MB RAM
• 5 Mega Pixel Camera

The device is scheduled to ship in November with Android 4 codename Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), on board.

According to the news, the android 4 home screen got a major overhaul that brings support for resizable widgets and an improved dock area. We still don’t know how much will this be price in Philippines or in Saudi Arabia.

{ Source Phone Areana , Image from Arstechnica.com }

Incoming search terms:

• samsung galaxy nexus price philippines
• samsung galaxy nexus price in saudi
• galaxy nexus philippines
• samsung galaxy nexus philippines
• samsung galaxy nexus jarir bookstore
• samsung nexus prime price in philippines
• google galaxy nexus prime price in saudi
• SAMSUNG GALAXY NEXUS PRICE IN SAUDI ARABIA
• galaxy nexus price in saudi
• samsung nexus prime price philippines

According to Pocketline reports, “Samsung and Google decide to postpone the new product announcement at CTIA Fall. We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product. New date and venue will be shortly announced.” Perhaps the decision behind the delay is out of respect with the recent passing of a long term rival Steve Jobs.

Further details reveal on the handset as insider with access to the device decides to leaks specifications on the handset. Expected to be included on handset specifications: Dual core 1.5GHz processor, dual core Imagination GPU, 4.65-inch 1280 x 720 pixel Super AMOLED HD display, 5-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video, a powerful 1750mAh battery and could be LTE-enabled but also supports both GSM and CDMA carriers with a dual-SIM slot.

It is said that the new smartphone (Google’s Android Ice Cream Sandwich) software would have a tight rival with Apple’s iOS 5 firmware.

Incoming search terms:

• ocean park philippines map
• gt-p1000 ice cream sandwich
• galaxy nexus saudi arabia
• p1000 ice cream sandwich
• samsung galaxy nexus in saudi arabia
• samsung gt-p1000 ice cream sandwich
• samsung galaxy tab p1000 ice cream sandwich
• ice cream sandwich gt-p1000
• gt p1000 ice cream sandwich
• samsung galaxy nexus release IN SAUDI ARABIA?