Sometimes, Google will place a block on searches. These occur for a variety of reasons only really and truly known to Google, but we have discovered some determining factors (such as the speed of inquiries). The good news is the blocks are always temporary.

 If you suspect a “Google block” has been temporarily placed on you, go to Google’s site and attempt an “exact” (with quotes) search for one of the phrases which you are seeing this behavior.

Usually, a block with no CAPTCHA is more directly related to the search term, because normally Google will send a CAPTCHA image. There are some SOC words that Google will absolutely not return values: for example, any word that contains the word “sign” (like resign, design, etc.) or “comment” or “guest”.

Google blocks normally last from 1 to 4 hours. It’s not completely substantiated, but clearing your internet history and temporary files may speed up the process.

If you are running any other SEO-type software which uses Google data, your chances of being blocked will grow substantially.

This is a ‘temporary’ block, detailed in the link below:

http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=86640

There’s no set rule on “when” a Google block will kick-in, though Google states it happens when they see a significant spike in queries. In my testing, it seems that 16 seconds between requests is the “sweet spot” for ensuring no Googleblock will occur.

If you use the Background Download Service (which does a request every 19 seconds), and someone else on your network is also doing Google queries, you may be blocked.

Conficker is one of the nastiest worms to hit the internet, and it has finally “woken up”, so to speak. The Conficker is loading updates on infected computers in order to try and steal passwords and personal information from infected machines.

Here is a VERY easy test to see if your computer is infected with Conficker or not: go to http://www.talkbiz.com/confickertest/ . Load the page and see if all six images appear. If so, you’re most likely in the clear. Yet if some pictures don’t show up, no matter how many times you refresh the page or right click to “show image”, you may be in trouble.

If after this test you suspect you may be infected, immediately disconnect from the internet. Find another computer that isn’t infected (maybe one at a friends house, a library, etc.) and get a copy of Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool at http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/

Run the Malificous Software Removal Tool on the infected computer, and only after the results come up clear can you reconnect to the internet.

Special thanks to Paul Myers at www.talkbiz.com for such an easy Conficker test!

A common question we receive concerns the origin of our search count statistics. It is no secret that Micro Niche Finder pulls its search count directly from the Google Adwords External Tool, and yet, many people find “discrepancies” between the figures Google Adwords External Tool gives and the figures Micro Niche Finder Search Count gives. A quick example will illustrate how these “differences” come to be.

Let’s go on to Micro Niche Finder and search the term “Dog Collars”. When the Search Count is clicked on for this term, the search count number is 90,500.

Now go to Google’s External Tool and type in “Dog Collars” again. This search reveals that this terms search count number is 368,000. Whoa! What a big difference, right?

Actually, no – there isn’t a difference at all here. Here’s the reason these two numbers seem superficially different: Google External Tool defaults to a broad search count while Micro Niche Finder defaults to an exact search count. Micro Niche Finder defaults to the exact search count because it gives a more precise, relevant, and useful answer than a broad search count does.

Now, even though Micro Niche Finder defaults to exact search count, you can change the settings to broad search count. Directly above the “Phrase” column, you should see three smaller and clickable texts titled “broad”, “exact” and “phrase”. The “exact” should already be clicked on since it is the default, but if you click on “broad” (immediately to the left of it) your search count result will change.

Click on Broad Search and….

…viola! The new search number for “Dog Collars” is 368,000. Doesn’t that number seem awfully familiar?

So there you have it – the two “different” numbers are actually not different after all. Micro Niche Finder simply makes it much easier for you to find potential niches by automatically offering you the search results in the exact search count as opposed to a broad search count.