Google Authorship is Dead

Issue #848 Sept. 2, 2014
Publisher: Joan Stewart

“Tips, Tricks and Tools for Free Publicity”

In This Issue

Google Authorship is Dead
Family Circle Shifts Focus
How to Newsjack
Hound Video of the Week

This Week in the Hound House:

I’m still chortling over the funny sign I saw over the weekend at a Weight Watchers meeting I don’t usually attend. The weigh-in room is always off to the side in a private location. This meeting was in a church, and we had to go to a small room in the back to weigh in. Just outside the door, I saw the sign “Cry Room.” So perfect.

1. Google Authorship is Dead

Rest in peace, Google Authorship, a way to link content you create with your Google+ profile.

Publicity Hounds loved Authorship because our thumbnail photos often showed up on the left side of search results. That tiny photo gave your content credibility. People searching were more likely to click on your link than other links that didn’t have a photo next to it.

That may be. But Google has discontinued Authorship for several reasons.

Creating it was too confusing because it required placing a snippet of coding on your website. Too few webmasters used it.

Those tiny photos diverted attention from pay-per-click ads on the right side of the search results. And Google noticed that displaying the authorship information wasn’t as useful as the company had originally thought.

Does this mean Google+ is dead, or at least diminished?

Based on what I’ve been reading on blogs and in Google+ groups, not by a long shot.

That’s because Google+ content still ranks high in search, even if it doesn’t have your tiny photo next to it. If I’m doing anything differently, it will be to increase the content I post to Google+, not decrease it.

In many ways, Google+ Communities have more power to grow your business than LinkedIn groups.

If you aren’t on Google+ yet, shave weeks off your learning curve. Watch the video replay of a webinar I hosted with Google-certified business coach BL Ochman on “How to Use Google+ Communities to Connect with Influential People.” Grab it and the giant bonus package before midnight tonight, Sept. 2, for half price when you use the coupon code GOOGLE at check-out and click “apply.”

2. Family Circle Shifts Focus

Family Circle magazine has a new design and a new focus.

You’ll still see a heavy emphasis on food. But no more stories about the drudgery of being a mom.

Editor-in-Chief Linda Fears says there’s a heavier emphasis on beauty and style content, and a focus on nontraditional families. The September issue features a widower raising his kids as a single dad. Future issues will focus on gay parents, adoptive parents and multi-religious families.

Thanks to Wooden Horse News, the excellent ezine you should be reading if you want publicity online or offline. Subscribe for free.

Six years ago, Family Circle printed a tiny mention about me in a round-up story about women who want to change careers or start a business. “See PublicityHound.com for tips,” was all the article said.

That’s it. Just four words. Traffic to my website and subscriptions for this ezine skyrocketed.

Big magazines love short briefs like round-ups, checklists and quizzes.

Find out what else they love, and how to pitch them, by watching the replay of a webinar I hosted on pitching magazines. When you buy the replay, you’ll also get the checklist “11 Ways to Prepare for a Magazine Interview.” Increase the odds of being mentioned in a big magazine. Go to “How to Find Your Way into Glossy Magazines.”

3. How to Newsjack

Here’s my best tip for pitching a big TV news or talk show: Newsjack a major breaking news or trend story, and have good visuals.

You’ve probably seen at least a half dozen stories in the news about how people in your town or industry took the Ice Bucket Challenge. The disturbing story of teens setting themselves on fire and posting the videos to YouTube has been newsjacked by local fire chiefs, hospital emergency room workers and parenting experts.

Learn seven other secrets of pitching major TV outlets when you join Steve Harrison for a free webcast at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Sept. 4.

Even though this training is free, I am one of Steve’s affiliates and earn a commission if you buy anything from him down the road.

4. Hound Video of the Week

Thanks to Publicity Hound Diantha Harris of Vero Beach, Fla., for this video of Riley, a black dog discovered by a hiker in the bottom of a 350-foot slot canyon in the Arizona desert. It’s an amazing story of a heartwarming rescue. Like true Publicity Hounds, the dog and the hiker who adopted him ended up on the “Today” Show, “Inside Edition” and “Ellen.” The video is 13 minutes, but well worth it.