Another busy week for Google! Silverback Marketing reported about changes to Google Maps on Monday and the next day discussed changes to the Google +1 button. The fact remains that the Larry Page era that commenced back in April of this year continues to be a period of growth and steady maneuvering. Here is a snapshot of what the online world has seen from Google the week of October 10-14, 2011.

Google’s Page Speed Online Tool – This tool recently graduated from Google Labs to become a permanent fixture in the online world. The Page Speed Online Tool allows a user to analyze the content of any web page and receive suggestions on how to make that page load faster. Since most people (probably all!) prefer to experience speed on the web this is a valuable tool.

Google +1 Button on the Google Display Network – The second link on this page will provide detail on what the addition of the +1 button to ads on the Google Display Network will provide. Take the time to read this article, particularly if you currently have an advertisement on the Display Network or are considering adding one.

Another bug regarding Google Maps – Hopefully this is just a temporary issue, but recently the house numbers on Google Maps were not being shown when using the tool. United States addresses were not affected but users from several other countries reported the bug.

SocialGrapple has been acquired by Google – SocialGrapple was a Twitter analytics startup that was created approximately one year ago. The tool analyzes your Twitter account, archives keyword Tweets and shows growth for those keywords. There is speculation this move was primarily made by Google to acquire that particular team of talent from Twitter for upcoming projects.

Wowd is one of the latest patents Google has acquired – February 11, 2010, a press release was issued by Wowd, a real-time search engine that launched in 2009. According to the service it was the industry’s “first personalized, real-time tag cloud”. Google has acquired a number of patents in 2011. We shall see how important this acquisition is for Google as time passes.

Have a good weekend!

Marketing Pilgrim – Frank Reed – Google’s Page Speed Online Tool Graduates From Labs!
Search Engine Land – Pamela Parker – Google Display Network Begins Showing +1s With Ads Today
Search Engine Roundtable – Barry Schwartz – Bug: Google Maps House Numbers Go Missing
Search Engine Watch – John Rampton – Google Acquires Twitter Analytics Startup SocialGrapple
SEO by the Sea – Bill Slawski – Wow! Google Acquires Wowd Search Patents