Google made headlines once again in the news this week, focusing on the progress they have made regarding their mobile market share. Google+ has also seen a refresh in the past couple of days and the features and upgrades are something you won’t want to miss. Companies are now receiving penalties for advertorial advertising and the big question is how did they get their rankings back so quickly?

Making Money from Mobile

Marketing and advertising in the mobile world is all the rage right now. There is no better way of reaching people personally than on their mobile phones used on a daily basis 24/7. Google has over 15 mobile products and it is no wonder they are making enormous amounts of money.

Google's mobile products range from search engines to shopping and buying applications, all of which are used every day to help consumers connect, share, be entertained, navigate and much more. The mobile products are personalised to satisfy consumers' wants and needs while on the go.

Upgrades to Google+

Google+ offers a platform for people to interact with each other, gain knowledge and explore. It is a personalised networking system that allows people to find and connect with businesses, colleagues or family who have shared information on Google+. There are also numerous other functions that Google+ offers, including:

• Events
• Personal Profile
• Explore
• Photos
• Communities
• Find People
• Games

The recent refresh of Google+ has seen the layout, design and graphics of the page upgraded to enhance the user experience. The cover image has seen an enlargement, making the photo a focal point on the page, while the user must scroll down the page to view any content. The personal 'about' on the user page is split into two sections, for ease of updating. A new sidebar for local reviews has also been added, making it convenient for users to easily review a restaurant, or educate a consumer about a new or popular hot spot.

Advertorial Penalties Bounce Back

An advertorial is an advertisement written in the form of an editorial that sells links on sites that pass PageRank. A penalty for a business engaging in this behaviour is enforced by Google as it breaches their SEO guidelines. The penalty includes suspending the business from Google which can last up to 60 or 90 days. This ban can impact hugely on any business currently on the web.

A recent debate arose in regards to a major UK flower delivery service which was penalised for advertorial misconduct. The astonishment came after the business was showing up again in Google's search results only 11 days after being penalised.

The reason why the business was able to bounce back so quickly was that they were able to remove the majority of their advertorial links. However, it is hard to make the connection between exactly how many links were advertorial, and how many could not be removed based on Google's review tools. Google has since started cracking down on the issue and businesses should be aware of the consequences evolved with advertorials.