At the recent Search Engine Strategies conference in freezing Chicago, many of us Googlers were asked questions about duplicate content. We recognize that there are many nuances and a bit of confusion on the topic, so we’d like to help set the record straight.

What is duplicate content?
Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. Most of the time when we see this, it’s unintentional or at least not malicious in origin: forums that generate both regular and stripped-down mobile-targeted pages, store items shown (and — worse yet — linked) via multiple distinct URLs, and so on. In some cases, content is duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or garner more traffic via popular or long-tail queries.

What isn’t duplicate content?
Though we do offer a handy translation utility, our algorithms won’t view the same article written in English and Spanish as duplicate content. Similarly, you shouldn’t worry about occasional snippets (quotes and otherwise) being flagged as duplicate content.

Why does Google care about duplicate content?
Our users typically want to see a diverse cross-section of unique content when they do searches. In contrast, they’re understandably annoyed when they see substantially the same content within a set of search results. Also, webmasters become sad when we show a complex URL (example.com/contentredir?value=shorty-george〈=en) instead of the pretty URL they prefer (example.com/en/shorty-george.htm).

What does Google do about it?
During our crawling and when serving search results, we try hard to index and show pages with distinct information. This filtering means, for instance, that if your site has articles in “regular” and “printer” versions and neither set is blocked in robots.txt or via a noindex meta tag, we’ll choose one version to list. In the rare cases in which we perceive that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we’ll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. However, we prefer to focus on filtering rather than ranking adjustments … so in the vast majority of cases, the worst thing that’ll befall webmasters is to see the “less desired” version of a page shown in our index.

How can Webmasters proactively address duplicate content issues?

• Block appropriately: Rather than letting our algorithms determine the “best” version of a document, you may wish to help guide us to your preferred version. For instance, if you don’t want us to index the printer versions of your site’s articles, disallow those directories or make use of regular expressions in your robots.txt file.
• Use 301s: If you have restructured your site, use 301 redirects (”RedirectPermanent”) in your .htaccess file to smartly redirect users, the Googlebot, and other spiders.
• Be consistent: Endeavor to keep your internal linking consistent; don’t link to /page/ and /page and /page/index.htm.
• Use TLDs: To help us serve the most appropriate version of a document, use top level domains whenever possible to handle country-specific content. We’re more likely to know that .de indicates Germany-focused content, for instance, than /de or de.example.com.
• Syndicate carefully: If you syndicate your content on other sites, make sure they include a link back to the original article on each syndicated article. Even with that, note that we’ll always show the (unblocked) version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you’d prefer.
• Use the preferred domain feature of webmaster tools: If other sites link to yours using both the www and non-www version of your URLs, you can let us know which way you prefer your site to be indexed.
  
• Minimize boilerplate repetition: For instance, instead of including lengthy copyright text on the bottom of every page, include a very brief summary and then link to a page with more details.
• Avoid publishing stubs: Users don’t like seeing “empty” pages, so avoid placeholders where possible. This means not publishing (or at least blocking) pages with zero reviews, no real estate listings, etc., so users (and bots) aren’t subjected to a zillion instances of “Below you’ll find a superb list of all the great rental opportunities in [insert cityname]…” with no actual listings.
• Understand your CMS: Make sure you’re familiar with how content is displayed on your Web site, particularly if it includes a blog, a forum, or related system that often shows the same content in multiple formats.
• Don’t worry be happy: Don’t fret too much about sites that scrape (misappropriate and republish) your content. Though annoying, it’s highly unlikely that such sites can negatively impact your site’s presence in Google. If you do spot a case that’s particularly frustrating, you are welcome to file a DMCA request to claim ownership of the content and have us deal with the rogue site.

In short, a general awareness of duplicate content issues and a few minutes of thoughtful preventative maintenance should help you to help us provide users with unique and relevant content.

Source: Official Google Webmaster Central Blog

One of my favorite celebrity personalities here in the Paradise Philippines, Katrina Halili.

Maria Katrina Irene Pe Halili (born on January 4, 1986 in Quezon City but raised in El Nido, Palawan, Philippines), popularly known as Katrina Halili, is a Filipina actress. She is an alumna of the StarStruck talent search and was the cover girl of FHM Philippines for its December 2005 issue. She was subsequently voted as FHM Philippines’ sexiest woman for the year 2006 and bagged the title yet again in 2007. She is the first StarStruck contestant to top the FHM Philippines’ 100 Sexiest list.

She is the lead villain in Marimar with Marian Rivera at Dingdong Dantes.

The country’s sexiest woman for 2006 according to FHM Philippines, Katrina heated up magazine stands, billboards, and primetime TV. She’s been everywhere lately, and we still cannot get enough of her!

Mozilla has released the first beta version of Firefox 3, which promises to provide improved security, greater ease of use and better performance. There will be at least three beta version before the final release, with the next coming as soon as December.

The installer frustratingly insists on writing over your existing copy of Firefox, which is hardly an incentive to try out the Beta version. Even more discerningly, the first thing that you notice is that it looks almost exactly the same as previous versions.

In fact, most of the improvements in Firefox 3 are incremental rather than revolutionary. The new download manager includes a handy search box to help track down downloaded files, but the pause and resume features, which now sport media player-style buttons, crashed each time we tried to use them.

Rendering pages seems to be slightly faster than under version 2, thanks in no small part to the new Gecko rendering engine used behind the scenes. The performance boost is most noticeable when using web applications such as Flickr, GMail or Bloglines.

With the updated version of GMail the speed boost is particularly noticeable; in fact, on our test PC emails loaded far quicker than under Microsoft Outlook.

Under the hood, Gecko 1.9 provides rendering improvements in CSS and SVG, improved display of fonts with ligatures and complex scripts, and more accurate image display with support for colour profiles.

One interesting new security feature is the website information
(more…)

Google is by far the most important search engine on the net. To rise to the top of their search engine, you need to improve your link popularity and you need to understand how they measure your link popularity (over 50% of all search engine traffic comes from Google, and if you can rise to the top, you will likely rise to the top of all the other search engines as well).

Link popularity is defined as the number of sites that are linking to your site. Some websites have thousands or even millions of sites linking to them, while others might have only a few. The search engines use the number of inbound links your site has as a measure of how important your site is, which translates into your search engine ranking.

The actual number of links to your site is not the only variable used to calculate your link popularity. The search engines also examine the relevance of the links to the subject matter of your site. For example, if a website that sells vitamins has 4,000 inbound links, but the source of most of the links are websites that have nothing to do with vitamins, then the algorithm that search engines use to determine link popularity will take that into account, and the link popularity score will not be very good.
(more…)

Viewers know Jon for his good looks and admirable body. However, despite the fame he is experiencing now, Jon has not had an easy life growing up in London. Jon struggled with harsh racial discrimination since he was the only Asian in school. Because of being constantly ostracized by his schoolmates, Jon’s self-esteem hit rock bottom. The bullying finally came to an end when he entered college where he found real friends.

Then he traveled to the Philippines in search of a new life, but to his disappointment, more trials and difficulties came his way. Jon recalls the time when he used to live in a small room with no air con and electricity. For some time, he slept on a cheap mattress, feeling lonely and missing the company of family and friends. But just like a true Filipino, Jon managed to rise above all the hardships. He persevered to fend for himself, shedding off some extra pounds and later becoming one of the most sought after male models in the country. Despite the Western upbringing, Jon never forgot his Filipino roots. When he came back to the Philippines, he felt a greater privilege of being liked by Filipinos.

Will Jon finally find the truest sense of belonging inside the Big Yellow house?

Nickname: Jon
Real Name: Jonathan Mullaly
Origin:United Kingdom
Age: 22
Birthdate: September 1
Place of Birth:United Kingdom
Nationality: Irish-Filipino
Occupation: Model
Sports: Boxing
Hidden Ambition: To be a Hollywood actor
Claim to Fame: Century Tuna Superbod 2006, BenchBody model
Charity: Tahanang Sta. Luisa, Quezon City

Source: PBB Site

View more of his pictures.

(more…)

Just when women are about to accept the fact that Prince Charming can never exist, comes one of Big Brother’s too good to be true celebrity housemates, African Am-German Will Devaughn. Love brought Will to the Philippines. Born to a pure German woman and a half-Pinoy, half-Afro American military man he had never met, he didn’t have much knowledge about the country he now calls home. He took the risk of flying thousands of miles just to follow the woman he loves. Later on however, they broke up and Will decided to stay in the country and make a living as a model. Spell out tall, dark and handsome, Will was practically everywhere around the country in less than a year of his stay because of his billboards, television commercials, magazine print ads and features. As his search for true love continues, could be his princess just waiting for him inside Kuya’s house? Here, let’s take a look at his bio.

Nickname: Will

Real Name:William Devaughn Stumpf

Origin:Germany

Age: 25

Birthdate:27 February

Place of Birth:Germany

Nationality:German/Afro-American

Occupation: Model

Sports:Basketball

Hidden Ambition: To travel the world as a photographer

Claim to Fame:McDonald’s McRice Burger TV Commercial

Charity: Brave Kids Foundation

Source: PBB Site

View ore pics of Will.

(more…)

She maybe Canadian but Riza is pure pinay, her parents hailing from Bulacan and Bataan. Both engineers, her parents’ jobs took them to Canada as immigrants. And although she has lived in North America all her life, Riza is raised with Filipino values and has very close family ties. She admits though to breaking the rules and sneaking out to party with the popular kids one night when she was 16. She returned home to find her sister enraged for her parents were still out looking for her. Riza then vowed never to do it again.

Riza began concentrating on charity work and community service. She even joined the military as a medic. She’s also a counselor at a crisis center for pregnant women and has vowed to save her self for the man she loves on her wedding day. Riza even wears a ring on her engagement finger to seal this promise.

Riza, like most of her family, is an achiever. Aside from her military career and vocations, she studied Biology in college. Quite talented, she has also designed some of the gowns she has worn on pageants. Riza dreams of having a singing and acting career someday too.

Will Riza be adding to her long list of achievements PBB Celebrity Edition 2 Big Winner soon?

Nickname: Riza
Real Name: Riza Raquel Santos
Origin: Canada
Nationality: Filipino
Occupation: Model,artist
Sport: Track and Field
Hidden Ambition: To become a doctor
Claim to Fame: Miss Earth - Canada
Achievements: Filipina that represented Canada in the Ms. Earth beauty pageant
Charity: Bantay Bata 163

Source: PBB Site

View more pic of Riza

(more…)

Although relatively unknown in Manila, Ruben is quite a celebrity in Davao. Working for ABS-CBN Davao, Ruben is popularly known as a member of the channel’s Joke Squad. He is also a stand-up comic in various bars with his trademark screaming faggot act. He’s become so good at it that everyone who sees him perform assumes he is gay. But this comedian is actually a ladies man and is already married with 2 kids.

Ruben is most famous in the South for “Budots”, naming his crazy dance steps after the slang term for bum in Davao. But despite the fame, Ruben is struggling to keep his head above the water. Right now, he is earning enough to get by and doesn’t want his family to experience the impoverished life he had before. Ruben is working hard to help his parents and finally buy his dream house.

With his sense of humor and charm, could Ruben easily be laughing all the way to a Big Four finish?

Nickname: Ruben
Real Name: Ruben Gonzaga
Origin: Las PiñasCity
Age: 25
Birthdate: March 16
Place of Birth:DavaoCity
Nationality: Filipino
Occupation: Comedian
Sport: Basketball, billiards and boxing
Hidden Ambition: To be a famous actor
Claim to Fame: The “Budots” dance of Davao
Charity: Cosugian Home for The Aged, DavaoCity

Source: PBB Site

View more pics of Ruben

(more…)

Gifted with charm and good looks, Victor is a model, actor and a host. Blessed with immense skill, intellect and talent, he’s an artist, a photographer, a music enthusiast and a sports man. He’s too good to be true that everything seems ideal with him. His life however had its share of imperfections.

Victor grew up not knowing he was part of an illegitimate family until he reached the age of 10. All he knew was his father couldn’t stay in the house too often. Even then, Victor’s family lived a comfortable life. Things went different however when his father died and they had no financial support.

Victor’s first brush with fame was at the age of 19, when he was discovered at the Mega Designer’s Competition which ushered him into the modeling industry. Soon he signed with ABS-CBN’s Star Magic and appeared in a number of shows such as the Toni Gonzaga-Luis Manzano top-billed Crazy For You and Abt Ur Luv. He was also launched as part of the ASAP Coverboys.

Despite all the fame and all these achievements, Victor Basa remains a quiet, shy-type guy. Will this all change once he meets the different personalities inside the PBB House?

Nickname: Victor
Real Name: Victor Emmanuel Basa
Origin:PasigCity
Age: 22
Birthdate: June 6
Place of Birth:PasigCity
Nationality: Filipino
Occupation: Actor / Model
Sports: Skateboarding, swimming, wall climbing and ice hockey
Hidden Ambition: To be a musician
Claim to Fame: Penshoppe image model, Best Model Form in MTV Fashionista 2004
Charity: Ahon Sa Kalye Ministrie

Source: PBB Site

View more pictures of Victor.

(more…)

Yayo Aguila left a name in Philippine cinema after they drove movie goers bopping and bobbing via the cult hit movie “Bagets” co-starring Aga Muhlach, Herbert Bautista, Francis Magalona, Eula Valdez, Raymond Lauchengco, and William Martinez, who eventually became her husband.

Yayo and William met on the set of the movie. She was only 16 and he was 21 when they fell in love and decided to live together. During that time William and actress Maricel Soriano was a hot love team that fans were outraged when Yayo entered the picture.

Yayo and William struggled to raise a family having encountered marital and financial problems. Like the old adage “behind every great man is a woman”, Yayo stuck to William no matter what happened. Yayo had to be twice stronger than William for the kids, most especially during the time her husband was allegedly caught with drug paraphernalia at the airport on the way to a taping.

Nickname: Yayo
Real Name: Ma. Rosario Aguila
Origin:Antipolo
Age: 40
Birthdate: 13 September
Place of Birth:Quezon City
Nationality: Filipino
Occupation: Actress
Sports: Tennis, Volleyball
Hidden Ambition: To become a talk show host or newscaster
Claim to Fame: The 80s movie Bagets with husband William Martinez
Charity: BAGETS Foundatio

Source: PBB Site

View more Yayo’s pics.

(more…)