Can SEO Have a Negative Effect? via @martinibuster

A few months ago I challenged myself to rank pages without using the keyword phrase in the title tag.  After some experimentation I got it to work.

In a recent Webmaster Hangout, Google’s John Mueller stated that overdoing the keyword phrase can cause Google to become wary of a web page. Is it possible that adding keywords to title tag, H1. etc. could work against you?

SEO Keywords Best Practices

In a conversation with another search marketer he said that his recipe for on-page SEO was:

• Add keywords to title
• Add keywords to URL
• Add keywords to H1
• Add keywords in content

That formula is the traditional SEO best practice going back to at least 2000. I know because I was there. The formula was to add your keywords to the title tag, H1, content, in the URL, and then put the keyword in the anchor text in a link to to a .edu or .gov website, add it to the content and bold it, add it elsewhere and italicize it, grease it up then slap it online. Instant rankings. That was then. And apparently, today is then, too. Modern SEO best practice still says to do this:

• Add keywords to title
• Add keywords to URL
• Add keywords to H1
• Add keywords in content

My question to myself was, is ranking today the same as it was in 2000? Clearly it can’t be. That’s why I challenged myself to rank a page without the keywords in the title. I will show you one example. There are many examples out there. I did a search for “how to get a business loan with bad credit”  and noticed that nearly every single web page was missing those keywords from the title tag. The only page that featured that keyword phrase was at the bottom of the search results.

Query Expansion

Obviously, query expansion plays a role in ranking web pages that do not feature the keyword in the title tag. Query expansion is a method where a search engine will find web pages that answer the search query, even though the keywords aren’t on the web page. Search engines do this by adding synonyms, using stemming and other methods to identify more pages to consider. The net result is that it makes standard keyword SEO practices obsolete. Mentally, most people will agree, this is so. Yet knowing this, many will continue to SEO like it was the year 2000:

• Add keywords to title
• Add keywords to URL
• Add keywords to H1
• Add keywords in content

Keyword Stuffing and Trust

What got me thinking about this was a recent Google Webmaster Hangout where John Mueller states that using keywords too much may cause Google to lose trust in the web page. Here is what Mueller said (in the context of ranking category pages):

“Another thing that I sometimes see, especially with e-commerce sites that kind of struggle with this kind of a problem is that they go to an extreme on the category page in that they include those keywords over and over and over again. And what happens in our systems then is we look at this page and we see these keywords repeated so often on that page that we think well, something is kind of fishy with this page, with regards to these keywords, well maybe we should be more careful when we show it.”

I am not saying that adding the keyword phrase to the title tag will make Google think your web page is “fishy” however, John Mueller put that out there and in my opinion, it pays to heed what he says. Obviously query expansion plays a role in that business loan keyword phrase and in many other keyword phrases. But one must consider everything because there are many ranking factors and according to John Mueller, there are factors that work against you. De-ranking factors?

Trust and Lack of Keyword Stuffing

Mueller continued his advice about avoiding keyword stuffing and said that a lack of keyword stuffing will make Google trust a page more.

“So that when we look at this page we’ll see… this is a reasonable page, there’s good content here, we can show it for these terms. We don’t have to worry about whether or not someone is trying to unnaturally overdo it with those keywords. “

Should You Keyword Stuff Your Title Tag?

I still rank pages with the keyword phrase in the title tag. So absolutely, do not take this to mean that adding keywords in the title tag will have a negative effect. The point of this article is to show that some SEO formulas may be considered to be obsolete or out of date. It may be time to catch up with how Google ranks sites today. Nobody know exactly how Google ranks websites. Ultimately, SEO is a matter of opinion, experience and interpretation of the results. Get it wrong and your SEO can backfire. It happens all the time.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/can-seo-have-a-negative-effect-via-martinibuster/

Google on How to Rank Category Pages via @martinibuster

Google’s John Mueller answered a question about how to rank a category page over a product page. Along the way he discussed how links are viewed by Google and the negative ranking effect of keyword stuffing.

How to Rank a Category Page?

The publisher’s product page was ranking for a keyword phrase. But they felt that the appropriate page should be the category page. The publisher confirmed that the category page was indexed.

Internal Linking for Ranking a Category Page

John Mueller answered:

“Some of the things I think you should look at here, one thing is to make sure that the category page is well-linked within your website. So if you have multiple products that are all in the same category or related to that category then link to that category page so that when we crawl the website we can really understand this category page is actually really important.”

Less than optimal site architecture is something I have seen in client website audits. A poor navigational structure can keep users and bots from reaching the pages you want them to find. This can add an unnecessary one or two clicks toward reaching a category page. Category pages are useful pages for users and for ranking, particularly for the more general two word phrases.

User Intent and Product Pages that Rank

Something John Mueller didn’t discuss, perhaps because he was taking the publisher at their word, is that Google’s algorithm may sometimes understand that a certain percentage of users are looking for a specific product when they use a general phrase. In that case, the publisher’s specific page may be the right page to show, better than the category page. Of course, the best outcome would be to show both pages, the category page and the product page. The point I want to make is that the reason a specific page is shown may be a reflection of what users want.

Keyword Stuffing can Cause Inability to Rank

Mueller then goes on to suggest that a reason a category page might not rank is because of too many keywords. This is called keyword stuffing (or term spamming). There is a lot of nuance to this topic and maybe it’s best for it’s own article about keyword best practices. The key point is that excessive keyword use, according to John Mueller, can cause the page to be less trusted and affect it’s ability to rank. John Mueller said:

“Another thing that I sometimes see, especially with e-commerce sites that kind of struggle with this kind of a problem is that they go to an extreme on the category page in that they include those keywords over and over and over again. And what happens in our systems then is we look at this page and we see these keywords repeated so often on that page that we think well, something is kind of fishy with this page, with regards to these keywords, well maybe we should be more careful when we show it.”

What do you think Mueller mean by a page being fishy? I believe it mostly means that a page has the appearance of being untrustworthy. Mueller then goes on to recommend moderation in the use of keywords.

“So it might be that you’re… kind of overdoing it with the category page in that it would perhaps make sense to kind of move back a little bit and say, I will focus my category page on these keywords and make sure that it’s a good page for that but not go too far overboard. So that when we look at this page we’ll see… this is a reasonable page, there’s good content here, we can show it for these terms. We don’t have to worry about whether or not someone is trying to unnaturally overdo it with those keywords. “

Link Building to Help Rank a Category Page

The publisher then asked if building external links into the category page, as well as to the website home page, would be helpful. At this point, when the discussion turned to building links, Mueller appeared to become somewhat measured in his response. He affirmed that yes, links can help a category page rank in Google. But his voice contained what I felt was a guarded affirmation. His full response included his advice against building artificial links.

“Yeahhh… I… I mean… that’s that’s something doesn’t… doesn’t cause any problems and from our point of view, uhm…in general backlinks from other websites are something that we would see as something that would evolve naturally over time.”

Google’s John Mueller offered a guarded affirmation about whether links could help a category page rank. He advised against artificial links.

Interesting answer, right? Links, from Google’s point of view, are something that evolve (naturally) over time. There is so much that can be inferred from that statement with regards to the speed and pace of link building. However, it’s just one sentence with no further discussion to give it more context. Best to not read too much into that sentence. Yet it is still worth taking note of it.

John Mueller Advises Against Artificial Links

Mueller goes on to advise against building artificial links. Google has published a Webmaster Help Page about link schemes that is worth reading if there’s a question about what constitutes “artificial links.” This what Mueller advised:

“So I don’t think you’d need to go out and kind of artificially go out and artificially build backlinks to a category page like that.”

Fixing a Category Page Ranking is a Long Term Project

John Mueller advises that fixing the category page ranking issue should be considered as a long term project. I believe many in the search community would find that statement debatable. Changes to a page can lead to ranking change within days. I know this for a fact as I have experienced this as recently as the past month. Nevertheless, I tend to agree with Mueller that it’s best to see ranking a category page as a long term project. Internal linking patterns and (lack of) links from outside the site can play a role. Here’s what Mueller said:

“I think, what I would also do in a case like this is kind of go with the assumption that you won’t be able to fix this very quickly. Not, not that it’s impossible but kind of assume that it’s… it’s going to stick around a little bit because sometimes our algorithms do take a bit of time to adjust. And… find a way to make it so that when users land on that product page that they realize there’s actually a category page that might be more useful to them. So, something like a small banner or some other visual element on the page so that when users go to that product page they can find their way to the category page fairly easily… so that you don’t have to worry about the short term problem that maybe the wrong page is ranking. And in the meantime you can kind of work on creating a reasonable solution for the category page itself.”

Takeaways for Ranking Category Pages

Here are the key points:

1. Optimize internal linking. Make sure category page is well linked to within site 2. Don’t keyword spam Repeating keywords can cause Google to regard the page with caution 3. Links are Good. But… Mueller agreed that links are good but cautioned against artificially creating inbound links. 4. Make it easy for users to find the category page When the product page is ranking where the category page should rank, Mueller suggests adjusting the product page to make it easier for users to find the category page. I have reservations on that last point. I’m not saying that John Mueller is wrong. I’m simply adding additional observations based on my experience. Google tends to show specific product pages for specific search queries (like sizes, colors and models). Google tends to show more category or informational pages for vague queries. It’s odd for Google to show a product page for a general term. To me it makes sense to rank a product page for a general search term if there’s evidence that a percentage of users seek a specific product when searching with a general phrase. In that case, Watch the Webmaster Hangout: https://youtu.be/rwpwq8Ynf7s?t=474

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/google-on-how-to-rank-category-pages-via-martinibuster/

Judge ‘already mad’ over government’s refusal to disclose information to shooting survivors

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Trials & Litigation

By Amanda Robert

September 27, 2019, 1:08 pm CDT

Image from Shutterstock.com

A federal judge in San Antonio stormed out of his own courtroom and sanctioned Department of Justice lawyers Wednesday after they refused to disclose the names of Air Force personnel who failed to alert the FBI that an airman—who was later responsible for the deadliest church shooting in U.S. history—had a domestic violence conviction. “I have to take a break, as I am already mad,” Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas said, less than five minutes into a status hearing on the shooting victims’ negligence lawsuit against the federal government. The San Antonio Express-News and Courthouse News Service have coverage. Dishonorably discharged Air Force airman Devin Kelley killed 26 people and injured at least 20 others in the November 2017 massacre at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small town southeast of San Antonio. Since June 2018, survivors and victims’ families have filed 19 lawsuits that were consolidated into one case in federal court. They allege that Kelley would not have been able to purchase the rifle and ammunition used in the shooting if the Air Force had reported his conviction to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database, which is required by law. Kelley was court-martialed in 2012 for beating his wife and fracturing his young stepson’s skull, Courthouse News Service reports. When Rodriguez returned to the bench after a 15-minute break, DOJ lawyers Austin Furman and Paul Stern requested a protective order and indicated that they would not put the staff at fault on public record. “Government, with its infinite wisdom … has decided it doesn’t want to disclose the names,” Rodriguez said, according to Courthouse News Service. He denied their request and ordered the DOJ to submit the names by the end of the day Friday. Rodriguez reminded the lawyers that courts are open forums, and the Air Force personnel were not entitled to protection unless they are facing threats, the San Antonio Express-News reports. The judge also sanctioned Furman for failing to comply with civil disclosure rules, telling him that he was obligated to disclose the names of people who have knowledge of relevant facts to the plaintiffs. He ordered the DOJ to pay the plaintiffs’ fees for the 13 attorneys present at the hearing.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/judge-already-mad-over-governments-refusal-to-disclose-information-to-shooting-survivors/

September 2019 Google Update – Winners and Losers via @martinibuster

According to discussions online and what people have communicated to me, I’m seeing mostly contented publishers and scattered reports of recovery. There is also what seems like a link related component to Google’s Broad Core Update that put the screws on a popular link scheme.

While there were some reports of traffic collapse, the overall narrative in many online discussions were a mix of recoveries and mild wins and losses on the order of 10 to 20 percent, nothing catastrophic as in past updates.

September 2019 Google Update Winners

Reaction to Google’s update in the private SEOSignalsLab Facebook discussion group tended to be positive. A few members noted they had quality sites that were hit. When others took a look it turned out that the losers had low quality content. One member reported a drop that appears to be attributed to links. He stated that he had just started building links.

September 2019 Google Update Losers

Black Hat World forum had more members reporting losses. Nothing specific was said as to ideas of what caused the ranking declines. This post was typical of the black hat marketers reporting losses: What stood out among the publishers who reported losses is how many attributed it to links. A broad core algorithm update focuses on a wide range of changes. In general the updates work together to improve relevance. Although there were many discussing links, links are likely one part of many changes. Links may simply be the factor that happens to be the one that stands out. That said, a week before the algorithm rolled out I was made aware of link based spam network that had collapsed. This involved 301 redirecting expired domains to a website. Some claimed that this technique exploited a ranking loophole in Google. I can’t know for certain but the link based spam network had been ranking for six months and on Saturday September 21st they were gone. That ranking demotion happened a few days before the algorithm was announced. What makes that interesting is that members of the Proper PBN Facebook Group that focuses on aggressive SEO tactics noted a downturn in site employing the 301 redirect trick. Some members said that sites with irrelevant domain redirects suffered and that sites with relevant 301 redirects kept ranking. I would caution to not accept these reports as actual facts. I only bring this up because the reports matched what I had seen from the week before. A successful black hat search marketer told me by private message that he had lost 20% of his traffic. His link profile is diversified and he admitted that some of his links involved expired domains. Several publishers related 301 redirect link spamming casualties that matched what happened to a link spam network the week before. As previously mentioned, while there are many components to a broad core update, a notable feature of the September 24, 2019 Broad Core Algorithm Update appears to be the link component.

Links Appear to be Important in September 2019 Google Broad Core Update

In my opinion, one part of this update is related to links. Perhaps coincidentally, September is the month Google announced a change in how they handle nofollow links.  So it does not seem unreasonable to deduce that Google has been focusing on links.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/september-2019-google-update-winners-and-losers-via-martinibuster/

Ex-judge receives 5-year prison sentence for bribery scheme

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Judiciary

By Amanda Robert

September 27, 2019, 9:58 am CDT

Image from Shutterstock.com.

A former Texas judge who was found guilty in July of accepting cash bribes in exchange for favorable court rulings has been sentenced to five years in prison. Former Hidalgo County District Judge Rodolfo “Rudy” Delgado received the sentence Wednesday, more than two months after he was convicted on charges of conspiracy, bribery and obstruction of justice and nearly 18 months after FBI agents raided his courthouse in connection with the bribery investigation, according to the Brownsville Herald. Courthouse News Service, CBS, Fox News and Law.com also have coverage. Courthouse News Service reports that Judge Alfred H. Bennett of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas said before sentencing Delgado that “it tears at the very fabric of our society.” “It gives air and weight to the people who look upon the court in suspicion that it does matter who you know and that justice can be purchased,” he said. Delgado was also ordered to serve two years of supervised release after prison, participate in alcohol and drug abuse and mental health programs, and pay $800 in special assessment fees to the court. Bennett sentenced Delgado the same day that he sentenced Noe Perez—a criminal defense lawyer who became a government informant—for his role in the scheme that led to the investigation. Perez pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and was sentenced to two years in prison, the Monitor reports. He agreed to cooperate with the government in 2016 after being confronted by FBI agents, telling them that he went to Delgado’s home under the guise of buying firewood and also gave the judge money hidden in six packs of beer. In one of four recorded meetings between Perez and Delgado in 2018, the lawyer gave the judge a half-inch to inch-thick white envelope filled with $5,500 in cash. After Delgado learned of the investigation, he sent a text to Perez asking him to provide the money in check form as a campaign contribution. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Delgado accepted between $520 and $5,500 in bribes, CBS reports. Delgado was elected to Texas’ 13th Court of Appeals but suspended hours after he was sworn into office in January.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/ex-judge-receives-5-year-prison-sentence-for-bribery-scheme/

In response to Google change, Yoast SEO will opt users into all snippet features by default

Yoast SEO users will be opted into all of its snippet features by default, the WordPress plugin developer announced Thursday. The update containing this change, version 12.2, will be released on October 1.

Why we should care

On September 24, Google announced new snippet settings to provide site owners with options to limit the content included in their search listings. These new settings are part of Google’s response to the first implementation of the European Copyright Directive by France, which was in part aimed at getting Google and other internet giants to pay for use of publishers’ content in its results. Google says it won’t pay publishers in France (or other EU countries that follow France’s lead), and they must opt-in to have their snippets presented in Google results. “Because this potentially affects so many countries, we’ve decided to make a change for all Yoast SEO users,” the Yoast announcement reads. “We realize that this means that we’re opting you in to all of these snippet features in Yoast SEO. I think it’s fair to say that if you use Yoast SEO to optimize your search results, we can assume that that’s what you want.”

More on the announcement

• If you do not want to use all of Yoast SEO’s snippet features or would like more discretion over how your snippets display, you may not want to update to version 12.2.
• The announcement also states: “you might want somewhat more granular control over these values, if that’s true, please let us know in the comments.” It is a possibility that Yoast will provide site owners with more options in a future update.
• Meta robots can be used to opt into having all of your snippet text, videos and images being displayed on Google Search.
• Unless a page is set to noindex or nosnippet, every page will have max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1 added to its robots meta string.
• If you want to change the robots meta value, you can do so by using the wpseo_robots filter.

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About The Author

George Nguyen is an Associate Editor at Third Door Media. His background is in content marketing, journalism, and storytelling.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/in-response-to-google-change-yoast-seo-will-opt-users-into-all-snippet-features-by-default/

Questions raised about attorney general and DOJ legal opinion as whistleblower complaint is released

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Attorney General

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 26, 2019, 12:13 pm CDT

President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

The whistleblower complaint released by Congress on Thursday says President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is “a central figure” in Trump's effort to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, and U.S. Attorney General William Barr “appears to be involved as well.” Even before the release of the whistleblower complaint, some Democrats were criticizing the Department of Justice for its actions in the controversy, report the New York Times and the Washington Post. The department released a legal opinion finding that there was no need to release the complaint to Congress and concluded that Trump did not violate campaign finance laws when he urged the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. The whistleblower was not present during Trump’s July 25 phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the unclassified version of the complaint made public. The whistleblower’s statement about Barr appeared to be mostly based on Trump’s references to the attorney general during the phone call. Trump asked Zelensky to investigate whether Biden stopped a prosecution of his son in connection with his work for a gas company in Ukraine. Trump also sought an investigation into the origins of the special counsel’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump told Zelensky that he would ask Barr and Giuliani to give Zelensky a call. Multiple government officials told the whistleblower that White House officials had intervened “to ‘lock down’ all records of the phone call, especially the official word-for-word transcript of the call that was produced—as is customary—by the White House Situation Room.” The New York Times and the Washington Post have reports on the whistleblower complaint. White House lawyers directed that the electronic transcript of the call be removed from the usual computer system, the complaint says. It was then loaded into a separate system used to store and handle classified information, the whistleblower said. It was not the first time that a transcript was placed in a password-protected system solely to protect information that was politically sensitive rather than for national security purposes, according to the complaint. The transcript of Trump’s call released Wednesday included a note saying that it was based on notes and recollections and was not a verbatim record of the call. The legal opinion by the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel had concluded that the whistleblower complaint didn’t have to be turned over to Congress, according to prior reporting by BuzzFeed News. The opinion said the federal law requiring expedited reporting of intelligence agency misconduct didn’t apply because the complaint didn’t concern the operation of an intelligence agency. A DOJ statement released Wednesday said Trump did not speak with Barr about Biden and Ukraine. In addition, the statement said, Barr has not communicated with Ukraine on any matter and has not discussed the matter with Giuliani. The DOJ had reviewed the call transcript and determined that it did not violate campaign finance laws that ban the solicitation of campaign contributions from foreign sources. The DOJ reviewers concluded that seeking help with a government investigation was not a “thing of value” under the law, a source previously told the Washington Post. The whistleblower also referred to Barr when referencing statements by then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko to the Hill publication. Lutsenko asserted that there was evidence Ukrainian officials had interfered with the 2016 election in collaboration with the Democratic National Committee. Lutsenko also said that then-Vice President Biden had pressured the Ukrainian president in 2016 to fire a former prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, to quash a probe into Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings. Biden’s son was a paid board member for Burisma. Trump was apparently referring to Shokin when he told Zelensky, “I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that’s really unfair.” Shokin had been widely criticized for failing to investigate corruption and even hindering corruption investigations, according to the Washington Post and the Associated Press. Biden did pressure the Ukrainian president to fire Shokin, but he was acting on behalf of the U.S. government. The AP reports that Shokin was accused of closing the probe into a former government minister who indirectly controlled Burisma, and Shokin never actively investigated Hunter Biden’s work. Lutsenko told a publication in April that he had spoken with Giuliani about arranging contact with Barr, according to the whistleblower complaint The next month, Barr announced that he was initiating a probe into the origins of the Russia investigation. Guiliani told Fox News that the prosecutor leading the probe, U.S. Attorney John Durham, was spending a lot of time in Europe because he was investigating Ukraine. The DOJ’s statement Wednesday acknowledged that Durham “is separately exploring the extent to which a number of countries, including Ukraine, played a role in the counterintelligence investigation directed at the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.” The whistleblower said in the complaint that they don’t “know the extent to which, if at all, Mr. Giuliani is directly coordinating his efforts on Ukraine with Attorney General Barr or Mr. Durham.” Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that the House of Representatives will begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump because of concerns about the phone call.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/questions-raised-about-attorney-general-and-doj-legal-opinion-as-whistleblower-complaint-is-released/

Law firm and former partner battle over $11M referral fee

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Law Firms

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 26, 2019, 9:42 am CDT

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A Pennsylvania law firm and one of its former partners are battling in court over the right to an $11 million referral fee. On one side is former Elliott Greenleaf partner Richard DeMarco, who said he obtained the client who was badly burned in an explosion caused by a leaking propane tank on a food truck, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. On the other side is the Elliott Greenleaf firm, which said it entered into the agreement referring the case to a different law firm that obtained an estimated $70 million settlement for the client. The agreement called for referral counsel to charge a 40% contingency fee and to pay 40% of its fee as a referral fee. DeMarco was of counsel at the firm when he signed the client, Zoila Santos-Gabriel, in 2014. The 17-year-old girl washed dishes and cooked on the food truck. He was promoted to partner the next year. In 2016, DeMarco left the Elliott Greenleaf to join another law firm. DeMarco said Elliott Greenleaf agreed that he would take the matter and referral fee to his new law firm, according to previous coverage by Law360. Elliott Greenleaf said there was no such agreement, and DeMarco “secretly solicited and procured” a letter from the client stating that he and his new firm should receive compensation. In an initial court skirmish, DeMarco and Elliott Greenleaf battled over whether the suit should be heard in Philadelphia or Montgomery County, where the firm has deep ties. The appellate-level Superior Court of Pennsylvania ruled for Elliott Greenleaf on that issue in January.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/law-firm-and-former-partner-battle-over-11m-referral-fee/

Snapchat Extends Length of Video Ads from 10 Seconds to 3 Minutes via @MattGSouthern

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Snapchat has substantially increased the maxmimum duration of video ads from ten seconds to three minutes. The previous cap of ten seconds has been in place since Snapchat first introduced video ads back in 2014, Advertisers used to work around the ten second cap by encouraging users to swipe up on an ad to view a longer version. With the update Snapchat announced at Advertising Week in New York, it’s now possible to run longer ads without a clunky workaround. However, the new longer ads are still just as skippable as shorter ads. Unlike the non-skippable Snap Commercials introduced last year, users can tap on the screen at any time during these longer videos to skip the ad. So hooking viewers in the first few seconds is still key. While longer, skippable ads might sound counterintuitive for a platform like Snapchat, it at least brings the company’s ad offerings more in line with competitors. It’s also worth noting that with the increased length of video ads, advertisers can now optimize their bids for views of at least 15-seconds in length. In addition to extending the length of video ads, Snapchat announced other updates to existing ad formats at Advertising Week. The above mentioned swipe-up feature for regular video ads is now being brought to the non-skippable video ad format. Using the swipe-up functionality, advertisers can bring users to a web page or a longer-form video. According to a report from Digiday, more advertisers spending money on Snapchat ads that would have otherwise been spent on platforms like Facebook and Instagram:

“It’s a contrast to where the mobile messaging app was last September when it wasn’t even on the media plans for some paid-social campaigns. Since the turn of the year, however, Snapchat has found its way on to more of those media plans, and in some cases can account for 20% of paid social budgets.”

It’s likely this momentum will continue thanks to Snapchat’s new ad offerings.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/snapchat-extends-length-of-video-ads-from-10-seconds-to-3-minutes-via-mattgsouthern/

The Short Guide To Mass Tort Deals: Backroom Bargaining in Multidistrict Litigation

Thursday, September 26, 2019

By Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

The Short Guide To Mass Tort Deals: Backroom Bargaining in Multidistrict Litigation

Over at our sister blog, Business Law Prof Blog, Professor Ben Edwards has been making his way through my recent book, Mass Tort Deals: Backroom Bargaining in Multidistrict Litigation.  He does an excellent job of both summarizing and commentating on each chapter. So, if you just don't have the time to do a deep dive into a new book right now but want the quick and dirty takeaway alongside thoughtful, insightful commentary, here are the links to his posts so far: Chapter 1 - Mass Tort Deal Making - on the nuts and bolts of class actions vs. multidistrict proceedings Chapter 2 - Mass Tort Deals - on whether quid-pro-quo arrangements exist between lead plaintiffs' attorneys & defense lawyers Chapter 3 - Mass Tort Deals - on repeat player dynamics in aggregate litigation (leadership appointments, etc.) Chapter 4 - Mass Tort Deals - on judges coercing facilitating mass tort settlements Chapter 5 - Mass Tort Deals - on the likeness between MDL deals and arbitration Chapter 6, on reform proposals, will be coming next week. If you're interested in all of the data and documents in the book, they are all available for free online. That site also has some data visuals that aren't in the book, like this one (clicking the image will bring up an interactive version):

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/mass_tort_litigation/2019/09/the-short-guide-to-mass-tort-deals-backroom-bargaining-in-multidistrict-litigation.html

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https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/the-short-guide-to-mass-tort-deals-backroom-bargaining-in-multidistrict-litigation/

Facebook to Officially Start Hiding Like Counts on Posts via @MattGSouthern

Facebook will begin hiding like counts on posts in a test that begins September 27th in Australia.

News broke earlier in the month that Facebook was considering this move. The company confirmed its plans after hidden like counts were uncovered by reverse-engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong. Now, TechCrunch reports that Facebook will roll out hidden like counts tomorrow in Australia. Given how the company is treating like counts on Instagram, this test could very well expand to other countries. Hidden like counts on Instagram were first tested in Canada before expanding to multiple countries months later. Facebook’s hidden like counts will work the same as Instagram. Users can see who liked a post but not the total amount of likes a post has received. Only the author of the post will be able to see the total count. A Facebook spokesperson tells TechCrunch:

“We are running a limited test where like, reaction, and video view counts are made private across Facebook. We will gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve people’s experiences.”

Instagram’s test is still ongoing in select countries, so Facebook will continue to gather feedback on the effects of hidden like counts on users’ well-being. The goal remains the same across both platforms. Facebook wants users to feel comfortable sharing content without feeling like they’re competing for likes with their peers. This change could also help people appreciate others’ posts based on their own merits, rather than judging them solely on how many likes they’ve received. Studies have shown that social media like counts can have a negative effect on people’s mental health. Facebook is clearly making at least some effort to keep its platforms enjoyable for users. If data shows this change is doing more good then bad then it may roll out to further countries. Although there are no further tests planned at this time.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/facebook-to-officially-start-hiding-like-counts-on-posts-via-mattgsouthern/

Three lawyers are among this year’s MacArthur Foundation ‘genius grant’ winners

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Criminal Justice

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 25, 2019, 1:00 pm CDT

The three attorneys are (from left to right): sujatha baliga, Danielle Citron and Lisa Daugaard. Photos provided by the MacArthur Foundation.

Lawyers working in the field of criminal justice reform, restorative justice and cyber harassment are among this year’s 26 MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” winners. The winners will each receive a no-strings-attached $625,000 stipend, report NPR and the Associated Press. The complete list of winners is here. The lawyer winners are: • sujatha baliga, a lawyer in Oakland, California, who is director of the Restorative Justice Project. The project provides training and assistance to communities working to bring together people who are harmed, those who are responsible for the harm and affected communities. The process is intended to help survivors heal while also seeking to break cycles of recidivism and violence. She is working in the areas of juvenile justice and intimate partner and sexual violence. • Danielle Citron, a Boston University law professor who is working to raise awareness of cyber harassment and proposing reforms to address the most extreme forms of online abuse. She has expanded her efforts to address the concept of sexual privacy as a distinct privacy interest that warrants recognition and protection. • Lisa Daugaard, a criminal justice reformer and former public defender who has developed an alternative to standard drug-law enforcement. She is primary architect of a program in King County, Washington, that replaces punitive policing with services that address underlying causes for participating in the drug trade. Suspected offenders who are diverted into the program may receive social services that include housing, health care, job training, drug treatment and mental health support. The program is expanding to other communities.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/three-lawyers-are-among-this-years-macarthur-foundation-genius-grant-winners/

Keywords Everywhere tool goes paid on Oct 1

On October 1, keyword research browser add-on Keywords Everywhere will move from a free to a pay-as-you-go model, the developer announced on September 25.

Keywords Everywhere provides volume, CPC and competition estimates on your search query as well as “related” and “people also search for” keywords. Under the new pricing model, the query above would cost 18 credits.

The new (low-cost) model. The payment plan will cost $1 for 10,000 credits of keyword data. “Basically, every time you see the volume for one keyword, one credit is used up,” Kevin, the mononymous operator of Keywords Everywhere, told Search Engine Land. “So, for a Google search where you see 20 related keywords and 50 people also ask for keywords, 1 (main query) + 20 + 50 = 71 credits will be used up.” This should end up costing most users less than $2 per month, according to the announcement. Why start charging now? The move to a paid model was necessitated by an increase in bot activity. Kevin said the deluge of bots forced him to disable the Import Keywords and Analyze Page features as well as “constantly upgrade hardware in order to keep the software functional for our real users.” Keywords Everywhere said it will use the funds to add support for other countries, build additional features and reintroduce features blocked due to bot-related activity. What about existing users? On October 1, the browser add-on will stop retrieving volume, CPC and competition data for all keywords; however, “related” keywords and “people also ask for” keywords will still be shown. Users will have to purchase account credit to gain access to volume, CPC and competition data. Why we should care. You or your team members may be using Keywords Everywhere to evaluate the competition, CPC, search volume and alternative keywords. If you’re a user, be prepared to dedicate a thin slice of your tools budget to the browser add-on starting next month.

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About The Author

George Nguyen is an Associate Editor at Third Door Media. His background is in content marketing, journalism, and storytelling.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/keywords-everywhere-tool-goes-paid-on-oct-1/

Justice Gorsuch’s wife reflects on her immigrant experience

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U.S. Supreme Court

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 24, 2019, 2:39 pm CDT

Louise Gorsuch holds the Bible as her husband, Neil, is sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court justice by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. in 2017. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Louise Gorsuch, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, became an American citizen in February 2002. She writes about her experiences as an immigrant in an article for Fox News. Louise Gorsuch met her husband in England. They were engaged three months later, and they moved to Washington, D.C., three months after that. “Unlike so many immigrants who come here because they are fleeing something—perhaps violence or political persecution—I wasn’t escaping,” she writes. “My story is less dramatic but shared by many.” Gorsuch tells of navigating cultural differences in the United States. “Who knew, for example, that you couldn’t remove a stick of butter from the carton of four and buy it separately?” she says. “After all, the lady in front of me tore the twelve-egg carton down to six. And why did my husband’s English-speaking grandmother need him to translate for me?” Gorsuch says she is a country girl who began to see the United States in a new light when she and her husband attended a rodeo in Frederick, Maryland. “This was the America I would come to love,” she says. “It seems trite to talk about a melting pot but the diversity of cultures and viewpoints offers a home to any soul. I had found my place.” Gorsuch became a citizen because she wanted to vote and “go all-in on the project of being in a republic premised on the right to rule oneself, and to share the obligation to make the republic work.” Gorsuch acknowledges that self-government can be “messy” and people in a democracy “might argue bitterly.” “Nowadays many hear complaints that the intensity of the noise and turmoil in today’s political culture is new, but I would refer them to our history,” she says. “To me, the raised voices should be celebrated, not reviled. They are not a symptom of dysfunction but a sign of health, a demonstration that the nation can withstand the rancor that comes with self-government and, eventually, get on with the rodeo.” Hat tip to How Appealing.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/justice-gorsuchs-wife-reflects-on-her-immigrant-experience/

Judge warns about ‘unfettered’ disclosure of client secrets in lawyer response to unfiled-appeal claim

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Ethics

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 24, 2019, 3:40 pm CDT

Image from Shutterstock.com.

A federal magistrate judge has ordered a West Virginia lawyer accused of ineffective assistance of counsel to respond to his one-time client’s allegations in a way that limits disclosure of confidential information. U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Eifert of Charleston, West Virginia, said lawyer Roger Lambert should respond to allegations that he failed to file an appeal for the client, Bloomberg Law reports. Eifert ruled in a Sept. 17 opinion. Eifert said Lambert could reveal once-confidential client communications, but only as they related to allegations by the former client, Anthony Cruz. “Simply put,” Eifert wrote, “the filing of an ineffective assistance of counsel claim does not operate as an unfettered waiver of all privileged communications.” Cruz had filed a motion to set aside or correct his sentence due to ineffective assistance of counsel. Cruz maintained Lambert failed to file the appeal even though he had legitimate issues to raise with an appeals court. Eifert referred to a July 2010 ethics opinion by the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. The opinion concluded that disclosure of confidential client information may be justified in some circumstances when a client makes an ineffective assistance claim, but disclosure should be limited to what the attorney believes is reasonably necessary. The opinion also said disclosure should be confined to “court-supervised” proceedings. Lambert should file an affidavit and documents pertinent to resolution of Cruz’s claim, Eifert said. The documents may be redacted to the extent they address other aspects of the representation.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/judge-warns-about-unfettered-disclosure-of-client-secrets-in-lawyer-response-to-unfiled-appeal-claim/

Police officers subpoena former governor to testify about commuted sentence

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Trials & Litigation

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 24, 2019, 10:31 am CDT

Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Lawyers for 11 Chicago police officers have subpoenaed former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to testify about his reasons for commuting the sentence of a man who has sued them for allegedly railroading the case against him. The lawyers want to question Quinn about his decision in January 2015 to commute the sentence of Tyrone Hood, who was convicted of the murder of a college honor student and sentenced to 75 years in prison, the Chicago Tribune reports. Hood had served nearly 22 years when his sentence was commuted, and prosecutors dismissed all charges against him. A co-defendant, Wayne Washington, pleaded guilty in the same case and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Both are suing the police officers for alleged malicious prosecution, conspiracy to deprive their constitutional rights and violation of due process, according to a motion to quash the subpoena. Washington and Hood claim the officers forced Washington’s confession and coerced false statements to support the cases. The officers claim Quinn’s testimony could help show they did nothing wrong in the investigation and the commutation was not based on Hood’s innocence. Quinn’s motion to quash said the officers’ subpoena request “amounts to nothing more than a fishing expedition and is not targeted to uncover relevant information.” The motion also says Quinn’s decision-making is protected by the deliberative privilege. U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez ruled against Quinn’s motion to quash in March. Valdez said Hood asserts he is innocent of the crime, and Quinn’s decision to commute the sentence on any other basis could support the officers’ defenses. Valdez also said Quinn’s affidavit in the case fails to identify precise reasons to preserve confidentiality, and he makes no attempt to identify specific protected information. In any event, Quinn likely waived the deliberative privilege when he defended his commutation decision “with vigor” in a variety of public forums, Valdez said. Quinn’s petition for reconsideration is pending. Experts who spoke with the Chicago Tribune were unaware of previous cases in which a governor was asked to testify about granting clemency.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/police-officers-subpoena-former-governor-to-testify-about-commuted-sentence/

Pelosi announces Trump impeachment inquiry; could Senate refuse trial?

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Constitutional Law

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 24, 2019, 3:18 pm CDT

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made the announcement in a video that was broadcast on Twitter.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that the House of Representatives will begin a formal impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. Pelosi said Trump has admitted asking the president of Ukraine to take actions that would benefit him politically. Such actions reveal a betrayal of the president’s oath of office; of the country’s national security; and the integrity of the country’s elections, Pelosi asserted. “The president must be held accountable,” Pelosi said. “No one is above the law.” Pelosi’s announcement follows news reports alleging that Trump may have pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call to open a corruption investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. The New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal have coverage. Hunter Biden became a paid board member with a Ukrainian gas company called Burisma Holdings in the spring of 2014, according to prior coverage by the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press. Joe Biden was supporting democratic efforts in Ukraine at the time. The Bidens have not been accused of any wrongdoing. Trump said on Tuesday that he would release a transcript of the Zelensky phone call on Wednesday. Trump has said he discussed Biden but there was no quid-pro-quo holdup of aid to the country. Trump has offered two explanations for ordering the temporary withholding of aid to Ukraine; he has said he did so because of corruption concerns with Ukraine, and that he wanted other European nations to help contribute funds. Pelosi said Democrats want to see a complaint filed by a whistleblower that deals with the Ukraine matter, and there is a legal obligation to turn the document over to Congress. Even if the House holds an inquiry and approve articles of impeachment, the Senate may not be in a cooperating mood, the New York Times reports in a separate story. The Constitution allows for removal of presidents who have committed “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The terms are not defined and there is no standard of proof. Only two presidents have been impeached by the House: Bill Clinton in 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868. Both times the Senate failed to reach a two-thirds vote to convict on articles of impeachment, and they were allowed to finish serving their terms in office. President Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 to avoid being impeached. In the Nixon and Clinton cases, the process began when the full House voted to authorize the House Judiciary Committee to open an impeachment inquiry. It’s not clear whether that authorization is required, according to the New York Times. The impeachment occurs when a majority of the House of Representatives votes to approve articles of impeachment. Next, the Senate holds a trial overseen by the Supreme Court’s chief justice. Trial procedures are set out in a Senate resolution. “Managers” from the House act as prosecutors. If at least two-thirds of the Senate finds guilt, the president is removed from office. Could the Senate refuse to hold a trial, in the same manner it refused to hold a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland? According to the Times, there is “no obvious enforcement mechanism” if the Senate majority leader refused a trial. The Republicans could simply dismiss the case, according to Duke University law professor Walter Dellinger. That could occur even if Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.—rather than Mitch McConnell—convened the Senate to consider impeachment. Former White House counsel Bob Bauer agreed with that assessment when he considered the issue in a Lawfare blog post in January. McConnell “would not have to look far to find the constitutional arguments and the flexibility to revise Senate rules and procedures” to block a trial, Bauer says. “The Constitution does not by its express terms direct the Senate to try an impeachment,” Bauer writes. “In fact, it confers on the Senate ‘the sole power to try,’ which is a conferral of exclusive constitutional authority and not a procedural command. The Constitution couches the power to impeach in the same terms: it is the House’s ‘sole power.’ The House may choose to impeach or not, and one can imagine an argument that the Senate is just as free, in the exercise of its own ‘sole power,’ to decline to try any impeachment that the House elects to vote.” See also: Modern Law Library: What would it mean to impeach a president? Modern Law Library: Ken Starr shares his side of the Clinton investigation in ‘Contempt’

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/pelosi-announces-trump-impeachment-inquiry-could-senate-refuse-trial/

ABA amicus brief urges SCOTUS to rule willfulness isn’t required to award trademark profits

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Trademark Law

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 23, 2019, 11:36 am CDT

Image from Shutterstock.com.

The ABA filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday that urges the justices to rule that judges may award profits for trademark infringement without the need to show willful infringement. The ABA points out in its brief that courts are split on the issue, according to an ABA press release. Some courts allow consideration of willful infringement as one of several factors to be considered. Others don’t allow an award of profits unless the plaintiff shows willful infringement. The ABA urges the Supreme Court to adopt the more flexible approach. Nothing in the statutory language of the Lanham Act requires proof of willful infringement before an award of profits, the ABA argues. In addition, a “theme of flexibility permeates the Lanham Act,” the brief says. Public policy considerations also support allowing courts to consider willfulness as one of several factors, the ABA says. Requiring willful infringement as a prerequisite “mechanically and artificially constrains the court’s remedial authority,” the brief says. The case before the Supreme Court is Romag Fasteners v. Fossil Inc. Romag Fasterners, which makes magnetic fasteners for purses and wallets, is seeking to reinstate a $6.7 million profit award in a patent and trademark infringement case against handbag and leather-goods maker Fossil. A judge tossed the award because jurors did not find willful infringement. The SCOTUSblog case page for Romag Fasteners is here. The court granted cert on June 28.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/aba-amicus-brief-urges-scotus-to-rule-willfulness-isnt-required-to-award-trademark-profits/

Judge says landlord should pay $17K for threatening to call ICE on tenant; decision could be a first

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Landlords & Tenants

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 23, 2019, 1:01 pm CDT

An administrative law judge in New York City ruled earlier this month that a landlord should pay a $5,000 fine and $12,000 in damages for threatening to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a tenant who was in the country illegally. The decision is thought to be the first housing case in the country in which an individual was fined for threatening to call immigration authorities, according to the New York City Commission on Human Rights. CNN and the Wall Street Journal have coverage. Judge John Spooner concluded that harassment or intimidation in housing violates the city’s human rights law. That sets an important precedent, according to Sapna Raj, deputy commissioner for the law enforcement bureau of the city’s human rights commission, who spoke with CNN. Spooner ruled Sept. 12 on behalf of the tenant, Holly Ondaan, an immigrant from Guyana who didn’t get her green card until July 2018. The case was brought by the human rights commission. The landlord, Dianna Lysius, sent harassing texts and emails even before Ondaan stopped paying rent in October 2017, the tenant told police. But the texts increased after that date, Ondaan said. Lysius sent Ondaan a text Jan. 11 that said she would call ICE on Ondaan if she didn’t pay rent right away. Later she sent Ondaan a link to an article about ICE officers raiding 7-Elevens. “HAVE MY MONEY OR IM CALLING ICES THAT DAY PERIOD,” one of the messages read. Lysius eventually sold the property in foreclosure, and her “dire financial circumstances likely played a significant part in motivating her hostile messages,” Spooner said. Ondaan moved out of the apartment in October 2018. A housing court decision the prior month found that Ondaan was liable for nearly $7,000 in back rent. Spooner is an administrative law judge for the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, which handles cases by the human rights commission and other New York City agencies. Spooner’s decision doesn’t take effect before the parties have time to submit comments and the city human rights commission issues a final decision, according to CNN. Lysius can then file an appeal. Lysius told the Wall Street Journal she never sent the texts and emails. “Everything in that report is false,” she said. She vowed to appeal. Hat tip to @taniel.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/judge-says-landlord-should-pay-17k-for-threatening-to-call-ice-on-tenant-decision-could-be-a-first/

Afternoon Briefs: Arrest of 6-year-old brings probe; judge orders Trump deposition

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News Roundup

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 23, 2019, 4:30 pm CDT

Image from Shutterstock.

School resource officer arrests children ages 6 and 8, leading to probe A school resource officer is under investigation by the Orlando Police Department after arresting children ages 6 and 8 last Thursday. The grandmother of the arrested 6-year-old said the girl was arrested for kicking a staff member during a tantrum at the Lucious and Emma Nixon Academy, a charter school. The resource officer, Dennis Turner, was a retired police officer assigned to a reserve unit. Turner is accused of failing to get approval for the arrests, which is required when children are under age 12. Turner was reprimanded before his retirement for alleged use of excessive force when he Tasered a man. (WKMG, the Washington Post, the New York Times) Lawyer is convicted for alleged assault of strip-club dancer A court-appointed defense lawyer in Roanoke, Virginia, was convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery for allegedly pinching and starting to choke a dancer during a private dance at the strip club he managed. The lawyer, Charles John “C.J.” Covati, had previously worked as a substitute judge in domestic relations cases. The woman said Covati told her she needed to perform for him in a private booth so he could show her what strip-club patrons might do to her. The woman said she reported the abuse to the club owner a few days later, and was fired about a week after that. At that point, she went to police. The club did not keep video of the incident, though two employees who monitored the booth and reviewed the video said they didn’t recall seeing anything amiss. Covati plans to appeal. (The Roanoke Times) Judge orders Trump to appear for deposition in protesters’ suit A Bronx judge ruled Friday that President Donald Trump must appear for a video deposition in an assault suit filed by protesters against the president, his campaign and his business. Judge Doris Gonzalez said Trump’s testimony is indispensable to determine his control over the security guards accused of roughing up the protesters outside Trump Tower in September 2015. “No government official, including the executive, is above the law,” she wrote. (Politico, the Washington Post, the Sept. 20 opinion) States sue US over auto emissions California and nearly two dozen other states have sued over the Trump administration’s plan to pre-empt states’ authority to set their own standards for auto emissions. At issue is a decision to reverse a waiver granted to California by the Obama administration that allowed the state to set standards that are stricter than federal regulations for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. (The New York Times, press release, Sept. 20 lawsuit)

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/afternoon-briefs-arrest-of-6-year-old-brings-probe-judge-orders-trump-deposition/

New Opportunities for Image SEO: How to Leverage Machine Vision for Strategic Wins

Twitter is giving users in the US the ability to hide replies to their own tweets.

As the company phrases it, this feature is being rolled out to “give people more control over the conversations they start.” Twitter was spotted testing the ability to hide replies as far back as March. It received a fair amount of criticism at the time, with people claiming it was a form of censorship. Nonetheless, Twitter pushed forward with its plans to roll out the ‘hide replies’ feature. In April, the company announced it would be rolled out in June. June came and went with still no sign of users gaining the abilities to hide replies. It wasn’t until this week that Twitter announced ‘hide replies’ is now rolling out to users in the US and Japan.

Positive Results from Twitter’s Initial Test

Twitter highlights what was learned from its testing of ‘hide replies’:

• People mostly hide replies that they think are irrelevant, abusive or unintelligible.
• People were more likely to reconsider their interactions when their tweet was hidden.
• 27% of people who had their tweets hidden said they would reconsider how they interact with others in the future.

Ultimately, the feature was found to be useful in helping people have better conversations. It was also found to be effective when used against tweets that deterred from the user’s original intent. It should be noted that when users hide replies they’re not fully deleted. Other users viewing the tweet thread will have the option to manually reveal hidden replies. Here’s an example of what it looks like:

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/twitter-officially-rolls-out-hide-replies-feature-in-the-us-via-mattgsouthern/

Prominent Baltimore defense lawyer indicted for allegedly aiding crimes of marijuana kingpin

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Criminal Justice

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 20, 2019, 10:50 am CDT

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Prominent Baltimore defense lawyer Ken Ravenell has been indicted on federal charges based on allegations he helped a Jamaican marijuana kingpin and his crew members launder drug proceeds and avoid detection. The indictment returned Wednesday charges Ravenell, 60, with racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and narcotics conspiracy, according to the Baltimore Sun and a press release. The indictment alleges Ravenell instructed crew members to “utilize certain drug couriers, to utilize specific modes of transportation and to transport shipments of drugs and money at particular times of day, all for the purpose of evading law enforcement.” The indictment also claims Ravenell told crew members they should use payphones and prepaid phones, and should remove batteries from their phones when meeting to discuss illegal activities. Prosecutors say Ravenell used the law firm where he was a partner in furtherance of the conspiracy, which took place between 2009 and 2014. Some of the drug crew’s meetings were held at the law firm, and Ravenell used law firm bank accounts to launder drug money and pay lawyers representing other members of the conspiracy, according to the indictment. Prosecutors also say Ravenell found lawyers who refused to represent cooperating witnesses to represent crew members, and required the crew members to sign retainer agreements that allowed their lawyers to withdraw from the case if the client tried to cooperate. Ravenell obtained information about the status of the cases and whether the defendants were cooperating, and then relayed that information to other conspirators, prosecutors say. Ravenell also met with defendants in jail without permission of their lawyers and encouraged them to accept plea deals that did not include cooperation, according to the indictment. The Baltimore Sun identified Ravenell’s former firm as the Murphy Law Firm. Since leaving the firm, Ravenell has emerged as a top defense lawyer who has handled high-profile murder cases, according to the Sun.

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/prominent-baltimore-defense-lawyer-indicted-for-allegedly-aiding-crimes-of-marijuana-kingpin/

New laws in 2 Southern states make it more difficult to deny occupational licenses for past crimes

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Legislation & Lobbying

By Debra Cassens Weiss

September 20, 2019, 4:55 pm CDT

Two Southern states passed occupational licensing reforms during the 2019 legislative session with procedural protections that make it more difficult to deny licenses based on criminal history. The laws passed in North Carolina and Mississippi have several similarities, according to the Collateral Consequences Resource Center. Both laws: • Eliminate vague “good moral character” criteria for obtaining a license. • Bar denial of licenses for crimes unless they are “directly related” to the license. • Require written reasons when a license is denied. • Provide for a preliminary determination on whether an applicant will be favorably considered. Both laws are influenced by a model law developed by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm that has filed suits challenging occupational licensing requirements. Eight other states also enacted new restrictions on the licensing process in 2019. See also: ABA Journal: “Movement to let the formerly incarcerated cut hair and drive taxis is gaining ground”

https://www.forlawfirmsonly.com/new-laws-in-2-southern-states-make-it-more-difficult-to-deny-occupational-licenses-for-past-crimes/

7 Traits of an Ethical Content Writer via @DholakiyaPratik

Just like SEO, content marketing can be classified as white, gray, and black-hat.

If you’re reading this, you likely wear the white one on most days. Maybe you wear a light shade of gray on bad days. But have you ever tried on the black one, perhaps by mistake? You see, the best part about content marketing is how it helps your brand build trust with your audience, in a way no other method can. It is subtly persuasive without being intrusive or disruptive. Words are powerful, and wrong advice can hurt both, the reader and your brand’s reputation. So, whatever you do, never wear that intriguing black hat, even by mistake. Now, as a content marketer, strategizing and executing the creation of compelling and evocative content for your (or your client’s) business blog is your chief responsibility. This often translates into you taking up the role of a content writer. So, to ensure you’re always on the right track, here are seven traits of an ethical content writer.

1. Includes Only Reliable & Recent Data

As you know, including relevant data and statistics makes for a strong piece. Facts and figures promptly convince the most skeptical of readers and drive the point home. It proves you have done your research and homework, and know what you’re talking about. Including statistics in blog posts improves consumer trust and makes the post more link-worthy. But it’s not easy ― you must only cite relevant data from reliable sources. Bonus points for finding and citing the original source of data, something that’s often quite challenging. Nevertheless, as a writer, it is your duty to dig deeper and uncover the true source in order to ascertain if the data is authentic or bogus. Furthermore, any data or research you cite shouldn’t be a decade old. Old data would likely misguide the reader instead of being helpful. Thus, see to it that you always cite recent data no more than two years old, and from authoritative sources, to add credibility to your piece.

2. Gives Credit Where It’s Due

While on the subject of citing data, make sure you credit the original source with clear mention and if possible, a link. Not only does it facilitate further reading and added value for the reader, but this simple practice helps quality content creators gain the recognition they deserve and stand out in a sea of mediocrity.

3. Writes for Human Readers First

Of course, you want your content to rank on the first page of Google. Who doesn’t? And sure, keyword research and optimization for search engines is important. But your number one priority must always be to provide stellar user experience for your website visitors. When it comes to written content, user experience boils down to readability. Today, keyword stuffing is evident and annoying not just for human readers but also for search engine crawlers. So, don’t even think about stuffing keywords in your copy. Moreover, try to incorporate your (or your brand’s) own unique voice in the copy. Don’t write in a robotic, lifeless tone. Make it conversational, with a generous dab of humor. Keep the language simple and avoid jargon. And when explaining something rather tricky, keep this famous quote by Einstein in mind: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

4. Doesn’t Extend an Article for the Sake of Word Count

Yes, long-form content generally performs better than shorter articles in terms of backlink acquisition, social shares, and search rankings ─ all the good stuff you want from your content efforts. Backlinko’s content study in association with BuzzSumo and HubSpot’s analysis of over 6,000 blog posts conclusively put the debate of short vs. long-form content to rest. But this doesn’t mean you churn out thousands of words of fluff that renders no extra value to the readers. Focus on quality over quantity. If you write content that comprehensively covers the topic, you wouldn’t need to worry about the word count. After all, the purpose of your content is to impart valuable knowledge and help your readers solve a problem, isn’t it? If you deliver the meat of the matter without beating around the bush, your readers will love you for it. They’ll likely show their appreciation by sharing the article, subscribing to your newsletter, and improving other key metrics that matter to you.

5. Doesn’t Regurgitate Content

It won’t be an overstatement to say there’s already far too much unnecessary and regurgitated content out there. If you plan to parrot or plagiarize, stop right there. Not only is it highly unethical to steal content, but sooner or later, you’ll destroy your website’s reputation and rankings. Even if you somehow don’t get penalized by Google for copied content, your audience will figure out the dismal quality and you’ll eventually lose your readership. Simply put, regurgitating content is a waste of time and resources, and will slowly but surely bite back in the long run.

6. Takes Accountability

Content writers are human too, at least for now. What are humans best at? Making mistakes and learning from them. So, if you haven’t already, it won’t be long before you publish a piece that causes a bit of controversy (unintentionally). That’s because content can be subjective and you can’t always please everyone. It’s what you do after making a blunder that matters. Remember, your content is meant to drive engagement, which means a healthy (albeit heated) debate is actually good. But if you know you made a mistake, such as inadvertently offending your readers or presenting incorrect information, make sure to explicitly claim full responsibility for it. Always be courteous and do everything in your power to correct it. Above all, as is the case with every profession, ensure you learn from your mistakes and don’t repeat them.

7. Makes Genuine Product/Service Recommendations

Ultimately, your content is meant not just to educate, inform, or entertain your audience but also to achieve certain marketing goals and improve a business’s bottom line. This often means making product or service recommendations in the form of sponsored reviews, guest articles, affiliate marketing, and so on. While doing all that is okay, it is imperative to be completely transparent about it. So, if you’re posting affiliate links on your blog, have a crystal clear disclosure stating your affiliation. Not only is this an ethical and sensible thing to do, but also mandated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Similarly, if you allow sponsored or guest posts on your blog, label them accordingly such that it’s plainly apparent to your readers. The last thing you want is your audience to feel cheated or duped, which will shatter the trust you are striving to build with great efforts.

Final Thoughts

Content may be subjective, but the phrase “quality content” is not. If your content is truly high-quality, it shares these common characteristics:

• Comprehensive: The article is so exhaustive that readers don’t feel the need to refer to any other resource after going through it from top to bottom.
• Provides actionable takeaways: Your readers are here to learn how to solve a problem or gain new knowledge. Your post should provide that solution so they can immediately take action after reading, or make them feel they’ve got what they were looking for.
• Original: Would you ever classify a copied piece of content as “high-quality”? Of course not. It has to be original.
• Factually accurate: The article backs every claim with recent and relevant data from reliable sources.
• Personable and honest: The post resonates with your audience. They are able to easily relate to what you’re saying and feel a connection with you, the author. This, in turn, makes it shareable, which is another important hallmark of a quality piece.
• Grammatically accurate: Poor grammar and spelling mistakes form a bad impression and reduce your content’s credibility. A high-quality piece, however, has impeccable grammar.
• Readable: A post full of technical lingo and convoluted sentences won’t read easy and consequently, be of poor quality.
• Evergreen: The post stands the test of time and remains relevant for years to come. If not, it is regularly updated to retain relevance and thus, the quality.
• Optimized and result-driven: Last but not least, your content achieves the intended business results. It is optimized for search engines and ranks high for the desired keywords. It drives traffic, engagement, and links. All this being a consequence of the above-mentioned points.

As you can see, there is a perfect overlap between ethical content writing and producing a high-quality result-driving piece of content. It is a win-win for your business and the audience if you, as a writer, swear by these content writing ethics when crafting your future masterpieces.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/7-traits-of-an-ethical-content-writer-via-dholakiyapratik/