SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 12, 2007

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on
Search Engine Land and from other
places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:

• 
  Free Webcast Tomorrow: Search Marketing – The Basics
  SEO, SEM, PPC, keywords, AdWords, analytics — what does it all mean for you as a marketer when you’re just starting out with search? You know you need to incorporate search into your marketing mix, but where do you begin? We’ll help you get started, in this introductory webcast about…
• 
  Facebook Opens Platform, Bebo Adopts It
  TechCrunch reports that social network Bebo launched its new Open Application Platform this morning in San Francisco. But the platform is an exact duplicate of Facebook platform based on Facebook opening up the code to third-party developers. (Here’s the Bebo press release.) Bebo is part of OpenSocial, the competing Google…
• 
  AOL Creates “Platform-A Marketing Solutions” Unit
  Trying to realize the promise of its “Platform A” integrated display advertising initiative, AOL has created “Platform-A Marketing Solutions.” The new unit combines the formerly separate sales teams of AOL and Tacoda. AOL acquired behavioral targeting firm Tacoda in July of this year. The effort is focused chiefly on traditional…
• 
  Microsoft Acquires UK-Based MultiMap Mapping Provider
  Microsoft announced this morning that it has acquired UK-based mapping platform and consumer destination MultiMap. Deal terms weren’t disclosed. MultiMap will reportedly operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft but within the Virtual Earth and search teams. According to the press statement issued, MultiMap brings “new location and mapping…
• 
  Yahoo Does Deals With Cars.com, CNBC, Renews Deal With InfoSpace
  Yahoo Autos has swapped out previous partner AutoTrader and replaced it with a broader editorial content and listings deal from newspaper-owned Cars.com. It’s unclear whether Yahoo’s embrace of the newspaper industry had anything to do with the deal. But it promises more content and listings on the site and apparently…
• 
  High-Tech Christmas Cookies? Nah, Just A Google News Glitch
  A reader spotted a pretty strange story in the Google News Sci/Tech area. Mixed alongside stories about AskEraser, the Space Shuttle launch and “w00t” being crowned as word of the year was a recipe for Grasshopper Chocolate Chunk Cookies, the lead item for a cluster of Christmas cookie stories….
• 
  Google Adds Gadgets, Roaming & Bad URL Help To The Google Toolbar: Version Five Is Out
  Google Blogoscoped reports Google released a new version of the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer. The new version is version five and has new features like integration with Google Gadgets, a “roaming” feature to keep your toolbar settings on any computer you might use and navigation error handing features….
• 
  Google Adds Subscribed Links To Universal Search Interface
  Google Subscribed Links Integrated Into Universal Search from Google Blogoscoped reports Google has integrated subscribed links into the Universal Search interface within the search results. In the past, subscribed links, which is part of the Google Custom Search Engine initiative, would be listed in a green box at the top…
• 
  Google Turning My Maps Into Social Mapping Platform With Collaboration, Ratings And Comments
  After core search, without question Google Maps (including Earth) is the company’s most successful and popular product. And lately Google has taken the product in very interesting directions. Among the most interesting things Google has done with Maps was the launch of My Maps in April of this year. Since…
• 
  Google AdSense Gains Scroll Arrows, Lets You Slide New Ads Up
  There are dozens of reports across the web that Google is testing a new AdSense ad format that lets you scroll through ads by clicking on arrow buttons….
• 
  A Holiday Post Mortem For Online Retailers
  If you can believe it, the holidays are almost over. Turkey Day is now long gone, and in less than 2 weeks, the big man in the red suit will be making his way back to the North Pole. Wondering where the time went? Better yet, wondering how you’ll…
• 
  B2B Web Analytics: The Search For High-Value Prospects
  The objective of B2B search marketing is often to capture lead information through registrations for white papers, case studies, newsletters, free trials, research data, etc. But what about site visitors that don’t take the bait? Does that mean they’re not serious prospects? Of course not. It would be arrogant…
• 
  Making the Most Of In-House SEO Project Delays
  Natural search teams can get seriously hung up due to the bottlenecks that may exist within organizations of various sizes, preventing them from achieving outstanding organic search results. One type of bottleneck is IT delays that prevent timely implementation of SEO projects. Many times, these delays can’t be avoided….
• 
  Mahalo Adds The Social Graph To Search
  Everyone’s been talking about how the social graph is the next evolution of search. Search 4.0. The next step forward after Search 3.0’s blended and personalized search. Today, Mahalo is taking that next step and adding a social layer to their search results. Jason Calacanis, Mahalo founder, says that the…
• 
  How Changes to the Way Google Handles Subdomains Impact SEO
  At Pubcon last week, Matt Cutts mentioned a change in the way Google handles subdomains. To better understand this change and what this means for search marketers, let’s revisit common site structure choices, how they’re handled by Google, and how that impacts SEO….

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Zoho Show 2.0 Unveiled – Compares Well to Powerpoint, One-Ups Google, Read/Write Web
• Google Hong Kong Gadget Winner Announced, Google Blogoscoped
• Writing Gadgets with Google Mashup Editor, Official Google Gadgets API Blog
• Secret iGoogle Themes, Google Blogoscoped
• Google Gadgets in IE Toolbar – InDepth Look, SEOish
• Top news sites at Google News?, Ask Newsknife

Business Issues

• Facebook v. ConnectU Update, Eric Goldman
• Facebook Partners Quiet on Beacon Fallout, PC World
• Giant Google/DoubleClick Buddies Up to Advertisers, Ad Age

Conferences

• Conference Recap: SES Chicago 2007, Search Marketing Gurus
• Sphinning in Vegas, Vanessa Fox

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Gmail Mobile Application, Now Available for Google Apps, Google Operating System
• Google Earth may give garden body clues, NEWS.com.au
• Google flaunts white space wireless magic, The Register
• Google responds to a recent local mapspam report, Mike Blumenthal
• Earthquake Activity Time Animation, Google Earth Blog
• Haere Mai! Google Maps lands in New Zealand, Official Google Blog
• TheFind Introduces Local Shopping, Screenwerk

Link Building

• SEO Link Analysis Firefox Extension, Joost de Valk
• Diversity is a Key to Good Link Building, www.pdxtc.com
• Truth About .Edu Domains : Registration, Links and Google Juice, Search Engine Journal

Paid Search & Contextual

• Google AdWords/AdSense & Microsoft adCenter Login Problems Resolved, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google to Release AdWords Editor 5 Today?, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Whys and Hows of "Insert Keyword", Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog
• Google Displaying Christmas Ornaments with Sponsored Links, Handsome Logic
• Google Rewards Advertisers Bidding on Competitor Trademark Terms, SEM Geek
• How to Evaluate Ad Revenue Potential, Shimon Sandler
• Practical Tips To Lift Your Conversion Rate, BruceClay.com

Searching

• Google Says It’s "Encouraged" By Ask.com’s Privacy Feature, Wired
• Google, wikis could help feds increase access, Mercury News
• The Google of jobs ads?, NZ Herald
• Holiday shopping with Product Search and Checkout, Official Google Checkout Blog

SEM Industry

• Search Industry Celebrates Holiday Season 2007, Search Engine Roundtable
• Summarization, the Answer to Web Search : Interview with Dmitri Soubbotin of SenseBot, Search Engine Journal
• The Stairway To Google Heaven, www.melcarson.com
• Reader Poll: Trends in Search Marketing for 2008, Online Marketing Blog

SEO & SEM

• What does Google has to do with 1969? Matt Cutts Explains, foxadv.blogspot.com
• Can Stale Content Hurt a Site’s Current Search Rankings?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Hosting Issues and SEO/SEM, BruceClay.com

Social Media

• Facebook Stirring Up Anger For Disabling Accounts, TechCrunch
• Movable Type Goes Open Source Today, Read/Write Web
• Bloglines Plumber Missing Under Suspicious Circumstances, Vanessa Fox
• Logic Emotion: Why is Twitter Exploding? Because it’s A Conversation Ecosystem, darmano.typepad.com
• Why I Stopped Using Twitter, Publishing 2.0
• Let’s get this Shindig started, OpenSocial API Blog
• Target Practice: Graphing Facebook User Segments, AIM Clear Blog

Video, Music & Image Search

• Picasa Web Albums on the iPhone, Google Photos Blog
• Ranking in Google Images is getting harder, SEOptimise
• Scoble To Leave PodTech, Heading For Fast Company, TechCrunch

Other Items

• House Republican targets Google on privacy grounds, News.com
• Feed status notifications, Google Base Blog
• Today: TV static. Tomorrow: broadband., Google Public Policy Blog

Last 20 Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• Top 10 Public Relations Blunders of 2007
• MSN Introducing Display and Text Ads to MSN Mobile in U.S.
• Google’s Matt Cutts is a Black Hat. A true Story.
• Jennifer Laycock – Experiment Complete. SE Spiders Permitted Back In
• Push Link Marketing: Pushing the Right Spots
• The Essential Website Usability Checklist
• SEO Link Analysis Firefox Extension
• How Changes to the Way Google Handles Subdomains Impact SEO
• Offers That Make Bribes, Improve Terms, & Add Services
• Matt Cutts and Vanessa Fox Caught On Video
• Sphinn, Mixx and other social sites’ credibility – Voting for vapor.
• Trust Rank Explained by Matt Cutts (Video)
• 9 Paths of SEO Enlightenment, Part II
• Dugg? Get Paid Here.
• 20 Top Sphinners You Should Know
• How to upgrade a Web site from IIS/ASP to Apache/PHP
• Do you every dream about SEO?
• How an ego can destroy a linking campaign
• There’s Focus in the Long Tail
• The Sexy Girls of Tech and Politics: How to Write Popular Articles for Social Media
• LinkedIn: Professional Social Networking Is Evolving
• 10 Tips for Choosing Bid Management Software
• Ask.com Launches AskEraser Giving Searches Ability To Search Anonymously
• The Facebook Viral Marketing Bible: 24 Ways to Market Your Brand, Company, Product, or Service….
• Pubcon Presentation – Link Development In-House & Outsourcing by Rae Hoffman

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.