SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 7, 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:

Send Destination Points From Google Maps To Your GPS Device
The Google Blog just posted that BMW automotive in Germany is now supporting integration with Google Maps. What this means is that you can “send” a destination point from Google Maps directly to your BMW. Currently, it is only supported with some BMW GPS devices in Germany. If you are…
Reducing Barriers To Online Registration
Many b-to-b search advertising campaigns are designed to generate online leads. Typically a company’s search ad promotes a specific resource or downloadable asset. Searchers clicking on an ad are presented with a highly tailored landing page that includes a registration form which must be completed in order to receive…
Strictly Business: New Column From Search Engine Land
Our newest Search Engine Land column, Strictly Business, launches today. Strictly Business will appear on Wednesdays, covering business-to-business (b-to-b) search marketing, focusing on both organic listings and paid search issues. Strictly Business is a sister column to Small Is Beautiful, a column focusing on search marketing for small businesses….
SuperPages Upgrades Mapping With Virtual Earth
Local search and directory site SuperPages.com has upgraded its mapping functionality, adding a range of sharing and personalization features built on top of the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform. SuperPages’ chief online yellow pages competitor, YellowPages.com also uses Virtual Earth….
Link Count Updates At Google & Yahoo Search
This morning I reported that both Yahoo and Google are updating the number of links they account for each site. Yahoo! Search Link Update shows a number of webmasters reporting both increases and decreases in the number of links Yahoo is reporting at their Site Explorer Tool. Google Link Update…
Friendster Partners With Google & Drops Yahoo
Friendster makes Google its ad and search supplier at Reuters reports that social networking site, Friendster, has selected Google to power their search and ads on their site. The financial terms have not been disclosed but we do know Google services will be added within the “second quarter of 2007.”…
My Yahoo Update Coming In “Few Weeks”
PC World reports that My Yahoo will be launching an updated version within a few weeks. The reports do not specify exactly what we will see from the upgrade, but I am suspecting we may just see an enhanced RSS reader built into the portal….
YouTube Blocked In Turkey
Turkish Court Orders YouTube Blocked at Forbes.com reports a court order has been submitted to block YouTube in Turkey. The reason was because a video was found insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Head of Turk Telekom said they have begun enforcing the ban immediately. Philipp Lenssen…
Yahoo China Sued For Linking To Unlicensed Music
Yahoo! China sued for alleged copyright breach at Reuters reports that Yahoo China has been sued by Warner Music Group Corp. and other music giants for linking to “unlicensed music.” The case was filed in early January by “11 companies and seeks damages of 5.5 million yuan ($710,686).” In November…
Ask.com’s CEO, Jim Lanzone, Calls Yahoo Paid Inclusion “Hypocritical”
In a comment left at the Stepforth blog, Jim Lanzone, Ask.com’s CEO, has said that he considers paid inclusion a “dis-service”. Jim explains that he finds it “hypocritical to charge for something we need to do anyway,” i.e. crawl the web to find quality pages to present to the searcher….
Version 5 Of Google Desktop Released
Google Desktop has released a version five with new features and updates. Kevin Tom, Product Manager of Google Desktop, explains that they added: A new sidebar with “completely new look and feel.” A gadget redesign to make them “easy to tell apart, easy to read, and easy on the eyes.”…
Search Engine Land Reader Survey: We Have A Winner!
Thanks to all of you who completed the first Search Engine Land reader survey! We’re still tallying up the results, but here are a couple of top-line stats you may find interesting: Nearly 30% of you work at a search engine marketing firm or full-service advertising agency; more than 25%…