SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 11, 2008

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Feb. 11, 2008 at 3:32pm Eastern by Barry Schwartz

SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 11, 2008

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

From Search Engine Land:

Microhoo: Divining The Probabilities
Yahoo's board has officially rejected Microsoft's bid for the company, but that's likely just a gambit to either pressure Microsoft to sweeten its bid, or stall for time while Yahoo explores other alternatives. So what's the likelihood of Microsoft actually succeeding in its takeover attempt? There are many possible...
Microsoft Buys Danger
Microsoft has acquired Danger, Inc., maker of the T-mobile "Sidekick" device and the Danger operating system and platform. Danger has been hailed as highly innovative and its platform and OS pre-dates the iPhone (the company was founded in 2000). There's a bit of an irony here in that Danger was...
Chipmakers Demo Android Prototype Phones In Barcelona
This week the mega mobile conference 3GSM (now formally called the GSMA Mobile World Congress) is taking place in Barcelona, Spain. And true to the pre-conference hype and speculation, several mobile chip makers are showing off Android prototype phones. (Gizmodo has a "hands-on" video with a prototype from the conference.)...
Google: We Didn't Censor Aboutrika's Gaza T-Shirt Photo
Google's Matt Cutts has lent his personal blog to the Google Images search team so they could debunk a rumor that Google censored an image of a Egyptian football player Mohammad Aboutrika stripping off his team jersey during the African Cup Of Nations to show a "Sympathize With Gaza" T-shirt...
The Googliest Place On Earth: Google Takes Over Disneyland
Google Operating System has a collection of Googler posts on their recent trip to Disneyland. This year, instead of going skiing as they have traditionally done for their annual company trips, Google went to Disneyland. Googlers took over Disneyland between February 4 and 6th. In fact, Valleywag reported that Googlers...
SEO Makes Oprah In Roundabout Way
SEO is making it big time, hitting Oprah! Actually, it's an SEO who will be on Oprah and not talking about his business but his personal life. Rand Fishkin is slated to share how he popped the question for his fiancee Geraldine, last year. Kim Krause posted the news of...
Official: Yahoo Says No To Microsoft
The weekend rumor becomes reality. Yahoo has rejected Microsoft's offer, saying it undervalues Yahoo. From the release:...
Google Wins Upside Down Social Security Number Privacy Lawsuit
Eric Goldman reports Google has won the Jayne v. Google Founders lawsuit (PDF). The suit was filed by Dylan Stephen Jayne against Google for $5 billion. Jayne claimed when you turn his social security number upside down, it spelled Google. In any event, a United States court of appeals for...
What, Exactly, Are Google AdSense "Other" Relevancy Factors?
It's been well established that a core—predominant, even—component of the Google AdWords quality-based bidding formula is historical CTR (clickthrough rate). New keywords get treated a bit differently, though; the algorithm must predict CTR based on the similarities of your ad group's characteristics to historical data in Google's vault. If...
How To Get On Google Maps Without An Address
One of the top issues in delivering up local search results in a map-based format is what to do with businesses which have no street address. During the SMX Local & Mobile conference back in October, Dick Larkin asked Google Earth VP Michael Jones a question about this very...
Not So Crazy: Yahoo May Partner With AOL To Escape Microsoft
Wondering what's next after the news that Yahoo apparently plans to reject Microsoft's takeover offer? The Times Of London reports Yahoo will restart merger talks with AOL. Below, more about the news along with some back history on AOL in search and why a Yahoo-AOL partnership might indeed be...
WSJ: Yahoo Plans To Reject Microsoft's Offer
The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Yahoo plans to reject Microsoft's offer as insufficient: Yahoo's board determined that the $31 per share offer "massively undervalues" Yahoo, the person said. It also doesn't account for the risks Yahoo would be taking by entering into an agreement that might be...
Live Search: There For Skiiers And Snowboarders Everywhere
Live Search has just added Instant Answers for snow conditions at ski resorts. Type a query for a resort name (such as "whistler") or for a resort area (such as "CO snow report") and you'll see information such as lift status, amount of new snow, base depth, and conditions....