SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 2, 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:

Google Brings Voice Search To Maps On Blackberry Mobile Phones
Today Google announced a download that enables voice search for Google Maps on Blackberry devices. This is very much like the existing Windows Live Search for Mobile service with voice or Tellme for Blackberry devices (also Microsoft). Yahoo also recently integrated Vlingo’s speech technology into oneSearch….
Microsoft Preparing “Another Run” At Yahoo As Justice Dept. Begins Formal Investigation Of Google-Yahoo Search Deal
Yesterday, after Microsoft announced it was buying semantic (or “natural language”) search engine Powerset, reporters asked the question: was this deal motivated by Redmond’s failed run at Yahoo? The two deals are and aren’t related. If the Yahoo acquisition had happened Powerset might not have, but Microsoft didn’t buy Powerset…
Ask.com Drops Map Product & Outsources To Microsoft Virtual Earth
The LiveSide Blog reported that Chris Pendleton,Virtual Earth Evangelist posted the news that Ask.com has now dropped their own mapping product for Microsoft’s Virtual Earth. Virtual Earth can now be found on Ask Maps, Ask City, and within Ask’s search results as Smart Answers. It is a shame to see…
Paid Search Ad Copy: Kicking It Up A Notch
Think about paid search. How would you describe it? Slow? No way. Cheap? Hardly. High Stakes? You bet. Paid search is a marketplace where every day, every hour—hell, every minute—counts. And costs. Cluttered and convoluted, it forces search marketers to grasp on to every advantage they can get. Not…
Mr. Search Marketer Goes To Congress (Part 2)
Going to Washington, D.C. to represent our industry to Congress was a great honor and the highlight of my career as an online marketer. It happened so fast, I never really had time to think about it, and I’m glad I didn’t because I probably would have freaked out. We…
Total Search Marketing, Part 1
It’s been a long held concept that natural search, aka SEO, is a top internet marketing tactic for acquiring better conversions, leads, and ROI. Now, eConsultancy has collected data and documented a study in the U.K. showing that natural search is the best tactic for generating online leads, concluding…
SMX East in NYC — Save the Date
6 Essentials for Search Marketing Success Increase traffic with SEMaware design and copy Save money by optimizing your SEO/PPC investment Maximize natural search rankings with a killer content strategy Boost conversions by driving the high-quality traffic to your site Grow sales after selecting more effective keywords Win business by outwitting…
Local Search… Beyond Pizza and Plumbers
Consider these statistics: As much as $500 billion in offline purchases was influenced by the internet in 2007 (eMarketer) 89% of consumers making in-store purchases in key categories have conducted research online (BIGResearch) 82% of people using local search sites followed up with an offline action, e.g. in-store visit, phone…