SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 9, 2009

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 Goes To The Inauguration
  We’ve covered earlier about Googlers and former Googlers making big donations to Barack Obama’s inauguration. Now Google’s taking it up a notch, throwing its first ever party in for a US president’s inauguration, in conjunction with its YouTube video site and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. It’s not a ball. In fact, the invitation specifically avoids calling it that, saying: Join Google/YouTube and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights to honor the incoming Obama Administration, welcome a new era of open government, and take a break from traditional Inaugural balls. So if …
• Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Top Search Marketer?
  We’ve done some preliminary analysis of the top-performing entries in our Biggest Search Geek Contest and have compiled some fascinating (though not entirely scientific) results by looking at LinkedIn profiles of the top 10 scorers. By the way, it’s not too late to participate in the contest—it only takes a few minutes and the prize is a free Free Ticket To SMX West in February. Do you recognize yourself in these results?…
• Google Changes, Colorizes Favicon
  It looks like Google just updated their favorite icon for the second time in less then a year. Don’t see it? Visit http://google.com/favicon.ico and refresh the page. Below, more about the old, new and newest ones.
• SEO & Page Segmentation Analysis
  If you’re looking for some fairly heavy SEO reading, something beyond the “Top 10-this” and “5-Tips-for-that” type of post, spend some time reading Dave Harry’s post on how search engines may get more granular with page segmentation analysis. If you’re not familiar with the term, page segmentation involves splitting a web page into separate pieces and analyzing each piece individually, rather than as part of the whole. (It’s also been called “block level analysis” and probably a few other things, too.) In theory, this type of analysis allows a search engine spider to more easily focus on the “meat” of …
• An Update On Javascript Menus And SEO
  SEOs have traditionally recommended using search engine friendly menu systems such those based on HTML styled with CSS instead of those written in JavaScript. The primary language understood by search engines has been HTML, but now several search engines have learned how to read JavaScript. I recently found an example that reveals how much progress has been made. My observations confirm what software engineer Janis Stipins’ said at SMX East in October 2008, that Google is doing a much better job spidering JavaScript. About a month ago Monitronics had deployed a new site built with DotNetNuke and …
• Ballmer: Do Yahoo Deal Sooner, Not Later
  Sick of hearing about Microsoft being interested in buying Yahoo’s search business? So am I. Just buy it already. The saga — now nearly a year old — is back in the news. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is now saying that a deal should happen within the next few months, due to Microsoft and Yahoo having new “leaders” in place. For Yahoo, that means a new CEO providing leadership. As we covered yesterday, various reports indicate that a new CEO might be named as early as next week. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s “Online Services Group,” …
• Search In Pictures: Snow Reaches Yahoo, YouTube’s Phone Booth & The Google Bear
  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.
• Want To Rank Tops In Google? Do YouTube Videos, Stupid!
  The Forrester Blog published a small but interesting study on how you can improve your chances, by 50 times, of showing up at the top of the Google search results. Their tip? Utilize Google’s Universal Search by creating videos. Not only does Forrester share statistics and analysis on how to improve your odds with videos, but they also share tips on how to improve your video’s chance at being the top video in Google web search.
• Search Biz: Yahoo CEO Duel, MSFT Reconsiders Search Brand, MSN ‘Lewd’ In China & Google Won’t Buy Newspapers
  SearchBiz today rounds up some items from the last 24 hours. Most of them concern personnel moves or speculation about who might get the top spot at Yahoo. Then there’s the ongoing MicroHoo saga and whether a new CEO will restart talks with Redmond. There’s also the matter of MSN being branded a “lewd” site in China for user-generated content. Yahoo CEO contenders: Decker vs. Bartz? CNET and AllThingsD are discussing potential Yahoo CEO appointments. AllThingsD reports that Autodesk Executive Chairperson and former CEO Carol Bartz is a strong candidate for the position, according to the usual unnamed “insiders.” The …
• Google Has Well Over A Million Advertisers
  Google: 1 Million Advertisers in 2007, More Now from the New York Times reports that Google has reported in their latest SEC filing that they have one million advertisers as of 2007. Now, that number is likely a lot more now, in 2009. An analyst from UBS estimated Google has between 1.3 million and 1.5 million advertisers. Why is this important, because according to the analyst, it shows there is still room for a lot more growth in terms of the advertiser base. The New York Times piece says Google’s advertiser growth started at 89,000 in 2003, to 201,000 in 2004, 360,000 in 2005 and 600,000 in 2006.

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Chrome Release Channels, Chromium Blog
• Report: Gmail about one-third as expensive as hosted e-mail, Ars Technica
• That new car (site) smell, Yodel Anecdotal

Business Issues

• Google Loses Verizon Mobile Search Deal to Microsoft–But How Big a Loss Is It?, BusinessWeek
• Yahoo Said to Be Considering Bartz, Two Other Executives as CEO, Bloomberg

Link Building

• Monitoring Links for Linkbuilding, SEOmoz
• Report: Yahoo Site Explorer Updated Link Values, Search Engine Roundtable

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Skype Launches on Android Platform and more than 100 Java-Enabled Mobile Phones, Skype
• Another Local Services Directory, Screenwerk
• Flying Through Google Earth at Macworld, Google LatLong
• Google to launch Street View of Taiwan in 2H 2009, Digi Times
• Surf Google Earth With Wii Balance Board, InformationWeek
• Why Google has Trouble Getting it Right, Mike Blumenthal

Other Items

• ICANN improves system for reporting false whois data, StopBadware.org

Paid Search & Contextual

• Site maintenance on Saturday, January 10, Inside AdSense
• Why Keyword CPCs Won’t Necessarily Fall, Search Marketing Sage
• PPC Landing Pages: Surprising Examples, Search Engine Watch
• Q&A – Does conversion rate affect my quality score?, Brad Geddes
• Tips and Tricks for Creating Content Ad Campaigns in adCenter, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Yahoo Has The Nerve To Change Advertisers Campaigns After Outcry, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Announcing the Congress API, New York Times
• TechCrunch Poll: What Would Make You Switch Search Engines?, TechCrunch

SEM Industry

• David Harry: Search Blogger of the Day, The SEO Scoop
• Seven Deadly SEO Sins, Derek Chew
• Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: January 9, 2009, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• Six Lessons from a Wooden Boy: Lesson Four: Listen to Trusted Advice, Search Engine Guide
• Outrank Your Competitor For Their Brand Name, Search Engine Journal
• Poll: Most SEOs Say PageRank Data in Google Webmaster Tools is Useless, Search Engine Roundtable
• Whiteboard Friday – Complex Content Issues, SEOmoz
• Who’s To Blame For Faster Indexing? Google Sitemaps or FeedBurner, Search Engine Roundtable
• You Don’t Need SEO to Rank in Google, Sugarrae

Social Media

• What Facebook should have learned from religion, News.com
• MySpace And Wall Street Journal Partner (?) to Send One MySpacer To Davos, TechCrunch
• Stop chatting! Facebook shuts up IM integration with Meebo, VentureBeat
• Tweetvisor A Contender For Best Alternate Twitter Interface, TechCrunch
• Who Wants to Hire Top Twitter Users?, Cre8PC

Video, Music & Image Search

• YouTube Is Changing How We Think About Video, TechDirt

Web Analytics

• Eyes on the Prize with Custom Reports, Google Analytics Blog

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