SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 13, 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:

• 3 Things I Learned About Business On My Summer Vacation
  

  …and how it relates to your business and your SEO. As I write this, I’m on vacation in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, CA. While this won’t be 100% organic SEO as is usually the topic, I’ll try my best to tie some of my vacation experiences to the SEO world, and to business [...]

• Google Tests Top Right AdWords Product Ad
  

  I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable that Google is testing a new form of products ads. This time, the product ad is displayed at the top right section of the page, directly above the normal AdWords ads. Here is a picture:[...]

• A Closer Look At Local Search Ranking Factors
  

  I am continually amazed by, and thankful for, the efforts of the Local Search Ranking Factors panelists. The survey remains one of the most visited pages on my website (right up there with my blog’s homepage) despite being static for 364 days a year. I receive weekly or even semi-weekly emails or comments thanking me [...]

• Online Video Growth Creates Consumer Engagement Opportunities
  

  If you are an online advertiser, there is no better time to take advantage of online video to drive consumers to your website. Online video viewership and penetration continues to grow along with the increasing popularity of social platforms and smart phones. Based on a recent eMarketer report, the number of US online video viewers [...]

• YouTube Emphasizes Search In New Design
  

  YouTube appears to finally be embracing its status as the second most-used search engine on the planet. Its new masthead design, just announced tonight, puts a much bigger emphasis on the site’s search capabilities. The new masthead looks very much like the Google.com masthead on a search results page: logo, large search box, and a few [...]

• Google Temporarily Pulling Caffeine Sandbox
  

  If you’re still trying to compare Google results with the new “Caffeine” sandbox, be prepared to wait while Google makes some datacenter upgrades. Matt Cutts just posted the news on Twitter that the sandbox is being taken down, and that it’ll be back online “late Thursday afternoon-ish.”

• SES San Jose Day Two Live Blog Coverage
  

  Today is day two of three of the SES San Jose show. The sessions are now complete for the day and I believe I have complied a lot of the live blogging sessions. If I missed any, feel free to comment below. Here is some of the coverage for day one:

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• A flurry of features for feed readers, Official Google Reader Blog
• How The Associated Press will try to rival Wikipedia in search results, Nieman Journalism Lab
• Getting your ducks in a row with snap to grid, googledocs.blogspot.com

Business Issues

• Google Faces Suit Over On2 Purchase, Wall Street Journal
• The Real Issue Between Apple and Google, Forbes
• Twilight time for Yahoo search, News.com
• Why Apple Is More Valuable Than Google, BusinessWeek

Link Building

• Poll: 38% Will Keep NoFollows On Their Links, Search Engine Roundtable
• Twitter adds Nofollow to API LINKS, David Naylor

Local, Maps & Mobile

• The China-India data error explained, Google LatLong
• Google TV, YouTube and Geo, gesterling.wordpress.com
• GenieKnows Local Version 2.4 released, GenieKnows.com
• Getting you to where you want to go with Bing Local, www.bing.com
• Will Google Caffeine Alter Google’s 10 Pack?, www.solaswebdesign.net

Paid Search & Contextual

• Rich Rewards, Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog
• Microsoft Admits To Clicking On Their Own Search Ads, Search Engine Roundtable
• North American publishers: Participate in AdSense email interviews, Inside AdSense
• Paid search is more likely than organic to bring in buyers, study shows, InternetRetailer.com

Searching

• News: Life in a Google Book Search World, Inside Higher Ed
• Bringing the power of Creative Commons to Google Books, Inside Google Books
• The powerful and mysterious brain circuitry that makes us love Google, Twitter, and texting., slate.com

SEM Industry

• Marketers Are Never Gonna Dance Again, Thanks to Google, Wall Street Journal
• Best Thing About Search Conferences, SEOmoz
• Google AdWords Pros Get Labeled In Google Forums, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• 3 FireFox Addons to Unite Multiple Google Services, Search Engine Journal
• Bing / Yahoo Deal’s Impact on your SEO, www.stepforth.com

Social Media

• Google Helped Twitter Fend Off Attack, Wired
• Most Common Social Media Mistakes, smallbiztrends.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• Specifying an image’s license using RDFa, YouTube