SearchCap: Cortana Out For Android, Featured Snippets & Local Marketing

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Cortana For Android Available For Download Ahead Of Official Launch
  A few days ago, Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, became available for download. This is not the official launch, and it’s not clear the software is ready for all Android devices. It certainly didn’t function properly on my Nexus tablet. Several people have already written about it, and it appears to be fully functioning for some. […]
• Best Practices for Click-to-Call for Mobile Search — July 28 Webcast
  What Paid Search Advertisers Need to Know to Compete in Today’s Mobile Climate
• Choice Is Good. Choose SMX East. Rates Increase Saturday!
  Guarantee: you’ll never be bored at SMX East. Select from more than 50 sessions, keynotes and clinics. You always have four or more to choose from! Attend sessions that fit your interests — SEO, SEM, social, mobile, or analytics and conversions. And your skill level — expert, intermediate or beginner. Here are just a few […]
• How To Get Featured Snippets For Your Site
  Google is displaying answers for many search queries directly in its search results, and many are wondering how they can get their website content featured there. Luckily, columnist Eric Enge describes his process for doing just that.
• 6 Local Marketing Lessons Learned At Comic-Con
  What can local business marketers learn from San Diego’s largest convention? Columnist Greg Gifford explores.
• 5 Ways To Use What Consumers Want To Boost Local SEO Strategy
  Local businesses have unique competitive advantages over larger brands, and columnist Wesley Young analyzes a study by Yodle to find ways to leverage them into an effective search strategy.

Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:

• Instagram Search Arrives For Web Users
• Martech Landscape: What is Call Analytics & Tracking Software?
• Introducing The Marketing Technology Landscape Series
• AT&T Adds Virtual Reality Component To “It Can Wait” Campaign
• Choice Is Good. Choose SMX East. Rates Increase Saturday!
• “Unleash Your Rrrr” With Volkswagen
• Survey: 90 Percent Of Retail Shoppers Use Smartphones In Stores
• YouTube’s Top 100 Brands Report: Monthly Views Up 55% For Branded Video Content
• IAB Issues First Programmatic Display Report: US Revenues Topped $10.1B In 2014
• 7 Keys To Navigating The Paid Mobile Ecosystem
• 5 E-Commerce Techniques To Know For The 2015 Holiday Season

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Google’s John Mueller In Malta, Has Time To Meet With You There, Search Engine Roundtable
• What Omid Kordestani, the Chief Business Officer, Says About Google, Re/code

Local & Maps

• Google might soon help you find anyone from a plumber to a painter, The Verge
• Converting Google Maps Street View URLs to KML, Google Earth Blog
• Define your places in the new Bing Maps, blogs.bing.com
• Google MapMaker Soliciting Regional Editors, Blumenthals
• The Weather Channel brings real-time weather updates to users with Google Maps APIs, Google Geo Developers Blog

Link Building

• #SEO: Link Building in the Penguin Age, BruceClay.com

Searching

• Through the Google lens: Search trends July 10-16, Official Google Blog
• Answer: What kinds of buildings are these?, SearchReSearch
• Bing Adds Product Thumbnails to Organic Search Results, thesempost.com
• Internal Search: Why and How, Yoast
• New Reviews Appearing in Bing Knowledge Panels, thesempost.com
• Yahoo tests a new interface similar to Google, allgoogletesting.blogspot.com

SEO

• 10 Local SEO Tools for Small Businesses, Practical Ecommerce
• Been Gone From SEO: How Do I Get My Google Rankings Back?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Says Top Ten Google Verified Web Sites Use HTTPS, Search Engine Roundtable
• How Google’s Panda Algorithm Affected the PR Industry, SEMrush Blog
• Quantify Your Results: The 14 Most Important SEO Metrics, quicksprout.com
• The SEO Expert’s Guide to Web Performance Using WebPageTest, Moz
• Was That Non-Panda Update On Google A Phantom Update, Search Engine Roundtable

SEM/Paid Search

• The 4 Common Keyword Mistakes, PPC Hero
• Video: How has Mobile Impacted Paid Search?, RKG Blog