SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 26, 2014

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

From Search Engine Land:

• AdWords Flexible Conversion Counting Officially Lauched, Welcome “Converted Clicks” and “Conversions”
  Earlier this month, we covered Google’s news to select advertisers that it would be rolling out new options for tracking conversions in AdWords. The company officially announced the launch of Flexible Conversion Counting, and advertisers will see new columns in AdWords. In reporting terms, the change means the Conversions (One-Per-Click) will be replaced with “Converted […]
• Hiding From That Google Penalty? It May Find You At Your New Home
  Did you know that even if you try to run away from your Google penalty, it might end up finding you anyway? In a recent Google Webmaster Hangout, hosted by Google’s John Mueller, John said that even if you move your penalized site to a new domain name and don’t redirect the penalized site, Google […]
• Google Brings Back Right-Click-For-Directions To Google Maps
  Google Maps users can once again right-click anywhere on the new Maps to get quick directions to or from the spot that they’re clicking. They can also use the “What’s Here” option to quickly get the lat-long coordinates for any spot on the map. These are two of many features that users have asked Google […]
• Google’s Matt Cutts: While Scientific Content Is Great, Clarity & Focusing On The Searcher Is Important
  In today’s video from Google’s Matt Cutts, Matt answers a question asking if Google prefers ranking content that is more scientific in nature or content that is “easier to read” with greater clarity. First off, Matt said it was a question that made him think, which implies that there is no exact answer. If you […]
• Google Shares Performance Stats On Search Network With Display Select Campaigns
  Last fall, Google rolled out a new campaign type called Search Network with Display Select. The option was designed to make it easier for advertisers constrained by management resources to run both search and display ads, while shedding the waste advertisers typically saw when they combined search and all of the display network in the […]
• FOX Partners With Google To Allow Voting For American Idol On Google’s Search Results
  FOX and Google have partnered to enable American Idol fans to vote for the finalists directly in the Google search results. That means you no longer have to text your vote, you can do it on Google.com. How does it work? Simple, you go to Google on your desktop or mobile device and search for […]
• 6 Tasks To Automate In AdWords Without Scripts Or Tools
  When we think about automation in PPC, our minds tend to jump to expensive tools like Marin, Kenshoo and Acquisio or advanced algorithms and Google Scripts. However, you shouldn’t let the word “automation” scare you into forgetting the simple things that make it great: speed and consistency. Today, I’m going to take you through six […]
• Movie Sites Ranking Better In Google, Now That “Transient Issue” Fixed
  A couple days ago, we reported that Google was investigating an issue where several movie blogs lost their rankings in Google. The head of search spam Matt Cutts himself said, “I hope to dig into this soon.” Well, he did and he restored the rankings for those movie blogs calling the ranking problem a “transient […]
• Welcome Martin Beck, Who Joins Third Door Media From The Los Angeles Times
  We’ve grown again! Third Door Media, the company that produces Search Engine Land and Marketing Land, is excited to welcome Martin Beck to our editorial team. He joins the team as our new Social Media Correspondent, and his first day will be Monday, March 3rd. Martin has spent nearly 25 years in a variety of […]
• German Design Firm Claims Willful Patent Infringement Over Google Earth
  A German design firm is claiming that Google and Google Earth have infringed its patent (USRE44550 E1) and is seeking triple damages under the notion that the infringement was intentional or willful. The firm, ART+COM (“ACI”), makes the following claims: The development history of Google Earth indicates knowledge and infringement by key Google employees Google Earth […]

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

• Google Brings Its Nexus “Launcher” To Other Android Devices
• Yandex And Google Partner To Open Up RTB Display Inventory
• What’s The Most Expensive (Per User) Acquisition? Hint: Not WhatsApp
• Content Marketers: Concrete Steps To Finding Your Brand’s Voice
• Twitter & Vine To Hit The Big Screen This Summer
• You Can Love Your Marketing Data, Just Don’t Fall Under Its Spell
• Martin Beck, From LA Times, Joins Marketing Land As Social Media Correspondent
• How Adobe Used Twitter To Generate Leads For An Online College Nobody Had Heard Of, Yet [Case Study]

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Welcome to Googletown, The Verge

Local & Maps

• Google Tests Showing Deeper Local Reviews In Knowledge Graph, Search Engine Roundtable
• Teaching Bing Maps Some New (Language) Tricks, Bing Maps Blog
• Top New features which SEOs & SMBs want on Google Places, BrightLocal

Link Building

• 3 Important Things Matt Cutts Has Already Said About Link Building This Year, Search Engine People
• 7 Things You May Not Know About Google’s Disavow Tool, Search Engine Watch

Searching

• Bing Can Track 12 Digits Fedex Numbers But Not Google, Search Engine Roundtable
• Blippar Introduces Image Recognition And AR Advertising On Google Glass, TechCrunch

SEO

• The Good, The Bad, The Blackhat SPAMMER!, MIND
• Google Updates Part 3: Hummingbird Update, WrightIMC
• Could Your Images be Harming Your On Page SEO?, State of Digital
• SEO Quickie: #Magento Configuration Guide, Search Engine Journal
• Top 5 PR Techniques to Improve SEO, 3Q Digital

SEM / Paid Search

• 3 Ways Merging Google AdWords & Analytics Can Improve PPC Results, Search Engine Watch
• Finding High Converting Ppc Keywords That Are Right Under Your Nose, ConversionXL
• How To Focus PPC Competitive Research for Better Results, Raven
• Optimization Quick Tips: Troubleshooting Key Performance Indicators in Bing Ads, Bing Ads Blog