SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 26, 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 (Finally) Addresses FeedBurner ProblemsAfter weeks of reports that FeedBurner wasn’t working, Google finally talked about the situation today on the AdSense for Feeds blog. The problem surrounds the transfer of […]
Matt McGee on January 26, 2009 at 5:21 pm | Reading time: 6 minutes
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 (Finally) Addresses FeedBurner Problems
After weeks of reports that FeedBurner wasn’t working, Google finally talked about the situation today on the AdSense for Feeds blog. The problem surrounds the transfer of FeedBurner accounts to a new platform (and a new URL). Many FeedBurner users saw their feeds go dead when switching to the new platform; some received 502 or 503 server error codes. Google doesn’t seem to specifically explain the problems, but says the problems are associated with the migration of so many publishers to the new platform. “Although we came across many of these issues during our testing phase, in reality we knew a … - Google Confirms Testing Favicons In Search Results
Over at Search Engine Roundtable, Barry posted this weekend about Google showing favicons in search results, and updated the post with confirmation from Google that it’s a test, not a bug. I can’t get this to show on my computer right now, but here’s the screenshot Barry posted (via Brian Ussery) … - Search Market Share 2008: Google Grew, Yahoo & Microsoft Dropped & Stabilized
With 2008 behind us, I wanted to look back and plot how search engine market share changed over the year in the United States. No surprises here. Pick your numbers, Google grew and grew. Yahoo and Microsoft dropped by lately have leveled off. Before we do the pretty pictures, I’ll repeat my standing philosophy about search market share figures … - The Local Mobile Opportunity … “Yes We Should.”
Last week’s inauguration was a great time to reflect. Witnessing such an inspirational, historic event combined with the ground-swell of optimism gave me a renewed sense of purpose and possibility. Professionally, it made me think about how I can get even more resourceful in my marketing approach and solving the problems of my valuable clients. - Heads-Up, Google: Broad Match Controls We Need
Last week, the Rimm-Kaufman Group disclosed what is apparently an inadvertent bug in Google’s Broad Match algorithm. Last summer’s switch from minimum bid to first-page minimum bid wasn’t supposed to impact broad match logic at all, but it did in a big way. The result? Agencies and advertisers who pay attention to the numbers saw a dramatic and essentially unmanageable decline in the performance of broad matched keywords, forcing down bids to remain efficient, dropping traffic and sales, with damage to Google’s revenue as well. We hope that Google will fix this bug for the benefit of …
Search News From Around The Web:
Applications & Portal Features
- Wikipedia May Restrict Public’s Ability to Change Entries, New York Times
- FeedBurner, Google, And The 502 / 503 Error, Rimm Kaufman
- Four Things You Need To Know About Knol, Matt Cutts
- Google Gears = no more Office/OpenOffice for students, education.zdnet.com
- More Signs of a Google Webdrive, Google Operating System
Business Issues
- Lists & Rankings: Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work 2009, ResourceShelf
- Fast Search and Transfer CEO Lervik sacked by Microsoft, Pandia
- Google ready to pursue its agenda in Washington, Los Angeles Times
- How Obama Will Use Web Technology, TechCrunch
- Others could follow Google’s move to reset options, The Associated Press
- Carol Bartz’s First-Week-at-Yahoo Memo to the Troops, AllThingsD by Kara Swisher
- Microsoft’s Chris Early, head of Games for Windows Live, among the layoffs, VentureBeat
- Google plans to make PCs history, The Guardian
- Technology Gets a Piece of Stimulus, New York Times
- Times Writer Says Google Book Search Deal Has Monopoly Potential, googlewatch.eweek.com
- Why Has Knol Survived Google’s Orphan-Project Killing Spree? (GOOG), www.alleyinsider.com
- Wow. ChaCha Is Raising Another $30 Million, TechCrunch
- Yahoo! Profits Likely Down, More Layoffs Possible, Forbes
Link Building
- A Linking Strategy Is About More Than Just Quality Content, Search Engine Watch
- 10 Link Building Tips, www.davidnaylor.co.uk
Local, Maps & Mobile
Other Items
- An update from the Project 10^100 team, Official Google Blog
- Google Grants: Much More Than Free Clicks for NonProfits – Part III, Search Marketing Gurus
- Seattle inventor hopes Google contest will help rooftop wind turbine fly, seattletimes.nwsource.com
Paid Search & Contextual
- Ads back up on Blogger, Inside AdSense
- The New and Improved Help Center, Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog
- Valentine’s Day PPC Tips for Dating-Related Advertisers, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
- Vkontakte to Launch its Own Context Ad Service, Quintura blog
Searching
- Google Mobile Can’t Find The Palm Pre, TechCrunch
- Popular New Year’s Resolutions, Live Search
- Why We’re Desperately Awaiting Feedsqueezer, Read/Write Web
- Hive Five: Five Best People-Search Engines, lifehacker.com
- A lot of new search tools in Pandia Powersearch, Pandia
- Lucid Imagination: Open source competition in enterprise search, VentureBeat
- Struggling Against Google’s Greatest Advantage, SEOmoz
- Sullivan: Search Start-ups Won’t Do Much to Stop Google Habit, Ad Age
SEM Industry
- Bryan Phelps: Search Blogger of the Day, The SEO Scoop
- Market Motive Announces Decision to Make Master Certification Faculty Panel a Live Event, www.marketmotive.com
SEO & SEM
- More to title tag optimisation than SEO, DavidN
- SEO Results Take Time, Stepforth
- Google AdWords Requiring One Domain Per Ad Group?, Search Engine Roundtable
- 15 Questions You Should Be Asking Your SEO Agency, www.seoptimise.com
- 2008: The year in spam, googleenterprise.blogspot.com
- 5 Critical AdWords Reports for Optimal PPC Optimization, Search Engine Journal
- 5 Ways to Build and Expand Your Negative Keyword Lists Today, PPC Hero
- Five Dreaded SEO Topics We Hope We Never See Again, SEO Book
- SEO Trends for 2009, smallbiztrends.com
- The Role of Trust in Rankings, Stone Temple
- Where did I put that SEO button?, www.seo.com
Social Media
- Revolution, Facebook-Style – Can Social Networking Turn Young Egyptians Into a Force for Democratic Change?, New York Times
- Twitter can has OAuth?, FactoryCity
- Twitter is not public infrastructure, Marco.org
- And the Blog Goes On, New York Times
- FriendFeed Hits Nearly One Million Users; Grew Tenfold In The Past Six Months, TechCrunch
- orkut is turning five!, Orkut Blog
- Twitter Raising New Cash At $250 Million Valuation, TechCrunch
- 10 Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers, TechCrunch
- Engineering Firm Charts Ties, Wall Street Journal
- Facebook screws iFart author, scobleizer.com
Video, Music & Image Search
- Against All TOS: Guy Tries To Sell His “YouTube” Digg Account On Craigslist For Rent Money, TechCrunch
- YouTube officially enables HQ in embedded videos, CrunchGear
- Delete Your Own Video Comments, www.youtube.com
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Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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