SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 15, 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:

• Wolfram Alpha Live Review: The Un-Google
  

  The already much discussed Wolfram Alpha official launch is Monday May 18, though the company has said they plan a “soft launch” starting tonight, with access gradually becoming available to everyone throughout the weekend. Some members of the press, like myself, have been able to directly use a preview version to test it out. Expect to [...]

• Congrats Barry Schwartz On New Baby Girl!
  

  Our hard working news editor Barry Schwartz is taking the day off today – something he almost never does — and with good reason. Barry’s become a father for the first time! His daughter (no name yet) was born this morning. Search Engine Land readers see Barry’s name in plenty of stories, but few really realize [...]

• Twitter: Multiple Revenue Streams Being Explored
  

  Yesterday at the EconSM conference in San Francisco, Kevin Thau, director of mobile biz dev for Twitter, suggested that the company is currently exploring and/or working on several revenue streams: search, content partnerships and mobile carrier-based deals (sharing in data revenues). There are probably others on the “white board” as well including fees for premium [...]

• Hulu Traffic Controversy Pits comScore Against Nielsen
  

  In the world of competition between and among websites, search engines and online publishers there is also the “behind the scenes” competition between Nielsen and comScore. Both want to be the source of record for traffic data and both are occasionally the subject of controversy. There was the incident early in 2008 where comScore put out [...]

• Is Your Paid Search Account Structure Optimal?
  

  Most search advertisers are familiar with this organizational structure: Account -> Campaign -> Ad Group -> Keyword That’s the way paid search was logically set years ago and it made complete sense at the time. Targeting/budgeting at the campaign level with keywords grouped with creative at the ad group level is an easy way to work [...]

• Search Behavior: The 4th Building Block Of Search Engine Optimization
  

  SEO is actually optimizing a website for people who use search engines, both web search engines and site search engines. The key ingredient has always been searchers — their characteristics and behaviors.

• Quietly, Google Updates Its Blog Search Algorithm
  

  There’s no official announcement (yet), but Google tells Search Engine Land that it’s made several improvements under the hood of Google Blog Search. In an email conversation, Google’s Jeremy Hylton — head of the search quality group in Google’s New York office — explained how the changes impact the “clusters” of stories that appear on the [...]

• Google Continues Its Overhaul of Google News
  

  The paint might still be drying, but you can take the new Google News for a spin. It has a mix of aesthetic and functional changes, all of which Google announced earlier today. If you remember last week’s news about Google’s new story display pages, you’ll recognize this week’s changes to the category pages. “Top Stories,” [...]

• Google To Allow Trademarks To Be Used In AdWords Copy In US
  

  Google, which recently liberalized the use of trademark terms as a trigger for showing ads, has again opened up its ad policies to allow trademark terms to be used within ad copy, in certain circumstances, within the United States. Currently, registered trademark holders can request that Google prevent their trademarks from being used [...]

• Up Close With Google Squared & Some Wolfram Alpha Thoughts
  

  One of the more interesting things to me that came out of the Google Searchology event this week was “Google Squared.” It’s a new search tool launching later this month that tries to build spreadsheet-like answers to anything you search for. I had a few screenshots from the event that take a [...]

• SMX London Keynote Preview: Brian Fetherstonhaugh
  

  Brian Fetherstonhaugh, Chairman and CEO, OgilvyOne Worldwide will be presenting the keynote address at SMX London next week. We’re extremely excited and honored to have Brian give this talk. He has a unique vantage point on how brands are built, how corporate cultures are created, and what happens as the world goes digital. Brian is [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google News Redesign, Google Operating System

Business Issues

• Google Outage: Effects…and the Cause, digitaldaily.allthingsd.com
• Google’s Tom Phillips, Director of Search and Analytics, Is Out, mediamemo.allthingsd.com
• The Great GoogleLapse, asert.arbornetworks.com
• Class-Action Suit Against Google Cites Order of Ads, New York Times
• Congratulations, Google staff: $210k in profit per head in 2008, royal.pingdom.com
• Firepond "Copycat" Lawsuit Filed Against Google–John Beck Amazing Profits v. Google, Eric Goldman
• Report: Baidu Staff Strikes Over Salary Cuts, www.jlmpacificepoch.com
• Welcome New AOL Staff!, blog.dmoz.org

Link Building

• Another Cool Backlink Checker: Page Inlink Analyzer, Search Engine Journal

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Mobile Search and SEO, www.bruceclay.com.au

Other Items

• Google Code Blog: Google OpenID API – taking the next steps, Google Code Blog
• The best and the brightest, Official Google Blog

Paid Search & Contextual

• How to Leverage Google’s Trademarked Term Bidding Policies, PPC Hero
• New Interface Thursdays: Tailor your account with customizable columns, Inside AdWords
• Update to U.S. ad text trademark policy, Inside AdWords
• Head to Head: Old and New AdWords Interfaces, www.seoptimise.com
• Temporary ad serving issue resolved, Inside AdSense
• Understanding Targeting, www.ysmblog.com

Searching

• Behind the scenes of the Search Options panel, Official Google Blog

SEM Industry

• Setting Up an SEO Shop Overnight!, HighRankings Forums
• Are Affiliate Links Unethical Without Disclosure?, outspokenmedia.com

SEO & SEM

• Whiteboard Friday – Link Farming, SEOmoz
• Optimization for Social Media Integration, Web Optimist
• The key to picking the right keywords (SEM 101), blogs.msdn.com

Social Media

• The Replies Kerfuffle, Twitter Blog
• The 4 Steps of Social Media Marketing, Search Engine People

Web Analytics

• 5 Advanced Segments for Ecommerce Analysis, www.roirevolution.com
• How to Set Up Goals in Google Analytics – Video, www.flyteblog.com
• Spotlight on Google Analytics features part 1: Advanced Segmentation, conversionroom.blogspot.com

Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• Who Does Local Search Best?
• 30+ More Non-Google SEO “How to” Online Marketing Resources for 2009
• Submit Your Guest Post – Guest Writers Welcome at Search Engine People
• Matt Cutts Explains What Was New At Searchology?
• Local Search Ranking Factor Statistical Research