SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 4, 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 Starts To Leverage Latitude Location Through New Apps
  

  Google is now expanding its map-based, location-aware service Latitude beyond the the Latitude destination in new ways with a public location sharing badge for third party sites and other apps that incorporate location. The first of those other apps is Google Talk. In the first example, Google has enabled those already signed up for Latitude to [...]

• PPC-Man Drowning… Too… Many… Keywords…
  

  The keyword long tail is dead. Long live advertising. The first shot (heard ’round most of the search marketing world) in this war against busywork was actually fired in 2002 by Google, when they introduced powerful matching options for AdWords. Too bad some folks haven’t yet heard that shot. This may be an exaggeration for effect. But [...]

• SMX Advanced: 1 More Week to Save
  

  Didn’t get it together to register for Search Engine Land’s SMX Advanced conference last week? You’re not alone. We heard from a bunch of you over the weekend who missed the early bird. Not to worry. We’ve missed a deadline or two ourselves, so were extending the rate for another week. Register for SMX Advanced now [...]

• Google Earth Publication Of Japanese Historical Maps Causes Outcry
  

  Google’s inclusion of historical Japanese Maps in Google Earth has caused an outcry in Japan. According to the AP these maps were already on public view and online. But Google is taking heat from rights organizations as well as the Justice Ministry in Japan. Why? What’s the controversy? Apparently the historical maps originally showed locations (which have [...]

• An Update On ShoeMoney Vs. Google Employee Trademark Case
  We have an update on the story “Google Employee Alleged To Have Bypassed AdWords Trademark Policy For Own Benefit” from about a month ago. Keyen Farrell, the Google AdWords employee, has filed his documents with the court. I have attached those documents below for you to read. In short, Keyen Farrell claimed [...]
• Using Analytics For Local Search Optimization
  

  Many businesses seek to target local searchers for their products and services, and careful review of a site’s analytics is one of the key weapons in a local business’s competitive arsenal. Here are a few tips on what metrics to look at and how to use some of them in optimizing your site to rank better in local search results.

• What Yahoo Buzz Tells Us About Ourselves
  

  I love Yahoo! Buzz. Always have. I loved it in its first incarnation (think Google Zeitgeist) and I love it now, in its current form. And not just because I work inside the big Purple Palace, mind you, but rather because it tells me everything both delightful and horrifying about myself in one concise web [...]

• An Insider’s Look At SMX Advanced: Matt Van Wagner
  

  We often get asked how we pull together our Search Marketing Expo conferences. We strive to make things look effortless, but in reality there’s a lot that goes into organizing an SMX event. To get the logistics right, we hold weekly meetings with our operations staff, relentlessly assuring that all details that make a great [...]

• How To Build Accurate Models To Solve Attribution – SMN Webcast Tuesday, May 5
  

  On Tuesday, Search Marketing Now hosts a free webcast on an issue that’s on many minds in online advertising: attribution management. Most online advertisers still give conversion credit to the last ad clicked, based on the belief that it’s just not possible to measure the various influences that occur in the buying process. But increasingly, [...]

• Impressive: The Wolfram Alpha “Fact Engine”
  

  Much attention has been focused on the forthcoming Wolfram Alpha search service. Will it be as important as Google has become? Perhaps! A new search paradigm? Yes! Or at least a new way of gathering information. A Google-killer? Nope! But when the service launches, it should become an essential in anyone’s search [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Manage your contacts, outside of Gmail, The Google Apps Blog
• Styling Google Docs Forms, Google Operating System
• Answers to common questions about the Google profile, googlesocialweb.blogspot.com
• Meeting friends of friends, googlereader.blogspot.com
• Shorter URLs May Offer Tracking Benefits to Marketers, New York Times
• The secret behind Google’s book scanning project, The Guardian
• Yahoo Testing Cleaner, More Open Home Page, MediaPost

Business Issues

• Google’s Enterprise Strategy May Be Solid After All, TechCrunchIT
• Google’s power-hungry data centres, The Guardian
• Live Search and Give Shuting Down – June 1st, 2009, Softpedia

Link Building

• Getting links from secondary locations, David Naylor
• Directory Discounts & Link Building Service Promotions, Link Spiel

Local, Maps & Mobile

• 400 Years in the Making: Celebrating Henry Hudson, Google LatLong
• Mobile Ads Seen Picking Up As New Google Phones Hit Market, SmartMoney.com

Other Items

• Shop Sign: "No1 on Google", Google Blogoscoped
• Larry Page’s University of Michigan Commencement Address, Google
• Looking Backward: A historical perspective on influenza, googlenewsblog.blogspot.com

Paid Search & Contextual

• Getting Creative with Dynamic Text in Your Ad Copy, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Follow-up on the Content Network performance trends white paper, Inside AdWords
• 5 Ways to Maximize PPC Impressions, Search Engine Journal
• Clarification from Google on New AdSense Policies, JenSense
• Geo-Qualifiers In Your Keywords and Ads Can Give Your Local PPC A Boost!, PPC Hero
• Geo-Targeting Basics: A How-To Guide on Setting Up Geo-Targeting in Google, Yahoo and MSN, PPC Hero
• Google AdSense Not Paying Some Israeli Publishers, Search Engine Roundtable
• Lack of Google AdWords Coupons Causing Lower AdSense Earnings?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Yahoo Match Type Games, Rimm Kaufman

Searching

• hahahahahahahahahahahahaha; gaming Google hot trends again, Arhg.net
• Why I Love My Job – ASCII Jeeves, AltSearchEngines
• Google Related Searches – Cheaters Rejoice, qwerty’s qoncepts
• 5 Tools For Google Advanced Searching, Search Engine Journal
• Live Search’s HTTP Headers Malformed, Search Engine Roundtable

SEM Industry

• 2009 StartupNation Leading Moms in Business Competition Winners, StartupNation
• 5 things you (probably) don’t know about me, Matt Cutts
• Wolfram Alpha and this week’s search engine news, Pandia

SEO & SEM

• Geolocation & international seo frequently asked questions, SEOmoz
• Getting The Most From Your SEO Agency, All Things SEM
• HCards, Microformats and Address Data does it Matter for SEO, Michael Gray
• When is PPC better than SEO for PR?, Online Marketing Blog

Social Media

• Corporate Tweets and the SEC: Sometimes It’s Better To Keep Your Mouth Shut, TechCrunch
• As It Inflects, Twitter Must Add Value to New Users, Faster, John Battelle’s Searchblog
• Choosing a Killer Avatar for Your Online Profiles, Jennifer Slegg
• Getting Honest About Social Media Marketing, SEOmoz
• How To Find Conversations By Tracking Brand Mentions, outspokenmedia.com
• Live Updating the Stream, blog.facebook.com
• Plurk Adds Real-Time Search. Doesn’t Mention Twitter., TechCrunch
• TweetPhoto Aims To Take On TwitPic By Adding More Features. Will It Stick?, TechCrunch

Web Analytics

• Google Analytics Changes Graph To Show Only Days Selected, Search Engine Roundtable

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

• Sphinn: SEO/Social Media Niche Site
• Google's Cultural Insensitivity Triggers Backlash in Japan
• Google Hires 200 Goats to Munch their Weeds
• How To Find Conversations By Tracking Brand Mentions
• Google Related Searches – Cheaters Rejoice
• The Latest On ShoeMoney’s AdWords Lawsuit Against A Google Employee
• 5 Less Obvious Twitter Netiquette Mistakes
• Advanced Link Building in 2009 – How to find and get those real juicy links!
• Using Twitter Trends to Pick Up Easy Search Traffic
• Why It’s a Terrible Idea to Unfollow Everyone on Twitter
• Twitter Adds Meta Descriptions to User Profiles
• 11 Internet Marketing Skills That Must Be Second Nature
• 5 Questions For Danny Sullivan
• Why SEOs Should Care About Social Media