SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 15, 2008

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Compete: Microsoft Gains Share; Google Hits New High In Raw Searches
  Having covered Hitwise stats yesterday, today I move on to the latest stats from Compete that for search engine share in the United States for March 2008. Unlike Hitwise, they show Google taking a very slight dip last month, with Microsoft getting a slight rise. But while Google’s percentage…
• iCrossing: Democrat Obama Winning In Overall Search Volume, Republican John McCain Outspending Rivals On Paid Search
  The finding that Republican presidential candidate and presumptive nominee John McCain is outspending (by 2x) Democrats Barak Obama and Hilary Clinton on issues, as well as buying his opponents “brand terms” is one of the findings of a fascinating new iCrossing report, “How America Searches: Election ‘08 Update.”…
• Time to Refocus on Your Content
  If you’ve been involved with social media at all lately you’ve realized that getting your linkbait on Digg has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible, especially if you’re trying from a commercial domain. This has left many social media marketers scrambling for ways to please their clients or find…
• AOL Acquires Sphere & Creates Search Interface For iPhone
  Sphere, software that connects contextually relevant content to your content, has been purchased by AOL. The Sphere Blog confirms the acquisition, and TechCrunch suggests the purchase price was at about $25 million. Sphere initially launches as a blog search engine but then adapted into a “related content engine,” with clients…
• 1 Week Left Until SMX Social Media Marketing
  SMX Social Media Marketing takes place next week – April 22-23 – in Long Beach, CA. Not registered yet? There’s still time. Register and join us for this one of a kind event for internet marketers who want to learn the traffic-driving benefits of working with social media sites and…
• Your Site’s Manifest Linking Destiny
  One of the challenges link builders face is pursuing links that will differentiate one site from competing sites in a way that still produces a natural ILP (inbound link profile). Backlink forensics is a method I use to see who already links to who, and part of that process,…
• Hakia Goes For “Quality” Over “Popularity”
  If Hakia were using an automotive analogy, the site might be saying to Google, “We’re BMW, you’re Chevrolet.” The Hakia blog explains how the engine is taking a “quality” approach, trying to assess the credibility of sites in ranking them, together with the help of professional librarians. Hakia specifically discusses…
• Google Earth 4.3 To Launch, KML Becomes Open Standard
  According to the Google Earth Blog, Google Earth version 4.3 (free) is coming later today. Among the upgrades and improvements are faster load times for 3D buildings, day/night lighting, new navigational options and StreetView images. (Google has also just started to let StreetView on to third party sites.)…
• Google’s VP, Marissa Mayer, On “Don’t Be Evil” Company Motto
  Don’t Be Evil or don’t lose value? from The Sydney Morning Herald interviews Google’s vice president, Marissa Mayer on Google’s famous company motto, “Don’t Be Evil.” In that interview, she explains that the motto “wasn’t like an elected, ordained motto.” She added, “It [the motto] is good PR but really…
• Google Wants To Be Market Leader In China Within Five-Years
  Google Seeks a Leading Role in China from the Wall Street Journal reports that Google China’s president, Kai-Fu Lee, wants Google to be a market leader in China in five-years. Kai-Fu Lee said, “Certainly, we would like to aspire to be a market leader in five years.” His plans to…
• Search Illustrated: Search Benefits Of The Blogosphere
  There are many aspects of the blogosphere that make it attractive to search marketers: the sharing and distribution of content, the potential for viral marketing and link bait, and the associated linking opportunities. But, so much more goes into the relationship we have with blog communities. This week’s infographic…

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Farecast sold in $75 million deal, SeattlePi
• Federated Media’s $50 Million C-Round Confirmed – No Plans to Buy Up Blog Partners, TechCrunch
• Is Search Recession-Proof?, Search Engine Watch
• On Leaving Google, Google Blogoscoped
• The Mighty Murdoch: Will He Ever Stop?, ABC News

Local, Maps & Mobile

• YouTube videos in Google Maps, Google LatLong
• Google Local Business Center Allows Free Form Categories Now, Search Engine Roundtable
• Iran slams Google for renaming Persian Gulf, sify.com
• Video on Google Maps Revisited, Screenwerk

Microhoo

• Yahoo chairman knows how to multitask mergers, News.com

Paid Search & Contextual

• Expand Your Keyword List For Free: 6 Keyword Tools You Should Be Using (but probably aren’t), PPC Hero
• Google AdSense Adds "Choose Units" Reporting Option, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google AdWords Picks Most Expensive Keyword From Most Expensive Campaign, Search Engine Roundtable
• Keyword research: what can you learn from a word? – adCenter Advertiser, adcentercommunity.com
• PPC Search Engine ABCSearch Partners with AdWatcher on Optimization, Search Engine Watch Blog
• Strong Q1 for Search Marketing Amid Signs of Weakness Ahead, www.businesswire.com

Searching

• Can Powerset Unseat Google in Web Search?, altsearchengines.com
• Indeed Now Lets You Search for Jobs by Salary, TechCrunch
• Marc Cramer, CEO of SurfCanyon on Search & Importance of User Feedback, Search Engine Journal

SEO & SEM

• 3 Steps to a Stronger SEM Training Program, Search Engine Guide
• An SEO’s Tools: A Hammer or a Paintbrush?, Small Business SEM
• Microsoft Live Search April 2008 Update?, Search Engine Roundtable
• SponsoredReviews Adds Google PageRank Filtering, Search Engine Journal
• When Talking SEO, Be On The Same Page, Search Engine Roundtable
• Yahoo Search Stops Grouping Results From Same Domain?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Facebook News Feed Reports on You Behind Your Back, TechCrunch
• Twitter Spam Spirals Out of Control, mashable.com
• Twitter Testing Advertising In Twitter Streams, TechCrunch
• What Makes a Great Company Blog?, Search Engine Guide
• When Social Media Content = Great Blog Content, Search Engine Watch Blog

Video, Music & Image Search

• 5 Ways to Optimize Google Search Result Video Ads, Jonathan Mendez’s Blog

Web Analytics

• IndexTools & Yahoo: You Must Accept The Agreement Or Goodbye Customer, SEM Geek
• IndexTools (Yahoo!) Web Analytics goes FREE!, VisualRevenue

Other Items

• Google Expand TV Ad Service on Dish Network, International Business Times
• The end of Mowser, RussellBeattie.com

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

• Marketing Pilgrim. Dosh Dosh. Rich people go there!
• 100-Plus Tips and Resources to Become an Authority Site in Your Niche
• YABL Trusted Google sites
• Twits, Tweeple, Twitterverse & Twitterings
• What I Hate About the Internet – Everyone is a “Social Media Consultant”
• Google tackles child pornography
• 10 Golden Rules of Blogging (we’re going to need more monkeys)
• Rebuilding Your Blog Groove
• I am Pleading With You Microsoft: PLEASE Make Live Search Better
• Search Engine Optimization Firm Sued, Required to Pay More than $100K in Fees
• What Price Social Networking?
• How to Get Piles of Links, Subscribers and Comments
• Introducing New Bot: Yahoo Slurp 3.0
• The Ultimate (Free) Landing Page Resource
• 10 Ways to Improve Blog Traffic in 30 Minutes or Less
• Widgetbait Gone Wild
• Gab interviews 3 SEO stars: Stuntdubl, Graywolf and Sugarrae
• The New Social Media Democracy
• Should You Target Competitive Keywords, The Long-Tail or Both?