SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 17, 2007

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Become A Power User By Becoming A Valuable User
  It’s no secret that having a power account on social media sites can mean the difference between a successful campaign and one that flops. It’s not everything, but it is definitely important. With more and more people trying to leverage the social communities for marketing campaigns, it’s important that…
• Microsoft’s Tellme Launches Three Local Search Services
  Microsoft, which recently acquired Tellme Networks, announced three new local business search services, all accessible via phone. The new services include:…
• adCenter Improves Ad Quality Ranking Algorithm
  The adCenter blog announced that they have made improvements to the ranking algorithm to take into account several quality factors. The factors include:…
• Google AdWords Adds Preferred Cost Bidding Option
  Google AdWords has added a new option to enable advertisers an to specify an average (i.e. preferred bidding) CPC or CPM bid, as opposed to a maximum CPC or CPM bid in their campaigns. If you select the new CPC/CPM option, your bids will fall around the price you picked….
• Google’s Schmidt: YouTube’s "Claim Your Content" Copyright Protection Service Nearly Ready
  Schmidt says YouTube ‘very close’ to filtering system from News.com reports that Google CEO Eric Schmidt says his company is extremely close to launching the much anticipated but very delayed content identification system….
• Former Anti-Trust Targets Microsoft And AT&T Raise Trust Worries Over Google-DoubleClick Deal
  Microsoft and AT&T, both of which have been subject to anti-trust actions in the past, are raising concerns that the combination of Google and DoubleClick might create a company that is too powerful. Google’s Rivals Fear DoubleClick Deal Concentrates Too Much Web-Ad Clout from the Wall Street Journal explains that…

Search News Headlines From Elsewhere

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Reader Theme, Techmeme
• JotSpot Chief: Google Is a Nerd Paradise, PC World
• Google Personalized Homepage Linked in Onebox, Google Blogoscoped
• Google Apps Demo, Google Operating System
• Google CRM Tool Now Available, PC World

Business Issues

• GoogleClick Round Up In Advance Of Eric S. Interview, John Battelle
• Google founders veer wildly from the Buffett playbook, MarketWatch
• Doubleclick + Google: Looking at Some of the Doubleclick Patent Filings, SEO By The Sea
• Google Vows to DoubleProtect Consumer Privacy, Wired
• Google: The Ad Dominator?, BusinessWeek
• Shares of DoubleClick rivals Aquantive, 24/7 Real Media surge, MarketWatch
• Google says not encroaching on broadcasters, Reuters
• Cookie-Based Counting Overstates Size of Web Site Audiences, Techmeme
• Question of the Week: Buy Google or Yahoo?, Business 2.0 Beta
• Google goes to Argentina, The Inquirer
• Google to run webmaster team in S. Korea, Yonhap News
• Google signs lease for Birmingham office, Det News
• Internet boosts marketing budgets, E-Consultancy

Paid Search & Contextual

• Google Pay Per Action First Results For Publishers & Advertisers, Search Engine Roundtable
• Yahoo’s Panama Pays Off, but It’s No Panacea, AdAge.com
• Ad Copy that Increases Conversion or Click Through Rate, eWhisper
• Google AdWords Trademark Concerns and How to Report Violations, Search Engine Roundtable
• Making Sure All AdSense Ads Are Served, Google Blogoscoped

SEM Industry

• The Real Reason Google Doesn’t Like Paid Links, Threadwatch
• My Dial Goes To 11, Danny Sullivan
• Interview: Google’s Analytics Evangelist, Avinash Kaushik, Rimm Kaufman
• My First SES – Recap Number Two, SEOmoz
• Afterthoughts on SES New York City, John Mendez
• Overheard in (SES) New York, SEOmoz
• Searching for SES Coverage, Search Engine Watch
• Carat Fusion Snags Reprise Media’s Schwartz To Lead Search Practice, MediaPost
• Happy (Belated) Anniversary to Us, YPN Blog

SEO & SEM

• Got a Question About SEO?, Wolf Howl
• Compliance Continued: Creating Internal Links for Organic Success, Search Engine Watch
• Branding Isn’t Just for Big Businesses, Search Engine Watch
• Five dangerous SEO tools in the hands of the uneducated optimizer or client, Jennifer Slegg
• MSNBC Covers SEO Tools, Marketing Pilgrim

Social Media

• The Unpredictable Science of Predicting Hits, SEOmoz
• How to Disable Google Personalized Search, Google Operating System
• Using Answers to Drive Traffic, YPN Blog
• LeapTag, StumbleUpon, or Both?, Pronet Advertising

Video, Audio & Image Search

• On the Radio: more on Audio Ads, Inside AdWords
• NBC, News Corp. sign video deal with Comcast, News.com

Other Stuff

• Using Google Analytics with Website Optimizer, Google Analytics Blog
• Zillow Becomes Illegal in Arizona, Startup Meme
• Future of Web Search Conference Videos, SEO By The Sea
• Search Securely, PC Magazine
• Podcast: Google To Acquire DoubleClick; What About Performics? Google Cuts Radio Deal; Yahoo Does Newspaper Deal; Matt Goes After Paid Links & More!, Daily SearchCast