SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 28, 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:

• MySpace Local & SEO Failures
  

  MySpace and CitySearch recently made big waves in the Local Search and Social Media community with the announcement of MySpace Local. The two companies agreed to a revenue share but no details were released as to what percentages each company would receive. MySpace quickly stressed that this was a completely new revenue source for the [...]

• Google Launches Public Data Search & Charts During Wolfram Alpha Demo
  

  During the Wolfram Alpha demonstration today, the Google Blog announced the launch of their own structured data search feature that allows you to find and compare public data. Searches such as [unemployment rate new york] will now bring up a quick answer that looks like this:

  Clicking on the result will take you to a more detailed [...]

• Search Marketing Firm, Marin Software, Raises Additional $13 Million
  

  paidContent.org reports Marin Software, a search marketing company, has raised an additional $13 million venture capital. The primary source of the money came from DAG Ventures, adding up to Marin raising a total of about $25 million in funding from sources such as Benchmark Capital, Amicus Capital and Focus Ventures. Marin reportedly manages [...]

• Google Study On Sitemaps
  

  The Google Webmaster Central blog notified us that Googlers have presented a new study on Sitemaps at the WWW’09 conference in Madrid. The study is absolutely interesting and I recommend printing out the ten page PDF document and reading it. For those of you who don’t have time for that, I hope to [...]

• Localeze Introduces Local “Confidence Score” Reflecting Data Accuracy
  

  Local search data and content provider Localeze has introduced what it’s calling the “Localeze Confidence Score.” The confidence score is the company’s statement to third party search engines and local directory partners about the accuracy of its local data and business records. The company is associating a confidence score with each of the millions of [...]

• Where To Find Social Media Power Users
  

  While having great content and an appropriate message are crucial for success on social media news sites, having a quality user help with promotion is essential to build momentum. Contacting and conversing with top users who share similar interests as you can be beneficial in helping to spark your content and get it noticed. This [...]

• Are Shortened URL Links Worth The Trouble?
  

  URL shortening services have become quite popular lately, primarily due to the restricted length of “tweets” on Twitter. Danny Sullivan compared several of these services in URL Shorteners: Which Shortening Service Should You Use? and talked about the SEO implications of using these services, especially when it comes to passing along link love. But not much [...]

• Microsoft Goes Social (& Local) With Vine
  

  Microsoft is launching Vine today as a limited beta in Seattle only. It’s an interesting local/social communications and information tool that plays in the same sandbox as both Twitter and Facebook, and also competes to a degree with online news sites. Vine is Windows-only software that’s intended to sit open on your desktop so that users [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Geocities: Lessons So Far, ASCII by Jason Scott
• Jason Scott Is In Your Geocities, Rescuing Your Sh*t, hughstimson.org
• New Chart Options for the Visualization API, Google Code Blog
• Sheet protection gives you finer control of your spreadsheets, Official Google Docs Blog
• Yahoo’s Zimbra Desktop 1.0 released, CNet

Business Issues

• Baidu beats Wall Street profit expectations, Reuters
• Extending notice on the Google Book Search settlement, Google Public Policy Blog
• The extreme Google brain, Joe Clark
• Google closes Mexico City office for the day, Reuters
• Google’s CEO Gets an Official Seat at President Obama’s Table, mashable.com
• Promatek Redux: Software Consultant Enjoined from Metatag Usage and Other TM References–Deltek v. Iuvo, Eric Goldman
• US Online Sales Up, eMarketer

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Enhances SMS Search in India, Techtree.com India
• MySpace Local Using Google Maps, Google Maps Mania
• Virtual Earth Imagery Release, April 2009, Virtual Earth, An Evangelist’s Blog

Link Building

• Welcome To The Link Neighborhood, Link Spiel

Paid Search & Contextual

• AdSense Publishers Panic About Not Receiving March Payment, Search Engine Roundtable
• AdSense really wants European publishers to get reports in Euros, JenSense
• Alternative Keyword Suggestions Tool: Actual Keywords, Search Engine Journal
• Get Longer Google AdWords Titles Through Dynamic Keyword Insertion, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Determines Category For Contextual Ad Category Filter, Search Engine Roundtable
• Microsoft Advertising: Insights Podcast – 10 Minutes with Search Account Managers (Part 2), adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Poll: Do You Like the New Google AdWords Interface?, Search Engine Roundtable
• PPC Trends: Recovery on the Distant Horizon?, Rimm Kaufman
• Top 5 Reasons for Microsoft adCenter Editorial Disapprovals, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Updates to the program policies page, Inside AdSense
• Why Fix What Isn’t Broken on the Google Content Network?, PPC Hero

Searching

• Seth Godin: “Google is the Yellow Pages”, The Praized Blog
• Technorati Gives Blog Network Blogcritics A Much Needed Facelift, TechCrunch

SEM Industry

• Jeff Quipp Interview: SEO, Canada & Killer Coffee, AIM Clear Blog
• Do You Yahoo?, BruceClay.com
• Should Google Make the AdWords Professionals Exam Harder?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Video Interview: Stefan Weitz talks about the future of Search, Locally Type

SEO & SEM

• Swine Flu SEO, F-Secure Weblog
• The New BOSS is Delicious, Yahoo Publisher Network Blog
• 10 Ways to Be a Great SEO, Search Engine Journal
• Ad Retargeting Can Outperform Paid Search, MediaPost
• Do site load times have an impact on Google rankings?, YouTube
• Domain Name Branding, SEO Book
• Is Google’s Geo Targeting Off In Web Search?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Search market report finds growing focus on social media, Econsultancy

Social Media

• @googlenews on Twitter, Google News Blog
• Giants pitchers Twitter themselves into trouble, News.com
• How to Really Use Social Media Marketing as a Tool For Business, chrisg.com
• Socialthing Starts Spreading Across 75 AOL Sites, TechCrunch
• Twitter attracts more visitors than MSN Search, Brand Republic
• Twitter Tally, eMarketer
• What’s it take to be a social media expert? Not much, apparently, Econsultancy

Video, Music & Image Search

• How to optimize YouTube Videos for top ranking, Pandia
• Hulu Continues Ascent in U.S. Online Video Market, Breaking Into Top 3 Properties by Videos Viewed for First Time in March, comScore

Web Analytics

• Back to Basics: Using Motion Charts, Google Analytics Blog

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

• 35 Non-Google SEO How tos, Tutorials & Other Resources
• How to use Twitter to grow your online business
• Wordpress Blog Link & Traffic Analysis Plugin
• Where To Find Social Media Power Users
• A Headline Title Trick to Maximize Social and SEO Traffic – The One Two Punch
• Maximimizing Your “Thank You” Page – Optimizing Post-Conversion
• Low Hanging Fruit and PPC Keyword Opportunities
• 5 Elevator Pitches to Help Internet Marketers Explain What They Do