SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 9, 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:

• Yahoo Search May Test Google Ads
  Yahoo in Talks With Google To Handle Some Search Ads from the Wall Street Journal reports that Yahoo may be testing Google ads on the Yahoo search result pages. The Wall Street Journal said this is a very limited test, triggered by a “very limited percentage of Yahoo’s Web search…
• 5 Steps To Develop In-House SEO Functionality
  In large organizations, it takes the effort of several internal groups to accomplish top level business goals. When natural search optimization for Web sites, commonly called SEO, is moved in house, it generally is the task of a combination effort from IT and Marketing. Below are five steps for…
• Six Mistakes B2B Marketers Continue to Make With Organic Search
  By now, many B2B marketing professionals know the basics of content optimization and how to make a site search-friendly. With that complete, their focus turns to link building. While that’s an admirable pursuit, it may not yield the maximum results if unaddressed website issues aren’t resolved. Here are some…
• Yahoo’s Senior VP, Tim Cadogan, Leaves Yahoo For OpenX; Google Ad Manager Competitor
  Kara Swisher reports that Yahoo’s former senior vice president, Tim Cadogan, is taking the CEO post at OpenX (formerly OpenAds, formerly PHPAdsNew). Cadogan has been with Yahoo for five years and before that was at GoTo.com. He was the senior vice president for ad products and was instrumental in Yahoo…
• Major Yahoo Shareholder: Microsoft “Blundered” With Hostile Tactics
  The Wall Street Journal reports this morning that Yahoo’s second largest shareholder, investment firm Legg Mason, characterized Microsoft’s recent ultimatum letter as a tactical “blunder” and said it would support Yahoo’s independence if Microsoft maintained or lowered its current offer….
• Yahoo To Acquire IndexTools Web Analytics Service
  Google offers Google Analytics. Microsoft has its "Gatineau" or recently renamed Microsoft adCenter Analytics service in beta. So I suppose it was inevitable that Yahoo get in on the web analytics action. The company announced today that it is acquiring Tensa Kit, which produces the IndexTools analytics service….
• Flickr Launches Video, It’s Not A YouTube Clone
  Flickr is arguably the jewel in Yahoo’s crown — a great site that in many ways has no peer. Now, after a long wait, video has been added. One might imagine that this is intended to compete with Google’s YouTube, but as the Flickr blog explains the new capabilities have…
• Real Estate Engine Trulia Adds Google StreetView Imagery
  When Google launched StreetView it was widely discussed (and in some cases disparaged because of the privacy implications), but few people regarded it as a practical tool. However, in what appears to be the first implementation of StreetView on a third-party site, Trulia has incorporated its imagery and functionality in…
• Looking For SMX Local & Mobile Session Ideas (And Speakers)
  Do you have a topic you’d like to see covered in a session at SMX Local & Mobile in San Francisco on July 24-25, 2008? Something you’d like to see covered in depth, or a discussion of advanced strategies and tactics for getting the most out your local and mobile…
• Why Mixx Hasn’t Gotten The Following It Deserves – Yet
  Mixx, a social media submission site, is a newcomer on the scene, so it understandably will take a while for it to catch up with older sites like Digg, Propeller, Reddit, and StumbleUpon. That said, this article looks at the current state of Mixx and the potential future of…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Advanced Search and Custom Views in Google Docs, Google Operating System
• Save your presentations to PowerPoint, Official Google Docs Blog
• A Little Help for our Friends, Official Google Enterprise Blog
• Backup Your iGoogle Page, Google Operating System
• Gears and Standards, Google Gears API Blog
• Google Rips Down HuddleChat, TechCrunch
• Google Sites: Putting the Puzzle Together, Rev2.org
• Google Stiffs Nonprofits, Launches Second Rate Widget Builder With No Hosting, Read/Write Web
• How Spammers Insert Events In Your Google Calendar? Fix Is Easy, Digital Inspiration

Business Issues

• Telstra-ACCC deal puts heat on Google, Australian IT
• Doom And Gloom Hits Silicon Valley, TechCrunch
• Web Advertising Spending Has Weakened–RBC, Silicon Alley Insider

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Local Showing Twice As Many Reviews, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google on Guessing the Right Destinations, SEO By The Sea

Link Building

• Is it Worth it to "Buy" Links from a PR0 Website?, Search Engine Roundtable
• SEOs Split On Value of DMOZ.org (ODP) Link, Search Engine Roundtable
• The UK Yahoo Directory Dichotomy, BlogStorm

Microhoo

• Analyst says Yahoo shareholders prefer Microsoft bid to nothing, Mercury News
• Yahoo Chairman Bostock: Investors Like Organic Growth Plan; Survey Says: No They Don’t, paidContent.org

Paid Search & Contextual

• A word of caution, Inside AdSense
• Advertising.com Launches Inventory Management Platform, ClickZ
• AdWords Downtime: April 12, 10am-2pm PST, AdWords API Blog
• Google AdSense Tax Season Advice, Search Engine Roundtable
• Have AdSense Sliding/Scrolling Text Ads Changed Your eCPM?, ProBlogger

Searching

• Kant find a book in full view?, Inside Google Book Search
• Rambler Launches New Search: Vertical and Visual, Quintura blog

SEM Industry

• An SEO Conference Just for Developers (Seattle), Nathan Buggia
• Enjoying SMX Munchen, Joost de Valk
• The Creation of Draft SEM Standards, McAnerin Muse

SEO & SEM

• Jason Cohen on Affiliate Marketing, MediaWhiz Blog
• Multivariate Testing – Test Design, Jonathan Mendez’s Blog
• 5 ways to beat the SEO competition in Google, E-Consultancy
• How to Start Your Own SEO Service, Bob Massa
• Lucky Webmaster Buys PageRank 10 Site, Search Engine Roundtable
• Olympic SEO or why you need a link from the BBC, SEOptimise
• Online Marketing Tips: Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Industry Video, Search Marketing Gurus

Social Media

• 5 Things You Can Do With Jott Twitter (Jitter), SEMpdx Blog
• I Saw The Future Of Social Networking The Other Day, TechCrunch
• Twitter Adds Search, Social Times

Video, Music & Image Search

• Hulu sells out ad inventory, more on the way, News.com
• Now playing: Adobe Media Player 1.0, News.com

Web Analytics

• How to Measure Customer Satisfaction with Web Analytics, Search Engine Watch
• Ian Thomas Interview – Gatineau, adCenter Analytics & Beyond, adcentercommunity.com

Other Items

• Network Solutions Hijacking Unassigned Sub-Domains, TechCrunch
• Wall of Doodles, Googlified

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

• Want Your Ideas to Spread Easily? Try Narrowing Your Message Focus
• Creating Linkbait Graphics with Stock Photos
• Comcast, Twitter And The Chicken (trust me, I have a point)
• Why Mixx Hasn’t Gotten The Following It Deserves – Yet
• Wanted! Questions For Google’s Marissa Mayer
• Network Solutions: Not Just Thieves and Hijackers, Now Using Tactics That Can Get Your Site Banned From Google
• A Guide To Twitter: What It Is, How To Use It And Twitter Tools
• The Best Advice For Getting Yourself Out A PR Nightmare
• Would You Hire Someone Who Uses Twitter During Work?
• Why Google’s App Engine Makes Me Nervous
• 7 Strategies To Polish Your Blog Before a Guest Blogging Gig
• Microsoft to Yahoo – 3 Weeks and Counting
• New Sphinn Moderators Announced