SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 2, 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:

• It’s Not Just Google That Treats Underscores Like Dashes
  Last week’s news that Google is now is treating underscores URLs as word separators, as it does with hyphens, quickly spread through the SEOs and webmaster communities. But what about the other search engines? I immediately contacted them to find out how they treat underscores and hyphens. Finally, the results…
• Google Tests On Search Page Keyword Bookmarking Service?
  Mike Grehan spotted Google testing a new feature that appears to enable you to add URLs of your choice to particular searches. Mike searched on "digital cameras," and at the bottom of the results up came a message from Google that looked like this:…
• Local Search Gaining, Driving Offline Transactions
  Just two days after Yahoo released research that showed how the Internet is driving offline retail transactions in increasing numbers, ad agency TMP Directional Media conducted an online survey with comScore that showed a parallel phenomenon in the service sector. The survey, which had 3,000 respondents, sought to capture consumer…
• Over-optimization Is Like Being a Little Bit Pregnant
  Here’s a quick test for you. Don’t worry, it’s only one question. True or false: Today’s SEO techniques could be tomorrow’s search engine spam with one turn of the algo crank. What do you think? Is what you do to optimize your site going to be considered search engine…
• Become Google’s Next Submarine Cable Negotiator
  Gary Price reports Google has a new job opening for a Strategic Negotiator, Submarine Cable in their Mountain View office. A "Submarine Cable Negotiator" you say? The job involves undersea cables used to carry telecom traffic. The submarine cable negotiator will "identify, select, and negotiate submarine networking contracts as part…
• Promoting Your YouTube Video Online
  Video Marketing on YouTube.com by Joe Whyte at the Search Marketing Standard is a nice write up with some tips on how to best promote your YouTube video online. Here is a punch list of tips he gives within his more detailed and illustrative article. Customize your Channel Design Add…
• Forget Chores For Pocket Money — Teen Makes $900 Per Month Doing SEO
  Forget Babysitting and Paper Routes, Teen Turns to SEO from Stephan Spencer at News.com highlights one teen who earns on average between $20 and $30 a day on her blog through Google AdSense. Stephan knows 16-year-old Chloe well — she’s his daughter! Chloe she was invited to present at the…
• Google Maps Now Estimates Drive Time At Rush Hour
  According to the Google Lat Long Blog, the search engine has added a feature to Google Maps that provides a realistic estimate of drive time in traffic at peak times or when there’s an accident….
• LookSmart CEO David Hills Resigns
  A recent SEC filing reports that LookSmart CEO David Hill announced his resignation on July 26th, to be effective as of yesterday. LookSmart swiftly appointed Edward F. West, the current chair of its board of directors, to take over for the time being….
• Wall Street Journal: Google Phone In Development
  The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is making a push to court wireless carriers in an effort to accelerate mobile ad distribution and revenue growth. The article also contends that Google is actively working a mobile handset, the so-called "Google Phone" or "GPhone," and possibly envisions itself an…
• The SEO of Everyday Pages
  There’s a kind of page that shows up on websites that I think of as everyday pages. These are commonly appearing pages that you might see on almost every website, such as the "contact" page, the "about us," the "terms of service" and the "privacy policy." These are pages…
• Search Month: July 2007 Search News, In Review
  Search Month is a monthly newsletter that recaps stories covered on Search Engine Land over the past month. It’s also available by feed here. Below, news about Search Engine Land itself, then our 10 most popular stories from July 2007, then a major story for various search topics along with…
• SMX Local & Mobile Early-Bird Registration Expiring!
  You’ve got a limited time to get the best rate for SMX Local & Mobile, Search Engine Land’s next Search Marketing Expo event. Don’t miss the only conference 100% focused on getting search marketers up to speed on this exciting opportunity. Register by August 15 for the "early bird" rate…

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Industry Moves: Former Yahoo COO Daniel Rosensweig Joins Quadrangle ,, paidContent.org
• Google: Kill all the patent trolls, The Register
• AOL Ad Sales Fall Far Short Of Expectations, MediaPost
• 9 Wishes For a Better Yahoo, Online Marketing Blog
• Google-AP Deal Passes One-Year Mark, PC World

Conferences

• Vintage Search Engine Strategies San Jose, Online Marketing Blog
• UK SEO meeting in Manchester, Threadwatcher

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google: Please Fix Local Business Center, ShandyKing
• Google Apparently Offering Mobile Adwords Vouchers, David Dalka
• Additional report of abuse at Google Maps, Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search

Paid Search & Contextual

• Catching Terrorists with Google Adwords, Gadood
• How To Master the Google Landing Page Quality Score, Search Engine Journal
• AdWords reports to be integrated with Google Docs, Brad Geddes
• Is the Google Advertising Professional Exam Out of Date?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Reaching a Google AdWords "End Date" Does Not Change Your History, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Former CTO of AOL: Stop Copying Google, AOL Search, John Battelle’s Searchblog
• Google knows all with Web History, The Guardian
• Yahoo! Search Blog: If they sing a song, will you sing along?, Yahoo Search Blog

SEM Industry

• Are We Setting The Bar Too Low For SEOs?, Bruce Clay Blog
• Google Health Advertising Blog: Health search, Google Health Ads Blog

SEO & SEM

• Answers to Ten SEO Questions, SEOmoz
• How to Get More Pages into Google’s Index, Search Engine Watch
• The Impact of Comparison Shopping Sites on E-Commerce Sales, Search Engine Watch
• Catching a Thief Red Handed, SEO Book
• Please Don’t Steal This Web Content, News.com
• Ask.com August 2007 Update?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Should Yahoo Try Again for Facebook?, New York Times

Video, Music & Image Search

• Group Criticizes YouTube Over Copyrights, New York Times
• Manchester United sign nine-year-old YouTube wonder kid, Reuters

Other Items

• Doodle: Swiss National Day, Googlified
• When Animals Invade the Google Homepage, Digital Inspiration
• Podcast, August 1, 2007: Google Drops Supplemental Results Label; How Many Horns Does A Unicorn Have, Daily SearchCast
• Podcast: August 2, 2007: The Google Phone Cometh; Forget Fast Food, Teens Are Working At McSEO, Daily SearchCast

Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• How to Make Your Blog Attractive to Advertisers and Traditional Media
• Ripped Website or R.I.P. Website
• Hiding Your Affiliate Links from Spiders, Visitors and Parasites
• Are internet marketers lazy? Is that why aren’t blogging?
• 8 Ways To Optimize For Personalized Search
• Seth Godin Interview About Squidoo
• My Favorite Traffic and Backlink Attraction Method
• Google’s New Algorithm: if($domain==’wikipedia.org’){$rank=1;}
• 10 Questions With Matt McGee