SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 25, 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:

• Forming Good Title Tags for Local Businesses
  If you’re looking for a quick improvement in your local business site’s rankings and don’t have a lot of time, you can’t go wrong with making some simple improvements to your homepage title tag. The text within the title tags is one of the top signals used by Google,…
• More Google StreetView Privacy Controversy
  CNET rekindles the Google StreetView trespassing controversy that we’ve written about a couple of times in the past (here and here). Google has said publicly and in email comments to us that its policy is to photograph public roads and stay off private property. The CNET article effectively argues that…
• Now Accepting Pitches For SMX London 2008
  We’re now accepting speaking proposals for SMX London, taking place at the New Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden on November 4 and 5, 2008. We’ve got an all new agenda for the show. Please note that the agenda is final for the show, and we will only consider pitches for…
• Whither DART Search?
  SES San Jose 2008 is now in the books and another Google Dance — that annual bash that provides us all with so much safe, clean YouTube fodder – has come and gone. Among the various features and benefits — upscale backyard barbecue fare, free beer, modified karaoke, dancing,…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google making SSL changes, other sites quiet, News.com

Business Issues

• Googleplex: Google’s food perks on the chopping block, Valleywag
• Perks: Dinner saved for Google’s geeks, Valleywag
• Google-Yahoo Deal Faces Regulatory Review in Canada, Bloomberg
• Why Yahoo Japan Is Worth Nearly As Much As Yahoo, TechCrunch
• Russians dent Google’s world domination, Times Online
• Shareholders Disgusted With Yahoo! Board, Forbes
• Yandex Announces New Logo in Russia, altsearchengines.com
• Can Google Crack the TV Ad Market?, AdWeek
• Analyst: Google’s favorable foreign exchange rate to hit bump, News.com
• July Search Market Share Update: Everyone Dips But Google, Compete
• Yahoo engineer: Take your job offer and shove it, Valleywag

Link Building

• Building Links with Directory Submissions, Stepforth
• Using Your Whole Business to Build Links, SEOmoz
• 6 Unique Ways to Get Instant Links to Your Site, Search Engine Guide
• Link Building and the 6 Principles of Persuasion , Wiep.net

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Mapspam – a violated Public Trust?, Mike Blumenthal
• MapQuest Adds More Content in Select Search Results, MapQuest Blog
• Purchase Standalone Microsoft Virtual Earth Photography, Virtual Earth, An Evangelist’s Blog
• Microsoft Virtual Earth Partner Program, Virtual Earth, An Evangelist’s Blog
• Comparing the Local Onebox with the Maps business directory: an architectural view, Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search
• Location Privacy: Are you over it yet?, All Points Blog
• Urbanspoon on the iPhone Heatmap, Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search

Paid Search & Contextual

• Inside AdSense: One account, multiple sites, Inside AdSense
• Killer PPC Ads: The Fundamentals, Search Engine Watch
• Updates to adCenter keyword research tools, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Google Quality Score Update: First-Page-Bid Guidance Will Drive Up CPCs, Rimm Kaufman
• Inside AdWords: Fall is webinar season, Inside AdWords

Searching

• Ask TV — a great search engine strategy unveiled at SES-San Jose!, Ask.com Blog
• Google Twins: I want to be number one, National Post
• Search Life Meets Real Life — My Slides, Danny Sullivan
• Google Translation Onebox, Google Blogoscoped
• Trulia Upgrades Make Real Estate Personal with News Feed Features, Mashable.com
• And now, a search engine for video surveillance, Alt Search Engines
• The Live Search Olympics collection, LiveSide
• SES: Panels, Award , Yahoo Search Blog

SEM Industry

• Kim Krause Berg Speaking at Search Camp Philly, Cre8PC
• SES San Jose Photos – Paparazzi Style, Online Marketing Blog
• Be A Search Conference JackAss In 8 Easy Steps, AIM Clear Blog
• So how is SES under the, cough, leadership of Kevin Ryan, Shoemoney
• Daily Mail fails to understand Google Bombing, BlogStorm
• Beware Pay-Per-Performance Agreements: SEM Sues Pop Phenomena ‘The Secret’ for Unpaid Share of Web Revenue, SEOmoz
• Three tips for company blogging, Matt Cutts
• What’s Really Black Hat Anyway?, Vanessa Fox
• Where My White Hat Ladies At?, BruceClay.com

SEO & SEM

• Every Touch Point Matters: Optimizing Error Messages, Closed Loop Marketing Blog
• Is Apple Cloaking Their iTunes Content, With Google Looking The Other Way?, Search Engine Roundtable
• New Google SERP Changes, SEO Book
• Yahoo Link: Operator Issues and Possible Remedies, Search Engine Journal
• Google PageRank Update Observed, Search Engine Roundtable
• Tanked Rankings after Title Tag Adjustment, Search Engine Roundtable
• Why Are Some of My Placements Holding While Others Are Dropping? Or What the Hell Is Google Doing?, Bob Massa
• How to Get Google to Index Your Site Deeper, Search Engine Journal
• Eric Enge interviews Google’s Maile Ohye, Stone Temple
• Why Search Doesn’t Really Matter, ClickZ

Social Media

• Introducing Digg Dialogg, Digg Blog
• Tweetrush Shows Twitter Usage Far Below What We Expected, TechCrunch

Web Analytics

• SES: Dealing With Bounce Rates, WebProNews

Other Items

• Yahoo’s 404 At Giants Stadium, TechCrunch
• Google Calculator (Pic), Google Blogoscoped
• Google’s calculator muffs some math problems, News.com
• Drawing the Google Homepage With Eyes Closed, Google Blogoscoped

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

• What’s Really Black Hat Anyway?
• Pimping Your Wordpress Theme for Humans
• Old School Webinars Still Kick Ass (and other video stuff)
• Holy Smokes – I’ve been Nominated for the Hot Blogger Calendar
• 33 Website Success Metrics Instead of Rankings, Google PageRank and Traffic
• SEOmoz Expert Seminar 2008 Recap
• Seth Godin Wants to Cheat Advertisers with Fake Clicks
• Google Changes Algorithm - Anchor Text Less Important
• Reputation Management Jujitsu - Take Advantage of a Bad Reputation For Fun & Profit
• How to Analyze a Page HTML Semantic Structure
• Matt Cutts on Big Sites and Black Hats – SEOspace – Organic Search Engine Marketing with a B2B Twist