SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 26, 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:

• Bing Continues With Fake Referrers: What Part Of Stop Don’t They Understand?
  

  For over two years now, Microsoft’s search engine has been generating fake information that can make site owners think they’re getting strange search traffic (including porn traffic), when they are not. It’s time for this to come to an end. The culprit? Microsoft’s “crawler,” the software that visits web pages across the web that go into [...]

• Google AdWords Has Their Own Flavor Of Sitelinks
  

  Darrin Ward noticed Google is displaying a form of Sitelinks in the AdWords ad position. I personally see it myself for a search at Google for [staples.com]. Here is a screen shot:

  This seems to be some sort of extension of the one line site links or the product plusbox feature. I will ask Google [...]

• The What, Whys & Hows Of Multiple Metric Optimization
  

  The beauty of online marketing is that every step in the click path is visible. A searcher clicks on an ad, lands on a merchant’s site and navigates to purchase—all of which can be viewed and analyzed. This process is often referred to as multiple metric optimization. However, this term is often misused so it [...]

• Notes to Self: A PPC Professional’s SMX East Dream Agenda
  

  The whole world of paid search is changing so rapidly! Good thing I’m going to SMX East in October. Looks like the agenda is loaded with tracks and sessions focusing on paid search, just like last year. Insights. Tips. Paid search tactics. Good stuff! I’m going to get the most out of the conference again [...]

• Is That The Loch Ness Monster? On Google Earth?
  

  People have been searching for the Loch Ness Monster for decades, using all kinds of scientific gear in and around Loch Ness in Scotland to see if the creature is real or fake. Is it possible they just needed to search Google Earth, instead? (Probably not, but play along with me on this.) Jason Cooke of [...]

• Last Call To Speak At SMX East
  

  We’re finalizing the speaker lineup for SMX East, and there are still a few openings. We’re particularly interested in hearing from you if you can speak knowledgeably on the following topics:

  In-house SEO and SEM Issues Technical SEO Maps & Local Search Mobile Ads Video Search Marketing Beyond YouTube

  If you’re accepted to speak, you’ll receive a pass to the entire [...]

• How To Construct Rational Landing Page Tests
  

  All landing page tests are not created equal. What you test on your pages—and what you learn from those tests—can better inform tactics and strategies throughout your entire marketing program. Here are four kinds of landing page tests that can help you learn about your market. Beware butterflies and magic bullets How much can you learn from [...]

• Collecta Adds Social Sharing, Other Features
  

  Collecta, the real-time search engine that launched in June, has announced a set of upgrades to its site today. The most noteworthy is the addition of a social sharing/bookmarking tool that lets users share or save a Collecta search on any of six social media sites, including Twitter, Facebook, and StumbleUpon.

  Collecta has also modified its search [...]

• Report: A “Caffeine” Infusion Would Mean Ranking Changes On Google
  

  Search and online marking firm 360i published findings from a small but structured test of how the “Caffeine” search infrastructure changes could affect results and ranking on Google. As Vanessa Fox wrote when Caffeine went public earlier this month, there apparently would be a number of changes in the ordering and content of results. As [...]

• Yes, I Belong In This Meeting: The Broad Scope Of In-House SEO
  

  As an in-house SEO, where does the legitimate scope of your activities end, and those of somebody else begin? Are you being a useful and valid contributor, or simply poking your nose in where it doesn’t belong? What is rightfully within your scope may surprise you. Successful search engine marketing requires you to collaborate with [...]

• Two Types of SEO Content Critical To B2B Marketers
  

  We’ve all heard it before… Content is King! In the SEO world, one of the best ways to boost a website’s ranking is to have an abundant amount of unique, valuable content on your site. But, what do you suggest when the CEO or marketing team does not want to add keyword-rich content to [...]

• Brand Building Through Search & Social Media
  

  A company’s brand is its cornerstone. Given that, building your brand requires a balance of marketing efforts across various channels. Fortunately, search and social media are great ways to build your brand today. Social media’s role in branding More than ever before, a company’s brand is influenced by what consumers are saying about it online. Blogs, search [...]

• Caution: Searching For Jessica Biel May Be Dangerous To Your Computer’s Health
  

  Danger, thy name is Jessica Biel! No, we’re not turning Search Engine Land into a celebrity gossip blog … we’re talking about the risks of searching online for certain celebrities. And, according to a McAfee report issued today, Jessica Biel is the most dangerous celebrity on the web, passing last year’s master of search disaster, [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Composing a message? Try the contact chooser, Official Gmail Blog
• Google voice and video plugin update, Google Talkabout
• Malware Statistics Update, Google Online Security Blog
• The science of Google Wave, Nature News
• Introducing Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Amazon Web Services Blog

Business Issues

• Microsoft trims back some e-retailers’ Bing double cashback offers, InternetRetailer.com
• When It Comes To Search, Bundling Bing In IE Barely Gives It An Advantage, TechCrunch
• New: The Open Book Alliance Launches Blog and RSS Feed, ResourceShelf
• Was Twitter Document Theft and Publication by TechCrunch Legal?, PBS
• Yahoo Subpoenas Expedia in American Airlines Lawsuit, Eric Goldman

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Local Business Center: Why your impressions might drop to 0%, Mike Blumenthal
• Static Maps API v2: Encoded Paths, Polygons & Geocoding, Google Geo Developers Blog

Link Building

• Competitive Link Research with the Linkscape Index, SEOmoz

Paid Search & Contextual

• Getting the most revenue from every impression through AdSense, Inside AdSense
• Enhance Your PPC Conversion Rate by Reviewing Your Conversion Funnel, PPC Hero
• How Microsoft handles bots clicking on ads, Bing Webmaster Blog
• Public Service Announcements (PSAs) Ads Showed On All AdSense Sites Yesterday, Search Engine Roundtable
• Whip Your PPC Campaigns into Fighting Shape This Fall, Search Marketing Sage

Searching

• Download Over a Million Public Domain Books from Google Books in the Open EPUB Format, Inside Google Books
• Keeping Up with the Smiths, Wolfram|Alpha Blog

SEO & SEM

• There Is More To Optimization Than SEO, SEO Book
• When to Push and When to Flow in SEO, BruceClay.com
• New Looks – Getting ready for Holiday Shopping Season, comparisonengines.com
• Old School Real Estate Online Marketing, Small Business SEM
• SEO Copywriting – Wizard Academy Austin Texas, Online Marketing Blog
• URL Capitalization and SEO: How Much Does It Matter?, Search Engine Journal
• What factors influence video results in Universal Search?, YouTube
• When Should You Undo a 301 Redirect?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Facebook Begins Testing Mobile Payments for Virtual Currency with Zong, Inside Facebook
• Massive Twitter Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability, David Naylor
• Facebook Design: To Round or not to Round, Facebook
• Facebook Screenshots Reveal Upcoming Features?, FBHive

Video, Music & Image Search

• Spanish Language Content: Univision.com Boosts Video Search With AOL’s Truveo, ResourceShelf
• Video Search: Enjoy Larger In-line Play and Embedded Related Videos, Yahoo Search Blog