SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 27, 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:

• The Promise & Reality Of Mixing The Social Graph With Search Engines
  I’m having a bad day. Aside from my desktop crashing, we get another spate of "let’s blame SEO" to start my morning off. Robert Scoble uses that theme as a launching pad for a series of videos on how Facebook potentially could be a killer search engine — regardless…
• Yahoo Takes Beta Label Off New Mail, Adds Features
  Yahoo has taken the “beta” label off its new mail. Here’s an overview from the Yodel Anecdotal blog. Arguably the most interesting aspect of the new features is the inclusion of the capability of sending text messages to mobile phones from Yahoo Mail….
• Segmenting Local Mobile Search
  Expectations of mobile search and local mobile search in particular are rising. As mobile ad networks form, mobile M&A activity heats up and the search engines pour greater attention and resources into their mobile offerings one could say we’re on the cusp of a new mobile era. Indeed, as…
• Searchers Trust Google’s Rank Above Abstracts In Search Results
  University students don’t question Google from PC World reports on a recent study named In Google We Trust: Users’ Decisions on Rank, Position, and Relevance. The study surveyed 22 Cornell University students on the Google search results. The conclusion of the study showed that these students trusted Google’s ranking of…
• Yahoo China & MSN China Sign Controversial “Self-Discipline Pact” With China
  Yahoo!, Microsoft ink web pact with Chinese government from The Register reports Yahoo China and MSN China have signed a pact with the Chinese government, which “encourages,” as The Register says, bloggers to identify themselves to the companies, which can then be turned over to China. Reporters Without Borders claims…
• Bloglines Beta To Challenge Google Reader
  Bloglines released a new public beta of their popular web-based RSS reader. The new beta is optimized to run well in Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox. The new beta has several new features including a customizable start page with drag and drop AJAX functionality, three feed viewing options including a…
• New Local Search Destination Grayboxx Officially Launches
  New local search engine Grayboxx has spent over a year developing a methodology and collecting information that offers “implicit” recommendations or endorsements of local businesses. These are represented as scores, called “neighbor recommendations,” and offer an alternative to more familiar review sites such as Citysearch, Yahoo Local and Yelp. Grayboxx…
• Spotting Unnatural Linking Patterns
  Last week’s column Aggressively Seeking Links - How Much Is Too Much? sparked several comments and questions. In the past, I’ve hesitated to revisit previous columns, preferring to let them stand on their own, but this time I’d like to make an exception to clarify some of the assertions…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google: A Longer Password, Please, Googlified
• Google’s Blogger fixes bug, adds video uploading, InfoWorld
• PubSub and Google. Gadget to Gadget Communication announced by Google, SEOish
• Expanded capacity for Custom Search Business Edition, Official Google Enterprise Blog

Business Issues

• Website Isn’t Liable When Users Lie About Their Ages–Doe v. SexSearch, Eric Goldman
• Google Isn’t Threatened by Credit Crunch, Chief Economist Says, Bloomberg
• Google to run ad search for News, Australian IT
• Google to open SA office, www.sagoodnews.co.za
• Google Hires Former NASA Astronaut, Wired Blogs

Conferences

• Whaddya Say, San Jose?, SEOmoz
• A Look at What It Takes To Run an SES Conference, Search Engine Guide
• Usability Lesson at SES San Jose, Cre8PC

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Earth 4.2 - Release notes wanted, new icons, Google Earth Blog
• 12 Billion Local Business Searches. Do Yellow Pages Still Matter?, AIM Clear Blog
• Google Earth 4.2 Roundup, Google Earth Blog

Paid Search & Contextual

• Eyetracking Shows Web Audience Ignores Ads, Marketing Pilgrim
• V11 Release Delayed, AdWords API Blog
• Asking Members to Click Google Adsense Ads on Facebook, Digital Inspiration
• The SEO doodle, Andrew R H Girdwood
• Reuters Labs Testing Contextual Video Ads and User Comments Added to Video Clips, ResourceShelf
• 3 Simple Tips on Budgeting for Multiple PPC Campaigns, Karl Ribas
• Advertisers Offer Feedback on Google AdWords "Website Optimizer" Tool, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google’s AdWords Contract Upheld Again, But Advertiser Lawsuit Against Google Continues–CLRB Hanson v. Google, Eric Goldman
• Nicholas Carr’s Blog: Google’s friend-to-friend ad network, Rough Type
• Offline Factors in Search Conversions Affecting Keyword Buys Search and Offline Marketing Converge at SES San Jose, ClickZ
• Tips for Being a Great PPC Client, Search Engine Watch

Searching

• Visual Sciences Site Search 5.0: Now You Control the Search Results, Bill Hartzer
• Google Result Thumbnail, Google Blogoscoped
• TorrentSpy Blocks Searches From US Visitors, TorrentFreak

SEM Industry

• Why SEO’s Won’t Tell You Their Secrets and How To Get Them Anyway, Bob Massa
• Part Two: White Hats, Black Hats and Thinking Caps, Search Engine Guide
• Announcements: Introducing Guest Editor Tamar Weinberg, Lifehacker
• Another Side of Google, Cre8PC
• Clearing out my tabs, Matt Cutts
• Number of SEO and PPC jobs has increased by 200 percent, Search Engine College
• Reign of Bread and Whip. The New Google Aristrocrathy I, Search Engine Journal

SEO & SEM

• Google Supplemental Results & Rankings vs Internal Link Weight, SEO Book
• Dmoz Extortion, ShoeMoney
• Google Books Vertical Getting a Big Push in Search Results, Clogging Up SERPs, SEO Book
• SEO in a web 2.0 startup world, Vanessa Fox
• Google Gadgets for Link Research, SEO Book
• On Personalized PageRank and Personalized Anchor Text Scores, SEO By The Sea
• Webmasters Not Happy with Yahoo’s New Crawl Behavior, Search Engine Roundtable
• Is In-House SEM Ineffective? Forum Members Don’t Think So., Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Friendster CEO Confesses His Company Has Trouble Keeping Up, Wired Blogs
• MySpace reportedly may lift ban on commerce on site, CNN Money
• 0 to Social in 60 Minutes, ViperChill
• Twitter Adds GMail Contacts Import, mashable.com
• Prediction: Sooner or later, Google will buy Twitter, ZDnet
• 26 Free Tools for Buzz Monitoring, Marketing Pilgrim
• Social Media Optimization Article Released, SEOmoz

Video, Music & Image Search

• The Best Way To Search Videos On the Internet, Wall Street Journal
• YouTube Tests New Design, Googlified
• Google Image Search Now Has Contextual Adsense Ads, Digital Inspiration

Web Analytics

• 2007 Web Analytics Shootout - Final Report, Stone Temple

Other Items

• Vint Cerf warns about reliability and security on the web, Googling Google
• Changes at Google Scholar: A Conversation With Anurag Acharya, InfoToday
• Google to Present at the Citigroup Technology Conference, Google
• Google Touts a Successful Year of Free Mountain View Wi-Fi While SF Project Remains Stalled, Wired Blogs
• GPhone - It’s Confirmed, rizzn.com v11.1
• Old Google Design Back For Some, Google Blogoscoped

Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• 7 Reasons Why StumbleUpon Traffic Is the Best on the Planet
• How to Spot Competitors’ Unnatural Link Patterns
• New York Times SEO Strategy - When Bad News Follows You
• FeedFlares…That Sounds Hot!
• A few technical tips on moving a blog from Blogger to WordPress
• 0 to Social in 60 Minutes
• Social Media Questions For Rand Fishkin
• Matt Cutts Attacks Graywolf After SES Session
• White Hats, Black Hats and Thinking Caps (part one)
• SES San Jose 2007 Session Nuggets of Knowledge
• Demand for SEO & PPC Jobs at All-Time Highs
• Optimizing your LinkedIn profile links
• Unique SEO Adwords Ad
• Fidel Castro’s death and how it relates to SEO
• By the Time it’s Front Page, it’s Old News
• Viral Marketing Case: Mom Sells $2 Pack of Pokemon Cards for $142
• Nyeah nyeah nyeah, Google’s not fair
• The Internet is dead and boring
• Are You An Expert If You Can’t Share What You Know?
• I Am Naked Before Google and Matt Cutts!
• Four Reasons Why You Should Never Use Google AdWords’ Pre-Pay Option
• Share the Power (Cord)! A Conference Networking Tip