SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 31, 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:

• Search in Pictures: Search Engine Fun, Yahoo Giant & The Google Dance
  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more….
• Google News Now Hosting Wire Stories & Promises Better Variety In Results
  Today, Google News will begin offering articles from several major wire services and news agencies hosted on its own site, rather than sending readers away from Google. The move is part of licensing agreements that have been stuck over the past year. Google News is also promising better duplicate story…
• Yahoo Gives College Graduates A “Kickstart” With Social Job Networking Site
  Yahoo’s new social job network: Kickstart from News.com has an excellent review of Yahoo’s new social networking job site named Kickstart. The site is currently is currently a concept, which Yahoo wants to turn into a reality. The concept is to use social features to connect college alumni working at…
• Searcharazzi: Last Time, on Yahoo! Executive Survivor…
  Coleman is out, and president Sue Decker rises to the top. Hilary Schneider (is it possible that she is Decker’s long lost twin?) smugly rules ad sales and partnerships (Global Partner Solutions), leaving Jeff Weiner to run content (Yahoo! Network Division). According to a Valleywag tipster, these two hate…
• How To Go Beyond Google’s Advanced Search Page Date Options
  Google Operating System reveals a way to expand your date specific search beyond what Google has available on Google’s advanced search page….
• SEOmoz & SEO Book Organize SEO Tools & Add Features
  SEOmoz and SEO Book both announced that they have organized their SEO tools. SEO Book organized his SEO Tools page and SEOmoz organized their SEO Toolbox page. SEOmoz also added an easy to use bookmarklet feature named “SEO Dashboard” for premium members….
• An Insider’s View Of Google Universal Search
  Google’s Universal Search was definitely a buzz generator at Search Engine Strategies in San Jose. Universal was tagged as probably the most significant development in search this year, and its effects are just starting to be felt throughout the industry, by both searchers and search marketers alike. It’s particularly…
• Yahoo Adds New Ad Tools & Reporting; Google Changes Reports Interface
  Yahoo has announced several new advertising features for their search marketing platform. You can now write ads faster, quickly check your quality score and create and save up to 45 customized reports. Google also announced changes to their AdWords reporting engine. Now, the Google AdWords reports are now more similar…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google CSBE Search Traffc Report, Search Tools
• Google Gadgets that Talk to Each Other, Google Operating System
• IGoogle’s New Gadget-to-Gadget Communication, Google Blogoscoped
• Embed Multiple Google Calendars, Google Operating System
• Google Desktop for the Mac in 9 more languages, Official Google Blog
• More New Stuff: 8/31 Feature Release, Google Mashup Editor Blog
• Patent Filings on Google Finance Provide a Glimpse at Google’s Financial News Gathering, SEO By The Sea

Business Issues

• Google owning your content and the problem with rational thinking, News.com
• French YouTube Rival Lands $34 Million Funding, PC World
• Who’s afraid of Google?, Economist.com

Conferences

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Browsing geotagged photos from Picasa Web Albums, Google LatLong
• Online maps offer more than directions, USA Today
• What’s interesting around here?, Google LatLong

Link Building

• The Link Spiel: When Does It Cease to Be Link Marketing And Become Link Spam?, thelinkspiel.blogspot.com

Paid Search & Contextual

• Google AdSense Enables "Allowed Sites" Feature After Quick Roll Back, Search Engine Roundtable
• Yahoo Search Marketing Increases Minimum Deposit to $30, Search Engine Roundtable
• Flying Blind with Ask.com, PPC Hero
• The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Company’s PPC Management, Karl Ribas
• Top Dog Ad Optimisation Tips for Spotting and Improving Underperforming Ads, adCenter Blog

Searching

• Search Engines: Find MP3s with SkreemR, lifehacker.com

SEM Industry

• SEO Dream Team – The SEO Blog Tag Game, Rhea Drysdale
• Am I Missing Something? Tell Me To Subscribe to Your Blog!, Barry Schwartz
• GoogleGuy Says Hello!, Search Engine Roundtable
• Dingo Ate My Whiteboard, SEOmoz
• Geeks Gone Wild: Google’s New York employees hit the clubs, Valleywag
• Jim Hedger Leaves SiteProNews.com, SiteProNews Blog

SEO & SEM

• How to Check if a Site Passes Link Popularity, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Supplemental Index Ratio Calculator : Check Your Site!, Search Engine Journal
• Is a Robots.txt File Required?, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Immeasurable ROI of Improved Organization, Communication,, SEO Book
• In-House Vs. Outsourced: What Is the Best Solution?, Search Engine Watch
• Social Media’s Direct Influence on Search Engine Ranking, Search Engine Journal

Social Media

• WPP Buys Into MySpace China, Red Herring
• What are Social Media Marketing and Social Media Optimisation?, ViperChill
• Bloglines vs Google Reader – Who’s Really Winning?, Read/Write Web
• New Twitter Visualization Tools Coming: First Is Twitter Blocks, TechCrunch
• Crafting a Social Media Strategy Around Travel, Search Engine Watch
• The Dangers of Digg Self-Submission (And How To Avoid Them), Pronet Advertising

Video, Music & Image Search

• NBC to End iTunes Sales of Its Shows, New York Times
• Thailand Lifts Ban on YouTube, New York Times

Other Items

• Rumormonger: Google founders spotted at Burning Man!, Valleywag
• Inside the Googleplex, Economist.com
• Reputation management you may be missing, Vanessa Fox

Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• Does Google Know Too Much?
• Revisited: The Art of SEO
• Social Networking & Link Building
• Wordpress SEO Masterclass For Competitive Niches
• Link bombing still works. Even by accident.
• Top 10 Sphinn Avatars, and why
• The Link Spiel: When Does It Cease to Be Link Marketing And Become Link Spam?
• Social Media’s Direct Influence on Search Engine Ranking
• What Does SEM Mean To You?
• AfterVote makes Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites
• Top Ten Organic SEO Myths
• The Secret Features of StumbleUpon
• SEO Dream Team – The SEO Blog Tag Game