SearchCap: The Day In Search, Dec. 25 & 26, 2006

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:

From Search Engine Land:

• Google Testing Video Ads “In Stream”
  AdWeek reports that Google is testing video ads at Beet.tv for AllState. The reports indicate that about a week ago, Beet.tv has 15 second Google ads for AllState in their videos. The ads linked to www.allstate.com/google with a special landing page for those users. The ads “were sold at $15 per thousand views, with…
• Ask.com Top Searches of 2006
  Ask.com sent us their top searches for 2006 by category. Categories include news, celebrity, health, entertainment, images, and sports…
• How Microsoft’s Behavioral Targeting Works
  Microsoft Ad Push Is All About You at the Wall Street Journal has a nice overview of how Microsoft’s behavioral targeting ad software works, nothing ground breaking, but a nice overview. I’ll quote a piece of the article for you…
• Google Partners With China Mobile To Launch Mobile Search
  Forbes reports that China Mobile and Google will be launching a mobile search service in 2007. The details are very fuzzy right now, all we know is that a China Mobile representative said something to the effect that they “begun developing their joint mobile search product for launch in 2007.” This comes a week after…
• Is Panama The Answer To Yahoo’s Problems?
  Why Yahoo’s Panama Won’t Be Enough at BusinessWeek looks at Yahoo’s troubles over the past years and asks the question, is Yahoo’s new ad platform, code named Panama, the answer to those problems. As we wrote in the past, Panama may have boosted Yahoo’s 2007 outlook but why should it? That is the questions…
• Google Shows Quality Score Indicator To Some AdWords Advertisers
  This morning I posted a screen shot of the quality score in AdWords, showing a rating of Great, OK and Poor. The quality score does not show all that much, but it does show more than before. Plus, Google has set up some more documentation on what the quality score column means. The help page says that this is a “customizable…
• Judge Dismisses Google AdSense & AutoLink Toolbar Lawsuits
  Judge dismisses lawsuit against Google at BusinessWeek shows John Shabaz, US District Judge, dismissed the AdSense and Google Toolbar AutoLink case brought by HyperPhrase Inc. against Google. HyperPhrase claimed that the Google Toolbar’s AutoLink feature & AdSense products were patent infringements. The judge dismissed…
• Wikipedia Founder To Launch Wikiasari Search Engine Early 2007
  Founder of Wikipedia plans search engine to rival Google by The Times unveils a new search engine named Wikiasari. The new search engine has investment backing from Amazon and others of over $4 million in capital. The “exclusive screen capture” Techcrunch has nothing to do with this new engine, according to the Wikia…

Search News Headlines From Elsewhere:

• Speech-friendly textual directions from Google Maps, Google Blog

• Verizon to Allow Ads on Its Mobile Phones, New York Times
• Google Preps Blogger For The Enterprise, Internet News

• The omnipresent search engines, Business Standard

• Special Logos: Ask.com’s Kwanzaa Logo, Ask UK’s New Year’s Eve Logo, ResourceShelf
  
• Meet the Mobile Search Engines, Search Engine Watch
• Internet Marketing Best [Blog] Posts of 2006: The Year in Review, Techipedia
• Giving Dr. Google The Test, courant.com
• Google to Write an ‘Integrated Story’?, InternetNews
• Why Yahoo’s Panama Project Is Important, Techcrunch
• Google AdSense Competitive Ad Filter Not Working?, Search Engine Roundtable
  
• Testing: Yahoo Mobile U.S. Now Showing Ads/Promos at Top of Homepage (Sometimes), ResourceShelf
• Explaining algorithm updates and data refreshes, Matt Cutts
• Google goes l337, Search Engine Tigers
• When AdSense Acts Like Gator, ClickZ
• Ad Costs on the Web Are Rising, but Perhaps a Bit Irrationally, New York Times
• Where on Earth is Santa?, Google Blog
• Power Your Search Apps with Yahoo! Search APIs, Yahoo Blog
• Australian Court Ruling Could Impact Search, Search Engine Watch Blog
• THE YEAR IN ASK 2006, Ask.com Blog
• Interview with Search Engineer Tim Converse, SugarRae Blog
• Google’s Listings of Internal Site Links for Top Search Results, SEO By The Sea
• How Google Might Decide to Index Your Site for Mobile Search, SEO By The Sea
• French court favors personal privacy over piracy searches (Thomas Crampton/International Herald …), Techmeme
• Gentlemen Stop Your Linking (William Patry/The Patry Copyright Blog), Techmeme
• Merrill Bets On Yahoo!-AOL Merger, Forbes.com
• S.F., Google, EarthLink wrestle over plans for free Wi-Fi service for city residents, SFGate.com
• Yahoo likes these hackers, Philadelphia Inquirer
• The Best Blog Traffic & Monetization Posts of 2006, Hawaii Online Ad Blog
• A Ten-Minute Christmas, Yahoo Publisher Network Blog
• Happy holidays, Google Book Search Blog