SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 19, 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:

• New Google Privacy Videos Offer Advice On Product Settings
  If US Congressman Joe Barton never got an answer to his many questions about Google Privacy (which I thought wasted time asking for stuff an intern could locate), perhaps he’ll be happy watching some of Google’s latest videos released that cover some very specific privacy issues on a product-by-product basis….
• Google & Human Quality Reviews: Old News Returns
  A quote from Google’s director of research Peter Norvig in an article at Technology Review about how human reviewers assess Google’s search quality is starting to pick up play on the web and will no doubt grow. Problem is, it’s not news. Still, I suppose it’s interesting to those who…
• Viacom & Microsoft Announce Major Content, Ads Deal
  Today Microsoft and Viacom announced a wide-ranging content and advertising deal that involves Viacom content distribution on Microsoft-owned sites, ad serving by Microsoft on Viacom properties, mutual distribution of game-related content and ads, as well as collaboration in other areas. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the announcement are apparent…
• Google Removes RSS Feeds From Search Results
  The Google Webmaster Central Blog announced that Google will no longer include RSS feed results in their search results with the exception of podcast feeds. The reasoning behind Google dropping RSS feeds from the results is that it is very likely that the RSS feed is a text duplication of…
• Google Improves Results For Supplemental Pages
  According to a new post on the Google Webmaster Central blog, the supplemental index is no longer, well, supplemental. Google has long had a two-tiered index and webmasters have generally feared the second, supplemental tier. A Forbes article earlier this year called it “Google Hell”, as historically, those pages weren’t…
• Early Developers Giving Google’s Android Mobile Platform Mixed Reviews
  Dow Jones reports (shorter Wall Street Journal version here) that some software developers are experiencing considerable frustration writing for Google’s much-touted Android mobile platform. “Functionality is not there, is poorly documented or just doesn’t work. It’s clearly not ready for prime time,” said one of the developers quoted in the…
• Microsoft Live Search Indexing & Listing Google AdWords Ads
  Raven SEO Blog spotted Microsoft’s Live Search indexing Google AdWords ads. The example given was a search on colorations paint, which returned Google AdWords ad in the 3rd and 4th position. Here is a screen capture showing one of those listings:…
• Communication Breakdown? Try Google Talk’s Interpreter
  The Google Talkabout Blog announced the launch of an instant messenger bot that is an interpreter. An instant messenger bot is a little computer program that accepts instant messages and automatically replies to them. AOL has the AIM Bot program for years, allowing developers to create these bots as they…
• B2B Search Marketing: Measuring Success Beyond Conversions
  Today, the majority of b2b search marketing programs are focused on lead generation. Prospects are driven to landing pages where they register for white papers, demos, webinars, and other informational assets. A certain percentage of these registrants become sales leads, and ultimately customers. While lead gen programs do produce…
• Need Flight Status? Google Now Provides Tracking
  The Google Blog announced they have improved how they return flight status information in search results. Instead of just providing a link to get flight times, you get that information directly in the OneBox area at Google, without requiring a click to see it….
• Microsoft Builds A Better Mobile Search Experience
  Yesterday Microsoft announced a number of content upgrades and changes to its local search for mobile devices, which include reviews, one-click directions, interactive maps, photos and so on. There’s more specific detail on the Virtual Earth blog. All the major search engines are now offering blended search results on their…
• Yes, Mom, Search Marketing IS A Valid Career Choice
  If you’re an in-house search marketer, you may have had the experience of awakening one morning and realizing that you have a legitimate career. Wow! Your high school guidance counselor never mentioned this gig, I’ll bet. Only a handful of years ago, in fact, this career path never existed….
• Paid Search Planning: Do You Really Know Your Customers & Your Market?
  The season is upon us when marketers near and far are thinking about paid search planning, strategy and implementation for the upcoming year. It’s important to take some time out to plan your strategy for 2008, so you’re not just reactive in your marketing efforts. So, in this article,…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Holiday Village, the New Winter Theme for iGoogle, Google Operating System
• Google Taking Apps In The Sky, GigaOM

Business Issues

• A Brief Interview With Chris Sacca, John Battelle’s Searchblog
• Key Scientist at hakia was named the Distinguished Professor, Hakia Blog
• IEEE Spectrum R&D 100 (Top R&D Spenders), Google at #79 on List, ResourceShelf

Conferences

• Search Insider Wrap Up – Utah 2007, Online Marketing Blog

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Making tracks on holiday shopping, Google LatLong

Link Building

• Live Search Link Command Back Offline, Search Engine Roundtable
• Ten Paid Link Strategies Approved by Matt, Marketing Pilgrim
• Buried Link Treasure: The Acquisition of Quality Backlinks, Search Engine Journal

Paid Search & Contextual

• Catch the BEST Leads, Not the MOST Leads by Using Qualifiers in Your Ad Text, PPC Hero
• Saving your advanced reports for later, Inside AdSense
• Your questions answered: importing into adCenter, adCenter Blog

Searching

• How Google Tests Results Quality, Google Blogoscoped
• The People Inside Google’s Black Box, New York Times
• Q&A: Google’s Peter Norvig, Technology Review
• Tafiti Search Visualization (Silverlight Live Search API) Source Code available, Live Search Blog
• Yahoo! Researchers Awarded Top Honors, Media Newsline
• Recently Posted Research Papers and Biblographic Info by Googlers, ResourceShelf
• Where Google (and others) Still Fail, Speaking Freely

SEM Industry

• Christmas Search Schwag, Small Business SEM
• Is The Mainstream Media Hurting or Helping The Search Industry?, SEM Geek
• iCrossing Seals Deal With Epson, Snags Interactive Agency Of Record Status, MediaPost
• Internet Marketers of Delaware Valley – IM-DV.org, Search Marketing Gurus
• Resolution Media Opens Offices In New York, San Francisco, MediaPost
• Yahoo Search Marketing Christmas Gift 2008 – Laptop Case, CPA Affiliates
• Yahoo! Searchlight Awards 2008, Screenwerk

SEO & SEM

• How does Google Pick Snippets for Your Pages to Show in Search Results?, SEO By The Sea
• Forced Verticals: You Are Not Spam if You Are the Only Option Available, SEO Book
• Large Enterprise SEO: Content Development, Search Engine Watch
• More Sites Get Google Sitelinks Feature, Search Engine Roundtable
• Real Estate Websites Hacked Using SQL Injection – Real Estate Website Designer’s Read This, SEM Spot
• Google Puts the Smackdown on Sugarrae, Sugarrae
• Reputation Management Spreadsheet, The SEO Scoop

Social Media

• My New Facebook Strategy and the FB Power Level, Blog Maverick
• Facebook Friend Lists let you manage your "friends" more effectively, Inside Facebook
• What Started The Downfall of Digg, ShoeMoney
• 4 Ways to Get Banned from the Technorati Top 100, BlogStorm
• How I Network on Friendster, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, Techipedia
• Worm Hits Google’s Orkut, PC World

Video, Music & Image Search

• Here Comes (Another) Another Bubble!, AllThingsD
• IAC in Web video deal with Brightcove, News.com

Web Analytics

• Update for Some ga.js users and Request for More GAACs!, Google Analytics Blog
• Web Analytics: A ticket to stardom, Fired Blog

Other Items

• The Web Celeb 25, Forbes
• PodCast: Google News Gets Search By Source; Seeking Search Marketing Training , Daily SearchCast
• The Google Homepage FAQ, Google Blogoscoped

Last 20 Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• The ORIGINAL blogger… Doogie Howser : A Reality Check
• Top 10 Most Influential Blog Posts for 2007
• Google Puts the Smackdown on Sugarrae
• Google Gives The Gift of Sitelinks
• 7 Reasons Why You’ll Click on Everything I Post: Avatars 101
• The Goliath Effect
• Google is Evil .. Really?! Hmmmm!
• 10 Years of Blogging – Happy Anniversary
• Man Who Coined the Term ‘Weblog’ Offers 10 Blogging Tips
• Digg hires bank, hoping to sell for $300 million or more
• Keeping Up With Your Blog Visitors: An Interview with MyBlogLog
• Google Gets Ready to RUMBLE With Microsoft – NY Times
• Live Search Returning Google AdWords in Natural Search Results
• How to Use the “Rule of Three” to Create Engaging Content
• Breaking News: Google is Broken
• National Brands/Local Retailer SEO Smackdown!
• What’s Coming Next at Digg?
• How To Effectively Talk to Execs and Clients about Social Media
• US Ban On Online Gambling Illegal
• Matt Cutts Says: Paid Ads *Are* A Type Of Search [PICS]
• 9 Tips on Running a succesful SEO Business
• New Spam Fighting Tool for Sphinn Users
• 11 Steps to Successful SEO for Your Business