SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 19, 2012

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Apple Vs. Google Maps: Reality Check Time

  Google Maps new app is terrific app — although initiating navigation isn’t as intuitive as it might be. But I’ve found that Apple Maps is as good or nearly as good, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have not had a chance to test maps apps side-by-side in other regions. Here’s what […]

• Finally, You Can Search All Your Tweets Via Twitter

  It’s been one of the biggest problems Twitter has had for years, that it’s difficult to find your own tweets on the Twitter. The new Twitter Archive service that Twitter launched today goes a long way in solving this issue. Step-By-Step: How To Download All Your Tweets With The New Twitter Archive Service is our story […]
• Google Challenges NORAD In Tracking Santa, Launches Google Santa Tracker

  Google has decided to take on the decades-old Santa tracking service that NORAD offers with its own “Google Santa Tracker.” It comes in the wake NORAD booting Google out as a partner in favor of Microsoft. How NORAD Began Tracking Santa Since 1955 First some history, then what Google has in store. When I was […]

• Flights, Hotels: Google Is Improving Its Travel Search Tools

  Following its acquisition of travel software provider ITA, Google’s flight and hotel search products have offered isolated useful features but have largely failed to live up to Google’s promise of “innovation.” Consumers have mostly failed to notice Google’s travel innovations so far as well. There are now indications that Google’s travel sites and content are becoming more […]

• The Most Common Misconception Of 2012: Display Looks Like Search

  The most common misconception over the past year has been the commonly heard statement, display looks like search. While we have all heard this a number of times (albeit it might be partially true) it’s largely based on one main factor: the rise of the auction-based marketplace in display. However, there are a number of […]

• The Value Proposition Test: What Is Your Page’s Caption?

  There is nothing more important to your search success than your value proposition. Go ahead. Click away. I know you probably don’t spend much of your time on such things. It’s all keywords and copy, copy and keywords. Yet, keywords and ad copy only get you so far. For your visitors, these answer the question, why am […]

• Google Running Feedback Experiment That’s Similar To Human Quality Rater Test

  Google has long asked searchers to provide feedback on the quality of its search results, and often runs a number of tests aimed at encouraging such feedback. The latest such experiment, which seems to have been live for at least a month or so, is a bit different because it asks searchers for feedback only […]

Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:

• Facebook To Halt Mobile Ad Network Test With No Plans To Roll It Out
• IAB: US Interactive Ad Revenues Hit $9.3 Billion, A Record High, In Q3
• How To Integrate Pinterest Into Your Emails
• Step-By-Step: How To Download All Your Tweets With The New Twitter Archive Service
• 8 Storytelling Tips To Enhance Your Content Marketing
• Report: Watch For ‘Autoplay’ Facebook Video Ads In Coming Months
• Hybrid Google+/Meebo Bar Spotted In The Wild
• NRA Breaks Silence, Returns To Facebook, Promises “Meaningful Contributions”
• Mobile Ad Forecast Jumps To $4 Billion On Facebook Display Strength, Google Has Most Revenues

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg donating $500 million in stock to Silicon Valley charity, Washington Post
• First Ever $7 Billion Online Spending Week Brings Holiday Season Spending to $35 Billion, Up 13 Percent vs. Year Ago, comScore

Local Search & Maps

• Garmin GPS Navigation gets price cut, Foursquare, Glympse, and iCloud, SlashGear
• iOS 6 Adoption Grows 29% Over The Weekend As People Finally Update After Google Maps Arrives, TechCrunch
• Microsoft doubles the language support with Windows Phone 8, doubles speech recognition too, WinBeta
• Two Google+ Local Links On One Place Listing?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Yext Reaches 100,000 Active Locations, The Yext Blog

Link Building

• 10 Ways to Increase the Odds of Getting Editorial Links, Search Engine Watch
• Report: Google Disavow Tool Removed A Manual Link Penalty, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search

• Google TV Ads Officially Goes Off The Air, Search Engine Roundtable
• PPC Hero’s Tips to Get You through the Holiday and Into the New Year!, PPC Hero

Searching

• Explore Spain’s Jewish heritage online, Official Google Blog
• Shopping Sites Open Brick-and-Mortar Stores, New York Times

SEM Industry

• Announcing the 2012 Top Contributor badge recipients, Inside AdWords
• He’s been searching for rapid growth, philly.com
• In Memory of Phil Payne, A Google Webmaster Central Legend, Search Engine Roundtable
• My Moment of 2012: Yoast, Mel Carson, Jonathan Allen & Barry Schwartz, stateofsearch.com
• Talking Links and Authorship – An Interview w/ Jim Boykin, CEO, InternetMarketingNinjas.com, stuntdubl.com
• The SEO Industry is Everywhere You Look., digitalhighrise.com

SEO & SEM

• How to Find an SEO Goldmine for Your Blog, ProBlogger
• How To Increase Organic Search Traffic by 4.6% in 32 Minutes, blindfiveyearold.com
• SEO Trends to Keep an Eye On in 2013, Small Business Trends
• The Good, The Bad & The Indifferent: Reviewing SEO results in 2012, Search Engine Watch
• What Questions to Ask SEO Companies Before Hiring Them, Geoff Kenyon
• Why Running Ranking Reports Is a Fool’s Errand, HighRankings Forums

Video, Music & Image Search

• Yahoo follows Google in shutting down music service in China, The Next Web