SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 10, 2010

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

From Search Engine Land:

• 2010 Biggest Search Geek Demographics

  The 2nd annual SMX Biggest Search Geek Contest, sponsored by Marin Software, is designed to recognize the most knowledgeable and capable experts in the field of search engine marketing. Here are some preliminary stats from the competition:

  Search geeks on average are about 30 years old, with 5 years of SEM experience
  Over 40% came to search […]

• Google To Develop Superfast “Experimental Fiber Network”

  Google continues to flirt with being an ISP or carrier. Several years ago the company was part of the aborted municipal WiFi bid for San Francisco with Earthlink. Google is also one of the major forces behind the White Spaces initiative (”WiFi on steroids“) that seeks unused TV spectrum for broadband purposes. In addition, Google […]

• They’re Back: AP Stories Reappear In Google

  In the peek-a-boo dance of the AP-Google negotiation, it appears that AP stories are back in Google News. Earlier this month Danny wrote an extensive post about an apparent deal between the parties to allow the continued indexing of AP stories in Google News.
  Now the Wall Street Journal reports:
  New articles from the Associated Press have […]

• Scoring Super Bowl 2010 Advertising: How’s the Search Visibility?

  After the 2009 Super Bowl, I monitored how the commercials drove searches and reported back on how well the brands did at ensuring visibility in organic search results. It didn’t go so well. The primary problems were:

  Microsites – Microsites aren’t inherently a bad idea, but too many of them can cause brand confusion, external link […]

• Google May Be Sued By Russia’s Quintura Over Wonder Wheel

  paidContent.org reports Quintura, the Russian search engine, may be filing a lawsuit against Google over Google’s Wonder Wheel “visual search engine interface.” Quintura hold 8 patents on the technology and Google may be infringing the company’s patents.
  Quintura CEO Yakov Sadchikov told paidContent:
  The strategy is to make all those search engines and tools that utilize […]

• Policy Change: Advertise Pharmaceuticals On Google AdWords

  The Google AdWords blog announced they will be making a policy change to allow certain kinds of pharmaceutical ads to be shown on Google search results. The policy change will go into affect towards the end of this month.
  Here are some of the conditions:
  (1) Only VIPPS and CIPA certified pharmacies will be allowed to […]

• When A Stranger Calls: The Effect Of Agency Pitches On In-House SEO Programs

  An exasperated in-house SEO recently asked colleagues on Twitter how to respond after upper management had met with an agency that had offered suboptimal, but eagerly digested, SEO advice. How indeed. Sooner or later, most in-house SEOs will face a similar situation, and how you respond may impact the budget you have to work with, […]

• ComScore Releases January Search Numbers (Bing Gains) & Year In Review

  The financial analysts and investment banks publish the comScore monthly search data ahead of its public release, generally by about 24 hours. We’ll probably see comScore’s January numbers, accordingly, later today. However the numbers hit the web almost immediately because many writers/analysts/bloggers are on the investment bank mailing lists. So here, with all the usual […]

• What’s The Best Formula For B2B Search Marketing Success?

  Today, B2B marketers have many choices when implementing a successful search marketing program. Should you be using SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SMO (Social Media Optimization), or PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising to generate traffic and new leads? Should one method be used without the others or should they always be combined in order […]

• The Portal Pattern: Core Conversion Marketing Strategies

  Sites built on the Portal pattern include news sites, research sites, educational sites, forums, and association sites. Most revenue-generating blogs follow the Portal pattern. The primary goals of a portal are to get people to stick around, to view more pages, and to join or subscribe. Here are the conversion strategies that will impact these goals most.

• Google Buzz? MSFT, Yahoo Say ‘Been There, Done That’

  The dust is still settling on Google’s PR blitz today over Google Buzz, but that hasn’t stopped both Microsoft and Yahoo from speaking up. Their message is simple: been there, done that.
  Dharmesh Mehta, Director of Product Management for Windows Live, shared this statement with Search Engine Land this afternoon:
  Busy people don’t want another social network, […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Baidu fourth-quarter profit rises 48.2%, MarketWatch
• Goojje not to change logo despite Google objection, The Economic Times
• Yahoo shutters yet another property, iMediaConnection.com

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Bing Maps Platform Survey – Your Input Needed, Bing Maps Blog
• Google Acting Like Merchant Circle With Nearby Places Move, SEO Igloo Blog
• Norwegians with Pitchforks Attack Google Street View, gawker.com

Link Building

• Are nofollow links irrelevant?, YouTube

Paid Search & Contextual

• Go Mobile! Series: Optimize for mobile with Google Analytics, Inside AdWords
• Google AdWords Bug: Can’t Enter Billing Information, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Google Search Options for Q&A Sites, Google Operating System
• Looking Back at Six Months of Yahoo! Search, Yahoo Search Blog
• Now Google Is Matriarchal Biased, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• SEO Factors and Trends Report Released, Bruceclay.com.au
• Obscure Google Webmaster Tools Verification Bug, Search Engine Roundtable
• Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search: What Should Your Philosophy Be?, Search Engine Guide
• What SEOs Ought to Know About HTML 5, The SEO Scoop
• When to Pause or Delete Ads & Keywords To Save Your Quality Scores, PPC Hero

Social Media

• Banish Google Buzz Updates from Your Gmail Inbox, lifehacker.com
• Facebook rolls out photo slide show feature, but says goodbye to Lexicon, Los Angeles Times
• How Google Buzz mimics Yahoo’s social strategy (and other things you thought you’d never see), SiliconBeat
• AOL Integrates Facebook Chat Into AIM, TechCrunch
• Buzz by Brad Fitzpatrick from Buzz, Google
• Facebook Mobile: 100 Million and Growing, Facebook
• Twitter: Now more than 1 billion tweets per month, Royal Pingdom

Video, Music & Image Search

• Safety Mode: Giving You More Control on YouTube, YouTube Blog

Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• 30 Link Builders Discuss Backlink Analysis For Campaign Design – Part 1
• 5 Powerful Ways to Use Google Reader’s Feed Creation Tool for SEO
• How to Get Banned on Social Media Networks
• SEO standards, accreditation, qualifications and expectations
• 7 Awesome Ideas to Use Gmail Filters For SEO Tasks
• What Is The Best Way To Learn Internet Marketing?