SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 23, 2011

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Forrester Research Publishes 1st Report On Enterprise SEO Automation Tools

  Today, Forrester Research unveiled a 6- page report on the utility of SEO automation tools for use in larger enterprises. Six vendors were covered in the landscape report, including Altruik, BrightEdge, Conductor, Covario, SEOmoz PRO, and Yield Software. The report mainly covers key issues in scaling automation across larger enterprises, integration of IT services and […]
• Obscure Belgian Case Threatens To Open Copyright “Pandora’s Box” For Google In Europe

  A 2006 Belgian case that found Google in breach of copyright law for indexing newspaper headlines and snippets without permission is now on appeal and approaching conclusion a little over four years later. In 2007 Google was ordered to pay fines and remove links and/or obtain permission from the newspaper copyright owners before indexing their […]

• A Successful Example Of Conversion Content Marketing

  In a recent presentation on conversion content marketing, I walked through several excellent examples of “the new microsite.” I thought I’d share one of my favorites with you here. The essence of conversion content marketing, taking lessons from content marketing and applying them in conversion optimization, and vice versa— is that content is king. The […]

• Google Drops Facebook Sync On Nexus S: Google/Facebook Battle Continues

  TechCrunch reports Google has intentionally dropped the phonebook data sync from Facebook. The reason Google cites is because Facebook contacts “cannot be exported from the device” and thus do not allow users to “control their data” as freely as Google would like. This topic has been going on for months, starting back in November when […]

• Making The Jump To In-House SEO

  First things first, let’s start with a little background…If you would have told me a year ago that I’d be working as an in-house SEO, I would have laughed in your face and told you to go do something dirty to yourself. Yet, here I am today, working as an in-house SEO, and I couldn’t […]

• How To Get The Most Search Engine Marketing Value From Key Content Initiatives

  One of the major obstacles marketers face, particularly with B2B search engine marketing, is the availability of content to support keyword initiatives. While we realize the importance of new content, the demand for time and resources will always be tested. The key to success: don’t try to reinvent the wheel every time new content is […]

• China Launches New Censored Search Engine To Compete With Baidu

  China Mobile and state-run news agency Xinhua have launched Panguso a new search engine that will let people search for news, web sites, images, videos and audio, according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua. The new search engine will filter results according to the guidelines issued by the Chinese government, often referred to as “the […]

• Oscars Golden Touch: Searches On Yahoo Spiking

  With Hollywood’s golden night fast approaching, buzz is building in Yahoo! search for the 83rd annual Academy Awards set to air this Sunday, February 27, 2011. We’ll know soon enough if Yahoo! users are any better at predicting winners than Bing or Google Trends. According to Yahoo!: Searches for “when are the Oscars” are spiking […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Is Eating Calendar Events For “Less Than 0.125%” Of Its User Base, TechCrunch

Business Issues

• Facebook Poaches Google’s Top Executive in Latin America, New York Times
• What happens after Yahoo acquires you, 37signals.com
• Google yanks request for kids’ social security numbers, VentureBeat

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Restoring Your Google Places Listing After Being Removed For A Quality Guideline Violation, Search Engine People
• ShopSavvy Integrates Groupon To Bring You More Relevant Mobile Local Deals, TechCrunch

Link Building

• 10 Years of Link Building Advice, wiep.net
• Introducing Site Explorer, blog.majesticseo.com

Paid Search & Contextual

• New Interface Wednesdays: Chart and change metric feature, Inside AdSense

SEO & SEM

• Headsmacking Tip #17: Use Your Bio as an SEO Advantage, SEOmoz
• Looking at Revenue Across Adwords and Analytics, PPC Hero
• 15 Questions That Will Change The Way You Think About SEO Forever (Q’s 11-15), Search Engine Guide
• 404 Page Error Handling, Shimon Sandler
• Does Google still recommend 100 links or fewer per page?, YouTube
• Google News: Too Much Formatting Can’t Prevent Articles From Being Indexed, Search Engine Roundtable
• How a Search Engine Might Identify the Functions of Blocks in Web Pages to Improve Search Results, SEO By The Sea
• Lets Talk about Keyword Density, Michael Gray
• SEO: Host Your Images On Your Site Or Social Image Sites Like Flickr?, Search Engine Roundtable
• The 6 essential elements of effective website structure, Search Engine People
• To Improve Search Quality, Google Must Penalize Sources of Link Pollution, Search Engine Journal

Video, Music & Image Search

• Google’s YouTube Says It’s in Negotiations to Stream Live NBA, NHL Games, Bloomberg

Web Analytics

• The Power of Dashboards in Google Analytics, blueglass.com

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

• DOTW: Is it Possible for Us to Educate the Media About SEO? – There has been some discussion this past week about SEO and the media. Lisa Barone discussed it yesterday and Shari Thurow discussed it on Search Engine Land. We all know about JcPenny and Forbes. We also know that myths and misconceptions about SEO are everywhere. The media often confuses things…is this because so much is wrong on the net about SEO or are they not looking hard enough for the right information? Can we educate them? Do they really want to be educated?
• Think Keyword Density is Still a Factor? Prove It! – A thought provoking piece that refutes and challenges keyword density and an SEO practice. – As I read her email I could literally feel my blood pressure rising.  She’d heard me speak at a webinar I did for Wordtracker about ecommerce copywriting where I said keyword density hadn’t been a factor in SEO copywriting for years.  The lump in my throat got bigger as Zoe (not her real name) explained why she thought the myth about keyword density simply wouldn’t die.
• Integrating offline and online – most organizations missing the point…. – Peter Young always watches with interest the adverts which increasingly use the ‘search for’ options within the above the line advertising activity, particularly television. This is something we increasingly see the larger brands utilising, sending offline consumers of their advertising online – and then tracking them back via online analytics. Well, if and only if the campaign is well planned …
• User-Friendly SEO – Some web designers (and many web content writers) view on-page SEO as a necessary evil to an effective content strategy on the web. However, when properly executed, SEO can actually enhance a site visitor’s experience, rather than detract from it.
• The Secret to Getting 50,000 Followers on Twitter – The secret is that it isn't a secret.  Even in the magical world of social media, it comes down to a lot of hard work.