SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 24, 2009

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

From Search Engine Land:

• comScore: Search Behavior Is A Sign Of The Times
  

  You can watch the TV news, read a newspaper, or maybe drive down your street to see signs of the current financial struggles that many Americans are facing. You can also take a look at what Americans are searching for online. That’s what comScore has done, and today’s announcement confirms that we are what we [...]

• Google.org Changes Leadership, Aligns Goals More Closely with Big G Itself
  

  Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org is changing its operational leader and trying to more tightly integrate with the larger objectives of Google the company. According to the Google Blog: Long-time Googler Megan Smith will take over day-to-day management of Google.org, joining as General Manager to lead us through this transition, in addition to her existing role as [...]

• MapQuest Launches Mobile Personalization
  

  As part of a wave of new features, MapQuest late last year introduced My MapQuest, a personalization tool for the PC side of the business. It subsequently renamed that offering “My Places” and has now launched it in mobile. My Places for MapQuest4Mobile offers a rich user experience and the ability to save maps and directions. [...]

• Yahoo To Offer Dayparting, Demographic Targeting & Display Ads Based On Searches
  

  Yahoo to Offer Tools To Match Users, Ads from the Wall Street Journal reports Yahoo is set to launch new ad features and tools today. What is expected to launch today is the ability for advertisers to show graphic ads to users based on their previous search history. Plus, Yahoo will allow those [...]

• What If A Client Doesn’t Like Link Building?
  

  What if you have a client who wants SEO but simply does not want you to do any link building even though, over and over and over, you’ve told this sweet client that link building is a key component of doing well online? I’m not talking about the outright purchasing of links here either. I’m [...]

• And The Oscar For Best Search Engine For Oscar Winners Goes To … Microsoft Live & Ask.com
  

  I’ve written about how hard it is for people to break the Google Habit (and see here) and consider other search engines. But breaking the habit can be done, and Microsoft’s Live Search shows an easy win for this type of thing in response to a search for oscar winners. [...]

• Google Webmaster Central Launches YouTube Channel
  

  The Google Webmaster Central team has officially announced the launch of a new YouTube channel at youtube.com/GoogleWebmasterHelp. This channel will contain, you guessed it, videos from Googlers on how to help your web site success in Google. The first video is the presentation Matt Cutts gave at PubCon last year named “State of the Index [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Current Gmail outage, Official Google Blog
• Gmail Goes Offline Again (February 24, 2009), Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Groups Page On Gmail Shows Adult Material Amidst Serious Outage, TechCrunch
• New! Grow your app beyond the free quotas!, Google App Engine Blog
• Update on Gmail, Official Google Blog

Business Issues

• Ex-Employee to Google: So Long, Suckers!, NBC Washington
• Microsoft Advertising Announces Formation of Publisher Leadership Council, Microsoft
• Google Seeks EU OK To Argue In Microsoft Browser Probe, CNN Money
• Google to Swallow Baidu Users, Says Pres, JLM Pacific Epoch
• WSJ Conference Organizer’s Wife Secretly Running Google, gawker.com
• Yahoo Loses a Deal-Maker, Point-Person in Microsoft Talks, Wall Street Journal

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Kelsey Forecasts Mobile/Local Search Growth, Small Business SEM
• Yelp’s CEO: No, we’re not the Mafia, News.com

Link Building

• Get Natural ‘DoFollow’ Links from Delicious, Search Engine Journal
• Is nofollow dying?, Econsultancy

Paid Search & Contextual

• A display ad builder contest – enter today!, Inside AdWords
• Google AdWords and Analytics 101, Ophir Cohen
• Managing International Campaigns – Part 1, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• How to turn Google’s Gmail failure into an opportunity to make money, currybetdotnet
• More on Google Finance’s Embarrassing Monetization, Traffick
• When Pay Per Click Is NOT Right For You, Search Engine Journal
• Yahoo Rich Ads in Search: Paying A Premium for Brand?, Rimm Kaufman

Searching

• Google Custom Search Engine "Squeezing" Page Numbers Together, Search Engine Roundtable
• How Microsoft Can Develop a Meaningful, seekingalpha.com

SEM Industry

• Mardi Gras ‘09 Logos From Live, DogPile, AOL & Others, Search Engine Roundtable
• Most SEOs Work On Both Clients Projects & Solo Projects, Search Engine Roundtable
• Neil Patel to Keynote SEO Day at IM Spring Break, Search Engine Journal
• Searchfest 2009 Keynote Interview: Danny Sullivan, SEMpdx Blog

SEO & SEM

• Wanted: Productivity Tips for the Swamped Search Marketer, BruceClay.com
• 3 Google Keyword Tools You Should Be Using, Jaan Kanellis
• Decrypting Google’s "According To" Search Results, Search Engine Roundtable
• International SEO Challenges and Tips, Search Engine Watch
• Internet Marketing with Content & SEO: Interviews with 5 Experts, Online Marketing Blog
• Online Marketing Tips Video: Building Your Blog Audience, Search Marketing Gurus
• Track SERPs, Blogs, Social Media and More with Trackle, Search Engine Journal
• Using Google Properties To Optimize Your Search Position, Search Marketing Standard

Social Media

• Community Moderation revisited, yanswersblog.com
• Social Web Q&A with Google’s Kevin Marks, TechCrunchIT
• Social Media Changes Brains, Marketing Pilgrim
• Social Media Madness — The Sweet 16, Search Engine Watch
• To 90,000 Twitter Followers in 30 Days, netZoo
• Using Facebook to Promote Your Business, SEO.com

Web Analytics

• How Many of Your Visits are from iPhones?, Google Analytics Blog
• How to view Google Analytics Funnels for Segmented Data, Brad Geddes

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

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• Everyone Loves Google, Until It Becomes Too Massive
• The Long Tail of Page One Rankings
• 10 Reasons to Attend Portland’s SearchFest, If You Can’t Make IM Spring Break
• Wordtracker publishes Screen Grabs of new cutting edge tool
• 12 ‘DoFollow’ Video Sharing Sites to Distribute Videos & Build Links
• PR Stunt? Google Penalizes Google