SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 25, 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:

• Google Joins EU Anti-Trust Case Against Microsoft Browser
  

  Over the past couple of years Microsoft and Google have become increasingly intense (maybe even bitter) rivals. Most recently the two companies used Yahoo as something of a pawn their game. It may be somewhat unfair to all involved to characterize Yahoo as a “pawn.” But Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo primarily as a way [...]

• Microsoft’s TechFest 2009 Is A Search Playground
  

  Hundreds of Microsoft researchers from around the world gathered at company headquarters in Redmond this week for TechFest 2009, a chance to share ideas and show off their latest creations. Although Microsoft emphasizes that there are no plans to bring any of this technology into Live Search, some of the interesting ideas were featured this [...]

• Penn State Study: Search Ad Click Through Rate
  

  Penn State’s Jim Jansen announced a recent study they just finished that looked at the click through rate of search ads. They studied hundreds of thousands of users, as they interacted with DogPile, the popular meta search engine. The findings were somewhat surprising to Professor Jansen. He was surprised to see that the click [...]

• Yahoo Mobile Head Boerries To Leave, How Will It Affect Yahoo Mobile?
  

  AllThingsD is one of several sources reporting that the EVP of Connected Life at Yahoo, Marco Boerries, will be leaving the company ahead of the anticipated management reorganization. AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher speculates that this may result in a “cut back” in mobile efforts at Yahoo: It’s unclear what the impact of Boerries’ departure on Yahoo’s Connected [...]

• Google Toolbar 6 For IE Adds Search To Windows Task Bar
  

  Google announced the release of the Google Toolbar 6 for Internet Explorer. This toolbar, when installed, adds the Google Quick Search Box (QSB) to the task bar of Windows computers. This is by far the most visible difference with this version of the toolbar. Other changes include enhancing the search suggestions and [...]

• B2B & Social Marketing: Discovering Its Hidden Value
  

  If you’re a B2B search marketer, chances are that measuring return on investment is key for you. Considering that, why would you ever want to go down the social marketing path where success is just as unclear as how to measure it? Moreover, social marketing is something predominately used by B2C companies for engagement purposes, [...]

• Search Queries Are Getting Longer: Hitwise Report
  

  More than half of all search queries are at least three words long, and more than a third are four words or longer. That’s according to Hitwise data (PDF) released today:

  As the chart shows, 1- and 2-word queries are becoming less common, while 4-, 5-, and all the way up to 8+ word queries are [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Talk Targeted by Phishing Attack, Read/Write Web
• Google Shared Stuff to Be Discontinued, Google Operating System
• MySpace Inches Closer To Offering Full-Fledged Webmail Service, TechCrunch
• New in Labs: Browser title bar tweaks, Official Gmail Blog
• Tell Google Which Media Players You Want Supported in Google Reader, Search Engine Roundtable

Business Issues

• China Reportedly To Shut 10,000 Unapproved Web Sites, BarronâÄôs Online
• Google pays for e-mail outage with 15-day credit, The Associated Press
• Ballmer Doesn’t Want to Be ‘Jerry Yang’ of Web Search, Bloomberg
• Connected Life Head Marco Boerries To Leave Yahoo, AllThingsD by Kara Swisher
• O’Brien: How Twitter could be a threat to Google, SiliconValley.com
• Upside at the Washington Post: At Least Web Ads Didn’t Disappear Last Quarter, AllThingsD

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Maps vs Locksmith Spammers: Spammers winning?, Mike Blumenthal
• Is Google Latitude Anticipating Your Travel Plans?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Top 5 iPhone search apps, Pandia

Link Building

• 5 Reasons You Should Link Out to Others From Your Website, SEOmoz
• Why Your Social News Linkbait Isn’t ‘Baiting’, 10e20 Blog

Paid Search & Contextual

• Paid Search Just Got Visual: SearchMe Launches AdView Beta (Free Ads For First 500 Signups), TechCrunch
• Researching Negative Keywords in adCenter, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• And Yet Another Wave of Yahoo! ‘Minimum Bid Requirements’ and Keyword Updates, PPC Hero
• Get All of Your AdWords PPC Tools in Place, PPC Hero
• Google AdSense Optimization Tips – WordCamp Presentation, Digital Inspiration
• Google, Yahoo Prepare to Tighten Grip on Search Ads, Ad Age
• Online Ad Spending Seen Shrinking, Wall Street Journal

Searching

• Google News Dropping Publishers From Index, Search Engine Roundtable
• Why has Arsenal lost their top spot?, David Naylor
• A Public Google Calendar Search Site, Google Blogoscoped
• Is Google Getting Too Pushy with Search Suggestions and Modifications?, Search Engine Journal
• New Collection from USA.gov: Government 2.0, ResourceShelf
• New Research Paper: How Children Search the Internet with Keyword Interfaces, ResourceShelf
• Stefan Weitz on Farecast, Live Search
• Yahoo using NoFollow in Organics, David Naylor

SEM Industry

• IM Charity Party at SES NY March 23rd, Michael Gray
• Love iGoogle? Google Wants to Feature Your Story, SEOish
• SearchFest 2009 Interview: Susan Moskwa, SEMpdx Blog

SEO & SEM

• Are You Making the Most of Your Page H1 Tag?, Daily SEO Tip
• Canonical Link Element: presentation from SMX West, Official Google Webmaster Central Blog
• Click Here For Better Usability And SEO, The SEO Scoop
• Five Areas to Describe SEO, SEO.com
• Google Webmaster Tools Link Report Bugs Still An Issue, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google’s New Search Engine Rankings Places Heavy Empahsis on Branding, SEO Book
• If your town doesn’t rank on Google do you a) do some SEO or b) change the towns name?, BlogStorm
• Improving results from SEO – what makes the biggest difference?, Econsultancy
• What I Learned About Google Blog Search at SMX West, Small Business SEM

Social Media

• Twitter Tip: How to Attract Related Followers, Shimon Sandler
• Twitter = YouTube, John Battelle’s Searchblog

Web Analytics

• Google Analytics JavaScript is Broken, SEOmoz

Other Items

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

• Click Here For Better Usability And SEO
• Searchfest 2009 Keynote Interview: Danny Sullivan
• When PPC is NOT Right for You
• Google Now Places Heavy Emphasis on Branding
• Internet Marketing Isn’t a Buffet – Why You Need Quality Traffic Over Quantity
• Ryanair – Is Their Attitude To Online PR Part Of A Bigger Reputation Problem?
• 5 Ways To Find & Acquire Customers On Twitter
• Offline Conversions: How To Get SEM Credit!
• Future proof your SEO – A Gypsy's guide to fotune telling