SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 5, 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 Books Search Goes Mobile
  The Google Books Blog announced they have now created a mobile version of Google Books. If you have an iPhone or Android phone just navigate your mobile browser to http://books.google.com/m to start using Google Book search on your mobile device. There are many differences between the mobile version and the regular version. The most obvious is the look and feel, but the biggest technological difference, as Google explains, is the use of OCR technology. Google Book Search typically shows scans of the page, but if you view the book on a mobile device, they will try …
• Newspaper Publishers & The Video SEO Opportunity
  Grant Crowell, of ReelSEO and GC Interactive, published a whitepaper this week discussing the newspaper industry’s opportunity to tap into the increasing popularity of video consumption as a means to drive incremental site engagement and revenue streams. Full disclosure – my company, EveryZing, funded the research, however the findings, recommendations, and editorial content are all Grant’s. Not a day goes by where we don’t read about evaporating print and classified advertising dollars, learn about significant lay-offs, or struggle to comprehend the magnitude of financial stress that the newspaper industry is under. But for all of its gloom-and-doom, the …
• The Answer To All SEO Your Questions!
  I recently appeared on Vanessa Fox’s new Webmaster Radio show, “Office Hours” where we discussed some of the simple things business owners can do to increase search traffic to their website, but which are often neglected. During the show, Vanessa answered a bunch of frequently asked questions, and her answers often started out with something like, “People don’t like it when I say this, but there are no specific numbers or formulas for that, because it depends on a variety of factors to determine relevancy.” I know exactly what she’s talking about and was glad to hear her answer the …
• Last Call: SMX West Next Week. Register Now!
  Juggling multiple projects testing your multi-tasking skills? Time to move this to the top of the to-do list; you’ll be glad you did. Register today for Search Marketing Expo – SMX West in Santa Clara, CA and join search marketers from nearly 1000 companies who will attend SMX West. But don’t delay – your chance to save $200 off an All Access Pass runs out on February 9th. Still need info? More than 50 sessions. See the agenda Look who’s speaking…
• Google Continues AdWords Product PlusBox
  Yesterday, at the Search Engine Roundtable, I wrote about Google’s AdWords Product PlusBox. The Product PlusBox has been a limited test since November 2007, but it seems like Google has expanded the test. I asked Google about this and they told me it is still a limited beta to test how effective this is as a way of engaging potential customers for advertisers. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of you can replicate the Product PlusBox right now by searching on mens or luggage or hard drives. If you can’t see it, …

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google’s Cloud: 8 Key Questions, PC Magazine
• Google Chrome Extensions Coming Out by May!, Nick.pro
• IBM pitches in on Google Health, News.com
• Is Wonderwall Gonna Be the One That Saves MSN?, AllThingsD by Kara Swisher
• Offline Google Calendar, Google Operating System

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Android: One Multitasking Operating System, BusinessWeek
• Letting Google Take Your Pulse, Forbes
• Marchex Optimizes Profiles for Mobile, Screenwerk
• Microsoft Smartphone Confirmed?, gigaom.com
• Mobile Restaurant Ordering (Finally) Hits The App Store, TechCrunch

Paid Search & Contextual

• More Web Ads Improve Their Aim, Wall Street Journal
• Highlight Your Keywords in Your PPC Ads to Generate Targeted, Relevant Clicks, PPC Hero
• How and When Mom and Pop Businesses Should Use PPC, PPC Hero
• More Google Adwords Beta Details, Search Marketing Communications

Searching

• Job Search Online Fastest Growing Category, MediaPost
• Riza Berkan: The Search for Quality on the Web, AltSearchEngines
• hakia ScoopBar, Now Highlights Pages Found by Other Search Engines, Hakia Blog

SEO & SEM

• A Makeover for Your Google Results, Wall Street Journal
• Small Yahoo Search Update Two Weeks Later?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Commercial Twitter spamming tool hits the market, ZDNet

Video, Music & Image Search

• Embed Videos in Web Pages To Get On Google Universal Search, Digital Inspiration
• YouTube Adds Title and Rating to Embeds, mashable.com

Web Analytics

• Web Analytics Tips & Tricks: Event Tracking Best Practices, Google Analytics Blog

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

• Outsourcing SEO is About Trust
• Duplicate Content – Double Standards for Trusted Sites
• Three Degrees of Google Latitude
• Announcing the IM Charity Party at SMX West!
• Global Find and Replace In Wordpress using MySQL
• How To Make Blogging Work For Your Business
• 8 Twitter Networking Tips: From Online to In-the-Flesh
• A Makeover for Your Google Results
• 4 Ways to Promote Your Site on Facebook