SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 7, 2008

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Ask Launches BigNews
  Ask has just launched a new search service called BigNews, similar to Google News with a side of Digg. It uses something called "BigFactor" to rank stories (using signals like freshness, impact, quantity of multimedia, and amount of related discussion), provides category clusters, and lets you browse by top Diggs…
• If You Like Digg, You’ll Love Ask’s Big News
  As Vanessa noted, Ask.com has revamped its news aggregation service, adding lots of bells and whistles and a few useful features. Most notably, Ask has embraced the social media tenet that you need others to tell you how important a news story is, with its new "BigFactor" ratings. Like Google…
• Google News’ New Local Angle
  Just as Ask is introducing "BigNews," Google is offering local news. The Google News Blog says that the new capabilities allow users to "create a local section for any city, state or country in the world." As the Google News Blog admits, Google isn’t the first to do this. Topix.com…
• Searching For Southern Tornado Maps
  Now that you can search for user-generated content more easily on Google Maps, I checked to see if people had been creating and sharing information about the tornadoes that tragically tore through the Southern US states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much there in contrast to…
• Microsoft Acquires 3-D Modeling Software Company Caligari
  Adding to its already impressive portfolio of mapping tools and capabilities, Microsoft has acquired 3-D modeling software company Caligari. The group will be a part of the Virtual Earth team, apparently, but the software is equally used for gaming and game development. Microsoft already had powerful 3-D modeling capabilities and…
• SEO & SEM Outside The U.S.—Tips & Advice
  As many SEO/SEM professionals already know, marketing to people outside of the United States presents many challenges. Search usability is quite different due to language nuances, variations in color psychology, and allocation of screen real estate, among other things. Where are the best places for a search engine optimizer…
• Does Online Video Pay? And How Much, Exactly?
  Grant Crowell’s article on about video promotions through Internet Yellow Page programs raises a point that’s probably on the mind of any serious marketer. The hype surrounding online video is deafening, and getting louder: its bizarre mix of content, the experiments by mainstream broadcasters, the sporadic announcements of success…
• January 2008: Search Engine Land’s Most Popular Stories
  Below are Search Engine Land’s 10 most popular stories from January 2008:…
• Search Month: January 2008 Search News, In Review
  Search Month is a monthly newsletter that recaps stories covered on Search Engine Land over the past month. It’s also available by feed here. Below, news about Search Engine Land itself, then our 10 most popular stories from January 2008, then a major story for various search topics along with…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Official Google Blog: It’s all about teamwork, Official Google Blog
• Google Apps Team Edition aims to move companies to the cloud, News.com
• Stop sharing spreadsheets, start collecting information, Official Google Docs Blog
• J-walking with Reader, Official Google Reader Blog
• iGoogle Settings Page, Google Operating System
• OpenID Welcomes Microsoft, Google, Verisign and IBM, TechCrunch
• Evolving the OpenID Foundation Board, OpenID.net

Business Issues

• Should IAC Merge With AOL?, New York Times
• Time Warner Plans to Split AOL Businesses, New York Times
• AOL Exec Jumps to Discovery, Ad Age
• Google looks to develop greener energy sources, Reuters
• Rumor: Is Google About to Buy Bebo For $1 Billion To $1.5 Billion? Or Will it Be MySpace?, TechCrunch
• Bebo For a Billion? A 100 Percent Chance of Wrongness!, AllThingsD
• The Number of Google Employees, Google Blogoscoped
• Russian Internet Advertising Market To Grow To $685 Million In 2008, Quintura Blog
• The Chart: Why Google’s unstoppable, Valleywag
• Google Properties Breakdown – by Pages, Hitwise

Link Building

• What Tools for a Linkbuilder?, Search Engine War
• Do Directory Submissions Still Hold Any Value?, Search Engine Guide
• Google PageRank: It Means Nothing!, Search Engine Roundtable

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Companies Betting on Location Based Mobile Ads, Read/Write Web
• The Details of Google Maps in the California Fires, All Points Blog
• Where does a Psychic turn when they need answer? Google Maps, Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search
• Google Mps Category Mystery Part 2: Background , Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search
• YellowBook Redesigns Amid Traffic Surge, Screenwerk
• Cool US Flights Visualization in Google Earth, Google Earth Blog
• What If Print Yellow Pages Become "Opt-in", Screenwerk
• ARM Google phone platform demo due Monday, Reuters

Microhoo!

• Microsoft Bid for Yahoo Drops To $29.50 a Share, Silicon Alley Insider
• Microsoft Adversary Rises Instinctively at Yahoo Bid – New York Times, New York Times
• Diller Says a Microsoft/Yahoo Deal Good for Ask, ClickZ
• The Top 5 Reasons Nokia Should Bid On Yahoo, InformationWeek
• Yahoo faces takeover bid with new board chair, San Francisco Chronicle
• Time To Change Microsoft – Yahoo (MSFT/YHOO), Here’s a Better Deal, Silicon Valley Insider
• Would The FTC Block A Google Deal With Yahoo?, Barron’s

Paid Search & Contextual

• Facebook Ads vs. Google Adwords – Facebook Ads Do Not Work, AU Interactive
• Amazon Product Ads, Comparisonengines.com
• Yahoo PPC Looking Attractive Again – Just Stay Away From The Content Network, SEM Geek
• Methods To Increase CTR on PPC Ads, Shimon Sandler
• Google AdSense Account Linking and Login Update, Search Engine Roundtable
• Kentucky Court Votes Keyword Ads = TM Use In Commerce, Eric Goldman

Searching

• Searchles : The Multimedia Community Search Engine, Search Engine Journal
• Sputtr.com Aims to Unite Entire Search Engine Industry in a Single Multi-Search Engine — Announces Release of New Feature, Press Release
• Google thinks my name = SEO, BlogStorm
• LinkedIn Announces New Research Platform, O’Reilly Radar
• What’s India searching for online?, Official Google Blog
• Univeral Search – Not only for Public Consumption, Bill Hartzer
• Snow reports for skiers and boarders, Live Search Blog
• What Might Search Engines "One Day" Understand About Social Media?, SEOmoz
• Tools for travellers at Ask.com, Pandia
• Search Behavior Patterns – Boxes and Arrows: The design behind the design, Boxes & Arrows
• Why Search is Still Prehistoric – Part 2, Search Engine Watch
• How Mahalo social works part II, Jason Calacanis
• Welcome to the Neighborhood, Google, Topix

SEM Industry

• Beware! the Search Engines want your SEO job, HuoMah.com
• Charity Contest, Microsoft’s SEO Program & More PageRank Talk, BruceClay.com
• Should You Let Sam’s Club Be Your SEO Company?, WebProNews
• Finding The Right Search Engine Marketing Company: Part Two, SEO Speedwagon
• 5 Reasons January Was a Bad Month For SEO’s Reputation, Syzlak’s SEM
• SES Updates! London, New York and Hamburg, Search Engine Strategies
• Learning SEO and SEM – Where to Start?, HighRankings Forums

SEO & SEM

• Sham analysis optimization, SEO Theory
• Rating the Super Bowl Advertisers’ SEO Record, Search Engine Watch
• Super Bowl XLII Ads — Where’s the URL?, Search Engine Watch
• Cruise your way to the top of Google for only £560,000!, SEOptimise
• How to Engage Customers in Search Marketing, Search Engine Watch
• Be That Stallion & Round Up The Herd, Cre8PC
• Search Marketing Bootcamp: What’s a Keyword?, Search Engine Guide

Social Media

• Notes from tonight’s MySpace Developer Platform launch, Inside Facebook
• Relevance and Distribution: Two Essential Factors in Social Media Marketing, Dosh Dosh
• Step by Step Guide to Monitoring Feeds for Reputation Management, ViperChill
• Controversy Over Wikipedia’s Use Of Muhammad Image, Google Blogoscoped
• Social Media Marketing’s Disease: No Follow-Through, MediaPost
• You Have Mixx Messaging!, Mixx Blog
• Making sense of your Facebook friends, Yahoo Next
• Part Four: From Twits to Tweeple, Why I Embraced Twitter and You Should Too, Search Engine Guide

Video, Music & Image Search

• Why you shouldn’t ignore Google Images, SEOptimise
• YouTube Layer in Google Earth Updating Daily, Google Earth Blog

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• The Evolution of Tech Companies Logos, Neatorama

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