SearchCap: The Day In Search, Jan. 12, 2007

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Search Patent Documents for 1-12-07 – Limited Access Documents in Search Results
  A wide range of newly published patent applications and granted patents, covering such ground as subscribed content in search results from Google; tag searching, detecting similar audio files, and simpler support vector machines from Yahoo; geographic based searching from MetaCarta; and data center architecture and smarter results to queries from Microsoft, amongst others……
• If Google *Really* Copied Yahoo…
  About a month ago, Yahoo’s Jeremy Zawodny and Google’s Matt Cutts traded a number of sharp barbs over design similarities in Yahoo and Google. Google copied Yahoo! No, Yahoo copied Google! Danny described the tiff in Google Copies Yahoo’s IE7 Page; Originality War Breaks Out!, writing “If I had time and desire, I’d sit here all day pointing out similar things that Google has copied from others, that Yahoo has copied from others, that Microsoft has copied from others, that Ask has copied from others. There’s no end of finger pointing that can be done.” Over at Google Watch, Steve…
• Google: Free Real-Time Quotes Here to Stay
  Many financial web sites, including Google Finance, Yahoo Finance, Forbes and others were offering free real-time quotes to users until last fall, when the New York Stock Exchange increased the fees it charged for displaying market data. In response, many of these firms teamed up to form NetCoalition.com, a Washington trade group that petitioned the SEC to halt recent fee increases. Today, according to the Official Google Blog, the NYSE issued a proposal to the SEC which if approved, keep fees at a level that would allow Google to display real-time, last-sale prices across all Google properties….
• The Right Way to Ask For a Link
  I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve received link requests that are variously inept, ridiculous, or worst of all, generated by some idiot link exchange software. I’ve also heard people agonize at SES conferences over how difficult the link building process can be. But link building isn’t difficult, really, when done with common sense, and, more importantly, with the right human touch. Over at Search Engine Guide, Jennifer Laycock has a great article about someone who approached her for a link—and did it the right way. She writes:…
• Eye Tracking in MSN Search
  Spotted via Resource Shelf, a new paper from Microsoft Research focusing on user eye tracking behavior while viewing MSN search results. The study used eye tracking methodologies to explore the effects of changes in the presentation of search results. Among the interesting findings: Adding information to result snippets significantly improved performance for informational tasks but degraded performance for navigational tasks. Links to the abstract and the full-text PDF report….
• Matt Cutts on Appealing Google Malware Warnings
  For some time now, Google has scanned web sites for potentially malicious software that can download and install itself on a web site visitor’s computer simply by viewing a page. If Google detects a potential threat, it displays a warning message when a user clicks a result link (you can see an example of this warning message by clicking this link). Matt Cutts says that a number of people have protested that their sites are getting improperly flagged by this malware warning. He writes:…
• Local And The Paradox of Participation
  Yesterday’s SearchDay article referenced a Yahoo-Harris Poll conducted in October about user-generated content and its importance to local buying decisions. The poll involved roughly 2,700 U.S. adults. Here were the verbatim questions and the top-level findings:…
• Microsoft adCenter Offering Webcast Next Week
  Looking to better understand Microsoft’s adCenter and the tools it offers that let you target searchers by demographics? Microsoft’s doing a webcast about the system and related tools next Wednesday, January 17, at 8:30am. You’ll find more detail and registration information here. It’s the first time Microsoft adCenter says they’ve done an online seminar like this, so I thought it worth a mention!…
• Interview with Ask.com “Head Chef” and CEO Jim Lanzone
  Spotted via Marketing Pilgrim, this interview with Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone by Donna Bogatin at ZDNet on his vision and his role within both Ask and parent company IAC: “We are a world-class technology company and we are able to take ingredients from our sister companies, luckily in many cases premium ingredients because they are number 1 and 2 in their category, and we can remix those ingredients into something that is market leading in a particular vertical. That is exactly what we did with AskCity.” Lanzone also talks about the new AskX site, other future additions in vertical search,…

Search News Headlines From Elsewhere:

• Report: Google, CBS in talks on ads, content, News.com
• Name Change: FirstGov Becomes USA.gov, Adds Real Time Federal Government Web Chat Service, Resource Shelf
• Millions of FBI Records Declassified, Resource Shelf
• How to Maintain Rankings after a Redesign, Search Engine Guide
• Google Issues More Than Just a Bug?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Supplemental Results Aren’t Something To Be Afraid Of, Search Engine Roundtable
• In The Game Of Advertising, Search Is Benched, Media Post
• Google: Snag? What Snag?, Tech Crunch
• Will JotSpot Relaunch Next Week?, Tech Crunch
• Online Consumers Less Concerned About Privacy, WebProNews
• Google Security Hole Allows Account Hijacking, Google Blogoscoped
• Quintura Kids Search Engine, Google Blogoscoped
• Related Searches in Google, Google Operating System
• Are there search engines for image, sound or movie content?, Pandia
• Social Media : Get Used to It, Search Engine Journal
• Exclusive – Yahoo Using Dirty Tactics to Switch Google & Firefox Users?, Marketing Pilgrim
• The Small Fry Sour On Search Ads, Business Week
• The frugal billionaire, Canadian Business (profile of a Google Angel Investor)