SearchCap: The Day In Search, Jan. 3, 2007

Jan 3, 2007 at 5:06pm ET by Barry Schwartz

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

From Search Engine Land:

Send a Greeting with Google Maps
Spotted via Good Morning Silicon Valley, a site called Geo Greeting lets you create greeting messages that are displayed using buildings or other objects that resemble the alphabet from images found on Google…
First Results Of Google’s Newspaper Ad Test Published
Jeremy Mayes has posted the first seen results of the Google newspaper ad test, that we have been tracking. He noted about 1,000 visitors came from the ad, which generated 70% less page views than the PPC counterpart…
YouTube Hiring Advertising Sales Representatives
ClickZ reports that Google’s YouTube is hiring six advertising sales representatives. I tracked down five of the job postings, all for the same position, but all based in different parts of the United States. Here they…
Intertainer Sues Google For Patent Infringement On Online Video & Audio Distribution
The NY Times reports that Google, Apple and Napster were all sued by Jonathan T. Taplin’s Intertainer for patent infringement of a 2005 patent. Intertainer’s patent covers commercial distribution of audio…
Google Beta Testing Keyword Based AdSense Competitive Filter List?
Caydel reports that Google is beta testing a keyword based competitive ad filter solution for Google AdSense. Currently, AdSense publishers can block ads from showing on a URL by URL basis. It appears that…
Google & Earthlink Said To Be Near Start Date Of WiFi Network
MarketWatch reports that Google and Earthlink are finally near a deal to finalize the agreement with San Francisco officials to provide free WiFi to the city. It has almost been a year since Google started the process…
Google Changes Hiring Process To Meet Job Opening Needs
Google Answer to Filling Jobs Is an Algorithm at the NY Times (also at International Herald Tribune) describes how Google is changing their hiring process to accept a more diverse set of candidates. They have…
Yahoo Teams With Dash For In-Car Local Search
In-car navigation provider Dash and Yahoo Local announced a deal to deliver Yahoo Local content via Dash’s portable “Dash Express” device and system. Dash Express, which features Internet connectivity, will be…
SMBs, Paid Search And Self-Service
One of the most challenging aspects of local search is small business (SMB) advertiser acquisition. Everyone is aware, especially Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, that the US SMB market is where the advertiser volume is…