SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 1, 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:

• Report: Android OS Coming To Netbooks
  Most of the bestselling laptops on Amazon’s computer bestseller list are so-called netbooks, computers which have little memory, are highly compact and more affordable than traditional laptops. Lighter and smaller, they’re largely for mobility and internet use. Their appearance and popularity are are consistent with trends toward “cloud computing” (e.g., Google Apps) and mobile internet access (i.e., iPhone/Android). Many of these computers run the Microsoft XP OS but many run Linux. Now it appears Android is eying this market as well, according to a report appearing in VentureBeat, which predicts an Android OS netbook by 2010.
• Internet Shopping Usability: No Guidance, No Interaction, No Sale
  A good friend recently told me a story about how a company built a web site that needed user instructions to use it. The only page that was allowed to put a link to those instructions was the homepage. Therefore, should a visitor arrive via a search engine to a page within the web site, they were out of luck. No guidance, no interaction, no sale. I went Christmas shopping online for a computer armoire. I knew exactly what I wanted because I had done previous research on the manufacturer and pricing. The specific piece I wanted …
• Activate The “Bells and Whistles” On Google’s iPhone Mobile App
  Google released the Google Mobile App for the iPhone about six months ago. They recently added voice recognition features to the app, which is loved by many American’s. But many missed a hidden feature in the App, named “Bells and Whistles.” In fact, no one noticed it, which is why Google blogged about it. To activate the bells and whistles button, you need to go to the “settings” area in the app and then keep on flicking the page up, over and over again, until you see the button show up. Here is a video demonstrating how to get the button to show up:
• 2009 New Years Day Logos from Google & Others
  Happy New Years everyone! Below is a collection of logos for the special day from the search industry, reposted from my other search blog, here for everyone to see. On behalf of the Search Engine Land team, we would like to wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009!
• Report: Microsoft To Lay Off 15,000 Workers
  There are reports that Microsoft is getting ready to lay off 17% of their workforce on this new year. The layoffs are expected to happen on or around January 15th. So it looks like the rumors are right and this recession is going to hit one of the most successful technology companies of all time. The rumors include that most of the layoffs will be seen in the MSN group, with other layoffs in Microsoft EMEA divisions. This is not the type of news Microsoft employees like to hear on New Years. There …

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Do you remember 2008? Techmeme (still) does, with a chronological top 50 list, Techmeme News
• Internet Explorer’s share of the browser market fell below 70% in November, The Dallas Morning News
• Update The Copyright Year On Your Website, Voices

Business Issues

• Is Google’s culture grab unstoppable?, The Register
• Yahoo Led Exec Moves in 2008, ClickZ

Local, Maps & Mobile

• How the Lowly Text Message May Save Languages That Could Otherwise Fade, Wall Street Journal

Paid Search & Contextual

• 4 Reasons Why PPC Is The Best Online Marketing Channel, Search Engine Journal
• Keyword Research Tip: The "Real Goldmines" Are In Your Content!, SEM Geek
• MSN adCenter’s Content Ads Showing Horrible Click Through Rates?, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Google not doing so well with the Chinese New Year, Andrew R H Girdwood

SEM Industry

• 2008 Search Quiz: We Have a Winner, Small Business SEM
• David Leonhardt: Search Blogger of the Day, The SEO Scoop
• Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: New Years 2009, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• WhosTalkin.com – a New Reputation Management Tool, SEO Smarty
• Google’s Wildcard Subdomain Handling Issues?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Live Search Begins Crawling JavaScript with MSNBot-Media, Search Engine Roundtable
• Major Google Search Results Changes, January 2009, Search Engine Roundtable
• SEO Bounce Rates, Behavioral Metrics and the Birth of SEO Surfbot Nets, Fantomaster
• Track Google SERPs for Reputation Management and Rankings Monitoring, Search Engine Journal

Social Media

• Twitter spam, effective or idiotic?, Scobleizer
• A Much Cleaner Way To Get Those Twitter Messages To Your Email, TechCrunch
• Facebook Traffic Reaches Peak – Christmas Eve, Hitwise

Video, Music & Image Search

• MySpace Video Blocking Not An Antitrust Violation, TechDirt
• New Video Search Veoh Beta Version Launched, AltSearchEngines

Other Items

• Google Launches ‘The Google’ For Older Adults, The Onion

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

• Link Building is Like Losing Weight – Are You a Linkless Fatty?
• How Monitoring Twitter Can Help Build Links
• Project Jump Start ‘09 – DD’s Mini-Stimulus Plan
• Tough Love For Microsoft Search
• How To Research Links From a Domain