SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 11, 2012

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Two webcasts next week: “The Buyers’ Journey,” and “Content, Freshness and SEO for Large Sites”

  Search Marketing Now will host two webcasts next week. On Tuesday, January 17, Christine Crandell and Erez Barak will present “Align Your Marketing Mix to Your Buyers’ Journey: the Solution Search Stage.” They’ll explain what the Buyers’ Journey is, and how to set up your marketing strategy to get your prospects to find you during […]

• Google Flight Search Expands, Now Showing More Routes

  You can imagine my surprise when I saw my local airport — Pasco (PSC) — showing up in Google’s flight search feature. Don’t get me wrong; I love this airport … from car to gate in less than 10 minutes just can’t be beat. But that’s the point: It’s a pretty small airport and Google’s […]

• Reports: Mobile Search Impressions Explode, CTRs Beat PC

  A couple of Q4 2011 reports released this week from Marin Software and IgnitionOne show, among other things, the dramatic growth of mobile paid search advertising. According to the IgnitionOne document, the “mobile [paid] search ad spend is up 269% YoY and impressions are up 317%.” IgnitionOne said that among its retail clients, “Mobile search […]

• Real-Life Examples Of How Google’s “Search Plus” Pushes Google+ Over Relevancy

  The new Google “Search Plus Your World” feature — which I’m now simply calling “Search Plus” — has just gone live for me. Huge debate erupted yesterday over whether it somehow favors Google+. I can see now that it clearly does, even more than I thought. Here’s a closer look at the changes, including how […]

• Google Fails To Trounce Bing (Again): The Fallacy Of The Superior Search Engine Revisited

  A year ago, I wrote a quick post called, Google vs. Bing, The Fallacy of the Superior Search Engine, in which I selected twenty search-difficult queries and ran a subjective head to head evaluation of the search results from Google and Bing. The end result confirmed what I had long anecdotally experienced – the difference […]

• Four Things You Can Do With Inconclusive Split Tests

  There is a certain sound a teenager makes when confronted with a choice they aren’t interested in making. It is a sonic mix of indecision, ambivalence, condescension and that sound your finger makes when you pet a frog. It is less committal than a shrug, less positive than a “Yes,” less negative than a “No” […]

• My Search Rankings Are Great! But My Traffic Sucks! Now What?

  Most of the time an increase in search engine visibility does generate additional organic traffic, but what should a B2B marketer do if it doesn’t? Have you ever been a victim of this scenario? Below are three aspects of your SEO Program to analyze and improve to ensure that your SEO investment is generating website […]

• The New Era Of Display: 5 Reasons Search Marketers Should Care

  Chefs. Musicians. Athletes. Each is a master in their own discipline. Yet, many of these folks have skills that can be leveraged in a completely different channel with great success. Quite often, making the leap to another field can open up an entirely new world for them. And that’s exactly what display advertising offers search […]

• Google Logo For Nicolas Steno: Father Of Modern Geology

  Today’s special Google Logo, aka Google Doodle, celebrates the life of Nicolas Steno, the father of modern geology. The logo symbolizes the study of the earth, from the ocean to the mountain tops. In Google Doodle fashion, the art makes up the letters of Google’s name, and this one has the Google colors as well. […]

• December “Explicit” Search Numbers: Bing Now Ahead Of Yahoo

  Last night I posted comScore December search market share numbers, based on a financial analyst report (one of several that came out yesterday or early this morning). The report incorrectly presented the search share numbers as follows. Those figures made it appear that Google had gained share at Bing’s expense. It was Yahoo that lost […]

• Search Engines Should Be Like Santa From “Miracle On 34th Street”

  That didn’t take long. In my coverage today about the new Google “Search Plus Your World” feature, I detailed how part of it gave hefty ammunition to claims that Google is abusing its dominant position in search. The anti-trust charges have now already started. Here’s the short story why. Imagine, Sending People To Other Stores! One of […]

Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:

• Twitter Cries Foul Over Google “@WWE” Search, But Google Still Beats Bing
• Privacy Watchdog: FTC Needs To Look At Google’s “Search, Plus Your World”
• Oxford Study Explores Tweeter Reach & Influence
• Schmidt: Google+ Not Favored, Happy To Talk Twitter & Facebook Integration
• Facebook ‘Featured Story’ Ads Now Showing Directly In Users’ News Feeds

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Google Wins Biggest Enterprise Deal as BBVA Reduces Costs, BusinessWeek

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Good bye, Google Maps… thanks for all the fish, Google
• Google Places Owner Responses Missing On Mobile Version, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google’s Schmidt Not Convinced Android is Fragmented, PC Magazine
• Google’s Schmidt says devices, apps need to be friends, computerworld.com
• Street View: your friendly campus tour guide, Google LatLong
• Street View: your friendly campus tour guide, Official Google Blog

Other Items

• Google’s Data Center Engineer Shares Secrets of ‘Warehouse’ Computing, Wired

Paid Search & Contextual

• AdSense Management API and Chart Tools week: Wednesday, Google Ads Developer Blog
• The Art of Winning on AdWords – Lessons from Moneyball, Search Engine Watch
• Win of the Week: Getting Back to Basics Produces 225% Gain in CTR, www.wordstream.com

Searching

• When I Search Your Name, I’m Not Looking For Your Google+ Profile, TechCrunch
• An Open Letter to Google on the Subject of Social Search, www.unmemorabletitle.co.uk
• Does “Search Plus Your World” Actually Improve Your Search Results? Not Really, siliconfilter.com
• Google has entered The Uncanny Valley, Brad Noble
• Google is not Evil. They just appear to be., www.timpeter.com
• If Only Search and Social Could Just Get Along, allthingsd.com
• Sharing a search story, Matt Cutts

SEM Industry

• Interview with the Chris Boggs, President of SEMPO, Search Engine Journal
• My Most Used Search Marketing Tools, www.themediaflow.com
• SearchFest 2012 Mini-Interview: Marshall Simmonds, www.sempdx.org

SEO & SEM

• Influence of Mobile Sites on Google Smartphone Search Ranking, brysonmeunier.com
• 7 Quick Tips to Keep Your SEO On Track in 2012, Search Engine Watch
• Can too many redirects from a single URL have a negative effect on crawling?, YouTube
• Explode Your Keyword List Right – Part 2, SEO.com
• How Google Search Plus Your World Will Impact SEO, SEOptimise
• Living La Vida Loca! Top Tips For Online Success In The Spanish Speaking World, www.multilingual-search.com
• No More Excuses: 6 Content Ideas You Can Use Now!, Search Engine People
• Outsmarting Your Competition in High-Stakes PPC Markets, SEOmoz
• Take Your Keyword Rankings on Google Personally, WebiMax
• The Debate on Rich Snippets and Their Future in the SERPS, internetmarketingninjas.com
• Three new ways to visualise your SEO performance, Econsultancy
• Top 5 Over-Optimization Mistakes to Avoid, Single Grain
• What the merging of Google+ and Google Search means to SEO, raventools.com

Social Media

• How to Hire Your Social Media Marketing Partner, Techipedia
• How To Never Run Out of Social Media Content, blueglass.com
• Measuring Results and Utilizing Social Media for Maximum Impact, www.searchenginepeople.com