SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 17, 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:

• Reports: Yahoo & Microsoft Very Close On Search Deal
  

  There are several reports tonight that Yahoo and Microsoft are close to consummating a search and advertising deal. 24/7 Wall Street cites an investment banker who says a deal is “imminent.” All Things Digital says an agreement is “down to the short strokes,” but also points out that the companies have been down this road [...]

• Who Does Twitter Love? Breaking Down The Twitter Suggested Users List
  

  In some ways, it’s the Who’s Who of Twitter — the Twitter Suggested Users list. These are the 241 people Twitter currently suggests that new people should follow. Below, a look at who makes it by categories, such as media or sports. Who’s getting Twitter’s love (such as the New York Times) [...]

• Twitter’s Delicate Dance With Google, Microsoft, & Others
  

  A series of private documents reveals Twitter to be a company that’s very careful and detailed about the course it’s plotting, while simultaneously being very nervous and very ambitious about what the future holds. It also reveals previously unknown details of discussions with Google and Microsoft (and possibly Yahoo) that show Twitter considering formal relationships [...]

• How User Behavior Influences Search Results
  

  If you wanted to research something—the musician Johnny Cash, for example—would you go to a search engine or a library? There are many studies on search usage. It’s safe to say that at least 50% of people now turn to search engines for information. That number increases for certain types of searches, such as [...]

• Two Free SMN Webcasts Next Week: Offline Marketers & Search, PPC & Trademarks
  

  Search Marketing Now, our educational webcast series for search marketers, presents two webcasts this coming week: Tuesday, July 21, Chris Sherman is the featured speaker on How Large Offline Marketers Drive Superior Search Marketing Results; Wednesday, Brad Geddes will deliver a webcast titled Trademarks, Brand Terms and PPC Advertising: Updates You Must Know. Both [...]

• Search In Pictures: Google Headband, Hand Stamps & Life Size Map Pins
  

  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more. Yahoo’s Purple Bull Computer:

• Giving Credit To Keywords Where Credit Is Due
  

  We exhibited at the Internet Retailer show in Boston recently. The signage in our booth touted that we had the ability to do attribution management. For that reason, a lot of people came up to us and told us about a situation they are facing that is very common with paid search marketers: their branded [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Pardon our Dust, Official Google Docs Blog

Business Issues

• Yahoo! (YHOO) Deal With Microsoft (MSFT) “Imminent”, 24/7 Wall Street
• China’s Internet Population Hits 338 Million, Wall Street Journal
• Twitter and TechCrunch Joust Over Stolen Documents, New York Times

Local, Maps & Mobile

• App stores are not the future, says Google, FT.com
• Quick Look: HTC Hero, CrunchGear.com

Link Building

• Link Addiction: 46% Of SEOs are Active Link Builders, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search & Contextual

• Marketing Through Social Networks, Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog
• New Interface Thursday: Beta Test the Opportunities Tab, Inside AdWords

Searching

• Google Breadcrumbs in SERPs?, Google Blogoscoped
• The Future of Search: Social Relevancy Rank, Read/Write Web

SEO & SEM

• Google Changing Titles in Results, Google Blogoscoped
• Google Gives in To John Chow; Proves Ends Justify The Means, ShoeMoney
• Google Pulling Titles From Google Maps Now?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Is Google Overriding Title Tags with Business Name?, Mike Blumenthal
• Lessons from Harry Potter: How to Become an SEO Wizard, BruceClay.com
• 137 Small Business Twitter Tips, Small Business Trends
• 5 Reasons SearchWiki SEO Makes Sense Now, SEOptimise
• Poll: Is Client Involvement Necessary for SEO Success?, Search Engine Roundtable
• rel=canonical tag and Affiliate links, David Naylor
• SEO Business: Getting The Numbers Right, SEO Book
• SEO Implications of Web Developer FireFox Toolbar, Search Engine Journal
• Whiteboard Friday – Market Forces & SEO, SEOmoz
• WordPress Comment SEO Solutions, andybeard.eu

Social Media

• Someone Call Security, Twitter Blog
• New Tools to Secure a Compromised Account, Facebook
• Twitter Widens Blog War, Valleywag

Video, Music & Image Search

• Should YouTube Charge a Fee to Upload Video?, New York Times

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

• 7 Red Flags that Reveal to Google You’re an SEO Criminal – Avoid These!
• Page segmentation and link building
• Link Building With Content Ideas