SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 23, 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:

• Personalized AdWords: Google Ads You See Influenced By Previous Searches
  Personalized Google ads from Wiep clearly illustrates how Google is personalizing the ads on the search results based on your past search query. I covered at WebmasterWorld thread on this in the past, but the Wiep post has a clear example of this in action. Ben Murphy also shows examples…
• Of Permanent Value: Archiving The Web
  I love working for Ask.com as Director of Online Information Resources and also compiling and editing ResourceShelf and DocuTicker. Yes, it’s a busy life but I’m very fortunate to do what I love and even get paid for it. The challenge, as least as I see it, is writing…
• Search On Search: New Column From Search Engine Land
  Our newest Search Engine Land column, Search On Search, launches today. Search On Search is a column written by employees of search engines. Columnists are free to discuss technical details of how their search engine works or write opinion pieces that may or may not reflect the official position…
• Customer Surveys: A Powerful Link Building Tool
  One of the most effective link building tools I use is a customer survey. Surveys are usually written from a customer service standpoint: companies want to know the opinions of the people who buy from them and crave feedback on how they’re doing. Honorable intentions for sure but in…
• Google Buys ImageAmerica, Mapping Feature War Continues
  On Friday, the Google LatLong Blog announced the company had acquired ImageAmerica, “a company that builds high resolution cameras for the collection of aerial imagery.” Google plans to use the capabilities in Google Maps and Earth. ImageAmerica provided some of the high-resolution post-Hurricane Katrina images (no longer available) in Google…
• Are Search Engines Biased?
  Search Engines and Favoritism from Google Operating System has put together a quick study comparing the top results from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft’s search engines. The results showed that for 10 generic searches, the search engines (excluding Microsoft) tend to rank their own properties higher than their competitors. For example,…
• Vote For The Next New Google Webmaster Central Feature
  Matt Cutts of Google has invited people to vote on the next possible Google Webmaster Central feature. The available features on the poll include:…
• Microsoft To Anonymize Log Data; Calls For Industry Standards Along With Ask.com
  First Google, then Ask.com and now Microsoft have jumped onto the privacy protection train. Late yesterday, Microsoft announced that it was going to follow Google’s lead and anonymize search log data after 18 months. In addition, it has partnered with Ask to call for an industry effort to develop privacy…
• Local Shopping Site Krillion Expands Inventory
  Krillion, a shopping engine that directs people to local stores, has launched its second category, televisions. The site went live in February of this year (with appliances), under the leadership of co-founder and CEO Joel Toledano, former Director of Business Development for Yahoo Search. While the Internet continues to rapidly…
• Using Images For Local SEO
  Google’s recent deployment of Universal Search resulted in the inclusion of content drawn in from their other search verticals into the main web search results. As this integration trend continues, and as Google further expands upon the 200+ signals they use for ranking, it becomes increasingly important to diversify…
• Microsoft Monday: Today’s Google Free Alternative
  As part of our Google Free Mondays series this month, today is the day to try Microsoft’s Windows Live. Wait, wasn’t it Google Free Fridays this month? Yes, but I changed it to Mondays. And why do we hate Google so much we’re telling people not to use it? We…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Docs Integrates with Google Calendar, Google Operating System

• A Faster Way to Invite Contacts to Multiple Google Docs, Google Operating System

• Picasa Web Albums Updates, New API Features, Search Engine Journal
• More features. One interface, Google Analytics

• Where the Google OS Is Open, Google Blogoscoped

• Google, sabra style, Jerusalem Post
• Add hakia Search Box To Your Site, Hakia

Business Issues

• Learning from Dave Winer, Joel on Software

• The FCC Needs To Listen To Google, Techcrunch

• So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, MyBlogLog
• Why Feedburner is trouble, Scripting

• Feedburner bad for us?, Scobleizer

• Google buys into UK femtocell company, ZDNet UK
• Google Goes to Washington With Own Brand of Lobbying, Wall Street Journal

• Sub Photo Could Help Sink Google in China, PC World

• Google May Recruit Allies in Fight With AT&T, Verizon, Bloomberg.com

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Blues Brothers Bridge Jump in Google Earth, Google Earth Blog
• Local.com acquired PremierGuide, ClickZ
• Imaging America, Google Lat Long Blog
• Google Earth and NASA Turn Up the Lights, Wired
• Sailing in the Virgin Islands – with Google Earth, Google Earth Blog
• Google employees as door to door salesmen – for Maps special offer at Locally Type* Local Search & Maps, Locally Type

Paid Search & Contextual

• Further Reports on Infected Ads, ClickZ
• Yahoo Publisher Network Issues Resolved?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google AdSense Accounts for Bots Like Ask.com and Snap.com, Search Engine Roundtable
• Did Harry Potter Affect Your Google AdSense Earnings?, Search Engine Roundtable
• 17% of marketers buy ads in return for news coverage, Search Engine Watch Blog
• Do You Really Need to Overhaul Your Landing Pages?, Search Engine Watch
• Google Adwords Website Optimiser Unavailable to Client Managers, SEOptimise
• Can’t log in using Firefox?, Inside AdSense

Searching

• 62% of Searchers Don’t Trust Their Engines: They Want Control & Seem to Be Getting It!, Hakia
• Maybe Google News Needs A Little Tweaking, Techcrunch
• Aftervote will end Mahalo, DaveN
• The Influence of Search Result Listings (Captions) on Clickthroughs, SEO By The Sea
• Long Tail Studies by Web Search Researchers, SEO By The Sea
• Technophilia: Where to find public records online, Lifehacker

SEM Industry

• John Chow Speaks Out on Google, Technorati and More, Pronet Advertising
• Steve Haar of Leapfrog Online Appointed Co-Chair of the SEMPO Global Search Committee, Bill Hartzer
• The Bizarre Economics of Search Marketing Services, SEOmoz
• Do SEO and Usability Get Along?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Clickz ReLaunches, Mike Grehan Reloads on Universal Search, Cre8PC
• New Look, New Awards, Search Engine Watch Blog
• Top 25 SEO Blogs, Daily Blog Tips
• Why Rand Is Wrong, And Sphinn Is A Popularity Contest, SEOmoz

SEO & SEM

• Why Do My Google Rankings Stick After Losing Inbound Links?, SEO Book
• Top Search Engine Marketing presentations hit YouTube, Search Engine War
• Did Yahoo! Search Really Do a July 2007 Update?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Is Facebook Worth the Hype?, Read/Write Web
• Own A Piece Of Reddit, Help Cure Cancer, Techcrunch
• Pageflakes, Netvibes Take on Social Networks: What Chance Do They Have?, Read/Write Web
• LinkedIn UK Traffic – Popular with GMail and Yahoo! Mail Users, Hitwise
• Oddpodz, Social Networking for Creative Types, Launches Improved Site, Bill Hartzer

Video, Music & Image Search

• GoogleTV - A Glimpse at The Future, Read/Write Web
• Is online video here to stay?, Google CPG Blog
• Picture this: Image Search for the AJAX Search API, Google AJAX API Blog
• Google Video Top 100 Filled With Fake Porn, InsideGoogle

Other Items

• eBooks, eBooks, and More eBooks, ResourceShelf
• Detailed Study on User Interactions Producing the Wikipedia, SEO By The Sea
• Google333.com, Googleooo.com, MicrosoftPatch.com & More New/Transferred Domains Registered to Google and Microsoft, ResourceShelf
• Doodle 4 Google: My Australia, Googlified
• Baidu Losing Edge In Porn Search, Pacific Epoch
• Read Full Articles on The Wall Street Journal Without a Subscription, Digital Inspiration
• Restoring competitive balance to the upcoming spectrum auction, Google Public Policy Blog
• Steal this book? Don’t bother, News.com
• Ask & Microsoft Call For Search Privacy Standards; Yahoo Shortcuts Needing More Disclosure When Sold? Ask’s Earthquake Search & More!, Daily SearchCast

Hot Items From Sphinn:

• Yahoo Selling Out Its SERPS to Advertisers
• Miva Makes 1,200 Email Addresses Public in Mass Email
• SEO Consultants Better Than Agencies. Or Not.
• Buy Viagra from Reddit

• Ultimate List of Landing Page Articles
• Wordpress PlugIn: SphinnIt Button

• StumbleUpon Optimization: How to Leverage Photo Stumbles for More Traffic

• Why Rand Is Wrong, And Sphinn Is A Popularity Contest
• Netscape is Better than Digg

• RustyBudget: Multi-Author Blog Management
• Ask.com becomes 1st major search engine to promise users it won’t store data

• Add a Smart Sphinn It! (With Vote Counts) To Your Feed and Website Posts

• Sphinn – SEM Attention Wars
• Drive 28,402 Extra Visitors by Blogging 48 Minutes

• Google AdWords Guide
• New Supplemental Results Tool at SiteMost

• 73 Places to List Your Products Online

• Danny and Andy Duke It Out Over Sphinn in Andy’s Blog
• Matt Cutts @ WordCamp 2007: Whitehat SEO Tips for Bloggers!

• 120 Googlers Swarm Hamburg To Promote Google Maps (PICS)