SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 23, 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:

• Yahoo Buys Xoopit To Advance “Smarter Inbox” Strategy
  

  The web’s first (and some might still argue only) “killer app,” email, was invented roughly 35 years ago. And everyone seems to have ideas on how to bring it into the 21st Century. Google Wave is aiming to be an email replacement of sorts: a real-time, social communication and collaboration platform. Yahoo, for its part, is [...]

• Developer Impressions Of Google Wave: “Real-Time Email On Crack”
  

  What is it? Google’s answer to Twitter? Email and IM replacement? Personal communications and collaboration platform? These were questions and characterizations that emerged as Google announced Wave at the company’s May developer event in San Francisco. (Here’s a bit more context from my related post at the press conference.) It’s a shapeshifter, a new species and [...]

• Google Increases Lobbying Spend
  

  According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is boosting spending on lobbying in Congress: Google spent $950,000 lobbying lawmakers, regulators and the White House on issues ranging from cloud computing to copyright in the second quarter, according to public lobbying disclosures. The sum tops the $880,000 it spent in the first quarter and represents a 30% [...]

• Click Fraud Rise Or Fall? Click Fraud 22.9% Or 12.7%
  

  Today, I received two click fraud reports from two different companies. The first was from Anchor Intelligence and the second was from Click Forensics. Anchor Intelligence reported a click fraud rate of 22.9% for the second quarter of 2009, up from 21.7% in the first quarter. While Click Forensics reports a click [...]

• Google Maps Adds Multiple Search Support & Layers To Mobile
  

  Google announced a new feature for Google Maps and a new feature for Google Maps for Mobile. The first feature allows you to plot multiple searches on the same map. This comes in handy when you want to get driving directions, plus plot the various gas stations, golf courses, supermarkets and so on, along [...]

• Last Chance to Get Lowest Rate for SMX East – Pre-agenda Expires Tomorrow July 24
  

  Time is running out! The Search Marketing Expo – SMX East pre-agenda rate – the lowest to be offered – expires tomorrow July 24th at midnight. Register now and pay only $1095 for three days of exceptional content, invaluable connections, and all with the essential conveniences SMX events provide. SMX East will take place October [...]

• What Is The Role Of Video For Yellow Page Publishers?
  

  Last month, I gave the keynote presentation at the Data Publishers Association (DPA) meeting in London. The DPA is made-up primarily of directory publishers: Yellow Pages, B2B directories, Classifieds, etc., and the topic for the conference was how video can drive online revenues for Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) and other directory sites. Other presenters included [...]

• Enterprise Search: Focus On The Business Goals
  

  Implementing a successful search program at the Enterprise level has some unique challenges. Often, web marketing staff and content creators become very concerned with making everything “SEO Friendly”. There is almost a sense of paranoia when creating web content, that every web page must be found in Google, which tends to be a major concern [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Customize your mobile Reader experience, Official Google Reader Blog
• Google Listens, Gives A Friend-Only “Likes” Option In Reader, TechCrunch
• It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s iGoogle comics themes!, Official Google Blog
• Unsubscribing made easy, Official Gmail Blog

Business Issues

• The Google-Cash-Swapping-Orgy Blimp – 23andme, Gawker
• Could Yahoo Games Be Added To Garage Sale?, paidContent.org
• Daring to Dream of a Resurgent AOL, New York Times
• Google Embraces Free Cooling in Belgian Data Center, Reuters
• Google’s Ronny Conway Joins Andreessen Horowitz, TechCrunch
• The Google Books settlement and privacy: frequently asked questions, Inside Google Books
• Yahoo’s Newspaper Ad Program in My Hometown, Small Business SEM

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Latitude for iPhone available to some, News.com
• Google Maps Won’t Take Pictures of George Washington Bridge, Search Engine Roundtable
• YPG’s "Demographic" Vertical: PrimeLiving, Screenwerk

Paid Search & Contextual

• Class Is in Session, Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog
• Are Ad Networks Coming Back? And is That Good For Web Publishers?, AllThingsD
• Conversion Optimizer is now available to more campaigns, Inside AdWords

Searching

• Did you mean: recursion?, Google Blogoscoped
• Google Prototype Hides Underlines, Google Blogoscoped
• lifting the hood on the bing travel price predictor, Bing Community

SEM Industry

• GoogleGuy Retire From WebmasterWorld Again?, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• SEM Synergy Extras – Optimizing for Real-Time Search, BruceClay.com
• Google Webmaster Tools Won’t Load For Some Users, Search Engine Roundtable
• How to Get 5000 Subscribers for Your Boring (SEO) Blog, SEOptimise
• HTML 5, Online Viewing Trends, Guest Blogging and the Twitter document leak – SEO Recap part 2, Bruceclay.com.au
• Leveraging Social Media for SEO – Social Networking Sites (part 1), TechLINKS
• SEO Strategy: Bigger and Better Goals, The SEO Scoop
• StreamRotator Blamed For Google Penalizing Porn Industry?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Friendster founder on social networking: I invented this stuff [UPDATED], Los Angeles Times
• Share Photos and Videos Anywhere You Have Email, Facebook
• The Most Buried News Sites on Digg, www.adamsherk.com
• Twitter Marketing Tips: 50 Ways to FAIL on Twitter, Online Marketing Blog

Video, Music & Image Search

• More statistics coming to a video near you, YouTube Blog
• Show Off: YouTube Now Lets You Share Just How Well Your Video Is Performing, TechCrunch

Web Analytics

• Using Google Analytics to determine your Demographic Bidding strategy, Google Analytics Blog

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