SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 28, 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:

• Google Gets Its Affiliates On, Summit-Style
  

  Watching Shawn Collins of the Affiliate Summit conference tweeting about a big party at the Googleplex last night, I wondered what was up. Turns out folks were being entertained as part of Google’s own Google Affiliate Network Client Summit. Whoa. Is that new? Nope. Google tells me this is the 5th annual summit they’ve held. This [...]

• Betting On The Link Building Boondoggle Bonanza
  

  I recently read Is Most Of SEO Just A Boondoggle? and the subsequent comments and attacks on the author Jill Whalen, and it’s become my own tipping point. Enough is enough. Every word of that column was right on the money. It’s just rare (and welcomed) for a well known expert to state in a [...]

• SMX Sao Paulo Next Week – Register Now!
  

  Search Engine Land’s own Danny Sullivan is among the headliners speaking next Tuesday, August 4, at Search Marketing Expo – SMX Sao Paulo. Now in its second year, SMX Sao Paulo features a blend of Brazilian search engine marketing experts and prominent international speakers. See the complete agenda here. SEMPO President Sara Holloubek and Isobar [...]

• Google Gets Into “Addressable TV” With Visible World
  

  Google’s TV Ads platform is getting some help from a company called Visible World, which offers demographic and geotargeted advertising across different media types. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning: Google Inc. is teaming up with Visible World Inc., a well-known New York technology company that uses software to create multiple [...]

• Microsoft Hopes To Improve Bing With Page Hunt Game
  

  MIT’s Technology Review reported on a new game designed by Microsoft, designed to help make Bing a better search engine. The game is named Page Hunt and it asks users to submit search queries that they think the site presented to them, should show up for, in Bing. The results are then scored [...]

• Yahoo! Syncs Mobile Homepage With PC
  

  Last week Yahoo launched its new homepage, which allows users to customize the site and improves overall usability. The centerpiece of the recently launched Yahoo homepage is My Favorites, the new customizable left column that allows users to add third party content and make it more of a personal “dashboard.” The Yahoo mobile browser homepage, [...]

• Why You Should Get Involved With Social Shopping: E-commerce 2.0
  

  Social shopping relays an e-commerce method of traditional shopping in which consumers shop in a social networking type of environment. Social shopping sites reflect users’ personal tastes and allow for online conversation. Visitors can learn what’s popular, get shopping ideas, and follow links to products they wouldn’t necessarily find on their own. Using the wisdom of [...]

• AOL Value Sinks: Google Sells 5 Percent Interest For $283M
  

  In anticipation of a spin off/IPO for AOL, TimeWarner bought back Google’s 5 percent interest in the company for $283 million dollars. Google originally purchased the equity stake in AOL in 2005 to preserve its search relationship with its largest partner and fend of Microsoft, which was seeking a potential deal with or acquisition of [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Explaining our homepage to the nerd-impaired, Yodel Anecdotal
• Show off your Google Number, Google Voice Blog
• Google’s thin client distraction, Geeking with Greg

Business Issues

• Google Challenger Blekko Raises $11.5 Million; Still No Launch Date, paidContent.org
• Google, AT&T and the DOJ: How to Avoid History’s Mistakes, Ad Age
• AOL: Armstrong and Exec Team’s Rich Compensation Package, paidContent.org
• AP: “We’re Done” Answering Questions About Fair Use & Our Rights System, daggle.com
• Steal! Ben Darnell Leaves Google Reader Team, Joins FriendFeed, TechCrunch
• The New AOL LLC Details:  Search Bidding War by Next Year; $90M Restructuring Charges, paidContent.org
• Yahoo Japan Q1 Group Profit Almost Flat On Year, FOXBusiness.com

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Apple Yanks The Cord On GV Mobile. Is It Trying To Kill Google Voice On The iPhone?, TechCrunch
• Finland Google Maps Users Want Language in Finnish Not Swedish, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Iterative Web App: Links Got Shorter and Smarter, Official Google Mobile Blog

Link Building

• Are Directory Links Still Worth It?, Hobo
• Buying Old Domains & Redirect Them To Get High Rankings, Hobo
• Let’s Create the Ultimate List of Backlink Checking Tools, Daily SEO Tip
• Links From Unrelated Sites, Hobo
• Monthly Tip Blip – Step Right Up and Use these Linking Controls!, Vertical Measures

Paid Search & Contextual

• Announcing the first Seminars for Success summit, Inside AdWords
• Tips for maintaining an AdSense-friendly site with user-generated content, Inside AdSense

Searching

• researching with bing reference, Bing Community
• Wolfram|Alpha Can Help You Make Smart Food Choices, Wolfram|Alpha Blog
• The new search engine Yebol is good at what it does, Pandia
• Why I Dislike Google Custom Search On This Blog, Barry Schwartz

SEM Industry

• Google AdWords Certified Professionals To Get Labels in Forums, Search Engine Roundtable
• Microsoft Bing Yahoo Partnership Supported by Search Engine Industry, Search Engine Journal
• SEO Oktoberfest 2009 Charity Auction, 3 Dog Media
• SES San Jose ‘09 Real Live Blogging Schedule, Search Engine Roundtable
• What Makes an SEO, SEOmoz

SEO & SEM

• Ethical SEO Company, SEO Book
• Cloaking Affiliate Links, How and Why, Michael Gray
• Meta Tags Are Not Dead, Brad Geddes
• My Additions to: Search Engine Optimization – Two Major Misconceptions, Search Marketing Sage
• Sarkozy and U2 are Google-bombed, The Evening Hérault
• SEO Is Not Always As Simple We Think, Search Engine Guide
• Should SEOs Prepare For Bing To Take Over Yahoo Search?, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Search for an SEO Blueprint, Internet Marketing Blog
• Transformers of SEO Part 2: The Decepticons, SEO.com
• Yahoo Search Review Form Same As Trash Bin?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Government releases 20-page guide to using Twitter, The Guardian
• Commercial Twitter Case Study Revisited, Sugarrae
• Google’s Marissa Mayer Is On Twitter (GOOG), Business Insider
• Industrial Strength Social Media, Industrial Strength SEM
• When Social Media Becomes A Weapon, outspokenmedia.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• Blip.tv Lands A Big Distribution Deal With YouTube And Others; Redesigns Dashboard, TechCrunch

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

• Boondoggle Jill – Not Backing Down?