SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 7, 2008

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Top 5 Reasons To Attend SMX Local & Mobile
  Pundits have been touting the promise of local and mobile search for years, but it seems like hype often outweighed substance—until now. This year, we’re seeing the convergence of a number of key factors that resoundingly demonstrate that the local and mobile space is emerging as a serious opportunity for…
• Revisiting Content-Phobia In Paid Search
  While I am on holiday this week, through the magic of Internet time and custom tubes, my column isn’t. During this time off I’ll be taking time out for rest, reflection, and especially, a hiatus from one of my several jobs: Designated Undercompensated Google Ad Salesman. What, you say?…
• “You&A With Matt Cutts” Video From SMX Posted + “Give It Up” Session Embargo Lifts
  We’ve posted the video of "You&A With Matt Cutts," our session at SMX Advanced where Google’s Matt Cutts took questions from the audience on a wide variety of topics. You’ll find it here and also embedded below. In addition, recaps of our "Give It Up" session have now been…
• Search Biz: Icahn-Microsoft Cuddle Up, Yahoo Discussing AOL Deal, Google Coming Down To Earth?
  There’s that moment in almost any thriller, action or horror film when you’re supposed to think everything is resolved but the bad guy, monster or adversarial force makes a final appearance startling the hero and the audience. I’m not implying anything about any of the involved parties in particular but…
• Happy Independence Day & Search Logos
  Happy July 4th everyone! I wanted to share with you some of the logos from across the industry and let everyone know that we won’t be posting much here today. So see you all Monday and enjoy the day! Here a collection of logos from the search industry for July…
• Google Uses 613 Words About Adding 1 — Privacy — To Its Home Page
  Google’s finally added a privacy link to its home page, explaining in 613 words why the company apparently can’t have more than 28 words on its home page. So important is this number that adding the privacy link was an issue that had to go up two Google’s cofounders….
• Google: Expects Viacom Will Take YouTube Data Without User Info
  Since writing my WTF! US Court Declares You Have No Privacy On YouTube article, more information has come out suggesting that Google will be able to turnover information to Viacom about what’s watched on YouTube without having to say who exactly who was watching it. Nor, does it seem,…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Gmail blog turns 1: Looking back at our 10 most read tips, Official Gmail Blog
• MSN customised page gets beta update, LiveSide
• Export iGoogle Feeds to OPML, Google Operating System

Business Issues

• Google to Announce Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results, Google

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Live Search Maps Improves Internationally, Virtual Earth
• Storm Tracking With Google Earth, Google Earth Blog
• Google faces ‘Street View block’, BBC NEWS
• Google Maps Survey: You Can Earn $100 By Participating, Search Engine Roundtable
• Merchants angry over getting yanked by Yelp, San Francisco Chronicle
• Tour the Tour de France with Street View, Google LatLong
• Google finds itself playing catch-up, Mercury News
• Google’s Street View response, BBC NEWS

Link Building

• Google counting only the first link to a domain – rebunked, SEO Scientist
• What Kind of Web Links Work Best for SEO?, SEO Theory
• Automated Internal Linking on Steroids, SEO Book
• When Will Mahalo Add Nofollow to Outbound Links?, SEO Book
• Reciprocal Linking : SEO’s Longstanding Contradiction, Search Engine Journal

Paid Search & Contextual

• Reap the benefits of high quality ads: how to deliver a high quality experience to your customers on Live Search – adCenter Advertiser, adcentercommunity.com
• Dubious AdWords?, Google Blogoscoped
• June 2008 Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Paid Search Market Share, Rimm Kaufman
• Finding the WSDLs for adCenter API version 5.1 – adCenter API, adcentercommunity.com
• Microsoft partners with Rodale to provide contextual and paid search advertising for health and wellness web sites – adCenter Advertiser, www.adcentercommunity.com
• Our Readers Have Spoken! Learn What AdWords Report Was Voted as Your Favorite, PPC Hero
• PPC Advertising: Art or Science? – Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Watch

Searching

• Yahoo’s Helpful Shortcut To Pictures Of Underage Girls, TechCrunch
• Stolen data live on in Google searches, San Francisco Chronicle
• What’s Going On with Google Cache? , Wiep.net
• The business case for goodwill, Matt Cutts

SEM Industry

• Integrating Sphinn and Friendfeed, Andrew R H Girdwood
• SEO Superlatives Winners for 2008, Chris Hooley

SEO & SEM

• What’s Better : Long Copy Versus Several Related Short Copies?, Search Engine Journal
• How to turn yourself from a great developer to a great SEO, SEOmoz
• Whiteboard Friday-Solving Indexation Problems, SEOmoz
• Documenting Your SEO Changes Historically, Search Engine Roundtable
• Selling SEO Consulting Services, SEO Book
• Yahoo Search Begins To Update, Search Engine Roundtable
• Does Your Company Name Really Belong In Your Title Tag?, Search Engine Guide
• When SEO Isn’t For Increasing Sales, Online Marketing Blog
• Yahoo’s Priyank Garg Chats with Eric Enge, Stone Temple

Social Media

• Need To Track Your Brand Online? Try Search Monitor, Search Engine Watch Blog
• The Curios SEO: Why I love StumbleUpon, Search Marketing Sage
• Friendfeed v. Twitter: Half The Followers In Five Months, TechCrunch
• 12 Tips on Creating Content for Social Media, Small Business SEM

Web Analytics

• Google Analytics and Ad Planner, Google Analytics Blog
• How to Analyze and Improve the "Bounce Rate" for Your Website, Dosh Dosh

Other Items

• Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: July 4, 2008, Search Engine Roundtable
• Marc Chagall : Google Logo, David Naylor
• The Changing Face of the U.S. Consumer, Ad Age
• YouTube Privacy Worries As Court Orders Viewing Records Released; "White Hat Cloaking?" , Daily SearchCast

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

• Google trying patent "FriendRank" (a.k.a. Network Node Ad Targeting)
• Jason Gambert (SEO Trademarker) Banned from Using Wikipedia
• 12 Tips on Creating Content for Social Media
• Sphinn It Plugin For Wordpress
• Let Me Count The Ways: Enumerated Sphinn Wisdom
• Catch the brainwaves of Jeff Quipp
• SEO Superlatives Winners for 2008
• Why eCommerce is a Lot Like ICanHasCheezburger
• How to Analyze and Improve the ‘Bounce Rate’ for Your Website
• Killer Headline Writing Tips Lifted From Viagra Spam Emails
• Google counting only the first link to a domain – rebunked
• 10 Of The Best Alternative Social Media Sites
• Experimental Proof. Google Can Index Links in Flash!
• Give It Up Session From SMX Advanced 2008
• Insight Into the World of Plurk
• SEO Conferences: Good Deal or No Deal?
• SEO Plagiarism
• Key Elements of an Online Community Strategy
• Google Knows Where I Live
• SEO Secrets of SMX Advanced: Give It Up