SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 1, 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 Updates AdWords Editor (Version 7.5.1)
  

  The Inside AdWords Blog announced the release of a new version of AdWords Editor, the desktop editing tool for managing your AdWords campaigns. The new features include:

  Import files via CSV format Option to select which campaigns to download Resume download campaign feature Sort columns in up to three columns Three new conversion tracking metrics now in the editor You can add [...]

• An Insider’s Look At SMX Advanced: Greg Sterling
  

  SMX Advanced kicks off tomorrow (well, tonight, really with our SMX Meet & Greet bash), and it’s the third time in a row that the show has sold out. If you still want to attend, don’t completely despair—we’ve established a waitlist in case we have last minute cancellations. Below, Search Engine Land contributing editor Greg [...]

• Fine Tuning Your Search Campaign To Today’s Economic Environment
  

  It is no surprise that the recession has affected online consumer spending habits. In lean times, people are more apt to curb spending and seek out the best bargains. From a search perspective, it is now more important than ever for marketers to adapt their campaigns to these changes in consumer behavior to better optimize [...]

• Google Local Business Center Adds Detailed Analytics
  

  The Stone Temple Blog noticed the Google Local Business Center has started adding detailed analytics to each business profile. Let me start off by explaining that I personally do not see it for my business, but they posted screen captures on the blog. If you go to the Google Local Business Center and you see [...]

• The Big Bing Reaction
  

  As many of you know, Microsoft’s Bing went live early this morning and many searchers had a chance to get their feet wet with the new search engines. I have been hearing a mix of reaction on Bing and I thought I share some of those articles and blog posts with commentary on Bing’s [...]

• Paid Search Ad Testing: Manage To ROI Or CTR?
  

  “Horror” is an apt term for how many experienced paid search practitioners respond to the newbie’s mistake of optimizing paid search ads solely to CTR. Before getting to the nuances of ad testing, though, it’s important to emphasize yet again that rapid setup of ad rotation, for testing purposes, was the gift given to us by [...]

• Plan For The Long Run With Data-Driven SEO
  

  Now that the tide has turned, economically speaking, and with SEM budgets focused more on profitability than volume, it’s time to take another long look at SEO and how to use it to your company’s advantage.

• Has Google Maps Switched From PageRank to “BizRank”?
  

  For those of us who work in local search optimization, it’s clear that Google PageRank is less and less important as a factor in result rankings. It’s not difficult to find instances where businesses with lower PageRank are listed higher than competitors in the local 10-pack, and some like Matt McGee point out cases where companies with no website at all are ranking well. These cases show that in Google’s local searches, PageRank has been pushed aside in favor of a ranking process that’s often independent of websites: I’ll call it “BizRank”.

• Microsoft’s New Bing Search Engine Now Live In “Preview”
  

  Tired of just hearing about Microsoft’s new Bing search engine? Now you can use it yourself. Spotted via Techmeme, Bing is live as a “preview” service. What’s the “preview” mean? That anyone can use it while Live Search, the service that Bing is to replace, continues on as the “main” Microsoft search engine. Then sometime [...]

• Another Googler Joins The Obama Administration
  

  The New York Times reports that Google is losing Andrew McLaughlin, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, to the Obama administration. He’ll be the administration’s deputy chief technology officer, serving below the recently appointed CTO, Aneesh Chopra. McLaughlin has been with Google since January 2004. His earlier work included time as VP and Chief Policy [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Straight from Google: What You Need to Know, Matt Cutts
• An Applicant’s Guide to Becoming an Editor, DMOZ Blog
• Facebook Payments Alpha Test Now Live in 3 Apps, Inside Facebook
• Spam Invades Gmail Users, Search Engine Roundtable
• The file formats keep on coming! Announcing .xlsx and .docx support, Official Google Docs Blog

Business Issues

• Another Lawsuit Over Google AdWords–Stratton Faxon v. Google, Eric Goldman
• Google may strip ‘beta’ tag from some apps, ComputerWorld.com
• Chegg.com :: Jim Safka Departs Ask.com to Join Chegg as Chief Executive Officer, PR Newswire
• Lycos Buys Its Trademarks Back From Failed Euro Arm, paidContent.org

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Hey Maps API and Earth API developers, we just beefed up G_SATELLITE_3D_MAP!, Google Geo Developers Blog
• AOL is Now Selling Local 10 Pack Spots, Mike Blumenthal
• Google Local – out of date, riddled with spam but absolutely worth it, SEOmoz
• Google Maps – What is an acceptable business name under Google Guidelines?, Mike Blumenthal
• Google’s Android falling behind the iPhone, Apple 2.0
• iPhone’s Safari Browser to include Geolocation, Computerworld Blogs

Link Building

• Are shortened URLs treated differently than other redirects?, YouTube

Paid Search & Contextual

• adCenter Community Now Microsoft Advertising Community, adCenter Blog
• Be careful of updating to the new AdWords Editor, Brad Geddes
• Clickable Pro Version 2.1 Introduces Agency Sophistication To Search Marketing (Video), Clickable Blog
• Recovery afoot? PPC Benchmarks, Rimm Kaufman

Searching

• Behind the Scenes at the Wolfram|Alpha Launch, Wolfram|Alpha Blog
• Join us June 1st @ 10am PT for the Bing Webcast, Live Search
• Shhh. Blekko Is Still In The Oven. Do Not Disturb, TechCrunch
• Woz Bing Apple Co Founder a "Big Fan" of Microsofts New Search Engine, Yahoo! Finance
• Blog search and beyond, Official Google Blog
• Database: Terrorism: Worldwide Incidents Tracking System (WITS), ResourceShelf
• Using a barcode scanner with Google Book Search, YouTube

SEM Industry

• 7 Reasons Why You Might Not Be Making Money As An SEO, SEOmoz
• Will you ever switch to a Mac?, YouTube
• Behind the scenes of Google Webmaster Central videos, YouTube

SEO & SEM

• Are Blogger | Blogspot Blogs SEO Friendly?, andybeard.eu
• 8 Key Points to Multiple Niche Sites And Controlling Back Links, Search Engine Journal
• An Unfortunate Series of Server Events, SEOmoz
• Is There Such a Thing as On-Page Trust Factors (Poll)?, Search Engine Journal
• See a 302 Google Hijack In Action, Search Engine Roundtable
• Track SEO Success: Keep a Historical Log, Daily SEO Tip
• Yahoo Search June 2009 Update?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Facebook Turns On Another Revenue Stream – Now You Can “Pay With Facebook”, Inside Facebook
• Recruiting Via Your Employees’ Social Networks, New York Times
• Study: Young adults haven’t warmed up to Twitter, News.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• Flickr’s Big Fail On Creative Common’s Attribution Guidelines, daggle.com
• The cure for YouTube’s ills: Charge for uploads, ZDNet

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

• DIYSEO Ready to Rock the SEO World
• 8 Key Points to Multiple Niche Sites And Controlling Back Links
• Ruud Questions: Ralph Tegtmeier aka Fantomaster
• Lessons on shouting from Digg
• How SMB's and Customers can Edit, Remove and Respond To Reviews
• 101 Blogging Headlines
• Does A Physical Address On Your Site Help SEO Rankings?
• The Online Reputation Management Guide
• Digg Says Goodbye to Shouts, Hello to Facebook and Twitter?
• 30 Must Follow SEO Twitter Users
• Google I/O: New Advances In The Searchability of JavaScript and Flash, But Is It Enough?