SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 12, 2007

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. But before the news, a request!

When Online Marketing Blog had a poll for best search podcast recently, I was one of the few that did NOT beg, plead or cajole listeners to vote for my Daily SearchCast show. I should have, because we went from a strong natural lead in first to dropping to fourth.

Fine, the gloves are off with the latest poll, for best search marketing newsletter. Barry and I slave away at SearchCap each day. Take a minute and give us your vote, if you would — no registration required. You can vote here.

From Search Engine Land:

• Can You Get By Without Google & Major Search Engines?
  There are two projects going on today to see if we can survive without the major search engines. The first project is for searchers, to see if they can search alternative search engines without using the five major engines. The second project is for search marketers, to see if they…
• Google Responds To EU: Cutting Raw Log Retention Time; Reconsidering Cookie Expiration
  In response to an EU letter over data retention, Google has announced that it will now anonymize server log data after 18 months, rather than the previous maximum time it had announced of 24 months. It is also reconsidering how long its cookies last. It’s nice to see Google make…
• Google Webmaster Tools Adds Paid Link Reporting Form & More
  The Google Webmaster Central blog announced the addition of a few new features to Webmaster Central Tools. The main feature is a new form where you can report paid links that you find on various sites. This feature was discussed at the Search Marketing Expo conference, and has already been…
• Got A Google Penalty? A Workflow For Managing Google Penalties
  How to Handle a Google Penalty – And, an Example from the Field of Real Estate from Rand Fishkin has a nifty little chart explaining how to handle a Google penalty. The flow chart takes you through several questions, and based on a yes or no answer, different steps are…
• Stockholders Vote Down Yahoo’s CEO Compensation Cut & China Censorship Proposal
  Yahoo shareholders defeat exec pay/perform link from Reuters reports Yahoo’s shareholders have voted down a proposal to effectively cut Yahoo’s CEO salary down and a proposal to practice anti-censorship policies in China….
• Google, Intel And Others Join Greener Computing Effort
  Google announced that it and many other computer and Internet heavyweights have joined together in the global Climate Savers computing initiative launched by the World Wildlife Federation. The idea is to improve the efficiency of computer hardware and data centers so that they require less power and give off less…
• How To Convince Giant Corporations To Embrace Social Media
  During the "Better Ways" panel last week at SMX someone in the audience asked for advice on convincing big corporations to embrace social media marketing. At the time my answer was that there would be a lot of education involved and you should also let them know that you’ll…
• Podzinger Is Now EveryZing
  Following in the recent footsteps of Technorati, which morphed into a multi-media search engine, podcast search engine Podzinger has added video and rebranded itself EveryZing, a stronger and (paradoxically) less confusing brand. Google introduced video into Google.com results with the roll out of Universal Search and the new Ask3D prominently…
• Search Illustrated: SEO For eCommerce
  When a searcher has reached the point of typing an extremely explicit, product-oriented query into the search box, the odds are good that they’re ready to buy. For example, I’m just about ready to purchase a Kodak Easy Share V705 digital camera. A few weeks ago, my searches were…
• Patent Suit Has Broad Implications For Local Search
  Wired is reporting on a lawsuit filed in US District Court in Texas against Verizon and its now spun-off directory division Idearc. The suit (PDF file) claims infringement of patent 5,930,474, "Internet organizer for accessing geographically and topically based information." This goes to the essence of many if not most…
• Google Wants To Make TV Ads Less "Annoying"
  Google’s Campaign Against Bad Commercials from Internetnews.com reports Kim Malone, the director of Google AdSense, as saying she wants to make TV ads less "annoying." When Kim Malone was questioned on how Google plans on taking the "non-intrusive" nature of search ads and contextual ads to the TV ad model,…
• YouTube Ready To Test "Fingerprinting" Video Tool
  YouTube to test video ID with Time Warner, Disney from Reuters reports that Google’s YouTube is ready to begin testing their video fingerprinting tool on Time Warner and Walt Disney video content. The tool will be ready for testing in a month and will help prevent copyrighted materials from making…
• Search Ads & Contextual Ads Are Different! You Need To Treat Them Separately
  The major PPC engines offer the ability for advertisers to show their ads on both search and content networks. However, those networks are very different from a consumer engagement process, and they should be treated very differently. To provide a quick recap, with the search network, an advertiser bids…
• Google AdWords Adds Placement Performance Reports Showing Content Network Data To Advertisers
  Google, as expected, has added a new report type to give AdWords advertisers the ability to see the exact sites their ads are displaying on within Google’s content network. These Placement Performance reports will detail the domain, URL, impression, click, conversion and cost data for each site an ad appears…

Search News Headlines From Elsewhere

Applications & Portal Features

• Today’s outage, Google Reader Blog
• Google Reader Search Powered by Google Gears, Google Operating System
• Community Response to Gears, Google Gears Blog
• Gmail Can Preview PowerPoint Files, Too, Google Operating System
• Google Apps Premier Edition a Mixed Bag, eWeek

Business Issues

• For Yahoo, an Ordeal of Dissent, New York Times
• Microsoft’s Dead Naming Strategy [Voices], All Things Digital
• Lawrence Lessig, Google, and Internet Commerce, John Andrews
• Ask Blows it Again, Search Engine Guide
• Despite Reservations, ComScore and NetRatings Carry on with Audits, ClickZ
• Working at Powerset, Tim Converse
• Microsoft Versus Google: Apple Wins, Forbes.com
• Google party at eBay event will protest Checkout ban, News.com

Conferences

• SMX Video – Google’s Matt Cutts Discusses Themes and Latent Semantic Indexing, Marketing Pilgrim
• SMX Advanced: Reflections of a 50-Year Old Search Marketing Conference Virgin, SMX Blog
• High Rankings Seminar to be Held on June 28-29 in Denver, Colorado, Search Engine Roundtable

Linking

• PR 8 Links from Google.com Only $1,995, Marketing Pilgrim

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Pamela Fox Talks About Google Maps, Google Blogoscoped
• Local Search Control for Maps API, Google AJAX Blog
• Google removes ‘objectionable’ Street View images, Stuff.co.nz
• Google Responds to Street View Concerns, Google Blogoscoped
• EFF privacy attorney is a magnet for privacy invading street-searches, Boing Boing
• It is a legitimate concern. However, given the number of satellites that can read your license plate from the sky, I think at this point that’s not necessarily where a terrorist would go, Digital Daily

Paid Search & Contextual

• Complimentary campaign optimizations — round two, Inside AdWords
• Webinar transcript now available, Inside AdSense
• Beware the Beginning PPC Search Marketer, ClickZ
• Don’t Just Consider the ‘Last Click’, SearchViews
• Are Bid Management Tools Dead?, Search Engine Watch
• Yahoo! to Shorten Ad Descriptions to 70 Characters on June 20th, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Tests "Ad Text Ideas" AdWords Tool, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Is googling creeping you out?, News.com
• Privacy Solution, Step One, The Alchemy Of Search
• TRUSTe Launches New Identity and Seal, ClickZ
• Context Sensitive Stemming for Web Search, SEO By The Sea
• Unofficial Google Depersonalizer, Google Blogoscoped
• Ask.com Still Indexing Old Pages That Were 301 Redirected Years Ago, Search Engine Roundtable
• Morph & In-line functions: The power behind the panels, Ask.com Blog
• Ask 3D’s Answer To Holistic Search, MediaPost

SEM Industry

• SEO Is Dead. Long Live, er, the Other SEO, ClickZ
• Search Engine Optimization Will Not Become Obsolete, Bruce Clay Blog
• Travelocity Hands Search Marketing Duties to iCrossing, ClickZ
• Insisting on Ethical Search Engine Optimization, Bruce Clay Blog
• Are The Big Three Search Engines Xenophobic, Search Marketing & ROI Tech
• International Removals of Google Results, Google Blogoscoped
• John Marshall Leaving Clicktracks, Search Engine Watch

SEO & SEM

• Google’s PageRank explored, Download Squad
• Beziehungsgeflecht Suchmaschinen, Luna Park
• New Google Ranking Patents, SEO By The Sea
• Web Site Architecture Structured for Success, Search Engine Watch
• Redesigning Your Small Business Web Site, Search Engine Watch
• Proof Google is Using Behavioral Data in Rankings, SEOmoz
• Lowering Your Search Rankings for a Keyword That is Getting You in Legal Trouble, SEO Book
• Predicting the future with Oprah and Google Hot Trends, Seldom Static
• Google: CSS-Hidden Text Sometimes OK, Small Business SEM
• When Google Changes Page Titles, Natural Search Blog

Social Media

• Looking Up Sk*rt – Digg for Women, 10e20
• Diggwatcher – digg notifications, Download Squad
• LinkedIn says it will own business networking, Fortune Blog
• Technorati Search Results in Search Results, Google Blogoscoped
• The Ultimate RSS Toolbox – 120+ RSS Resources, Mashable
• Google Files Patent to Create a Social Network Based on Television and Video, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Sends 1.67 Billion Users to Wikipedia Per Month, Search Engine Journal

Video & Image Search

• Yahoo says Beijing likely blocking photo site, Reuters
• Flickr goes international with seven new languages, Reuters
• Web video attracting broad band of users, Reuters
• Google Video Security Flaw Could Expose Private Username & Password Information, Search Engine Journal
• Domain Names Can’t Be Trespassed–Utube.com v. YouTube, Eric Goldman

Other Items

• Yahoo raps China for punishing views, The Washington Times
• Yahoo! has a new celebrity site? omg!, Yahoo Blog
• Yahoo Tries Out New Look: Shiny Blue Bar, Search Engine Roundtable
• PayPal Shopping – PayPal Teams Up With TheFind, ComparisonEngines.com
• YouTube To "Fingerprint" Videos; Dealing With Google Penalties Flowchart & More!, Daily SearchCast