SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 15, 2007

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Search in Pictures: Paint My Roof, Yahoo Sushi & Google Conference Bikes
  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more….
• How Google Handles Videos on Web Search & From 3rd Party Sources
  When Google launched Google Universal, we saw video results within the web search results. Yesterday recently made changes to the YouTube and Google Video interfaces, Danny and I had several questions related to these changes. Gabriel Stricker, a Google representative, spent the time with me over the phone to answer…
• iPhone’s Perceived Usability Contributing To Massive Consumer Demand
  iPhone skeptics take note: The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that the iPhone has sparked massive consumer interest and may enable AT&T to capture other carriers’ customers. According to an M:Metrics survey cited in the article: Two-thirds of mobile-phone users who are interested in purchasing the iPhone aren’t AT&T…
• Google Talks About YouTube Video ID Tool
  The Google Blog has posted about the video copyright identification tool the company is developing. They reference the Reuters article we mentioned in our YouTube Ready To Test “Fingerprinting” Video Tool. The Google post also gives us more insight into the technology and process of how this will potentially work….
• OpenSearch Plugin Ensures Your Google Results Are Not Personalized
  The other day we reported about a way to turn off Google Personalized Search Results, which required you to add “&pws=0″ to the end of your search string. Now, you no longer need to remember to do that. You can install an OpenSearch plugin on your Firefox or IE7 browser…
• Antitrust Reviews For Microsoft’s aQuantive & Yahoo’s Right Media Deals
  FTC Examines Web-Ad Deals Involving Microsoft, Yahoo from the Wall Street Journal reports both Microsoft and Yahoo will be undergoing antitrust reviews. The Federal Trade Commission will be reviewing the $6 billion bid by Microsoft to buy aQuantive and the $680 million bid by Yahoo to buy Right Media. Google…
• Local Mobile Search Provider 1-800-Free411 Touts Patent Against Rivals
  USAToday writes about a recently awarded patent obtained by Jingle Networks, which operates the 1-800-Free411 ad-supported directory assistance service. After conducting several searches at the USPTO and elsewhere I was unable to find a copy of the patent itself. However, according to the article: Jingle’s patent, which it bought from…
• Yahoo Finance’s GM, Peggy White, Leaves
  Yahoo Finance GM departs from News.com sourced an e-mail discussing posted on Portfolio.com discussing the departure of Peggy White, Yahoo Finance’s general manager. The reason for Peggy White’s departure is unknown at this point. Mark Interrante will step in as the acting general manager of Yahoo Finance. In the email…
• Google To Open R&D Office In Shanghai
  Google to Open Research Center In Shanghai from the Wall Street Journal reports Google is planning on opening a research and development center in Shanghai, China in an effort to gain market share from Baidu. The R&D center is expected to open on June 25, 2007, with a focus on…
• Chinese Eye Tracking Study: Baidu Vs Google
  I thought the easiest way to share the results of the Chinese Eye Tracking study might be in a Q&A format, as that’s what most research programs tend to be anyway. I’ll cover off some of the highlight findings in this column, but the full report will be available…

Search News Headlines From Elsewhere

Applications & Portal Features

• Blogger.com not publishing any posts or comments!, SEOptimise

Business Issues

• Google eBay – Data on the Tiff, Hitwise
• Dangerous side of search engines, PC World
• Should a Search Engine Sell Business Intelligence Gathered from Searchers’ Queries?, SEO By The Sea
• Google’s Government Aid, Forbes.com
• Google vs. eBay: Round One, TIME

Conferences

• Afterthoughts on SES Toronto, Jonathan Mendez
• SES Toronto 2007: Built By People, for People and Robots, Traffic

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Global Lightning Animation for Google Earth, Google Earth Blog
• Want Off Street View? Google Wants Your ID and a Sworn Statement, Wired

Paid Search & Contextual

• A success story from India, InsideAdSense Blog
• 31 Tips For Using Your Pay-Per-Click Management Effort Wisely, Rimm Kaufmann
• Google Tests “Allowed Sites” Feature for AdSense, Search Engine Roundtable
• How Google Rejects Annoying Advertisements and Pages, SEO By The Sea
• AdWords Quietly Rolls Out IP Blocking as a New Feature, eWhisper.net
• SMX follow-up: trademark policy & parameters, adCenter Blog

Searching

• Does Language and Culture Affect Search Techniques?, Search Engine Journal
• Yahoo! Search Tries Purple Header, Search Engine Roundtable
• Ask 3’s Answer To Holistic Search, Search Insider

SEM Industry

• Interview with Jennifer Laycock – Viral Marketing & Social Media, High Rankings
• Vanessa Fox – The Person to Whom Webmasters Owe the Greatest Debt of Gratitude, SEOmoz
• How Many Blogs Does Google Have?, Search Marketing Standard

SEO & SEM

• Whiteboard Friday – If You Build It, Links Will Come, SEO By The Sea
• Google Webmaster Link Tool June 2007 Update, Search Engine Roundtable
• When the Honeymoon Ends, In-house, Search Engine Watch
• Search Works Harder, So Must Search Marketers, ClickZ

Social Media

• Where Have I Gone? Facebook has Graced My Presence, Techpedia
• Powerset To Launch Social Network Around Search Engine, Techcrunch
• Social Media and B2B, Wolf Howl

Video & Image Search

• Google Images Shows Many Results From The Same Site, InsideGoogle
• Google may launch YouTube for Europe, InfoWorld

Other Items

• Research Reading: New Papers Added to Google Research Publications Collection, ResourceShelf

• Is there a doctor in the family?, Google Blog

• The CNN/YouTube debates, Google Blog
• Bloomberg to Speak at Google HQ in Calif, Forbes.com

• A healthy start, Google Health Advertising Blog