SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 19, 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:

• Compete: Yahoo Traffic Better Than First Reported
  As part of my Compete: Google Keeps Stomping The Others In Search Traffic article earlier this week, I posted the exact rules that Compete uses to calculate search share, along with commentary on why digging into this is becoming increasingly important. A reader noted the rules didn’t seem right….
• Rumor: More Executives Departing Yahoo, Zawodny Going To Craigslist
  There’s been a near parade of executives leaving Yahoo recently. TechCrunch reports three more are going or ready to go according to “sources close to the company.”…
• Google Election Maps Gallery Offers Data For Journalists, Political Junkies
  Google has been visualizing US primary election data and, in anticipation of the US presidential election, has now created a Google Maps Elections Gallery. There is a wide range of data here, from election results, to Twitter Tweets and search query volumes for each candidate. All the maps can also…
• SEMPO Finds Most SEMs Willing To Pay More For Enhanced Targeting, Interest In Mobile Search And Video
  According to SEMPO and its Annual State of Search Survey 2007, SEMs largely remain focused on search fundamentals: traffic, conversions, CTRs and ROI. Very consistent with percentages in last year’s results, marketers and agencies are interested in direct sales (58 percent) and brand awareness (61 percent). But there’s new interest…
• Google Continues To Play With AdSense Ad Fonts
  I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable that Google seems to be testing additional AdSense fonts for the text used in the ads. The image shown here is from when Google tested using the Comic Sans font back in May. These tests seem to have expanded into various font types,…
• Page Load Time Now A Real Factor In The AdWords Quality Score
  Google announced that the page load time metric is now a live factor that will influence your quality score and your minimum bids for your AdWords ads. We first heard that page load time was coming to the Google quality score in early March. Google then provided advertisers with metric…
• Facebook Group Using Google Maps To Go “Dipping” At Strangers’ Pools
  Facebook ‘dipping’ craze irks pool owners from the Telegraph reports that teenagers on Facebook are using Google Maps to locate pools in their neighborhoods and then hold pool parties, as uninvited guests. The new phenomenon is called “dipping” and has caused concern in the Bournemouth, UK area. These “dippers” have…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Yahoo Mail hopes to lure users with ‘ymail.com’, News.com
• InfoSpace’s Dogpile.com Releases Search Widget, Business Wire
• What’s old is new, Yodel Anecdotal

Business Issues

• UPDATE: Yahoo CEO Visits Congress About Google Ad Pact, CNN Money
• Tracking Former Yahoo Execs – Where Are They Now?, TechCrunch
• 2008 Survey Says Undergrads Want to Work for Google, Bill Hartzer
• I want to start a company!, Amr Awadallah Blog
• Ask.com Makes More Moves on Privacy, Ask.com Blog
• Leaving Google, massless.org
• Dear Disgruntled Yahoos, Microsoft Is Hiring!, kara.allthingsd.com
• Facebook Loses Another Exec – Matt Cohler Joins Benchmark, TechCrunch
• Yahoo investor asks to weigh in on Microsoft offer, Reuters

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Trulia Launches Self-Service Ads, Greg Sterling
• Google acknowledges problems with Local Business Center, Mike Blumenthal
• We’re Moving!, ylocalblog.com

Link Building

• There’s No Shortcut for Link Building: A Case for Relationship Building, Search Engine Guide
• You Should Not See A Downgrade in Rankings From Link Building, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google, please let us report paid links, JLH Design Blog

Paid Search & Contextual

• adCenter billing: thresholds vs. monthly billing date , adCenter Advertiser
• A Kidnapped AdWords Account, Google Blogoscoped
• AdWords Cross Channel Data will be Deleted, PPC Discussions
• Political Off-Season? Should Never Be For Paid Search, SEM Geek
• Brought to You by . . . Anyone?, Washington Post
• Click Investigation Just Got Easier, Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog
• Learn the Google AdWords API with Video and Useful Documentation, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Introducing TechNews, Based On Reddit’s Open Source Project, TechCrunch
• Search as a Strategic Planning Tool, Search Marketing Now
• You’ll Love Using Yahoo! Search With These Simple Enhancements, Digital Inspiration
• hakia Semantic Search – Now Available for Syndication, Hakia Blog
• Video & Search & Discovery & Relevancy, altsearchengines.com

SEM Industry

• Search Engines Need Search Engine Marketing and Usability, Cre8PC
• Searcher Moms & Their Golden Triangle, AIM Clear Blog
• SMX Singapore Scheduled for October 13-14, Search Marketing Expo Blog
• Accessibility, Usability, Findability & SEO, AIM Clear Blog
• I’m Joining Craigslist in July, Jeremy Zawodny
• SES Toronto: Favorite Photos Post, Online Marketing Blog
• Top stories and blog posts from SES Toronto Day 2, Search Engine Watch Blog

SEO & SEM

• Understanding The SEO Site Review Process, BruceClay.com
• B2B SEO: Marketing strategy for specific niches, Yoast
• How to Create Effective Site Navigation that Leads Visitors to Your Most Important Content, Search Engine Guide
• XML Sitemaps: The Most Overrated SEO Tactic Ever, Small Business SEM

Social Media

• How to Get Your Website Published In a Book (and My Story), ViperChill
• Men more Likely to be on LinkedIn, Flickr, Marketing Pilgrim
• Promote Yourself and Your Online Business with Twitter, Search Engine Journal

Video, Music & Image Search

• YouTube Screening Room Launches, NewTeeVee

Web Analytics

• Analytics Spam – Coming To An Internet Near You!, SEOmoz
• One year after the redesign, Google Analytics Blog

Other Items

• Keeping Google honest; The power of not being defensive, Dion Almaer’s Blog
• June 18, 2008: Flickr Founders Flee Yahoo; Google Grows Yet Again , Daily SearchCast

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