SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 22, 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:

• Ask Advertising Campaign Slammed
  As pointed out on Bruceclay.com – Ask.com thinks you’re an idiot – Ask can sometimes be an irritating company. I like the new 3D interface and they’re doing a lot of good things in the search arena. However, when it comes to actually marketing what they’re up to I’m completely…
• ASK Home Page
  The Ask.com blog has a piece on their home page, which they are particularly proud of, and I think rightly so. They talk about their icons, suggest feature, and skins, all of which are worth a quick peek….
• Search in Pictures: Yang Hugs Semel, Solar Google Plugs, Brick & Lace At Yahoo
  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….
• Dictionary Feature Added To Google Translate
  Garett Rogers reports that Google Translate has added a dictionary feature. The help documents clarify that the supported languages are currently English and French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Korean. Give it a try, yes in in French is si, but make sure to check out the related phrases that help…
• Google Adds News Blog & Finance Blog
  Google frequently adds new blogs, most are for international translation of their other blogs now – but recently Google added two new blogs. The Google News Blog was launched yesterday and the Google Finance Blog was launched Wednesday. Hat tip to Googlified….
• Google Has About 2,000 Job Openings Worldwide
  Gary Price reported that Google has almost 2,000 job openings at this point in time. He counted them yesterday, and of course, they are subject to change at any moment. Here is his breakdown by region: United States 1,233 Jobs Canada, Caribbean, South America 67 Jobs Asia 269 Jobs Europe,…
• Google Partners With Dell To Manufacture The Google Search Appliance
  The Google Enterprise Blog announced that they are getting out of the hardware business by partnering with Dell to manufacture their Google Search Appliance boxes. Google said they made this move so that they can “focus more on the software side.” Google is also excited about Dell’s capabilities of marketing…
• Business.com Up For Sale, Bidding Starting At $300 Million
  Business.com Could Hit Jackpot on Auction Block from the Wall Street Journal reports that Business.com is “on the auction block.” The popular business-to-business directory is expected to make between $300 to $400 million on the sale. Who would be interested in buying Business.com? The Wall Street Journal believes that Dow…
• Google: 25% Of Queries Are New & Adding Question Engine
  Google’s Udi Manber – Search is a Hard Problem from Read/Write Web has an interesting write up on a presentation Udi Manber, Google’s VP of Engineering, gave the other day at Supernova. In his presentation, he tried to explain why “search is a hard problem.” But a few of his…
• adCenter To Upgrade More Advertisers Into Content Network On June 28
  I just received word that Microsoft adCenter will be upgrading more of their advertisers into the adCenter content network, i.e. ContetAds. Advertisers who are selected will be automatically included and be billed for clicks on ads within Microsoft’s contextual program. This is set to go live on June 28th. If…
• SEO “Don’ts”: 20 Fatal Mistakes You Must Avoid To Succeed
  Small businesses are often hard-pressed for time and money. That’s been a recurring theme in the Small is Beautiful columns here on Search Engine Land. And as I read various small business blogs, it’s clear to me that there’s a growing interest in search marketing and understanding the benefits…
• Keep The Faith When The Algo Changes
  One common mistake I’ve seen SEOs make since the dawn of search engines is tweaking their pages every time a change in ranking occurs. This is partially due to the fact that SEOs are notorious for mixing up cause and effect. Rankings for any given keyword phrase change constantly…
• Local & Mobile Search: We Want Your Input!
  We’re in the planning phase for our first SMX Local & Mobile search conference, and would appreciate your help. Please take a short Search Engine Land Local & Mobile Search Survey, to help us get a better understanding of the current landscape. It will take about 3 minutes to complete….

Search News Headlines From Elsewhere

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Spreadsheets Live Data, Google Blogoscoped
• Google Talk Gadget Adds Multi-User Chats, Google Operating System
• Google Maps Adds Phone & SMS Business Verification, Search Engine Roundtable

Business Issues

• How a six-month-old startup got bought by Google, Business 2.0
• Advice for Yahoo’s Jerry Yang, Clickz
• Yahoo’s Secret Weapon: You, Business 2.0
• Will Yahoo’s board also get a makeover?, News.com
• Yahoo/eBay Merger Case Strengthened By Semel Departure, Seeking Alpha
• Tur v. YouTube SJ Motions Denied, Eric Goldman

Conferences

• SES Latino 2007 in Miami Wrap Up, Search Engine Guide

Local, Maps & Mobile

• U.S. general laments Google Earth capability, Reuters
• Taking Google Map Matters Into Your Own Hands, Search Engine Guide
• Photos of JetBlue Google Maps, Google Blogoscoped
• Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0 and oneSearch Expand Mobile Search Experience, Yahoo Search Blog
• No Search Engines? Kim Krause Berg Says, “Go Local”, Offsite Optimization

Paid Search & Contextual

• Spare Change? Ten Adsense Alternatives, SEO Refugee
• Keeping Your PPC Campaign Regional & Relevant, Intrapromote
• Targeting By Age & Gender, adCenter Blog

Searching

• Beta 29, CalacanisCast
• Fast Search, ResourceShelf
• Finding your community, Google CSE Blog

SEM Industry

• A bit of Creative SEO fun, FroggBlog
• Peoplewatching at the Googleplex, Two Piece Set
• Whiteboard Friday – “You’ve Got Questions, We’ve Got Answers”, SEOmoz
• SEOs Mock Mahalo in Google AdWords, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• In-house Spotlight: Christian Science Monitor’s SEO, Search Engine Journal
• Search Engine Friendly URL’s - coldfusion, cold fusion, CFML), Ogletree
• Bringing SEO In House – Insight from the Experts Part 1, Web Analytics Blog
• June 2007 MSN Live.com Search Update, Search Engine Roundtable
• SEO & Importance of Valid Source Code (W3C Validation), Search Engine Journal
• Flash: The Pink Elephant or the Spark, Search Engine Watch
• Restricting the Search Space, Google Blogoscoped
• SEO for vBulletin and how to stop a forum ruining your website, Blogstorm
• Duplicate content @ Google, Dutch Cowboys
• Are PHP Session ID’s A Cause For Duplicate Content With Google?, Shandy King

Social Media

• How Do You Get Your Diggs?, Pronet Advertising
• Rolling on Rails: Under the Hood at Twitter, Twitter Blog
• Google.com is the Web’s Largest Social Network, SEO Book
• Spamming Social Networks is a No-No, techipedia

Video & Image Search

• Finding the Perfect Shot: 5 Stock Photo Search Engines Reviewed, Read/Write Web
• Who Will Be The YouTube Of Live Video?, Techcrunch
• Google Images Supports Site Filter Command, Search Engine Roundtable

Other Items

• Merchant Adoption Rates of Google Checkout vs. PayPal Express, Marketing Pilgrim
• Blog-Based Annotations for Weblogs, SEO By The Sea

• Google Conference Bike, Googlified

• Qunar Launches Travel Deals Search, Bill Hartzer