SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 22, 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:

• It’s Official: Wikipedia Is A Google News Source
  

  Google’s “experiment” in using Wikipedia as a news source on Google News is over, at least in the U.S. and Canada. The experiment was obviously a success, because Google has confirmed for us that the idea has been expanded. Says Google spokesperson Gabriel Stricker: “As with many features on Google News, these links were initially launched [...]

• SEO Tips For Building Your Personal Brand
  

  Most firms now recognize the importance of developing a powerful online brand. Now, an increasing number of professionals have started to recognize the benefits of developing a personal brand. Many people recognize that a personal online brand could be as important (possibly more so) than a company brand when looking to win a new client, get [...]

• Google Showing Facebook Friends On Profile URLs
  

  Google Blogoscoped reported that Google seems to be testing showing Facebook friends in the Google search results for some Facebook profile URLs. For example, a search for facebook marissa mayer, I see the following search snippet:

  Why is this showing up? As Philip notes, it doesn’t seem like Facebook is using the rich snippets [...]

• Google Researchers Create Landmark Image Search Engine
  

  When most of us travel, we like to visit famous landmarks in the area we’re touring. It’s easy to find famous landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower or the Great Pyramid, but can be difficult to find lesser known sites. And for armchair travelers, it can take time to search for images of landmarks even with [...]

• Yahoo Debuts SMB DIY Display Ad Builder
  

  After an apparently successful limited trial, Yahoo is rolling out a program that targets small businesses (SMBs) for self-service display advertising on its network and through RightMedia, its ad exchange. The DIY portal is a collaboration between Yahoo and AdReady, which supplies the back end and the ad templates. (Google earlier introduced a similar, though less [...]

• iPhone’s Spotlight Search
  

  This Friday, I was one of the million people to get a new iPhone 3GS. After getting through my activation issues I had some time to test out the new search feature on the iPhone, named Spotlight (from Apple OS). With the new iPhone, you can have an unlimited number of applications, so [...]

• Google Maps Let’s You Discover “What’s Here”
  

  Google Maps has introduced a useful new feature called “What’s Here,” which allows you to use the map as a kind of discovery tool. Select a point, right click and the menu appears with a new choice “what’s here,” allowing discovery of — you guessed it — what’s at/around the designated site or point. The [...]

• Idearc’s Bankruptcy: Why? A Former Employee’s View
  

  This spring, Idearc Media LLC filed for Chapter 11, planning to reorganize to get out from under massive debt, and in the process, leave thousands of stockholders holding worthless paper. Idearc’s failure could easily be thought of as yet another in a long list of companies experiencing woes due to the economy, but is this the actual cause? I think someone should be asking if Verizon itself was responsible for spinning off the company with an unreasonable debt load in the first place.

• Beginners Guide To Creating Mobile AdWords Campaigns
  

  The number of people who access the web from a mobile device is on the rise. However, those accessing the web from a mobile device with a full browser (such as an iPhone or Blackberry Storm) and those on a mobile browser (such as Blackberry Curve) see different sets of information, and, more importantly to [...]

• Happy Father’s Day From Google & Others
  

  We wanted to wish all the fathers out there a happy Father’s Day from all of us at Search Engine Land. To celebrate, below is a collection of some of the logos from Google and the rest of the industry. Happy Father’s Day! Google: Yahoo: AOL: DogPile: Bing: Ask.com: Cre8asite Forums: Search Engine Roundtable:

• Why You Can’t See The Great Pacific Garbage Patch On Google Earth
  

  After hearing about the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” earlier this year — an area the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean filled with trash — I went looking for it on Google Earth. And never found it. It’s not that the patch doesn’t exist. It’s just that despite being large, it’s [...]

• Google Voice Bracing For Expansion
  

  Network World is reporting that Google has put in a claim for one million phone numbers with Level 3 Communications. The claim is presumably for the upcoming rollout of Google Voice, which is currently only available to a limited number of users. Google Voice offers users a variety of features: one phone number for all incoming [...]

• Google To Test New Product Ads
  

  Google’s paid search results continue to evolve beyond the traditional 25-character text headline, two-line snippet of information, and URL that we’re all so used to seeing. Both the Wall Street Journal and Google Blogoscoped have details of a new Google Product Ads beta test that will bring product images and price information to paid search [...]

• Google Street View Bike Does Santa Monica, Universities & More
  

  Remember that Google Street View bike that was unveiled in May for use to map footpaths in Britain? Turns out, Google has a number of them, and they’re also operating in Japan, Italy and the US. In fact, imagery from them from three spots in California has recently gone online and more will be coming [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Using Wikipedia as a Source for Its News Site, New York Times
• Introducing the Virtual Keyboard API, Google AJAX Search API Blog

Business Issues

• Google executives to appear before Milan court, FT.com
• Google Opens Digital-Education Portal Agencyland, Ad Age
• Farewell to Google, Epeus’ epigone
• How Good (or Not Evil) Is Google?, New York Times
• Microsoft Poaches Former Yahoo Exec To Head Up Data Center Services, TechCrunch
• Yahoo’s Job-Cut Expense: Up To $27 Million, paidContent.org

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Dutch muggers caught on Google street view camera, Reuters
• Imagery update for Tehran, Google LatLong
• 5 Ways Negative Reviews are Good for Business, Small Business SEM
• Behind the Design of a New Android Phone, New York Times
• Google’s iPhone Voice Search Breaks with iPhone 3.0, Search Engine Roundtable
• Is Google Maps Reducing Customer Support?, Mike Blumenthal
• Local Business Center scheduled downtime, maps-forum-announcements.blogspot.com
• T-Mobile Will Drop Its Second Android Phone, The myTouch 3G, This August For $199., TechCrunch
• The Great Wall Of Google – A Short Essay On Communication, www.solaswebdesign.net

Link Building

• Whiteboard Friday – How Do We Plug the Nofollow Leak?, SEOmoz
• 10 Link Bait Tips, Cornwall SEO

Paid Search & Contextual

• Yahoo Raising Search Submit Prices Inclusion Prices?, Search Engine Journal
• Facebook Click Fraud Enraging Advertisers, TechCrunch
• How to Spend All That Money: A Few PPC Budgeting Strategies, PPC Hero
• Launched: Make a payment…at any time, for any amount, Google Traditional Media Blog
• SMBs and SEM Churn, www.localsearchnews.net
• Ticking Timebombs in your PPC Program?, Rimm Kaufman
• Yahoo! Launches Self-Serve Display Ad Solution, Yahoo Press Releases
• Your Google AdSense Earnings Reports Not Adding Up?, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• bing and your browser help get the job done, Bing Community
• FORBES INSIGHTS/GOOGLE STUDY, Forbes PDF
• Take Flight with Wolfram|Alpha, Wolfram|Alpha Blog
• 9 Strategies for Finding Incredible Content, Search Engine Journal
• All for Good: Bringing search, scale and openness to community service, Official Google Blog
• Bing mobile application concepts, istartedsomething
• Naver Launches Closed Beta For Japan Search, Search Engine Roundtable
• Search by Author on Google News, Google News Blog
• When It Comes To Search Trends, Google Is Lagging Behind Bing, TechCrunch

SEM Industry

• So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, SEOmoz
• SEO History for Consultants and Practioners, Stuntdubl
• Google Upsets The Southern Hemisphere Over First Day of Winter Logo, Search Engine Roundtable
• SEO Best Practices: SEOmoz’s New Policies Based on Updated Correlation Data, SEOmoz
• Video: Up Close and Personal with Bing Team, WebProNews

SEO & SEM

• SEO Goes Back to School, Solid Cactus
• Google Sitemaps Pending Status "Normal", Search Engine Roundtable
• Less is not more in Mobile SEO: Two Worst Practices to Avoid, www.brysonmeunier.com
• Saving Face Online, BusinessWeek
• What are some best practices for moving to a new CMS?, YouTube

Social Media

• Twitter Plans to Offer Shopping Advice and Easy Purchasing, New York Times
• Buying and Selling Social Media Profiles?, Search Engine Journal
• Influencing The Social Web: Agility Is A Factor, Online Marketing Blog

Web Analytics

• Optimise your AdWords keywords using Google Analytics, Conversion Room

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

• 9 Strategies for Finding Incredible Content
• The Great Wall Of Google – A Short Essay On Communication–Local Business Owners Used and Abused by Google
• SEO Best Practices, based on 'Moz's experiments
• Writing Your Best PPC Ads
• Double the RSS Subscribers? Thank You, FriendFeed!
• Feedburner Adds Friendfeed – Subscriber Data For Socialstreaming and Lifestreaming