SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 26, 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:

• Visual Search The Future? Spare Me The Eye Candy
  About two years ago, I wrote an article called Why Search Sucks & You Won’t Fix It The Way You Think. In it, I explained various ways people have tried to make search "visual" and why those have largely failed. That’s mainly because "list view" or "10 blue links"…
• Online Video Ads: What Small Business Advertisers Need To Watch For
  According to comScore, U.S. Internet users watched 11.5 billion online videos in March, 2008. The average viewer watched nearly three hours of video online. These statistics make video an attractive means for advertisers to reach their audience, and in turn, a potential windfall for online video hosts such as YouTube…
• Sorry, Ask.com — I Still Don’t Think You’re Focused On Core Search
  Back in March, after Ask.com seemed to be pulling away from search to some people, I wrote that Ask "killed the search engine," was no longer an innovator in search and couldn’t expect to compete against Google. Recently, I spoke with Ask.com CEO Jim Safka, who hoped to change…
• So, You Think You’re A Search Engine Optimization Expert?
  A few years ago, I wrote a three-part article series about the different levels of SEO skills: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. I placed copywriters at the beginner level, information architects and interface designers at the intermediate level, and web developers and programmers at the advanced level. At the time,…
• Google Finds A CFO From “Old Media”
  Google has finally filled the CFO spot being vacated by George Reyes, the outgoing CFO who has been with the company since roughly 2002 (pre-IPO). The new CFO (and SVP) is Patrick Pichette, who was President of Operations at Bell Canada….
• Search Marketing Meets Congress: Now In Video
  Rob Snell, likely the first search marketer to testify before the US Congress, has done his duty. He emailed me, “We ran over the alotted time by 15 minutes or so, but they let us keep talking.” So I guess Congress likes SEM, they really like it. Below, you can…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google launches new iGoogle and artist themes, Googling Google
• Google Reader Is Feeling Lucky, Google Operating System

Business Issues

• Yahoo Issues Letter Defending Google Deal: No Free Milk For Microsoft, TechCrunch
• Despite Google Deal, Yahoo Remains a Powerful Player, Ad Age
• Google stock could be for you, if you can handle the risk, USATODAY.com
• Google, @ 10 years, is looking for more, Detroit Free Press
• Jerry’s Back! And So Is Microsoft, TechCrunch
• Microsoft’s Yahoo strategy: Betting on Yang, News.com
• New Media Vet Joins Yell, Screenwerk

Link Building

• Does Google Conduct Minor Toolbar PageRank Updates Between Major Updates?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Link Building Ideas for Local Auto Dealers, Search Engine Watch
• Risk-Free Link Building Techniques?, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search & Contextual

• 10 Reasons Why PPC Mentoring Is Important For The Search Industry, SEM Geek
• Lead Quality of Google’s Pay-Per-Action: Good or Bad?, PPC Hero
• Optimize your Content Network Campaign!, Site Visibility
• UK Search & Display Research Plus adChamps Europe 2008, adcentercommunity.com

Searching

• Google Searches Lead to One Conviction, One Arrest, Search Engine Watch Blog
• Can Google Predict the Next President?, Search Engine Watch
• Google Lists Your Reviews, Google Operating System
• How to search for pet friendly rental listings, altsearchengines.com
• Yahoo Cooking with Gas: Food Search on the Web, SEO By The Sea
• Yahoo People Search Redesgined, Search Engine Roundtable

SEM Industry

• Free online seminar: The Google Trifecta, Official Google Webmaster Central Blog
• SEO Superlatives Poll is Officially OPEN!, Chris Hooley
• Are SEO Ethics Different that Social Media Ethics?, Search Marketing Gurus
• My Thoughts On Ask.com & Core Search, BruceClay.com

SEO & SEM

• SEO Review - PrecisionNorthwest.com, Search Commander Blog
• Advanced SEO: Siloing Content, Shimon Sandler
• 16 Things to Look for in a Website Health Check, ViperChill
• 5 Authority Sites With A PageRank Penalty, SEOco
• A Very Unfortunate Error For Farecast and Live, SEOmoz
• Firefox 3 Address Bar Optimization, Frye / Wiles Blog
• Google Webmaster Tools Link Update , Search Engine Roundtable
• How to Fix the Bloated Code that is Jacking Up Your SEO, Search Engine Guide
• How to use Google Alerts to find out if your site gets hacked, BlogStorm
• What Does a Google Malware Warning Look Like in Webmaster Tools?, Search Engine Roundtable
• What Google Doesn’t See CAN Hurt You, SEOmoz
• What Google Wants, Straight From The Horse’s Mouth, seoroi.com

Social Media

• Did Facebook Shut Down Slide’s Top Friends? How Very MySpace Of Them, TechCrunch
• Smart People, Stupid Tweets. Fake News Spreads Fast on Twitter., louisgray.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• Skin Deep - Coming Soon to YouTube - My Face-Lift, New York Times

Web Analytics

• Google Analytics E-Commerce Tracking Pt. 3: Why EVERYONE Should Use It, Analytics Talk

Other Items

• Internet Regulator Expected to Approve Plan for Unlimited Top-Level Domains, Wall Street Journal

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

• SEO Scoop Is 4 Years Old Today!!
• My Essential Plug-Ins for WordPress Blogs
• Porn Continues to Invade Google Web Search Through Universal Search
• So, You Think You're A Search Engine Optimization Expert?
• Five great Plurk tools to feed the need!
• Are SEO Ethics Different than Social Media Ethics?
• Persil White and the Seven Blogs
• Digg “Story Deserves Freshness” Algorithm
• A Very Unfortunate Error For Farecast and Live
• Website Transition Planning Critical When Making Changes
• How to use Google Alerts to find out if your site gets hacked
• SEO Scoop Is 4 Years Old Today - Happy Birthday!
• Top 100 Advertisers Shifted $1 Billion To the Web Last Year At The Expense Of TV And Newspapers
• How To Maximize Current Events For Social Media
• The Telegraph.co.uk Caught with Its Homework Undone
• What's a 404 to Do?
• How To Promote Other People’s Content and Drive Traffic to Your Own Blog
• Carcutt Wins $10,000 SEJ Contest, Donates Prizes to Orphanage