SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 27, 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:

• Wired Mag Waxes Wordy About Maps & Local
  First, for map and online mapping lovers, there is the piece, Google Maps Is Changing the Way We See the World, an interesting survey of the history of the mapping at Google, mashups, mapping APIs, Google’s acquisition of Keyhole (now Google Earth) and user-generated content on maps (My Maps). Then…
• Internal Microsoft Email Compares Life At Google Vs. Microsoft
  Slashdot linked to a blog post that has an internal Microsoft email with a comparison of working at Google versus working at Microsoft. The email is an interview between an ex-Google employee who Microsoft hired. Here are my top hits from this email:…
• Google Launches APIs For Custom Search Engine
  The Google Custom Search Engine blog announced the launch of the new APIs for Google Custom Search Engines. The new APIs enable you to better manage the linked CSE feature. In short, instead of you managing all the criteria on Google’s console, you can manage it via your own tool…
• What To Do When Your Company Wikipedia Page Goes Bad
  It happens to many companies: their Wikipedia page evolves and starts reporting bad stats, inaccuracies, legal stories you thought were water under the bridge and more. Wikipedia is a web 2.0 success story, and almost always ranks on page one in Google search results for your brand. Anyone can…
• SEMPO Opens Advanced Search Advertising Course
  SEMPO has now announced their third training course, the Advanced Search Advertising course is now live. Advanced Search Advertising consists of 13 lessons: An Evolving Opportunity, PPC Models, Keywords & Campaign, Copywriting for Ads, Bidding & Ranking, Landing Pages, Success Metrics, PPC Program Specifics, Reporting & Analytics, I.P. – Click…
• YellowPages.com Testing Dramatically Improved Beta Site
  AT&T’s YellowPages.com, which was recently named the fastest growing Internet yellow pages site by comScore, has been testing a beta site with a dramatically improved design and user experience. Here’s the new beta site….
• Apple iPhone Craze: A Search Volume Look
  Hitwise sent me some data on the search volume for the term “iPhone.” As many of you know, Apple is releasing the iPhone this Friday, and the press and craze over this product is unprecedented. Just take a glance at the coverage at Techmeme and you can see, the news…
• Google AdSense Adds Corner Styles Format
  The Inside AdSense Blog announced that they have added corner styles as a method of customizing your AdSense ads. Corner styles currently come in three styles, the default square, slightly rounded, and rounded corners. Here are images of all three:…
• MySpace TV To Compete With Google’s YouTube
  MySpace, Chasing YouTube, Upgrades Its Offerings from the New York Times reports that MySpace will be launching MySpace TV tomorrow, to better compete against Google’s YouTube. MySpace TV will be an independent site and will not require a user to have a MySpace ID. There will be integration between MySpace…
• Tolles Replaced Skrenta As CEO Of Topix
  Chris Tolles announced that he would be taking over the roll of CEO at Topix. Rich Skrenta, the former CEO of Topix, will be a member of the board and an advisor. Why the change? Chris explains that Rich wasn’t having “as much fun” as he did in the past….
• Marchex Simultaneously Launches 100K Local Search Sites
  If you can believe it, Marchex has simultaneously launched more than 100,000 local and vertical search sites representing over a billion pages. The move is probably unprecedented outside of a search index. In May of 2006 Marchex acquired local search site OpenList and has used its technology assets and methodology…
• The In-House SEO Life Cycle
  Every in-house SEO program follows a typical life cycle that has for main phases: Courtship, Honeymoon, Reality and Synergy. The duration of time it takes to get from Courtship to Synergy varies with each company, and it can also very for each division within a company. Today’s in-house article…

Search News Headlines From Elsewhere

Applications & Portal Features

• An entirely new way to stay organized, Google Docs & Spreadsheets
• Microsoft Betas: Windows Live Photo Gallery; Microsoft Live Drive Here, Techcrunch
• Partnering with Ingram Micro, Google Enterprise Blog

Business Issues

• Topix Appoints Chris Tolles as CEO, Bill Hartzer
• Introducing Google Earth Outreach, Google Blog
• On Jerry Yang as Yahoo’s New CEO, Jeremy Zawodny

• DeWolfe, Anderson To News Corp: Show Us The Money, Techcrunch

• LinkedIn marks progress to IPO, hires ex-Tivo CFO, Reuters.co.uk
• Ask Jeeves, TPI, MSN, etc. Agreements, Strategy, Excitement, Multilingual Search Blog
• Website Pros and Web.com Sign Definitive Merger Agreement, CNN Money
• Google Rated Most Attractive Foreign Company in Korea, Digital Chosunilbo 

Conferences

• SES Toronto & Latino Edition 2007 – wrap ups, Search Engine Strategies Blog
• SES Travel – Keynote Announcement, Search Engine Watch
• SMX Wrap-up, Beginning SEO Podcast

Link Building

• What it Looks Like to Be Hit By Google’s Real Estate Reciprocal Link Penalty, SEOmoz

• Trackback Spamming And Black Hat Link Building, Fantomaster

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Maps Is Changing the Way We See the World, Wired News
• Google Earth Zooms In on Darfur Genocide, Wired

• Google Earth & Maps Advertising Patent Application, SEO By The Sea

• Yahoo Testing New City Travel Guide Search Shortcuts, Search Engine Journal

Paid Search & Contextual

• adCenter travel webcast on demand now available, adCenter Blog
• Google AdWords Not Accepting New Click to Call Advertisers, Search Engine Roundtable
• AdWords: Show Ads Evenly Over Time Setting Not Working, PPC Discussions
• 6 Ways to Increase Your PPC Traffic, PPC Hero

Searching

• Google China news searches now focus on images, Reuters
• Ask.com on Trends, Freshness, Personalization, and Better Search Results, SEO By The Sea
• ZoomInfo – People Finder and Company Intelligence Tool, Search Engine Watch

• Google-internal Data Restrictions, Google Blogoscoped

• Kosmix.com : Search Start-up Looking for Meaning in Search Queries, Search Engine Journal
• Google search rivals full of sound and fury, The Register
• Yahoo Blocked In China?, Pacific Epoch

SEM Industry

• Summer Lull? What Summer Lull? The Search World is Hotter than Ever, SEOmoz
• Interview with Barry Welford, of Strategic Marketing Montreal, SEO Montreal Blog
• Four SEM Industry Rants, Online Marketing Blog

SEO & SEM

• Coordinating Search with External Media: Can Less Be More?, Search Engine Watch
• Website Sustainability: What Percent of Your Traffic Comes From Search Engines?, SEO Book

• Frustration Over Google URL Removal Tool, Search Engine Roundtable

• Reports of More Google Hijacks via Proxy Sites, Search Engine Roundtable
• Companies Offer to Damage Your Competitors Search Engine Rankings, Search Engine Roundtable

• Submit a Reconsideration Request to Google if You Buy a Banned Domain, Search Engine Roundtable

• Yahoo Counting Un-Linked Images as Links, Marketing Pilgrim

Social Media

• 8 Simple Rules For Social Media Marketing in Business to Business Markets, Stuntdubl
• Outcome of an Ad Contest Starts an Uproar on YouTube, New York Times
• How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense, Wired
• SMM in Depth, Yahoo Publisher Network Blog
• Reconstruct a Feed’s History Using Google Reader, Google Operating System 

Video & Image Search

• Put your photos on a map, and Picasa on your phone, Official Google Blog

• How to get traffic from Google Images, BlogStorm
• Sketchies – Vote Now!, YouTube Blog
• Reputation Management for Image Search, Wolf Howl