SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 11, 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:

• Google Gets Into Behavioral Targeting, Launches “Interest-Based Advertising” Beta
  

  Google today is launching a form of behavioral targeting advertising named Interest-Based Advertising. Interest-Based Advertising allows advertisers to deliver ads based on hundreds of interest categories and previous interactions with those users. The beta is opening to select advertisers at first but will be expanded in the upcoming months. Brad Bender, Google’s Product Manager [...]

• Despite Fixes, Google Maps Still Vulnerable To Spam
  

  Although Google Maps is now going on 5 years old, is still in its infancy. It has become a powerful tool for local marketing yet Google’s policy of “launch early and iterate” has created a tool that has been open to an ongoing number of abuses. Recently Google announced that they had [...]

• Fortune 500 Still ‘Largely Invisible’ In Natural Search, Study Says
  

  Companies listed in the Fortune 500 are getting better at SEO, but continue to be “largely invisible in natural search.” That’s the key takeaway from “Natural Search Trends of Fortune 500 Q4-2008,” a study released today by SEO technology/services company Conductor. Conductor analyzed close to 90,000 primary paid keywords on which corporate- and consumer-facing Fortune 500 [...]

• Do SEOs Really Need Direct Industry Experience To Be Effective?
  

  Have you ever heard this before? “We like everything you have said so far, and your proposal looks great, but the only concern we have is your lack of direct experience working in our industry.” Perhaps a better question would be, “Is direct industry experience really necessary to be an effective SEO? Lee Odden, CEO of [...]

• Don’t Damage Your Brand With The Wrong Keywords!
  

  In search, keyword selection is paramount as it can help drive the right audience to your door. Choosing the right keywords can also enhance brand awareness. But despite the importance of keyword selection—and the fact that it helps lay the groundwork for every paid or organic search campaign—marketers commonly make mistakes with the process. So what are [...]

• Create Custom Driving Directions With Google Maps Maker
  

  The Google LatLong Blog announced that you can now create your own custom driving directions in Google Map Maker. This comes in handy when Google Maps is missing roads, is mistaken on directions or if you want to make up a better route to get to your destination. Typically, I would take you through a [...]

• Google’s Matt Cutts Talks About Redirected Links & Nofollowed Links
  

  Matt Cutts of Google has posted two short videos on the topic of links. One video answers how Google handles links that are 301 redirected and the other video answers how Google handles nofollowed links from authority sources. Here is Matt’s video on 301 redirects where the question asked is does anchor text carry through [...]

• Hitwise: Visits To Gmail Surpass YouTube
  

  Hitwise reported that “for the past two weeks, the market share of US Internet visits to Gmail has been higher than visits to YouTube.” Accordingly, the measurement firm says that Gmail is now second only to Google.com in terms of visits among Google’s properties. Gmail has recently had a number of problems, with several outages and [...]

• Kosmix Launches MeeHive Personalized News
  

  MeeHive, a personalized service that scans more than 5,000 news sources and 5 million blogs to bring you fresh news and information based on your interests, launches today. MeeHive organizes information “relevant to a person rather than a topic,” with “fundamentally time-changing information,” said Kosmix co-founder Venky Harinarayan. The service is very easy to use. You [...]

• A Moving Target: Are Mobile Devices Costing You Business?
  

  There are multiple parties involved in the B2B purchase decision. While several parties have the ability to influence the purchase decision (e.g., purchasing personnel), those with the ability to make the decision are typically very busy, often spending significant time on the road, in airports, in meetings. They may not be tethered to their laptop, [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Noticeboard, Google Operating System
• Google’s free SMS gravy train dries up, News.com
• Google Checkout fees in 2009, Official Google Checkout Blog
• Google’s Gmail Service Suffers Another Shutdown Glitch, Wall Street Journal
• Yahoo Subsidiary Finds Users Willing To Pay To Play, InformationWeek

Business Issues

• Google says more than 15,600 exchanged options under plan, MarketWatch
• Google employees swap 93 pct of underwater options, Reuters
• Google under EU scrutiny for YouTube privacy policy, EurActiv.com
• Model to NY judge: Make Google ID blogger, The Associated Press
• Zuckerberg gets poked off Forbes billionaire list, News.com

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Maps LBC: Claimed Business Listings Still Being Hijacked?, Mike Blumenthal
• A Trove of Clues From Smartphones for Marketers, New York Times
• Google Maps Hijacker to Boss: "Oops I hijacked the wrong business", Mike Blumenthal
• Google Sends ‘Horny’ Guys To Marketing Firm’s Doorstep, Search Engine Roundtable
• Is Google Maps Battening Down the Hatches?, Mike Blumenthal

Link Building

• BuzzStream: Link Building at its Best, BruceClay.com
• Build Links with Instructional Content, Daily SEO Tip
• Does Google Care If A Link Is Underlined? – SEO FAQ, seoroi.com

Paid Search & Contextual

• AdWords Downtime: March 14, 10am-2pm PDT, AdWords API Blog
• Announcing New Targeting Filters, Facebook Ads’s Notes
• Ask.com messing up in Brazil, Multilingual Search
• Facebook Advertising – An Opportunity for Deep Targeting at Very Low Cost, SEOmoz

Searching

• Quick search app WundrBar now on iPhone, AltSearchEngines
• New from Harvard: Berkman Center Launches Media Cloud Research Tools, ResourceShelf

SEM Industry

• Brand and Reputation Management, outspokenmedia.com
• Guy Kawasaki Fireside Chat With Chris Brogan, outspokenmedia.com
• Intersection of Search and Social Media, outspokenmedia.com
• Most SEM Companies Are Weathering Recession Just Fine, Search Engine Roundtable
• SEO, Usability & 15 Stupid Things You Can Do to Your Website – SMX West, Marketing Pilgrim

SEO & SEM

• A Good Alt is Better Than a Bad Anchor, Wiep.net
• Category SEO For Wordpress Blogs and Ecommerce, Michael Gray
• Google Search Sending Weird Spikes in Traffic?, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Big, Bad List of Pre-SEO Campaign Questions You Need to Answer, Part III, Search Engine Guide
• Title Tag SEO Tips, SEO.com

Social Media

• A New York Police Officer Who Put Too Much on MySpace, New York Times
• Be It Twittering or Blogging, It’s All About Marketing, New York Times
• Emerging Social and New Media Landscape, outspokenmedia.com
• Facebook Developers Getting Antsy Over Verified Apps Program, TechCrunch
• Facebook Now Available in Arabic and Hebrew, Facebook Blog
• Facebook’s Real-Time Homepage Goes Live Today, TechCrunch
• How Twitter Could Bring Search Up to Speed, Technology Review
• Online Marketing Tips Video: Social Media Metrics – Defining & Measuring Goals Part 1, Search Marketing Gurus
• TechFuga Updates Its News Aggregator. Now, With Twitter Search!, TechCrunch

Video, Music & Image Search

• The Flickr Collection debuts at gettyimages.com, Yodel Anecdotal

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

• How many links per page?
• SEM Conference Bulgaria – 2009
• Claimed LBC Listings Hijacked in GMaps?
• 18 Websites where you can find Useful Internet Marketing Tools
• Email Marketing? Your Mission is Permission.
• Google AdSense Featuring Adwords Product Plusbox Shopping Feeds
• Harness The Power Of Twitter For Local Marketing
• Link Building 2.0 – Getting Attention In The Social Age
• Use $ymb01$ 1n (0py T0 (ram Your (TR
• Threading The CMS Needle: An Interview With Pixelsilk’s Mark Knowles
• So just what the hell is social media marketing?
• Twitter: Your Weapon in the Internet Marketing War