SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 16, 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:

• Yahoo Search Marketing Adds Enhanced Targeting Features
  

  Yahoo has added several enhanced targeting features to its search marketing advertising solution. The features include enhanced geo-targeting, ad scheduling, demographic targeting, and added bid adjustments based on those targeting features. In addition, Yahoo has improved the content match technology to make the ads more relevant to the publisher’s content. The new features are [...]

• SMX Search Analytics Rates Increase at Midnight March 17th (That’s Tomorrow)
  

  Demonstrate the success of your search marketing initiatives. Get effective, actionable tactics from a roster of over 25 search experts at SMX Search Analytics. Join us for this unique conference March 31-April 1 at the Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre in Toronto. Register by midnight March 17th and save $100 off your ticket. In just two days, you’ll [...]

• comScore: 63 Million On Mobile Internet, 35 Percent Using It Daily
  

  Metrics firm comScore released mobile internet usage data earlier today. It indicates significant growth in the numbers of people accessing the internet from their mobile phones vs. a year ago. The company says that today there are just over 63 million mobile web users in the US and 35 percent of them are online via [...]

• Picasa Gains Google AdWords Ads
  

  Google Operating System reports Picasa is the latest Google property to be monetized with Google AdWords ads. If you conduct searches for pictures in Picasa’s web albums, you will find the ads at the top of the image results. For example, a search on my iPhone shows ads for AT&T, Blackberry and [...]

• Evaluating Paid Search Performance In A Down Economy
  

  Is it time to fire your paid search managers? Many online advertisers are seeing their first-ever year-over-year declines in PPC performance. Because of this, and the general need to find something, anything that will generate more sales cost effectively, PPC programs are coming under serious scrutiny from corner offices. We welcome this scrutiny, and [...]

• Privacy Concerns, Online Ad Targeting On Apparent Collision Course
  

  Call it the “Cuban Missile Crisis” of online advertising: consumers and publishers are increasingly at odds over online ad targeting and behavioral targeting (BT) in particular. While that may be a hyperbolic characterization, the majority of US internet users appear uncomfortable with online tracking and targeting at a time when publishers and search engines are [...]

• Local Search Means Business
  

  A new comScore study released by the Yellow Pages Association provides interesting insights about local search and how consumers are using it to seek products and services online. According to the comScore study, local search grew 58 percent in 2008, significantly outpacing the 21 percent growth in overall U.S. core web searches during the same [...]

• WeFollow – New Twitter Directory From Kevin Rose
  

  One of the problems with Twitter is knowing who to follow in particular areas. Now Kevin Rose has launched WeFollow, a nice directory of people organized into categories. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great start and well worth visiting. At the site, you’ll see the top five people in popular categories such as celebrity, music [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• About the latest updates to the QnA site, Windows Live

Business Issues

• comScore Releases February 2009 U.S. Search Engine Rankings, comScore
• New AOL Chief Tim Armstrong is a Big Champion of Local, blog.kelseygroup.com
• Ping – Just Don’t Compare Kosmix to Google, New York Times
• Google piles into S92, National Business Review
• Yahoo Reverses Its Web Strategy with New Videos, New York Times
• Ad Execs Remain Most Confident Of Online Media, But That Sentiment Is Eroding Fast, MediaPost
• Bottling the Magic Behind Google and Facebook, New York Times
• Scam: Google Money System or Google Kit, Search Engine Roundtable
• The economics of open access, Google Public Policy Blog
• You’ve Got Tim Armstrong!–His Entire First Email to AOL Staff, AllThingsD by Kara Swisher

Local, Maps & Mobile

• A look back in time, Google LatLong
• Computer Makers Prepare to Stake Bigger Claim in Phones, New York Times
• comScore: Mobile Internet Becoming A Daily Activity For Many, comScore

Link Building

• Profile Your Own Links, Stone Temple
• Getting Links From Professors & College Students, Search Engine Roundtable
• How to Link Bait with a Quiz, Search Engine Journal
• Is it Really All About Links?, John Andrews
• Track and Get Links From Those Who Copy Your Content, Daily SEO Tip

Paid Search & Contextual

• Tip: Take Advantage of Seasonal Trends in TV Programming, Google Traditional Media Blog
• Discover How Carefully Planned PPC Account Structures Save Time when Running Reports and Managing Campaigns, PPC Hero
• On Target, Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog
• Web Analytics and Monetization: Prioritizing Change, adCenter Blog for Advertisers

Searching

• The Future of Search – Just Another Evolution Story?, AltSearchEngines
• EXCLUSIVE & EXPLOSIVE: New People-Powered Mobile Search & Advertising Solution Puts Mobile Operators Back In The Driver’s Seat; Will Search Giants Have To Watch Their Backs?, AltSearchEngines
• Google Settles On Finding Related Site, But Not Specific Page?, Search Engine Roundtable

SEM Industry

• Announcing the New Community Recognition Program, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Video: Universal Search, Changing the Game of SEO, WebProNews

SEO & SEM

• Search Engine Marketing Is Cannibalizing Print Media, Seeking Alpha
• Hyperlinks Subvert Hierarchy, SEO Book
• What are the Top Phrases for Your Website?, SEO By The Sea
• 3 Ways to Quickly Compare Your Site with Your Competitors, Search Engine Journal
• Are SEOs That Specialize in Industry Verticals Better?, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Single Best Kept Secret to Success With SEO – Have Something Worth Selling, Bob Massa
• Toys.com Loses Google Ranking, Domain Name Wire
• Understanding Natural Language Processing for SEO, Marketing Pilgrim

Social Media

• Facebook Connect for iPhone. Friends Now Included., Facebook Developers News
• Whoa, Twitter Mania, TechCrunch
• The Way We Live Now – Growing Up on Facebook, New York Times
• What Coke Knows About Social Media That You Don’t, outspokenmedia.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• An Update On Our View Counts, YouTube Blog
• Finding family history images and videos with Google, MormonTimes

Web Analytics

• Make sense of your site: tips for webpage design, Official Google Blog

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

• How to Build a Reputation Monitoring Dashboard
• WeFollow, A New Twitter Directory From Kevin Rose
• 'Reciprocal Link Cloaking', SEO 'Experts' and why you need to be very careful
• 5 Steps to Ranking #1 on Twitter for a Keyword
• Google Base Opens Up New Doors for Internet Marketers
• How to Find Twitter Twits to Retweet Your Tweet!
• 6 Tips to Optimize for Twitter Search
• Why WordPress Can Help Your Business…
• Migrating from SME SEO to Corporate SEO: A real life story by Ben McKay
• Google AdWords Content Network: How To Get Great ROI With A New Strategy From Google
• LiveBlogging Coverage of PubCon South
• Does Google Care If A Link Is Underlined?
• Google Re-initiates Testing of AJAX SERP’s With Faulty Proposed Fix
• Ruud Questions: Kim Krause Berg