SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 31, 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:

• Wikia Search To Close Up Shop
  

  News.com reports that Wikia Search is giving up and closing up shop. Search Wikia launched an alpha release in January 2008, where Chris Sherman gave it a poor review. Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikia, told News.com “It was going to take at least an another year to two before it’s usable by [...]

• IAB: PPC And Search Gain In Q4, FY08 Online Ad Revs At $23B
  

  According to data released yesterday by the IAB/PwC on Q4 and full year 2008 online advertising revenues, performance-based advertising and search gained while other segments declined slightly or were flat. Overall, online advertising grew 10.6% in 2008 to reach $23.4 billion. US online ad revenue in Q4 was $6.1 billion, up from $5.8 billion in [...]

• Microsoft Kills Encyclopedia Encarta
  

  Ars Technica reports that Microsoft has decided to discontinue their encyclopedia software, Encarta. Both the MSN Encarta reference Web sites as well as its Encarta software will be shut down. Microsoft said: On October 31, 2009, MSN® Encarta® Web sites worldwide will be discontinued, with the exception of Encarta Japan, which will be discontinued [...]

• Twitter: Incredibly Valuable Or Utterly Useless As A Link Building Tool?
  

  I’ve read so many articles lately about Twitter, from mainstream press to the sports world to the SEO world, that all seem to focus on the “phenomena” aspect of it. After the Twittles (Twitter+Skittles) thing happened, it was like a dam bursting. Everyone wanted to know who was doing what with Twitter, how to use [...]

• Beware These Comment Saboteurs In Social Media
  

  When using social news sites for search marketing, you are inevitably going to run into annoying people. Some, in fact, may be actively trying to undermine your credibility, to further their own agenda. You need to watch out for these troglodytes, and respond appropriately to maintain your own credibility. Here are the 10 worst kinds [...]

• Google Ventures Into VC Business
  

  Google has announced the launch of its new venture capital fund, appropriately named Google Ventures. “At its core, Google Ventures is charged with finding and helping to develop exceptional start-ups,” Google says of its new for-profit effort. The New York Times reports that the group is expected to invest up to $100 million in the next year. [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Email in Indian languages, Official Google Blog
• Helping Google Build a Better Bookmarking Tool, Michael Gray
• Interview: Gmail’s product manager on Labs, beta, the future, Ars Technica
• Spam data and trends: Q1 2009, Official Google Enterprise Blog
• H-P May Use Google’s Android for Some Netbooks, Wall Street Journal

Business Issues

• It’s Official: Twitter Hires Ex-Google Designer Douglas Bowman, Creative Capital
• Microsoft Acquires Yahoo VP of Ops, AllThingsD
• Steve Ballmer Named Media Person of the Year by International Advertising Festival, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Yahoo! Announces Date of 2009 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, Yahoo Press Releases
• Facebook’s Finance Chief Is Leaving, Wall Street Journal

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Phone GPS Misses by a Mile, New York Times
• Cheating husband caught on Google Street View?, News.com
• MySpace, Citysearch Partner To Create MySpace Local, TechCrunch
• Shouldn’t Most "Product Search" Count as Local?, Screenwerk
• Using Google Earth Offline, Google Earth Blog

Link Building

• Use This Live / MSN Advanced Operator to Research Links-Out, dailyseotip.com

Paid Search & Contextual

• Microsoft Advertising: Insights Podcast – 10 Minutes with Search Account Managers (Part 1), adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Enhance Your AdWords Content Network Performance By Trimming the Fat, PPC Hero
• New email notification preferences to keep you informed, Inside AdSense

Searching

• Google Bombing and the IRS, Fast Company

SEM Industry

• ADSPACE 2009 Conference & Expo Launches at ad:tech San Francisco, ad:tech
• Yahoo! exec in Israel to meet software developers, Globes.co.il

SEO & SEM

• Do ids in heading tags affect search engines?, YouTube
• 5 SEO Essentials – Charting Effective Search Engine Optimization, Online Marketing Blog
• How To Leverage Rich Media SEO for Small Businesses, Search Engine Journal
• Keyword and Topic Research with Wikipedia Visualization Tools, Search Engine Journal
• SEO & Social Media : Are You Willing to be Consistent?, Search Engine Journal
• The Big, Bad List of Pre-SEO Questions You Need to Answer, Part VII, Search Engine Guide
• Video SEO : Easier & More Powerful than You Think, Daily SEO Tip

Social Media

• Replies Are Now Mentions, Twitter Blog
• Is Guy Kawasaki Singlehandedly Ruining Twitter? (Part I), www.traffick.com
• Tinker Gives Twitter Its Long Awaited Events Firehose, TechCrunch

Video, Music & Image Search

• DISNEY/ABC TELEVISION GROUP AND ESPN REACH LANDMARK AGREEMENT, YouTube

Web Analytics

• An Introduction to Log File Analysis for SEOs, Eric Lander
• Back to Basics: Control access to your data, Google Analytics Blog
• Analytics in Latin America, Official Google Blog

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

• Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference: An Extraordinary Experience
• There Is No Secret Sauce in SEO!
• Organization Is the #1 Tip for PPC
• An Introduction to Log File Analysis for SEOs and Webmasters
• Mind Blowing Marketing Ideas – 2009