Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web:

From Search Engine Land:

• Send Destination Points From Google Maps To Your GPS Device
  The Google Blog just posted that BMW automotive in Germany is now supporting integration with Google Maps. What this means is that you can “send” a destination point from Google Maps directly to your BMW. Currently, it is only supported with some BMW GPS devices in Germany. If you are…
• Reducing Barriers To Online Registration
  Many b-to-b search advertising campaigns are designed to generate online leads. Typically a company’s search ad promotes a specific resource or downloadable asset. Searchers clicking on an ad are presented with a highly tailored landing page that includes a registration form which must be completed in order to receive…
• Strictly Business: New Column From Search Engine Land
  Our newest Search Engine Land column, Strictly Business, launches today. Strictly Business will appear on Wednesdays, covering business-to-business (b-to-b) search marketing, focusing on both organic listings and paid search issues. Strictly Business is a sister column to Small Is Beautiful, a column focusing on search marketing for small businesses….
• SuperPages Upgrades Mapping With Virtual Earth
  Local search and directory site SuperPages.com has upgraded its mapping functionality, adding a range of sharing and personalization features built on top of the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform. SuperPages’ chief online yellow pages competitor, YellowPages.com also uses Virtual Earth….
• Link Count Updates At Google & Yahoo Search
  This morning I reported that both Yahoo and Google are updating the number of links they account for each site. Yahoo! Search Link Update shows a number of webmasters reporting both increases and decreases in the number of links Yahoo is reporting at their Site Explorer Tool. Google Link Update…
• Friendster Partners With Google & Drops Yahoo
  Friendster makes Google its ad and search supplier at Reuters reports that social networking site, Friendster, has selected Google to power their search and ads on their site. The financial terms have not been disclosed but we do know Google services will be added within the “second quarter of 2007.”…
• My Yahoo Update Coming In “Few Weeks”
  PC World reports that My Yahoo will be launching an updated version within a few weeks. The reports do not specify exactly what we will see from the upgrade, but I am suspecting we may just see an enhanced RSS reader built into the portal….
• YouTube Blocked In Turkey
  Turkish Court Orders YouTube Blocked at Forbes.com reports a court order has been submitted to block YouTube in Turkey. The reason was because a video was found insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Head of Turk Telekom said they have begun enforcing the ban immediately. Philipp Lenssen…
• Yahoo China Sued For Linking To Unlicensed Music
  Yahoo! China sued for alleged copyright breach at Reuters reports that Yahoo China has been sued by Warner Music Group Corp. and other music giants for linking to “unlicensed music.” The case was filed in early January by “11 companies and seeks damages of 5.5 million yuan ($710,686).” In November…
• Ask.com’s CEO, Jim Lanzone, Calls Yahoo Paid Inclusion “Hypocritical”
  In a comment left at the Stepforth blog, Jim Lanzone, Ask.com’s CEO, has said that he considers paid inclusion a “dis-service”. Jim explains that he finds it “hypocritical to charge for something we need to do anyway,” i.e. crawl the web to find quality pages to present to the searcher….
• Version 5 Of Google Desktop Released
  Google Desktop has released a version five with new features and updates. Kevin Tom, Product Manager of Google Desktop, explains that they added: A new sidebar with “completely new look and feel.” A gadget redesign to make them “easy to tell apart, easy to read, and easy on the eyes.”…
• Search Engine Land Reader Survey: We Have A Winner!
  Thanks to all of you who completed the first Search Engine Land reader survey! We’re still tallying up the results, but here are a couple of top-line stats you may find interesting: Nearly 30% of you work at a search engine marketing firm or full-service advertising agency; more than 25%…

Search News Headlines From Elsewhere

Applications, Toolbars, & Gadgets:

• Google helps terabyte data swaps, BBC NEWS

• Better branding part II, Google Custom Search

• Feedable Public Beta, Feedable
• Briefs: AddThis.com, UClue Launches; One Button Access to Many Social Bookmarking Services; Splashcast Update, ResourceShelf

• Super-Close Google Maps Zooms, Google Blogoscoped
  

Business Issues:

• Yahoo to run on millions of Windows Mobile phones, Reuters.com
• Yahoo Could Seek More Than Ads From Papers, Editor & Publisher
• Google on a search for engineers in China, International Herald Tribune
• Yahoo’s Ad-System Update Is Lifting Morale at Company, But Isn’t Boosting Revenue, WSJ.com
• Google Chief Defends Media Tactics, Wall Street Journal
• Google continues to show private data, AsiaMedia
• Google Hires “Analytics Evangelist”, Search Engine Watch Blog
• Yahoo HotJobs needs Craigslist to fill hot jobs at Yahoo, Digital Markets
• Search Ads Displace Yellow Pages, RED HERRING
• Mark Cuban’s Magnolia Pictures Subpoenas Google over Pirated Videos, Google Watch
• Google, Old Media Diverge on Video, WSJ.com
  

Paid Search:

• AdWords Editor V3 now Available for MAC, eWhisper.net
• Google AdWords Qualified Professionals Valid For Two Years, Search Engine Roundtable
• Search Traffic and Web Analytics: Easy Answers, Hard Lessons, ClickZ
• Wysi-what?, Inside AdSense
• A handy tool for troubleshooting account behavior, Inside AdWords Blog

SEO & SEM:

• Verify The Bots Accessing Your Site: Is Google.com Sending That GoogleBot?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Plus: A Sign Of The Future of Search, It’s The ROI
• Google KILLS Vanessa Fox, David Naylor
• Which Is Better For SEO: Shared or Dedicated IPs, Bruceclay.com
• Flash Implementation Tips, Ramblings About SEO
• SEO Clinic : TechSmith Screen Capture & Recording Software, Search Engine Journal
• How Does 6 SEOs Miss The Obvious?, Half’s SEO Notebook
• SEO for Firefox Updated, SEO Book.com
  
• Traffic & Link Building With Flickr, Cartoon Barry
  

Other Stuff:

• Brewster Kahle to Discuss “Universal Access to Human Knowledge” During Live Webcast, ResourceShelf
• New Research Papers from Google Labs, ResourceShelf
• Podcast: AdWords, Yahoo Directory Tag, Google Update, Ask.com Update, PPC Legal Issues, Microsoft adCenter & More, Search Pulse
• Searching for Michael Jordan? Microsoft Wants a Better Way, New York Times
• Google Earth Resume, Google Blogoscoped
• Google heard Aaron Stanton, Googling Google
• Interview with Donna Fontenot of SEO-Scoop, Viper Chill
• LookSmart Goes Offline, Search Engine Watch Blog
• February Search Market Share: Live Search is on the move, Compete.com Blog
  

Related Topics: SearchCap

About The Author: Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry Schwartz