SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 13, 2008

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

From Search Engine Land:

• 10 Steps for Digg Success When You’re the Villain
  If you’re using Digg as a linkbaiting tool then you’re perceived as a villain. Everyone from Digg itself, to the community, to other self-proclaimed social media experts thinks you’re the bad guy. Even though good linkbait provides value to the community (because who doesn’t like remarkable content?), if they…
• del.icio.us Extension For Internet Explorer Adds Firefox Features
  The Delicious Blog announced the release of a new beta version of the del.icio.us bookmarks extension for Internet Explorer. The new version helps the IE version catch up with the Firefox version, which was released on April 30th….
• Google Incorporates Geodata In API, Partners With ESRI, Yahoo Introduces “Internet Location Platform”
  Google’s John Hanke keynoted the Where 2.0 conference this morning and discussed the development and evolution of the “geoweb.” But he also announced that KML files (now a public standard) and GeoRSS data (I believe) being indexed by Google are now going to be available to third parties via the…
• EveryScape Improves, Beefs Up Community Strategy
  Google and Microsoft have invested huge sums in their competitive mapping platforms. Yahoo, for its part, opted out of that arms race some time ago. But independent EveryScape is building an interesting alternative platform and destination. Today at the Where 2.0 conference, the company announced upgraded site features and a…
• An Embarrassment Of Dead Link Riches
  Sometimes link building is more difficult and painful than a root canal, and sometimes it’s so easy it happens in spite of us. It can be especially frustrating when you are trying to build links for a site that is perfectly deserving of the links you are requesting, yet…
• More Than Half Of Yahoo’s Paid Search Clicks Come From Partners
  Efficient Frontier is out with new research looking at how the major search engines get search traffic outside their own search engines, including the remarkable stat that less than half of Yahoo’s paid search clicks happen on its own search sites….
• Fortune On Google’s Challenges: Employee Retention, Innovation, Maintaining Its Culture
  There’s a famous B.B. King blues tune called “The Thrill Is Gone.” I was recently on the phone with a Google employee (director level) who was expressing that very sentiment about his experience there. I was surprised to hear that from this particular individual. However, Google has seen some high…
• Microsoft’s Worldwide Telescope Application Blasts Onto The Desktop
  Microsoft has launched (an appropriate metaphor this time) its Worldwide Telescope desktop application. You must download the software, but then you’re treated to a beautiful array of images and “guided tours” of the cosmos (see screenshots below). Intended for science education, “Worldwide Telescope stitches together terabytes of high-resolution images of…
• Search Illustrated: How A Search Engine Determines Duplicate Content
  With so much good content on the web, it’s inevitable that the same information will be displayed many times over. Whether it’s a blog post pointing to good statistics, an RSS feed pulled into a complementary site, or blatantly copied material, duplicate content can be an issue. This week’s…
• Funny Microsoft Live Search TV Ads That Should Be Aired
  Two weeks ago, I attended a Microsoft event in London to talk about its progress in search. One of the highlights were these fake, hokey TV ads they showed us in between breaks. I loved them. They’re especially funny if you know Britain, but anyone should get a chuckle out…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Brand new Google Reader for iPhone, Official Google Reader Blog
• Exclusive: Google Responds To Claims Of "Serious Security Flaw", Inquisitr
• A need for speed: the path to a faster loading sequence, Official Gmail Blog

Business Issues

• Microsoft loses another ad executive, News.com
• The Confessions of Barry Diller, Portfolio.com
• Google Search To Surpass Size of Microsoft Windows in 2009 , Silicon Alley Insider
• Google triumphant: Search wars look settled, Financial Times
• My love story with Yahoo , San Jose Mercury News
• Yahoo shareholder bows out of launching proxy fight, Icahn to step in?, News.com

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Abstracting Spatial Relationships with the Yahoo! Internet Location Platform, Yahoo! Local & Maps Blog
• Local Search Engine Optimization – Revisited, Search Engine Guide
• Why Yelp Works, New York Times
• Google Moves "Saved Locations" Feature in Google Maps, Search Engine Roundtable
• Street View revisits Manhattan, Google LatLong
• The Top 50 Applications, Android Developers Blog

Link Building

• Business Services Links, Link Building Best Practices

Paid Search & Contextual

• As The PPC Soap Opera Continues, Are You Becoming A Conspiracy Theorist Too?, SEM Geek
• How auctions set ad prices, Official Google Blog
• Check This Out! Identify Unique Conversion Actions with Google AdWords, PPC Hero
• Google Has More Mass Email Problems With AdSense, Search Engine Roundtable
• Googles Beta Dashboard View, SEO Speedwagon

Searching

• A Personalized Search Using Advanced Search Operators -SEO by the SEA, SEO By The Sea
• RealMatch Launches Revolutionary Job Search, Alt Search Engines
• Topicle – the search engine community, Alt Search Engines

SEM Industry

• Search Engine College Celebrates Four Years, Cre8PC
• The Beginner’s Guide to Getting Your Foot in the Door, SEOmoz

SEO & SEM

• Two Conflicting Judicial Opinions on Using A Competitor’s Trademark in Metatags, SEOmoz
• Twitter Insights and How Coke Pissed Off Danny Sullivan, SEOmoz
• 5 Tools for Keyword Brainstorming, Search Engine Journal
• Handling Your 404 Page Properly, Search Engine Journal
• Don’t Hire a Butcher to do a Baker’s Job, Search Engine Watch
• Penalized for Someone Else’s Paid Links?, The Web Optimist
• How Google Friend Connect will affect SEO, BlogStorm
• Most SEOs Believe Competitors Can Hurt Your Google Rankings, Search Engine Roundtable
• SEO Plugins for Wordpress Part II, Graywolf
• Website Architecture Questions Answered , Search Engine Guide
• When Duplicate Content Really Hurts, SEOmoz

Social Media

• How @replies work on Twitter (and how they might), Twitter Blog
• Twitter for Music, TechCrunch
• Twitter Policy – Do You Have One In Place?, Search Marketing Gurus
• Why You Should Use FriendFeed, www.inquisitr.com
• Small Business Owners Need Twitter and LinkedIn, Search Engine Watch

Video, Music & Image Search

• Number of Online Videos Viewed in the U.S. Jumps 13 Percent in March to 11.5 Billion, comScore
• Online Video for the Very Young, Read/Write Web

Web Analytics

• Multivariate Test Results: Confidence, Stability , Jonathan Mendez’s Blog

Other Items

• Google: High schooler warns of transhuman dystopia, Valleywag
• Podcast: Powerset Understanding Engine Launches; Facebook Has No Search Partner , Daily SearchCast

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

• “Dog Bite Lawyers” in a Cat Fight over Maps Spam
• 25 of Digg’s Most Trusted Sites
• Huge SEO Growth + Talent Shortage = Increased M & A Activity
• What Every Good Marketer Knows
• Twitter Insights and How Coke Pissed Off Danny Sullivan
• Marketers: Are You Charging Your Clients Enough?
• 63 signs you’re addicted to Google and the Church of Search
• Need to hire SEM help? Where to find industry thought leaders
• Happy Mother’s Day From The Search Industry
• Black Hat SEO Lessons: Indirect Promotion
• What is Online Reputation Management?
• 8 Best Kept Secrets To Fine-Tuning your E-mail Marketing Campaigns