SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 21, 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:

• Hey Microsoft: Bribing Searchers Is Fine; Frustrating Them Is Not!
  I’ve got no problem if Microsoft wants to "bribe" searchers to use its search engine. Even Google has done the same. But the Live Search Cashback program rolled out today seems a pretty inept way to do it, far more likely to disappoint and frustrate than woo searchers….
• Microsoft “Cashback” Program Aims To Lure Commercial Shoppers With Rebates, Marketers With CPA Model
  Microsoft has invested heavily in Live Search and seen its search relevance and results improve but so far not its market share. The company believes its core search results are as good as what you’ll find on Google or Yahoo. But its share is flat-to-declining, depending on which of the…
• A Webmaster View Of Google’s Latest Search Quality
  Since Google posted on how their search quality stuff works, I figured I take the webmaster view and tell you what webmasters and SEOs have been seeing from Google’s search quality as of late. As many of you know, my other search blog, the Search Engine Roundtable, covers webmaster and…
• A Deeper Look At Google’s Search Quality Efforts
  Udi Manber, VP Engineering, Search Quality at Google wrote a fairly long post at the Google Blog on introducing search quality to the public. In short, Udi explains the various teams within the search quality group and explains what each team does. I will highlight below the parts I personally…
• Playing With Live Search Cashback
  Microsoft launched Live Search Cashback and Greg will have a more detailed post on his pre-briefing. But I wanted to take you through the experience of using Cashback as a searcher. It has been a rainy week here in New York, and I figured I would start my search and…
• Microsoft Introduces “Cashback” For Products
  Microsoft has introduced a new program called “Cashback” on Live Search. We were thoroughly briefed and are currently under embargo about some details of the program. But, as others are reporting, it’s now live and you can investigate it from a consumer experience perspective. It also has advertiser aspects and…
• Take Off The Blinders! Your Competitors Are Killing You, Whether You Realize It Or Not
  The guy was in a panic. His ROI had been in a nose dive for the last few months, and he couldn’t figure out why. With no major changes to keywords, copy, landing pages, bids or budget, he was dumbfounded about the decline. But when I asked him what…
• Tune In To Our Big Brand SEO Webcast Tomorrow
  Tomorrow at 1:00 PM Eastern, Search Engine Land’s executive editor Chris Sherman delivers another Search Marketing Now webcast, "Big Brand Search Engine Optimization: Managing Large Campaigns." Registration is still open – and it’s free….

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Publicis to reveal Google news by summer, Reuters

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Yellow Pages and Search, Search Engine Watch
• Yelp Gets Big Coverage, Grayboxx Resurfaces, Screenwerk

Paid Search & Contextual

• What Do Yahoo’s Sponsored Search Tweaks Mean?, Marketing Pilgrim
• From 19 Leads to 95. Turn Your PPC Account into a Lead Generating Machine!, PPC Hero

Searching

• Phone Keyboards and Seachers Using Predictive Query Suggestions, SEO By The Sea
• Google Testing New More Results Link in SERPS?, eVisibility
• Implicit and Explicit Personalization in Search, altsearchengines.com
• Microsoft Advertising Brand Launch Live Search Most Trusted, David Naylor
• Top 10 Ways to Search Wikipedia, Read/Write Web
• Wikimedia Foundation muzzles Wikinews, The Register

SEM Industry

• SEO Class June 23-24 Edinburgh Scotland – Free to Ninjas, Jim Boykin
• Interview with Search Marketing Recruiter Anna Martin, Search Engine Guide
• SMX Madrid – Target Europa, Andrew R H Girdwood
• SMX Madrid – Target Global, Andrew R H Girdwood
• SMX Madrid – The Programmble Social Web, Andrew R H Girdwood

SEO & SEM

• When Content Meets Search Engine Optimization, BruceClay.com
• Wrecking Local SEO 201 – Do External Links Cause Merged Reviews?, seoroi.com
• A Brand is Worth Protecting, Online Marketing Blog
• Canonicalization & SEO : Should I use WWW or not?, Search Engine Journal
• Help – Google Slapped Me With A -12 Penalty!!, SEO Fast Start
• How Many Google Penalties Are There?, Search Engine Journal
• How to Use Social Media for Keyword Research, Search Engine Journal
• Importance of Diversity in SEO, Web Optimist
• Please Stop Abusing Your Hx Tags, It Doesn’t Help Your SEO Effort, Search Engine Guide
• What’s the Best Way to Deal with a Search Engine Algorithm Update?, Enquiro

Social Media

• Not True, Twitter Blog
• Avoiding the "Ouch" Side of Social Media, Serengeti Communications
• Friendster Launches New Mobile Site, the First in a Series of Friendster Mobile Offerings, prnewswire.com
• Live: Facebook Discusses New Profile Design, TechCrunch
• Twitter Is Down Again: Quit Twitter For The Twit-Out, Webomatica
• Twitter: Something Is Technically Wrong, TechCrunch
• Viral Marketing on Youtube: A Look at LisaNova’s Sexy Videos, Dosh Dosh

Web Analytics

• Google Analytics training in NYC, Google Analytics Blog

Other Items

• Yahoo Comes to High-def TV Screens in Japan, PC World
• Top 10 Google Flubs, Flops, and Failures, PC World
• Who’s About To Get Fired From Google?, TechCrunch
• Yahoo Claims Record With Petabyte Database, InformationWeek

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

• The Greatest Google Sitelink Ever
• Reddit Redesigns the Redesign Based on User Feedback
• Viral Marketing on Youtube: A Look at LisaNova’s Sexy Videos
• 10 Most Obvious SEO 2.0 Benefits of Twitter
• PageRank Sculpting – Ok Or Penalty Material? 10 SEO Experts Respond
• Effective Internal Linking Strategies That Prevent Duplicate Content Nonsense
• How to be V.A.S.T. on StumbleUpon
• A Webmaster View Of Google’s Latest Search Quality
• 12 Traits of Successful Bloggers
• 34 Incredibly Strong Calls To Action To Make Your Visitors Click, Phone Or Buy
• Online Reviews Can Help Grow a Business
• Is SEO Spam?
• Oops, Google Analytics Lost Your Data
• Twitter – We Need To Talk
• How To Scale Your Niche Blogging Network
• With Only 14 Accident Free Days At Google, Should Google Health Come With A Warning?
• Buying Sites? Avoid Google Domain Demolitions w/Trusts
• Destroy Enemies Using Social Media Tools
• Getting PPC Advice from Yahoo!? Take the Good with the Bad
• Competitive Rubber Chicken Research for SEO
• Matt Cutts Electrocuted By Solar Panels [Video Spoof]
• Power-Tweeting: 101 Everyday Uses for Twitter
• The SEO Rock Star ‘How – To’
• Guy Kawasaki Talks SEO, Twitter And Blogging
• Fifteen Years of Online Social Interactions