Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
From Search Engine Land:
- Google’s Site Search Gets Faster; Yahoo’s Goes Away?
Google has upgraded its Site Search tool to give users more control over the frequency that Google spiders a site. But, if you think this is something that will help your site’s performance on Google.com search results, it won’t. Site Search is Google’s on-site tool for individual websites; you use it to add a search engine to your own website. The new feature, On-Demand Indexing, lets site owners tell Google to index their site by clicking a button, rather than waiting for Google to do it on its own schedule. - Microsoft Trumpets Cashback Successes
Microsoft Live Search Cashback launched with great expectation in some quarters that it would grow Microsoft’s search share dramatically. That, so far, has failed to happen. But Microsoft says it is making progress toward its own more realistic goal of growing commercial search traffic over the long term, highlighting some new figures it says show progress in that area. - Microsoft Live Search Releases New “Silk Road” API With Ad Support
Microsoft today released version 2.0 of its Live Search API, also called “Silk Road,” that offers support for multiple data exchange protocols, access to more search resources and the ability for developers to pull in ads to help monetize search applications they build. - Business Opportunities For Video News Archives
We are about to lose one of our most valuable national treasures: The news archive. Most experts recommend that tapes be converted to digital format within 5 to 10 years of being recorded and estimate the shelf life of magnetic tape at 15 years, perhaps longer if stored at a constant 21 degrees Celsius and 40% relative humidity level. Even if the archives are preserved under perfect conditions, over time the tapes stretch and lose their signal strength, eventually rendering the media useless. In conversations with customers over the past few months, I’ve come to realize just how “reel” this problem is. One of the largest networks of local news broadcasters informed me that they are scrambling to digitize archives en masse as they are literally about to lose content that was recorded in the 1960′s – 1980′s. - Windows Live Services Are Upgraded, Expand Considerably
Microsoft has expanded and upgraded the suite of software and online services for consumers collectively known as “Windows Live” — not to be confused with Live Search. There’s a whole boatload of stuff here that spans the desktop, online and mobile. The theme of these tools is integration of all your favorite content in one dashboard and environment, as well as providing access from anywhere. Windows Live services encompass calendaring, events, online storage, photos, groups, IM, email and quite a bit more. There’s so much here, it’s a bit overwhelming — to me at least. - Yahoo Local-Vertical Study: Internet And Search Heavily Used By Consumers In Research And Decision-Making
Yahoo, perhaps more than any other entity online, has been a tireless producer of consumer and advertiser research. The efforts have broadly been intended to communicate how important the Internet is in consumer purchase behavior and decision making. Last week I was given new findings from a set of Yahoo research studies, conducted earlier this year among 2,500 consumers. The surveys and interviews examined consumer behavior in choosing local services and providers in five vertical categories: legal, real estate, home improvement, health care and vocational education. In all cases the consumer-respondents had actually completed a transaction. - PubCon Vegas ‘08 – Day Two Coverage
The second day of the sessions at PubCon is now complete. Conference attendees are now enjoying the night life here in Las Vegas. If you missed the sessions, do not worry, here is live blogging and coverage from several search and Internet marketing blogs across the web. - Google Offers SEO Starter Guide
Google is getting into the SEO consulting business. Well, not quite. But, Google is now formally offering an “SEO Starter Guide” with practical advice for webmasters about improving search engine visibility and increasing traffic to a web site. It comes in the form of a 22-page PDF announced today on the Webmaster Central blog and at the PubCon show in Las Vegas. According to the Google reps at PubCon, this is the same guide Google uses internally for its own sites (YouTube, etc.).
Search News From Around The Web:
Applications & Portal Features
- Yahoo! Breaks Audience Record and Wins 2008 Election!, Yahoo Press Releases
- On-Demand Sitemaps for Custom Search, Official Google Webmaster Central Blog
Business Issues
- Now serving overlay ads in embedded YouTube partner videos, Inside AdSense
- Microsoft employee: ‘Ignorance is bliss and strongly recommended’ on patents, News.com
- YouTube founder gives $1 million to new IUP center, Post Gazette
Link Building
- Use Online Public Relations for Link Marketing, Search Engine Watch
- Video: Aaron Wall on How to Buy Links without Getting in Trouble, WebProNews
Local, Maps & Mobile
- Google Maps + TeleAtlas + TomTom = Powerful map update strategy, Mike Blumenthal
- Mobile Speed Trap Mapping with iPhone, Virtual Earth, An Evangelist’s Blog
Paid Search & Contextual
- Contextual Local Ads – Not Quite There Yet, ClickZ
- Assembling Your Landing Page Optimization Dream Team, Part 1, Search Engine Watch
- Determining Your Most Effective Bids, Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog
- Has the Google AdWords Landing Page Quality Score Changed? Find Out!, PPC Hero
- How to Use Your Holiday Shipping Information To Reduce Risk and Boost Your Seasonal Sales, PPC Hero
- PPC Hero and Hanapin Marketing Are Looking For Good People, PPC Hero
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Click-Through and Conversion Rates, Search Engine Watch
Searching
- MCN Delivers Mobile Search to Avea, www.altsearchengines.com
- Must We Unlock the Deep Web?, Search Engine Watch
SEM Industry
- A morning with Vint Cerf – an Internet Evangelist at Work, Search Engine War
- Video Tour of Google Office in New York, Digital Inspiration
- WebmasterWorld Gets New AdSense Advisor, Second One This Year, Search Engine Roundtable
SEO & SEM
- Changing Google Rankings in Different Countries for Different Searchers, SEO By The Sea
- Fluctuating Search Results, Hand Editing and Poker, SEOmoz
- Getting Rid of Duplicate Content Issues Once and For All, BruceClay.com
- How To Be An SEO Service Provider, SEO Book
- Why the DNS is broken, in plain language, ICANN Blog
Social Media
- Google Friend Connect – Ready to Launch?, Digital Inspiration
Video, Music & Image Search
- Live from NewTeeVee Live: CEO Jason Kilar explains why we are so addicted to Hulu, VentureBeat
- Microsoft’s New Photo Sharing Service: Live Photos, Read/Write Web
- TubeMogul : Distribute Your Video to Multiple Sites, Search Engine Journal
Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:
- Link Building – A Complete Walkthrough of Building Quality Links
- Argentina Forcing Google & Yahoo To Censor Search Results
- Google's Gives out SEO Advice
- Buying Domains for SEO
- TheLisa: Bringing Your Voice To Your Blog
- FireFox Addons to Explore Backlinks in Google Webmaster Tools
Related Topics: SearchCap
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