SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 19, 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:

• Microsoft Says It’s Open To Search-Only Deal With Yahoo
  Coming just 24 hours after the resignation of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is saying publicly that Redmond is “open” to a “search collaboration” with Yahoo but not a total acquisition of the Sunnyvale company. The Wall Street Journal and Seattle PI report on the remarks, made during a Microsoft shareholder meeting. Meanwhile Valleywag says that Yahoo has lost Sean Suchter, a key search executive, to Microsoft.
• How To Make Flash Content Search Friendly
  Life is full of tough choices: Mac or PC? Mastercard or Visa? Bud Lite or Miller Lite? And choosing between two good options is never easy, as each has its own merits. Similarly, marketers have been faced with the same kind of tough choice when choosing their website design strategy:  Enhance the website’s appearance with Flash or optimize for search with crawlable content?  Fortunately, recent innovations in Flash accessibility programming have begun to demonstrate that Flash vs. SEO is a tough choice no more. 
• Citysearch Debuts Broad Redesign: More Social, Local & Mobile
  The venerable local arts and entertainment guide Citysearch, which has in the last couple of years confronted a new generation of challengers (mostly notably Yelp), launched a broad redesign last night. The comprehensive new site introduces the ability to get more listings and content at the neighborhood level, allows users to sign in using Facebook Connect, which will broadcast their activity back to Facebook, and embraces mobile in a much bigger way.
• “Googlers” & “Proctoids” Swap Jobs To Learn From One Another
  A New Odd Couple: Google, P&G Swap Workers to Spur Innovation from the Wall Street Journal reports that Google and Procter & Gamble are engaging in employee swapping. Google is known to have a very relaxed and free work environment, while P&G is known to have a very strict and rigid environment. P&G’s employees often are referred to as “Proctoids” because of the rigid work atmosphere. So the two companies are teaming up to learn from each other. Or that is how it appears. Two-dozen employees from each company have swapped jobs, sitting in on training programs and staff meetings to learn how each company runs. Is it about learning new management styles from each other? I am not sure.
• Google’s New Search-Based Keyword Tool Tells You What Keywords You’re Missing
  Google released a new keyword tool tonight, named the Search-Based Keyword Tool. This tool goes beyond what the other Google tools provide and tells you what keywords you are currently missing out on based on search query data from your site’s content. I spoke with Google’s Baris Gultekin, Business Product Manager about the tool. Baris explained that the value in this tool is that it gives advertisers a look at keywords that they are currently not advertising for, that might bring in a positive ROI. For example, a site that sells watches can use this tool to find a popular model or brand that they are currently not advertising for. Beyond the advertisers point of view, you can use this as a nice competitive analysis tool. You can see data about which keywords are relevant to any site on the Internet — so, if you are getting into a new line of business and want keyword data, just plug in the site’s domain and click go. Let me take you through some screen captures of the tool.

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Sync for BlackBerry: Now with contacts, Official Google Mobile Blog
• Spice up your inbox with colors and themes, Official Gmail Blog

Business Issues

• Is YouTube the Next Google?, Read/Write Web
• Yahoo!’s Five Biggest Mistakes, Forbes
• Welcome, Bienvenue, Willkommen Europeana: the EU Launches Its Digital Library, Inside Google Book Search

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Access Google Maps wherever you are on the web, Google LatLong
• Google Maps API for Flash AIR: How did we ever breathe before?, Google Geo Developers Blog
• iPhone now #1 handset in the world by AdMob’s count, MobileCrunch
• Tracking Wild Fires with Pitney Bowes and Virtual Earth, Virtual Earth, An Evangelist’s Blog
• Updated: BNP member list mashed with Google maps creates a sea of red dots, but dangerously inaccurate, TechCrunch
• Yelp Throws Down On CitySearch, TechCrunch
• Yelp Traffic Stats Suggests Broad Local Usage, The Local Onliner

Link Building

• InLinks – These New Text-Link-Ads May Be Tough to Detect, Digital Inspiration
• Is Link Building an Indian Thing?, Wiep.net
• Link Building and Blog Pitching Euphemisms, Search Engine Journal
• Using X-Robots HTTP Header To Sneakily Delete Your Link Farms, BlogStorm

Paid Search & Contextual

• AdWords URL Longer Than 35 Characters Need Exception, Search Engine Roundtable
• Can Parked Domains Drag Down Your PPC Click-Through Rate?, PPC Hero
• Intro to Ad Planner Webinar, AdWords Agency Blog
• Lowering CPC with Match Types and Negative Keywords, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Political Paid Search: 2008 Election PPC Dataset Available, Rimm Kaufman
• Understanding Ad Group Bidding Options, AdWords API Blog

Searching

• Coming to Firefox and Safari: A companion to solve your puzzle mysteries, Yahoo Search Blog
• Google Universal Search – Extreme Edition, Digital Inspiration
• Let Me Google That For You, Google Blogoscoped
• Truevert and Semantic Search, AltSearchEngines

SEM Industry

• The top Google Analytics Consultants and Website Optimisers, Search Engine War

SEO & SEM

• View Sites with Lynx Browser as Google’s Webmaster Guidelines Suggest, Eric Lander
• 1 in 10 Brand Searches Led Away from the Brand Website, Hitwise
• 11 WordPress Plugins You Need, Search Engine Journal
• Fortify Your SEO in One Hour, Cre8PC
• Google Webmaster Tools for iPhone, Search Engine Roundtable
• How Google Might Personalize Search Results Outside of Personalized Search, SEO By The Sea
• How to Promote a Brand New Blog, Sugarrae
• SEO Tools & Tips, Web Optimist
• Statistically Speaking, That Page Is Spam, All Things SEM

Social Media

• Are Social Networking Sites Discoverable?, Law.com
• Poll: More Than Half Of Twitter Users Would Pay, TechCrunch
• Which Social Media Platforms Work Best For Your SEO Efforts?, SEOmoz

Video, Music & Image Search

• Do You Need Video Content to Compete in Google Today?, Search Engine Roundtable

Web Analytics

• The disturbing inaccuracy behind Google Analytics, iMediaConnection.com

Other Items

• How Much Traffic Can A Link on Google.com Drive? The Case of the G1, Read/Write Web

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

• Search Expert Forced to Live Under Bridge
• 5 Steps to PPC Optimization
• BETA: Google analytics for SEO – Keyword analysis
• How to Spot Shady Internet Marketing & SEO Service Providers
• Google’s New Search-Based Keyword Tool Tells You What Keywords You’re Missing
• Leveraging your Visitors with Twitter
• Good SEO Cannot Compensate for Faulty Business Models!
• Rating Internet Marketing Tactics
• How to Promote a Brand New Blog – Sugarrae
• Why Google Must Die – Column by PC Magazine
• Google "Spell Check" Now Makes Up New Words
• How Twitter Rocked PubCon
• Why People Retweet You
• Free Top 8 Must have Internet Marketing eBooks for your collection |
• Best Kept SMM Secrets and Strategies Revealed by Marketing Experts
• Squeezing Juice from New Wordtracker Tool
• Forums Are So Much More Than Signature Links
• User Generated Content, SEO & Branding
• Why Wikipedia Accuracy Won't Cut It For Google Local
• SEO on JavaScript Lightbox Content