SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 19, 2009

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 News For iPhone Gets Redesign

  The Google Mobile Blog announced Google News on the iPhone, Android and other smart phone devices has a new design. The new design looks more like the desktop version of Google News with minor changes to make it fit better on the smart phone screens.
  The new design has more stories and images, […]
• Yahoo Brings ‘Real Time’ Updates To News Shortcut

  Yahoo has enhanced its News shortcut with real-time feeds and updates. The idea is to make the News Shortcut more current and more social with Twitter content in the form of videos, photos and tweets. The new shortcut has a horizontal tabbed interface that offers access to each category of information (see screens below). According […]

• Google Tackles Its “UI Jazz” Problem, Tests Streamlining Search Options Feature

  Sometime later today, a small number of Google users will see a new look to Google’s Search Options feature. If all goes well, the cleaner display may be launched across Google after the New Year. And it’s all because Google’s vice president of search product and user experience Marissa Mayer doesn’t like […]

• Google Removes Offensive Obama Image; Was It Justified?

  Saying the host site was serving malware to users, Google has removed a controversial photo of First Lady Michelle Obama from Google Image Search. The site itself, however, remains listed in Google web search results without any visible malware warning.
  Welcome to the murky world of free speech, politics, and Google.
  It began last week, when Search […]

• Liveblogging The Google Chrome OS Press Conference

  Something’s up with Google’s Chrome operating system. Don’t know what, but we’ll all know soon as a press conference begins at 10AM Pacific. I’m coming at your live from the Googleplex. Buckle up, and we’ll see what’s happening. You can also watch from home. Webcast info is here.
  There will also be related coverage developing at […]

• Google Writes On Mobile Site SEO Concerns & Techniques

  The Google Webmaster Central blog has two excellent write ups on mobile SEO concerns and techniques. One is named Help Google index your mobile site and the other is named Running desktop and mobile versions of your site.
  The reason for the two different articles is that often webmasters consider smart phone enabled sites as […]

• What Are You TALKING About?

  Have you ever tried to create an interesting blog on a topic that people rarely interact with? Can you really build a thriving readership of loyal fans interested in a dry topic like root canals or debt consolidation? Most likely not.
  It is far easier to go where the conversation is than it is to create […]

• SMB Online Visibility In 2nd Tier Cities

  A lot of statistical data and analysis is published about SMB online activity in the top US markets, often leaving out many of the tier two cities. In this post, I will share some data on the online visibility of local businesses in Columbus, Ohio. With a population of some 750K, Columbus and its surrounding […]

• Microsoft-Yahoo Search Deal On Track For Completion

  According to AllThingsD the MicroHoo search deal is nearing completion and “definitive agreement” status. Speculation that the deal was in trouble started happening when the two companies failed to meet their self-imposed October 27 deadline to finalize the complex agreement. However it appears the circumstances were just as reported in the parties’ 8-K filing with […]

• Google AdSense Adds Gold Stars To Ads

  This morning, I reported on and noticed yellow stars on Google AdSense ads — these ads were named “featured ads.” I honestly didn’t believe it. I thought maybe this was some type of AdSense hack that placed gold stars on the ads. I just received confirmation from a Google representative that these ads […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Droid, iPhone, and Pre: meet the new Techmeme Mobile, Techmeme
• Google Reader URLs a Target for Email Spammers, Search Engine Roundtable
• Releasing the Chromium OS open source project, Official Google Blog
• What’s cooking with iGoogle…, Official Google Blog

Business Issues

• AOL Also Likely to Eye Sale of MapQuest–Is Microsoft a Possible Buyer?, AllThingsD
• Facebook Named in Federal Class-Action Suit over Scammy Zynga Ads, Valleywag
• Google Gets a $700 Target from UBS, TheStreet.com
• MSN Head Greg Nelson Moves to MicroHoo Integration Role (Yahoo Picks Morrissey), AllThingsD

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Earth 5.1 is now out of beta, Google LatLong
• Google Maps for the Rich and Famous, Renegade Search
• Bing Maps China Expands Reach, Bing Maps Blog
• Data Visualization: Interactively Track the Avian Flu Around the World Using Google Earth, ResourceShelf
• Google Maps Satellite Images Being Posterized?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Israeli Google Maps Street Details Comes to iPhone & API, www.rustybrick.com

Link Building

• Building Links “Outside The Box”, Link Spiel

Paid Search & Contextual

• A deeper look at channels: URL channels (Part I of III), Inside AdSense
• Google Disabling AdSense Accounts For Using Tamper Data Firefox Plugin, Search Engine Roundtable
• Take advantage of advanced reports, Inside AdWords

Searching

• New Research from Jim Jansen: Search engines are source of learning, ResourceShelf
• The Latest News From Bing, TechCrunch
• TheFind Launches Comparison Shopping Feature, TechCrunch

SEO & SEM

• A Competitive SEO Advantage in Studying the Times – SEM Synergy Extras, BruceClay.com
• Pre 2010 Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) Checklist, Search Marketing Sage
• What Google thinks of Social Media, SEO and Advertising: Party, Bullsh*t, Good For You, Online Marketing Blog
• Back to Basics: Fixing Canonicalization Issue, Daily SEO Tip
• Can moving my website to "the cloud" harm my listings?, YouTube
• Hiring Your Own SEO, Search Marketing Standard
• How Google Might Insert Artificial Named Anchors into Web Pages, SEO By The Sea
• How to Identify Indented Listings Opportunities, Search Engine Journal
• Why It’s Harder to Hide Things on The Internet, Michael Gray

Social Media

• Twitter spam explosion, SophosLabs blog
• Adknowledge Continues Shopping Spree, Acquires SocialMedia.com’s Ad Network, TechCrunch
• Dear Facebook Ads, Customer Support Sucks, AIM Clear Blog
• Facebook Common Stock Valuation Jumps 42% to $9.5 Billion, Bloomberg
• Facebook Upgrades Their Photo Uploader Tool, All Facebook

Video, Music & Image Search

• Automatic captions in YouTube, Official Google Blog
• Find Similar Images with GazoPa (Beta), ResourceShelf