SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 20, 2007

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Are Your Customers Looking For A Problem?
  The main problem with marketing is it’s too much marketing and not enough problem—your customer’s problem. Too often, we focus on our product instead of what our customer needs. Instead of trumpeting how great our products are, the Internet rewards companies that let their customers come to them. And just…
• The Social Media Manual: Read Before You Play
  I get so many questions from people about Digg, Propeller, Reddit, Stumbleupon and other social news sites every day, that I decided to write this little “manual” as something to read before you jump in head first into any social site, and to keep by your side as you…
• Search Illustrated: Video Optimization
  Compelling video content can potentially open the door to site traffic, targeted visitors, and increased brand awareness. But, are the videos on your site easy for search engines and prospective customers to find? Today’s infographic demonstrates some quick and easy steps for optimizing videos:…
• Corporate Logos From Space: KFC Edition
  The Google Earth Blog has a humorous discussion of the “world’s largest KFC logo” in the Nevada desert. KFC stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken, the US-based fast-food chain. This stunt is about being visible in satellite mapping applications (such as Google Earth) and takes the rooftop logo craze to new…
• Open Letter To Senators Hatch & Kohl About Google-DoubleClick
  Today, US senators Herb Kohl and Orrin Hatch published a letter (PDF) urging the US Federal Trade Commission to carefully consider the proposed Google-DoubleClick deal. Sure, who doesn’t agree with a careful review? But sadly, the letter gets a lot of things wrong, which is alarming coming out of the…
• Flickr Adds Places, Redesigns Map Explorer
  Flickr, which previously offered users the ability to search for photos by location or see photos clustered and arrayed on a map, is going further down this path. The company is revamping Flickr’s map explorer and introducing a new service called “Places.” Places are pages dedicated to, well, specific places…
• Shopping Engine Retrevo Redesigns, Offers Electronics “Recommendations” To Users
  Just in time for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc., consumer electronics shopping engine Retrevo has redesigned and now says it’s using artificial intelligence, along the lines of dating sites like eHarmony, to find the perfect “match” between consumers and their would-be electronics purchases. The site seeks to simplify electronics shopping…
• Top Senators Warn FTC To Review DoubleClick Google Deal Carefully
  Senators Urge FTC To Review Google-DoubleClick Deal Closely from SmartMoney reports Senators Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) have urged the Federal Trade Commission to closely review the details and implications of Google’s proposed acquisition of DoubleClick. In a letter written by the Senators to the FTC, they wrote:…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Customize the Background of a Google Presentation, Google Operating System
• Google hosted site search goes global, Official Google Enterprise Blog
• What do Reader and Heroes have in common?, Official Google Reader Blog
• What If Gmail Had Been Designed by Microsoft?, Google Blogoscoped

Business Issues

• Calacanis seeks another $20m for Mahalo, E-Consultancy
• Former AOL Chair Backs New Search Tech Startup ‘Clickable’, MediaPost

Conferences

• Bringing the conference to you, Official Google Webmaster Central Blog
• SMX London Day 2 – Search Marketing for Financial Services, BruceClay.com
• What’s New With Search Advertising | SMX London 2007, www.sitevisibility.co.uk

Local, Maps & Mobile

• ‘Google To Purchase Skype?’ Chatter Lights Up The Blogosphere, InformationWeek
• GPhone Pics! Open-Source ‘Bug’ Can Run Android, Silicon Alley Insider
• Jaiku, Android and Google’s Mobile Ads, Google Operating System
• Monetizing Google Platforms?, SEO By The Sea

Link Building

• 20 Essential Blog Directories to Submit Your Blog To, Search Engine Journal
• Google Webmaster Link Tool Mid-November 2007 Update, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search & Contextual

• Why Paid Search Ad Creatives are Overrated, SEM Geek
• 9 Tips For Effective Political Paid Search Advertising, Rimm Kaufman
• Are Analysts Wrong About Online Ad Growth?, ClickZ
• Find your inner Google! (Search marketing ads we would like to see 1), Pandia
• How to run Google AdWords ads and ensure zero conversions, Jennifer Slegg
• Open sesame: Alibaba enters net advertising, Shanghai Daily
• Search Marketers Love – Hate Relationship with Microsoft adCenter, Search Engine Roundtable
• Stop Complaining, Start Educating!, PPC Hero
• The Dark Side of SEO (Search marketing ads we would like to see 2), Pandia

Searching

• Custom Search goes global, Official Google Blog
• New Search Engine FindingDulcinea Relies on Human Judgment, MediaPost
• PriceGrabber Redesign, ComparisonEngines.com
• What’s Wrong with Market Research, Out Of My Gord

SEM Industry

• Cre8asiteforums: What We’ll Cre8 in 2008, Cre8PC
• Giving my First Presentation on Social Media Marketing, ViperChill
• Global SEM Growth Leaves U.S. SEOs Behind, Search Engine Watch
• Mr. and Mrs. Brad Cornelius, Rhea Drysdale
• PubCon Announces Conference Advisory Board, PubCon Blog
• Search Engine Journal is PageRank 7 Again, Search Engine Journal

SEO & SEM

• "Google Boxes" Promote Rankings, But is it Worth It?, Search Engine Roundtable
• 404 Pages – Funny, Geeky, Disturbing, www.squareoak.com
• Find Great Keywords With SEO Digger, Performancing.com
• Google Country Specific Results No Longer Showing Supplemental Pages?, Search Engine Roundtable
• How Negative Reviews Help Your Online Reputation, Marketing Pilgrim
• SearchEngineWatch: On Page vs. Off Page SEO, Search Engine Watch
• SEO Analysis of the 5 Dragons Den Entrepreneurs, BlogStorm
• The Dark Side of Wikipedia, SEOmoz
• When Will Wikipedia Rank for Everything?, SEO Book

Social Media

• BlogRush, MyBlogLog, BumpZee, Sphinn & Scratchback – Widget Showdown, ShoeMoney
• What Would Social Media Be If We Didn’t Talk To Each Other?, Search Engine Guide
• 10 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing Sucks, Collective Thoughts
• How Do You Value Social Media?, Search Engine Guide
• Keyword Research for Social Media Marketing, Online Marketing Blog
• Social Media: It’s No Longer Every Man for Himself, Techipedia
• The RWW Guide to the World’s Most Popular Twitter Clients, Read/Write Web

Video, Music & Image Search

• MySpace to Move Into Ad-Supported Music, AdWeek
• Viddler’s New Tag-Based Advertising System, TechCrunch
• Yahoo chases YouTube with Sony BMG, The INQUIRER

Other Items

• Google Logo Contest Winner on UK Homepage, Google Blogoscoped
• Google Transfers A LOT of Domains to Google Name Servers; Is A Google Tax Prep Service in the Works?, ResourceShelf

Last 20 Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• 7 Ways to Impress a Social Media Marketer
• The Diggbait Diet: How Digg helped me lose 5-pounds in 5-hours
• Real Estate SEO is a Joke
• 10 Firefox Tips To Rock Your World
• The Aftermath – Where Now For Linkbuilders?
• Interview with Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz
• 20 Essential Blog Directories to Submit Your Blog To
• Social Media – Social Means Conversation So Ask Me, Don’t Annoy Me!
• Newbie Guide to SEO – Where The Hell Do I Start?
• 101 Great Content & Headline Ideas You Can Use
• A Rebuttal on So-Called Useless Twitter Cat Updates
• Justify going to search conferences – with your boss!
• Yelp SEO Analysis: Part Two
• Calacanis wants another $20m for Mahalo’s money pot
• Digital Musings Comic Strip: Google Page Rank Hoopla
• How to Market Your Articles Without Using Article Distribution Sites
• Internal Linking: How to Speed your Indexing, and Control Ranking
• Four Ridiculous Linkbait Myths
• Aaron Wall updates SEObook
• Red Alert to Diggers and Stumblers
• Lies, damn lies and PageRank statistics