SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 24, 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: Numbers Show Search Has Changed, But Not How You’d ThinkIf you want to get a snapshot of a specific era in American society, I’d suggest the Yellow Pages industry is a […]
Barry Schwartz on November 24, 2008 at 5:52 pm | Reading time: 8 minutes
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
From Search Engine Land:
- Numbers Show Search Has Changed, But Not How You’d Think
If you want to get a snapshot of a specific era in American society, I’d suggest the Yellow Pages industry is a good place to take that picture. The companies and headings listed can provide a footprint in time for people’s needs and interests of the day. In the 130-year history of the Yellow Pages, categories have come and gone, they’ve gained and lost popularity. Typewriters gave way to personal computers. Recycling services seemed to sprout up out of nowhere. Do you think pet grooming was a top heading 50 years ago as it is today? - Google’s SearchWiki Struggling Through Its First Week
Google’s SearchWiki is off to a rough start in the user feedback/public relations department, and has already been knocked offline by some kind of technical issue. SearchWiki usage seems fair to strong, depending on the queries you’re looking at, but is it the type of usage Google wants? Let’s take a look at SearchWiki’s first handful of days out in the wild. The Reviews Are In… … and they’re not very good. TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington was one of the first to voice his complaints: - PPC Holiday Tips: It’s all about Execution
The Rimm-Kaufman Group manages paid search for a great many retailers across just about every vertical and the October pain was felt by all of them. We know that the stakes are incredibly high going into this holiday in particular, placing a premium on getting the details right. Here are some tips to help out. - The Complete Guide To Google’s Website Optimizer
Why is it that some web sites are golden, compelling visitors to buy while similar web sites, perhaps even offering the same products at similar prices, fail to make the grade? It may be dumb luck on the owner’s part, but a more likely explanation is that the golden site is the result of careful design, testing, tweaking and testing yet again. Testing has grown into a core search marketing activity, but strangely, it’s also an activity that many search marketers either choose to avoid or don’t even consider at all. And that’s a mistake. Good testing can not only help you get rid of stinker ads and landing pages, it can also help you optimize winning campaigns, improving their conversion rates and making them even more profitable. And testing needn’t be difficult or time-consuming, especially if you have the right tools. One of the best tools for helping you test and refine your search marketing campaigns is Google’s Website Optimizer. Even better, Website Optimizer is a free service. - Just Deal With IT
Every corporation large enough to have an IT department has had search engine optimization problems at one point or another. Well, at least every corporation that I’ve dealt with. And dealing with these issues sometimes requires the diplomatic skills of Henry Kissinger, the technical skills of Bill Gates, the persuasion skills of P.T. Barnum and the people skills of Barack Obama. If you’re in that position, here are some tips for the successful care and feeding of IT people. - Microsoft Rebranding Live Search As Kumo.com?
Say it ain’t so! LiveSide is reporting that Microsoft might be rebranding Live Search under the name, Kumo.com. Kumo.com is now registered under Microsoft and the name servers are now under SEARCH.LIVE.COM. Going to Kumo.com takes me to a page that says I do not have permission, but takes Microsoft employees to a special internal site. - Have Google & Yahoo Begun Laying Off More Workers?
The Web Guild reports Google has begun laying off staff and up to 10,000 ‘Googlers’ can be impacted by this new wave of layoffs. The Web Guild said in August, recruiters said about 500 ex-Googlers were on the job market and that number continues to increase. I am a bit skeptical about the Web Guild’s report, I do hope to substantiate this news more and update it later with a statement from Google, if possible. Former Yahoo star blogger, Jeremy Zawodny twittered on Friday “Yahoo! layoffs have begun…” I suspect Jeremy is very well-connected with many … - Only 8 Business Days Until SMX West Rates Increase
Sound financial advice is rare as the Hope diamond these days, but we have some for you. Register for Search Marketing Expo – SMX West today and you’ll save $600 off the on-site rate. SMX West is an outstanding investment. You’ll attend 3 days with more than 50 educational sessions on everything search: paid search advertising, organic, search engine optimization (SEO), link building, local search, mobile, social, analytics, and much more! Read on… - Google SearchWiki 101: An Illustrated Guide
Google SearchWiki — a new feature that allows you to move and comment on search results — has been out for less than a day, and it’s amazing to see how much confusion (as well as commentary) there is already developing. So below, some clarification on how it works, opportunities search marketers should consider, some privacy issues and ideas for improving it.
Search News From Around The Web:
Applications & Portal Features
- Gmail Security Flaw Proof of Concept, geekcondition.com
- Malicious Setting Up of Filters in Gmail?, Google Blogoscoped
- Talk: Languages on the Internet at Google, Climb to the Stars
- Create, collaborate, and celebrate with Google Docs, Google
Business Issues
- Facebook Gets SEC Stock Exemption To Keep Hiring, Alley Insiders
- Florida Blogger Gets California Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed For Lack of Jurisdiction, SEOmoz
Local, Maps & Mobile
- Google Maps Translate Reviews, Google Maps Mania
- Google’s expansion into Europe faces new laws, SeattlePi
- ‘GPhone’ Sales Strong: HTC Eyes 1 Million G1s Shipped In 2008 (GOOG), Alley Insider
Link Building
- How to get a link from CNN.com, The Organic SEO
- Rand Fishkin and Eric Enge Talk Linkscape, Stone Temple
- Did Google Win the War on Paid Links?, SEO Book
- All Links Are Not Equal: Why Twitter Links Grow Conversation, Search Engine Guide
- Link Building Tools To Use For Inspiration, Search Engine Journal
Paid Search & Contextual
- How To Contact Microsoft adCenter Support, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
- PPC Geo Targeting Best Practices, PPC Hero
- The 5 Biggest Mistakes in PPC Testing, Search Engine Journal
- Google TV Ads program targeting enhancements, Inside AdWords
- PPC Holiday Tips: It’s All about Execution, Rimm Kaufman
Searching
- Our international approach to search, Official Google Blog
- ‘Tis the season for instant answers, Live Search
- Explode Google Results With Sounds, Google Blogoscoped
- Google Powered BitTorrent Seach Engines, TorrentFreak
- How being a DMOZ editor helps webmasters improve their skills, DMOZ Blog
SEM Industry
- Jim Boykin: Paid Links Aren’t Worth It To Me, We Build Pages
- SEO Sales Process: Overcoming Common SEO Objections, SEO Book
- Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: November 23, 2008, Search Engine Roundtable
- James Duthie: Search Blogger of the Day, The SEO Scoop
- Outsourcing? Here are Questions to Ask a PPC Search Firm, Shimon Sandler
- Marketing Lessons from Google, SEO Book
- 5 Most Annoying SEO Myths, E-Consultancy
- SEOs Do Your Homework, John Andrews
- Video: Vanessa Fox and Nathan Buggia Introduce O’Reilly Found Conference, WebProNews
SEO & SEM
- Google Page Rank – What Do You Know About it, Pandia
- Stop Worrying About Search Engine Rankings, SEO.com
- How To Optimize Your Site Forms, Search Engine Journal
- Detecting spam just from HTTP headers, Geeking with Greg
- Keywordfinder – new free tool to find the 20 most successful keywords related to your topic, Locally Type
- Benchmarking Your Website: Metrics to Review Before an SEO Engagement Begins, SEOmoz
- Does Randomizing Content Help Search Rankings Or Hurt Rankings?, Search Engine Roundtable
- Is Microsoft Live Search Crawling More But Indexing Less?, Search Engine Roundtable
- Was There a November Yahoo Update?, Search Engine Roundtable
- Great Expectations: How to Communicate SEO Value, Search Engine Watch
- Selling SEO During an Economic Downturn, Search Engine Watch
- SMX London – Keyword Research Tools & Techniques, Marketing Pilgrim
- SMX London – SEO & Social Media Marketing, Marketing Pilgrim
- Google Approved SEO, DavidN
Social Media
- Facebook Getting Serious About Classifieds; May Relaunch This Year, TechCrunch
- Facebook’s Project Palantir: Beautiful Visualization Of People Connecting, TechCrunch
- What Twitter with ads might look like, NevilleHobson.com
- How Google Might Advertise on Social Network, SEO By The Sea
- Getting the Hang of the Twitter Culture, Marketing Pilgrim
- Making Facebook Safe Against Spam, The Facebook Blog
Video, Music & Image Search
- PubCon 2008: Video Engines – New Kids Rocking the Web, Live Search Webmaster Center Blog
Web Analytics
Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:
- Marty Weintraub Interview
- Google Search Wiki – Like Forcing You To Eat The Heart of a Live Cobra
- The flaw in the Twitter Magpie
- Is BrowseRank The New PageRank?
- Personality is Key to Social Media
- Google Releases Bloggers Best Practices Guide
- When Does Reputation Management Become Unethical?
- You Are Not A Social Media Guru
- Google SearchWiki 101: An Illustrated Guide by Danny Sullivan
- Jim Boykin: Paid Links Aren’t Worth It To Me
- New seoMOZ Toolbar – A Review
- Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide Summary
- 9 WordPress Plugins You Need
- Google Call SA Agencies 'Fraudulent' – Will Pick '5 Certified Providers'
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