SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 26, 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:

• SearchBiz: MSFT’s Online Struggles; More on Yahoo-AOL; Cuts At Technorati
  Fortune magazine asks why Microsoft can’t make money online, and shares some striking numbers: The company’s Online Services unit, which includes Live Search, aQuantive, and the MSN portal, lost $480 million in the quarter that ended September 30th — 80% more than the same quarter a year ago. Ouch! Why the struggles? The article suggests that Microsoft is trying to do too much online, and that, by being so late to the search game, it’s playing an impossible game of catch-up to Google:
• Crappy MP3 Sites, Comment Spamming & Enough Already
  In covering search marketing for the past 13 years, I’ve tried not to be judgmental about certain marketing tactics some people might undertake. Search engines have “rules” that they themselves knowingly allow others to break. Arguments erupt over the idea that any type of marketing is “manipulation.” But at some point, enough is enough with some tactics. And today, I’m done. I’m calling bullshit on anyone who is link spamming or creating crappy nonsensical content sites. Seriously, enough. You’ve wasted enough of my time, and you’ve wasted enough time of people all over the web. I’ll give you a personal illustration of this below. Sure, I’ll skewer Google along the way.
• Yahoo Launches “Vertical Lens” Search Through BOSS
  Yahoo announced an expansion to the BOSS technology named “vertical lens” technology. In short, this allows developers build their own vertical search engines using Yahoo’s search technology, through BOSS. This new technology is replacing Yahoo’s old Search Builder tool. TechCrunch is one of the first to deploy a “vertical lens” on their site. TechCrunch’s solution searches technology-focused articles on both TechCrunch.com and across Yahoo’s web index. So this helps improve TechCrunch’s internal site search, and also give searchers other relevant search results that are not found on TechCrunch’s domain. Here is a picture that shows how TechCrunch implemented this BOSS technology:
• comScore: Yahoo Still Major Player In Japan
  comScore has released metrics on search market share in Japan. Overall, in September, Japanese searchers searched 5.9 billion times, with an average of 96 searches per user. Yahoo is beating Google out in searches, with over 3 billion searches conducted on Yahoo properties. Google properties counted for just under 2.3 billion searches. Yahoo has a 51.2% market share in Japan, while Google has 39% share, while Microsoft has a 1.5% share with 90 million searches.
• Meet Pegman: Google Makes StreetView Bigger, Easier To Use
  Who knew that the little “man” that helps users navigate StreetView is called “Pegman”? As much as I’m a fan of StreetView, there was always something a bit awkward about maneuvering the little man on the map to launch the StreetView image window. But Google has now made a number of improvements that make it easier to use Pegman himself and StreetView in general.

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Security firm: Google’s Orkut being used to spread Trojans, News.com

Business Issues

• Search Engines Aren’t Liable for Gambling Ads Per 230–Cisneros v. Yahoo, Eric Goldman
• Search Marketing Firm Sees Retailers Spending More, Getting Less, Alley Insider
• It’s Official: MTV Exec Courtney Holt Leaves To Run MySpace Music, TechCrunch
• LYCOS Europe N.V. announces the results of strategic review process, Lycos
• Lycos Europe To Shut Down After Failing To Find Buyer, paidContent.org

Paid Search & Contextual

• Display ad builder best practices, Inside AdWords
• Assembling Your Landing Page Optimization Dream Team, Part 2, Search Engine Watch
• Microsoft Advertising: Insights – 10 Minutes With Matt Van Wagner, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Need a Dedicated Google or Yahoo! Representative? Just Ask., PPC Hero
• Will Google Expand AdWords "Automatic Matching" Before Holiday Season?, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• See How To Save 25% On Holiday Gifts With Microsoft Cashback, Search Engine Roundtable
• Quintura Does "Vertical" Search Across Sites, Quintura blog
• Sending Secret Messages Via Google’s SearchWiki System, Lauren Weinstein’s Blog

SEM Industry

• Ann Smarty Becomes An SEO Mom :), SEO Smarty
• Jacqueline Zenn: Search Blogger of the Day, The SEO Scoop
• SMX London – Buying Websites for SEO, Marketing Pilgrim
• Video: Barry Schwartz on Blendtec’s Viral Marketing Strategy, WebProNews
• Video: Brett Tabke on How PubCon 2008 Exceeded all Expectations, WebProNews
• Want to Know the State of the SEM Industry?, BruceClay.com
• Will Google Be Giving Holiday Gifts Out This Year?, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• Finding relevant keywords for any term using Yahoo! Boss, Yahoo! Developer Network Blog
• Forget Everything You Ever Learned in High School, We Build Pages
• How to Make Decisions That’ll Rock Your SEO Campaign, Part II, Search Engine Guide
• Keywordfinder: New and Different Keyword Research Tool, Small Business SEM
• Online Marketing Tips Video: Keyword Research Concepts, Search Marketing Gurus
• Why Shouldn’t SEOs Obsess Over the Site Command, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• 7 Good Twitter Monetization Strategies (and 7 that Suck), SEOmoz
• Standing Out In Social Media – Miss Manners or Mis-Behavior, The SEO Scoop
• You Gotta Try Mr. Tweet, Mashable

Web Analytics

• Google Analytics Profiles and Filters Part 2: Advanced Filters, Closed Loop Marketing Blog
• Seminars for Success, Now for Website Optimizer, Google Analytics Blog

Other Items

• Google Canada’s New Eco-Friendly Home Enjoys Playful Work Philosophy Part One, Kris Abel’s Tech Life

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

• Crappy MP3 Sites, Comment Spamming & Enough Already
• Outsourcing? Here are Questions to Ask a PPC Search Firm
• Are Your Internal Links Passing Page Rank?
• SEO Question: does a non-indexed page pass on PageRank? – Eduard Blacquière’s Search Marketing Blog
• Seth Says: You Will Be Misunderstood
• The Beginners Guide To Effective SEO
• Jeff Quipp Interview – Future of Search
• Ann Smarty Becomes An SEO Mom :)
• SEMPO To Ring NASDAQ’s Bell
• Opening the 'Closed' InLinks.com Database
• Authority Link Building – How to get .EDU Links
• Being A Twitwit Ain’t Being A Nitwit
• Google Cutting 1/3 of Workforce
• Google Maps Interface Revamped for Street View
• Google penalizes Video Bloggers for Keyword Stuffing [HUMOR]
• Google Layoffs – 10,000 Workers Affected
• 4 Main Reasons you should be linking in Blogs
• 5 Most Annoying SEO Myths