SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 7, 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:

• Windows Live Comes Out Of Beta, Adds Capabilities
  Microsoft took the beta label off Windows Live Services, a mix of desktop and Web apps that are part of the company’s “software + services” strategy to keep those promoting “cloud computing” at bay (e.g., Google). Reuters and eWeek have rundowns of the global launch, while Digital Inspiration complains about…
• Training: The In-House SEO/SEM Marketer’s Trump Card
  A recent Forrester research report, US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2007 to 2012, concludes that all marketing will become interactive over the next five years with no single channel dominating the scene. We’ve seen some evidence of erosion in the ad spend for traditional media this year, as the latest…
• A Magic Carpet For B2B Marketers
  As any company trying to set up operations in China knows, getting things done is a little more difficult than in the western world. In the United States, finding a supplier is relatively easy. You can look for partners at trade shows, industry publications, ad in business directories, among…
• Ask.com Introduces Bloglines Top 1000 List
  Bloglines Beta has launched the Bloglines Top 1000 list. Didn’t Bloglines have a top blog list already? Yes, they had a top 200 list, but users wanted to see a larger picture of what feeds people subscribe to, so Bloglines has released an expanded top 1000 list. A formal announcement…
• Google Offers SEO Advice On Ajax Coding
  The Google Webmaster Central Blog posted advice on how to make your site crawlable if you make use of common Web 2.0 design features, such as AJAX….
• Search Google Maps At The Gas Pump
  Google has struck a deal with a company called Gilbarco Veeder-Root, which makes what might be called “smart” gas pumps that include an Internet connection and a kiosk/screen. It would appear to be a deal with potential global reach. Users will be able to do certain types of searches…
• YouTube Enhances Video Flagging System
  YouTube has announced they have improved their video flagging system. If you ever watch a video that might raise a concern, you can click on a “Flag” link below the video (when on a video page) that will enable you to report the video to a human editor at YouTube….
• Newspaper Editor: Google Is ‘Hugely Dangerous’
  An editor at the UK’s Times Online repeated to a newspaper conference the oft-told theme: Google was ‘hugely dangerous’ to the newspaper industry. She was apparently using Google as a bit of a stand-in for the Internet as a whole and its impact on the industry. Newspapers in Europe have…
• Clear Channel’s Radio Ad Inventory Now Available On Google Audio Ads
  The Inside AdWords blog announced Clear Channel’s inventory of about 1700 AM and FM stations are now available for purchase at Google Audio Ads. For more about the ads, see our Google Audio Ads archive….
• Google Reader Improves iPhone Interface & Adds Blogroll Feature
  The Google Reader Blog announced they have added the ability to dynamically include a blogroll of your feeds on your site and that they have improved the Google Reader Mobile interface for iPhone users….
• Search Month: October 2007 Search News, In Review
  Search Month is a monthly newsletter that recaps stories covered on Search Engine Land over the past month. It’s also available by feed here. Below, news about Search Engine Land itself, then our 10 most popular stories from October 2007, then a major story for various search topics along with…
• AOL Confirms Quigo Acquisition, Integration Into ‘Platform A’
  Based on the circulating rumor and reports, we joined the speculation that AOL was acquiring Quigo and would integrate it into Platform A. Today AOL confirmed that it had entered into an agreement to acquire the company for an undisclosed amount, which various parties speculated was $300 million. Here’s the…
• The Mysteries of Ad Quality Revealed (Yet Again)
  Perhaps it was lucky fate that Anders Hjorth (of Relevant Traffic, a European SEM agency) and I didn’t have too much time to compare notes going into the panel “Tuning Ads for Quality Score” at SMX Stockholm last week. Fortunately, the presentations didn’t overlap too much. The interesting thing…
• Facebook Tripartite Ad System Launched: Facebook Pages, Social Ads & Beacon
  Facebook has launched a new Facebook Ads program offering three major products for advertisers: Facebook Pages, a way for businesses to build branded pages on Facebook to connect with their audiences; Facebook Social Ads, an ad system allowing Facebook users to be targeted by demographic, interest and "friend activities," and…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• nsscache: open source named services system release, Google Code Blog
• Talk, Google, Talk!, Google Operating System
• Baidu rolls out a person of a month feature, Shanghaiist

Business Issues

• Can Live.com find a way to catch Google?, Times Online
• Microsoft plans massive data center here, Chicago Business News
• Spokeswoman: Yahoo has local expansion plans, The News-Gazette.com
• Microsoft Fires Its CIO For ‘Violating’ Policies, Wall Street Journal
• Super Cassettes sues YouTube, Google, www.business-standard.com
• Congress Calls For Hearing On GoogleClick Deal, MediaPost
• AOL’s New Plan: It’s Not Working, New York Times
• Microsoft court filing touts Google’s ‘rapid success’, News.com

Conferences

• ad:tech NYC Day One Photos, Online Marketing Blog
• Want Google to Speak at Your Event?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Yahoo! and the Art of Conversation, Yahoo Search Blog
• Any Interest in Israeli SEO Networking Event?, Barry Schwartz

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Introducing… the GoogleBar!, Google Maps API Blog
• Now on Google Earth: Map where Congress spends your tax dollars, News.com
• The road to better path-finding, Official Google Blog
• Symbian dismisses Google Android, BBC NEWS

Paid Search & Contextual

• AdWords Downtime, November 10th, 10am-2pm, AdWords API Blog
• Chitika Updates its LINX Ad Unit, www.problogger.net
• Five Common Paid Search Mistakes That Can Sink Your Campaign, Search Engine Guide
• Seasonal PPC Increases on the Shopping Engines, ComparisonEngines.com
• Bonding With Your PPC Prospect?, Search Engine Guide
• Google AdWords API Reporting Delays Linger On, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google AdWords Diagnostic Tool Bug, Search Engine Roundtable
• Yahoo Responds to Criticism Over Lack of Partner Screening, Search Engine Roundtable
• Raising Charity with Google, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Ask’s Strange Search Suggests, InsideGoogle
• TrueKnowledge Demos Its Semantic Search Engine, Read/Write Web

SEM Industry

• Answers to Questions for Rand: Round 2, SEOmoz
• Fetch – Search Engine Guide’s New Social News Site, Search Marketing Gurus
• The SEO, the Press, and Pandering, John Andrews
• We Want Your Questions for Yahoo! Search Marketing, Marketing Pilgrim

SEO & SEM

• Search Pulse 41: Search Halloween, SERP Updates at Google , Search Engine Roundtable
• Can the Competition Create High Bounce Rates?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Moving Site to a New IP: How to Prepare, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• How to use Facebook Flyers to get Amazing Free Demographic Information, SiteVisibility
• Become a Del.icio.us Power User, Web Worker Daily
• Google’s Kevin Marks Discusses OpenSocial at Defrag, Read/Write Web
• iLike vs. Facebook: The Battle For The Music Artist, TechCrunch
• The $5 Million Viral Marketing Campaign, Pronet Advertising
• The Big Juicy Twitter Guide, Caroline Middlebrook
• How to Use Digg to Assplode Your Blog, BruceClay.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• Microsoft Playing with Blocks to Understand How Images Might be Related, SEO By The Sea
• YouTube Canada? Take Off Eh!! Buncha Hosers, Oilman

Web Analytics

• Google Analytics’ find function, Joost de Valk

Other Items

• We need a Google court!, Joost de Valk
• Whole Foods bans executives from online forums, Reuters
• Nov. 6, 2007: Is Google Really Open? Alibaba IPO Is Big Win For Yahoo; IAC Splits Up , Daily SearchCast
• Thriving as a B-list Blogger, BruceClay.com

Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• 5 Successfully Executed Viral Marketing Campaigns
• First Screen Shots of Microsoft’s Live Search Webmaster Portal
• The Top 100 Sites on Digg by Frontpage Story Count?
• 5 Easy Ways to Make Your About Us Page More About Your Customers
• The Secret to Building a Popular Blog and Getting Tons of Readers
• Murdoch Editor: Google is “Hugely Dangerous”
• Google: As Open As It Wants To Be (IE, When It’s Convenient)
• Google’s PageRank: A Double Edged Sword
• How to Find YOUR Niche (in 4 Easy Steps)
• Google Toolbar Is SICK- Now Removed
• While You Were Out Gossip – Hell’s First Snowball Delivered by a Flying Pig
• Why Many Web 2.0 Developers Are Search Morons
• In House Search Marketers Require Experienced Consultants
• Do You Have A Blog Commenting Strategy?
• Five Common Paid Search Mistakes That Can Sink Your Campaign
• Text link broker woes: Google`s smart paid link sniffers
• 10 Signs You Are a Search Marketing Geek
• How NOT to Buy a Blog
• YouTube Canada? Take Off Eh!! Buncha Hosers
• The Good and Bad of the Almighty Digg.com
• Sphinn is faster than Search Engine Land and SERoundtable
• Why Google Personalized Search is Important to You
• New Website Health Check Tool : Seo Book.com
• The Great SEO Lie Exposed
• 11 Tips for Getting Your Comments Noticed on a Popular Blog
• Advanced Social News Gaming: An Interview with Fantomaster