SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 10, 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:

• Anonymizing Google’s Server Log Data — How’s It Going?
  Back in March 2007, Google promised to begin anonymizing log data to better protect user privacy. That kicked off a wave of privacy pledges from competing search engines. In addition, by agreeing to limit itself, it inadvertently got the European Union to demand even faster data destruction. Below, a look at [...]
• Google Adds Audio To Knols, YouTube Comments; What’s Next?
  Google has added audio playback to some of its Google Knol articles; this page on Echocardiography is an example. Clicking on the “Listen” link in the upper right displays an audio player with surprisingly clear sound. Google Operating System recently pointed to more information on an Audio Knol help page: We are experimenting with Audio Playback [...]
• ChunkIt, A New Information Extraction Add-On, Now Available
  ChunkIt is a toolbar that digs deep into the links found on web pages, extracting “chunks” of information from those pages, allowing you to quickly find relevant content without having to click through on the links yourself. Think of the process you already use when scanning search results, or long web pages that are rich [...]
• Search In Pictures: Google Indoor Slide, Yahoo Girl Coders & Umbrellas
  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more. Google San Francisco has an indoor slide: Yahoo Girl Coders! Lots of Yahoo Umbrellas:
• A Practical Guide To Leveraging The Long Tail For SEM
  Today: Tools from Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing that may not be news to everyone, but are definitely worth a second look. An in-depth guide to understanding the principles of The Long Tail and the practical application of it in SEM, followed up by the free read of the week. Google AdWords: daily budget tool [...]
• Yahoo Investor Seeks New Microsoft Takeover Bid
  Mithras Capital, a small Yahoo institutional shareholder, is suggesting that Microsoft take another look at Yahoo and buy the company for $22 per share. That’s $9 less than Microsoft’s original bid for Yahoo during the takeover saga earlier this year. Yahoo shares are now trading near their 52 week low. As of the stock market’s [...]
• Google Ends “Link Week” With Inbound Links Advice
  Google has been posting advice on links all this week. The two previous posts were on link architecture and external linking. Yesterday’s post was on the topic of inbound links. Google explains that inbound links not only bring you visitors but can positively influence your Google rankings. But when can these links give [...]
• U Rank – Microsoft’s Social Search Experimental Site
  Out now from Microsoft Research is U Rank, an experiment that allows people to move results around, as well as share them with friends and add comments to listings. Want to play? Sigh. You have to register using a Windows Live ID. Why not just make it open for anyone to use on [...]
• Search Month: September 2008 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 September 2008, then a major story for various search topics along with other [...]
• September 2008: Search Engine Land’s Most Popular Stories
  Below are Search Engine Land’s 10 most popular stories from September 2008: 1) Searching With Google Chrome & Omnibox – Now that Google Chrome is live, I spent some time looking at the search features within it, especially to see — as I did recently with Internet Explorer 8 — whether Google [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• New in Labs: Advanced IMAP Controls, Official Gmail Blog
• Google News in Telugu, Google News Blog
• Zoho Mail Gets Offline Support via Google Gears – Ahead of Gmail, Read/Write Web

Business Issues

• Zuckerberg: Facebook Will Have A Business Plan In Three Years, Alley Insider
• Google and Yahoo fight with the feds, CNN Money
• Google Rewires Washington in Challenge to Microsoft, Bloomberg
• Google Employees Watch In Horror As 60 Percent Of Their Stock Options Drown, TechCrunch

Local, Maps & Mobile

• MapQuest Local Turns One (Month), MapQuest Blog
• MapQuest taps Yelp info for local push, News.com
• Tip of the week: Viewing KMLs in Google Maps, Google LatLong
• The Real Reason for more AdSense underneath the Maps, martijnbeijk.com

Link Building

• SEO Basics: Are Directory Submissions Still Worthwhile?, Online Marketing Blog

Paid Search & Contextual

• Retailer tips and tools for maximizing holiday sales, Inside AdWords
• Site maintenance on Saturday, October 11 at 10am PDT, Inside AdSense
• The AdWords API Local Database Sync Project, Search Engine Roundtable
• Travel PPC: 10 Ways to Improve Your Campaign, SEOptimise
• What Everyone Ought to Know About PPC and the Buying Cycle, Shimon Sandler
• Beware of Google AdWords Editor 6.5.0, Search Engine Roundtable
• New Look for adCenter API Forum on MSDN, adCenter API Blog for Developers

Searching

• Academics sink teeth into Yahoo search service, News.com
• Arabic search engine Araby launches redesign, altsearchengines.com
• Mahalo gets live news ticke, Cnet

SEM Industry

• SMX East 2008- the People, the Sessions, the Drinking and the "Big Watah" Scandal SEO Aware, seoaware.com
• Marty Weintraub: Search Blogger of the Day, The SEO Scoop

SEO & SEM

• Google Insights Bookmarklet, Google Tutor
• Google Sitemap Pending Alert Temporary Issue, Search Engine Roundtable
• SEO Value Attribution Links – Video , Reality SEO
• Small Business SEO: It’s About Education and Empowerment, SEOmoz
• How Important is Branding to Search Engine Marketing?, SEO Book
• Interviewing for SEO jobs, SEOmoz
• Some Big Sites Are Using Google Trends To Direct Editorial, TechCrunch
• Is Your SEM Truly Looking at Search Holistically?, Search Engine Watch
• Search is Not Enough, Search Engine Watch
• The New Era of Travel Affiliate Marketing, Search Engine Watch

Social Media

• Replies On Mobile Site, Twitter Blog
• Orkut on the iPhone’ a socialite’s dream come true, Orkut Blog

Web Analytics

• MyAnalytics puts Google Analytics in your pocket, News.com

Other Items

• Hackers using fake YouTube pages to attack computers, AFP

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