SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 16, 2009

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Google Testing Comment Search On YouTube
  

  Though the level of discourse in YouTube comments will never win awards, Google appears to be quietly testing a comment search feature. You won’t find it anywhere obvious in the YouTube interface — not on a video page, not even in Advanced Search. It’s available at this URL (you can change the query at the [...]

• Five Rules For Running A Successful Pay-Per-Call Campaign
  

  Although it’s been around for years, pay-per-call advertising may be finally hitting its stride. Greg Sterling, a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land, recently wrote: We’ve long known that calls are much more valuable than clicks to small businesses in particular, but also to many larger entities with call-center sales operations. However… it’s [...]

• Search In Pictures: Yahoo Oktoberfest, Yodel Studio & Google Bike
  

  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. Yahoo Got People Yodeling: Yahoo Open Hackday in NYC: Cute Google Bike Tasty Yahoo Oktoberfest:

• Wolfram|Alpha Opens Up Paid API
  

  Wolfram|Alpha, the very impressive fact engine, has announced their new API that will allow third-parties to access and display results from their database. The API is priced out with three tiers: Developer & Personal Use Plans Small & Medium Business Plans (up to 750,000 requests per month) Enterprise Plans (over a million requests per month) The data within Wolfram|Alpha is [...]

• Convert More New Users Using Advanced Segments
  

  Whether your site’s purpose is ecommerce, data capture, whitepaper download or something altogether different, it’s almost certain that there is some kind of action you want users to complete. Channelling as many of your prospects as possible to this action should be pretty high on your “list of stuff to do on the site.” First step, make sure you have some way of tracking these actions and that you know what your conversion rate is.

• How Much Detail Do Product Detail Pages Need?
  

  Can an ecommerce store’s product detail pages bog a visitor down in too much detail? Can you provide the wrong information and leave people with unanswered questions? My friend and occasional client Michael runs Greek For Me, an apparel store for Greek fraternities and sororities. He recently asked me for usability consulting to help him increase his [...]

• Google Endorses Reputation Management, Says Stop Asking Them To Remove Content
  

  Google already offers PPC advice and SEO advice. And now, with “Googling yourself” becoming a common part of the language, Google’s now offering reputation managament advice, too. The actual advice is basic, to say the least: Create a Google Profile. Ask happy customers to review your business online. Publish positive content about yourself. But it’s interesting [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• The Churchill Club: A Conversation With Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, TechCrunch

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Local Listing Ads Using Call Tracking with Google Voice, Mike Blumenthal
• Atlanta Prepares for "Mapathon", ResourceShelf
• Street View: We can trike wherever you like, Official Google Blog

Link Building

• Linkbuilding – A problem-solving adding-value matter, Search Cowboys

Paid Search & Contextual

• Beware the Google Adsense "Account Disabled" Phishing Scam, Domain Name Wire
• Beware: Google AdSense "Account Disabled" Phishing Scam, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• AVG Calls Some Google Search Pages A "Threat", Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Search Suggestions Smarter? Abbreviations Working?, Search Engine Roundtable
• New Online Database: European Union Bookshop Historical Database (Free) Goes Live Today, ResourceShelf

SEM Industry

• Ruud Questions: Michael Gray a.k.a. Graywolf, Search Engine People Blog
• Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: October 16, 2009, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• Rethinking Duplicate Content, SEOmoz
• Why DIY SEO Can Fail, BruceClay.com
• Brands vs Query Refinement: Is Google Using The Second Search?, SEO Book
• DRAFT Whiteboard Friday – Getting Indented Listings, SEOmoz
• Rich Snippets, Semantic web, Linked Data and SEO, Bruceclay.com.au
• Weird Google Indented Search Results, ClickFire

Social Media

• Breaking: Twitter Begins Lists Rollout, TechCrunch
• Twitter goes mobile in Japan, Computerworld.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• YouTube Launches Real-Time Discussion Search and Tracking, Read/Write Web