SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 2, 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 Now Showing Ads On iPhone Map
  

  We got a tip from Anthony Avolio yesterday, who pointed out that Google was showing ads on Maps on the iPhone. Until then I hadn’t noticed it. This is another way in which Google seems to be aligning the mobile experience with that on the PC. I asked earlier on my blog, “Who Owns Maps on [...]

• Google Drops The Pirate Bay’s Home Page: Was It A Fake DMCA Request?
  

  If you search for thepiratebay in Google and scroll to the bottom of the search results, you may notice that Google has said they removed search results from the page due to a complaint they received “under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.” The result they removed included the Pirate Bay’s home page. Here is [...]

• YouTube Promoted Videos Land On AdSense Ads
  

  The Google AdSense Blog announced they are now bringing YouTube Promoted Videos to AdSense ad spots throughout the web. Initially, Promoted Videos were shown on YouTube search results and then on related videos. Now, if an AdSense site has ad slots for 300×250 Medium Rectangle, 336×280 Large Rectangle, 728×90 Leaderboard, 250×250 Square, and [...]

• Researcher Jim Jansen On The Truths & Myths Of The Search Buying Funnel
  

  Jim Jansen is one of the few academics I know that is fascinated with Internet search. He has spent a good part of the last decade looking at patterns in search query and website logs, dissecting them and continually looking for significant trends. Jim and I crossed paths a number of years ago and have [...]

• FDA Warnings To Pharma Caused Big Drop In Search Ads
  

  The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued warning letters issued in late March, 2009 to a number of big pharmaceutical companies, saying that their search ads were misleading and didn’t contain the required disclosure information mandated by US federal regulations. As one might have expected this caused the companies to temporarily pull their SEM [...]

• Has Bing’s Growth Stalled?
  

  Since it’s launch Bing has steadily been inching up in market share, conveying the impression that Google has a bona fide competitor on its hands. Yesterday, however, data from NetApplications and StatCounter reflect that Bing may have seen its first usage declines since the engine’s launch several months ago. Before getting too excited one way or [...]

• Google Mass Bans & Warns AdWords Advertisers, But Why?
  

  I have been watching ongoing complaints from Google AdWords advertisers for the past five days or so, in regards to Google both banning and warning of banning advertisers for having “poor quality landing pages.” I first reported about the issue on Sunday at the Search Engine Roundtable. There are a few SEM threads on this [...]

• Google Updates Webmaster Tools Verification Feature
  

  The Google Webmaster Central Blog announced they have updated the verification tool to make it easier for webmasters to verify their sites. There are three main changes: (1) New look for HTML file verification process:

  (2) If you use the META Tag verification option and you change your email address tied to that Google account, the [...]

• Google’s Doodle For Gandhi’s 140th Birthday
  

  Today, a 140 years ago, Gandhi was born and Google wants you to know that. If you visit Google.com today, you will see a special logo for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. The logo links you to a Google search result for, you [...]

• Make Google Analytics Your SEO Watchdog
  

  Did you know that there are a handful of simple reports you can check in Google Analytics to see if your search engine optimization guru (or Agency) is catching critical pieces of the SEO puzzle? Take quick a look to sniff out what might be missing in your SEO effort. Uncovering technical SEO issues Of course, the [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Translation functions in spreadsheets, Official Google Docs Blog

Business Issues

• Can Google Stay on Top of the Web?, BusinessWeek
• Ex-Yahoo President Decker Pays $5.1 Million in California, Wall Street Journal
• Adobe, Google Sued by Textscape Over Patents, PC World
• Ask the Boss: Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive of Google, Times Online
• Is Wall Street warming to Yahoo’s Microsoft deal?, MarketWatch

Link Building

• Whiteboard Friday – Link Quality vs. Quantity, SEOmoz

Paid Search & Contextual

• Google Testing New Ad Unit for Places Pages, blog.brandverity.com

Searching

• Searching for the next Olympics host city, Official Google Blog
• Searching Without Result, Yoast

SEM Industry

• Interview With Stefan Weitz: Putting the Bling Into Bing, InfoToday
• There Are No Search Rock Stars, Search Engine Watch
• Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: October 2, 2009, Search Engine Roundtable
• What’s Next in Mobile? SEMPO President Responds, Search Engine Journal

SEO & SEM

• Adwords Interface Total All Campaigns Columns Mismatched, Search Marketing Communications
• Reaping The Ads You Sow, Jonathan Mendez’s Blog
• The Unexpected Success, SEO Book
• Using PPC to plan your SEO keyword strategy, Site Visibility

Social Media

• Confirmed: Twitter Has Begun Geolocation Rollout, TechCrunch
• Facebook shuts down malicious fake profiles, CNET News
• Google Has A Plan To Stop The Mass Exodus From Orkut: No Friend Exports For You!, TechCrunch
• How To Build Buzz For Your Small Business Site, outspokenmedia.com
• Jack Thompson Sues Facebook, The Escapist
• Latin Becomes a Living Language on Facebook, Facebook
• Some Exercises for Social Media Addicts, Digital Inspiration

Video, Music & Image Search

• Release Notes: 10/1/09, YouTube Blog