SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 27, 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:

• Chinese Newspaper Says Google Censored Its Web Site
  

  Oh, the irony: The People’s Daily, the main newspaper of China’s Communist Party, says Google censored its web site by adding a malware warning to search result listings for the newspaper’s book section. The paper says the malware warning appeared after it ran an article about a Chinese group that has suggested Google’s book search [...]

• Google Voice Now Lets You Use Your Existing Phone Number
  

  The Google Voice Blog announced that you can now use your existing phone number, with limited features, with Google Voice. Technically, I believe this is not considered porting your phone number, but it does allow you to use your existing number with Google Voice. Google has created a nice chart showing the difference in features [...]

• Advocacy Group Appeals Right To Sue Over Google’s North Carolina Tax Break
  

  The Charlotte Observer reports the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law appealed the decision to not allow them to sue over Google receiving tax breaks for picking North Carolina for a server farm. The advocacy group argues that the tax benefits given to Google will ultimately cost North Carolina’s tax payers more, to make up for those [...]

• DMOZ: A Solid Directory Or The Great Pumpkin Of Search?
  

  Love it or hate it, the Open Directory Project (ODP or “DMOZ”) always seems to creep into the conversation when we’re discussing links and/or SEO. Check any forum, social news or answer site and you’ll see a wide variety of opinions on the 11 year old directory and how it’s managed. When talking about the DMOZ [...]

• iCrossing: Google’s Share Of Search Almost 77 Percent
  

  We received some interesting data from search agency iCrossing yesterday. The data show US search market share percentages and distribution quite different than the major traffic metrics firms. The company says its numbers are “based on a large representative sample of Fortune 1000 companies, across all major verticals,” which use its search tracking tools. Accordingly the [...]

• The Stories Brands Can Tell In Social Media
  

  Since its invention towards the end of the 20th century, the Internet has changed a great many things. And one of the things that is has done time after time is dismantle business models that had seemed, until its arrival, absolutely rock solid. From music to publishing to TV, the Internet has swept away seeming [...]

• SEO in the Executive Suite: Webcast Tomorrow, 1 PM EDT
  

  If organic search drives 90% of referrals, why does it only get 5% of marketing budgets? That’s one of several questions we’ll address in tomorrow’s webcast, “Managing Search Marketing Success at the C-level: What Your CMO Should Know,” at 1 PM Eastern time. Richard Zwicky, CEO of Enquisite, and Sramana Mitra, author, entrepreneur, and columnist at [...]

• Google Rolls Out New Custom Search Features, Including Wikipedia Integration
  

  Google has made a series of announcements today about its Custom Search Engine service, including a new integration with Wikipedia that substantially changes the search experience on that site for users who opt-in. Other Custom Search announcements today include new custom themes and layouts, as well as better support for “rich snippets.” More on those [...]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Gmail account security tips, Official Gmail Blog
• Google Docs now more consistent, Official Google Docs Blog
• It’s Official. Google Wave to Get Its Own App Store (with potentially more than just apps), thenextweb.com
• Sesame Street comes to Google: Improving our education system at the Breakthrough Learning forum, Official Google Blog

Business Issues

• Baidu Posts Increases In Net Income, Sales; But Outlook Misses, paidContent.org
• Carl Icahn to Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz: ‘I Wish You Could Be Cloned’, Wall Street Journal
• Google’s warm reception for secretary of energy, CNET News
• Video firm settles lawsuits clearing way for Google buy, AFP
• Another Googler Turns VC – Jon Steinberg Joins Polaris Venture Partners As EIR, TechCrunch
• Energy Secretary Chu visits Googleplex, Official Google Blog
• IAC reports 3Q profit but ad revenue still slips, The Associated Press
• Three Years After Their Acquisition, Reddit Founders Move On, TechCrunch
• Webcast: Google’s Vint Cerf Talks to Info Pros at Internet Librarian Conference, ResourceShelf

Local, Maps & Mobile

• GoogleVoice now allows use of an SMB’s primary phone number, is call tracking far behind?, Mike Blumenthal
• Israel on Google Maps, Now in Hebrew, Search Engine Roundtable
• Merchant Circle: How are they profiting from your business name this week?, Mike Blumenthal
• Survey shows iPhone threatens BlackBerry; Palm holds steady, CNET News
• Verizon BlackBerry Storm2 to Ship with Microsoft Bing App, CIO.com

Link Building

• Is Google really capable of detecting paid links and webspam?, econsultancy.com
• Should I link to all press mentions of my site?, YouTube
• Would you use a Link Building Tool owned by a Link Builder?, John Andrews

Paid Search & Contextual

• Happy Holidays! Enjoy more API units, AdWords API Blog
• Translate your AdWords campaigns with Translator Toolkit, Inside AdWords

SEM Industry

• Best SEO Community Tools Training – Paid Subscription Model – Reader Poll, Online Marketing Blog

SEO & SEM

• Help us make the web better: An update on Rich Snippets, Official Google Webmaster Central Blog
• Is Social Media Marketing a New Requirement of SEO?, BruceClay.com
• Website conversion tactics | SEO Drives Activity – Activity Drives Sales, Bruceclay.com.au
• 10 Top Tips when working with a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) agency, White Hat Media
• A Presidential Hacking Hoax, Forbes
• Dasient spots 640,000 malware-infected Web sites, The Industry Standard
• Google Now Treats 410 Status Code As "More Permanent" Than 404 Status Code, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Removes Green Party Web Site From Index Due To Hack, Search Engine Roundtable
• How to qualify SEO cold call suspects, Best SEO Blog
• Optimising for Google Social Search, BlogStorm
• What do all those editor titles mean?, DMOZ Blog
• Yet Another Bing October 2009 Update?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Blending Social Media into Your Business Cards, 10e20
• Talking with Twitter CEO Evan Williams, CNN Money
• Facebook Password Reset Confirmation Email Contains Virus [ALERT], mashable.com
• Having “The Talk” with Staff, Social Media Style, outspokenmedia.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• Madison Avenue Embracing Video Search, Sometimes By-Passing Paid Content, Beet.TV
• Online Audio Available: The Judaica Sound Archives at Florida Atlantic University, ResourceShelf
• Similar Image Search Engine Gazopa Enters Open Beta, TechCrunch
• Yahoo Japan Posts 13% Net Profit Gain, Wall Street Journal

Web Analytics

• Google Analytics IQ: Proof of Qualification Now Available!, Google Analytics Blog