SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 3, 2011

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Hot At Sphinn: Digg’s Irrelevance, Facebook’s Timeline, Marketing Diversity & More

  One thing’s for certain in the online marketing industry: change. That was the frame for our “Discussion of the Week” last week on our sister site, Sphinn. Just a couple years ago, Digg.com was a darling among online marketers — a place to help content go viral, gain exposure and (usually) a boatload of new […]

• Top 10 Negative Google News Ranking Factors

  Last week, I released the results of a survey of Google News Ranking Factors with some of the top news SEOs in the business. While there has been plenty of response regarding the Top 10 Most Important Factors, I thought it would be helpful to take a closer look at the Top Negative Factors. In […]

• 3 Steps Combat Image Fatigue In Facebook

  Image fatigue is a huge issue in Facebook. In general, people tire of seeing the same Facebook advertising images. Facebook also understands this and after 72 hours or so, they tend to decrease ad impressions to “old” ads. As a result, advertisers need solid strategies to help develop and “freshen” ads so they continue to […]

• Mobile SEO & The Need For Descriptive Links

  It’s a well known fact that links play a key role in search engine optimization. In addition to providing a physical connection between pages, search engines also use links to get advance notice of the content they’ll find at the other end of that link. While it’s true that search engines place the greatest value […]

• Google Gets Into Ratings Game With Trusted Stores

  Google is launching an e-commerce certification program this morning called “Trusted Stores.” The company says that it’s trying to give consumers greater confidence to buy products online. In very limited beta right now, qualifying e-commerce stores will be able to display a “Google Trusted Store” badge. What’s more interesting is that Google is backing its […]

• The Lazy Search Marketers Guide To Increasing Volume Without Adding New Keywords

  Sick of spending afternoons reviewing raw query reports? We’ve all been there— pouring over keyword expansion tools trying to identify those stellar terms that your account may be missing. Adding new keywords and refining match types is certainly important for optimization, but it’s not necessarily the fastest way to increase volume. Often, advertisers focused on […]

• Report: Google To Take On Newspapers with “Circulars” Ads

  One of print newspapers’ only advantages these days may be the ability to deliver circulars and coupons. Not anymore. According to a report from Bloomberg News, Google is working with advertisers such as Best Buy and Macy’s to create Web-based circulars, which will be available starting today. The piece quotes Nick Fox, vice president of […]

• Google Wallet Surprisingly Easy To Use

  When Google Wallet launched last month I wrote that it was important but mostly symbolic because of its limited availability. Wallet is only available on the Nexus S (from Sprint) and relies on the availability of NFC-enabled credit card terminals. The NFC technology on which Google Wallet is based requires a physical chip in the phone, effectively […]

• Facebook Launches “People Talking About This” Metric, Premium Ad Unit & More

  Facebook is launching a new “People Talking About This” metric for fan pages this week, designed to show conversations happening about a brand or page owner across the web. It’s part of an upgraded Page Insights tool. Also released is a new Page Insights API tool. Facebook emailed us the information about the launches tonight, […]

• Google Panda 2.5: Losers Include Today Show, The Next Web; Winners Include YouTube, Fox News

  Searchmetrics has a pretty good track record of figuring out who lost after one of Google’s Panda Updates. Among the latest victims of this week’s Panda Update 2.5, some unexpected surprises: popular tech blog The Next Web, blog aggregator Technorati, and NBC’s The Today Show. Winners include Google’s own YouTube, along with Fox News and several […]

• Agenda Posted for Search Engine Land’s SMX Social Media Marketing – Lowest Rates Expire Saturday

  Drive new traffic to your site. Secure more conversions. Retain existing customers. Manage your company’s reputation and customer service. Social media networks provide the means; you need to master the platform. Advance your marketing skill-set. Attend SMX Social Media Marketing, a two-day tactic-rich conference that will give you the techniques, best practices and tools to […]

• Search + Social Media Marketing: Greg Finn, Horst Joepen on SMN tomorrow

  Search Marketing Now, our sister site, hosts a webcast tomorrow, October 4, featuring Greg Finn and Horst Joepen discussing “Search and Social Media Marketing Tips, Tactics and Tools for Success.” Finn, a regular contributor to Search Engine Land, will cover how to drive buzz, build great content, build links — and ultimately drive sales. Joepen, […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• ABC News and Yahoo News Announce Deal to Share Content, New York Times
• Experience the new look of Docs and Sites, Google Docs Blog

Business Issues

• Google and Baidu, Two Roads Diverged, news.ichinastock.com
• Alibaba CEO says he’s interested in buying Yahoo, Wall Street Journal
• Google Joins Apple in Push for Tax Holiday, Bloomberg
• Google’s “Interesting” Week, Monday Note
• Google’s Eric Schmidt expounds on his Senate testimony, Washington Post
• Can anyone even compete with Google any more?, GigaOM
• Facebook faces scrutiny over privacy, FT.com
• Google reportedly dishes $100M for new and original YouTube content, thenextweb.com
• Google’s Schmidt Says Acquisition of Motorola Won’t ‘Screw Up’ Android, Bloomberg
• Groupon’s Stumbles May Force a Smaller IPO, Bloomberg
• O’Brien: Google’s grip on users is as firm as it is invisible, SiliconValley.com

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Offers now available in Miami, Google Commerce
• Introducing a new support feature for Google Places for business, Google Small Business

Link Building

• Rockin’ The Not So Sexy Links, linkspiel.com
• Basic Tips for Planning Local Linkbait, Daily SEO Tip
• Concerns with Link Valuation, Justin Briggs
• Fresh Index Grows with a New Algorithm Tweak, Majestic SEO Blog
• Link Anchor Text: Understanding its impact on search engines, Site Visibility

SEO & SEM

• Changing your website’s domain name, YouTube
• How a Search Engine might Weigh the Relevance of Anchor Text Differently, SEO By The Sea
• How Google+ Will Shape Future Search Results, Search Engine People
• SEO for the iPad, SEOmoz
• The Best Headline Writing & Title Optimization Tips of All Time, Vertical Measures
• What Does “Great Content” Mean, Anyway?, Online Marketing Blog

Social Media

• Facebook Bolsters Malware Protection, PC World
• The Facebook PPC Opportunity, Search Engine People
• Zuckerberg: “I Really Do Use Facebook All Day Long.”, TechCrunch

Web Analytics

• Google Analytics Multi-Channel Funnels: Last-Click Attribution is Dead, Alan Rothstein
• Google Analytics Premium: Technical Analytics Assessment, beussery.com

Other Items

• Google launches beer, CNET News

Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• What Does Eight Years Of Blogging Get You? – Love this article. Mitch Joel writes a personal account of what blogging has done for his life and career since he began eight years ago.
• With ‘frictionless sharing,’ Facebook and news orgs push boundaries of online privacy – Facebook again may have gone too far in its quest to make privacy obsolete, and this time some news organizations could get burned by going along with it.
• Creative Branding – The Process to Making Your Mark – What exactly is branding? Learn about the creative process to establishing your brand identity.
• Google Panda 2.5: Losers Include Today Show, The Next Web; Winners Include YouTube, Fox News – Danny Sullivan provides a first glimpse on Google's Panda 2.5: Pandalized sites include some that don't deserve the downfall, on the other hands the winner list comes with sites that shouldn't get the slightest boost at all.