SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 30, 2007

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

From Search Engine Land:

• SMX West Is Coming! Ready To Speak?
  February 26-28, 2008 is an important date for Search Engine Land. That’s when we’ll be holding Search Marketing Expo West, the first "big" show in our SMX conference series. This will be a multi-day, multi-track event designed search marketers of all levels. I’ll be posting the agenda in mid-November and…
• Microsoft’s Web Analytics Product Project Gatineau Now In Private Beta
  The Microsoft adCenter blog has announced a private beta of their web analytics program: Project Gatineau. The blog entry notes that features include: Click and visitor tracking reports Marketing campaign reporting and conversion tracking Unique demographic and geographic information from your site visitors If you want to try it out,…
• Zillow Direct Ads Turn Site Into Dynamic Ad Platform
  Zillow has always seen itself as a media company. The real estate site, which launched in early 2006, has continued to ad features and listings that are very real-estate centric. But with the introduction of its “DirectAds” program it has become something else — a site that uses its considerable…
• Google Phone (Or OS) Ready To Launch: Mobile ‘Maka-Maka’
  In what now has become an almost weekly industry exercise in anticipation and speculation, the Wall Street Journal writes about the forthcoming unveiling of Google’s plans for its (Phone/OS) mobile launch (”within the next two weeks”). The interesting new aspect of the piece is the idea of the OS/software as…
• Preview Of Halloween & Search Engine Industry
  Tomorrow is Halloween and we have already begun seeing some home page designs, easter eggs and custom applications themed for the day. Here is a preview of what we have spotted so far….
• I Have The New Version Of Gmail, Do You?
  The Gmail Blog has announced they have been making structural changes to the Gmail code base to make Gmail iterate faster and share components with other Google applications such as Google Groups, Page Creator, and Contact Manager. How do you know if you have the new Gmail? If you login…
• Australia Gives Google OK On DoubleClick Deal
  Australia regulator clears Google-DoubleClick deal from Reuters reports the Australian competition regulator will allow the Google acquisition of DoubleClick. The commission said on Tuesday that Google and DoubleClick were not close competitors in the ad serving space. Now Google has to hear decisions from Europe and America….
• The Importance Of Keeping It Up: Have Hosting Viagra!
  …er, your web site, that is…. A few weeks ago at SMX Social Media, presenter after presenter (myself included) stressed the importance of making sure your hosting would be able to handle the effects of a strong viral campaign. The message was simple: “If you’re going to target Digg,…
• Are You Endorsed By The Search Engines?
  Each of the major search engines has a certification program that an individual or agency can use to show their accreditation status to prospective clients. While it takes a bit of time and effort to achieve accreditation with Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, there are several important ways in which…
• Search Illustrated: Keyword Research (Part 2)
  In part 2 of our 3-part series, today’s infographic details an essential element of keyword research: exploring conversations that are happening on the web. By combing through competitive and industry websites, relevant blog postings, and popular tag sites, new phrases are discovered and search frequencies can be determined….

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• It’s not about the spam, Official Google Blog
• Many Gmail Users Still Without IMAP, Search Engine Roundtable
• Meebo Platform Launches With Big San Francisco Party, TechCrunch
• The new Yahoo! Messenger is all about you, Yodel Anecdotal

Business Issues

• Google shows ITV a vision of the future, Times Online
• Google: Friend Or Foe For Telecom?, Forbes
• Yahoo’s stock takes a hit, Mercury News
• Google Vulnerable to Alternative Search Engines?, Read/Write Web
• Microsoft Must Kill Google, Now, MSNBC.com
• Yang insists he’s the man to make Yahoo click, Telegraph

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Find the Latitude Longitude Of Your Home with Google Maps, Digital Inspiration
• France Telecom denies Google talks about handset, Reuters
• It’s About Time – KML Articles by Google, Google Earth Blog
• Maps News = YourStreet, TechCrunch
• Survey: Mobile developers prefer Google, News.com
• Zillow Gets Googley with Homeowner Tools, Marketing Pilgrim

Link Building

• Hi I’m Debra And I’m A Directory Addict, Link Spiel
• Get a PageRank Victim Badge, Google Blogoscoped
• Ramblings of a Directory Groupie & Some Directory Freebies, Search Engine Guide
• Reciprocal links are NOT dead, Performancing.com
• Theory: How Does Google Determine Which Sites Sell Links?, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search & Contextual

• The story must go on…, Inside AdSense
• AdBrite puts spotlight on Facebook application ads, News.com
• Are You Addicted to Google AdWords?, Search Engine Roundtable
• FeedBlitz Introduces AdSense for Email Newsletters, Digital Inspiration
• Plentyoffish: 1-Man Company May Be Worth $1Billion, Read/Write Web
• Starting a New Keyword in Google AdWords? Set Your Bid Price To…, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Aviation Week Launches Vertical Search Engine, Bill Hartzer
• Custom Search Results Overlay, Google Custom Search
• One Month in Google is 30.4368499 Days, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Five Things That Yahoo! Search Can Do But Not Google, Digital Inspiration
• The Quaero project – new European search technology, Pandia

SEM Industry

• Google’s Internal Tool to Check Search Results?, Google Blogoscoped

SEO & SEM

• Search Engine Optimization Basics, Online Marketing Blog
• Google Sitemaps, The Organic SEO
• Hey Google, I’m Over Here! (a 301 experiment), SEOmoz
• Public Relations Benefits from SEO, Online Marketing Blog
• Site Going Offline For 10 Hours? Google Recommends Returning a 503 Service Unavailable Response, Search Engine Roundtable
• SME Brand Strategy: SEM Tactics, Tips, and Tricks – Part 2, Search Engine Watch
• Yahoo Query Revisions Based upon Anchor Text Pointing to Search Results, SEO By The Sea
• [Video] On Page SEO Tips for Google, SEO Book

Social Media

• Twitter, Facebook, Blogging and Economies of Scale, Oilman
• Better Late Than Never: Pownce Gets A Public API, TechCrunch
• Facebook’s Social Ad Network: What We (Think We) Know So Far, TechCrunch

Video, Music & Image Search

• Google’s YouTube May Post Japanese Songs This Week, Nikkei Says, Bloomberg
• Simpler Video Ads (for advertisers) With Adap.tv, TechCrunch
• YouTube Copyright Stuff Goes International And Pisses Me Off, SEOish

Web Analytics

• Hitwise Launches New and Returning Visitors Data, Web Analytics World

Other Items

• Blog Like a Person, Not Like a Cyborg, BruceClay.com
• A Public Google Job Application, Google Blogoscoped
• From Netscape To Google: The Hottest Companies Of The Past Decade, CNN Money
• Google Caught in Comcast Traffic Filtering?, slashdot.org
• Google’s love for solar may extend to other renewables, News.com
• Google: Top cop goes to Google, Valleywag
• GoogleCoupons.com and GoogleCoupon.com Now On Google Name Servers, ResourceShelf
• The Google Brain, Salon
• Whois May Be Retired, Says ICANN, Read/Write Web

Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• Search Engine Optimization Basics
• The Brilliance of Google
• Dear Google, I’m the Relationship Blogger
• Oh Geesh, So You Think You’ll Win TLA?
• Plentyoffish: 1-Man Company May Be Worth $1Billion
• Online Copywriting 101: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet
• PageRank Reduction Caused By SEOs Reporting SEOs to Google
• Everything I Needed to Know about PR I learned from Office Space
• Rating of SEM and SEO blogs
• The Link Spiel: Hi I’m Debra And I’m A Directory Addict.
• An Interview with Dazzlin Donna aka Princess Leia?
• Whiteboard: What I’ve Learned About Social Media Success
• 101 Ways to Make Your Blog More Popular and Successful
• PageRank: Caught in the paid-link crossfire
• Top 7 Niche Social News Communities
• Styling your link condoms
• Offline Web Links! What??????
• A Little Ditty on the Google Fiasco
• WARNING: Bigger AdWords Daily Budget = Stupid Traffic + Crappy Conversion!
• How to Get Any Story Buried on Digg
• Major PR Update – Sphinn Now PR 6!
• 12 Wordpress Editors You Can Choose
• If I were Google, I’d be just about to….
• 5 Things You Can Do With Your New PageRank
• YouTube With PageRank 3