SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 9, 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:

• Jaiku Bought By Google
  Google has bought Jaiku, a Twitter-like service for quick or short blogging. We’re joining Google from the Jaiku team shows their excitement for the news. Because Google acquisitions usually lead to a mad rush of user sign ups, Jaiku has decided to limit the number of new users who can…
• Report: Yahoo To Purchase 10 Percent Or $100M Of Alibaba IPO
  According to various reports, Yahoo is going to buy either a 10 percent stake or $100 million worth of the forthcoming public offering of B2B site Alibaba.com on the Hong Kong exchange. The company already owns a significant minority stake (39 percent) of Alibaba Group, the parent of Alibaba.com. It…
• Confessions Of A Lapsed Analyst: Joey Metallica Goofs Off, Gets Rich Faster
  If you’re like me, you often figure out ways to work smarter on your marketing campaigns in the time allotted. In fact, you secretly suspect that you can actually be more successful if you reject some of your more conscientious habits and just get the job done. As the…
• Yahoo Upgrades Advertisers Console Causing Some Bugs
  The Yahoo Search Marketing Blog announced that they have made several updates to their advertisers console. The changes include more custom reporting features with added scheduling options, easier navigation between detailed campaign pages and a usability update to the calendar function. This upgrade seemed to have caused some issues with…
• SEM Firm ReachLocal Closes Massive Fuding Round
  ReachLocal, an SEM firm offing simplified Internet and local search services directly and indirectly to the small business market, has closed a massive $55 million round of funding. This adds to previous rounds raised by the company. Reach is building out sales offices in cities across the U.S. and a…
• Will Google Renew Ad Deal With Ask.com?
  Ask.com Ad Pact With Google Ends Soon from CNNMoney.com reports that the deal between Ask.com and Google over syndicating Google’s sponsored listings is coming to an end shortly. At the end of this year, Google and Ask.com’s partnership expires. The article explains that Ask.com has a lot more to lose…
• The SEO Value Of Featured Pictures At Wikipedia
  My last article about Wikipedia—An Untapped SEO Opportunity: Image Link Love From Wikipedia—prompted an Orwellian mantra: instead of “four legs good, two legs bad” people have started saying “images good, text bad” and wondering why the difference. The short answer is the Wikimedia Foundation created a white hat opportunity…
• The Big Paid Link Roundup
  Official: Selling Paid Links Can Hurt Your PageRank Or Rankings On Google from Danny on Sunday has driven a lot of discussion around the blogosphere and SEO industry. I have complied a list of some of the sites that have added additional commentary to Danny’s post. I am sure I…
• Last Chance! SMX Social Media in NYC Next Week – Register Today!
  SMX Social Media is in one week! Register today to reserve your spot. There are still tickets left for this Tuesday and Wednesday event, October 16-17, in New York City. SMX Social Media = tips, techniques, and best practices shared by the pioneers of social media marketing. Get the know-how…
• Search Illustrated: Multiple Local Optimization Strategies
  Once you’ve identified and defined the target markets for your search marketing strategy, you can employ a number of different optimization approaches to reach those customer groups. Whether it’s making use of individual press releases, case studies, or blog postings, today’s Search Illustrated shows how to utilize a page-level…
• Google AdSense For Video Goes Mainstream
  AdSense For Video, the closed pilot program that Google launched back in May, has now been made into a regular program that any publisher can take part in. Introducing video units from Google’s Inside AdSense blog has more about the program, which allows publishers to carry video from YouTube and…
• Google Now Worth More Than Wal-Mart, IBM
  Today Google stock crossed the $600 threshold, bringing the company’s market capitalization to $190 billion and change and making the company officially more valuable than FedEx, McDonalds, Coke, Intel, IBM, and Wal-Mart, among others. Microsoft is worth more at $279 billion and Exxon Mobil is worth still more than $502…
• Ask Goes For More TV Product Placement
  Ask has been trying a range of strategies to gain more consumer attention and usage: the bold Ask 3D redesign, the questionable “algorithm” campaign, and now more TV product placement. AdAdge writes about Ask’s recent TV show integrations, including a new one with Entertainment Tonight: Previous integrations with reality competition…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google’s OS dreams calling on Linux, News.com
• Vortex: Simple new offline and sync abstraction on top of Google Gears, Google Gears API Blog

Business Issues

• Ask.com & Its Continued Identity Crisis, BruceClay.com
• Google to Announce Third Quarter 2007 Financial Results, Google
• Yet Another NY Court Says Keyword Ads & Metatags Aren’t TM Use in Commerce–S&L Vitamins v. Australian Gold, Eric Goldman
• Facebook Finance Chief Yu Becomes a Director at Vobile, Wall Street Journal

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google using expandable Map with Yahoo! Maps listings – confused, www.locallytype.com
• Qype – Using Yahoo! Maps now, Locally Type
• AskPoodle Simplies and Personalize Local Search, Search Engine Journal
• LabeledMarker v1.1: Now supporting marker and label toggling!, Google Maps API Blog
• More Street View cities to explore, Google LatLong

Link Building

• Michael Gray Interview: Advanced Link Strategies, LinkJuicy
• Why Hasn’t My Site Been Accepted Into DMOZ?, DMOZ Blog
• What Would You Want to Learn from a Linkbait Panel?, SEOmoz

Paid Search & Contextual

• Using industry lingo & acronyms in your PPC ad copy, Jennifer Slegg

Searching

• Search Engine Comparison Poll: The Results, Google Operating System
• Tuning in to Book Search, Inside Google Book Search

SEM Industry

• Interview of Eli from Blue Hat SEO.com, SEO Book
• 1 Year at Google!, juberjabber
• Search Engine Marketing Firm ReachLocal Takes $55.2 Million, TechCrunch
• Rewriting the Beginner’s Guide – The Outline, SEOmoz
• hakia Search Music Party on Thursday: You Are Invited, Hakia Blog
• SMX Social Media New York – Danny Sullivan Neil Patel Interview, Online Marketing Blog

SEO & SEM

• Yahoo Search Showing Less Links in Site Explorer?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google: keyword density should NOT be this important, Joost de Valk
• GoogleBot Not Sending IF_MODIFIED_SINCE Request?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Googlebot Requested Another JS File, eKstreme.com
• SEO Lessons from the Rugby World Cup 2007, www.sitevisibility.co.uk
• AJAX Feed API Addition – The Dynamic Feed Control, Google AJAX Search API Blog
• Tips for Buying an Existing Domain Name, Marketing Pilgrim
• fantomaster Offers Wordtracker Special Promo: 15% Off Now!, Fantomaster
• How to Avoid Hiring a Bad SEO, Search Engine Watch
• How To: Avoid Seasonal Search Ranking Wreckage, Search Engine Watch

Social Media

• Graphing social patterns with Linkedin’s Reid Hoffman, Between the Lines
• Facebook’s fbFund Takes a Mulligan – Requires All Applications to be Resubmitted, CenterNetworks
• Facebook Flyer test results, Groundswell
• Google tools to power virtual worlds, News.com
• Is Twitter testing out mobile advertisements?, News.com
• Understanding the Communities within Reddit, 10e20

Video, Music & Image Search

• Companies Try New Ways To Boost Web Video Quality, Wall Street Journal
• Lesser-known (and secret) Picasa features, Google Photos Blog
• Australia challenges Japan whaling on YouTube, Reuters
• Online Video Social Bookmarking Anyone?, SEO Speedwagon

Other Items

• Googleplex: Always Vegetarian, Googlified
• What Are You Doing This Weekend?, Google LatLong
• Google draws fire over its special logos, Los Angeles Times
• Google tools to power virtual worlds; Topix Adds New Features Topix Mobile , ResourceShelf
• The Story of How Google Grew Up, Shimon Sandler

Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• Everything you always wanted to know about redirects but never bothered to research
• Forget Digg. Get flamed ‘in style’ at StumbleUpon
• Is StumbleUpon the Antithesis of Google?
• Michael Gray Interview: Advanced Link Strategies
• Becoming A Social Media War Strategist – Manage Your Troops Intelligently
• Google PageRank Update & Link Selling
• What Is NoFollow Really For? Blog Spam, Paid Text Links, Paid Ads or Let’s Just Let Calacanis Decide Rankings?
• How Do You Give Love? Nonprofits Need Search Marketing.
• How to find a paid link?
• Hey Shari Thurow – Stop Sterotyping SEOs – Sugarrae
• Client Erased Title Tags = $9 Million of Organic Traffic GONE!
• Comments are King – Unfortunately
• The Paid Links Industry Needs To Go Underground