SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 11, 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:

• Google Promoting Mobile Ads As Extension Of Desktop AdWords
  Although Google has been testing/running ads on mobile for at least a year, the company is now starting to formally promote mobile to its advertiser base and SEM firms. Here are the FAQs. If AdWords campaigns conform to Google’s mobile ad requirements and limits they will be automatically included in…
• Google Health’s Adam Bosworth Leaves Google
  I got a tip that Google vice president Adam Bosworth, who headed up the Google Health project, had left Google. Now Google has confirmed this is so — Bosworth is leaving the company. Says Google:…
• State of the Contextual Nation: Why New Google Won’t Be Like New Coke
  Was “Classic” Coke so much better than “New” Coke? It sure was in the real world. Why mess with a good thing? A favorite formulation turned out to be, well, still a favorite in spite of a more modern, “scientific” formulation. Google creates products that are a lot more…
• Superpages Now Offers Compare Merchants Feature
  Today Superpages formally rolled out a compare merchants feature. In doing so it becomes the second major US yellow pages publisher to offer that feature in its online directory. DexKnows, owned by R.H. Donnelley and powered by Local Matters’ “destination search” platform, has offered the feature for some time….
• Man Arrested for Google Bombing Polish President Into Top Spot For “Kutas” (Penis)
  Philipp Lenssen reports that a Polish newspaper says that a 23-year-old polish man was arrested for Google bombing. Marek W. from Cieszyn is accused of somehow causing the Polish president Lech Kaczyński’s web site to rank tops for “kutas,” which translates to penis. Marek reportedly used software to help produce…
• 4 Questions & Answers You Should Know About Facebook’s Public Search Listings
  Last week, Facebook formally announced that it was making millions of personal profiles accessible to the public via major search engines. As far as I can tell, Facebook members who never intended or expected to be listed this way were suddenly opted-in to Facebook’s new plan. I say "as far…
• Yahoo’s Right Media Serves Up Trojan Ads For Three Weeks
  Yahoo feeds Trojan-laced ads to MySpace and PhotoBucket users from The Register reports that Yahoo’s newly acquired Right Media served up ads with Trojan viruses for three weeks during the month of August. The flash ads reportedly contained a file that installed a Trojan back door on vulnerable Windows machines…
• Technorati Adds Topics To Home Page & Topic Pages
  Technorati announced the addition of “Technorati Topics” to the home page and Technorati Topics landing pages. These topics are a way for Technorati to create a simpler category system for blogs they index. Technorati Topics are presented on the home page and updated dynamically as new blog posts or stories…
• An Untapped SEO Opportunity: Image Link Love From Wikipedia
  Suppose I told you about a way to create viral links on Wikipedia without raising objections from the site’s volunteers. Would I have your attention? The key is images….
• Microsoft Casts Doubt On Google Enterprise Apps
  Microsoft responded to the announcement of CapGemini support for Google Apps yesterday with a statement and a list of questions about Google Apps for the Enterprise — or reasons potentially not to use them. Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet has both, and the list of 10 questions/reasons is also at…
• Yahoo Local Now Features “User Denigrated Content”
  After exploring Yahoo’s Mapspam, I started investigating Yahoo’s end user local reporting features more fully. I may have underestimated Yahoo’s features to deal with spam (and to abet it). The new Yahoo Local is making a strong attempt at encouraging user input and content about local businesses with reviews,…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Official Google Blog: Our plans for Code Jam, Official Google Blog
• Google Reader Numbers, Google Operating System

Business Issues

• Google, Microsoft top Nielsen/NetRatings Web site lists, News.com
• Interactive Ad Agency Acquired by WPP, New York Times
• How High Can You Count: New Facebook Fundraising?, AllThingsD
• Alibaba Group To Launch Web Advertising Unit In 4Q, Smart Money

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Back to School – Educational Uses with Google Earth, Google Earth Blog
• Google Intros Search Ads on Google Mobile Search, Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search
• Google Mobile to Start Running AdWords, Search Engine Watch Blog

Link Building

• 6 reasons why link building is so hard, SEOptimise
• Hitchhikers Guide to Linkless SEO, SEOish
• The Idiocy of Google’s Paid Link Crusade, Search Engine Guide
• Hiding The NoFollow from Advertisers on Ad Links, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search & Contextual

• My Google AdSense Referrals Wishlist, JenSense
• Google AdWords "Chat with a Specialist" is Fast, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Fight to Be Dynamic: Keyword Insertion versus Dynamic Text Insertion {param2}, adCenter Blog
• The Secret to Success May Lie in Your Settings, PPC Hero

Searching

• Need Your Help With This New Stanford PageRank Patent, SEO By The Sea
• IAC Tries to Woo Shoppers With Revamped Web Site, Wall Street Journal
• Pronto.com – First Comparison Shopping Service to Offer Social Shoppping, Bill Hartzer
• Top news sites at Google News?, Newsknife

SEM Industry

• A New Adventure With Ayima and Sphinn, Rob Kerry
• Should Google offer a paid service for webmasters needing ranking help?, Jennifer Slegg
• SEO Rockstars Radio Show Resumes Production on September 25th, Greg Boser

SEO & SEM

• New Free Tool to Determine Your Site’s Geographic Targeting Potential, SEOmoz
• The SEO Expert Quiz, SEOmoz
• Possible GoogleBot DNS Issues Causing Indexing Issues at Google.com, Search Engine Roundtable
• Reach Today’s Search Users With Long-Tail Optimization, Search Engine Watch
• Should You Worry About Site Speed?, Search Engine Watch
• Top mistakes newbie SEOs make, Jennifer Slegg
• What’s Happened to Golexa, Search Engine War
• Companies’ online reputations scrubbed clean, The Red Tape Chronicles
• Five Reasons to Aim Low When You’re Just Learning SEO, Search Engine Guide
• The SEOmoz Premium Member Discount Store is Now Open for Business, SEOmoz

Social Media

• Facebook to take over Stanford classroom, VentureBeat
• How one Social Media Upset doesn’t Equal Failure, ViperChill
• Adapting to the Influence of a Social Media Internet, Cre8PC
• Facebook dismisses fears over privacy, Times Online
• Full Or Partial RSS Feeds – The Great Feed Debate, ProBlogger
• Modern And Awkward: Why I won’t digg your lame story, Valleywag

Video, Music & Image Search

• Grey Hat SEO Tip to Game YouTube, DamnDomainer
• View Complete CBS Television Programs and Lots of Clips via innertube, ResourceShelf
• iTunes search now auto completes, TUAW
• News Corp Won’t Pull Videos From iTunes, New York Times

Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News

• Google Who?? 10 Search Engines You Don’t Know About
• I’m Sorry, Did I Drop That?
• Five Reasons to Aim Low When You’re Just Learning SEO
• Google DNS Issues Causing Crawling Issues?
• Deceptive Down Under: Google’s top spot for sale, court told
• Cloak Your NoFollow Links for GoogleBot
• Grey Hat SEO Tip to Game YouTube
• Statsisfaction: Wear Protection At Stats Checking Orgies
• Paranoid DiggBait Conspiracy Theories- The Crap Monkeys ARE Out to Get You.
• Jesus Christ, Julius Caesar, or Howard Hughes? Will the Real Google Please Stand Up?
• Eric Ward: The Day The Links Died
• Using Facebook: Uploading Your Original Content Automatically Grants Them License to Use It
• Why You Should Target the Most Competitive Keywords
• SEO Expert Quiz: Put Your Money Where Your Meta Is
• I, For One, Welcome Our New SEO Overlords
• Gaming the Social Networks as a Black Hat ::
• New Sphinn Editor Announced, Rob Kerry