SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 18, 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:

• Search Traffic Influences The New York Times To Drop Subscription Fees
  Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site from the New York Times says they will stop charging some news content as of midnight. The New York Times started charging $49.95 a year or $7.95 a month for access to columns and to the newspaper’s archives about two…
• Search Announcements & Products Out Of TechCrunch 40
  TechCrunch 40 is currently underway, and there have been quite a few product announcements made by search companies at the conference. Below you can find a wrap up of what was announced so far at TechCrunch 40:…
• Search Illustrated: Six Simple Steps For Local Optimization
  Optimizing content for local search is similar to, but subtly different from, optimizing for general web search. Many key factors, such as optimizing for specific keywords, securing good backlinks to content and so on all apply. But there are several other steps—simple ones, fortunately—that you can take to really…
• Internet Yellow Pages Flex Local Search Muscle
  The Yellow Pages Association put out a press release, supported by comScore data, that shows very healthy growth and usage of online yellow pages sites. Previously TMP Directional Marketing released findings from a consumer study that showed, among other things, that local search and yellow pages sites have some of…
• The Long Tail Of Search
  What is the “long tail” of paid search, and why does it matter? Chris Anderson coined the long tail concept in a 2004 Wired magazine article. Anderson’s original argument applied to online merchandising. Because web-only merchants (think Netflix) should have lower inventory carrying costs than traditional retailers (think WalMart),…
• Mobile-Friendly Websites & The Duplicate Content Trap
  Sometimes even large, successful websites have problems when trying to implement a mobile version of the site. While the iPhone and its competitors-to-come will change exactly what the mobile web will look like, it’s still imperative that companies have a quality mobile version of their site because specialized optimization…
• A Power Tool For Social Media Submitters
  One very important factor in executing successful linkbaiting campaigns is to have power accounts on the various social news sites. Having a power account increases the chances of hitting the popular pages for the content you submit. Building up a power account takes a lot of time and one…
• Google Formally Introduces AdSense For Mobile
  After a period of beta testing, Google is rolling out AdSense For Mobile in 13 countries: US, England, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Russia, Netherlands, Australia, India, China, and Japan. Much like AdSense on the desktop, it’s aimed at publishers and site owners and intended to extend Google ad penetration…
• Google Launches Presentations App & Ranames “Docs & Spreadsheets” To “Google Docs”
  Tonight Google launched its long-awaited presentations tool as part of the ghastly named Docs & Spreadsheets suite. But smartly the company has simultaneously changed the name of Docs & Spreadsheets simply to Google Docs. It could equally have been changed to “Google Office,” however, which the presentation software now appropriately…
• Sprint And Microsoft Extend Mobile Partnership, Offer New Services
  Microsoft has been powering the search box on Sprint for awhile now, and the companies have had a public, strategic relationship since last November. But this evening they announced some new enhancements and mobile services. There are essentially two things being introduced: location-aware mobile search and a rich client download…
• Yahoo Buys Zimbra For $350 Million
  Yahoo announced that they have agreed to buy Zimbra, an open source email, calendar and office applications software company, for $350 million. Of course, Google and Microsoft both have online/offline office suite applications. This acquisition may help Yahoo compete in that space….
• Enter To Win An iPhone At Local.com’s “Apple A Day Giveaway”
  Local.com has announced a contest to promote its Local Mobile search service. As part of the promotion, the company will be giving away one Apple iPhone each day for 30 days to Local Mobile users. This article is part of Local Search Week here at Search Engine Land, a…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• AOL Launches BlueString, TechCrunch
• First hands-on: AOL’s BlueString, News.com
• Report: Facebook may be headed for data storage, News.com
• Breaking up isn’t hard to do, Google Reader Blog
• Create Google Gadgets with GME, Google Mashup Editor Blog
• Facebook, Accel and Founders Fund Launch fbFund; To Give Grants To Facebook App Startups, TechCrunch
• Google Privacy Problems Introduced Through Presentations, Google Blogoscoped
• How To Embed Google Presentations, InsideGoogle

Business Issues

• Domain Review: Is Google Getting Ready for a Coupon Push and What About SkyDrive and WindowsPhone.com from Microsoft?, ResourceShelf
• Google, DoubleClick Deal Challenged Again, WebProNews
• PC World – Google Slips in China, PC World

Conferences

• Win Full Conference Pass to SMX Local and Mobile, SEOish
• AdWords Seminars: new locations and dates, Inside AdWords

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Enhanced Map Tiles for 50 Countries (Plus Google Spreadsheets Geocoding!), Google Maps API Blog
• New Google Earth Satellite Launching Today, Google Earth Blog

Link Building

• Click here to read all about a natural link profile, Joost de Valk
• Google Webmaster Tools Not Showing PageRank Pages for Some Sites?, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search & Contextual

• adCenter Feature Review: copy ad group and import campaigns, adCenter Blog
• BlogRush Concerns Alleviated by Google AdSense Team?, Search Engine Roundtable
• IAC’s Diller At Goldman’s Communicopia, Silicon Alley Insider
• Shopping.com Gets With The Program, ComparisonEngines.com
• The Adventures of PPC Hero – Heroic Feats of Pay Per Click Management : 9 Mistakes When Creating Ad Text, PPC Hero
• The FTC’s close look at online advertising, Google Public Policy Blog
• TheFind Adds New Advertising Option – Mouse Over Banner, ComparisonEngines.com

Searching

• TouchGraph connects the dots of Google searches, Pandia

SEM Industry

• Are Web Design and SEO Forums a Thing of the Past?, Cre8PC
• Big Changes Afoot at SEOmoz, SEOmoz
• Bigmouthmedia CEO Wins at National Business Awards Scotland 2007, WebWire
• Bruceclay.com – Bruce Clay, Inc. Blog Marks Its 1,000th Entry, BruceClay.com
• Can SEO Be Automated?, Search Engine Journal
• My Departure from SEOmoz, SEOmoz
• SEOmozs’ Matt Inman on Linkbaiting, Search Marketing Standard
• The SEO Vanity Contest – Win 2 free passes to PubCon!, Greg Boser

SEO & SEM

• Double Check Your Web Developer’s/SEO’s Work, Cshel
• Google Dance in Aeon Flux, Search Engine Watch
• How internet rock stars drive traffic. We take a closer look at Mahalo, Pownce and Truemors, Compete Blog
• How to Optimize for Yahoo!, Search Engine Guide

Social Media

• How Engadget Made Digg Homepage Twice Within 3 Hours For Same Story!, SEOptimise
• Interview with Jon Aizen, CTO of Dapper.net, SEOish
• MySpace to Discuss Latest Effort to Customize Ads for Members, New York Times
• Think Small, Win Big: Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Watch

Video, Music & Image Search

• New Podcast Search Engine and Directory Launched at Podanza.com, URLwire
• Reuters Introduces Facial-Recognition Video Search, MediaPost
• Turkey court orders YouTube blocked, Middle East Times

Web Analytics

• Interview with persuasion expert Bryan Eisenberg, E-Consultancy

Other Items

• Daily SearchCast, Sept. 13, 2007: Hiatus Catch Up Episode, Part 1 of 3, Daily SearchCast
• Daily SearchCast, Sept. 13, 2007: Hiatus Catch Up Episode, Part 2 of 3, Daily SearchCast
• Daily SearchCast, Sept. 13, 2007: Hiatus Catch Up Episode, Part 3 of 3, Daily SearchCast
• IAC/Interactive Takes Game Designer Stake, Wall Street Journal
• Murdoch making the case for free WSJ online, Reuters
• Yahoo! to launch Internet cafe program to grow RP community, INQUIRER.net

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