SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 22, 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:

• Why So Many Blogs Fail (And What to Do About It)

  It’s a safe bet that right this minute, someone, somewhere, is advising a small business owner to start a blog. And it’s an equally safe bet that this blog will be a waste of time. Blogging used to be an effective strategy, but its current popularity is a holdover. And case study after case study […]
• New Facebook Features From F8 Include Timeline, “Liking As A Verb,” & More Engaging Apps

  Today’s F8 had it all. A cameo from SNL’s Andy Samberg, glitzy new designs, cutting edge new features and compelling product videos. But what was actually announced? Here are the major takeaways from today’s conference: TimeLine For all of those complaining about the new Facebook layout, don’t worry- its days are numbered. Today “Timeline” was […]

• SEOs Share Thoughts On Google News Ranking Factors

  Almost 20 SEOs have come together to take a stab at deciphering how Google News ranks articles. The result of their collaboration is a survey that’s now been published at GoogleNewsRankingFactors.com. The survey tackles issues such as on-page factors (keyword usage in headlines, keyword usage in page titles, etc.), off-page factors like inbound links from […]

• Online Internet Marketing training videos—IMTcourses.com

  Internet Marketing … Need to start somewhere? Try IMTcourses offering four premier quality videos on the fundamentals. Each video features an expert in their field teaching you an essential internet marketing skill. Best of all, they’re available to you any time you need them for 1-to-1 video training. Learn more at IMTcourses.com.

• Google Instant Previews Via Mouse Over

  Google has announced an improvement to their instant previews feature they originally launched in November of last year. The improvement lets you simply hover your mouse over a search result and the preview will automatically show up on the right hand preview column. Google said: Now these previews are no longer even a click away: […]

• F8: Live Blogging The Keynote (Timeline + Ticker)

  I’m sitting in the large hall in the SF Concourse awaiting the F8 keynote from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, now a wealthier man (on paper) than Google co-founders Brin and Page. We expect a series of announcements around music and movies but there will be a ton of stats about Facebook usage and growth. If […]

• Mobile Takes Center Stage As Key Attribution Vehicle For Small Businesses

  Talk about summer being over. September’s conference season has kicked into high gear. At SMX East last week, I discussed mobile search ads on a panel alongside thought leaders from Microsoft, Google and xAD. This week I flew west for a keynote on performance media at BIA/Kelsey’s DMS show in Denver. While SMX East is […]

• 5 Holiday Shopping Tips For Search Marketers

  The holiday shopping season is my favorite time of year. Snow on the ground, laughter in the air, carnage in my bank account…whenever holiday time rolls around, I still get that same giddy excitement I did as a boy. However, once upon a time, early in my search marketing career, that the thought of the […]

• Australian Watchdog Loses Case Against Google Over Deceptive Ads

  ACCC loses misleading ads case against Google via the Sydney Morning Herald reports the ACCC, Australian Competition and Consumers Commission, has lost their has in an Australian Federal court against Google. The watchdog group sued Google over deceptive ads back in 2007. The federal judge, Justice John Nicholas dismissed the case saying the Google was […]

• Zuckerberg Passes Brin & Page On Forbes’ Rich List

  Scoreboard: Facebook guy – 1, Google guys – 0. Or, more accurately: Facebook guy – $17.5 billion, Google guys – $16.7 billion (each). Those are the estimated net worths of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as reported in the latest edition of the Forbes 400 Rich List — […]

• Google Offers A Carrot/Stick For Marketers To Go Mobile

  Google is increasingly trying to send advertisers a message about how critical mobile is becoming. As an example the company recently estimated that a huge percentage of last-minute shopping search (44 percent) this holiday will be on smartphones and tablets. Despite predictions like this and recent survey data showing enterprises are pouring money into mobile […]

• Google Senate Hearings: The Post-Game Show

  Earlier this morning I predicted that today’s three-hour Senate subcommittee hearing on Google and competition would be more theater than fact-finding. (You can read Danny’s live blog here and here.) And while there were lots of numbers and statistics thrown around by the witnesses (many of them inaccurate) there were few new facts; it was […]

• Do The Majority Of Americans Think Google Is Unfair?

  Fairsearch.org has released findings from a new study that raises serious and important issues about Google, its influence on searcher behavior and whether the search giant’s actions are deliberately hindering competition. Unfortunately, the study results are tainted by flawed methodology and a blatant anti-Google bias, implicitly favoring the agendas of the companies that sponsored the […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Hear about the news from a trusted source… your friends!, Yodel Anecdotal

Local, Maps & Mobile

• A New Gowalla, Gowalla
• Google Downgrading The Maps 7 Pack?, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search & Contextual

• A look at how display drives performance for marketers today, AdWords Agency Blog

Searching

• WTF Malmaison?, hobo

SEM Industry

• Announcing the Distilled SearchLove’s Startups Competition, distilled
• Live Q&A Event With Barry Schwartz In New York, Search Engine Roundtable
• Rock the Vote: A Petition to Bring Back Google Sets, Search Engine Watch

SEO & SEM

• 6 Ways for the Newbie Marketer to Define & Create Social Media Services, BruceClay.com
• Study Finds Google Uses Racial Profiling to Deliver Ads, colorlines.com
• Correlation vs. Causation (A Mathographic), SEOmoz
• Mr. Spock’s guide to out-of-this-world SEO copywriting, SEO Copywriting
• Why Do SEO Projects Fail?, SEO Theory
• 3 On-Site Elements You Should Still Pay Attention To, Search Engine People
• Geo targeting without IP delivery is like throwing a perfectly grilled steak at a vegan, sebastians-pamphlets.com
• Google News Ranking Factors 2011, googlenewsrankingfactors.com
• Passing the Google Analytics Exam, SEOptimise
• Watch Google’s Matt Cutts Answer Webmaster Questions Live, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Facebook Employee Reveals Killer Facebook Music Feature In Deleted Tweet, TechCrunch
• Twitter Unveils 2012 Political Ads, Romney Promoted Tweets, Ad Age

Video, Music & Image Search

• comScore Releases August 2011 U.S. Online Video Rankings, comScore
• The Fox News/Google Debate live tonight on YouTube: GOP candidates answer your questions, YouTube Blog

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

• Google Places Phone Verification Workarounds – If you are (or have a client who is) a small business in the United States, Canada, or any other "Google Places country", you know that verifying ownership of a Place page can be a painful experience.
• 11 jQuery Plugins That Can Enhance Your Typography – If you love typography as much as I do and believe it plays an important role in user experience, then these 11 JQuery Plugins will make your day.
• Circle-Jerked By Google Plus – Where I discover how easy it is to inadvertently kill off my Google Plus Circles.