SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 23, 2013

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Bing Ads Gets Extended Validation SSL Ceritificates & Two-Step Verification Process
  Bing Ads announced today that it has tightened account security measures by adopting extended validation SSL certificates for its website, and added a two-step verification process for users accessing Bing Ads via a Microsoft account. According to the announcement, Bing Ads began implementing an extended validation certificate a few weeks ago: All communications with Bing […]
• SEO Companies Fined Over Fake Reviews
  Several SEO companies have agreed to stop publishing fake online reviews, and will also pay penalties ranging from $2,500 to almost $100,000 as part of settlement announced today with the New York attorney general’s office. The AG’s year-long investigation ultimately caught 19 companies involved in writing and posting fake online reviews, including numerous small businesses. […]
• Post-PRISM, Google Confirms Quietly Moving To Make All Searches Secure, Except For Ad Clicks
  In the past month, Google quietly made a change aimed at encrypting all search activity — except for clicks on ads. Google says this has been done to provide “extra protection” for searchers, and the company may be aiming to block NSA spying activity. Possibly, it’s a move to increase ad sales. Or both. Welcome […]
• The PPC Experiment You Never Dare Run
  A question that PPC account managers frequently have to deal with is, “Why are we paying for this traffic? Aren’t we going to get that traffic anyway?” It’s a fair question, even if it is completely annoying to hear for the twentieth time by the twentieth new accounting manager you’ve had to break in. No […]
• Choose The SMX East Pass That Fits Your Needs, Budget And Schedule – Starts Next Tuesday!
  Search Engine Land’s – SMX East conference kicks off October 1 in New York City. With over 50 educational sessions and keynotes, many networking activities and presentations from leading solutions providers, you’ll get the tactics and tools you need to exceed your marketing and sales goals. SMX East offers flexible pass options to fit your […]
• Survey: Quality Of Citations Matters More Than Quantity
  At the start of August, David Mihm published the findings of the latest installment of the Local Search Ranking Factors Survey. This year, the breakdown & presentation of survey results has been taken to a new level. Ranking factors are grouped by signal type (e.g., Place Page Signals), then further broken down by result type […]
• Introducing the Newest SEM Agency – Google?
  As Google continues to look for new monetization opportunities outside of its core AdWords and AdSense traffic, might it consider entering the SEM agency space? Though it sounds preposterous, history suggests that it might not be as crazy as it sounds. But let’s put history aside for a moment and talk about money. Google’s total […]
• Bing’s Page Zero Offers Deep Links & Shortcuts To Relevant Information Straight From The Search Box
  Today, Bing released a detailed overview of its Page Zero experience, a new search feature that delivers deep links directly from the search box with shortcuts to relevant information associated with the search term. According to the announcement, the new feature gives “best” auto-completion suggestions for a query, as well as displaying “rich information” related […]

Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:

• NY Attorney General Settles With 19 Companies In Fake Review Crackdown
• Here Comes “100% Not Provided,” As Google Begins Encrypting All Non-Paid Searches
• Pinterest Dominates Social Referrals, But Facebook Drives Higher Performance [Study]
• Choose the SMX East Pass that Fits Your Needs, Budget and Schedule – Starts Next Tuesday!
• Beyond Gathering Likes: Moving Past Followers & Fans
• 5 Ways To Be More Transparent In Your Marketing
• What Is The Future For Content Marketing? 9 Experts Weigh In
• Boom: iPhone Sales Top 9 Million, 200 Million On iOS7
• Twitter Courting TV Networks To “Amplify” Revenues
• LinkedIn Sets The Record Straight: No, They Do Not “Break Into” Users’ Email Accounts
• Despite Being A Smaller Percentage, The Younger End Of The Key TV Demo Is Easier To Reach Online [Nielsen]
• Apple CEO Tim Cook Starts Tweeting, Gets Verified & Scores 75K+ Followers In 2 Hours
• Microsoft’s Ballmer: Google Is A “Monopoly”

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• 4 Ways the Search Industry Changed – A Rip Van Winkle Report, BruceClay.com
• NY Attorney General’s Fake Reviews Sting Exposes Bad Client Screening Practices by SEOs, Local SEO Guide
• Perion Announces Search Agreement with Yahoo!, Yahoo Finance

Local & Maps

• twXplorer Does Twitter Search Better Than Twitter, Media Bistro
• German Search Engine MetaGer With Protected Privacy Now Available in English Language, PR Newswire UK
• iPhone 5s Outsells 5c by a Factor of 3.4x in the United States Opening Weekend Localytics, Localytics

Link Building

• Top 7 SEO Tactics in a Post-Penguin 2.0 Era, AuthorityLabs
• [UPDATE] Case Study: Does Building Links to a Local Listing Help Rank?, Leanmarketing.ca

Searching

• Explore the world’s constitutions with a new online tool, Official Google Blog

SEO

• 7 Tools & Quick Tips to Improve Your Website’s User Experience, State of Digital
• Customize your AdWords conversion window to more accurately measure your performance, Inside AdWords
• Find More Precise Keyword Data for Organic Clicks to PDFs, Luna Metrics
• Google and authorship: more than just a picture in SERPs, econsultancy.com
• Reports Of Weekend Search Update By Google, Search Engine Roundtable
• SEO Project Planning Strategies: Map Out Your New Site SEO Strategy, SEO Book
• Will having the same ingredients list for a product as another site cause a duplicate content issue?, YouTube

SEM / Paid Search

• Another anecdotal argument against optimizing for Quality Score, 3qdigital.com
• Google AdWords Quality Score Drops, Search Engine Roundtable
• Reminder: Old Java library for AdWords and DFP APIs is now deprecated, Google Ads Developer Blog

Search Marketing

• What is a Landing Page and Why Is It Important?, Vertical Measures