SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 29, 2008

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 Position Bidding Wastes Money It’s remarkable that in 2008 there are still many bidding systems in use by SEMs and in-house PPC managers dedicated to “finding the right position” for […]

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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 Position Bidding Wastes Money
    It’s remarkable that in 2008 there are still many bidding systems in use by SEMs and in-house PPC managers dedicated to “finding the right position” for each keyword. These position crawling systems guarantee inefficiency and lost opportunity; to put it concisely: they’re playing the wrong game. Here’s why:…
  • ISP Behavorial Targeting Test To Begin In UK Tomorrow
    The initials for British Telecom (“BT”) might now come to stand for “behavioral targeting” as the company prepares its opt-in trial with Phorm. Phorm is a UK-based firm that seeks to tap ISP behavioral data in an effort to serve more relevant ads to end users. The BT-Phorm “Webwise” test…
  • Google News Glitch: SpaceX Private Space Flight is “Delicious”
    Search Engine Land reader Tom Churm points us toward the Science/Tech category of Google News, where, for the better part of the morning, a CNET news article about private rocketry was displaying with the headline, “Delicious.” Here’s a screenshot:…
  • Coming To SMX East? Time To Register
    Search Marketing Expo – SMX East begins next week in New York City. Register now to reserve your place. You’re investment in coming to SMX East will pay off many times. We guarantee it. Conference chairs Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman, and the all-star SMX programming team, have developed a…
  • Local Australian City Councils Abandon Use Of Google Earth To Monitor Building Permits, Unregistered Pets
    Home remodeling without building permits is a popular pastime and cat-and-mouse game in the US, with homeowners trying to avoid increased taxation and building permit fees. Apparently that’s also true elsewhere in the world. In a a couple of towns on the Australian island of Tasmania, city officials were using…
  • Yahoo Search Update & Google Toolbar PageRank Update
    Search Engine Roundtable reports based on a WebmasterWorld thread that Yahoo Search is undergoing an update. Several webmasters have noticed significant changes in the Yahoo Search results. We do not have confirmation from Yahoo on this update, while the last Yahoo update was the first week of this month. Also,…
  • Google User Interface Test Gives Searches Control Over Snippets
    TechCrunch reports based on a WebmasterWorld thread that Google is testing on a limited basis, giving searchers the ability to control the size of the search snippets. A snippet is the small description seen under the blue links in the search results. In this test, users can select to not…
  • Google Toolbar 5 For Firefox Adds Features
    Google announced that the Firefox 5.0 Google Toolbar is now available for download. The toolbar adds many of the features and improvements Google added to 5.0 for IE several months ago including:…
  • The Google Hive Mind
    As Google turns 10 years old, that important birthday sees the company more powerful than ever before. With its competitors in disarray, the Big G seems likely to grow even further. The secret to its success? For me, it’s what I’ve been calling the "Google Hive Mind." Rather than…
  • Google’s 10th Birthday Logo
    Google is officially 10 today and, as you’d expect, has a birthday logo in celebration. For a look at Google’s history you can see the company’s interactive timeline….
  • Search Biz: MSFT’s Ballmer Interviewed, Vint Cerf Predicts The Internet’s Future, Google’s New Anti-Carrier Patent & “Everyone Hates comScore”
    Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer tried to present his company’s underdog position in search — and in mobile — as opportunities “to grow” in remarks at Silicon’s Valley’s Churchill Club. But he added, “I don’t like not being number one” in his interview with VC Ann Winblad….

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About the author

Barry Schwartz
Staff
Barry Schwartz is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

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