Search Engine Land » Platforms » Google » Google News » SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 2, 2008

SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 2, 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: Private: AOL 2008 Year in Review: The Hottest Search TrendsThe presidential election reigned supreme in the land of America (Online), as politically charged queries ranged across more than 40 categories in […]

Barry Schwartz on December 2, 2008 at 5:00 pm | Reading time: 8 minutes

Chat with SearchBot

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

From Search Engine Land:

Private: AOL 2008 Year in Review: The Hottest Search Trends
The presidential election reigned supreme in the land of America (Online), as politically charged queries ranged across more than 40 categories in AOL’s annual lists of top Web, mobile and video searches. Celebrity news, captivating headlines and pop culture continued to captivate the online audience; mobile devices bumped activity for social apps like MySpace, AIM, MocoSpace and Facebook, as well as sharing videos downloaded via apps for the iPhone.The political landscape, and most notably, president-elect Barack Obama top the newsmakers lists, and politicians infiltrated 7 of the Top 10 slots in this category.Top names in the news in 2008 Barack Obama Sarah …
Search Biz: Yahoo Soap Opera Update; Google’s Mobile Plans; Ask.com’s Creepy Commercials & More
The Yahoo-Microsoft-AOL soap opera continues. (You expected otherwise?) At AllThingsD, Kara Swisher was pretty adamant Monday that Yahoo and Microsoft are not in secret talks right now about a new search partnership, and she called the weekend report from The Times (UK) “inaccurate.” Part of that UK story had Ross Levinson and Jon Miller taking over the new company, but Levinson told AllThingsD the story was “total fiction.”Then, of course, a big soap-operatic (is that a word?) twist today, as Barry Schwartz recapped a Wall Street Journal report saying Jon Miller is trying to raise money to buy Yahoo. Join us tomorrow (or maybe Thursday, but probably no later than Friday) for another installment of As The Search Engines Turn.
Private: Ask.com: Top Search Trends of 2008
“Maverick” earns bragging rights as the word of the year; Disney’s Tweeny-boppers take over the Top 10 list of celebrity-based searches; shopping for the best deals on travel and entertainment were top of mind in a tightening economy, and queries in the form of a question still reign supreme at Ask.com.
Link Building In A Global Economy
Global link building sounds very glamourous, like something you’d do wearing Chanel and drinking seriously good wine that I wouldn’t know anything about, not being the glamourous sort. However, it’s something that makes you roll up your French-cuffed sleeves and do some major dirty work. While the basics remain the same (get quality links, write good content, do your usual on-page SEO), there are a few extras to consider that should enable you to live in the middle of nowhere and successfully help clients all over the world.Let me first clarify what I mean by global link building. I am speaking about working with clients in a variety of countries and/or in languages other than your native one(s). My agency works with clients in the US, Canada, Australia, Spain, the UK, and Germany currently, and about 50% of our leads come from clients outside of the US, where we’re based. As we’ve seen with the recent financial crises both domestic and abroad, it’s obvious that our economy truly is quite global, and many people are quickly realizing that their marketing help does not have to come from less than five miles away.With that in mind, there are many ways that you can successfully conduct quality link building campaigns for clients in any part of the world. Here are a few to get you started…
Report: Former AOL CEO, Miller, Raising Funds To Buy Yahoo
Former AOL Chief Seeks Funds for Yahoo Deal from the Wall Street Journal reports Jonathan Miller, ex-AOL CEO, is trying to put together enough money to buy Yahoo.Miller is reportedly looking to raise raising about $28 billion to $30 billion, equivalent to $20 to $22 per share, to buy all of Yahoo. The Wall Street Journal said that their sources are skeptical that Miller will be successful in raising the necessary capital to make this purchase. In addition, many lenders are not only not lending, but they also find Yahoo to be a risky bet, according to the report.
Santa Tracker 2008: Google & NORAD Team Up Again
My favorite Christmas activity is tracking Santa’s route around the world. Once again, NORAD and Google are making it easy. The NORAD Tracks Santa 2008 site is now up, and a countdown for your iGoogle home page can now be downloaded. Google just blogged the news today. Below, what to expect.
Private: Search Engines Release Most Popular Search Trends of 2008
What’s Hot, Where & Why Google Yahoo Ask AOL
Search Pictures With Pictures At Live Search
Live Search announced you can now use images to find similar images in Live Image Search. To use this feature, you go to Live Image Search, search for an image, hover over an image, and click on “show similar images.”
SEMPO Rings NASDAQ’s Bell
As expected, SEMPO, has rung the bell at the NASDAQ yesterday morning. You can see the full release and several pictures at the NASDAQ release. Dana Todd, Chairperson of the Board of Directors for SEMPO, presided over the Opening Bell at NASDAQ yesterday morning. Congrats to SEMPO and congrats to the search marketing industry!
The Impact Of Call Tracking For Smart Marketers & Agencies
“Death of Detroit would wallop ad world” …”… nightmares of a blue Christmas” Shocking! Tell us something we don’t already know! Turning a few more pages I see, “As site traffic slows, online marketers tighten their holiday budgets.” And that’s when I calmly fold-up my recent copy of Advertising Age and call my dentist to schedule that long avoided Novocain-free root canal! I mean really, all this doom and gloom is probably enough to send some folks home early for the holidays to hang out with the relatives they have successfully avoided all year long. But I’m an opportunist, so the timing couldn’t be better! There has to be an opportunity here, right? We’ve heard a lot of noise in the trades about the fall of online display advertising in favor of performance-based advertising. The good news is that lower budgets and fewer advertisers can actually mean less competition. For smart local advertisers and their agencies, that is something to cheer about! Literally it means more business leads for less money and a higher return on investment, if campaigns are executed properly.