SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 13, 2014

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Google Working On A Softer & Gentler Panda Algorithm To Help Small Businesses
  Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, announced at Search Marketing Expo that his search team is working the “next generation” Panda update that would appear to many as being softer. Cutts explained that this new Panda update should have a direct impact on helping small businesses do better. One Googler on his team is […]
• Google Makes It Official: New Search Results Design Goes Live For All
  A day after Google said the new look was still an experiment, it has decided that the experiment was good enough to make for an official change. Now everyone should be getting the new design. Jon Wiley, Google’s lead design for Google Search, said on Google+, “you may have noticed that Google Search on desktop […]
• Yandex Begins Purging Links From Its Rankings For Some Moscow Verticals
  Yandex chose the Bynet Week conference in the city of Minsk in Belorus to announce that they have “Started to remove links gradually” from the Yandex MatrixNet algorithm for commercial queries in just the Moscow region. Alexander Sadovsky, Head of Web Search at Yandex, made the announcement yesterday following on from his original explanation in […]
• Bing’s New “Image Match” Button Helps Locate Images Of Varying Resolutions & Sizes
  Bing announced today it is launching a new “Image Match” button, a feature that helps users quickly find alternative resolutions and sizes of a desired image. When viewing an image from the Bing image search page, users should see the “Image Match” button below the photo. Clicking the new “Image Match” button delivers a list […]
• Up-Close @ SMX West: Experts Weigh In On Mobile SEO Best Practices
  What’s your best mobile SEO solution? Responsive design? A mobile dedicated site? An app? Four mobile SEO pros gave their expert insights on how to create successful mobile SEO strategies during the “Best Practices in Mobile SEO” panel yesterday at SMX West. Moderated by Search Engine Land’s contributing editor Greg Sterling, the session included presentations […]
• Google Testing I’m Feeling Lucky Search Button Within Search Suggestions Drop Down
  A reader sent us a screen shot of Google testing displaying the Google Search and I’m Feeling Lucky search buttons within the search suggest or Google Instant drop down menu, as you type. Here is a screen shot sent by the reader showing the search buttons directly in the search suggestions drop down: It doesn’t […]
• Forecast: Google To Lose $1.4B In PC Revs As Search Shifts To Mobile
  A forecast just released by eMarketer argues that Google will lose $1.4 billion in PC search revenue in 2014 as paid clicks partly migrate to mobile devices, where revenue per click has been lower. Some of that PC revenue decline will be offset by growth in mobile paid clicks. Some marketers to date have actively […]
• Why You Shouldn’t Worry About SEO Costs But Focus On What It Earns
  You’re at Victoria Park in Ontario, preparing to swing from an 80-foot cliff and fly 200 feet across Elora Gorge before rappelling down to the river like a human spider. Your guide asks you to pick a rope. Would you ask for the cheapest rope — or the strongest? Will you look for the shortest […]
• Up-Close @ SMX West: Time To Think About Life Beyond Google
  With algorithm updates happening more frequently than ever and Google continuously working to keep searchers on the result page, companies need to make a conscious effort to broaden their marketing efforts and move beyond Google. In the “Life Beyond Google: Diversifying Your Efforts” session at SMX West 2014, the speakers showed us how to do […]
• Google Adds Concert Dates To Knowledge Graph
  Google announced today it is now adding concert dates to its Knowledge Graph. According to the Google Webmaster Central blog, concert information for a musician will be pulled from the artist’s official website if the site includes structured data markup. The announcement listed three ways webmasters for musical artists could take advantage of the new […]
• Up-Close @ SMX West: Twitter For Business
  Yesterday, I attended a great session on Twitter at SMX West, about using the service for business purposes. It covered everything from a glossary for the beginner to advanced tips for those looking to gain more. For my session review, check out my post on Marketing Land: How To Get Started Using Twitter For Business
• Up-Close @ SMX West: Life After “Not Provided”
  Last September, Google confirmed it was encrypting search term information, rendering previously available keyword data “not provided” and leaving many website owners in the dark. While most SEO professionals managed the loss of search terms without suffering major disruptions in their SEO efforts, SMX West’s “Life After Not Provided” panel offered tactical insights for those […]
• Optimizing Apps For Maximum Findability
  Although platforms like Apple’s App Store and Google Play are “closed” environments, content can and should be optimized to be more easily found. App store optimization requires SEO techniques that go beyond the usual web optimization processes. During the App Store Optimization session at SMX West 2014, panelists discussed the best ways to get your […]

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

• Twitter’s Promoted Accounts Moving Into Timelines On Desktop
• Facebook Ready To Start Selling Video Ads On News Feeds
• Google Integrates Dynamic Remarketing Campaigns with Google Analytics
• Google+ Goes Bigger With Super Sized Thumbnails, Headlines
• Omni-Channel & Mobile-Focused Marketing Aren’t Mutually Exclusive, Stupid
• LinkedIn Company Pages For Search, Social & Reputation Management
• How To Get Started Using Twitter For Business
• Senator Jay Rockefeller Asks ICANN To Kill .sucks Domains
• Google Celebrates The Web’s 25th Birthday With Plea To Keep It Free

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Danny Sullivan: You’d Think Everyone in the World was Hit by Panda, stateofdigital.com

Local & Maps

• How iOS 8 Will Fix Apple Maps, ReadWrite
• Does Google Think Your Brand Name Is A Local Search?, SEO Igloo Blog
• Explore America’s most endangered river on Street View, Google LatLong
• Yelp Takes You From Artesanías to Zapaterías With Launch in Mexico, Yelp Official Blog

Link Building

• Google Penguin Recovery: Site Owner Doesn’t Know About Resources Page on His Site, Bill Hartzer
• Cashlady Payday Loan Google Penalty, linkresearchtools.com
• Inside SEER: A Guide to Link Prospecting, SEER Interactive

Searching

• Hipmunk Makes Cross-Platform Travel Search Easier, TechCrunch
• How to remove the new Google search results design, allgoogletesting.blogspot.com

SEO

• Quo Vadis Author Rank? The Present and Future of Author Authority in Search, Stone Temple
• Overspend and You: Why Your AdWords Spend Goes Over Budget, PPC Hero
• Page-Level SEO Tutorial – Part 3 of 3, ISOOSI Blog
• Payday Loan Site Told They Haven’t Listened As Google Hold Penalty Firm, David Naylor
• Reminder: AdWords API v201306 and Ad Exchange Buyer SOAP API v201306 to be sunset on March 31, Google Ads Developer Blog

SEM / Paid Search

• 5 Key Considerations for Setting Up a Baidu PPC Account, KoMarketing Associates
• Bing Ads Search Terms Report is Now Live with Expanded Insight by Request, Bing Ads Blog
• Google Shopping ads taking over the top position?, 3Q Digital
• How to Not Blow $10,000 on Google AdWords – Part 2, KISS Metrics
• The Complete AdWords Audit Part 7: Account Structure, Certified Knowledge

Search Marketing

• The Case for SEM Cleanliness, 3Q Digital