SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 3, 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:

• Matt Cutts Video: How Google Determines What’s A Paid Link
  Google head of search spam Matt Cutts released a pretty detailed video discussing the Google webspam team’s criteria for determining whether a link is considered a paid link or not. There are five basic criteria Google uses in this determination. The first is the most obvious, is the link an explicit link for sale; then, […]
• Is Chasing AuthorRank A Waste Of Time For SEOs?
  On June 7, 2011, Google announced support for a new type of markup called the Authorship Tag. This was the rel=”author” tag. It did not take long before the speculation started — when would Google start using data from this new tag to impact rankings? The industry took to referring to this concept as AuthorRank. […]
• Google Bug Turned Entire Web Into “Lorem Ipsum”
  Lorem Ipsum is boilerplate text commonly used by the design community to illustrate how the text on a website or print design will look within the visual graphical creatives. It turned out that the boilerplate text of Lorem Ipsum was used on every webpage, according to Google. On Friday, Gabriela Vatu picked up on the […]
• Google To Launch New Search Results Design With Larger Fonts & No Underlines Soon?
  Over the past few months, Google has been testing many, many layouts that made the search results look a bit easier to read by increasing the font size and removing some of the underlines for the hyperlinked content. It seems Google has increased those tests, as we are seeing more and more searchers post about […]
• Bing Quietly Adds A Scientific Full Size Calculator
  Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, has finally added a full size scientific calculator to their search results. Daniel Rubino from WP Central first noticed this addition on Friday saying that now when you search for a math answer, not only do you get the answer, but you also get an interactive calculator in the search results. […]
• Time For SMBs To Tackle – Or Be Tackled By – Online Reviews
  So much of search focuses on being found. But being found doesn’t do much good unless you’re also chosen. The only thing worse than not being found is being found and rejected from consideration. There’s no doubt that online reviews play an increasingly central role in the consumer path to purchase. Research consistently shows that […]
• SMX West Is Next Week; Get the Pass Right For You, Check Out The Options
  Search Engine Land’s SMX West conference begins March 11 in San Jose. Attend and you’ll get the latest SEO, paid search advertising and digital marketing tactics from expert speakers. Flexible pass options that fit your budget and schedule are available. Which is for you? Keep reading, and then register! Get It All With An All […]
• Now Official: Google Adds Restaurant Menus To Search Results
  That Google menus experiment we told you about a couple weeks ago? It’s now official. But it’s only available in the U.S. at the moment. Google announced that it’s now showing restaurant menus as a OneBox-style answer at the top of its search results. It seems to be primarily triggered by searches that involve both […]

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

• OpenX Pushes Programmatic Into Mobile Native Inventory With New Ad Exchange
• Measuring Online Marketing To Offline Success: A Panel Discussion
• Android Tablets: 62 Pct. Of Sales But Only 23 Pct. Of Traffic
• What’s The Future Of The Consumer Experience & Social Media: A Panel Discussion
• Hershey’s: “We’re Marketing In A Digital World” Not Doing “Digital Marketing”
• Apple Formally Introduces In-Car iOS Integration: CarPlay
• Arby’s Buys Pharrell’s Grammys Hat, Rides #Oscars Buzz With Timely Tweet
• Social Media Predicted 80 Percent Of Big Oscar Winners
• Oscar Searches And Social Mentions: Who Won The Night?
• 5 Reasons To Migrate To Universal Analytics Sooner Rather Than Later
• Five Must-Have Mobile Elements To Incorporate Into Your Marketing
• Dawn Data Brings A Daily Dose Of Google Analytics To Google Glass
• Get To Know: The Courier Journal’s Digital Marketing Guru
• SMX West Is Next Week; Get The Pass Right For You, Check Out the Options
• How Miller Lite And Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizza Won The Oscars Without Even Trying
• Ellen Was On Stage At Oscars With Samsung, Backstage With iPhone
• Ellen’s Record-Breaking Oscars Selfie Is Big Hit On Facebook, Too
• Ellen Breaks Most-Retweeted Record With All-Star Selfie At Oscars
• French Video Site DailyMotion Adds Original Programming To Compete With YouTube

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Interview: Mobile plans of Yandex in 2014, Russian Search Tips

Local & Maps

• The Rise of OpenStreetMap, thenextweb.com

Link Building

• 5 Examples of ‘Spam Link Building Tactics’ Done Right, Search Engine Watch
• Google: Off Topic Links Do Not Need To Be Disavowed, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO

• Flawed Google Algorithm Updates, Movie Blogs, and Copyright Infringement – Tracking The Panda Updates From February 2014, hmtweb.com
• Google’s Mobile Ordering Ahead Patent, SEO By The Sea
• Five SEO Steps to Take Before Redesigning Your Site, MarketingProfs
• Microsites for Local SEO: the Pros and Cons, LocalVisibilitySystem.com
• SEO is Not a Code to be Cracked, Social Media Today
• SEO Social Signals: Why They Matter (Even if They Don’t Exist), koozai.com

SEM / Paid Search

• Bing Ads Reporting Series: Understanding the Share of Voice Report in Bing Ads, Bing Ads
• Changes in AdWords Conversion Tracking to Flexible Conversions, Luna Metrics
• Optimize Your PPC With a Segmented Performance Analysis, Search Engine Watch
• Top 5 Must Haves on a Small PPC Campaign Budget, State of Digital
• UK Sitelink & Ad Extension Combination Analysis, Bing Ads Blog

Search Marketing

• SEOs From High Profile Companies Fear Public SEO Forum Help, Search Engine Roundtable