SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 21, 2009

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: All Your NYC Tourists Are Belong To Us(Sorry, couldn’t resist the headline.) Overlooking the fact that Google advertises the wrong directions to get from Grand Central Station to Madison Square […]

on January 21, 2009 at 5:21 pm | Reading time: 6 minutes
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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:

  • Google: All Your NYC Tourists Are Belong To Us
    (Sorry, couldn’t resist the headline.) Overlooking the fact that Google advertises the wrong directions to get from Grand Central Station to Madison Square Garden, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg today announced a partnership with Google to use Google Maps on a new tourism web site and information center. The web site, nycgo.com, uses Google Maps to help tourists get information about the usual tourist interests — hotels, restaurants, things to do, plus promotions and special offers. And the tourist information can be sent to your phone via Google Maps for mobile. (No word if it got the Grand-Central-to-MSG route correct.) But …
  • The Obama Effect: Google Says President Changed Search Activity
    The first five minutes of my local TV newscast last night was spent showing how much local interest there was in President Barack Obama’s inauguration. People watched on TV in schools, sports bars, department stores, dentists’ offices, nursing homes, and just about anywhere else a TV could be turned on. Google says that interest was also reflected online. In a late-night blog post, Google shares some interesting facts and figures about inauguration-related search activity …
  • Microsoft Offers SearchPerks Incentive
    Microsoft’s SearchPerks program is running a three-day incentive to encourage participants to do more searches on Live Search. Starting today, and running through January 23, SearchPerks is offering double tickets for every search with a max of 50 tickets available to be earned each day.
  • Finding The Optimal Cost-Per-Lead
    It’s amazing how few companies can tell you what an online lead is really worth. I’ve found that most marketers embrace the lower is better
    philosophy. But, is a low-cost lead generation strategy always the best choice? I contend that there is an optimal lead cost for every company. Establishing the right cost-per-lead model involves testing the market relationship between volume and cost… and ultimately must be driven by ROI.
  • Layoffs At Microsoft Widely Expected To Be Announced This Week
    A year ago this would have seemed impossible: layoffs at Microsoft. Until relatively recently Redmond was saying that it would be able to weather the recession without significant disruption. However cost cutting is now the order of the day and no one appears immune. The layoff rumors first appeared in December and have steadily resurfaced. One of the early rumors was that as many as 15,000 jobs at Microsoft would be eliminated. However Reuters quotes financial analysts who assert the number will probably half or less than half that figure …
  • A Quick January 2009 SEO Update
    Many SEOs and SEMs have been noticing updates at Google, Yahoo and Ask.com this past week. I thought I catch you up on what has been noticed at each engine. On the Google front, as reported at the Search Engine Roundtable, many webmasters noticed their PageRank scores drop. After a lot of discussion, concern and debate, Matt Cutts of Google commented explaining that the PageRank scores are fluctuating due to the canonicalization updates Google is pushing through. He said, as long as you are not selling links, “Don’t Panic.” These things will work themselves out …
  • Despite Inauguration, Google & Others Still Think It’s President Bush, Not President Obama
    President Barack Obama took office officially today plus launched a new White House web site as part of his transition. But the major search engines have yet to catch up with the power change. Google still lists President George W. Bush as being in power, sort of …

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Matt McGee
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Matt McGee joined Third Door Media as a writer/reporter/editor in September 2008. He served as Editor-In-Chief from January 2013 until his departure in July 2017. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee.

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