SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 10, 2010

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 Instant And The Power Of Suggestion

  It’s going to be a long time (weeks or months) until anyone has a complete understanding of how Google Instant will change search and search marketing. The change Google has made isn’t just to the user interface. They’ve changed how search works by dramatically increasing the power of Google Suggestions. And most importantly they’ve changed the […]

• How The “Focus On First” Helps Hide Google’s Relevancy Problems

  In January, I was invited to speak to Google’s search quality team about issues I had with Google’s search results. My topic? For queries where I know a subject really well, I often found Google provided some pretty poor results in the top listings along with the good ones. I wanted more perfection! With the focus […]

• A Closer Look At The Google Buzz Privacy Settlement

  On December 20th, a federal judge in the Bay Area will be asked to approve an $8.5 million settlement between Google and several Gmail users who sued earlier this year over the way Google Buzz was launched in February. If it’s approved, the case will become a class action, Gmail users in the U.S. will […]

• Nearly Ninth Inning For Microsoft Smartphone Effort

  Pardon the baseball metaphor but it seemed appropriate: the impending debut of Windows Phones (Windows Mobile 7) is a very high stakes moment for Microsoft, especially in the wake of Kin’s recent failure. Redmond is now poised to spend a great deal of money to promote the new mobile OS in a highly competitive environment […]

• Facebook Passes Google In “Time Spent,” What Does It Mean?

  Yesterday morning Citi analyst Mark Mahaney put out a research note with comScore data that showed Facebook had passed Google in terms of time spent online. Mahaney observed: Looking at % of Total Time Spent by the top 5 sites in August, Facebook, for the first time took the top spot with 41.1B minutes followed by […]

• My Data Have Feelings

  As search marketers, we are often asked to look at multi-dimensional data. This is often cumbersome, boring and overwhelming to go through. Take a look at this example from a campaign that’s running in multiple cities in the US: […]

• Why We React Strongly When Web Sites Change

  A new tactic to get web site traffic I’ve seen lately is to make a drastic change that will create a buzz. Whether a web site undergoes a complete redesign or removes a previous function, we know that no matter what the change is, some people are going to hate it. Several of […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Bloglines Update, Ask.com Blog
• Bring your Gmail and Hotmail to Yahoo!, www.ymailblog.com
• Exclusive: IAC Finally Kills Off Bloglines, TechCrunch
• Google TV Will Have Its Own Instant Search, newteevee.com
• Helping You Explore New and Engaging Content, Yahoo Search Blog
• The trouble with Google Books, Salon

Business Issues

• China’s Alibaba Group may rethink Yahoo ties, news.yahoo.com
• Bing exec: Google Instant may be fast, but Bing results are smarter, content.usatoday.com
• Google Promises New France Investment After Regulatory Battles, BusinessWeek
• Why I Quit Faceboook To Start Quora, www.businessinsider.com

Link Building

• The Link Party Is Never Over, www.linkspiel.com

Local, Maps & Mobile

• EXCLUSIVE: Windows Phone 7 launching 11 October, www.pocket-lint.com
• Facebook Places In New Hamshire Turns Into A Real-Life PleaseRobMe.com, TechCrunch
• Google: ‘Android not optimised for tablets’, www.techradar.com
• Google’s Confusing Change on Reviews, Small Business SEM
• Judge Dismisses Case Against Yelp Alleging Defamation, Coercion, MediaPost
• La Jolla Back From Google Maps Purgatory!, www.localseoguide.com
• Predicting Google Instant’s Impact on Local, www.screenwerk.com
• Review Spam Under Attack by the FTC, Mike Blumenthal

Other Items

• Moving forward on white spaces, Google Public Policy Blog
• We’re Asking America, ycorpblog.com

Paid Search & Contextual

• Google Instant: Potential Implications for the Advertiser, blog.efrontier.com
• Google Quietly Updates Keyword Tool Accuracy, Search Engine Watch
• AdWords system maintenance on September 11th, Inside AdWords
• Get Your Transition Questions Answered, www.ysmblog.com
• Monthly charging limits for unchanged budgets, Inside AdWords
• Site Maintenance on Saturday, September 11, Inside AdSense
• Too Much of A Good Thing: Dealing With Duplicate Keywords, PPC Hero

Searching

• Google Features No Longer Available in Instant Search, Google Operating System
• Back to the Future: Innovation is Alive in Search, Yahoo Search Blog
• Google Instant Blocks Sexy Searches: See What Basic Terms Google Thinks Are NSFW, www.huffingtonpost.com
• Google Instant Could Evolve into Ultimate Universal Search, PC World
• Google Instant Search The Solution Without a Problem, www.wolf-howl.com
• Google Search by Voice: A Case Study, Official Google Research Blog
• Google search index splits with MapReduce, The Register
• Q&A Partner Platform: Answer Questions, Do Good., Ask.com Blog

SEM Industry

• Ruud Questions: Dr. Peter J. Meyers, Search Engine People

SEO & SEM

• Enough with the “SEO is Dead” Crap, www.stepforth.com
• Google Instant Effect vs. Affect, www.pdxtc.com
• Google Instant Is Not The Terminator, raventools.com
• Google Instant: Revolutionary or Much Ado About Nothing?, www.searchadvisory.net
• 5 Clichés That Make You a Better SEO, Search Engine Guide
• Bing and Yahoo! – Same Algorithm, Different Results, actionableinsights.covario.com
• Discussing LDA and SEO – Whiteboard Friday, SEOmoz
• Google Instant and How it Changes SEO, www.seminhouse.com
• Google Instant Means 5 Big Changes for Search Marketers, www.mpdailyfix.com
• Google Instant means linear targeting of search results, econsultancy.com
• The New PR: Reputation Management Online, BruceClay.com
• The Side-Effects of Google Instant, www.fastcompany.com
• Where did Google’s Wonderwheel go?, www.jerrylarach.com

Social Media

• New Like Button Features Mean More Opportunities for Liking, developers.facebook.com
• 6 Ways to Lose Customers, Credibility & Friends On Social Media, Outspoken Media
• An Introduction to Marketing on Facebook, www.yadvertisingblog.com
• Facebook Begins Reporting on ‘Social Context’ In Ads, ClickZ
• Facebook Marketing to the Lunatic Political Fringe, AIM Clear Blog
• Seesmic Desktop Goes Beyond Twitter: Becomes a Platform for All Things Real Time, Read/Write Web
• Twitter by the Numbers, mehack.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• Google Instant Is Cool, But Check Out YouTube Instant, Mashable

Web Analytics

• More On Instant Search, Google Analytics Blog

Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• We Know Where You Are (The Creepy Side of Geolocation) – With the announcements of Facebook Places, I think it’s a good time for a quick reminder about that creepy side of geolocation.
• Google Instant Doesn't Change Google Analytics Tracking – I started working on my own piece about this, then Raven tipped me to this article from them on how yes, Virginia, there's still perfectly fine tracking of Google referrers from search despite Google Instant.