SearchCap: States Threaten Action If Google Doesn’t Delist “Illegal Sites”

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

From Search Engine Land:

• States Threaten Action If Google Doesn’t Delist “Illegal Sites”
  According to the Washington Post, 24 state attorneys general are trying to pressure Google to discontinue ads and the indexing of sites they argue teach or enable criminal activity. In particular, they continue to pressure Google to eliminate advertising connected to the sale of illegal or fake prescription drugs. The attorneys generals’ complaints were initially […]
• Zuckerberg: Facebook Graph Search Is “A Five-Year Thing”
  It’s been more than a year since Facebook introduced Graph Search to the world — its first foray into developing a serious search product for Facebook users. If you think development of Graph Search has been moving at a snail’s pace, you’re probably not alone. The rollout to all U.S. Facebook users took about seven […]
• Matt Cutts Stars In Parody “Spam Around The World” Video
  Matt Cutts has been the subject of a number of parody/comedy videos during his tenure as the chief of Google’s webspam team, and the latest has him starring in a rap-style clip called “Spam Around The World.” It’s a collage of clips from past webmaster videos edited together into a short (1:43) video with a […]
• Study: Search Campaigns Earn Double Conversion & Revenue Rates When Integrated With Social
  According to a new study from Marin Software, advertisers that leveraged integrated search and social ad campaigns experienced twice as many conversions, and doubled their revenue per click rates. Using data from its Global Online Advertising Index, Marin evaluated the performance of paid search campaigns integrated along with social advertising campaigns. The study found users […]
• Microsoft’s Cortana Assistant Personalization Comes To Bing On The Web
  One of the most interesting things about Microsoft’s new Cortana search assistant has just gone live for those early adopters of it: integration with Bing’s search results. Cortana Personalization Comes To Bing Those using Cortana will now find “personalized cards” that will appear at the bottom of the Bing home page: Personalized information cards will […]
• Are You Building Links Or Building A Business?
  I think many of us can agree that the great thing about this industry is that it’s constantly evolving and new elements are continuously being added. For example, I love the role social is playing in helping companies connect with customers and the effect it has on search (links, mentions, content generation, etc.). However, I […]
• 6 Steps To Boost The Profitability Of Your SEM Acquisition Program
  Imagine that your job is to stand outside a barber shop and bring in new customers. If a businessman with shaggy hair comes walking by, you give him a big wave and a hello. If a bald man walks by, not so much. This analogy is used by Google AdWords to describe its Enhanced cost-per-click […]
• Search Market Share: Yahoo Hits New Low About To Slip Into Single-Digits
  On the heels of Yahoo’s Q1 2014 earnings in which its search business showed signs of life, comScore released new monthly search market share figures for the US market. They show Yahoo with 10.1 percent of the market — a new low for the company. It would appear that Yahoo is continuing its long, slow, […]

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

• Google Q1: $15.4B But Misses, Paid Clicks Up, CPCs Down
• After 15-Hour Sale, Google Says All Glass Units Are Sold Out
• Spring Cleaning: Why You Lost Instagram Followers
• Simply Measured Offers Facebook Insights With Ads Report
• Brands Can Now Turn Google+ Posts Into Interactive Display Ads
• Ubisoft ‘Exploits’ Your Online Profile To Tout New Game
• Study: Integrated Search & Social Ads Double Conversion Rates & Lift Revenue Rates 26%
• Union Metrics Beefs up Social Offering With Instagram Analytics
• Reading Keywords’ Future In Interactive Marketing
• Reports: Mobile Traffic Up 50 Percent, M-Commerce Doubles
• You Need More Than Just Google Analytics To Succeed Online
• What Is Your Content Marketing Aiming For? 5 Goals To Consider
• Why You Suddenly Lost All Those Google+ Followers
• Curalate Adds Tumblr To Its Visual Analytics Platform
• Twitter UK Creates #OwnTheMoment Tool To Help Real-Time Marketers

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Congress Tells Google: Clean Up Your Search Results, Or We Will…, www.digitalmusicnews.com
• How Much Do Black Hat SEOs Charge?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Search Engine Optimization Companies: Break Google’s Rules to Get Top Rankings?, Search Engine Watch

Link Building

• Only 7% Claim Recovery With Google Penguin 2.1, Search Engine Roundtable

Local & Maps

• Mapquest beefs up data with various partnerships that improve utility of maps, Tnooz
• An Open Letter to Google Plus Local/Places, blog.intrapromote.com

Search Marketing

• Search Marketers Need to Evolve: Google is Rewarding Marketing Strategists, moz.com
• Pictures prove their worth in search marketing, Internet Retailer

SEM / Paid Search

• How to Make Dynamic Search Ads Work, 3Q Digital
• Guide to Using Flexible Bid Strategies in AdWords, www.wordstream.com
• PPC Keywords Gets the (Not Provided) Disease, blog.similarweb.com
• Why Your Ads Fail: The Secret To AdWords Data, Search Influence

SEO

• Top 50 SEO Experts, www.stryde.com
• 5 On-Page SEO Factors All Small Businesses Need to Focus On, blogs.constantcontact.com
• How to Audit Your Website Content for SEO, Content Marketing Institute
• iAcquire Co-CEO Talks Google Authorship, Distilled