SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 23, 2013

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 Pulls Related Searches Filter Due To Lack Of Usage
  Google has quietly removed the “related searches” option from the search tools menu within the Google search results page. When Google launched search options in October 2009, the option for “related searches” appeared on the left hand side under the “standard view.” The placement of the “related searches” search option changed over the years, including […]
• New Upgrade Center For Enhanced Campaigns Lets Advertisers Do Bulk Upgrades & More
  Google AdWords is rolling-out a new upgrade center today for advertisers using Enhanced Campaigns. Accessible from the left-hand nav bar on the Campaigns tab, the upgrade center lets advertisers managing several campaigns perform bulk upgrades to multiple campaigns simultaneously and merge selected campaigns in a few simple steps. The bulk upgrade feature allows advertisers to […]
• Google Hits Mozilla With Spam Penalty Over User Generated Content
  Have user generated content on your site? Pay attention to what those users are doing. That’s the takeaway from Google hitting Mozilla with a spam penalty this week, along with another takeaway. Despite Google’s saying it’s being more transparent about spam actions, people clearly find it hard to know what they’re in trouble for. Mozilla […]
• Report: Global PPC Spend Rises 15% On Higher Click Volume And Click-Through Rates In Q1
  Global search ad spend rose 15% in Q1 2013 versus the previous year, according to the Kenshoo Global Search Advertising Trends report released today. That rise in spend was driven largely by a 62% increase in click-through rates and a 21% increase in clicks year-over-year.   U.S. ad spend rose 24%, spurring the overall global […]
• The Informational Content Advantage
  You may have heard that content is king, but the truth is that informational content is king. It’s estimated that approximately 50-80% of search queries are informational in nature (pdf). Most websites have very little informational content on them, preferring instead to focus on driving a conversion. These websites are missing an excellent opportunity to […]
• Google Street Views Now In 50 Countries With Addition Of Hungary & Lesotho
  Google Maps announced today that their collection of images now include Street Views from 50 countries with photos recently added from Hungary and Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South Africa. According to the Google Maps blog, their latest update is the largest single update of Street Views imagery since Google Maps launched in 2007, with […]
• Risk Management for Links – How To Prepare For The Next Penguin Update
  After 2012 being dubbed the “Year of the Penguin,” Google’s Matt Cutts has already hinted that the next “Penguin 4” update will be bigger and more devastating than ever. We have seen big brands like Interflora get penalized and bounce back pretty fast. But how did that work? And what’s coming up for the rest of […]
• Stay Sharp On The Cutting Edge Of SEO At SMX Advanced
  Anyone who’s tried to stay on the cutting edge of SEO knows that from time-to-time, you end up on the “bleeding edge,” thanks to things like unexpected algorithm changes, or from experimenting with seemingly benign tactics that go wrong, or even doing nothing and yet watching your hard-earned traffic slip away for no apparent reason. […]

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

• Apple Beats The Street With $43.6B And Higher Than Expected iPhone, iPad Sales
• Outlook.com VersaTile Ads Debut
• Salesforce Social.com Officially Launched, Will Bring Social Ads, Listening & CRM Together
• Foursquare Packs More Information Into Redesigned Business Profile Pages
• Facebook Introduces New Mobile Pages Layout
• Does Buying Motorola Emerge As A $12.5 Billion Mistake For Google?
• Social Data Proficiency: A Key Success Driver For Agencies
• The Mindset that Makes Online Marketing Work
• Eric Schmidt Takes Refreshingly Sober View Of Technology In His Book “The New Digital Age”
• Study: Millennials More Comfortable Sharing Personal Data For Targeted Ads & Relevant Offers

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Fast-growing Zillow is expanding again at its Seattle HQ, taking over 2 more floors, GeekWire
• Google Buys Wavii For North Of $30 Million, TechCrunch

Local Search & Maps

• ASUS Cube Google TV review, engadget.com
• Introducing Device Targeting, affinity.com
• Trulia Launches Redesigned iPad App With Improved Navigation, Listing Pages And Maps, TechCrunch

Link Building

• April Mozscape Index Is Live, SEOmoz
• Link Building Tutorial Video – How To Build Links To Assets In No Time Benjamin Beck, Benjamin Beck
• Offering Discounts In Exchange For A Link: Is It Allowed?, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search

• Microsoft Advertising Announces New Ad Format for Outlook.com, Microsoft Advertising Blog

Searching

• DuckDuckGo Pushes Its Privacy-Geared Search Engine at Gel Conference, Xconomy
• GetGoing launches FlightFinder, a powerful new Kayak competitor, VentureBeat
• Realtor.com First to Add School Search in Significant Update to Mobile App, Reuters

SEO & SEM

• 3 Tips for Better SEO and Social Media Time Management, Search Engine Journal
• 5 Ways to Use Census Data to Improve Local SEO, Search Engine Guide
• AdCenter WTF, PPC Associates Blog
• Ask a Search Expert: How Can I Compete With Big Brands and Drive More Local Traffic?, Yahoo Advertising Blog
• Enhanced Campaigns: New Opportunity for Display Campaigns, RKG Blog
• GinzaMetrics Adds Chinese Search Engines Baidu and Sogou to SEO and Content Marketing Dashboard, Ginzametrics.com
• Know When It’s Time to Delete Your Paused Keywords, PPC Hero
• Manage Your Adwords Account Like Edison Built Light Bulbs, tenscores.com
• Pay Per Click Client Personas, ppcchat.co
• Someone Has Stolen My Content – What Next?, Daily SEO Tip
• The Latest 5 Tools I’ve Added to my SEO Toolbox, distilled
• Two years of Panda: Why voucher & car classified sites were so badly affected, Branded3
• Want To Out “Spam Factories” To Matt Cutts? Use Hacker News., Search Engine Roundtable
• You’re Not eBay. Why Paid Search Still Makes Sense for B2B Marketers, KoMarketing Associates

Video, Music & Image Search

• DirecTV adding voice search to its iOS and Android phone apps, beta coming this summer, Engadget