SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 6, 2011

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Cosmo Quiz: Should You Get In Bed With An SEO Agency?

  I’ve spent the past 5 years in-house and over that period, I’ve never hired an SEO agency; however, I’ve been pitched more times than I can count. Additionally, I’ve been exposed to hundreds of SEO agencies through my work with doctors and lawyers. During that experience, I’ve seen the spectrum of some really great work […]

• Into The Lion’s Den: Microsoft Launching Streetside In Germany

  Hoping to avoid the problems that have plagued Google’s Street View service, Microsoft says it will launch its version — Streetside — in Germany next month. Microsoft Germany tells Deutsche Welle that Streetside vehicles will begin driving in four cities (Nuremberg, Furth, Erlangen and Augsburg) on May 9th. The images should be online sometime this […]

• YouTube Expands Search Filters & Related Terms

  YouTube has updated their search filters and search refinements today. The new YouTube search enhancements include: (1) Filtering helps you restrict your search based on specific categories. You can choose any of the Filter options above to refine your search. (2) Exploring allows you to replace or add topics to your search. Clicking on a […]

• Wherefore Art Thou, Serial Testing? Cure Thy Blindness

  Gather close, dear friends and hear my words of warning. Gird yourself, for my tale would make any enlightened man or woman stagger back in disbelief. I do not share such news with you lightly. It is not my errand to harm or discomfort your mental or psychological wellbeing. Resist the urge to sever the […]

• Google Adding Local Product Data To Place Pages

  Since early 2006 I’ve been writing about the “offline future of online shopping.” And since that time a collection of startups has been working, mostly under the radar, to bring real-time local product inventory data to the internet. In November of 2010 Google joined that effort with local product search. Now when you do a […]

• How To Use Search Funnels To Find A Competitive Advantage

  Most B2B search marketers spend the majority of their time analyzing conversion data within their PPC campaigns. They adjust budgets and bids to ensure adequate funding of the top converting keywords (i.e. keywords that record a conversion, at an acceptable cost, within the 30-day tracking window, based on user cookies). While this approach is logical […]

• How To Boost Brand Exposure On A Fixed Budget

  It’s easy to increase brand presence in search… if you have the budget. But more often than not, search marketers feel trapped by their fixed budgets, and wonder how they can possibly increase branded reach without spending more money. However, it can be done. Online visibility is directly related to how many times your ads […]

• Funny: Search For “Tilt” On Google Via iPhone Or Android

  Go to your iPhone or Android phone and search for the word [tilt] using Google. The search results displayed will all results at a slight tilt to the right. Our understanding from Google is that this is an April Fools joke that’s still running. Here is a picture on the iPhone (it does the same […]

• Google Shuts Down Position Preference For AdWords Bidding

  Google has announced it will be retiring AdWords position preference, which automatically sets bids to achieve a certain position on the page, in early May. The company is seeking to dissuade advertisers from putting an emphasis on the position of their ads. Yesterday, the company posted an analysis from chief economist Hal Varian that concluded […]

• IE9 Is Boosting Bing Usage, Study Says

  Does the web browser you use say anything about your preferred search engine? It might, according to some data just published by Chitika. After measuring activity across the 80,000 or so sites in its ad network, Chitika reports that Bing usage is tied to which version of Internet Explorer a person uses. Specifically, Bing usage […]

• New Twitter Home Page Emphasizes Interests

  Twitter has launched a new home page design that the company says should be visible to all users now. Sure enough, I logged out and there it was. As you can see from the screenshot above, the new home page is less cluttered and instead focuses on a single statement: “Follow your interests.” Gone are […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Marin Software Raises $16 Million For Paid Search Management Platform, TechCrunch
• Google Acquires Swimming Goggle Patent, SEO By The Sea
• Meet Microsoft’s New Head Of Marketing: Chris Capossela, TechCrunch
• Why Nikesh Arora Will Be Next to Go at Google, Forbes

Paid Search & Contextual

• Concerns About adCenter’s Editorial Review Process Are Legitimate, Rimm Kaufman
• New Interface Wednesdays: CrowdGather gets more efficient with the new AdSense interface, Inside AdSense

Searching

• Sick Google Porn Targeting Children For Easter Holiday, Search Engine Roundtable
• Whatever Happened To… Google Base, ectimes.com
• When Not to Google: Searches You’re Better Off Making Elsewhere, lifehacker.com

SEO & SEM

• 4 SEO Myths – Believing Them Will Get You Nowhere, dailyseotip.com
• Double Column Organic Google Results, oh my!, Burn Down Easy
• Exact Match Domains: This is Why They Can Still Rank, Search Engine Journal
• How can I make sure that Google knows my content is original?, YouTube
• Optimizing Photo Galleries, Shimon Sandler
• Retargeting: What It Is & How to Use It, SEOmoz
• Step-By-Step Guide To AdWords Automated Rules, PPC Hero
• Without CRO & On-Site Optimization, It’s Tempting to Abandon SEO, SEOmoz

Social Media

• Continuing The Good Trend, Foursquare Now Defaults To HTTPS Across The Board, TechCrunch
• Google Tweaks Android Rankings to Reward Engagement, gigaom.com
• How To Use Google Analytics to Develop Social Media Strategy, Search Engine People
• StumbleUpon’s social makeover makes a splash, USATODAY.com
• The New LinkedIn Platform: Help Build the Professional Web, The LinkedIn Blog
• Twitter predicts future of stocks, BBC News
• Twitter Search is Now 3x Faster, Twitter Engineering

Video, Music & Image Search

• Baidu to launch licensed music service in May, Reuters
• Google to Revamp YouTube With ‘Channels’, Wall Street Journal

Web Analytics

• The New Google Analytics: Events Goals, Google Analytics Blog

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

• Discussion: Is It Time for SEM Industry Standards/Certification? – As an offshoot to the ongoing discussion about the terms "black hat" and "white hat" tactics, some people have brought up the topic of industry standards and certification. In our "Discussion of the Week," let's hear your thoughts more specifically on that aspect of the debate. Search engine marketing has been around for more than 15 years now. Is it time for a set of industry standards and/or certification the way many other industries do? The floor is open.
• How to Pick a SEM/SEO company using Linkedin & Twitter – Wil Reynolds shows us how a search marketing company can be evaluated by close study of their social media accounts.
• Whitehat SEO Is a Joke – Are whitehat SEO's nothing more than snake-oil salesmen?  Is practicing whitehat SEO little more than wishful thinking?  Kris Roadruck from Click2Rank thinks so and outlines why practicing whitehat tactics hardly ever gets anyone to the front page of the SERPS.
• Foursquare introduces directory of pages to help users find brands to follow – Right after Twitter announced a searchable directory, Foursquare was quick to follow.