SearchCap: The Day In Search, August 26, 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:

• How One Brand Switched A Million URLs & Lived To Tell About It: 5 Questions With HomeAdvisor.com
  Last year, home improvement company HomeAdvisor.com underwent a monumental rebranding effort that included switching more than 10 million URLS from their previous company name to their new brand. With over $200 million in revenue at risk and thirteen years worth of online brand equity, HomeAdvisor.com’s CEO Chris Terrill and CTO Brandon Ridenour understood switching the […]
• AdWords Test Accounts No Longer Require Application Requests
  Google has updated the process for setting up AdWords Test Accounts. Test accounts are used by developers to execute AdWords API requests without serving ads or affecting actual account performance. Starting today, instead of having to complete a web form application for account approval, developers can now create an MCC (master client center) test account […]
• Apple Siri On Google Glass: “That Glass Is Half Empty”
  The Verge noticed that if you ask Apple Siri about Google Glass, Siri will respond with some humorous responses. In short, if you activate Siri on your iOS device and say, “okay glass,” Apple Siri will respond in a witty way. Above are some of the responses in an animated GIF, but here they are […]
• Cutting Edge Tactics at SMX Social Media Marketing to Maximize the Volatile Social Landscape
  Facebook is changing the algorithm that dictates how your posts will show up – or not – in your followers’ news feed. Tumblr traffic is closing in on Twitter, but do brands know how to best take advantage of this growing opportunity? Vine registered users have tripled since June, boosting its spot as a competitive […]
• Crush The Competition With Hyper Local Listing Management!
  In May 2012, Google partnered with Ipsos OTX Media CT to get a better understanding of U.S. smartphone usage. Their study revealed that 94% of smartphone users have looked for local information, and 90% took action as a result (called the business, walked into a store, redeemed a coupon, etc). Also, 96% have researched a product or […]
• The CPA Trap & How To Avoid It
  I guarantee I can reduce your cost-per-acquisition (CPA) on your SEM campaigns. How can I make such a bold claim? Simple: first, I create ad text that says “Get $1,000 free. Apply now!” Next, I create a landing page with a picture of a beautiful woman holding a pile of crisp bills and a simple, […]
• Privacy Groups Want Judge To Reject Google’s $8.5 Million Settlement Over Search Privacy Lawsuit
  Last month, Google agreed to pay $8.5 million into a settlement fund over a class-action lawsuit by two searchers who accused the company of transmitting their personal information to third parties without their consent or knowledge that the information was being shared. The final court approval of the proposed settlement was scheduled for today, but […]

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

• Feedly Pro Goes Live To All RSS Users For $5 Per Month
• Yahoo Gives Out Inactive Usernames Via “Wishlists” & Launches “WatchList” With A $1.99 Fee
• Cutting Edge Tactics At SMX Social Media Marketing To Maximize The Volatile Social Landscape
• Report: 80 Percent On Broadband, 3 Percent Still Dialing Up
• How Will Discovery Change Search & Social?
• Top 60+ Content Marketing Education Resources
• How To Get The Most Out Of Your Customer Analytics
• Study: How Big Brands Are Using Tumblr
• Google Glass Won’t Cost $299 & Won’t Be Sold At Best Buy Next Year
• Privacy Groups Ask Court To Reject Google Settlement, Claim It Won’t Fix Privacy Issues

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• Baidu Agrees to Buy Majority Stake in Nuomi for $160 Million, Bloomberg
• Google Palestine Hacked And Defaced Through A Domain Registry Attack, TechCrunch
• Inside the Search Studio with Mike Blumenthal: A Deep Dive into Google and Local SEO, The Search Agents
• Kayak unveils hotel reviews and gives homepage a facelift, VentureBeat
• Open Secret About Google’s Surveillance Case No Longer Secret, Wall Street Journal
• SEO is Dead, cornwallseo.com
• Yahoo Acquires Image-Recognition Startup IQ Engines To Improve Flickr Photo Organization & Search, TechCrunch

Local & Maps

• Google Maps camera-toting teams map Fla. beaches, The News-Press
• Google Integrates My Places Into Google Maps Engine Lite, Search Engine Roundtable
• What Kind of Google+ Page Is It? – A Visual Guide to Google+ Local Pages, Local University

Link Building

• Bringing Your A-Game: 5 Advanced Link Building Techniques, Search Engine People
• How to Nofollow Friends and Influence Rankings with Infographics, SEO Book
• John Mueller’s responses to my questions about Disavows., internetmarketingninjas.com

Searching

• Source Code Search Engine Meanpath, arnoldit.com
• Will Glass Let You Search All That You’ve Seen?, Glass Almanac

SEO

• List of things you really ought to know as an SEO today, Bing Webmaster Blog
• Content Curation & SEO: A Bad Match?, Search Engine Watch
• 3 Common Issues Found in SEO Audits, Eric Lander
• 5 Clever Ways to Leverage PR for SEO Success, Search Engine Watch
• The Smart SEO’s Guide to Effective Outreach, SEER Interactive
• Yeah, But… We Do Just Fine Without SEO, Search Engine Guide

SEM / Paid Search

• 5 Search Query Operators Every SEO Should Know, Search Engine Journal
• Announcing v1.3 of the Ad Exchange Buyer REST API, Google Ads Developer Blog
• The Change in Quality Score Reporting: What Really Happened?, WordStream

Search Marketing

• From Keywords to Contexts: the New Query Model, Moz
• How to Customize Search Engine Recognition in Google Universal Analytics, antezeta.com
• The arrogance of SEOs, I Love SEO