SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 14, 2009

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

From Search Engine Land:

• URL Shorteners Come To Google & Facebook

  Google announced a new URL shortening service Goo.gl. It doesn’t replace Bit.ly and others because it only works right now with the Google Toolbar (and Feedburner) and you can’t directly access it as you might one of the established tools:
  Google URL shortener is not a stand-alone service; you can’t use it to shorten links directly. […]
• Google Images Testing “Infinite Scroll” Search Results

  Google is testing a new interface for their Image Search feature. The interface allows you to see an infinite number of image results in the search results, simply by scrolling. This works similar to how Bing Image Search currently works, where you do not have to use the pagination to see more results. […]

• MapQuest (Finally) Launches Street Views With “360 View”

  We’re more than two years in with street-level photography, although Google was the only game in town for most of that time among the majors. There were also less-well-known independents such as Everyscape and MapJack. Then two weeks ago, Bing made a big splash with a very enhanced Silverlight version of Bing Maps and national […]

• Putting The Google Phone (Nexus One) Into Some Perspective

  As everyone knows by now the weekend saw an explosion of interest, speculation and posting around the “Nexus One,” the so-called “Google Phone” predicted first in an article by TheStreet in October and then further exposed by TechCrunch. I wrote two posts this weekend as the story evolved:

  More Detail On Google Phone From A User; […]

• Google’s New Years Countdown Via I’m Feeling Lucky

  Google has a fun little search easter egg for the new year. If you go to Google, make sure the search box is empty and click on the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, you will see large numbers counting down under the search box. It is a countdown to new years, which is 1521557 […]

• Google Video Adds Cartoon & Slideshow Search Filters

  Google Operating System noticed that Google Video added two search filters to the search options side bar. One option is to filter for videos that are slideshows and the other is to filter for videos that are cartoons.
  Here is a picture of those new search filters:

  I am not sure how good these […]

• Search Engine Marketing & Economic Recovery: Don’t Get Caught Flat-Footed In 2010

  My cat, Walter, runs under the bed when he hears footsteps—even if it’s only the mailman.
  Being risk-averse to that degree doesn’t make Walter a rational maximizer, so he’d probably make a poor tournament player in bridge or poker. But it does make him a survivor. Natural selection works on the principle of “better,” not necessarily […]

• Predictions For The Changing Local Search Landscape In 2010

  To many of us, 2009 couldn’t end soon enough. But today we have fresh optimism about what’s in store for 2010. I sense a cautious sense of hope with everyone I’ve spoken with that the prospects for next year are stronger for local search providers and our advertisers.
  Since much of local search is […]

• More Detail On Google Phone From A User; Makes Droid “So Last Month”

  Somebody (not a Google employee) contacted me just a few minutes ago saying he’d read my Google Phone At Large post and wanted to fill me in. He said he had a chance recently to hold and use the phone, which is an HTC-manufactured device, as all the discussion in the past 36 hours and […]

• The “Google Phone” Now At Large?

  TechCrunch is reporting, based on a range of Tweets and chatter, that many Google employees were given an unlocked HTC handset running Android 2.1 as a holiday gift. “It’s beautiful . . . Like an iPhone on beautifying steroids” wax the rapturous Tweets.
  NOTE: See our follow-up piece, More Detail On Google Phone From A User; […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Happy 4th Birthday, Yahoo! Answers!, Yahoo Answers Blog
• Over 150,000 New Icons, My Yahoo! Blog
• Google Text-To-Speech (TTS), Weston Ruter
• Kindle for iPhone App Now Available From App Store In More Than 60 Countries, Amazon.com

Business Issues

• Google Hypocritical on the Importance of Privacy, SEO Book
• Google Faces a Different World in Italy, New York Times
• Google green-lights extension which clearly violates its own policies, downloadsquad.com
• Google, DST Make Play For AOL’s ICQ, TechCrunch
• MySpace Loses Tim Schulz, TechCrunch
• Google just advertised Chrome to a million people in the UK, TechCrunch
• Marissa Mayer: An omnivorous Google is coming, Telegraph

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google wants to sell books to Kindle owners too, Reuters
• Bug When Updating Google Maps Local Listing, Search Engine Roundtable
• Guardian iPhone App, The Guardian
• Online Maps (and One Great Resource): DavidRumsey.com Gets a Makeover, ResourceShelf
• Playing Catch-up MapQuest Launches "360 View", Screenwerk

Link Building

• How to Get Links From .edu Domains Using the Skew Method, Search Engine Guide
• Getting the link from the BBC might be getting easier, Search Cowboys
• My Link Baiting Idea Generation Process, wiep.net

Paid Search & Contextual

• Ad policies — the year in review, Official Google Blog
• Location Extensions – Understanding the Local Opportunity, AdWords Agency Blog

Searching

• Chinese search engines sign self-discipline pact, AltSearchEngines
• Database: Is My Flight Going to Be Late?, ResourceShelf
• Google Alerts Gone Wild?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Is Failing More, John Battelle’s Searchblog

SEO & SEM

• Optimize your campaigns for mobile in time for the holidays, Inside AdWords
• Content Writing Advice and SEO, footinmouthdisease.net
• How To Monitor & Track Google’s Real-time Search, SEOmoz
• Mass Google Toolbar PageRank Penalty of December 2009???, Search Engine Roundtable
• Rising Tide of PPC Means SEO is Sinking, Jonathan Mendez’s Blog
• Why Google Allows Target.com to Spam Results, goodroi.com

Social Media

• Yahoo Eyes Asian Market With Chinese Version Of Meme, TechCrunch
• Twitter Tapping, New York Times
• All I Want For Christmas – A Social Media Wish List, KRISTY BOLSINGER
• For Viral Crooks, Social Networks Are Prime Targets, New York Times
• For Viral Crooks, Social Networks Are Prime Targets, New York Times
• Four (ok twelve) Reasons to Build a Social Media Strategy for 2010, Search Engine Guide
• Google may increase potential for libel by including Tweets in search results, content.usatoday.com
• Huffington Post’s New Ad Revenue Stream: Twitter Feed, Ad Age
• Socializing your feed with Twitter, AdSense for Feeds

Video, Music & Image Search

• New Online from the British Library: Digitized Musical Manuscripts, ResourceShelf
• You Can Now Block Your YouTube Subscribers, Search Engine Roundtable