SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 7, 2007

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

From Search Engine Land:

• 
  Search in Pictures: PubCon/SES, Google Gift, Pumpkin Yang
  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more….
• 
  Report: Hacked Pages Remain In Search Engines’ Caches
  Search Engine Journal reports that online security firm Aladdin Knowledge Systems identified a potential “flaw, which allows the search engines to deliver malicious pages that have already been removed from the web.” What that means as a practical matter is that hacked pages, which have already been taken down or…
• 
  Local Classifieds Site Edgeio Shutting Down
  According to TechCrunch, classifieds site Edgeio is shutting down after having run out of money. The site was targeting a global audience but was fundamentally local. Edgeio competitor Oodle recently redesigned and appears to be doing well. And the classifieds category continues to gain traffic….
• 
  Coke Opens CC Metro, A Virtual Island In Virtual World There.com
  Beverage maker and uber-brand Coke has had a few false starts in “social media.” It not long ago ended “The Coke Show,” a video-centric platform that was intended to engage consumers and support user-generated content. Most recently the company opted-out of Facebook’s Beacon program amid the controversy surrounding involuntary tracking…
• 
  Sub Domains To Be Treated As Folders By Google
  Matt Cutts of Google said at PubCon that Google will be treating sub domains similar to how they treat folders on a site. I reported this at the Search Engine Roundtable on a post by Tedster at WebmasterWorld, where Tedster said: News flash from Las Vegas PubCon. Matt Cutts informed…
• 
  Google Wants You To Talk About Your Images
  Using ALT attributes smartly from the Google Webmaster Central blog has a new video from Matt Cutts on how to properly label your images so that Google Image search can properly rank them for relevant searches. In short, Matt recommends using a short but descriptive alt tag within the image…
• 
  Search Conference Coverage 2007: SES Chicago Day Four & PubCon Vegas Day Three
  Today is the fourth and final day of SES Chicago and the third and last day of PubCon Vegas sessions. Here’s a recap of session coverage out of both shows, from across the web:…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Microsoft Adds Live.in for India, Techtree.com India
• The First Year of Google Docs (& Spreadsheets), Google Operating System
• Google OpenSocial APIs not ready for the dance, ZDNet
• Using Google Gadgets to Cache Images, Google Operating System

Business Issues

• Yahoo Drops MingleNow into Deadpool, TechCrunch
• Baidu Signs Deal With Mozilla China, Search Engine Journal
• Corporate Bloggers Launch the "Blog Council" Organization, Blog Council
• Twenga Gets 2.6 Million For Product Search, TechCrunch
• Baidu to be first Chinese firm in Nasdaq 100 index, Reuters

Conferences

• Blogging and Search, Video Content and The Fear, SEOmoz
• Video Interview With David Wallace of SearchRank at SES Chicago, Search Marketing Gurus
• Video Interview with Simon Heseltine of RedBoots at SES Chicago, Search Marketing Gurus
• Pubcon Video: Melanie Mitchell AOL, Online Marketing Blog
• SES Chicago, Day 4 Coverage, Search Engine Strategies
• Conference Coverage Recap: SES Chicago & PubCon Vegas 2007, Search Engine Roundtable
• SES Chicago: Patricia Hall of Hallmark Capital, WebProNews
• Thoughts on Don Schultz’s Keynote at SES, Search Engine Watch Blog
• Warm Hospitality & New Competition, AIM Clear Blog

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Does Yahoo even know there’s an iPhone?, News.com
• Wall Street Journal Launches Mobile Version, ResourceShelf

Paid Search & Contextual

• Campaigns Need a "Tune Up?" Yahoo Can Help!, PPC Hero
• Meet mobile publisher Mikle, Inside AdSense
• New options and a new look for location targeting, Inside AdWords
• Tracking Your Search Campaign: A Friendly Reminder, Rock Coast Media
• Using Paid Search For Branding, Search Engine Guide
• Google Changes Site Exclusion Process: Confusing Advertisers, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Wikia Gunning for Google, Wired

SEM Industry

• Only SEOmoz Could Make Search Spam Fun, SEOmoz
• Whiteboard Friday – "Say It Ain’t Sullivan" Part III, SEOmoz

SEO & SEM

• Automated Content Access Problems, The Laboratorium
• Live Search Testing Automatic Local Search Results in Australia?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Webmasters Report December 2007 Google SERP Changes, Search Engine Roundtable
• About URL Tracking Parameters and Duplicate Content Issues, Search Engine Journal
• Wherefore Art Thou SEO?, Search Engine Watch

Social Media

• LimeJuice’s Mobile Social Network: It’s Easy, And So People May Use It, TechCrunch
• Wikipedia Sued For Nazi Sympathies, TechCrunch
• Syria Blocks Facebook, New York Times

Video, Music & Image Search

• Using ALT attributes smartly, Official Google Webmaster Central Blog
• SmugMug Automatically Scales Photos and Video, Supports High Definition Video, TechCrunch

Other Items

• Send a Video Holiday Card!, YouTube

Last 20 Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• What Type of Bait You Would Use to Gain an Edge in the Social Media Sites?
• The Seven Best Blogs: Period
• SEM Pricing Stuctures & Business Models
• How to Raise Response and Lower Risks With Your Offers
• What is Social Media Saying About You Today?
• Google Changing the Way they Handle Subdomains
• How to Double Your Subscribers While Blogging Half as Often
• Monetizing Social Media Traffic: Live Blogging from Pubcon
• A simple conversation with Muhammad Saleem
• A Slippery Slope: Google Owns a Search Engine Optimization Company
• Exclusive: Technorati Relaunches To Focus On Core Blogging Audience
• Contest – Do you Have What it Takes to be a Social Media Ninja?
• WOW Shana Reveals All: Social Media is a lot like High School!
• Danny Sullivan Presents The Daily Search Socks!!!
• Pubcon Keynote: Craig Newmark of Craigslist
• PPC Campaign “Kick-off” Templates
• Participation- The Key to Social Media
• An Unjust Fear of Link Buying
• SEM Pricing Stuctures & Business Models
• How to Add Content to Wikipedia the “White Hat” Way

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.