SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 15, 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:

• Up Close With Facebook Graph Search
  We’ve covered the launch of Facebook Graph Search, explored how it differs from Google search but now it’s time for the hands-on. Come along for a tour of how it works. Sign-Up & Wait To get started, you have to sign-up, where you’ll be added to a waiting list. There’s no particular ETA of when […]
• SEO For Facebook Graph Search? Facebook Has Some Tips
  With today’s announcement of the new Facebook Graph Search, many business owners will eventually be wondering, “How do I make sure my business gets found in Facebook search?” Never fear: Facebook itself has already shared a few tips to help make that happen. We’ll get to that below, but first a quick bit of background […]
• 5 Tools You Never Thought To Use For Link Building
  Link building tools are everywhere, so much so that it’s safe to assume we’ve saturated the market, and it’s time to move on to building something else. While I rely on some of these as much as Instragram relies on selfies and food photos, some of the best tools I’ve found for link building were actually created […]
• How The New Facebook Search Is Different & Unique From Google Search
  At long last, Facebook’s search challenge to Google has arrived. But it has arrived in a much different format than many expected. Indeed, Facebook’s not using its data to provide a better search that Google. Facebook is providing a new type of search that you simply can’t do on Google or anywhere else. The Connections […]
• 6 Tips For Increasing Search Team Communication
  In my last article, Big Win & Fails For Global Search Marketing, I recapped some of the failures and successes in Global Search Marketing and identified the lack of communication and collaboration as the biggest failure. While it is the biggest challenge, it is actually the easiest to fix. When Mike Moran initially brought me […]
• Facebook Graph Search Arrives To Challenge Google, Yelp, Foursquare & Others
  After largely ignoring that little white box at the top of its interface for years, Facebook is finally getting serious about search. The company announced today a new experience that it’s calling Facebook Graph Search. It relies heavily on “Likes” and other connections to determine what to show as the most relevant search results for […]
• 3 Predictions For The Future Of Google+ Profiles In Autosuggest
  Google+ profiles have been showing up in the autosuggest listings in Google search results for some time. Now that we know this feature appears to be here to stay, it is time to take a closer look. Just to be clear about what we are discussing, let’s look at a few examples. Here, we see […]
• Yext “Reinvents The Local Business Listing” With New Rich Content Options
  Location data platform and provider Yext has introduced a range of new data types and rich content into its PowerListing local data syndication product. The new offering is called PowerListings+ (Like Google+). Enhanced local data categories enable the inclusion of employee/staff bios, event calendars, product inventory and services (including prices). Yext said that the new content […]
• Google’s 6th “Doodle 4 Google” Contest: “My Best Day Ever…”
  Google has announced the 6th annual Doodle 4 Google competition where children can earn win a $30,000 college scholarship, and a $50,000 technology grant for their school – amongst other prizes. This year’s theme is “My Best Day Ever…” where the Doodle should represent ideas of what would be their best day ever. Google created […]
• Links From Press Releases Do Have Ranking Benefit Despite What Google Says
  A few weeks ago, Google’s Matt Cutts posted in the Google forums that links from within press releases do not “benefit your rankings.” I covered this tidbit of news at the Search Engine Roundtable and it got a lot of feedback from the community. Today, the SEO Consult blog posted a test showing how links […]
• Report: Global Paid Search Spending Up 18% In 2012
  Advertiser spending on paid search rose 18% in 2012 according to Covario’s Global Search Advertising Spend Analysis, which tracks paid search spending in more than 45 countries. That growth trend is down just slightly from the 21% annual increase Covario reported for 2011. In Q4 Google commanded 86.5% of global paid search spend and a […]
• 77 Percent Of Online Health Seekers Start At Search Engines [Pew Study]
  Although there’s long been a debate over the accuracy of health information online, many U.S. internet users aren’t hesitant to use the web when they want answers to health-related questions. And rather than dedicated health sites, the vast majority of them begin their research at a search engine. A new study out tonight from the […]

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

• Live Blog: The Facebook Graph Search Press Conference
• Twitter Now Partnering With 250 Carriers In 100 Countries To Help Bring Tweets To The Masses
• How Marketers Can Optimize For Clicks Based On Time Of Day
• Content Marketing On A Limited Budget
• Dlvr.it Can Now Automatically Deliver Blog Posts & Updates Directly To Google+

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Alibaba’s Founder to Give Up C.E.O. Title, but Will Remain Chairman, New York Times
• What if Microsoft exited the search business?, The Daily Caller
• Will Anyone Ever Truly Challenge Google in Search?, Marketing Pilgrim

Local Search & Maps

• Bing New to REST Services: Elevations API, Bing Maps Blog
• Google: Review Contests Violate Guidelines, Mike Blumenthal
• Let Customers “See Inside” Your Business with Google Business Photos, Google and Your Business
• Milestones: Open Street Map Reaches One Million Registered Contributors, LJ INFOdocket

Link Building

• A Newbies Guide to Link Building, Vertical Measures
• How To Handle An Unnatural Links Warning, Search Marketing Standard
• What to do if your link requests get rejected, SEOprofiler Blog

Paid Search

• Top Tips on Passing the Google AdWords Display Network Exam, koozai.com
• Your optimization checklist, Part 1, Inside AdSense

Searching

• A New Resource That ‘Sounds’ Amazing: “World’s Largest Natural Sound Archive Now Fully Digital and Online”, LJ INFOdocket
• Cracking the Search Category Problem, blekko
• Google News Adds Weather Box But It Has Issues, Search Engine Roundtable
• Math for All Ages—Online Manipulatives for Basic Arithmetic, Wolfram|Alpha Blog

SEM Industry

• 2012’s top 10 SEO expert interviews, seocopywriting.com
• Search Influence’s 7th Anniversary: A Reflection and Q&A With Founders Will & Angie Scott, Search Influence

SEO & SEM

• Auditing Pay Per Click Accounts, PPC Chat Streamcap
• Bing Webmaster Tools Does That?!?!?!, State of Search
• Google Authorship Needs Proper URL In Google+ “Contributor To” Field, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google January 2013 Update Underway?, Search Engine Roundtable
• How the Quality of Your Website Can Make or Break Your SEO Success, Search Engine Watch
• How To Devise Your SEO Strategy The Easy Way – With a Planning Template, SEO Book
• How to Do Keyword Research in 10 Minutes, Search Engine People
• How to Spot Bad Data Within Your PPC Campaigns & What to do About It, Search Engine Watch
• How to Target the Nordic Consumer, State of Search
• PPC Overture, PPC Associates Blog
• The Rising Influence of AuthorRank In 2013, Search Engine People

Video, Music & Image Search

• Duplicate Content Issues Can Break Google’s Data Highlighter, Search Engine Roundtable