SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 15, 2010

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Google Expanding Its Hotel Prices Experiment In Google Maps

  You may remember, or maybe you’ve seen, the Google Maps test that involves showing room prices as part of a hotel’s local business listing. We wrote about it in March when few users were opted in, but Google tells Search Engine Land today that the experiment is rolling out to more searchers over the next […]
• Justin Timberlake Releases Movie Trailer For “The Social Network”

  The full length trailer for the social saga based on Facebook debuted on JT’s official blog and Yahoo Movies earlier today:

  The full length movie is scheduled to be released in early October, bringing the story of Facebook’s rise to fame to the big screen. From the trailer, it looks like we’ll see quite a bit […]

• Google Has Solid But Flat Quarter: $6.82B

  Google just reported Q2 revenues of $6.82 billion, which represented 24 percent growth over Q2 2009. This was basically in line with consensus financial analyst estimates. However on a quarter over quarter basis growth was flat (1 percent).
  Here are the highlights from the earnings release:

  Google-owned sites generated revenues of $4.50 […]

• The New York Times Algorithm & Why It Needs Government Regulation

  The New York Times is the number one newspaper web site. Analysts reckon it ranks first in reach among US opinion leaders. When the New York Times editorial staff tweaks its supersecret algorithm behind what to cover and exactly how to cover a story — as it does hundreds of times a day — it […]

• Ask to Introduce New Q&A Engine Soon

  Ask.com was arguably the original Q&A engine. Now the site is seeking to introduce a new product, which leverages both its search assets and the community. We were approached but we’ve yet to formally speak to someone from IAC about the forthcoming launch.
  However, Silicon Alley Insider today exposes the PR email outlining the plan:
  On July […]

• Topsy Launches Twitter Expert Search; Better Options Exist

  Topsy, the Twitter-focused real-time search engine, has launched a new tool aimed at helping users find the right people to follow called Topsy Expert Search. The blog post seems to suggest that this is a “labs” product, but there’s a prominent link to Expert Search right from Topsy’s home page.
  Either way, Expert Search seems like […]

• Yahoo Begins Testing Bing Powered Results This Month

  Yahoo sent out an email discussing some of the organic Yahoo-to-Bing transition topics that are on the mind of their advertisers. The email goes over typical questions and tips but adds some additional insight into launch and testing dates.
  Yahoo confirmed they are testing Bing powered results “offline,” which we already know. But today, I […]

• 3 Lies The Search Engines Will Tell You

  Google, BingaHoo! just so you know: nothin’ but love from me. You guys rock. Really. We have a good relationship. But most relationships are based on trust, and that means you shouldn’t lie to me. If we’re all going to continue going steady, I need to clear a few things up.
  These are the (white) lies […]

• Google In Major Display Partnership With Ad Holding Company Omnicom

  According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Google will announce a deal with Omnicom Media Group, one of the major global ad holding companies. The Google-Omnicom deal is focused on display advertising and the DoubleClick Exchange specifically. According to the WSJ Ominicom will be spending “hundreds of millions of dollars to buy display […]

• Josef Frank Honored With Google Doodle

  Google today is honor Josef Frank’s 125th birthday with a special Google Doodle. Josef Frank is an Austrian/Swedish architect and textile designer. Google used one of his designs within the Doodle artwork to commemorate his work.
  Here is a picture of the Doodle, which can be found on all, if not most, Google properties […]

• Take Control Of Your Campaign Settings

  Last week, in three easy steps, you uploaded your keywords and ads into your engine accounts. If you did it correctly, you will now have everything posted inside the engine platforms. Now it’s time to check and tweak the settings to ensure that your paid search campaign will launch exactly as you […]

• The Four Pillars Of Viral Videos

  Have you ever watched a video on YouTube and wondered how it could have gained more than 1,000,000 views? Many brands ask themselves the same question: How can we generate the same kind of viral video success as the baby dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” or the wedding party entrance dance that crazed the nation? […]

• Google Maps Bug Impacts Local Business Ratings

  Google says it may be “multiple weeks” before they’re able to fix a Google Maps bug that’s showing the wrong star ratings for some local businesses.
  A paper/stationery store in Toronto reported the bug last month in the Google Maps Help Forum. The store’s Place Page shows several reviews that are being pulled in from […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• As Promised – A Very Special TweetDeck Delivery, TweetDeck’s posterous
• Translating Wikipedia, Official Google Blog
• BBC Unveils Original U.S. News Site, Ad Age

Business Issues

• Baidu hires 200 to expand Shanghai research centre, Reuters

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Making Tracks: New KML Extensions in Earth 5.2, Google Geo Developers Blog
• Google Ratings: Could they Change Your Business?, Search Engine Watch
• International Link Building — the Best of the Whole World, Search Engine Watch
• With Google as Partner, Verizon May Not Need iPhone, New York Times

Link Building

• 28 Link Building News, Views How-To’s: "@Wiep’s Link Building Monopoly" Edition (v10 7/9-7/15), ontolo.com

Searching

• Fully indexed birth records now on findmypast.co.uk, findmypast blog
• Getting more from the Google Site Command, Vertical Leap Blog
• Google Search Bug Prevents Some Searchers From Using Google, Search Engine Roundtable
• IAC To Put The Ask Back In Ask.com On July 29th (IACI), San Francisco Chronicle
• Internet Archive Wayback Machine appears to be updating!, We Build Pages

SEO & SEM

• Google Caffeine vs. Google Mayday — SEM Synergy Extras, BruceClay.com
• 7 Deadly Blog Writing Sins, Techipedia
• How to Know When Your Site Needs Social Media Before SEO, Search Engine Guide
• Indexing OCR text and layered PDFs, Maile Ohye
• Why You Shouldn’t Steal Content, Sugarrae
• Yahoo Search’s URL Ping Server Goes Offline. Beginning Of The End?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• Facebook refuses to take down tribute page to killer, CNET News
• More Businesses Finding Customers on Social Sites, www.emarketer.com
• Who Says Small Business Can’t Do Social Media?, Small Business SEM

Web Analytics

• Analytics Study: Organic Conversion, Algorithm Updates, AIM Clear Blog

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

• 18 Examples of Awesome Viral Linkbait – Connecting great content with it’s target audience, promoting it on the correct channels, and causing an emotional response is not easy, but can yield excellent results when executed correctly. Let’s take a look at three kinds of viral linkbait content that audiences love: Videos, Infographics and Widgets.
• How to Conduct a Link Opportunity Inventory (Plus 9 Common Link Opportunity Types) – Sometimes it makes sense to design link building campaigns around the most common link opportunities in a given market. This article provides a framework + worksheet for discovering your market's most abundant link opportunities.
• The Evolution of Ranking Signals: Google Is Getting Past the Link – OK, well I decided to drop a post over on WS on what is likely going to be a bit of a controverial topic. But as an avid search historian, from a tech perspective, it does seem we're on the cusp of a new frontier of signals beyond the reliance on links. I am certainly open to ALL input on it though. It is an interesting topic worth discussing IMO.
• Google AdWords Suicide – Inspired by the Google AdWords customer in India who threatened to kill himself if Google didn’t respond to his Google AdWords Help thread, Ian Howie gives his top 5 AdWords grievances and offers some solutions.
• Google vs. Bing Part II: Link Analysis – Anthony Verre posted part II of his series (on the Trail) looking into the differences between Google and Bing – this time it's link analysis. There is even a nice download at the end with all the data – some really good stuff here. Thanks Tony.