SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 2, 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:

• Google Alerts Drops RSS Delivery Option
  Google has quietly dropped the support to deliver your Google Alerts via RSS. A warning at the top of the page, for those who had RSS delivery previous set up for Alerts reads: Google Reader is no longer available. To continue receiving Google Alerts, change to email delivery. Here is a screen shot: In October […]
• Google No Longer Powering Russian Internet Company Searches As Mail.ru Takes All Queries In-House
  Russian Internet company Mail.ru Group released an official announcement that they will be handling all queries made by Search Mail.ru users from here on out. According to TheNextWeb.com, Google previously powered 60 percent of the searches performed on Search Mail.ru, after the company split ways with Russian search engine Yandex in August 2010. While Mail.ru […]
• Local Businesses Need To Expand & Refine Advertising Approach
  With consumers leveraging a broader array of online and offline media when searching for local business information — and increasingly relying on smartphones and tablets to conduct searches — local businesses need to expand and refine their advertising approach in order to remain competitive, according to new research released today by the Local Search Association. […]
• Bing Ads Introduces New Ad Format With Windows 8.1 Smart Search Integration
  Microsoft announced today that the Bing Ads platform will be integrated with Windows 8.1 Smart Search, giving Bing Ads advertisers more reach and a new ad format. Released last week, Smart Search in Windows 8.1 allows users to search across the Web, apps, devices and the cloud with one query. The results are then returned in […]
• Google Testing Larger News Photos In Search Results
  Google Operating System reports Google is testing showing larger photos in the News OneBox Google Web results page. Often, when you search for news related topics in Google.com, Google will show news results at the top, middle or bottom of the results. This is part of Google’s universal search launch from years ago. Often, the […]
• 11 Things We Should Never Ever Do In Link Building Again
  Okay friends, we need to have a little talk. I am frustrated. All of us Link Week columnists genuinely care about giving away good (and free, I might add) information on how to do link building the right way. So why, why, pray tell, do we continue to see so much crap? Clearly, we’re going to have to […]
• Want To Speak @ SMX East? Here’s How
  The agenda is live, and we’re now accepting submissions to speak at Search Marketing Expo – SMX East 2013, October 1-3, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. To increase the odds of being selected, be sure to read the agenda. Understand what the sessions are about. Ensure that your pitch […]
• Google Webmaster Tools Restructures Navigation & Adds Search Appearance Overlay
  Google announced they’ve updated the navigation within Google Webmaster Tools and have also added a new “search appearance” pop up that should help novice webmasters. New Webmaster Tools Navigation The new navigation was redesigned and structured to be in the order of “the stages of search,” said Mariya Moeva, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst. The structure […]
• 2013 Search Awards Comes To The US With Nominations Open Through July 19
  The 2013 US Search Awards are now accepting nominations from organizations, agencies and individuals for search campaigns conducted in the US. The awards include 22 different categories, along with a Grand Prix prize which will be awarded to the best entry among the 22 categories. The deadline for entries is July 19, with the shortlist […]

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

• Toss All The Text You’d Like On Facebook Covers, The 20% Rule Has Been Lifted
• Enterprise PPC Campaign Management Tools 2013: A Marketer’s Guide
• Study: Email Lands More Customers Than Facebook Or Twitter, But Still Fewer Than Organic Search
• 5 Steps For Optimizing Your LinkedIn Company Page
• Yahoo Launches Unified Top Bar Navigation Across Most Properties
• Is The Art Of Paid Search Marketing Dead?
• Study: Fake Twitter Follower Market Is Still Thriving Thanks To New Spam Tactics
• CityGrid Lays Off Most Of Staff, Vows To “Streamline”
• Google Book Scanning Class Action Likely To Disappear
• Google Tells Congress: We’re Not Changing Our Privacy Policy For Google Glass

Local & Maps

• New Google Search Maps Inlay, Local Splash

Link Building

• How does Pure Spam look like? A deep dive into FittedWardrobes, LRT Link Research Tools
• How to Protect your Site and Recover from a Google Penguin Penalty, Search Engine Journal
• Link Building with the Experts – 2013 Edition, sugarrae.com
• Real link building requires sales, seocopywriting.com
• Should You Do Linkbuilding to Your G+ Page for Local?, Mike Blumenthal

Searching

• Google, Clean Yourself Up & Look Like A Mench, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Bing challenge: with iOS 7 and Windows 8.1, search could be Microsoft’s new platform, The Verge

SEO

• Top 5 SEO Leading Indicators: The Best Way to Enhance Your Monthly Client Reports, Search Engine Watch
• Why Reporting on Rankings is Futile and What You Should Focus Your Efforts on Instead, stateofsearch.com
• 7 Research Tips To Help You Create Quality Content, koozai.com
• Efficiency ≠ Effectiveness: 7 SEO Plugins for Chrome, State of Search
• Google Sitelink Demotions Not Working?, Search Engine Roundtable
• The Google Local Carousel & Local Directories, Local SEO Guide
• Top Tips for Measuring Your SEO Company’s Performance, Search Engine People
• Video SEO: optimising video for search is the trick most brands are missing, Econsultancy
• Creating Great Experience for SEO, Kaiserthesage
• June 2013 Local SEO Mashup, RicketyRoo Inc