SearchCap: The Day In Search, July 5, 2011

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+ Profiles Will Be Public: Google To Terminate All Private Profiles After July 31st

  There was speculation back in March that Google was going to launch a social network when it was announced that there would be no more private Google profiles after July 31st. The launch of Google+ solidified this stance as on Google’s public profiles page it states: The purpose of Google Profiles is to enable you […]

• Google’s Blogger & Picasa To Get Renamed Soon: Report

  Google is planning to rename two of its popular services soon: Blogger will become Google Blogs and Picasa will become Google Photos. That’s according to Mashable, which says the changes are due in the next six weeks. Google’s YouTube property will not be included in the company’s rebranding efforts, but other products beyond Picasa and […]

• Hot At Sphinn: Google’s Chances For Social Success, SEO ‘Junk’ On The Web & More

  There was quite a variety of content making the rounds last week on our sister site, Sphinn, and this week’s recap reflects that. Hot on the heels of the launch of Google+, our “Discussion of the Week” asked a simple question: Can Google Succeed at Social Networking? The general feeling among the commenters was not […]

• Whoa Doggies! Bing Lassoes Search On The iPad

  Microsoft is updating Bing for iPad with a useful new search feature called “Lasso.” It offers a simpler way to search in context — with your finger. On any page within the Bing app (which is effectively a Safari browser alternative) users will be able to circle a word or phrase — hence the name […]

• SMX East – Register by July 16 for Best Rates; Workshops Announced

  SMX East Super Early Bird rates expire next week. These are the lowest rates offered. Register by July 16 and you’ll save $500 off on-site rates. Register to secure your spot for SMX East on September 13-15 in New York City! The Search Engine Land editorial team is busy creating more than 50 sessions about […]

• Google’s Sending Webmaster Notifications About Bad Links Pointing At Their Sites

  In January 2011, Google began sending out more webmaster tool spam notifications including notifications that your site has been penalized because of selling links. Now there are reports that Google is notifying webmasters that they have bad links pointing to their web site, as opposed to bad links on their web site pointing outwards. Here […]

• Creative Tips For Link Building On A Shoestring Budget

  Since “how much would it take me to get started?” is a common question that potential clients ask me, I thought I’d expand a bit on my original answer to Debra Mastaler’s forum questions. I love the idea of only having $100 to get started because many times, having less money means you have to […]

• What Does Google+ Add To The Social Graph?

  Is there anything else that this week’s column could have been about? After months & months of rumours, leaks, presentations and high-profile talent grabs, Google finally launched its Facebook competitor™*. After the farce that was Wave, and the let-down that was Buzz, Google+ seems to be Google’s big push to date to get into social. […]

• 5 Best Practices For Kicking Off A Global Search Program

  Last time, we looked at the 9 Key Considerations for selecting an International Search Agency. Let’s now jump forward beyond the procurement and vendor onboarding nightmare and assume we have our stable of partners in place to launch our program. The following are recommendations to ensure your project gets off to and stays on the […]

• The Challenges & Benefits Of Attributing Incremental Value

  In the complex world of media mix analysis, it’s important to have a trustworthy guide. Just as a last touch attribution model can lead to mis-allocation of resources, over-crediting first touches can mislead as well. All marketing/advertising impressions are not equally valuable. A thirty-second TV spot, a quality visit to your website, a walk through […]

• Marketers Root For Expanded Opportunities Represented By Google+

  Marketers have had a close eye on the launch of Google+, and what I’m hearing at this point is similar to what I once heard about Bing. In short, it’s great to have a potential competitor to the behemoth in the space (Facebook, in this case), but how important Google+ becomes to marketers will depend […]

• Why QR Codes Could Disrupt Your SEO URL Strategy

  SEO has greatly influenced web information architecture over the years, particularly with respect to URL structure. I think we’d all agree, it has long been considered gospel to “optimize” URLs at the category (or product-levels) by including at least a sprinkling of keywords, as a ranking signal and to make URLs more human readable and […]

• As Deal With Twitter Expires, Google Realtime Search Goes Offline

  Yesterday, we reported that Google Realtime Search had mysteriously disappeared. Today comes the reason why: Google’s agreement with Twitter to carry its results has expired, taking with it much of the content that was in the service with it. Google sent us this explanation: Since October of 2009, we have had an agreement with Twitter […]

• Report: Bing To Power Baidu English Results

  China’s dominant search engine Baidu is trying to expand its reach beyond Chinese-language speakers. Reuters is reporting that Baidu and Microsoft have done a deal that will offer Bing powered English-language results for the Chinese search engine. It’s not clear whether this is limited to China or will be used in other markets where English […]

• Google’s Fourth Of July Logo

  Happy Independence Day everyone! Today Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com have special logos and themes for the special day. Above is an image from Google for how they are commemorating the special day. Some are actually upset that there is no American Flag in the logo, but I think the logo represents America well with […]

• Bing Now Supports Google’s Crawlable AJAX Standard?

  In 2009, Google proposed a standard for crawlable AJAX. A few months later, that standard went live and while I thought it was great Google was providing options to content owners to ensure their sites were indexed well, I noted at the time that “this method doesn’t work for search engines other than Google. So […]

• Google Realtime Search Goes Missing

  Update: A couple hours after this post was published, Google spokesperson Gabriel Stricker shared this statement with us: We’ve temporarily disabled google.com/realtime. We’re exploring how to incorporate our recently launched Google+ project into this functionality going forward, so stay tuned. Also see our updated article with more details, As Deal With Twitter Expires, Google Realtime […]

• Official: The Google Wonder Wheel Is Gone

  A Google spokesperson has informed Search Engine Land that the Google Wonder Wheel feature has been taken offline. The spokesperson said that the search tool was removed due to the “initial stage” of the Google site redesign announced earlier this week. The Google Wonder Wheel along with a number of other search refinements were formally […]

• Google+ Opens To More People, But Will That Last?

  Haven’t gotten into Google+ yet? It appears anyone can sign-up now at the Google+ home page. Hitting the page now brings up a sign-up box, rather than the usual “Keep Me Posted” message that I believe had been there: Tony Steward on Google+ seems to be the first, or one of the first, to have […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Business Issues

• Microsoft, Google Sued by Louisiana Firm Over Computer-Mapping Technology, Bloomberg
• Dealtalk: Google bid pi for Nortel patents and lost, Reuters
• BackType Has Been Acquired by Twitter, BackType
• New Financing Values Twitter As High As $7 Billion, Wall Street Journal

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Bulgaria: Google Street View to Enter Bulgaria in Months, Novinite
• Google ‘Street View’ Gets a China clone, Penn Olson
• Microsoft Shares Source Code for Wi-Fi Data Collection Software, TechNet Blogs
• Plucky Czechs force Street View changes, The Register
• Google Rumored To Launch ITA-Powered Travel Search Product Soon, TechCrunch
• Google, Yelp and Why Review Counts are Meaningless, Small Business SEM

SEO & SEM

• Ecommerce SEO, Vertical Leap Blog
• Google Delists USA.com Over July Fourth Weekend, Search Engine Roundtable
• How to Conduct a Quality Score Audit, Search Engine Journal
• The huge untapped potential of Q&A content for SEO, SEOmoz
• 5 steps to building a powerful SEO copywriting business network with LinkedIn, SEO Copywriting
• Bing Webmaster Tools Sending Email Notifications?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Could Your Hosting Be To Blame For A Google Penalty?, Search Marketing Standard
• Google Sparks Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Roundtable
• How A Search Engine Might Classify Web Pages as Sensitive, SEO By The Sea
• How to Build Website Trust and Authority, Michael Gray
• Optimizing Your Online PR Strategy for Search & Social, Part 4b: Crafting the Story p2, Search Engine Guide
• Paid Search is Customer Service, Not Advertising, Search Engine Guide
• SEO 101 for Travel Bloggers, SEOmoz
• SEO: Can’t Outrank Them? Out Title Tag Them!, Search Engine Roundtable
• What Are The SEO Implications Of Google ?, MediaPost

Social Media

• 6 Things Google Can Do That Facebook Can’t, PC Magazine
• Why Twitter Should be Very Worried About Google, siliconfilter.com
• Will Google Be As Creepy As Facebook?, International Business Times
• Google for iOS Awaiting App Store Approval, mashable.com
• Google Scam Spreading Via Fake Invites [WARNING], mashable.com
• Twitter drops following requirement for DMs on Verified Accounts, thenextweb.com
• Facebook blocks Google Chrome extension for exporting friends, ZDNet
• Facebook Wins Patent For Digital Media Tagging, All Facebook
• Twitter Testing Facebook-Like Message Wall [PIC], mashable.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• Hangouts Mailbag, juberjabber

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

• An SEO Wishlist for Content Management Systems – What good to a search-engine-optimization professional is a site full of unique content with no way to optimize it? Not much, unless that professional enjoys nagging web developers to make minor edits. A strong content management system enables marketing teams and SEO professionals to work more independently of developers, reducing friction and increasing efficiency for both teams.
• Google Webmaster Notifications For Bad Links Pointing At Your Site – So Google finally admits that it owes victims of negative SEO, er… link 'spamming' webmasters, a hint at least.
• How To Implement Rel=Author – Google is starting to use rel="author" on search results. Here are specific directions on how to get rel=”author” up and running on your own site or blog.