SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 20, 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:

• Hot At Sphinn: Automated Tweeting Pros/Cons, Deleting PPC Keywords & More

  Another busy week of discussion last week on our sister site, Sphinn, with more than a third of the published stories attracting comments. The most conversation happened around our “Discussion of the Week,” which asked Automated Tweets … Yay or Nay? And we got a variety of opinions on the use of Twitter bots, scheduled […]

• What NOT To Do On Local Business Websites

  There’s lots of advice out there for what to do in optimizing websites for local businesses, yet day after day, we see some of the same bad practices continue to be perpetuated in bad web designs. So, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, here’s a reminder of some basic things NOT to do […]

• What The New ICANN Domain Names Mean For Google Rankings & SEO: Nothing

  ICANN – the organization in charge of internet domain names – has approved plans that may create hundreds or thousands of new “top level domain names.” I’ve seen some reports already that this will help with search engine optimization. It won’t. It’ll just enrich some new TLD owners at the expense of brands who will […]

• The Mobile SEO Party is Ending

  … and moving to a bigger house. Since over a quarter of the world’s mobile phones are now smartphones and mobile Internet use is set to overtake desktop use in the next 4 years, it’s even more important to have a mobile strategy or mobile offering. In recent times, Google has started to open up […]

• Build Traffic, Drive Conversions, Boost ROI; Attend SMX East – Register Now for Lowest Rates

  Join us for Search Marketing Expo – SMX East and immerse yourself in three days of exceptional tactical content and invaluable networking opportunities. SMX East takes place September 13-15 in New York City. Register for SMX East now and you’ll get the lowest rates possible. Keep reading for more info – or take advantage of […]

• Forecast: Google To Have Nearly 80% Of US Search Revenues In 2012

  There are a couple of new search and display ad forecasts out from eMarketer. They run through next year with Google increasing its dominance of search advertising, while Facebook steals the top slot from Yahoo in display. The firm sees Google US search ad revenues opening up a bigger lead despite Bing’s gains among consumers. […]

• The One Minute Paid Search Account Diagnosis

  Every PPC manager wants to know how to increase their exposure, especially if they feel there aren’t any new keywords they wish to add. There is a simple way to determine how to increase an account’s exposure that can be accomplished in less than a minute. Generally speaking, when looking to increase your exposure, you […]

• Google Notifying Webmasters To Update WordPress Blogs

  Bas van den Beld received a new notification from Google Webmaster Tools that has never been seen before. The notification informs those who are running outdated WordPress installations to update them to the latest version. Here is a screen shot: Matt Cutts of Google confirmed the new notifications via Twitter saying, “we’re kicking off a […]

• Google Adds Gay Rainbow Around Search Box

  Like in the previous years, Google has added a rainbow to the search results to show their support for the Gay and Lesbian community. June is Gay and Lesbian Pride month and like Google has done before in 2010, 2009 and 2008, Google has added the rainbow colors when you search for gay related keywords. […]

• Is Chromebook Google’s True iPad Competitor?

  Having used the Samsung 10.1 Android tablet (running Honeycomb) for a number of weeks I can tell you conclusively that it doesn’t compete with the iPad. While the hardware is light and generally well designed, the overall software experience falls well short of the standard the iPad has established. An Unintentional iPad Competitor? Enter Google’s […]

• Google’s Father’s Day Logo & More 2011 Logos

  Today is Father’s Day in the U.S. and many other countries. To celebrate the day, Google has a special tie logo. Bing, Yahoo and other search engines have special logos and themes as well. Here they are: Google: Yahoo (animated): Yahoo (not-animated): Bing: Ask.com: DogPile: Baidu: Sogou: Search Engine Roundtable: Related Stories: Google’s 2011 Mother’s […]

• Google Testing New Design Without I’m Feeling Lucky Button

  A reader emailed us a screen shot of the Google home page missing the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button as well as a new look for the inside search result pages. Here are those screen shots. Notice the home page missing the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button: The next screen shot shows a completely new look for […]

• Disturbing Michelle Obama Image Makes A Case For Facial Recognition In Google’s New Image Search

  Do you remember that disturbing, Photoshopped image of First Lady Michelle Obama that made big news a couple years ago? It’s hard to find now in Google Image Search unless you know exactly what to type into the search box. Type “michelle obama” and you probably won’t ever see it. (More on that at the […]

• Court Says No, You Can’t Sue Google For Bad Walking Directions

  Remember the woman in Utah who used Google Maps’ walking directions, was hit by a car and sued? The case is Rosenberg v. Harwood and Google was successful in getting almost all the claims against the company dismissed last week. When last we left our story the plaintiff, Lauren Rosenberg, was walking from 96 Daly […]

• Report: Google Admeld Deal To Get DOJ Review

  Google’s planned purchase of publisher-side ad optimization firm Admeld is expected to be reviewed by the Department of Justice to ensure it doesn’t illegally inhibit competition in the display advertising industry. That according to reports from The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and others, which cite sources familiar with the matter. The company announced its plans […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Docs Tests Offline Support, Powered by HTML5, Google Operating System

Business Issues

• Google set to launch Photovine? It applied for the trademark, now it owns the matching domain name, fusible.com
• Oracle expert claims Google may owe up to $6 billion, Mercury News
• SageTV HTPC software acquired by Google, next stop Google TV?, Engadget
• Inside Facebook’s Next Billion Dollar Business, Business Insider

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Delay in launch of Google Street View for Isle of Man, three.fm
• Google Street View Stops Driving In India; Bangalore Police, MediaNama

Link Building

• A New Perspective On Link Building, SEOmoz
• How to Write Link Bait Posts, Search Engine People

Searching

• Spies can send messages hidden in a Google search, New Scientist
• DuckDuckGo To Google, Bing Users: Escape Them Filter Bubbles!, TechCrunch
• Google teams up with The British Library, TNW UK
• Google Testing Instant Next Page Search Results, Search Engine Roundtable
• Opinion: For Google, the search never ends, Amit Singhal – POLITICO.com

SEM Industry

• My Talk At La Red Innova Madrid 2011, rustybrick.com
• Stephan Spencer on E-Commerce and SEO, Stone Temple

SEO & SEM

• 22 User Experience Factors To Consider Post-Panda, KoMarketing Associates
• 3 signs that your SEO copy is over-optimized, SEO Copywriting
• A SEO Turncoat, Bruce Clay Australia
• Building Faceted Navigation That Doesn’t Suck, SEOmoz
• Ecommerce Catalog Page SEO Tips, Vertical Leap Blog
• Five SEO Clients Who Have Hang-Ups, Search Engine People
• Google Panda 2.2 Did Hit Without Google Confirmation, Search Engine Roundtable
• How to Create a Google Ad Campaign Part 2, LiBeck Integrated Marketing
• How To Increase PPC CTR, PPC Hero
• The Ultimate Guide to Keyword Research, ViperChill

Social Media

• Insiders Ride Social Networking to a Big Payday, New York Times

Video, Music & Image Search

• Google Could Add Face Recognition to Google Profiles, Google Operating System
• Yup, YouTube Counts Video Ads As Regular Views, TechCrunch

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

• Building Faceted Navigation That Doesn't Suck – Filters on eCommerce sites are high valued by users, helping them to drill down with ease. For search engines on the other hand, those filters can appear as a crawling nightmare. This article talks about concepts that take the best from both worlds, in order to create sites for users that search engines can stomach.
• Google Places Basics: Listing a New Business – A Timeline for Launch – Listing a new business with Google has its own quirks that need to be considered so I am highlighting my response here and following that up with a sample timeline for the complete process.
• The Ultimate Guide to Keyword Research – Extremely comprehensive keyword research guide…convering both sources of keywords and strategies / implementation.
• ".brands" approach with Internet name shake-up – Big domain name changes proposed! – Brand owners will soon be able to operate their own parts of the Web — such as .apple, .coke or .marlboro — if the biggest shake-up yet in how Internet domains are awarded is approved.