SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 13, 2009

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Search: Too Boring For Branding?

  I’m not a big fan of TV. But my wife and I decided to cancel our satellite TV service effective next week, so I’ve found myself watching more TV than ever recently, trying to squeeze the most out of my remaining days. I guess Cinderella was right: You don’t know what you got ‘til it’s […]

• Microsoft Shutting Down adCenter Analytics Beta

  Microsoft said it was closing its adCenter Analytics beta program:
  Our team would like to sincerely thank you for your participation and your invaluable contributions to the program. Our objectives at the outset were to serve the needs of small and midsize self-service customers, as well as evolve the Microsoft strategy to address the Web analytics […]

• An Insider’s Look At Google’s Search Based Keyword Tool

  Google’s free search based keyword tool has given advertisers access to Google’s data to help leverage the relationship between organic and paid search campaigns. Last year, before the release of Google’s search-based keyword tool, my Google rep sent me a very insightful report on one of my clients. It compared, side by side, the […]

• Preview Of Microsoft’s Kumo Home Page?

  The LiveSide blog posted a screen shot of one example of how the Kumo, Microsoft’s possible new brand for Live Search, home page might look like.
  Here is that picture:

  Very similar to how Live.com works, but it simply reads “Kumo” instead.
  In other home page news, Yahoo has been testing a new home page again. TechCrunch […]

• Google’s Advice On Using The New Canonical Tag

  A month ago, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft announced they will be supporting a new canonical tag that allows you to tell search engines that page X is a duplicate page to page Z. In a way, it is a 301 redirect, without the physical redirect.
  The tag is incredibly powerful, as are 301 redirects and […]

• Google Tests Favicons For AdWords In Germany And Poland

  We were alerted that Google appears to be testing favicons in Germany and Poland for AdWords advertisers. Here are a few screens:

  A number of advertisers in the US have informally reported higher CTRs using the Google Checkout icon. (One discussion I had with an advertiser in the UK last week said he saw an 8 […]

• The Rise Of Help Engines: Twitter & Aardvark

  Back in 2000, there was a little-remembered but amazing survey that I love to cite showing how search engines had, in only a few years, topped the list of information resources consulted. They’d even pushed past family and friends. Now […]

• How We Search With The Twitter “Help Engine”

  Is Twitter a search engine or not? There’s been plenty of discussion and debate about this recently. I’d say yes, in a way. It’s clear to anyone who watches a twitterstream that people put out questions to Twitter similar to […]

• Aardvark “Help Engine” Opens To Wider Use

  In private testing for the past few months, Aardvark is now opening its doors to more searchers today in conjunction with the South By Southwest conference. Also known as Vark, Aardvark is a “help engine” that allows people to send questions […]

• Google Exec Tim Armstrong Named New AOL Chairman & CEO

  One of Google’s longest serving executives, Tim Armstrong, is departing the company to become AOL’s new chairman and CEO, replacing existing chair and CEO Randy Falco. From the AOL release:
  Tim Armstrong, Google Senior Vice President, has been named Chairman and CEO of AOL, LLC, Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes announced today. […]

• Twitter’s Traffic Growth & The Rise Of Social Search

  There’s a lot of stats and analysis today about Twitter’s traffic, how it compares to other social search sites, and who’s benefiting from all the traffic Twitter can send. It seems no one argues that Twitter is on the rise, but just how high it’s risen is still up for debate.
  Let’s start, appropriately, with a […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• China Blocks Google Docs & FeedBurner, Search Engine Roundtable

Business Issues

• Alibaba Seeks to Work With Google, EBay, Microsoft, Bloomberg
• Hires: Twitter Claims Valley Crown by Poaching Google’s Top Designer, gawker.com
• Google, Yahoo Criticized over Foreign Censorship, BusinessWeek
• Googlers Shocked By Armstrong Defection (GOOG), Business Insider
• Is Google evil?, Daily News
• Note to Yahoo’s Bartz: Ma company, Ma way, Reuters
• Source: Baidu Restructures Marketing, Director Resigns, JLM Pacific Epoch

Local, Maps & Mobile

• California legislator wants to censor Google Earth, Macworld
• Google Maps Fixes Newest Hack & Adds Private Mapspam Reporting Form, Mike Blumenthal
• Google Adds More User Content to Maps/Earth Search Results, Google Earth Blog
• iSynth – The Photosynth Browser for iPhone, Virtual Earth, An Evangelist’s Blog
• Live from Mars!, Google LatLong
• Yahoo’s Fire Eagle Soars Onto Facebook, Firefox, TechCrunch

Link Building

• Using SEOmoz Linkscape to Troll for Terrific Link Prospects, SEOmoz
• Do Nofollow Tags With Spaces Pass Link Value?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Whiteboard Friday – How to Get Awesome Links, SEOmoz

Paid Search & Contextual

• AdWords system maintenance on March 14th, Inside AdWords
• Challenges with Microsoft adCenter Normalization, Rimm Kaufman
• Google AdWords Content Network: How To Get Great ROI With A New Strategy From Google, Search Engine Journal
• Google Gives AdSense Publishers Way To Opt Out of Interest Based Ads, Search Engine Roundtable
• Top 5 adCenter Advertiser Queries Answered, adCenter Blog for Advertisers
• Work Smarter, Not Harder! 6 Ways to Save Time When Managing PPC, PPC Hero
• Yahoo Search Advertisers Upset With Conversions From Yahoo Shopping, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• FanSnap Is The New Kayak For Event Ticket Searches, TechCrunch
• Free: askSam Makes Stimulus Bill Searchable, ResourceShelf
• The magic number, Official Google Blog

SEM Industry

• Intersection of SEO and PR Agencies, outspokenmedia.com
• Live from PubCon South: Intersection of SEO and PR Agencies, Search Marketing Sage
• SEMpdx’s Searchfest 2009: The Best of the Bunch, SEOmoz
• Super Session: Social Media & Business, outspokenmedia.com
• Migrating from SME SEO to Corporate SEO: A real life story by Ben McKay, SEO Scoop
• My Pubcon South Roundup in Pictures, Online Marketing Blog
• Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: March 13, 2009, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• How to Produce Fresh Content and Copy Everyday for SEO, Daily SEO Tip
• SEO Tool: LotusJump New Updates, Search Engine Journal
• SEO 101: DIY Tips For Small Business Owners – The Page Title, Search Engine Journal

Social Media

• Facebook Getting Serious About Vanity URLs, TechCrunch
• Facebook’s New Public Profiles: Good for Businesses, Bad for People, Read/Write Web
• Is Twitter the Next Monster?, BusinessWeek
• StumbleUpon To Launch su.pr ShortUrl Service, TechCrunch

Web Analytics

• 30 Google Analytics Tools, Goals, Segments, Filters, Hacks & Resources, SEOptimise

Other Items

• A wired and safe Vietnam, Yodel Anecdotal
• Happy 20th Birthday, World Wide Web, Read/Write Web

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