SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 19, 2007

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web: From Search Engine Land: 30% Of Results For Some Competitive Searches Found To Be Spam Researchers Track Down a Plague of Fake Web Pages from the NY Times reports on a recent paper from Microsoft […]

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

From Search Engine Land:

  • 30% Of Results
    For Some Competitive Searches Found To Be Spam

    Researchers Track Down a Plague of Fake Web Pages from the NY Times reports on
    a recent paper from Microsoft Research released named "Spam Double-Funnel:
    Connecting Web Spammers with Advertisers" [PDF download] (also note that Gary
    linked to it Friday). The report categorizes search results spam by industry
    category, showing…
  • TellMe: Is
    Microsoft Shadow Boxing Against Google In Mobile Voice Search?

    The recent acquisition of TellMe by Microsoft, piqued my interest in the free
    voice driven directory assistance service, 520-Find and the possible role that
    Google plays in the service. Mobile directory assistance will have a huge role
    in both local search and local advertising going forward. Clearly, Google
    has…
  • 1-800-Free411
    To Launch Local Category Search

    Jingle Networks’ free directory assistance (DA) service 1-800-FREE411 is
    slated this week to launch a new "category search" option, where you call to
    get matches of businesses in an area that relate to a category of interest
    (such as movie theaters in Los Angeles, or a dentist in San Francisco)….
  • Ingenio Adds
    Medio Systems To Mobile Distribution

    Pay-per-call provider Ingenio has added white label mobile search vendor Medio
    Systems to its distribution network. In addition to a range of online
    destinations, Ingenio is working with a number of mobile search sites and
    providers: JumpTap, Live.com/MSFT, AOL, go2, UpSnap and 1-800-FREE411. Last
    week Medio put out this release,…
  • Link Sense &
    Sensibilites

    Last week Danny had a great write up on the new anchor text reporting feature
    Google added to its Webmaster Toolbox. According to Google, they’ve "enhanced
    the information we provide and will show you the complete phrases sites use to
    link to you, not just individual words. And we’ve expanded…
  • Need A Medical
    Center Phone Number? Local Search Might Give The Wrong Number

    Mike Blumenthal has a detailed look at some of the inaccuracies Google Maps
    and other local search engines have when it comes to phone listings of medical
    centers. He writes: "The medical center phone data is in critical condition
    and in need of intensive care."…
  • GOOG
    Acquisitions: Trendalyzer & Adscape Media

    A quick heads-up on two new Google acquisitions. First, Google has announced
    the purchase of Gapminder’s Trendalyzer software. Second, it confirms the
    purchase of Adscape Media, an in-game advertising company, following rumors of
    a buy last month….
  • YouTube To Hold
    Online Awards Show

    YouTube to Sponsor Video Awards Show from the Associated press reports that
    YouTube will be holding the first YouTube Video Awards….
  • Travelocity:
    "Profound Mistake To Think We’ve Figured Out How To Measure ROI On Search"

    Jeffrey Glueck, CMO at Travelocity, offered some controversial, and to some,
    nearly heretical comments while speaking at the IAB’s Performance Marketing
    Forum this week in Chicago. According to coverage in Advertising Age,
    Travelocity has found that it’s a waste to buy non-branded search terms. Fully
    96% of Travelocity’s bookings coming…
  • Comcast May
    Leave Google For Microsoft Search Partnership

    Comcast Signals Unhappiness With Google from the Wall Street Journal reports
    that Comcast is in talks with Microsoft to see if they would give them a
    larger piece of the search revenue pie than Google currently does….
  • Hitwise: Slight
    Google Rise In February 2007

    Search popularity stats for last month are coming out once again, and I’m
    diving in with the latest figures from Hitwise. They show Google had a slight
    rise over the previous month, mainly at the loss of Microsoft Live. The
    month-to-month figures are below, along with the long term trend…
  • Summize: Using
    Heatmaps In Product Search Results

    I wrote earlier this week about Wize a shopping comparison engine that
    aggregated millions of reviews to compile a "WizeRank" for each product, based
    on the total number of positive, neutral or negative reviews found on the web.
    Today Alex Iskold over on ReadWriteWeb takes a takes a look at…
  • Webcast:
    Alternative PPC Search Programs

    Another webcast alert for SearchCap newsletter readers and anyone who visits
    Search Engine Land. In just over a week, the Reaping Return From Alternative
    Pay-Per-Click Search Engines webcast from our sister site Search Marketing Now
    will be taking place with Search Engine Land executive editor Chris Sherman.
    The webcast happens…

Search News Headlines From Elsewhere

Applications & Portal Features

Business Issues

Local, Mobile & Maps

Paid Search & Contextual

Privacy & Legal

SEM Industry

SEO & SEM

Social Media

Video & Image Search

Other Vertical Search

Other Stuff


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Danny Sullivan
Contributor
Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land and MarTech, and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

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