SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 13, 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 Cracking Down On Toolbars Showing Too Many Ads

  Google has been notifying their AdSense for Search partners of a recent AdSense guidelines change that impact the use of the program with browser toolbars and third-party client applications. Google is supposedly giving these partners 30 days to make changes to their toolbars and applications or be in violation of the revised guidelines. I believe […]

• Google Adds Local News For Smartphone Users

  Android and iPhone users can now get local news via the mobile version of Google News. It’s accessible by visiting news.google.com from a mobile browser. Google News will ask for permission to use your current location (if you haven’t already given that permission), and if you allow it, a “News near you” section will be […]

• Are You Ready? Why Today’s SERP Will Be Unrecognizable In 5 Years

  I hate to admit it, but honestly, I’ve been pretty down on search lately. After almost a decade as a search engine marketing guy, I’ve seen this industry grow, mature, and now, plateau. Do I still think it’s a great marketing channel? Of course! It might be the second best form of advertising in the […]

• How To Integrate Google Analytics & YouTube

  As companies spread their media mix, and expand their activities to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social channels, it is essential to try and integrate numbers as much as possible. And this integration should not only be on the marketing message and design, but also on its tracking. It is important to have a […]

• How To Use Effective Navigation Labels for Search Engine Optimization

  Is your website’s URL structure based on the perceived logic of your boss’ teenage son? Or even worse, a software engineer? Search-engine friendly labeling systems are critical for long-term search engine visibility.

• DecorMyEyes Owner Vitaly Borker Pleads Guilty, Could Face 6+ Years In Jail

  Vitaly Borker, the New York business owner who became notorious last year when he claimed that outrageous behavior toward customers was helping his website rank higher in Google, faces up to six-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty Thursday to several counts against him. According to the New York Times, Borker — owner of DecorMyEyes.com […]

• How Facebook Enables The Google Social “Scraping” It’s Upset About

  I wrote a very long examination of the issues that Facebook employed a PR firm to publicize, about how Facebook feels Google may be violating privacy with its Google Social Search product. Here’s a shorter look, especially from the angle of how Facebook itself has enabled Google to do what Facebook is now complaining about. […]

• Android Has More Check-In Users Than Apple, But Just Barely

  Android has almost a 10% lead over Apple in the smartphone market share race, but its lead in check-in activity is a lot smaller according to a new comScore report out today. According to comScore, Android’s overall US smartphone market share is 34.7%, compared to 25.5 for Apple. But Android’s lead in check-in activity over […]

• Report: Google May Pay $500 Million To Settle Complaint Over Illegal Drug Ads

  Earlier this week, Google filed a mysterious report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying it was setting aside $500 million related to a “potential resolution” of an advertising-related probe being conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice. Now, the mystery may be solved. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the investigation relates to […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Scammers Are Offering Fake Google Music Invites, Business Insider
• Blogger is back, Blogger Buzz
• Google’s Blogger outage makes the case against a cloud-only strategy, ZDNet

Business Issues

• At Google, the Book Tour Becomes Big Business, New York Times
• Alibaba says Yahoo was told of Alipay deal in 2009, Reuters
• Roger McNamee reaches new Elevation in Google row, NY Post
• Yahoo Is Quietly Looking For Carol Bartz’s Replacement, businessinsider.com

Local, Maps & Mobile

• The Influence of Foursquare, Social Media Today

Paid Search & Contextual

• Facebook Like Button Bug Caused Surge In Google AdSense Income?, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Google’s Paraphrase-Based Indexing, Part 2, SEO By The Sea
• This week in search 5/13/11, Official Google Blog

SEM Industry

• Video: Google Panda 2.1, Ask.com 15 Years Old, New Search Tests & More, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO & SEM

• The Real Cost of Cheap SEO, Quumf
• Simplified account creation with new My Client Center feature, Inside AdWords
• Update on AdWords API v201101 sunset dates, AdWords API Blog

Social Media

• 600,000 developers, 13 Billion API requests a day, 900,000 applications… the Twitter ecosystem is huge, thenextweb.com
• Facebook Seeks Patent on Passing Personal Info Between Users, BNET
• Taliban join the Twitter revolution, The Guardian

Video, Music & Image Search

• Google Updated Image Search Result Layouts, Search Engine Roundtable

Web Analytics

• SEOmoz Google Analytics Setup – Whiteboard Friday, SEOmoz

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

• 'Google Doesn't Laugh': Saving Witty Headlines in the Age of SEO – If online searches are literal, what happens to headlines that involve word play? Copy editors fear they're going the way of the classified ad.
• Architecture Issues Caught Early That Saved Clients – Architecture issues can prevent any SEO program from succeeding. These examples (and solutions) shed light on common architecture problems.
• How the Power of Free and Scarcity Influence Decision Making – The snippet from this post that really stands out is "decision architecture differs from traditional usability".  If you are interested in CRO and Usability, then this article is for you.
• Examining Facebook’s “Smear Campaign” Concerns About Google Social Circles – Danny Sullivan picks Facebook's quasi dementi to pieces.