SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 16, 2008

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 Biz: Guerilla Artists Protest Google, Search Tops Online Spending Categories, Google Potentially Moving Mini To The Cloud, Predictions About Google Consumer Marketing
  Other than discussion of online advertising revenues, it’s an all-Google day for Search Biz: rumors of Google Mini being replaced by a hosted solution, a “public art” protest about Google doing business with the Chinese government and speculation about the future of consumer marketing at Google….
• 
  Search In Pictures: Disposable Cups, Google’s Great Firewall, & Yahoo’s Bird Problems
  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more….
• 
  Google Adds Real Estate Pull-Down Filter To Maps
  Google has offered the capacity to search real estate listings for a long time. For example, when entering queries such as “homes for sale in San Francisco,” a “one box” result used to show pull-down menus for “location” and “listing type.” Activating these boxes would then lead into a specialized…
• 
  Google Feeling Green: Testing Green Color Scheme
  iCrossing reported noticing that Google is showing a green user interface within the Google Directory search results and also, in some occasions, for main Google web search results. The most shocking green interface is when you look compare the typical blue bar to a green bar, when Google is showing…
• 
  Google Logo: First Laser Logo
  Google has a special logo up on the home page today, a laser logo. The logo links to a search results for first laser, which shows image results at the top, followed by search results from University of Chicago, Wikipedia and then Propeller.com. Why does Google have a laser logo…
• 
  Search Engine Accreditation Programs, Google Tools, Part 2, & Visual Map Of Website Links
  In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: Search engine accreditation programs, today’s in-depth look, “Google Tools, Part 2” and this week’s free tips and tools….
• 
  Human Hardware: The Illusion of Conscious Searching
  You know what you’re doing, right? We are all rational beings. We are all blessed with huge neocortexes and use them on a regular basis. This is especially so when we do something as thoughtful as use a search engine. Our rational loop is kicked into high gear. Right?…
• 
  Yahoo To Icahn’s Takeover Letter: We’re Just Fine, Thank You Very Much
  Dear Carl. We here at Yahoo got your letter telling us how much we suck. We think you suck more And let us tell you why. That’s the short summary of Yahoo’s response to Carl Icahn’s letter yesterday telling Yahoo he will fight to oust their board and do a…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Translate adds 10 new languages…, Official Google Blog

Business Issues

• Interview: Mobile Internet "will overtake PCs" by 2016 Says Geraldine Wilson, vice president of Yahoo! Europe Connected Life, ResourceShelf

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Imagery for Sichuan, China Earthquake, Google LatLong
• You talk. We listen., Live Search Mobile Blog
• More Comparative Local Data from Palore, Screenwerk

Link Building

• Reciprocal Linking is NOT Worth the Effort, Shimon Sandler

Paid Search & Contextual

• Introducing the Google Marketer’s Playbook, Inside AdWords
• Competitors Use Long Tail Keywords To Hurt Yahoo Search Advertisers, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google AdWords Traffic Estimator Figures From The API Wrong?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Your Contact Form Might Be Hurting Your PPC Campaign, PPC Hero

Searching

• Responding to the crisis in Myanmar (Burma), Google News Blog
• Yahoo Search Security Beta Draws Complaints, Eweek
• Web Search: Query Logs Alone are not Enough, ResourceShelf

SEM Industry

• SEO Fast Start Live – June 25 & 26: Maximizing Search ROI, SEO Fast Start
• What Search Engine Conferences Should I Attend, Graywolf
• ViperChill Updates , ViperChill
• SEO Fast Start Releases 2008 Edition, SEO Fast Start

SEO & SEM

• You’ve Got Your SEO in My Usability, Cre8PC
• Blogging for Higher Rankings, SEOmoz
• Google Explains The Processes & Thoughts Behind an Update, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Sitelinks – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Search Engine Watch
• Google’s Malware Review Form Now Working Again, Search Engine Roundtable
• Site Clinic: Beat Competitors With Better SEO And Backlinks, Search Engine Guide
• Training Your Search Marketing Employees – Part 2, Search Engine Watch
• Why Wikipedia’s Google Rankings are a Joke!, SEOptimise

Social Media

• Twitter Traffic Explosion: Who’s behind it all?, Compete
• A Few Bad Votes Too Many?, SEOmoz
• Facebook has a point where it comes to your privacy, Scobleizer
• Top 10 Uses of Twitter and Tools, Online Marketing Blog
• He Said, She Said In Google v. Facebook, TechCrunch

Other Items

• Live from the Roosevelt Room, Yodel Anecdotal

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

• Google: “All your index are belong to us”
• Search Engine Watch Forums Names Chris Boggs Associate Editor
• Digg Comments: Fix or Failure?
• SEO Bullshit Bingo
• Top 10 Uses of Twitter and Tools
• Ten Reasons I Won’t Use Social Media Sites
• Getting Your Kids To Speak Your “Social” Language
• There Is No Penalty In Getting Many Links Quickly
• Linkbait at any Cost?
• Ranking As The Original Source For Content You Syndicate
• BEFORE Your Reputation Needs Cleaning Up
• If Content is King, You Must be the Court Jester
• The Shrinking Window of Opportunity for Independent Webmasters – Get In Before It’s Too Late
• How Many Links Does Digg Get You?
• Angry? Destroy Their Reputation Online!
• Trolls or Upset Customers? Do You Know the Difference
• The greatest example of linkbait…………ever?!

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.