SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 19, 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: Microsoft Says It’s Open To Search-Only Deal With YahooComing just 24 hours after the resignation of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is saying publicly that Redmond is “open” […]

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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:

  • Microsoft Says It’s Open To Search-Only Deal With Yahoo
    Coming just 24 hours after the resignation of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is saying publicly that Redmond is “open” to a “search collaboration” with Yahoo but not a total acquisition of the Sunnyvale company. The Wall Street Journal and Seattle PI report on the remarks, made during a Microsoft shareholder meeting. Meanwhile Valleywag says that Yahoo has lost Sean Suchter, a key search executive, to Microsoft.
  • How To Make Flash Content Search Friendly
    Life is full of tough choices: Mac or PC? Mastercard or Visa? Bud Lite or Miller Lite? And choosing between two good options is never easy, as each has its own merits. Similarly, marketers have been faced with the same kind of tough choice when choosing their website design strategy:  Enhance the website’s appearance with Flash or optimize for search with crawlable content?  Fortunately, recent innovations in Flash accessibility programming have begun to demonstrate that Flash vs. SEO is a tough choice no more. 
  • Citysearch Debuts Broad Redesign: More Social, Local & Mobile
    The venerable local arts and entertainment guide Citysearch, which has in the last couple of years confronted a new generation of challengers (mostly notably Yelp), launched a broad redesign last night. The comprehensive new site introduces the ability to get more listings and content at the neighborhood level, allows users to sign in using Facebook Connect, which will broadcast their activity back to Facebook, and embraces mobile in a much bigger way.
  • “Googlers” & “Proctoids” Swap Jobs To Learn From One Another
    A New Odd Couple: Google, P&G Swap Workers to Spur Innovation from the Wall Street Journal reports that Google and Procter & Gamble are engaging in employee swapping. Google is known to have a very relaxed and free work environment, while P&G is known to have a very strict and rigid environment. P&G’s employees often are referred to as “Proctoids” because of the rigid work atmosphere. So the two companies are teaming up to learn from each other. Or that is how it appears. Two-dozen employees from each company have swapped jobs, sitting in on training programs and staff meetings to learn how each company runs. Is it about learning new management styles from each other? I am not sure.
  • Google’s New Search-Based Keyword Tool Tells You What Keywords You’re Missing
    Google released a new keyword tool tonight, named the Search-Based Keyword Tool. This tool goes beyond what the other Google tools provide and tells you what keywords you are currently missing out on based on search query data from your site’s content. I spoke with Google’s Baris Gultekin, Business Product Manager about the tool. Baris explained that the value in this tool is that it gives advertisers a look at keywords that they are currently not advertising for, that might bring in a positive ROI. For example, a site that sells watches can use this tool to find a popular model or brand that they are currently not advertising for. Beyond the advertisers point of view, you can use this as a nice competitive analysis tool. You can see data about which keywords are relevant to any site on the Internet — so, if you are getting into a new line of business and want keyword data, just plug in the site’s domain and click go. Let me take you through some screen captures of the tool.

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

Business Issues

Local, Maps & Mobile

Link Building

Paid Search & Contextual

Searching

SEM Industry

SEO & SEM

Social Media

Video, Music & Image Search

Web Analytics

Other Items

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


About the author

Barry Schwartz
Staff
Barry Schwartz is 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.

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