SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 2, 2010

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

From Search Engine Land:

• Bing Says Its New Facebook Like Integration Really, Really Is Live

  The Bing Search Blog officially announced that the Facebook integration on Bing is live.
  Last week, we reported some were already seeing “liked results” on Bing. But now or by the end of today, “all US users” should have access to this feature. Personally, I still do not see it, but […]
• AdWords And Google Voice Hook Up To Form “AdWords Call Metrics”

  What if AdWords and Google Voice had a love child? That child would probably be named “AdWords Call Metrics,” which is what Google is introducing today. Google is combining the functionality behind Google Voice with AdWords. That equals call tracking for AdWords campaigns.
  Google’s objective in making call tracking available — offering both local and toll-free […]

• International Social Networking And Marketing Around The World

  Believe it or not, millions of people in other countries besides the United States around the world are using social media. Although social media got its start in America with sites like MySpace and Facebook, these sites and their competitors have gained online popularity throughout the world. Some of the most popular international social networking […]

• Googling Your Polling Place? It Pays To Double-Check

  Today is elections day and Google has been touting their wonderful Google Election Center to aid voters in finding the polling place locations. The problem is, Google might send you to the wrong polling place, ultimately costing you time, instead of saving you time, in voting on today’s U.S. elections.
  Fast Company posted some examples […]

• SMX West Registration Open – Best Rates Available Now

  The dates are set and registration is live! Search Marketing Expo – SMX West is scheduled for March 8-10, 2011. This year’s show will take place at the McEnery Convention Center in downtown San Jose, CA. Register now to take advantage of the lowest-available super early bird rates. The SMX West conference program will run […]

• What Google’s Place Page Update Means To Local Link Building

  Google’s Place Pages in the SERPs have everyone freaked out. If you haven’t read Greg Sterling’s excellent piece New Place Search Shows Google’s Commitment To Local, I highly recommend it. In addition to the potential SEO impact Greg discusses, there are a couple key points specific to link building that are worth making.
  As with […]

• Switch Back To The Old Google Image Design

  Google is allowing searchers to go back to the classic Google Image search design. In July, Google revamped their Image Search design, which provided a “tiled” layout, infinite scroll, larger thumbnail images and a hover preview that offers more information about the image.
  To revert back to the old design, conduct any search on Google […]

• Google Going Places: Now In Over 100 Countries

  Google Places is now in more than 100 countries globally. That now includes 30 countries in Asia, according to the Google LatLong blog:
  South Asia (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives), Southeast Asia (Macau, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos), Western Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan), North Asia (Nepal, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Mongolia), and the Pacific […]

• Yandex Continues To Thrive In Russia

  Is it true that when Russia thrives, Russian internet search engine Yandex also thrives — whilst Google claims it is close on its heals? Or is Russia opening up to more western forces such as Facebook? The statistics show some interesting developments which don’t follow the patterns of other markets!

• Google Street View Debuts In Germany, Blurry Houses Included

  Despite ongoing controversy in Germany, the small town of Oberstaufen is the first in that country to be viewable on Google Street View. And, as requested, Google has blocked the homes of German residents who don’t want to be included.

  You can see see that image for yourself. Why is it blurred?
  Earlier this year, Google took […]

• Twitter Slowly Expands Promoted Tweets

  Watching Twitter roll out its ad-related products is almost like watching paint dry; it’s a very slooooow process. That’s to Twitter’s credit, perhaps, as the company is obviously being painstakingly delicate about introducing advertising into the service’s ecosystem.
  Today, another small step: Twitter says it’s testing Promoted Tweets in the main Twitter timeline. But, of course, […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Introducing the Google APIs Console and our latest API updates, Google Code Blog
• Answers.com Hits 10 Millionth Answer, Launches Its First iPhone App (blufr), TechCrunch
• Vendors to debut Chrome-featured smartbooks later in November, www.digitimes.com
• Yahoo! Answers planned maintenance on Wednesday, November 3rd, Yahoo Answers Blog

Business Issues

• Google Settles Over Buzz, Will Establish $8.5 Million Fund To Promote Privacy Education, Business Insider
• Google’s Search Ads Guru on Staying Ahead of Bing, Facebook, Ad Age

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Bizzy Launches ‘Local Recommendation Engine’ on Tues., PC Magazine
• Google Shows Dates Of Map Imagery In Google Earth, Search Engine Roundtable

Link Building

• 7 Crude Links — If Link Building Was Oil Drilling (Infographic), SEO.com
• DIY Guide to Successful Linkbait Infographic, Voltier Creative

Paid Search & Contextual

• Microsoft Still Working On adCenter Impression Bug Fix, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Inside the Google Books Algorithm, The Atlantic

SEO & SEM

• Best practices for running multiple sites, Official Google Webmaster Central Blog
• How does Google handle special characters?, YouTube
• How Google may Manage Reputations for Reviewers and Raters, SEO By The Sea
• Pay Per Click Advertising, Dealer.com

Social Media

• U.S. Midterm Elections 2010, Twitter Blog
• SEO & Social Media – MarketingSherpa 2011 Benchmark Report, Online Marketing Blog
• You Can Now Follow The World Series #SFRiot On Twitter, Ustream And Foursquare, TechCrunch

Video, Music & Image Search

• Google Video is NOT the same as YouTube!, SearchReSearch
• Google Voice Is Having Serious Trouble Making Outbound Calls. This Is Bad., TechCrunch
• Try Out Part Of Google TV In Your Browser Right Now, TechCrunch
• Yahoo!(R) and Samsung(R) Expand Availability of Yahoo! Connected TV to Millions of Consumers Across Europe, Yahoo Press Releases

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

• The Essential DIY Guide to Successful Linkbait (Infographic) – An interesting visual look at the process of creating and promoting a successful linkbait campaign.
• Google Analytics: Event Tracking vs Virtual Pageviews – Assume that visitors are arriving at a landing page of your website, what’s their next step? How do they interact before leaving that page? In this article we focus on how to use the 2 advanced tracking options that Google Analytics provides: the Event Tracking and the Virtual Pageview. Both are useful, but it is important to understand why and how to use them.
• Google is Polluting the Internet – From The Guardian: "An advertising agency has monopolised, disorganised, and commercialised the largest library in human history. Without a fundamental rethinking of the way knowledge is organised in the digital era, Google's information coup d'état will have profound existential consequences."