SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 7, 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:

• Brands & News Sites Among Winners From Google’s Freshness Algo Update, Report Says

  Major brands and a variety of news sites — from established outlets to internet-only gossip sites — are among the winners from Google’s recent algorithm update that aimed to reward fresh and more recent content. The findings come from SearchMetrics, the same company that has fairly accurately estimated Panda-related winners and losers several times this […]

• Confirmed: Google Testing New “Sources” Display In Search Results

  Google has confirmed that it’s testing a new content module in its search results that’s (currently) called “Sources.” The module appears to have been spotted first by Cyrus Shepard, who shared screenshots of the new display including this one from a search for pop singer Rihanna. (You can click for a slightly larger version.) As […]

• Google+ Pages Now Open For Businesses, Brands, Places & More

  Finally, Google is now allowing businesses, brands and any non-human entity to participate in its Google+ social network, through new Google+ Pages that are launching today, promised to be available to everyone within the next two days. Businesses Weren’t Allowed, Initially Businesses have wanted to be part of Google+ from the start. In fact, many […]

• Infographic: Social, Local & Mobile, SoLoMo By The Numbers

  Three hot areas of marketing are social, local and mobile. There’s even a name for the collision of all three: SoLoMo. Nielsen and NM Incite have created infographics with interesting figures in each area. Parents turn out to be big on social media. Nearly half of visitors to local deals sites recommend those sites. Smartphone users […]

• 6 Days to Save on SMX Social Media Marketing – Register Now!

  The case for social media marketing is clear. Consider: nearly 7 in10 internet marketers have generated leads from Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn 55% have closed business from social media-generated leads 60% will increase their investment next year* Come to SMX Social Media Marketing and learn cutting edge tactics to drive traffic, generate leads and convert […]

• How To Use Rich Snippets, Structured Markup For High Powered SEO

  I recently received a question from a reader asking about the way search engines were using microformats and other forms of structured markup. Today, I am going to address that topic from the perspective of its impact on SEO. What is particularly interesting about this topic is that structured markup provides publishers a way to […]

• 9 Common Ways To Bork Your Local Rankings In Google

  It’s not surprising that small businesses make mistakes in Google Places when setting up and claiming their profiles. It can be confusing and the guidelines even change over time. So, here’s a list of some common mistakes to avoid. This isn’t the first time I’ve written a “what not to do” article (see What NOT […]

• Are You Creeping Out Your Customers With Remarketing?

  I was recently talking to a group of consumers (not search marketers) who had some very negative perceptions about a handful of brands. In some cases, they used to be a fan of the brand, or at a minimum would continue buying from that brand. In other cases, they had never purchased from the brand […]

• Marie Curie Google Logo

  Google is celebrating the life of Marie Curie with a special Google logo, aka a Doodle. The logo depicts her working at her desk on with test tubes and beakers. Marie Curie is best known for her work in radioactivity, being awarded with two Nobel Prizes, in physics and chemistry. In fact, she is the […]

• Rhetoric vs. Reality: Schmidt Plays Up Mobile Competition In Written Senate Testimony

  Is Google is a malevolent monopolist or merely the beneficiary of consumer choice in an intensely competitive environment? Has Google created a “network effect” that locks people in or is competition truly just “one click away”? These opposing views are on display in a PR war between Google and its opponents, such as anti-Google coalition FairSearch.org (which includes […]

• Eric Schmidt Tells Congress That Google Doesn’t Have ‘Separate Products & Services’

  Google’s universal search results — things like videos, news, images and local business listings — aren’t “separate ‘products and services’ from Google,” according to company chairman Eric Schmidt. He makes that claim, and many others, in a lengthy written response submitted today to the U.S. Senate’s antitrust subcommittee — a required follow-up to Schmidt’s in-person […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Changing information density in Gmail’s new look, Official Gmail Blog
• Google Catalogs: More brands, more categories, more fun, googlecommerce.blogspot.com
• Some Google News Readers Lose Personalized Settings, Search Engine Roundtable

Business Issues

• Google mulls divorcing Chamber of Commerce, POLITICO.com
• Groupon IPO: Stock Closes Up 31%, Wall Street Journal
• Gates, Zuckerberg, Page and Brin make Forbes’ most powerful list, thenextweb.com
• Yahoo! Statement, Yahoo
• Google Chairman Eric tells US senators Apple’s Siri could pose ‘competitive threat’, AppleInsider
• Google rumoured to be eyeing South Korea search deal, thenextweb.com
• Google: Microsoft uses patents when products "stop succeeding", Ars Technica
• Google’s Green Czar To Leave Company, www.freshdialogues.com
• Twitter Looks to TV, Media Partnerships for Growth, Wall Street Journal
• Twitter Nabs Former Oracle Development Exec As VP Of Infrastructure Engineering, TechCrunch

Link Building

• How Search Volume Affects Brand Links, SEOmoz

Local, Maps & Mobile

• #LocalU – A Western New York Workshop Success!, www.canuckseo.com
• Eric Schmidt: Google Does Not Dominate Search, Mobile, PC Magazine
• 10-Point Maintenance Routine for Your Google Places Visibility, www.localvisibilitysystem.com
• Google lawyer blasts Microsoft ‘tactic’ on Android patent claims, www.techflash.com
• Microsoft’s camera cars photograph Liverpool for rival to Street View, www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
• The US smartphone landscape, asymco

Paid Search & Contextual

• October Google AdSense Earnings 50% Lower Than Estimates, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Powering a new job search engine for military veterans, Official Google Blog

SEM Industry

• Kate Matsudaira jumps from SEOMoz to Decide.com, www.geekwire.com

SEO & SEM

• How To Maximize The Significance Of PPC Ad Writing For Improved PPC Marketing?, Search Engine Journal
• November Linkscape Update is Live; Binary Files Issue Dramatically Reduced, SEOmoz
• 7 Signs You Shouldn’t Hire *That* SEO Agency, thefuturebuzz.com
• Anticipating the Flood: Holiday Bid Management Tips, Rimm Kaufman
• Discovering v201109: ConstantDataService, AdWords API Blog
• Google Testing Slightly Different Shades Of Colors In Search Results, Search Engine Roundtable
• How Competitors Can Help Improve Your SEO, Search Marketing Standard
• How to Write SEO Web Copy That Appeals to Customers and Crawlers, dailyseotip.com
• November 2011 Google Webmaster Report: Update Coming, New Algorithm & Panda Updates, Search Engine Roundtable
• Online Marketing Program: 2.3 Off-Page Optimization Beginnings, CanuckSEO.com
• Raven Tools Walkthrough, Search Engine People
• Study: Accounting Firms Fall Short with SEO, www.accountantsandcpafirms.com
• The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Chrome SEO Extensions, Search Engine Journal

Social Media

• 5 Simple Steps to an Awesome LinkedIn Company Page, blog.hubspot.com
• Did Google+ just bury Twitter with its Pages launch?, thenextweb.com
• Mark Zuckerberg & Sheryl Sandberg to discuss Facebook vs Google on “Charlie Rose” (full transcript), VentureBeat
• Small Businesses Should Grab a Google+ Page, But…, Small Business SEM
• Using the New Delicious.com; 5 Advantages for Businesses, www.practicalecommerce.com
• What Twitter Users Think About the Brands They Follow, www.emarketer.com

Video, Music & Image Search

• YouTube Defines Copyright ‘Red Flag’ For Court In Viacom Appeal, paidContent.org

Web Analytics

• Analysis of 1.7 Million Visits: 6.5% of Google Search Traffic Now Impacted by Google Encrypted Search Results, Conductor Blog

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

• Google+ Pages Now Open For Businesses, Brands, Places & More – Yep, it's official.  Google+ now allows brand and company pages.
• Dark Patterns: Deception vs. Honesty in UI Design – A deep post detailing dark side of design and usability.
• Who Should Represent Your Brand on the Social Web? – NIce post stating why it's important to get all employees "with a passion and interest in representing the brand" involved in your social web efforts.
• 9 Common Ways To Bork Your Local Rankings In Google – A basic overview of local search no-no's that are definitely worth repeating.