SearchCap: The Day In Search, October 15, 2007

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

From Search Engine Land:

• 
  InfoSpace Sells Mobile Services Business, What Next?
  Only weeks ago InfoSpace sold Switchboard and its local/directory business to Idearc/Superpages for a reported $225 million. Today, Motricity announced that it had acquired the company’s mobile services business for $135 million. Motricity wants the business for the revenues and carrier relationships and to tell a better story to the…
• 
  AOL To Let Go 2,000 Employees
  Kara Swisher reports on a layoff notice from AOL CEO Randy Falco. The bottom line, literally and figuratively, is that the company is trimming (or slashing) 20 percent of its workforce. The letter outlines the company’s new focus on three business segments: “We refocused the business around three core areas–Platform-A,…
• 
  The hCard Microformat & Local Search Optimization
  Last year in a blog post on tips for local SEO, I recommended using the hCard microformat as a component of local search engine optimization. I believe I was first to recommend this, and I was happy to hear a few different speakers at the SMX Local & Mobile…
• 
  Fall Cornucopia Of Linking News
  Here we go again… The Associated Press (AP) is suing news aggregation site Moreover and parent co. VeriSign, claiming copyright infringement for, among other things, linking to the AP news without permission (here’s the complaint in PDF format). In an awesome bit of newsbot irony, you can read all…
• 
  Truveo Adds European Videos From Kewego
  AOL-owned video search engine Truveo has struck a deal with European white label video platform Kewego to offer European television and other EU video content (from 20 countries) to audiences through Truveo. In August Truveo relaunched as a consumer destination and comprehensive video search engine and portal that hopes to…
• 
  Washington Post Buys A Search Engine Marketing Firm
  Washington Post buys search engine firm from the Washington Business Journal reports that The Washington Post bought a search engine marketing firm, CourseAdvisor. CourseAdvisor is an online education site that helps pair up students’ skills with college and university programs nationwide. Washington Post is hopeful that CourseAdvisor can boost their…
• 
  Google Adds Validation Periods To Google Referral AdSense Ads
  The Inside AdSense Blog announced that they have added a validation period to non-Google referral products within the Google AdSense referrals console. Google explains that AdSense publishers may notice that their earnings received for the ad may now be less than the maximum referral value displayed for that ad. This…
• 
  GOOG-411 Is Out Of Beta
  The Google Blog announced that GOOG-411, Google’s voice enabled search service, is now out of beta. To use GOOG-411 just dial 1-800-466-4411 (aka 800-GOOG-411) and listen to the voice prompts. As part of a promotion for GOOG-411 leaving beta, Google said they will unveil which Googler is the voice behind…
• 
  Comparing Annual Ad Spending From Google, Yahoo And Microsoft
  This Associated Press article chronicles how Google has been able to build a multi-billion dollar consumer brand largely without advertising. That’s the part everybody knows. But the article also compares the annual ad spending of Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and eBay. It points out that when Google does buy any advertising…
• 
  Google Reader Now Reporting Subscriber Figures
  Earlier this year, iGoogle started reporting the number of readers putting a blog on their personalized home pages at Google. Now Google Reader is doing the same, showing how many readers a blog has within Google’s dedicated feed reading service. More on this below, especially how in contrast, FeedBurner/Google Feedfetcher…
• 
  Google StreetView Rolling In Rural Indiana
  We were sent a picture (click below to see the shot) of a Google Chevy Cobalt, presumably taking StreetView images, from a reader who snapped the picture in rural Knox, Indiana, which has a population of 3,721. It’s interesting that Google is straying so far from the “major metro” path…
• 
  Congratulations, Elisabeth Osmeloski & Matthew Ostrander
  Elisabeth Osmeloski is well know within the search marketing industry, especially for having started and run the Search Engine Watch Forums for three years. Today, she tied the knot with Matthew Ostrander. Best wishes from all of us here at Search Engine Land! Some more pictures are below:…
• 
  Google Logo Celebrates Luciano Pavarotti’s Birthday
  In honor of Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti’s birthday, Google has replaced the “l” in their logo with with a cartoon Pavarotti singing (opera, one would assume, although maybe it’s a Britney Spears cover). Pavarotti’s Wikipedia has already been updated to note the honor. The Google logo links to a search…
• 
  MapQuest Rebuilds ‘From The Ground Up’
  MapQuest has launched a new beta site, which represents a new and rearchitected site with a host of new features and capabilities. The new MapQuest blog offers some additional insights and explanations. MapQuest says that the changes respond to user feedback. I’m sure that’s true, but the onslaught of mapping…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google updates Linux version of Desktop, News.com
• Create Google Calendar Events from Gmail, Google Operating System
• Google Calendar close to launching a task list feature, Googling Google
• Gmail Mobile 1.5 Released, Google Operating System
• Google Tops Feed Reader and Social Bookmark Rankings, TechCrunch
• New Yahoo Finance Page Continues to Offer "Finance Only Search", ResourceShelf

Business Issues

• Wall Street wants more as Yahoo review ends, Reuters
• As Its Stock Tops $600, Google Faces Growing Risks, New York Times
• Aiming Online Ads More Selectively, New York Times
• EU review of Google bid won’t cover privacy issue, The Guardian
• Some grumble that Google isn’t model citizen, Seattle Times
• Yahoo Newspaper Consortium: Harmful Or Helpful?, Forbes

Conferences

• Prelude to SMX NYC: Neil Patel’s Masterful Social Media Zen, AIM Clear Blog
• Six SMX Events In 30 Days – One For You, Search Marketing Expo Blog
• Minnesota Search Marketing Association, Online Marketing Blog
• SMX Social Media Coverage Tuesday , Search Engine Roundtable
• Search Engines Strategies – You Are Losing Me, ShoeMoney

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Zoom in on Google Maps, Google LatLong
• Google Maps for S60 now available, The Mobile Gadgeteer
• Microsoft Extends and Expands Agreement For Use of NAVTEQ Traffic(TM) Data, CNN Money
• Google Earth, Technology Review

Link Building

• Rand on Paid Links, SEO Beginning Podcast
• Google Webmaster Tools Link Update More Frequent?, Search Engine Roundtable

Paid Search & Contextual

• Adsense Referral Ads Validation Ongoing, Search Engine Journal
• AdWords Optimization Tips: Brainstorming new keyword ideas, Inside AdWords
• Google Rejects Campaign Ads, Marketing Pilgrim
• Competing for Clients, and Paying by the Click, New York Times
• Fact vs. Fiction: Dispelling 4 Myths of the Google Quality Score, PPC Hero
• Google Referrals Are Now Contextual Like Regular AdSense Ads, Digital Inspiration
• Non U.S. Google AdWords Advertisers Dislike New Currency Indicator, Search Engine Roundtable
• Second Thoughts on a GPhone: Privacy and Targeted Ads, SEO By The Sea
• AdWords Expanded Broad Match Warning, Search Engine Guide
• Microsoft adCenter workshop available at PPC Summit, adCenter Blog

Searching

• Are Words Failing You?, Yahoo Search Blog
• CrowdFound : Web Discovery Search Engine, Search Engine Journal
• Customizable search for your website visitors, News.com
• Is Google Backing Off From Universal Search?, MediaPost

SEM Industry

• The 5 Websites You Can’t Live Without, SEOmoz
• Top SEO Blogs on Google Reader, Online Marketing Blog
• The Art and Science of SEO and why I made the move to India, Bob Massa

SEO & SEM

• Being #1 with "Untitled Document" and Flash, johnmu.com
• Google Algorithm Changes?, Vanessa Fox
• Does Yahoo Even Matter Anymore?, ShoeMoney
• Google’s Profiling Both Users and Sites?, SEO By The Sea
• Site Down Time Causing Drops in the Google Index, SEO Speedwagon
• 20 Must-Have Search Engine Marketing Tools, SiteProNews
• Arabic SEO, eKstreme.com
• SEO SEM Budgets: Define Success Beyond Direct Response, Search Engine Watch
• User Generated Content can ruin your SEO, SEOptimise

Social Media

• Facebook Has LinkedIn In Their Crosshairs, TechCrunch
• New York Times Puts Reader Comments on Main Page – Good Idea?, Read/Write Web
• 73 and Loaded With Friends on Facebook, New York Times
• Twitter By Phone, Now With Default Scoble, Vanessa Fox
• We Don’t Need Less Robert Scoble We Just a More Filtered and Relevant One, Wolf Howl
• 1,200 Marketers Can’t Be Wrong: The Future Is in Consumer Behavior, New York Times

Video, Music & Image Search

• Blinkx Scores a Goal, Search Engine Journal
• New Software Advances Photo Search and Management in Online Systems, Pennsylvania State University
• Video Chat Service Aims to Follow YouTube’s Path, New York Times
• Direct Access to YouTube Channels, Google AJAX Search API Blog

Other Items

• Geeks Gone Wild: Stanford alums, Marissa wants to get some play!, Valleywag
• If you build it, they will eat it, Official Google Blog
• Google Vanity Ring: Search Engine Popularity Bling, Technovelgy
• More Inappropriate Nude Images Found on Google News Home Page, Search Engine Roundtable
• Our Zurich hackathon, Official Google Blog
• Google’s GPhone strategy could keep user costs low, Yahoo! News

Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News
Sharing Site:

• Male Penis Found on Google News Home Page
• The Smart Way to Get Traffic and Links: Creating a Prospect List for Bloggers
• Who’s Doing The Programming for SES Now?
• Keep New PPC Helpers From Making Stupid Mistakes That Rip Your Clients Off!
• How Much Are Those Links Worth?
• Neil Patel reveals the secret of social media success
• Pay Me, or I’ll Link to You!
• Hey you SEO biggies don’t be ashamed to link to hard working newbies
• Getting social bookmarking sites to help your seo
• Congratulations, Elisabeth Osmeloski & Matthew Ostrander
• Danny Sullivan – Build A Search Engine – PLEASE
• Part 4 – NoFollow is for Blog Spam…no Paid Text Links, wait…Paid Ads…Aww Heck, Just Stop Linking…
• Interview: Developer of WordPress Secret E-Commerce Weapon
• Women of Internet Marketing Part 23
• Want Real Link Data from Yahoo Site Explorer?