SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 6, 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:

• Meta Keywords
  Tag 101: How "Legally" Hide Words On Your Pages For Search Engines
  If there’s anything I particularly hate when it comes to SEO, it’s the meta
  keywords tag. I so wish it had never been invented. It’s practically useless,
  yet people still obsess over it. In this article, I’ll explain more about why
  you shouldn’t worry about it except perhaps for misspellings,…
• Don’t Abuse
  Users’ Search Experience With 301 Redirects
  Linkbait, link juice, PageRank, paid links—all of these terms are commonly
  associated with one of the fundamental building blocks of successful search
  engine optimization (SEO): link development. One of the problems with link
  development gurus is their obsession with 301 redirects. Heck, I have even
  heard search engine software…
• Microsoft’s
  Adult & Pharma Referrals Are Search Quality Tests
  I have been tracking a WebmasterWorld thread that has reports of weird
  Microsoft Live Search referral strings that come from Microsoft-owned IP
  blocks but show irrelevant keywords in the adult and pharmaceutical space.
  Today I reported that these findings are indeed valid and are official
  Microsoft tests. A Microsoft representative…
• Mapspam Now
  Appearing On Yahoo Local
  If spam isn’t an indication of the arrival of an advertising medium (e.g.
  email spam, search spam) I don’t know what is. Mike Blumenthal, who identified
  instances of Google mapspam has now investigated non-local businesses trying
  to fool the local algorithms on Yahoo into thinking they are local. Blumenthal
  cites…
• Google Adds
  Distance Measurement to My Maps
  The Google Lat Long Blog reports that users drawing trail or hiking maps with
  its My Maps line tool will now get automatic distance measurements between
  points when they create personalized maps. This is a small but useful
  enhancement, one of many recent incremental improvements that Google has added
  to…
• Microsoft
  Bundling Software, Apps In New "Windows Live Services"
  Microsoft has rolled out something similar to the Google Pack software bundle
  called "Windows Live Services." Google Operating System has a lengthy
  (favorable) overview. The package includes mail and instant messaging, search
  toolbar, online storage, photosharing and blogging software, all from
  Microsoft. It operates as something of an extension of…
• The Power Of
  Branding For Small Business, Part One
  More and more I’m discovering the necessity of helping our customers brand
  themselves in the search sphere. In the past, we often felt that some clients
  just didn’t need to be branded in the search results. Maybe because they were
  smaller clients or didn’t have a nationally recognized name….
• Google Reader
  Adds Search & Other Features
  The Google Reader Blog announced several new features for Google Reader. The
  big feature is search. You can now search your subscriptions, including
  subscriptions to shared items. Google Reader also enhanced the unread count
  numbers to show up to 1,000, as opposed to up to 100 unread subscriptions.
  Plus, you…
• Google Book
  Search Adds My Library, Popular Passages, Embedded Quotes & More
  Google announced several new features for Google Book Search. They include: A
  new "My library" section that allows you to add books and annotations to your
  personal "library." Of course, Google allows you to search your library as
  well You can share your library by adding labels, writing reviews, rating…
• Google Fight:
  Nokia & Apple Ads Trade Blows Over iPhone Price Cut
  Bought that iPhone and now upset over the $200 price drop after it’s been out
  only 60 days? Nokia’s guessing plenty are and reaching out to them on Google
  via search ads. But Apple’s not sitting back in the face of the Nokia ad
  campaign. Apple has put out…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• 
  Google Spreadsheets Lets You Import Online Data, Google Operating System
• Lazy
  Wednesday…, Google Docs & Spreadsheets Blog
• 
  Gmail eats your Bacn, Official Gmail Blog
• Google
  Gadgets Editor, Google Blogoscoped
• 
  Zoho Business Announced – Web Office Suite To Compete With Google Apps,
  Read/Write Web

Business Issues

• EU
  questions Google customers over DoubleClick, Reuters

Link Building

• The
  Power of Link Building and Public Relations, Search Engine Watch
• The Paid
  Links Debate: Shades of Gray, Search Engine Watch

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Superpages
  Gets Local Mobile App, Search Engine Watch Blog
• 
  Google Earth 4.2 Release Notes Available, Google Earth Blog
• 
  Google Earth Free/Plus License Change: Allowed in Businesses, Google Earth
  Blog
• 
  Google LatLong: Where do you want to fly today?, Google LatLong
• 
  Flight Simulator HUD Display Guide, and an Advanced Tip, Google Earth Blog

Paid Search & Contextual

• 
  AdWords Downtime – Saturday, September 8th, 10am – 2pm PST, AdWords API
  Blog
• 
  Why You May Not Be Able to Use Google Adwords Campaign Optimizer, PPC Hero
• 
  Yahoo Taiwan Upgrades to Search Marketing Panama, Search Engine Journal
• A
  Bigger, Bolder, "Bluer" Network, Yahoo Publisher Network Blog

Searching

• New
  Questions make a Comeback, Askville Blog
• 
  Envisioning the Next Chapter for Electronic Books, New York Times
• 
  Eye Candy Google = Groovle, TechCrunch
• 
  Where are Search Engines Most Likely To Innovate?, SEOmoz
• 
  Consumer: What’s New in Open Source Search?, Linux Insider
• 
  Google Custom Search: Setting The Bar For Vertical Search Engines,
  Read/Write Web

SEM Industry

• 
  Keynoting a Search Engine Marketing Conference for My Honeymoon, SEO Book
• SMS
  Crossword Puzzle, The SEO Scoop
• 
  SES Interviews: Kim Krause Berg and Bill Slawski on Supplemental Index and
  Usability, Search Marketing Standard

SEO & SEM

• 
  How to Know the Difference Between an Automated Penalty & a Hand Edit, SEO
  Book
• 
  Seth Godins Latest Idea: One Click Auto Scraping?, Snowboard John
• 
  User Generated Content for SEO, Online Marketing Blog
• Usability
  and SEO. Which comes First?, Search Engine Watch Blog
• 
  EarthLink Traffic Builder – A Good Deal or Not?, Bill Hartzer
• Forward
  Link SEO Tool – Improved and Free Today, Jim Boykin
• 
  Increase The Visibility of Your Small Business Web Site on a Shoestring Budget,
  Search Engine Guide

Social Media

• Twitter
  for News, Twitter Blog
• Update on New
  Comments System, YouTube
• 
  FEC Determines That Blogs Count As Media, TechCrunch
• 
  Why Digg is better than Google, SEOptimise
• 
  Social Media Marketing Strategy, DoshDosh
• 
  Twitter’s Open Platform Advantage, Read/Write Web
• How to Get
  Your Company Listed on Wikipedia, Part I, MarketingSherpa

Video, Music & Image Search

• 
  Download This: YouTube Phenom Has a Big Secret, Wall Street Journal
• 
  YouTube Agrees UK Music Royalty Deal, The Associated Press

Other Items

• 10
  Future Web Trends, Read/Write Web
• When Will
  Google Celebrate Their 9th Birthday This Year?, Search Engine Roundtable

Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News
Sharing Site:

• User Generated Content for SEO
• ValueClick Ad Network Serving Bogus
  and Incentivized Leads
• Beginner’s Guide To Setting Up A
  First Blog Site
• Meta Keywords Tag Tutorial &
  Update: Yahoo & Ask Support It
• Storm Worm Trojan Hits Blogger
• Training Link Developers to Become
  Marketing Gurus – Justilien Gaspard
• Warning: Use These 5 Surefire
  Headline Formulas at Your Own Risk
• A little "Allowed" HTML in
  comments?
• Facebook Opening Profiles to Search
  Engine Indexing
• 10 Reasons Why You Should be
  Interested in Youtube
• Social Media Marketing Strategy:
  Re-Submitting Linkbaits for Viral Success
• Muhammad Saleem Interview – Social
  Media Expert
• Are You Quizzing Your Potential SEO
  Clients?