Below, a recap of stories posted today to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with other items we've spotted but not blogged separately:
From The SEW Blog...
- IAC To
Launch AskCity; Local Info Services Site
Reuters reports that IAC and Ask.com are launching a new local information services site named AskCity on December 4th. The site will combine IAC's portfolio of Ask.com, CitySearch, Evite and TicketMaster by providing information and services such as Web search, city guides, maps and event listings.... - Name
That Search Marketer Game
David Wallace at SearchRank.com has a game; SEO/SEM Trivia - How Well Do You Know It's Stars? Basically, he took pictures of well-known SEMs and SEOs and blacked out some features from the pictures. He then asked you to name the person in each picture. I know all but one, I won't say whom. I will give you a hint, I am not in any of those pictures, but I did take one of those pictures.... - Alexa
Ain't So Bad, Says Site Search Comparison
Alexa has come under plenty of fire recently as not being accurate (old hands have known better for years), as more and more people are using it to "prove" how hot their sites are. Sean Ryan at SLI Systems says lay off the Alexa bashing! SLI provides search services for a variety of web sites. Sean plotted the amount of searches he sees against the relative Alexa traffic rankings of some sites and found there was a correspondence. If you were a high traffic Alexa site, you also had a lot of site searches. Interesting, but I'm afraid it won't... - A
Superbowl Marriage Proposal?
Joe Morin thinks he's got the next Million Dollar Home page mixed with romance going. To wit: someone named JP (to stay secret from his girlfriend) wants to make his wedding proposal in a TV commercial during next year's SuperBowl. Joe's hoping that somehow, search and interactive marketers can make it happen. Joe's post with details is here; the proposal site itself is here. Since the ads are all sold already, it's not a matter of raising money now but buzz to perhaps get JP linked up with an existing advertiser that might want to feature him. Good luck, JP... - Goodbye
Google Answers
Wow. Google is shutting down its Google Answers service. The company has announced that new questions won't be accepted after the New Year, though the site will continue to let people view the question archives. Killing off the service, which never seemed to catch on much, certainly will help Google seem like it is focusing efforts toward more needed areas. But it still feels like an odd, almost surrendering move in the face of Yahoo Answers being such a success.... - Google
Audio Ads Sign-Up Page Live
Google Audio Ads now appears to be opening to sign-ups, sort of. Googlaxy.com sent me a heads-up about three new URLS that are (somewhat) active:...
Headlines & News From Elsewhere
- After Google Acquisition, JotSpot Partners Left Holding the Bag?, Google Watch
- Why is Google Adwords ignoring our landing pages?, E-Consultancy
- Ask.com Skit Done Professionally, Cartoon Barry Blog
- After Panama-in-Canada Launch, Two Thoughts for Two BigCo's, Traffick
- Major Update in Google Spreadsheets, Google Operating System
- Podcast: No More Google Answers; Does Alexa Deserve A Break?; Yahoo's Alerts Patent; A SuperBowl TV Wedding Proposal? & More!, Daily SearchCast
- The Buzz At The Search Insider Summit, Search Insider
- MyBlogLogging, Pronet Advertising
- Viva, Webmasters in Vegas, Official Google Blog
- Google's Top Secret Advertising Network, John Chow dot Com
- Forrester WAVE: Search Marketing Agencies, Q4 2006, Reprise Media
- Unhappy mobile reader? Try Mini Techmeme, Techmeme
- Jim Cramer Sees Good In Google Buying YouTube, AussieWebmaster
- Google Apps for Your Domain, Official Google Blog
- Google's Big Idea Challenge, Google Blogoscoped
- Podcast: Neil Patel and Cameron Olthuis, Net Income
- Neil & Cameron - Emerging SEO Celebrities, SEOmoz
- Interview With Matthew Chen of Megite, The Mu Life
- ZapTXT, a friendly way to get alerts from news and other Web sites, VentureBeat
- Online 2006 - brief report, Phil Bradley
- Google, Michigan Protesters Lobby For 'Net Neutrality', MediaPost
- 20 Real Facts About Matt Cutts – Google's Spam Sheriff, 10e20
- Yahoo Awarded Alerts Patent, SEO by the SEA
- Podcast: Turkey Day, Google Spam, SES Chicago, MSN Update, AdWords Denial, Holiday Gifts, Yahoo Jobs & More, Search Pulse
- Yahoo! Alta Vista & AllTheWeb Showing Different Results, Search Engine Roundtable
- Google Update via Data Refresh 11/28, Search Engine Roundtable
- Yahoo digs deeper into Nokia, and its phones, MarketWatch
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