The Search Engine Update – Number 245 – July 24, 2007

THE SEARCH ENGINE UPDATE
July 24, 2007 – Number 245

By Kevin Newcomb
News Editor, Search Engine Watch
Copyright 2007, Incisive Interactive Marketing LLC

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In This Issue
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+ Upcoming Search Engine Strategies Events
+ Editor’s Notes
+ Top Stories Since Our Last SE Update

• Organic Search
• Paid Search
• Linking Issues & Social Media
• Analytics & ROI
• Local & Mobile Search
• Vertical & Specialty Search
• Small Business & Big Brand SEM
• In-house & Outsourcing Issues
• SEM Industry Issues
• Search Engines, Tools & Technology

+ Our Search Newsletters & Feeds
+ About The Newsletter

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Upcoming Search Engine Strategies Events
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• SES Travel: Seattle, WA – July 26-27
• SES Training: Boston, MA – August 8, 2007
• SES San Jose – August 20-23, 2007

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Editor’s Notes
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Things have been busy here at Incisive Interactive Media. We’ve been busy planning our vertical search marketing event for the travel sector, which takes place this week in Seattle, and we’re also working hard to put together another world-class event in San Jose next month.

If you’ve been to the site this week, you’ll also notice that we’ve been busy with a major redesign of Search Engine Watch and ClickZ. Please share your comments on the new design in the SEW Forums.

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Since Our Last SE Update:
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Below is a recap of major articles from our daily SearchDay newsletter, SEW Experts columns, and important Search Engine Watch Blog postings since the last newsletter. Want to receive these stories daily or via RSS/feed? See the Search Engine Watch Newsletters & Web Feeds page for sign-up instructions.

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Organic Search
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=== SearchDay: June 21, 2007 ===
The Crowded World of Press Release SEO

=== SearchDay: July 10, 2007 ===
Google Universal: Friend or Foe?

=== SEW Experts: June 19, 2007 ===
Defining SEO Success

=== SEW Experts: June 22, 2007 ===
Flash: The Pink Elephant or the Spark

=== SEW Experts: June 26, 2007 ===
Five Fundamental Questions of Keyword Research

=== SEW Experts: July 3, 2007 ===
7 Questions for Conducting an SEO Site Review

=== SEW Experts: July 10, 2007 ===
Hosting Issues as They Relate to SEO

=== SEW Experts: July 17, 2007 ===
Creating Synergy in Your SEO Efforts

=== From the SEW Blog ===

• Hotlinking Images Can Help SEO
  By hotlinking a Flickr image in a new domain, that site was able to gain high organic rankings in Google Image Search.
• Google Webmaster Blog Talks About Flash
  The post provides some helpful suggestions about smart ways to use Flash as part of your web design.
• Interview with Vanessa Fox (Her Last at Google?)
  Eric Enge spoke with Fox just before she left Google about the latest developments with Google Webmaster Tools.
• Presidential Candidates Need Some Help with their Reputations
  The majority of U.S. Presidential candidates have a negative reputation on search engines, according to a new study by Marketing Pilgrim.

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Paid Search
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=== SEW Experts: July 2, 2007 ===
Zen and the Art of Paid Search Maintenance

=== SEW Experts: July 9, 2007 ===
The Beginning of the Fragmentation of Search

=== SEW Experts: July 16, 2007 ===
Boosting CTRs in a Search Fragmenting World

=== From the SEW Blog ===

• Report: Click Fraud Up to 15.8% Last Quarter
  According to the latest Click Fraud Index report from Click Forensics, the overall industry average pay-per-click fraud rate rose to 15.8 percent for the second quarter of 2007. This is an increase from 14.1 percent for the same quarter in 2006 and 14.8 percent for Q1 2007.
• AdSense Adds CPA Ads With CPC, CMP Ads
  CPA had been offered as a beta to a number of advertisers but it seems a bunch more are seeing this on their sites.
• Google Expands Newspaper Ads
  Google has opened up its Print Ads program to all AdWords customers, giving them the ability to purchase ads in approximately 225 U.S.-based newspapers.
• Microsoft adCenter Adds Negative Keyword Tool
  After a false start last month, Microsoft this weekend upgraded adCenter and gave advertisers the ability to add negative keywords at the campaign level, instead of just at the ad group level within campaigns.
• ToDou: China’s YouTube Adds Advertising, Gets Venture Capital
  ToDou, the Chinese equivalent to YouTube, announced the launch of an ad serving platform, as well as the acquisition of $19 million in venture capital.
• Yahoo Buys Part of Indian Ad Company Tyroo
  The purchase of a major portion of Tyroo, the Indian online ad company, is seen as a further push into the fast growing Indian market.
• Google AdWords Offers Impression Share Numbers
  Google has launched a new feature in the AdWords interface, Impression Share – the percentage of impressions your ads see.
• Bill Slawski Uncovers Patent Info About Google Quality Scoring
  “A trio of patent applications from Google look at estimating the likelihood that an advertisement is a good one, in a method that goes beyond counting click-through-rates (CTR).”
• adCenter Gets Click Quality Reports
  Because all clicks don’t necessarily carry the same value, adCenter categorizes them as either standard quality or low quality.
• Yahoo SmartAds: Super-Targeted Display Ads
  Yahoo has launched a new SmartAds display ad unit that uses behavioral, demographic and geographic targeting capabilities to create ads from submitted elements based on the user.
• Old But Not Forgotten?
  With all the focus on Gen Y and even the millennials, seniors aged 65+ seem almost completely forgotten when it comes to online marketing.
• Yahoo Upgrades Panama’s Tools
  The keyword selector tool is offering suggestions, copying and moving keywords amongst groups, and an improved help section have been added to Panama’s features.
• AdSense Rolls Out Referrals 2.0
  Beyond the text and image ads AdSense offers – the release of Referrals 2.0 now incorporates products that you can sell on your site.
• Search Ad Sellers Should Help CTRs More
  Where are Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask and others when you really need them? We think that they ought to be helping their customers even more actively.
• Marchex Launches Content-Rich Direct-Navigation Strategy
  Marchex today launched 100,000 local and vertical Web sites, all with unique content.
• Quigo To Serve Time Inc. Contextual Ads
  Quigo has signed a multi-year with Time Inc. to provide contextual ads for sites like CNNMoney.com, Time.com, People.com and SI.com.
• Yahoo Combining Search And Display
  Yahoo has announced it is combining search and display under one department. Heading up this newly formed division of North American Sales is David Karnstedt.
• Advanced Dynamic Keyword Insertion
  Dynamic keyword insertion is a great concept, but challenging to do well.
• Google Expands Pay-per-Action Ads
  Advertisers choose how much they want to pay for a user to complete a pre-defined action like a purchase, newsletter sign-up, or other conversion.
• Yahoo Moves to Short Descriptions
  Yahoo now requires advertisers to provide a short, 70-character description for all ads.
• Are IT Buyers and Marketers Search-Aligned?
  According to a recent survey of 3,000 IT buyers and marketers, some 83% of buyers actively use Google to find tech information. About 65% of marketers participate in paid search programs to find these buyers. Maybe the other marketers are missing out.

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Linking Issues & Social Media
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=== SearchDay: June 20, 2007 ===
Finding Success in Social Media

=== SEW Experts: June 21, 2007 ===
Does Your Site Deserve Link Love?

=== SEW Experts: June 28, 2007 ===
7 Ways to Promote Your Content as Link Bait

=== SEW Experts: July 5, 2007 ===
How Many Links Could a Link Lover Love?

=== SEW Experts: July 12, 2007 ===
Exploiting Your Current Backlinks and Link Referrals

=== SEW Experts: July 19, 2007 ===
Creating Link Love With Informational Videos

=== From the SEW Blog ===

• Link Building is a Permanent Investment
  I occasionally end up speaking with webmasters who thing of link building as an activity that you do for a while, and then you stop, or slow down. It’s a mistake, and it’s not one that you want to make.
• Yahoo Advertising Numbers Under Attack, According to Bloomberg
  Not only is Yahoo being beleaguered by Google, but the social networking sites are cutting into their display ad revenue, according to a Bloomberg report.
• Social and Portal Connections Underway
  Weekend mumblings of social networks came from both Yahoo and Google.
• Internal Link Structure Optimization
  Keeping in mind that your site as a whole only has a finite amount of page rank, you need to decide how to focus it.
• Matt Cutts Offers Corporate Blogging Advice
  Joining the damage control of the Google Health Blog vs. Sicko incident on Sunday, Google blogger extraordinaire Matt Cutts outlined some guidelines for company blogging 101.
• 9 Tips for Getting Started with Link Building
  Putting together a strategy for getting links to a site is one of the hardest parts of SEO.

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Analytics & ROI
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=== SearchDay: June 26, 2007 ===
Coordinating Search with External Media: Can Less Be More?

=== SEW Experts: June 20, 2007 ===
The Impact of User Registration on Generating Real Estate Leads

=== SEW Experts: June 25, 2007 ===
Can Google Analytics Be Evil?

=== SEW Experts: July 11, 2007 ===
The Role of Trust in E-Commerce Sales

=== SEW Experts: July 18, 2007 ===
Analyzing Data to Lower Your CPA

=== SEW Experts: July 20, 2007 ===
The Guts of an Enterprise-Level Web Analytics Audit

=== From the SEW Blog ===

• SEW Experts: The Guts of an Enterprise-Level Web Analytics Audit
  Chris Boggs gives you the lowdown on a site side analytics audit, to help you overcome one of the biggest problems faced by large companies: knowing how to interpret Web analytics data.
• It Takes More Than A Village
  As anyone publishing a web site knows, you have a front row seat when it comes to observing a multitude of visitor behaviors. Yet, when it comes to advertising, we continue to profile site visitors in such an unsophisticated manner.
• BidClix Closing Doors July 31
  BidClix, recently purchased by aQuantive, will cease to exist on July 31.
• Interview with Unica’s Rand Schulman
  Eric Enge sits down with Rand Schulman to speak at length about recent events in the web analytics industry.
• 10 Cool Things With Clicktracks
  The package performed well in Stone Temple Consulting’s recent Web Analytics Shootout.
• Quantcast Offers Free Video and Widget Audience Measurement Services
  The free service enables publishers to measure the usage of videos and widgets on their Web sites.
• Podcast with Brett Crosby and Avinash Kaushik
  Eric Enge interviews Google Analytics’ dynamic duo of Brett Crosby and Avinash Kaushik.
• New Call for Case Studies
  If you have an interesting SEO or PPC optimization story to tell, let us know, and you may be featured in a future SEW Experts column.
• Google Gives Away FeedBurner Services
  Google is now giving away TotalStats and MyBrand, which were previously only available with a FeedBurner Pro subscription.
• ‘Short Tail’ Analytics: Getting to the Meat
  SEO and web analytics company Engine Ready reminds us that while the ‘long tail’ is not something to forget about, the ‘short tail’ of search provides the majority of your conversions.
• 10 Cool Things to Do with IndexTools
  Over the course of his Web Analytics Shootout, Eric Enge found IndexTools Web Analytics to be a powerful tool available at a relatively low price.

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Local & Mobile Search
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=== SEW Experts: July 20, 2007 ===
Getting Started in Local Search

=== From the SEW Blog ===

• Hyper-Local Gets a Vote of Confidence
  Dallas based Hyper local news and events site Pegasus News has announced it will be acquired by Fisher Communications.
• Google Confirms Mobile AdSense Beta
  The monetization product for mobile publishers is currently in a limited beta test.
• Local.com Acquires PremierGuide
  Local.com has picked up B2B local directory provider PremierGuide for a about $2 million. PremierGuide offers white-label business directories to local publishers, such as newspapers, radio and TV stations, and regional sites.
• Google Readies To Photograph America
  Gizmodo has posted pictures of an armada of cars with mounted photo equipment taken at Google HQ.
• Google Maps Mashups Now Easier to Find and Create
  Mapplets are intended to be mashups that allow developers use dynamic data, such as live weather information, or events from Zvents, as an overlay on a map.
• Google Maps missing Ontario on JetBlue flight
  On Sunday, I flew from Boston, MA, to Oakland, CA, on JetBlue — and was surprised to find that Ontario, Canada, was a blank area on Google Maps when we flew over it.
• Even More Local Search Patents
  Local.com has won another local search patent, this time for ad-supported 411 calls.
• Google Maps Gets Click-and-Drag Functionality
  Users of Google Maps can now change their destination and route by clicking and dragging.
• Ingenio Data Attempts to Crack the Code on Mobile Usage
  Pay-per-call provider Ingenio and market research firm Harris Interactive released results of a survey today that shows interesting data around consumer preferences for mobile devices and advertising.
• Skrenta Steps Down at Topix
  Rich Skrenta, CEO of news aggregator and local search site Topix since its launch five years ago, is stepping down from his position.
• Local.com Gets Location-based Search Patent
  The local search space is becoming a patent battleground. Local.com has been awarded the third local search patent to surface in the last month.
• Google Maps Integrates User Reviews (Finally)
  Google will begin to offer the opportunity to read and write user generated reviews of businesses that show up in local listings in Google Maps.

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Vertical & Specialty Search
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=== SearchDay: June 27, 2007 ===
Latin American Search Market Poised for Growth

=== SearchDay: June 28, 2007 ===
Savvy Little Searchers

=== SearchDay: July 11, 2007 ===
Can You Translate a Successful Search Campaign?

=== SearchDay: July 12, 2007 ===
Opportunities in the Latino Search Market

=== SearchDay: July 17, 2007 ===
Challenges of the Latino Search Market

=== SearchDay: July 18, 2007 ===
Planning your Search Strategy for the Latino Market

=== SEW Experts: June 27, 2007 ===
ZoomInfo – People Finder and Company Intelligence Tool

=== SEW Experts: June 29, 2007 ===
Video Search Optimization Tech Tips – Knowing the 4 P’s

=== SEW Experts: July 6, 2007 ===
Why Should I Book My Vacation Via Your Travel Site?

=== SEW Experts: July 13, 2007 ===
Call for Production Value Standards in Search Marketing Videos

=== From the SEW Blog ===

• Google Planning Mobile Media Search Engine?
  Google is reportedly planning to launch a mobile media search engine to help consumers find and buy ringtones, games and other mobile content.
• Best of the Web announces B2BSoftware.com
  Best of the Web has expanded their offerings by entering the vertical search market with the launch of B2Bsoftware.com.
• FoodieView Is Recipe Search Engine, Restaurant Review
  If you have some chicken breast in the fridge and want a new way to cook them, then FoodieView.com may be the search engine for you.
• Home Design Vertical Search
  Convera and Nielsen Business announced earlier this month that they are partnering on a new vertical search engine for the Kitchen and Bath industry. The site can be found at KitchenandBathSearch.com.
• Blinkx to Include Content from Pyro.TV
  Over the past few months the video search marketplace has resembled a homesteading land rush, as video search players strike deal after deal with content sources and aggregators.
• Korean Portal, Search Engine Yehey Partners With Pixsy
  Yehey, the Korean search engine and portal, announced it will use Pixsy’s enhanced media search platform.
• Privacy and Yahoo’s Integration of Flickr with Image Search
  Yahoo has integrated the millions of Flickr photos into its image search results.
• Mahalo Moves Forward
  Human-edited search does offer some real advantages. But how can this scale to cover the true complexity of web search?
• Newsknife names top sources in Google News for environmental articles
  While the impact of humans on the environment has been one of the big stories so far for 2007, that doesn’t seem reflected in the environmental articles that appear in Google News.
• Convera and SearchChannel Partnership
  The relationship pairs Convera, a vertical search engine platform provider, with SearchChannel, an e-media and SEM consulting firm.
• LG, Google Developing YouTube Phone
  Mobile phone manufacturer LG is working with Google to develop a mobile phone that will allow you to upload videos directly to YouTube.
• Spock – The People Search Engine
  Spock provides a remarkably clean and efficient people search engine.
• MySpaceTV – Look Who’s Chasing YouTube
  This feature should in fact attract new users to MySpace and expand its reach for quality video content and viewers.
• blinkx launches contextual online video search ad platform
  The video search engine’s new advertising platform, AdHoc, is billed as “the first contextually relevant video advertising platform.”
• YouTube Adds 9 Localized Country Sites
  YouTube has added nine country-specific sites, which are fully translated, with localized home pages, content and search functions.
• Law.com launches vertical search engine
  Law.com Quest is a search engine focused on the searching of legal documents.
• Searching Through Widget Content
  Many embedded flash widgets are injected onto MySpace and now Facebook pages. But what happens when you want to actual search them? Not much.

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Small Businesses & Big Brand SEM
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=== SEW Experts: June 19, 2007 ===
Can Social Media Work in Big Business?

=== SEW Experts: June 26, 2007 ===
Using WordPress to Manage Your Web Site Content – Part 1

=== SEW Experts: July 3, 2007 ===
Can You Purchase Text Links for Big Business Sites?

=== SEW Experts: July 10, 2007 ===
Using WordPress to Manage Your Web Site Content – Part 2

=== SEW Experts: July 17, 2007 ===
Don’t Panic Over Sudden Traffic Changes

=== From the SEW Blog ===

• Microsoft Adds Ask Sponsored Listings to Office Live Ad Management
  Using adManager, small businesses can buy and manage search ads from a simplified interface. Previously, the ad options were Microsoft’s MSN Network and Live Search.
• Google to Offer Hosted Custom Site Search for Businesses
  Google has launched a program offering small businesses hosted site search with its Google Custom Search Business Edition, an enhanced version of its Custom Search Engine (CSE) service launched last fall.
• Google Blogger Attacks Sicko, Backtracks
  A Google blogger tried to rally healthcare advertisers against Michael Moore’s latest documentary, Sicko, by advising them that they should increase their presence in the search results.

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In-House & Outsourcing Issues
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=== SearchDay: July 5, 2007 ===
SEMPO Institute Sees Early Success

=== SEW Experts: June 18, 2007 ===
The Five Characteristics of Highly Effective PPC Specialists

=== SEW Experts: June 29, 2007 ===
Stop In-house SEO Disasters Now!

=== SEW Experts: July 6, 2007 ===
Enterprise SEO Project Pricing: One Size Does Not Fit All

=== SEW Experts: July 11, 2007 ===
Up Your SEM Knowledge

=== SEW Experts: July 18, 2007 ===
Housebreaking the Search

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SEM Industry Issues
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=== SearchDay: June 19, 2007 ===
Search Engine Strategies Toronto Was … Different

=== SearchDay: July 3, 2007 ===
5 Questions on Innovation

=== From the SEW Blog ===

• Incisive Events Coming This Summer
  Coming up are three Search Engine Strategies events, and one ClickZ Specifics event which may be of interest to some of our readers.
• Google-DoubleClick Deal Faces Congressional Scrutiny
  Google execs will be called to defend the potential $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick before both House and Senate Subcommittees
• Google Results Good, But Not Good Enough?
  Google reported its second-quarter results yesterday, which showed rapid revenue growth and strength in its business. Unfortunately for Google, expenses rose more than analysts expected, and profits fell short of expectations.
• Yahoo Q2 Post Slight Decline, Yang To “Put Back On Winning Path”
  Despite posting a slight decline from last year’s numbers in their Q2 report yesterday, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang intends to put the company back on “a winning path.”
• Australian Gov. Suing Google Over Misleading Conduct
  The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) is taking Google, as well as Trading Post Australia, to court over misleading and deceptive advertising.
• June Search Numbers: Microsoft Growing, Yahoo Dropping
  Compete.com released their monthly search percentage numbers and has Microsoft making the biggest gains year over year and Yahoo showing the largest drop.
• Yahoo, Microsoft To Change Privacy Policies
  Pressure from the European Union apparently has Yahoo and Microsoft changing their privacy policies.
• Speaker Openings for SES San Jose
  There are currently openings for speakers on four panels at next month’s conference.
• SEMPO Institute Adds Advanced Search Advertising Course
  Joining the Fundamentals of Search Marketing and Advanced SEO courses is an Advanced Search Advertising course.
• Search Engine Marketing Council
  The special interest group within the Direct Marketing Association is working to provide educational programs to direct marketers.
• Yahoo Keeps Creating its Own Troubles
  Finding a way to keep and build its search share and build out its display ads and other properties in the face of growing competition is enough of a challenge. But a bigger problem may be its propensity to shoot itself in the foot with recent media relations efforts.
• Semel Ousted as Yahoo CEO
  Embattled Yahoo CEO and Chairman Terry Semel has been replaced as CEO by Yahoo founder Jerry Yang. Susan Decker has been named Yahoo’s president.
• SES Latino Coverage
  The Search Engine Strategies Latino conference in Miami this week provided attendees with a wealth of search-related information.
• Seth Godin Interview
  Eric Enge has a chat with Seth Godin about Squidoo, and about the challenges facing Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.
• More Thoughts on SES Toronto
  More reports from SES Toronto have been trickling in as speakers and attendees return home and think about what they learned.
• Update on SES Advisory Board
  We’ve also got some great people coming forward to offer their voice on the SES Advisory Board, but there’s still time to have your voice heard.

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Search Engines, Tools & Technology
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=== From the SEW Blog ===

• Speak Softly And Carry A Big Stick
  So who is quietly trying to solve your search and discovery problem? Librarians.
• Matt Cutts Seeking Search Bugs
  Matt Cutts is asking for anyone that is aware of any search engine bugs to post them in comments on his blog.
• Google Sets Expiration on Cookies
  Instead of the permanent expiration date of 2038, they will now auto expire after 2 years of non-usage.
• Yahoo Adds Search Suggest Feature
  A user is presented with a likely search term when they begin typing a query into the search box.
• Using Wikipedia to Improve Search Quality
  A paper published by a Microsoft researcher discusses how the context of the use of a particular name in a web document can be compared to the context of the use of that name on Wikipedia.
• Google’s VP Search Quality, Udi Manber, Interviewed
  Eric Enge speaks with Manber about the future role of links in the Google search algorithm, in light of all the changes of late, including the move towards personalization.
• FAST Acquires Personalization/Recommendation Technology
  FAST Search & Transfer has acquired AgentArts, a San Francisco-based technology company with a personalization and recommendation engine for music, video, games and mobile entertainment.
• Google URL Parameters Cheat Sheet
  Dutch SEO Joost de Valk has put together a one-page guide to the various parameters that can be appended to a Google search.
• WSJ’s Mossberg Likes Ask3D
  Wall Street Journal columnist and All Things Digital organizer Walt Mossberg compared Google’s Universal Search with Ask.com’s Ask3D, and found Ask3D to be a better way of presenting search results.
• Powerset Meets the Press
  Powerset, the most talked about semantic search engine that no one has seen, is slowly opening its doors to scrutiny.
• Human Input and Algorithmic Search
  The subject of human edited search is hot again, perhaps because we’re all getting a bit more sophisticated about the challenges faced by search.
• Askville Update
  The Amazon-owned Q&A service seems to be getting some traction in its first six months.

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Our Search Newsletters & Feeds
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About The Search Engine Update
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