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June 14, 2006

Search Headlines & Links: June 14, 2006

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...

  • Daily SearchCast, June 14, 2006: MySpace To Auction Search Traffic; Google Picasa Gets Photo Sharing; NY State Says Shame On Google Video; Is That Google Earth In My Coffee Table? & More!
    Today's search podcast covers MySpace planning to auction its search traffic; Google's Picasa getting web albums; New York State raps Google over its video content and children; Google not obeying the noindex stop sign?; an interactive table lets you control Google Earth with your hands and more!
  • ShopWiki Launches Search By Color
    ShopWiki this morning launched its 'Search by Color' feature which lets consumers quickly and easily filter search results by color. From the press release: Accessible on ShopWiki's search results page, the Search by Color tool displays more than 60,000 RGB colors for shoppers to choose from. A shopper looking for a turquoise v-neck shirt, for example, can search "women's v-neck" then select the desired shade from the color tool. Once selected, the search results are instantly updated to list those shirts available in the chosen hue. You have to play around with Shop by Color to really understand the power...
  • A New Local Search Marketing Guide
    I've often been amazed that there isn't a more organized effort by search engines and others targeting small business advertisers to "educate" them about online marketing. There are independent efforts here and there, but all players would benefit from a concerted initiative. Until then, small businesses have to rely on more informed colleagues and the serendipity of discovering resources online. One such resource, put together by Matt McGee, is the relatively concise Local Search Marketing Guide....
  • Searcher Behavior Update
    Search marketing has evolved from relatively simple optimization of web pages into a more sophisticated process involving a number of variables. Apart from tactical maneuvers with SEO or PPC campaigns, savvy search marketers are increasingly trying to understand searcher behavior, and attempting to proactively anticipate user needs. More and more research is providing hard data to support these efforts, writes Grant Crowell in today's SearchDay article, Understanding Searcher Behavior....
  • Google Not Obeying NoIndex Meta Tag?
    I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable that Google.com Displaying Pages in Index with NoIndex Meta Tags. The details come from a WebmasterWorld thread where two members I would trust claim Google is not obeying the noindex meta tag. Currently, I have no evidence, since examples are not allowed at WebmasterWorld. If you have examples of this in action, please let us know by starting a thread in our Google Web Search Forum at Search Engine Watch Forums....
  • Forecasted Online Ad Spend Is Corrected Upwards
    Search is winning the hearts and minds of marketing managers across the US, (and this is good news for search worldwide). Brand managers that tend to buy display advertising more readily will continue to be a tough sell for search, but that may be its only limitation. TNS Media Intelligence (which tracks online display advertising spend) has increased their forecast for 2006. This is a 4% correction from their earlier estimated growth, (and bucks the hold pattern or downward trend for other forms of advertising). The company cited earlier estimates as far too conservative after tracking faster than expected migration...
  • Japan To Build Own Search Engine With 30 Japanese Companies & Government Help
    The Mainichi Daily show that Japan is going to be building out their own search engine after conducting a focus group on the idea. Thirty organizations in Japan and the University of Tokyo will be working to develop the Japanese based search engine. Part of the group includes big brands such as Hitachi, Fujitsu and Nippon. The Japanese government plans on providing a subsidy for the project. Why? "Many people in Japan fear that the domination of the three firms will prevent Japanese companies from entering the market." The European Union, led by France, is doing something very similar....
  • A Look At Google's Oregon Operation & Yahoo Leaves Pasadena
    Niall Kennedy summarizes a NY Times article about Google's Oregon center and Yahoo and Microsoft's exploration in areas like that. The Google Oregon center would be one of the largest data centers, taking up about two football fields. The NY Times article also estimated Google having "450,000 servers spread over at least 25 locations around the world." Microsoft with an estimated 200,000 servers is expected to grow to 800,000 by 2011. Yahoo is on the move as well, moving to Burbank by end of June. There is no doubt that energy costs will be on the mind of these search...
  • New York State Sends Warning On Google Video Service
    ResourceShelf notes a Red Herring article about the New York State Consumer Protection Board (CPB) warning parents about Google Video. The warning discussed that Google Video enables children to "easily access and view videos with sexual themes and off-color material" all for free. ResourceShelf also notes that the only video service mentioned in this warning is Google Video, not YouTube or Yahoo Video....
  • Clickbot.A Click Fraud Network Dismantled
    ClickZ reports that the Clickbot.A virus that infected 34,000 machines (last report more than 50,000 PCs) and auto clicked on an unknown amount of PPC ads, has been shut down. Panda Software and RSA Security worked together to dismantle the virus. Read the full details over at Panda Software....
  • New Public Link Spam Exploits
    Peter Da Vanzo has posted information on XSS Redirects & SEO. Peter linked to two documented methods of exploiting comments and links at blogs and other sites. The two links include; XSS and Redirection Attacks, which makes for a nice and interested educational read and Moveable Type Backlink Exploit that makes me a little depressed (running MovableType and all). Point being? The nofollow attribute, created to slow down link spam, has not worked, IMO, I actually had to pull comments and trackbacks completely from my blog after 3 years of them being enabled. Sad....
  • Google Images Home Page Design Test
    Philipp Lenssen has screen captures of an other new search interface design, this time being test on Google Images. The test is running a vertical navigation of Google's other properties either on the left hand side or directly above the search box. The one directly above the search box looks awkward to me....
  • Looking At Links After Looking At Patents
    I know, I know. Everyone everywhere is running SEO interviews with everyone. But Bill Slawski Interview over at SEO Buzz Box is well worth a read. Aaron Pratt's got a great set of questions that he puts to Bill, who in turn has very clear, good responses that show how the original Google notion of links as votes has become complicated for both Google and search marketers....
  • Minority Report-Like Interactive Google Earth
    Via our SEW Forums, a great find. Check out this video showing how PhD candidate Edward Tse of the Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs at the University of Calgary rigged Google Earth into an interactive tabletop display:  ...
  • Google Introduces Picasa Web Albums
    Google has enhanced its desktop-based Picasa photo organizing program by offering users the ability to upload albums and easily share photos with others. Picasa Web Albums is launching as a limited test that will be available only to existing Gmail users on a first-come, first-served basis—if you want to try the service, you should act quickly to try to secure your account....
  • Microsoft 'Mix-ins' vs. Google Mashups
    Steven Lawler of Microsoft didn't directly mention Google by name, but many of his comments this morning at Where2.0 were directed toward differentiating Microsoft's Virtual Earth platform and Windows Live Local's consumer destination from the company's chief online rival. As part of his very accelerated presentation (15 minutes) he said that Microsoft's goal is to "leverage local information on a global basis" through a mapping interface. That's very much like the message Google presented yesterday....

Other Things We Read, Didn't Blog But You Might Want To Read...

Posted by Danny Sullivan at June 14, 2006 1:56 PM