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July 27, 2006

July 27, 2006

Search Headlines & Links: July 27, 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, July 27, 2006: Daily SearchCast's First Birthday!; Microsoft Hires 10,000; Baidu Cuts HP Deal; Google Ranking Changes; Google: The Musical & More!
    Today's search podcast covers the Daily SearchCast podcast celebrating its first birthday; Microsoft's record breaking army of new hires; Baidu getting on HP computers in China; Google rankings shifting around; a musical about Google and more!
  • Google Click Fraud Settlement Approved
    Download fileJust got word from Google that the settlement in the class action lawsuit over click fraud has been approved. I'm dashing out, so this is just a short post to give you a heads-up. So far, I haven't seen any news stories on it. Settlement is here (PDF file), the $30 million in attorney fees is approved, apparently around 500 companies choosing to opt-out. I'll postscript more tomorrow or do a fresh post when stories appear. Google statement: We're pleased Judge Griffin has affirmed the settlement as appropriate and fair to advertisers. We look forward to continuing to manage...
  • Google The Musical Coming Soon
    Philipp Lenssen spots a new musical named Google: The Musical. The musical is being hosted at the Rarig Center on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. The dates of the musical include; Friday on August 4th at 5:30 pm, Tuesday on August 8th at 7:00 pm, Thursday on August 10th at 10:00 pm, Friday on August 11th at 8:30 pm, and Sunday on August 13th at 1:00 pm. What to expect?...
  • Changes Spotted In Google Search Results
    I reported this morning at the Search Engine Roundtable that Google Search Results Shifting Again. What folks in the forums are finding is that some, but not all, of the pre June 27th results are coming back to the way they were. They are also finding that the Google site command search is again working on those datacenters that have the new results. There is a lot of commotion going on in the forums about these changes that began this morning....
  • Baidu To Be Default Engine On All HP Computers Ship To China
    Philipp Lenssen reports that Baidu, the popular Chinese search engine, will be the default search engine on all new HP's shipped to China after October 2006. As Philipp notes, this is bad for Google who has been pushing hard into the Chinese market. Today the Wall Street Journal reports that Baidu's second-quarter earnings were very high, "but didn't meet some investors' higher expectations."...
  • French Court Preventing Greenpeace France From Displaying Crop Data On Google Maps
    BoingBoing spotted an interesting case where a French court ordered Greenpeace France to remove a site using the Google Maps tool to display "locations of commercial, genetically engineered corn fields in France." Greenpeace France overlaid an X in the spot of those corn fields. They have removed the site, but plan on appealing the order. "Greenpeace argues the online maps should not be censored because an EU law requires the French government to make the crop site information public anyway," Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing writes....
  • Yahoo Partners With British Telecom For Yahoo Local UK
    Revolution Magazine reports that Yahoo has partnered with British Telecom to share the "Phone Book" data. Yahoo will add 120,000 businesses who advertise in The Phone Book from BT within the Yahoo Local UK platform. This helps BT offer an additional service to their Phone Book customers and gives Yahoo access to some more data and marketing opportunities they may have not had otherwise....
  • Microsoft Hires Over Ten Thousand Employees In Past Year
    The Seattle Pi reports that Microsoft has broke their own hiring records, by hiring 10,081 new employees worldwide over the past fiscal year. The article takes the angle that the hires were in order to compete with Google. Now Microsoft has 71,553 people worldwide as of June 30, 2006. Wow!...
  • Yahoo Launches Visual Link Map Tool Named Webzari
    The Yahoo Search Blog announced a new tool developed by the Yahoo Korea team named Webzari. Webzari is a tool that visually maps the data from Yahoo Site Explorer. It takes a site's inlinks, and maps them in planets on a map. Check out Search Engine Watch's map which is kinda hard to read, but you can also check out Search Engine Roundtable which has easier to read planets. Notice, when you mouse over the planets, it shows you the location of the server linking to you, and if you click on it shows you more. Very cool interface. Check...
  • What Drives Searchers to Buy Cars?
    The automotive industry is the largest player in the search world, in both natural search engine optimization and in the paid search arena. Until recently, auto manufacturers weren't a major presence in search results, with most search marketing campaigns conducted by independent aggregators who focused on providing quotes, helping consumers locate dealers and so on. Recently, however, the major manufacturers have begun to flex their search muscles, much to the consternation of aggregators, who are feeling crowded. A new study from Yahoo and comScore looked at searcher behavior in the automotive sector, analyzing activity, user preferences, and how purchases were...
  • Study Reveals Changing Web
    A report of a new study over on WebSiteOptimization.com has some interesting research showing how users ineract with web sites, revealing an "F-shaped" eyetracking patterns similar to the results Enquiro found looking at earch results. From the study: A new browser study revealed a shift in how we interact with the Web. University of Hamburg researchers found the Web moving from static hypertext information to dynamic interactive services. Clickstream heatmaps and web page statistics show rapid interaction over smaller areas of the screen. The authors recommend that web developers create concise, flexible, and fast loading web pages to keep pace...

Headlines & News From Elsewhere

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:12 PM | Permalink

Daily SearchCast, July 27, 2006: Daily SearchCast's First Birthday!; Microsoft Hires 10,000; Baidu Cuts HP Deal; Google Ranking Changes; Google: The Musical & More!

Today's search podcast covers the Daily SearchCast podcast celebrating its first birthday; Microsoft's record breaking army of new hires; Baidu getting on HP computers in China; Google rankings shifting around; a musical about Google and more!

Tune-in by listening to this MP3 file, listening via WebmasterRadio at 11:30am Eastern and repeated at 2pm Eastern Tuesday through Friday, via our Odeo channel or through iTunes via this link (or use alternative iTunes instructions explained here) or though our Yahoo Podcasts channel. Need more help tuning in live or finding the chat room? See the Daily SearchCast FAQ.

Below are links to items discussed:

  • Microsoft Hires Over Ten Thousand Employees In Past Year
    The Seattle Pi reports that Microsoft has broke their own hiring records, by hiring 10,081 new employees worldwide over the past fiscal year. The article takes the angle that the hires were in order to compete with Google. Now Microsoft has 71,553 people worldwide as of June 30, 2006. Wow!...
  • Yahoo Launches Visual Link Map Tool Named Webzari
    The Yahoo Search Blog announced a new tool developed by the Yahoo Korea team named Webzari. Webzari is a tool that visually maps the data from Yahoo Site Explorer. It takes a site's inlinks, and maps them in planets on a map. Check out Search Engine Watch's map which is kinda hard to read, but you can also check out Search Engine Roundtable which has easier to read planets. Notice, when you mouse over the planets, it shows you the location of the server linking to you, and if you click on it shows you more. Very cool interface. Check...
  • Study Reveals Changing Web
    A report of a new study over on WebSiteOptimization.com has some interesting research showing how users ineract with web sites, revealing an "F-shaped" eyetracking patterns similar to the results Enquiro found looking at earch results. From the study: A new browser study revealed a shift in how we interact with the Web. University of Hamburg researchers found the Web moving from static hypertext information to dynamic interactive services. Clickstream heatmaps and web page statistics show rapid interaction over smaller areas of the screen. The authors recommend that web developers create concise, flexible, and fast loading web pages to keep pace...
  • Powerful Search + Social Bookmarking = Diigo
    Social bookmarking and search services have been exploding in popularity recently, but I've yet to find one that combined ease of use and flexibility in just the right way. I've been playing around with a new "social annotation" service called Diigo that launched this week, and have been favorably impressed. It's simple, easy to use, but offers a lot of power, especially when it comes to searching—both the web as well as content that you've decided to save. More on the new service in today's SearchDay article, Diigo Offers "Social Annotation" Tool....
  • Baidu To Be Default Engine On All HP Computers Ship To China
    Philipp Lenssen reports that Baidu, the popular Chinese search engine, will be the default search engine on all new HP's shipped to China after October 2006. As Philipp notes, this is bad for Google who has been pushing hard into the Chinese market. Today the Wall Street Journal reports that Baidu's second-quarter earnings were very high, "but didn't meet some investors' higher expectations."...
  • Changes Spotted In Google Search Results
    I reported this morning at the Search Engine Roundtable that Google Search Results Shifting Again. What folks in the forums are finding is that some, but not all, of the pre June 27th results are coming back to the way they were. They are also finding that the Google site command search is again working on those datacenters that have the new results. There is a lot of commotion going on in the forums about these changes that began this morning....
  • Possible Shift in Google-Webmasters Communication Policy!, Threadwatch
  • Were All of Google Properties Down Last Night?, Search Engine Roundtable
  • Adam "Mini-Matt" Lasnik's Blog
  • ComScore Adds Competitive Search Data to qSearch, ClickZ
  • UK Microsoft adCenter public opening mid August, Threadwatch
  • Yahoo Partners With British Telecom For Yahoo Local UK
    Revolution Magazine reports that Yahoo has partnered with British Telecom to share the "Phone Book" data. Yahoo will add 120,000 businesses who advertise in The Phone Book from BT within the Yahoo Local UK platform. This helps BT offer an additional service to their Phone Book customers and gives Yahoo access to some more data and marketing opportunities they may have not had otherwise....
  • Live From GoogleFi, GigaOM
  • New Metasearch for Events and Ticket Providers, ResearchBuzz
  • New Natuaral Hazards Gateway Site from USGS, Fact Sheets & More, ResourceShelf
  • French Court Preventing Greenpeace France From Displaying Crop Data On Google Maps
    BoingBoing spotted an interesting case where a French court ordered Greenpeace France to remove a site using the Google Maps tool to display "locations of commercial, genetically engineered corn fields in France." Greenpeace France overlaid an X in the spot of those corn fields. They have removed the site, but plan on appealing the order. "Greenpeace argues the online maps should not be censored because an EU law requires the French government to make the crop site information public anyway," Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing writes....
  • Flickr set of bad parking at Yahoo lot, Boing Boing
  • MSN Gets Rights to 'Arrested', Los Angeles Times
  • Google The Musical Coming Soon
    Philipp Lenssen spots a new musical named Google: The Musical. The musical is being hosted at the Rarig Center on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. The dates of the musical include; Friday on August 4th at 5:30 pm, Tuesday on August 8th at 7:00 pm, Thursday on August 10th at 10:00 pm, Friday on August 11th at 8:30 pm, and Sunday on August 13th at 1:00 pm. What to expect?...

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:00 PM | Permalink

Google Click Fraud Settlement Approved

Just got word from Google that the settlement in the class action lawsuit over click fraud has been approved. I'm dashing out, so this is just a short post to give you a heads-up. So far, I haven't seen any news stories on it. Settlement is here (PDF file), the $30 million in attorney fees is approved, apparently around 500 companies choosing to opt-out. I'll postscript more tomorrow or do a fresh post when stories appear. Google statement:

We're pleased Judge Griffin has affirmed the settlement as appropriate and fair to advertisers. We look forward to continuing to manage invalid clicks effectively and provide our advertisers with an outstanding return on their investment. --Nicole Wong, Associate General Counsel, Google

Postscript: Short AP story here, MarketWatch here, Official Google Blog post here.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:43 PM | Permalink

Google The Musical Coming Soon

Philipp Lenssen spots a new musical named Google: The Musical. The musical is being hosted at the Rarig Center on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. The dates of the musical include; Friday on August 4th at 5:30 pm, Tuesday on August 8th at 7:00 pm, Thursday on August 10th at 10:00 pm, Friday on August 11th at 8:30 pm, and Sunday on August 13th at 1:00 pm.

What to expect?

Synopsis

Google is taking over the world - one thought at a time. An entirely original darkly-comedic electronic musical. Librarians, DJs and zombies - it's a brave new world.
This fable about the dangers of information ubiguity will make you laugh, cry and run home to your Internet.

Some more details at MySpace.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:54 AM | Permalink

Changes Spotted In Google Search Results

I reported this morning at the Search Engine Roundtable that Google Search Results Shifting Again. What folks in the forums are finding is that some, but not all, of the pre June 27th results are coming back to the way they were. They are also finding that the Google site command search is again working on those datacenters that have the new results. There is a lot of commotion going on in the forums about these changes that began this morning.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:49 AM | Permalink

Baidu To Be Default Engine On All HP Computers Ship To China

Philipp Lenssen reports that Baidu, the popular Chinese search engine, will be the default search engine on all new HP's shipped to China after October 2006. As Philipp notes, this is bad for Google who has been pushing hard into the Chinese market. Today the Wall Street Journal reports that Baidu's second-quarter earnings were very high, "but didn't meet some investors' higher expectations."

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:44 AM | Permalink

French Court Preventing Greenpeace France From Displaying Crop Data On Google Maps

BoingBoing spotted an interesting case where a French court ordered Greenpeace France to remove a site using the Google Maps tool to display "locations of commercial, genetically engineered corn fields in France." Greenpeace France overlaid an X in the spot of those corn fields. They have removed the site, but plan on appealing the order. "Greenpeace argues the online maps should not be censored because an EU law requires the French government to make the crop site information public anyway," Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing writes.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:36 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Partners With British Telecom For Yahoo Local UK

Revolution Magazine reports that Yahoo has partnered with British Telecom to share Yellow Pages data. Yahoo will add 120,000 businesses who advertise in The Phone Book from BT within the Yahoo Local UK platform. This helps BT offer an additional service to their Phone Book customers and gives Yahoo access to some more data and marketing opportunities they may have not had otherwise.

Post Script from Greg: Yell is the dominant yellow pages publisher in the UK and was previously owned by BT before it was sold a few years ago. Yell provides all its content to Google, as the basis for Google Local/Maps in the UK.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:29 AM | Permalink

Microsoft Hires Over Ten Thousand Employees In Past Year

The Seattle Pi reports that Microsoft has broke their own hiring records, by hiring 10,081 new employees worldwide over the past fiscal year. The article takes the angle that the hires were in order to compete with Google. Now Microsoft has 71,553 people worldwide as of June 30, 2006. Wow!

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:24 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Launches Visual Link Map Tool Named Webzari

The Yahoo Search Blog announced a new tool developed by the Yahoo Korea team named Webzari. Webzari is a tool that visually maps the data from Yahoo Site Explorer. It takes a site's inlinks, and maps them in planets on a map.

Check out Search Engine Watch's map which is kinda hard to read, but you can also check out Search Engine Roundtable which has easier to read planets. Notice, when you mouse over the planets, it shows you the location of the server linking to you, and if you click on it shows you more. Very cool interface.

Check it out at the Yahoo Search Blog.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:13 AM | Permalink

What Drives Searchers to Buy Cars?

The automotive industry is the largest player in the search world, in both natural search engine optimization and in the paid search arena. Until recently, auto manufacturers weren't a major presence in search results, with most search marketing campaigns conducted by independent aggregators who focused on providing quotes, helping consumers locate dealers and so on. Recently, however, the major manufacturers have begun to flex their search muscles, much to the consternation of aggregators, who are feeling crowded. A new study from Yahoo and comScore looked at searcher behavior in the automotive sector, analyzing activity, user preferences, and how purchases were ultimately made. The results are fascinating, and offer lessons for search marketers operating in any field. More on the study in today's SearchDay article, New Research Shows How Search Drives Auto Buyers.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 8:39 AM | Permalink

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