It's been a long week, or at least it feels like it. TGIF is all I have to say about that. :)
Searching Blogs: Use Ask
It looks like Ask has emerged a winner lately compared to Google's Blog Search. The results are a lot better according to Barry Schwartz and Barry Welford. Two Barrys can't be wrong.
You Can't Hide 'em Lotto Winnings
A crazy guy in Miami (my hometown) decided he'd win the lottery and hide it from his wife. He tried to turn her off of everything related to the media so she wouldn't find out -- but finally, she decided to Google him, and she learned that he was keeping it a secret. The divorce proceedings should be ongoing shortly.
Google Feels Lucky Enough
Google doesn't want to remove their "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, but maybe they should, because they're wasting $110 million annually on missed opportunities for AdWords. I'll give you $1.10 a year to remove the button and give me your profits.
Not a Grand Monday
On Monday, Yahoo Stores failed many small business owners. They experienced serious outages. It's horrible given that this is the busiest online shopping day of the year for many people.
Matt Cutts Explains the Google Snippet
If you've never seen a video of Matt Cutts in action (or you've never seen him in person), perhaps it would be good for you to watch this cute little video of Matt explaining the Google snippet: the part of the results that Google takes from your website.
Google AdSense Video Units: Targeting Problems
Okay, so if you've got a site about digital photography and your Google AdSense video units started displaying ads about football, you'd be disappointed, right? I wouldn't blame you. Apparently, Google is off the mark in terms of targeting appropriately from the publisher perspective.
Canadians: Don't Switch Your AdWords to the US Dollar
Even if the US dollar is weaker (unfortunately), it's not wise to open a new Google AdWords account with the US dollar. Your Quality Score might take a plunge, like it did for one Canadian who tried to experiment with this approach.
5,000 and Counting
Earlier this week, Barry hit his 5,000th post on Search Engine Roundtable. Now how is that for dedication? I should be at 1k by February at this rate. ;) Maybe I can catch up!
Google to Release New Technologies
Platypus or GDrive is around the corner, or so they say. This is Google's new online storage option, with free and paid versions available. Additionally, Google is touting a new mobile locator service which will help people find their way on cellular phones that have mapping features.
Yahoo + Adobe = <3
Yahoo is offering sponsored ads on PDF documents which is a brand new incentive for PDF authors to monetize their content. Awesome idea.
Spammers Seize Al Gore's Search Engine Traffic
It sucks to be Al Gore. His site was hacked by spammers earlier and they embedded bad HTML pharmaceutical code into the site to get ranked higher. Jerks.
Fake Google .CN Spam Continues to Plague the Internets
It appears that .CN spam on Google is still a problem: it's bringing malware to the masses. Unfortunately, it's been happening for quite some time.
Google to Identify Manipulated Articles
Google has applied for a patent that can analyze articles and determine if they're spamming the search results. Pretty cool.
YSM Gets a Tune Up
You can now tune up your Yahoo Search Marketing campaign using a neat little feature on the console. Click on the Tune Up tab and let it run; then get your results.
Google + Social Media = Results that Matter?
Google is experimenting with voting on their search results, so that you can bring more pertinent results to the forefront. This could be big.
Google Sells Links. That Means You Can Too.
Seriously, I don't get it. Why is Google selling a PR7 link when paid links are supposedly evil?
Google AdWords Diagnostic Tool Bug = Fixed (or Not)
We reported that the Google AdWords Diagnostic Tool was fixed, but apparently, it's not, so hold your horses and we'll let you know if anything else changes on that front.
Pubcon, SES, and More!
Next week, we're having an awesome conference week. A few of us will be in Chicago and a few of us will be in Las Vegas. If you're in Vegas, there's an unofficial event guide posted, a Werewolf parlor game, and shows in Vegas for pre-approved bloggers. And if you missed it, our conference coverage schedule has been posted. Don't miss out!
