Barry is back from Israel, but maybe he is going to forget to do the silly video that is supposed to accompany this roundup post. I mean, it's been a long week. He became an uncle (again) this past week, and he's still jetlagged, I believe. So why make it harder for us? Just read the post. I already summarize the week's happenings for you. :)
Happy February 14th
Yeah, I'm late. The search industry posted a bunch of Valentine's Day logos on their sites. We caught some and my other site Mashable caught some others in the Web 2.0 sphere. So a belated Happy Valentine's Day to you!
Yahoo to Ditch Microsoft, Partner with AOL?
So Yahoo is up for grabs and people want in. First, it was a possible merger with Microsoft. But Yahoo rejected their bid (they want more money!) and it seems like they might actually be considering a merger with AOL. Hm. All I have to say is that the Microhoo deal is more tempting.
Yahoo Beings to Lay Off Employees
Dear Yahoo, instead of laying off your incredible employees, maybe you should go with a merger and keep those guys onboard. Oh wait, I must be too late in my wishful thinking. We wish those who were affected by Yahoo's recent axe the best of luck. We're sorry to see you go.
Yahoo Ups Security with Sign In Seal
Yahoo Search Marketing has added a Sign-In Seal to prevent people from falling for phishing scams. The way it works: a cookie is on your computer and your custom seal will be shown if you're accessing the right page. If this works, why aren't other companies (I'm looking at you, PayPal) implementing such security measures?
Best of 2007: Yahoo Search Marketing
The most improved PPC campaign of 2007 is Yahoo Search Marketing, which captured 45% of the vote in our poll. I think this honor is well deserved. Congratulations to all who made that happen!
Got a Problem with Google's Representation of You? Sue 'em!
Actually, don't sue Google. That would be stupid. But an Australian company is suing Google for defamation because Google spidered another person's site. Some people are just stupid not very technically savvy.
Or get Really Angry at Google for Overwriting Your 404 Page
People have reported earlier this week that the Google Toolbar is overwriting your 404 page.
Google is Testing Video Ads in Search Results
Not many people are seeing it, but some are: Google is testing video ads in the search results. It'll be interesting to see how well this does!
How Much Money Have You Earned on AdSense Last Year?
Guess what? I'm not in the 37% of publishers who earned more than $1000 in Google AdSense last year. Maybe I should take some tips from Jeremy and Jennifer on how to make that much, though.
Microsoft Live Search Crawler Support
Microsoft has updated the Live Search Crawler and it's now called msnbot/1.1. The crawler now supports "conditional get" and HTTP compression.
WebmasterWorld Gets Updated
Version 5 of WebmasterWorld is here. The best feature: quick reply. And now you can also manage your skins. Cool!
Cool News around the Sphere
Guess what, SEOs? It's time to optimize for long tail searches, because long tail queries are becoming more mainstream.
You can also find out when Google first crawled your site with a nifty little trick that I've illustrated earlier this week.
Publishers should rejoice at the discovery that Google has written a report about making the most of your content on the web.
Coming Up Next: SMX West
In two weeks' time, we'll be in Santa Clara, CA covering SMX West. We've posted our SMX West conference schedule and hope to see you there! If not, just check back on the blog - we'll have plenty of articles for you from our conference reporters!
