by Jennifer Laycock
With so much focus on social media and fostering conversation these days, companies both big and small are trying to figure out the best way to grow communities. Looking around at the number of blogs dedicated to the topic, you’d think there was some complex formula you needed to follow to get one […]

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on
Search Engine Land and from other
places across the web
From Search Engine Land:

Yahoo Displaying Geo Criteria Of Search AdsThe BrandVerity Blog noticed that Yahoo started displaying the business’s location under the search ads. For example, a search on lawyers in Yahoo returns several ads that display New […]

The BrandVerity Blog noticed that Yahoo started displaying the business’s location under the search ads. For example, a search on lawyers in Yahoo returns several ads that display New York under them. Why New York? Because I am based in New York. If you are located in California, you might see […]

Hey, I like Twitter, but this entire thing Robert Scoble started about how
Twitter had news of the Chinese earthquake before the US Geological Survey
seemed absurd. Did it really? As it turns out, probably so — by about three
minutes. Reading some of
the accounts, you’d get the impression Twitter seemed to alert the USGS to
the news.
Click to […]

The economic downturn is a reality, but the specific ways that it affects businesses run the gamut based on the size and type of business. During these times, small, local businesses often feel the pinch more quickly and sharply, causing some to take evasive maneuvers to keep afloat. Based on the Yellow Pages industry’s experience, […]

Contrary to some earlier reports, Google’s new FriendConnect, launching today, is not focused on data portability or a direct answer to MySpace “Data Availability” or the new Facebook Connect. While there’s a data portability dimension, it’s focused on the flip side of the equation: site owners who want to make their sites more “social.” It’s […]

The Search Engine Roundtable reports that it seems to be no longer possible to sign up for the Ambassador Program. Although there is no specific confirmation from Yahoo on that on the Ambassador program page, when one tries to sign up via an affiliate site, we get a notice that reads:
Yahoo will no longer […]

You can now cast your vote for the Doodle 4 Google competition at google.com/doodle4google/vote.html. Again, the winning doodle will be showcased on the Google home page on May 22, 2008 and the winner also gets a $10,000 college scholarship and a $25,000 technology grant for his/her school.
To vote, go here and click on the […]

Google Is A Malware Site (Says Yahoo) from TechCrunch reports a funny bug at Yahoo, that accidently made it look like Google’s home page had Malware on it, based on the Yahoo SearchScan feature that was recently launched.
A search for Astalavista at Yahoo returned, what appeared to be a Google.com result in the 10th position. […]

After nearly two years in the making — and plenty of hype —
Powerset has
finally rolled out a "natural language" search engine. It’s not a Google killer.
It’s barely a business model right now. But at least it’s something the world
can finally play with, and under the hood, there’s lots of potential.
By the time you read this, […]