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

From Search Engine Land:

• 
  IAC Ready To Drop Ask.com Search Technology & Partner With Google?
  IAC: Ready To Bail On Ask? from Silicon Valley Insider reports an insider tip that IAC may sell off or abandon their search technology and outsource it to Google. Here is the tip: There is indeed a big shakeup coming. A new Ask. Some think a reduction in workforce is…
• 
  Are You An Agency SEM Pro? Take SEMPO’s Salary Survey
  SEMPO is undertaking a salary survey of agency search engine marketing professionals, similar to its in-house SEM salary survey that we reported on in January. If you’re an agency SEM pro, SEMPO would like to hear from you, whether you’re a SEMPO member or not. To qualify for the survey,…
• 
  Search In Pictures: SMX Bowl, Google Jeans, Bart’s Chalk Board
  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more….
• 
  YouTube To Add Live Video This Year
  Steve Chen: YouTube to Add Live Video from NewTeeVee reports that YouTube’s founder said they will be adding live video support this year. Videoblogger Sarah Meyers asked Chen about video blogging, in which he said: 2008. We’ll do it this year. Live video is just something that we’ve always wanted…

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Baidu.com to launch an instant messaging service, Reuters

Business Issues

• Google housecleaning explains ad drop: comScore, Reuters

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Maps Business Record: A journey in search of accuracy, Mike Blumenthal

Microhoo

• News Corp. can’t lose in a Yahoo deal, analyst says, MarketWatch
• WPP’s Sorrell would welcome Microsoft-Yahoo tie-up, Reuters
• Yahoo Rumor Roundup: Are They Actually Talking To Microsoft? Would Google Take Stake To Block The Deal?, Barron’s Online

Paid Search & Contextual

• Negative Keywords - It’s All Positive, adCenter Blog
• Selling PPC Services: How to Present PPC to C-Level Executives, PPC Hero
• Several Google AdWords Prepay Accounts Offline, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Briefs: New Version of WSJ Mobile App Now Available; NewsNow Extended is Now Live, ResourceShelf
• Mahalo : Like It or Not, It’s a Good Service for Web Users, Search Engine Journal

SEM Industry

• Fun Photo Fridays - SEO Cop vs. Web Guerrilla at SMX West, Search Marketing Gurus
• Generation Google a General Disappointment, SEOmoz
• Happy Leap Year Day: Google Frogs & We Leap, Search Engine Roundtable
• SMX West Day 3: "Matt & Danny and Rand! Oh My!", Reality SEO
• SMX West Session Coverage - Key Takeaways, SearchRank Blog

SEO & SEM

• Drowning in Red Tape: SEO and Pharma Regulations, Search Engine Watch
• How to Prioritize Your Optimization, Grok Dot Com
• Why Does Yahoo! Search Lag Google & Microsoft in Ranking Newer Websites?, SEO Book
• Wrong Site Appearing for Google Info Operator Command?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• The many flavors of Twitter, Webware
• Yahoo’s MyBlogLog Adds An Activity Stream Feature, TechCrunch

Other Items

• Google Backs Harvard Scientist’s 100,000-Genome Quest, Bloomberg

Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• 48 Unique Ways To Use WordPress
• You’ve got Mixx in My Facebook
• Analyzing The Moment of Popping on Digg
• SEMpdx Searchfest 08 Mini-Interview: Marty Weintraub (aimClear)
• Nofollowing External Links - the SEO Lady’s View
• How to Increase Your Twitter Following 438% in 30 Days
• An Open Letter to StumbleUpon Regarding Usability, Negativity, and Growing Pains
• Using Humor To Extend Your Blog’s Reach
• The 10 Simplest Ways to Boost Your Social Media Credibility Right From the Start
• What Every Blogger Needs to Know About Categories
• The Tagging Police of StumbleUpon

IAC: Ready To Bail On Ask? from Silicon Valley Insider reports an insider tip that IAC may sell off or abandon their search technology and outsource it to Google.

Here is the tip:

There is indeed a big shakeup coming. A new Ask. Some think a reduction in workforce is likely. There are no sacred cows, Teoma may be sold or simply abandoned which is hundreds of engineers who work on the core search engine, in place of just using Google’s search with our special brand of user interface.

Click to continue reading…

SEMPO is undertaking a salary survey of agency search engine marketing professionals, similar to its in-house SEM salary survey that we reported on in January. If you’re an agency SEM pro, SEMPO would like to hear from you, whether you’re a SEMPO member or not. To qualify for the survey, you must:

• Work at an agency devoted solely to SEM, or
• Work at an agency with an SEM branch or division, or
• Work at an agency that offers SEM in its mix of services

Ready to go? Take the SEMPO agency search engine marketer salary survey today.

In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.

Click to continue reading…

Steve Chen: YouTube to Add Live Video from NewTeeVee reports that YouTube’s founder said they will be adding live video support this year. Videoblogger Sarah Meyers asked Chen about video blogging, in which he said:

2008. We’ll do it this year.

Live video is just something that we’ve always wanted to do, we’ve never had the resources to do it correctly, but now with Google, we hope to actually do it this year.

Click to continue reading…