Search Headlines – Search Engine Land Opens

Google Increases UK Market Share

If you thought Google’s hold in the US was strong, prepare to be dumbfounded. WebProNews reports on the new Hitwise UK numbers that show Google increased its market share another 9 percent this month, bringing them to a scary 78 percent of all UK searches. Yahoo! is in second with only 7.7 percent. Heh. [That really brings home how important it is to rank in Google.co.uk. Good thing our pals over at Bruce Clay, London have the optimisation skillz to manage it. See, I even spelled optimisation all British. –Susan] –Yes, but you spelled skills with a ‘z’. I don’t even know what to do with that.

Universal Music Sues MySpace for Copyright Infringement

Just as they threatened to do with YouTube, Universal Music has filed suit against MySpace claiming the social networking site is profiting off "user-stolen" content, including music, videos and other material. MySpace calls the suit meritless.

So did YouTube sign its content deal just in time or is this suit part of that conspiracy theory that said YouTube-compensated content publishers would file suits to squash rival video upload sites?

SearchMash Upgrade

The Google Operating Blog discovered that Google has given SearchMash an upgrade that allows users to opt-in to blog, video, image or Wikipedia searches directly from the SERP. Each option appears as a right-hand widget that can be expanded to view advanced results. I don’t totally hate the idea, but it is somewhat cumbersome to use. Someone needs to work out an effective way to be able to access everything from one screen, though. People are relying on verticals more, not less.

[There’s also a ‘hide details’ feature that I never noticed before that lets users view the SERP as a list, without any description information. That’s kind of cool but I’m not sure it’s new.]

December 11th – Danny Lands in Search Engine Land

There are less than two weeks left before until Danny Sullivan says goodbye to Search Engine Watch and yesterday we got a small glimpse into how he’ll be spending his time once his reign ends. Danny announced that his new search blog, Search Engine Land, with launch on Dec. 11. Chris Sherman and Barry Schwartz will join Danny in "providing information about search engine marketing and how search engines work in general, from a searcher’s perspective". I’ve already subscribed and you should too. Sullivanites* Unite.

I can’t wait to see what Danny has in store for us and how Barry and Chris work into the equation. Will they leave Search Engine Watch and join Danny? I thought Chris Sherman was being groomed to be Danny’s successor? More importantly, if Danny, Chris and Barry are all blogging over at Search Engine Land, will SEW even matter anymore? Things to ponder, people.

*coined by David Temple.

Fun Finds

Over at SEOScoop, Donna shares four revealing tidbits overheard at PubCon.

Grant Robertson gives readers Five Simple Rules for Keeping an Empty Inbox. I don’t know that I could ever do all the things he advises (like letting my inbox go an entire hour without checking it), but he’s on to something.

Nathan Weinberg shows users how to use Google Maps to make prank phone calls. Not that we would ever do that, especially not tonight after work.

Microsoft gives bug-reporting testers a free copy of Windows Vista Business or Ultimate. That’s very generous of them.

Lisa Barone is a writer, content marketer & VP of strategy at Overit Media. She's also a very active Twitterer, much to the dismay of the rest of the world.

See Lisa's author page for links to connect on social media.

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