Timing is almost everything

Google selected a slow Friday during the holiday season to announce some very significant changes for the search world. The most immediate is real time search with listings from major social media sites. Epicenter provided a good run down of their approach including the plans to build relevance and to reject the obvious interest of spammers. The blog SEO Design readily acknowledged the victory for social media but they also made the case that Google may be practicing interruption marketing and producing tangential opportunities leading away from ecommerce.

Another highly significant announcement was personalized search. 2009 may be the last year where it makes sense to say that a site ranks on page 1; from now on it may depend greatly on the user regardless of their Google account status. Search Engine Land and iCrossing began the discussion of the effects on SEO, which SEL deemed 'extraordinary'.

Google also did not get through the entire week without displaying their obsession with mobile localized search. Google Goggles will allow users to conduct image based searches by pointing their properly equipped phone at something that interests them. The technology isn't perfected so Google shipped 100K specialized bar codes (known as QR codes) to the most clicked local businesses. Users don't even need a phone to feel the localized push. Google also announced location based searches so that, for example "Re" will suggest "Red Sox" in Boston but "REI" to patient Giants fans in San Francisco.

• Facebook Adds 'Become a Fan' Call to Action for Videos Uploaded to Pages [Inside Facebook]
• How to embed interactive links within your YouTube videos [John Haydon]
• New Numbers on Facebook Connect: 80,000 Partners, And More Traffic [Inside Facebook]
• 8 Tips for Managing a LinkedIn Group [Mashable]
• Gaming Social Media Is Counterproductive [Harvard Business]
• Top 50 Twitter Tracking and Analytics Tools [Honeytech]
• How to Monitor Your Brand on Social Media [Freelance Folder]

• Google Adds Page Speed Report Ahead of New Ranking Factor [ineedhits]
• The Best Performing Banner Sizes for AdSense [Digital Inspiration]
• Your site's performance in Webmaster Tools [Google Webmaster Central]
• SEO Tips to Find Competitors' Keywords [SEO Designs]

• Usability Testing Toolkit: Resources, Articles, and Techniques [Noupe]
• Create an Animated 'Call to Action' Button [Six Revisions]
• Principles Of Effective Search In E-Commerce Design [Smashing Mag]
• 55 Google Website Optimizer Tips and Tricks [Conversion Rate Optimization]
• 8 Tips for Account Registration [Get Elastic]
• 30 Visually Appealing Corporate Website Designs [Design Reviver]
• 5 Fresh Icon Sets for Web Designers [Design Reviver]
• Comment Design: Considerations, Best Practices and Examples [Hongkiat]

• Integrating E-Mail and Social Media [eMarketer]
• Email Marketing: Building Valuable Subscriber Lists on the Cheap [Marketing Experiments]
• 10 Best Practices for Using Links in Emails [Marketo]
• 4 Ways to Use Analytics to Improve Your Email Campaigns [Exact Target]

• 86% of Companies Plan Social Media Budget Bumps [Marketing Charts]
• New Nielsen Data Likely to Shock Some Web Publishers [Ad Age]
• Study Shows 28% of US Holiday Buyers are Influenced by Social Media [Hubspot]
• 10 Amazing Augmented Reality iPhone Apps [Mashable]
• Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies of 2009 [Marketing Charts]
• Firefox Mobile Browser Finally Set to Launch [Mashable]