Onkosh, the Arabic language search engine, has moved its mobile service out of beta mode. Users can type their queries in English, and the engine returns Arabic results. According to sources at Orascom Telecom (parent company of Onkosh) including the transliteration feature was key to driving both mobile and desktop usage of the engine -- reflecting the tendencies of the growing population of Arabic-language Web users to search this way. Onkosh bundles blogs, news and images into the mobile results, as well as an in-depth "File Search" feature that can find files that are linked to forums and …

While Ask's search market penetration is relatively small, industry analysts and search pros alike have predicted the "little guy" will slowly but surely wrangle more search share over the long haul. According to Ross Dunn, optimizing for Ask doesn't have to be top priority -- but following the tips he lists in this in-depth piece could boost your Ask rankings (without sacrificing rank with the bigger engines). Of course, appropriately tagging images is key, but Dunn also offers tips for inclusion in AskCity (Ask's local search division), as well as the Bloglines and Ask Mobile services.

Paul Robinson, founder of software R&D firm Vagueware notes that Google's inclusion of user-created maps (from My Maps, KML files and other info created in the geoweb) in its local search results was inevitable -- why wouldn't the search giant want to tap into the power (and data) of its devoted users? Google is going to clearly mark the user-customized maps as such, so that users can choose whether to trust the info -- but Robinson wonders if a ratings (and wiki-style revision) system would make the service even better. He even throws in a link to OpenStreetMap, …

Jeremy Crane waxes poetic about being too old to go "back to school" in this post -- noting that kids in school today have the Web and search engines to make their studies that much easier. He takes a look at the search stats from the big four in September, finding that overall search volume hit the highest level here in the States, with nearly 7.8 billion queries. At about a 4.4% increase from last month, it's a great example of a seasonal surge. It's no surprise that Google is at the top -- but what's interesting is just …

A New York State judge recently ruled against a company called Australian Gold, in its claims that e-commerce firm S & L Vitamins violated its trademark rights by including pictures of Australian Gold products and using the keywords "Australian Gold" in the meta-tags on its reseller Website. S & L Vitamins scored a win by proving that usage of the Australian Gold info on the Web site and in PPC ads was protected under "fair use" laws -- and also because the judge found that Australian Gold didn't go far enough to prove otherwise. Trademark attorney and law …

Some search marketers shy away from using industry-specific lingo or acronyms in their paid search ad copy - but in some instances, shortcuts can get right to the point (especially with character limits) and boost ROI. To be clear, Slegg advocates multiple copy choices -- for example, using "PPC" for one ad, while using "paid search advertising" in another -- to cast a wide enough net for both savvy and novice searchers. She also cautions against being too liberal with jargon, but urges search marketers not to forget certain shortcuts during their PPC copy writing process.

Yahoo announced a number of user-requested upgrades to its search marketing console, including enhanced report functionality, more streamlined navigation, and a "Today" function that lets Webmasters view the status of their campaigns in relative real time.

Dharmesh Shah, co-founder of the Web marketing software firm HubSpot, wrote this piece in defense of the company's WebsiteGrader tool, a free service that analyzes a site for a number of "vital signs" like traffic, navigational issues and common SEO factors, and rates it on a scale of 1 - 100. While some bloggers have showered WebsiteGrader with acclaim, others like Michael Gray have taken the stance that Webmasters who use the tool can actually overlook critical errors that have a negative impact on their search traffic. Gray argues that WebsiteGrader can lull site owners into a false …

Google has added another dimension to its Universal Search concept, by upgrading the Google Enterprise Search Alliance platform and allowing the service to search through multiple content repositories. Businesses that use Google Enterprise Search Alliance will now be able to search data from third-party platforms like Documentum, FileNet, Livelink and Sharepoint (in addition to content from Google Apps). The search giant has also built the service on an "open" framework, so that third-party file and document storage developers like Stellent and Hummingbird can connect to it -- expanding the platform's overall relevance and utility.

Tracking a given site's rankings within meta-search engines is sometimes an overlooked strategy, but it should be a given for e-commerce and other direct response advertisers. Searchers in verticals like travel, electronics and autos, for example, understand that Google and Yahoo don't always deliver the best niche-specific results. With travel, for example, savvy users turn to meta-search engines like Sidestep, TripAdvisor and Kayak. And according to a new survey of global users by 4hoteliers.com, meta-search engine Hotelscombined.com delivered the best results when it came to available hotels - because the service "far out searches other travel search aggregators." …