While many Webmasters know that the search engines consider domain registrations as a factor in the ranking process, few details are known about how the information is used. For example, it is clear that older domains carry more authority (which is one reason gaining traction for a new site can be difficult), but what about the length of time the domain is registered for? Can Google see that, and if so, does it impact rankings? Jennifer Laycock piggybacks on a conversation about this in the Search Engine Guide forums, with some firm believers in the idea that registering …

Idearc Media rolled out new user-generated features for Superpages.com last week, allowing searchers to upload pics of the businesses, and giving the companies themselves a mini blog space adjacent to their listing. This is in addition to the standard rating and review options that were previously available, and comes roughly a month after the Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) service moved its local video ads out of beta phase. According to Chris Silver Smith, all of these features add up to a potent Web 2.0 cocktail, and push Superpages.com to the head of the local search pack when it …

Yahoo continues to ink partnership deals that extend its sphere of search influence beyond the desktop and beyond the US. Case in point, a new distribution deal with ABCSearch (a subsidiary of Encino-based Internext Media Corp) that will bring Yahoo sponsored listings to more niche-specific sites and expose ABCSearch advertisers to Yahoo inventory in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India. Though the terms of the deal were kept confidential, ABCSearch's network of vertically targeted engines and directories reportedly generates 5 billion searches per month.

New York-based Snooth is a new search engine cum social shopping service that's devoted to wine. In public beta since June, the service already boasts nearly 2 million reviews of over 300,000 wines, offering personalized wine recommendations and a search tool that connects wine lovers with more than 1,000 merchants, wineries and critics. Users can refine their initial search by factors like price, vintage and region, and the site also offers a list of the most popular searches, a forum and a blog. The Snooth team publishes seasonal wine tips (with an accompanying list of recommended wines) …

Wish there was a Wikipedia for search? Well, so did Kalena and Jerry Jordan, the Australian-based founders of an online Search Engine College, an online search marketing training institute. Together they've launched SearchEngineWiki.com, a site that aims to be the "world's first" search-focused wiki. According to Kalena, the service began "as a massive collection of bookmarks, tools and site links that we'd gathered over the past 10 years as search engine optimization consultants." Users will find lists of international search engines, definitions of common search terms, as well as employment resources, upcoming conference information and an …

Just in time for the holiday search frenzy, Google has taken a big step toward reducing invalid clicks in its content network. The search giant has tightened up the "clickable" area in AdSense text ads, limiting cost-generating clicks to just the headline and URL string. Previously, users could click on the entire rectangle of white space around an ad. Philipp Lenssen's screenshots illustrate how the available click area has been greatly reduced, making it harder for users to unknowingly click on ads, and making it harder for "made for AdSense" link farms, SPAM sites and bots to …

Beverly Hills-based Searchboth used to let users pull search results from both Yahoo and Google at the same time and return it in split-screen format. Now the service aggregates search data from a total of nine engines, including Ask, MSN and Looksmart, among others. SearchBoth (which is actually hosted at searchboth.net) also compiles IYP results from AT&T's YellowPages and Idearc Media's SuperPages. The search portal even aggregates travel search data, allowing users to compare results from sites like Travelocity, Sidestep and Kayak, two at a time. The service was founded by Web entrepreneur and founder of …

Tim Mayer, Yahoo's vice president of product management for search, was one of the participants at Ad:Tech New York's SEO Workshop session last week, and the ensuing discussion produced a set of best practices for both search newcomers and seasoned vets. Mayer, along with Sandor Marik of CondeNet, Bill Macaitis of Fox Interactive, and search pioneer Bruce Clay, used a Q&A format to educate attendees on topics like fighting SPAM, blended search, and managing duplicate content. With multimedia search, for example, the panelists urged Webmasters to upload their site's videos and images to the major services …

Rand Fishkin adds another layer to the discussion of how Google's switch to allowing up to 8 sitelinks to be listed underneath a general search listing will actually have major effects on site traffic and "brand domination" of results. He uses screenshots and examples of how massive Web properties like CNN as well as smaller niche sites like UnforgettableHoneymoons.com can overtake the organic results, and when combined with top placement for paid search, can literally wipe competitors out of the first pane. Fishkin also notes the ambiguity of Google's sitelinks process, as major brands like eBay …

Search Engine Land is one of the most comprehensive sources of search information on the Web, and the Third Door Media team (including Danny Sullivan and Chris Elwell) also educates the industry with events like SMX and the relatively new search-focused community, Sphinn. But what do the Search Engine Land gurus read? This post by Barry Schwartz outlines the top 20 most cited sources from August through October in SearchCap, the site's daily roundup of search news. Forum discussion aggregator SEO Roundtable, ClickZ's Search Engine Watch and the newsy Search Engine Journal take the top …