Speculating on how search engines treat nofollow links, David Leonhardt ran an experiment using a well-developed Web site that had no links pointing to it to determine if the nofollow links were followed. He points out that search engines shouldn't recognize Web sites that have no links pointing to them. Leonhardt explains whether Yahoo and Google identified backlinks or indexed the site. He also analyzes if Yahoo or Google crawlers did index the site, where did it fall in the search engine ranking list.

Japanese residents are complaining that Google's satellite mapping service invades their privacy, and some have been fighting off "malicious secondary-use of images" listed on Street View, Arnold Zafra writes, citing Examiner.com. Some Japanese residents have formally complained Google Japan illegally took and published photos of Street Views, inside houses, people's faces and car licenses plate numbers. Apparently there's growing use of this information for discrimination, Zafra writes.

When it comes to email newsletters, attract the correct audience through "informational" and "discovery" search engine queries. Rand Fishkin tells us how. In a Whiteboard Friday, he explains the fundamentals of building an email list and integrating SEO practices. Fishkin steps through three points. For example, make sure to add "compelling data" on pages that ask people to join the email marketing newsletter. Bring them on to the page that hosts "fantastic" blog posts, data points, bar charts and graphics, Fishkin says. It will help the site build credibility and help the pages get found more easily …

Barry Schwartz summarizes a post on WebmasterWorld titled "Am I asking for too much from SEO companies?" The thread tells the tale of one person with several Web sites who has, over the years, had to outsource SEO projects. This person has managed to work with many of the SEO firms in town, but he's never really happy with the outcome. The discussion thread covers what to expect from SEO companies and how to use them to create a network. Schwartz recommends asking a few "trusted SEO companies for audits and then comparing them," or perhaps, hiring …

Adam Audette rants about the term "best practice," calling it an "empty buzz phrase." He tells us why it offers "zero competitive advantage" to enterprises looking to market products and services through social media. "Best practices are rule sets that are standardized and formalized procedures," he writes. "There is no competitive advantage in having best practices, at least in SEO." Think radical change and innovation when it comes to SEO for enterprise-level Web sites, Audette writes. Although companies should base strategies on proven concepts and methods, it's also about stepping out of the box and being creative, rather …

Paid friends could become the new paid links, according to Patricio Robles. He cites an article that describes a company called USocial, a social media equivalent of a paid link broker. "10,000 Facebook friends can be yours for a cool $1.167.30," Robles writes. And while someone looking to build their network of friends may feel comfortable paying for them, Robles believes the ROI is difficult to spot. "It may look good to have 20,000 friends on Facebook, but if you didn't acquire them by legitimate means, they're not real customers or potential customers, and you're not engaging …

Sam Niccolls rates search articles for this week, listing everything from the "so bad you have to see it," to the "must reads." He zeroes in on a blog post from Avinash Kaushik, noting seven quotes from Kaushik he thinks belong on Hallmark cards. For instance: "Not segmenting data is a crime against humanity," "Never let your campaigns write checks that your website can't cash," and "I believe God created the internet so we could fail faster."

Coders at Google have developed an open graphics format called scalable vector graphics (SVG) to support VG for all browsers, according to Michael, who explains how it's done. "In other words, your same javascript + SVG code will work in Firefox, Safari, and (finally!) Internet Explorer (provided the IE users have Flash installed)," he writes, describing previous problems with Internet Explorer. The open source library is fairly new and still in the alpha stage, Michael explains. A few quirks need to be worked out, but it looks "very promising." The hope is that developers can begin using …

Regardless of how you allocate budgets for SEM and display, keep your "objectives" in mind, says Kevin Lee. Conduct research on how SEM interacts with display, and allow data to guide ongoing adjustments to the budget. Lee provides a checklist of details that he says could dramatically influence how you allocate budgets. They include select metrics, competitive density and aggressiveness, where you buy display media and budget level.

Do you want to customize your Google search results page? Ann Smarty walks through the instructions, offering screen shots to help visualize how the changes may appear on your search results page. Google Preview, Google Icons, Google Black, Google search ads, Colorful Google search are among the tools Smarty reviews.