Google has dumped PageRank in Webmaster Tools, according to Barry Schwartz. He points to a thread on Search Engine Roundtable where Susan Moskwa from Google Webmaster Central explains the decision. The tool was removed earlier this week when Google rolled out new Webmaster Tools features. Citing Moskwa, Schwartz writes Google removed the tools after repeatedly telling webmasters "they shouldn't focus on PageRank so much." He explains that Google keeps telling folks to stop using PageRank, so it was silly to keep the feature live in Webmaster Tools.

Michael Bonfils tells us Baidu has begun to ramp up SEO efforts with the transition to Pheonix (deliberately spelled Pheonix) Nest, the Chinese search engine's "Google-like" search engine platform. He provides in-depth tips to help get started, from translating keywords, to link building and best SEO practices. For starters, the translation for words from English to Chinese is raw at best, so trying to simplify campaigns by using an automated tool to choose terms might not help those in the country searching for products and services. For those wanting to buy paid search terms on the site, …

Real estate, non-profit organizations, Internet marketing for smart people and sponsored conversations are some of the topics covered during the first day at BlogWorld and New Media Expo 2009. In her recaps, Barone runs down the importance of fine-tuning campaigns for specific industries, as well as the nuances of email marketing and belonging to a community. When the topic turns toward sponsored conversations, Barone cites a definition by Jeremiah Owyang and lists eight forms of sponsored blogs. She also notes the Federal Trade Commission guidelines and a few facts you might want to take into account.

WolframAlpha has unveiled an application programming interface (API) that will allow third-party companies to access and display information from their database on their site. Schoeller Porter explains the API allows applications to interact with data from WolframAlpha's databases similar to the way someone might search for data on its search engine from a browser. The Web service API has three pricing levels. Some grants are available for startup and other developers to experiment with it, according to the Web site.

Kevin Gibbons knows the benefits marketers can gain from Google Sidewiki and wants to share. And although Sidewicki presents some "scary implications" for Web site owners, he writes that marketers need not think they have lost total control. While Gibbons doesn't explain that only those who install Google's toolbar can write and read the comments, he does step through the process of downloading the Google toolbar -- which you must use in either a Firefox or Internet Explorer browser -- and writing comments. Prepare to respond to negative criticisms similar to the way you might respond to comments …

As Google continues to map the planet, the Mountain View, Calif., company makes changes in the way it collects data. Recently Google decided to forgo receiving data from TeleAtlas, and go it alone. Could the change alter SEO strategies for local marketing? Mike Blumenthal spoke with industry veteran Mike Dobson to get the lowdown. The one-on-one interview with Dobson covers a variety of topics, from whether Google has acquired or developed routing algorithms, to hypothesizing on if it would be worthwhile for Microsoft and Yahoo to team up with OpenStreetMap (OSM). (The introduction is found here.) …

"We're all teachers and we're all students," Dave Harry tells us. That's the premise behind a new site set to launch next week. The gated community will offer SEO experts a "comfortable" place to share tactics, strategy and, yes, even vent. The site, built and tested for "the search obsessed" by 100 initial members, offers a "private playground" to share and store resources, learn about SEO and discuss the daily grind.

A blog post by Derek Powazek has ignited a firestorm throughout the SEO community. The bigger problem with Powazek's comments is that he appears to know little, if nothing about SEO, according to Peter Da Vanzo. And, not many, if any, SEO community members have heard of Powazek. Well, not until now. Da Vanzo attempts to debunk Powazek's commentary by pointing to investments in SEO companies made by venture capitalist and The New York Times. He also discusses investments for internal SEO businesses within Microsoft and Yahoo. When someone who claims an expertise in one niche …

Generic and niche research, brand discovery, investigation and navigation are some of the topics Rand Fishkin discusses when stepping through ways to win the SEO battle in the purchase path. "Searchers rarely ever convert on the first click and thus, SEO campaigns that merely target a few popular keywords and call the task finished may be fooling themselves," he writes. Fishkin warns against ignoring the steps customers take to search for products and services. One example he provides centers on queries for discount and coupon codes and special offers. It's up to the SEO experts to decide …

Bill Slawski rebuts a couple of blog posts that attack SEO and the industry by explaining that search engine optimization requires a specialized skill set that can help a variety of businesses. He includes 10 questions pointing to SEO issues that experts may encounter, but wouldn't expect most developers to spend time thinking about. For example, No. 7 reads: "What types of user behavior data might the search engines be using to reorder search results besides simple click-through rates, and how might those kinds of signals be used in determining site links or quick links that Google, Yahoo, and …