Julie Joyce writes that marketers launching paid ad campaigns should consider link-building. Create linkable content on your site, write memorable copy, visualize anchor text, and build up internal page visibility. These are some of the eight tips Joyce explains in detail for making PPC work with link-building efforts.

Although a fan of the search engine Google and most of its tools, Rand Fishkin doesn't like Google link command. So, Fishkin runs through six myths about the tool, busting them all. They include the fact that the Google link command tracks accurately over time, returns a numerically representative count of links, and provides up to date information. It doesn't, folks, Fishkin writes.

Those who work in Internet-related jobs understand nothing online remains stagnant, according to Kevin Gibbons. He writes "an Internet year is the equalivent to seven normal years," but a search marketing year may be more. So, he provides insight on ways to adapt to changes. He suggests not resting on your laurels, remaining aware of competitors, making and learning from your mistakes, and preventing knee-jerk reactions.

Facebook has sent a cease and desist notice to uSocial, which some call the social media equivalent of an SEO paid link broker, after being caught selling "friends" to clients, according to Patrick Stafford. uSocial notes it will no longer sell "friends," but will continue selling "fans" for marketing purposes, Stafford writes. Apparently, this is not the first uSocial owner Leon Hill has been approached by social networks. Stafford explains that last year Digg served Hill a letter asking him to stop selling "hits" that would make a news item appear on the site's front page.

Danny Sullivan writes that Google has begun testing a new design for its search engine results page in hopes of finding a cleaner look. The test includes a color-coded sidebar with categories like Images, News, Books, and Maps. Sullivan explains the design's most "dramatic change" is that the search option window remains permanently open. If the test proves successful, Google will likely move to a three-column format, with search tools and options located in the left bar, search results in the middle, and ads on the right.

At this year's International Mathematica conference, Stephen Wolfram provided an update on the search engine WolframAlpha, along with insight into the engine's future. He says about 10,000 CPUs running webMathematica supports the engine, which launched earlier this year. Wolfram also talks about publishing enterprise and custom versions of the search engine. He explains a feature called Widget Builder, and what this means for the development community.

Jeff Campbell focuses on why it doesn't always make sense to spend your entire PPC budget on Google. There comes a point in any campaign when it's no longer efficient to spend another dollar with Google, "because their Paid Search algos start to work against the advertiser," he writes. Backing up his theory, Campbell steps through why he believes PPC requires "efficient" volume, not just volume.

Google has begun rolling out individual "place pages" for each property listed in Google Maps. The listings include property information; map placement; and photos and street view images. There are direct links for "Directions" and "Search nearby," as well as a "Send to" email pages. The features are part of a national real estate search engine that aims to help the market move from paper to the Web.

Kevin Lee analyzes the "wave" of ad format opportunities available at Google. Among the programs he looks at are Google's Affiliate program, Local Business Listings, and comparison ads that result in a lead-gen page. Lee delves into the variety of ways to monetize each. He writes that Google will monetize greater percentages of its "screen real estate" while maintaining or improving the search experience.

An email sent by Google to publishers alerts them the search engine is banning and disabling AdSense accounts that use a Firefox plug-in named Tamper Data, according to Search Engine Roundtable. Tamper Data allows people to view and modify HTTP/HTTPS headers and post parameters -- which can be helpful, but also lead to trickery, the post explains. Since certain countries don't allow publishers to sign up for AdSense, some fake their location.