Take on the hard stuff and do it really well. That's the advice from Eric Enge, who believes few people can do the difficult SEO tasks correctly. It may sound like a boring or an obvious solution to differentiating your Web site in 2010, but not many people want to take the time and the energy to become successful at specializing in the stuff most hate to do. Enge analyzes two areas where you can use the 80/20 rule: direct request link building, and high volume content creation.

David Harry takes a look at the "notable and entertaining" articles on local SEO, social search and SEO tools published in 2009. It's part of a list that also includes Google, Yahoo and Microsoft search patents, SEO news, and SEO videos. You will find the series for 2009 listed at the bottom of the post. It's worth bookmarking for future reference.

If you're looking for a Power Point presentation, there's a search engine to help you find one. Some estimates put the number of Power Point presentations on the Web between 30 and 50 million, according to Professor Mark Perry. Using a general search engine with PPT as a keyword in the query is one way to find what you're looking for, but Perry shows us another way. He lists five search engines to help you find exact Power Point presentations.

Google's data centers must put a massive drain on energy, with all the power it takes to process the data people search through. So, Google has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for approval to buy and sell bulk electricity. Last month the company filed the application through its Google Energy LLC subsidiary, telling the commission the change will help it better manage supplies for its own operations and give it greater access to renewable energy sources, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Sorry pal, you signed up for a free toilet, so that gives Google the right to collect information and serve you up ads. That's what the animated announcer tells the cartoon character in the Current spoof, "The Google Toilet." Data mining technology in the toilet can "literally shift through your shit" to deliver the ultimate targeted ads, the announcer says. And it automatically updates your Facebook page with your toxicology report, too. The spoof looks at a variety of media, from voice to search, and the impact they have on consumer privacy.

The earth shakes and most search geeks run to their computer to check real-time search results. Matt Cutts is no different. He draws a timeline of the overall real-time search results triggered in less than two minutes from Thursday's earthquake in Northern California. If only Google could predict earthquakes before they occur. That would be a trick in real-time search that could put Caltech Seismological Laboratory out of business.

If you're an experienced SEO expert, you may want to move on and not waste your time reading this post unless you want a refresher. Describing an average day for an SEO expert, Patricia Skinner provides advice to new in-house hires. Of course, factors vary, depending if you're a one-person shop or part of a bigger team. She lists potential responsibilities and links to other articles that explain the process. For example, the topic of correcting canonicalization links to an article written by Loren Baker that explains the nuances of not posting and linking to duplicate content.

Kevin Lee analyzes why Google would want to purchase AdMob, a deal pending approval by regulators. He describes AdMob as an ad network that supports display media, not paid search, which is Lee's specialty and one reason why he didn't initially jump in an provide his two cents. Although it's far too early to determine why Google would pay $750 million for a company reported to have annual revenue "significantly" less than $100 million, he analyzes the decision.

Marty Weintraub explains how Google is testing deeper integration of real-time search in search engine result pages (SERPs). He provides numerous explanations of how Google is "cruising" real-time search and Twitter SERPs to make suggestions on information the person initiating the query might need. Weintraub admits it's a little unclear what type of search triggers the suggestion because Google is likely intermittently testing the feature. He writes that while a search on @beebow, the Twitter handle of aimClear's Lauren Litwinka, does not trigger real-time search suggestions, others might.

For companies focused on SEO or PPC and trying to raise venture capital funding, Rand Fishkin has some guidance. This very lengthy post (block out a section of time before sitting down to read with a clear mind) is packed full of information and steps through the process of raising funds. The post is separated into sections, from building the pitch to getting introduced to VCs to setting expectations if you land a meeting.