Google has updated a patent pertaining to the location of local search queries. The patent filing describes a computer-implemented method that receives a search query from a remote device, determining whether the search query includes location-related information. If the search query includes location-related information, it generates the first results based on the query and the location-related information. If the search query does not include location-related information, it generates a second set based on the search query and the location indicator.

Google has hit itself with the ban-hammer over paid links that are artificially inflating Google Chrome's PageRank and breaking the company's own terms of service. The brouhaha is over a campaign that linked a sponsored post back to the Chrome download page. It would have been fine as long as they werre tagged as "nofollow" links, which allows Google's algorithms to exclude it from search rankings. Some of the links, however, did not follow the guidelines.

Erez Barak serves up five search and social trends to look for in 2012, based on insights from customers, analysts, and partners. The trends build on changes in 2012 to organic and paid search engine marketing, growth of mobile and local search, and the increase in time spent to market brands across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. For example, we began to see it maybe a year or two ago, but more so than ever this year, consumers will become part of the brand's marketing team. As a result, Barak writes, businesses will become increasingly focused on creating and managing …

Jason Tabeling tells us about four paid-search trends to support financial services in 2012, but the advice should come as tips to help marketers across a variety of industries. Marketers should keep an eye out for ways to watch their cost per application as well as to look for profitable, high-quality customers who remain open to other products. Tabeling provides an interesting example: Since 2004, searches for "good credit loan" continue to increase, yet only 1 in 10 paid-search ads address credit in their ad copy.

The Sweden-based local search company Eniro has acquired some assets of De Gule Sider (DGS) Denmark. Charles Laughlin tells us that Eniro purchased online and mobile assets, including the dgs.dk domain, trademarks, IP rights, IT systems, accrued order bookings and customer lists that supplement Eniro's existing business. He writes that before the decision was made to shut down the Danish print operation, BIA/Kelsey estimated that 2012 directory revenue in Nordic markets would become 67% of digital.

Silicon Valley Bank shut down Irvine, Calif.-based WebVisible last week. Ron Burr, the company's CEO since taking the position from founder Kirsten Mangers, told employees in a letter that the debt load of the company was too high to overcome. In October 2010, Burr told MediaPost the company would focus on the small business ad buyer -- attorney, plumber, dentist and contractor who don't have time to deal with the complexities of online advertising. At the time, the company had 313 employees. 

Appgravity, an app search service, could surplant tools from Google devoted to finding Android applications. Martin Bryant tells us how the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based startup plans to add more app stores, such as Amazon, before expanding to independent sources. It will allow the user to compare prices. The company's engineers are also developing widgets and plugins for Blogger, WordPress, Eclipse and Netbeans.

Phil Nottingham runs through what he considers some of the most surprising things that happened in the world of search in 2011. Starting with Google's launch of the social network Google+, which Paul Allen, the founder of Ancestry.com, estimates at about 62 million users. It may have worked after failed attempts in the U.S. through Orkut, Friend Connect, Wave and Buzz. What else surprised search marketers in 2011? Well, Google added flight and hotel information to searches, MC Hammer announced the launch of a search engine, Adobe dumped Flash, and more.