Think about what a search engine and social network might look like if built as a combined site from the ground up. Throw in a little Pinterest and that's what you get with So.cl. Lili Cheng, general manager of Fuse Labs, the Microsoft division that built so.cl, will deliver the keynote on April 25, Day 3 of the Search Insider Summit in Captiva, Fla. So.cl attempts to turn social networking inside out, where the Web become accessible from within the site and content shared with connections. Bianca Bosker at Huffington Post tells us a little bit about the Invitation-only …

Part of natural search engine rankings requires sites to become an authority on a particular supject. Sam Noble tells us how to organize, promote and market a meetup group. He explains how to find a venue, decide on a topic, locate a speaker, find a sponsor, schedule meetings, and promote the event. It may seem obvious, but a simple checklist can help to prevent any slip-ups and ensure a successful event. The learnings come from his own experience of setting up a meetup group in January. 

What can small and mid-size businesses do to relieve some fears associated with hiring a search engine optimization expert? Here is a list that takes us through learning the lingo, becoming part of the process, agreeing to tackle the boring stuff first, and resisting the urge to rush the project. Consider it the basics -- but a good reminder of what it takes to accomplish the task.

Google's latest venture takes mapping underwater through a partnership with the Catlin Group, an international insurance and reinsurance company. Unlike efforts that bring Google Street View to desktop and mobile screens, this project focuses on environmental issues by allowing scientists to document coral reefs and underwater grasslands, as well as track the migration patterns of tiger sharks, sea turtles and manta rays.

How should marketers think about optimizing funnels to gain the best conversion rates? Neil Patel suggests where to start, the most important points to test, the essential elements at those points, and the different tests marketers can run to verify optimization. He begins by taking us through the process of creating a Google Analytics funnel, analyzing landing pages, and testing email conversions.

Will in-app purchases eventually bring the majority of revenue from smartphone applications? Analysts at one firm say yes. Marketers need to keep close tabs on in-app search, because it will contribute increasingly more to purchases through customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Research firm eMarketer points to data from analytics company Localytics released in January, which found that 44% of mobile application users who made an in-app purchase did so after their tenth session in the app.

Eric Covino sits down with Jacob Puhl and Adam Zilko to talk about local search. The lengthy question-and-answer covers everything from consumer keyword research for local campaigns to rank checking recommendations to debunking the local marketing unscalable argument. Zilko also runs down a few tips on starting a new local business and key milestones to consider, such as not cutting corners and making sure to build scalable systems and campaigns.

Google on Monday put as much as $1 million on the table if researchers can exploit Chrome, and withdrew its sponsorship for next month's Pwn2Own hacking contest, according to Gregg Keizer. He tells us that Google had promised to pay $20,000 to anyone for leveraging browser-only flaws in Chrome, and $10,000 for what's described as a partial exploit. Keizer explains the exploits -- and what hackers could earn by exploiting Chrome in the contest.

Rick Perreault tells us how conversion rate optimization can bring greater return on investment to online campaigns with a little A/B testing and analytics. Through examples in a three-month-long campaign, he shows us how to gain more return from investments. In one month he spent $200, and he takes us through how analytics and A/B testing mixed with conversion rate optimization techniques can push up conversion rates by 1.5%, as well as reduce the cost of acquisition to $80 -- a 20% improvement on ROI.

Search engine rankings for the real estate-focused social network, ActiveRain, began to take a dive after modifications to its robots.txt file, which tells search engines where on the Web site not to crawl. The unintentional and unfortunate oversight sent ranking for the site plummeting and traffic tanking. Stephen Chapman tells us this example serves as a reminder -- especially if multiple people oversee the site's development -- to check and recheck changes.