Great to see that discussions are revolving around fundamentals of marketing rather than topics related to what we have come to know of search most prominently...tactics around SEM and SEO.  I believe this signals a true shift in our consciousness about the challenges and opportunities we all face as agencies, vendors, and clients. Yes, we all have operational issues to deal with around getting to the vision, but the vision must be there first, right?  Sounds like we're all thinking like marketers and putting the customer in the center of an overall marketing discussion rather than in the center of …

Carey Ranson from WebVisible reported back from his breakout session that 2/3 of all mobile queries are unbranded, category-related whereas 2/3 of all local search queries (non-mobile) are brand plus geo.

Gord Hotchkiss, Enquiro -- "Search is the thin edge of the wedge." He was referring to the role of search in the context of the Web changing the world.

Don Scales, who has been running the operations over at iCrossing for the past couple of years, has just been named CEO of the digital marketing shop known for its search expertise. Scales succeeds iCrossing Founder Jeffrey Herzog, who will play a strategic role as vice chairman of the agency's board.

The Universal Search breakout session came up with some quick hits RE: best practices for video and image optimization.

The breakout session on Cross-Channel Optimization started with Gerry Bavaro from DidIt pointing out how jaded marketers have gotten by the strong accountability of search, expecting all their media to be as measurable.

The landing page optimization / testing breakout focused on big brands like Expedia, Gap, Inc., and H&R Block that have thousands of pages and hundreds of thousands of search ads. But the knowledge gleaned applies to smaller Websites as well.

Gord asked attendees to raise their hands if they were frustrated with the lack of support or insight at the CMO/CEO level when it comes to devising a search strategy that jives with creative (both on- and offline) and has organized goals and tactics.

The Search Insider Summit is officially under way!  The Strategy of Search panel has done a terrific job of clarifying strategies versus tactics, which are too often confused.  The example Gerry Bavaro, VP of Client Services at Did-It, gave was: Objective:  Double Volume Strategy: Increase Conversion Rate Tactic: Landing Page Testing More importantly, the panel covered communicating search strategy with CEO's.  The question was asked, "Does your search strategy come down from the CEO or get pushed up to the CEO?"  The right answer is the objective comes down from the CEO and the strategy to achieve that objective should …

If your in-house search team is scrambling, trying to do split A/B testing, search re-targeting, landing page design, keyword research and social media all with no goal in mind -- then your search tactics are disorganized. And disorganized tactics stem from a disorganized strategy -- or even a complete lack thereof.