Microsoft has announced the reorganization of its Platforms and Services Division )PSD(. The department will split into two new divisions: Windows/Windows Live and Online Services. Kevin Johnson, PSD President, is leaving Microsoft to head up Juniper Networks. Senior vice presidents Steven Sinofsky, Jon DeVaan and Bill Veghte will report directly to CEO Steve Ballmer to lead Windows/Windows Live.

When engaging in social media, companies are often encouraged to engage consumers on Facebook. In today's Brand Equity column, " The Top 4 Best Facebook Practices ," Erik Qualman explains why playing in this space is not like traditional marketing methods.

Yahoo researcher Peter Mika has written up an extensive article on semantic search. First he talks about the limitations to syntax-based search: It is almost impossible to return search results that relate to the secondary sense of a termâ€"especially if a dominant sense existsâ€"for example, try searching for George Bush the beer brewer as compared to the President The capabilities of computational advertising, which is largely also an IR problem )for example,

PRWeek reports that a new study conducted by Burson-Marsteller has found that 15% of Fortune 500 companies communicate with consumers via blogs. The survey, conducted in February and March this year, found that 74 Fortune 500 companies actively maintain blogs, many of them technology-related corporations. The top four industries with blogs were: Computers and Office Equipment )IBM, Dell, etc.(; Network and Other Communications Equipment )Motorola, Lucent Technologies, etc.

Tel Aviv-based search engine marketing platform provider, Kenshoo, has announced plans to open an office in the United States. The office will be located in San Francisco. Kenshoo has a European subsidiary in London as well. Kenshoo provides a third generation SEM platform called KENSHOO SEARCH. "We see North America as a key market and are very happy to hit the ground running. Following our plan, we have decided to take the needed step and establish a local company.

A few months ago we explained why Digg would be worth $200 million to Google . Now it appears the rumor mill is reporting that Google will buy Digg for $200 million or so. Rumor has it the two companies have signed a letter of intent and are close to a deal that will bring Digg under the Google News property. Microsoft has an advertising deal with Digg so the deal would be a competitive blow to the Redmond giant. This is the third time the buyout rumor has surfaced.

Are your landing page tests telling the whole story? In today's By the Numbers column, " How Valid Are Your Landing Page Test Conclusions? ," Tim Ash talks about the care and feeding of landing page tests - and their results.

"Drive to search" campaigns are hot in Japan. In today's Searching for Meaning column, " The Japanese Search, Why Don't We? ," Kevin Ryan explains the trend and how you can implement similar techniques in your search marketing campaigns.

We're not sure what the long-term implications of the Yahoo-Yang-Icahn settlement will be. In the short term, though, the agreement that ended the impending proxy fight appears to have inspired Jerry Yang to use capital letters in his memos to employees. Here's the full text of Jerry Yang's take on the Icahn affair. Today, Yahoo! moves past a distracting proxy contest. This morning we announced a settlement with Carl Icahn which will enable Yahoo!

Yahoo Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results • Revenues were $1,798 million for the second quarter of 2008, a 6 percent increase compared to $1,698 million for the same period of 2007. • Marketing services revenues were $1,587 million for the second quarter of 2008, a 7 percent increase compared to $1,486 million for the same period of 2007. "Yahoo!

Travel search site Expedia has announced the selection of Baynote to add Social Search to complement its search results. Baynote uses what other searchers find most helpful or most interesting to refine search results. "Baynote's Social Search technology is a great fit for Expedia because the collective input from our millions of monthly visitors constantly improves the relevance of the search results," said Tom Taylor, director of strategy for Expedia.

Measurement and analytics are crucial to a successful online marketing campaign, but the relationship between online marketing and offline purchases has been a tricky one to figure out. But as more attention is given to the matter, we're learning more about the connection. Media measurement company, Nielsen Online, conducted a survey to examine the relationship between online research and offline purchases.

I went to my first Search Engine Strategies back in the spring of 2002. And one of the SEO experts speaking at that search engine conference was Jill Whalen, the CEO of High Rankings . Six-and-a-half-years ago, Jill spoke at a session entitled, "Writing for Search Engines." And six-and-a-half-years later, I'm still quoting her SEO copywriting advice in the "Introduction to Search Engine Marketing" sessions at SES conferences because it was "built to last.

comScore has released the top 50 ad networks and top 50 web properties for June 2008. In ad networks, AOL's Platform-A takes the top spot, reaching 90% of American internet users. Yahoo comes in second, reaching 83% and Google comes in third with 81%. Here's the full list: In web properties, Google leads the pack 140.2 million unique visitors, but Yahoo comes in a very close second at 140.1 million. This past April, Google's sites beat Yahoo's properties for the first time .

How does the usability and accessibility of your website affect your SEO efforts? In today's au Natural column, " Usability and SEO ," Mark Jackson explains the connection and gives you tips to make your site user-friendly.

Is that incoming link a Manolo, a Jimmy Choo, or a bargain pump from Payless? In today's small business SEM column, " Why Links are Like Shoes ," Carrie Bradshaw, I mean, Carrie Hill indulges the fashionistas among us with a catwalk of links - and how to make them part of your wardrobe.

Seems Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang has made an end move to stop the bickering between the usurpers and his current slate of board members. They have offered Carl Icahn a spot on the new board along with another of his proposed new slate of candidates, according to the Wall Street Journal. Very clever Jerry. Adding Icahn and former AOL Chairman and CEO Jonathan Miller is a good way to stop the schoolyard emails and press releases we have seen over the past month or so.

When it comes to paid search, there's no such thing as a free lunch. In today's Profitable PPC column, " PPC Keyword Sets: Words to the Wise ," David Szetela explains why a successful paid search campaign requires a constant gardner.

Whether you stood in line for hours for an iPhone 3G or are still hanging with your first gen iPhone )that's me(, you are likely to use your touch-screen gadget to conduct searches. Google has not only created a downloadable application for its search product , but has also increased the speed of its web-based mobile search application. Users should now find search to be twice as fast as it used to be - and that's not just for 3G, but EDGE as well.

Just over a month after releasing Adwords Editor 6.0 , the team at Google AdWords has released a new update. The update launches a highly requested feature: the ability to download performance statistics. If you have AdWords Editor, you should be prompted automatically to download the new update, Version 6.0.1. The update will not affect comments or unposted changes. Because of this, Google says : You don't need to export an archive of your account. In the auto-update prompt,