Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:

• comScore: Google Gets High Again In US Search Share
  As with recent search stats from Hitwise and Nielsen, comScore's latest stats for April 2008 search engine share in the United States shows Google hitting a new high, breaking through the 60% mark for the first time with comScore's measurements....
• Google News Now On Earth
  Earlier this week, Google added Google News to Earth. This follows the earlier addition of the NY Times to Earth. Other companies plotting news on a map include MetaCarta, Everyblock, Outside.in, YourStreet and a couple of others....
• Representing Your Business on the Social Web
  The Web is getting more social, and the internet allows conversations between consumers and those who sell goods and services online on a scale that can be global in reach. The nature of that conversation has changed from the days of mass media to now, and success in business...
• Potential Google Paid Search Deal With Yahoo Faces Anti-Trust Scrutiny
  The NY Times covers the issue of whether Google's potential paid search deal with Yahoo can survive anti-trust scrutiny. The bottom line involves analysis of how the deal might impact the marketplace and whether it would reduce competition and lead to higher prices for search marketers....
• New Windows Live Mobile Search Ads Beta, Homepage That Emphasizes Social Networking
  Microsoft this week has done a number of things in the mobile space, in addition to its introduction of the Live Search Cashback program on the desktop (which presumably will extend to mobile search/shopping). Windows Live launched a new homepage for mobile and the company introduced graphical ads and paid...
• Doing A Fake Story For Linkbait? Disclose -- Or Face The Wrath Of Google
  Link baiting entered a new area last week when Lyndon Antcliff had success with a fake story being picked up by some mainstream media sites as well as social news sites. Controversy erupted over the tactic, and now it likely will go into a second cycle after Google's Matt Cutts...
• Driving Video Consumption: The Key To Capturing Advertising Dollars
  In a May 1st post to this column, my colleague Tom Wilde questioned whether direct response or brand marketing would lead the inflow of dollars to the online video advertising market. While both forms of advertising are potentially applicable to what is expected to be a $4B (eMarketer) to...
• Google Announces Doodle 4 Google Winners
  And the winner of the "Doodle 4 Google" competition is... Grace (Suryung) Moon, a 6th grader from Canyon Middle School in Castro Valley, California. She designed the Google logo, "Up in the Clouds," which she said, "expresses a world in the sky." The logo is now featured on Google's...
• US Congressman Quizzes Google Again On Privacy
  Lawmaker questions Google over privacy practices from Reuters reports Texas Rep. Joe Barton from the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee quizzed Google on how they will integrate DoubleClick's data with their own. Some questions posed include how user data from DoubleClick would be merged into Google's data,...
• What You Can Learn From Google's "Site" Operator
  Google has a set of advanced search operators that can be accessed either through the advanced search page, or by using specialized commands in conjunction with your query from any Google web search box. One of the most useful for search engine optimization is the "site:" operator. Google's "site:"...
• Now Accepting Pitches For SMX Local & Mobile 2008
  We’re now accepting speaking proposals for SMX Local & Mobile, taking place in San Francisco on July 24-25, 2008. We've got an all new agenda for the show. Please note that the agenda is final for the show, and we will only consider pitches for specific panels. There are a...

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google Reader Slowly Closing on Bloglines, Hitwise Intelligence
• Google Sites now open to everyone, Official Google Blog
• Featured video: quick and easy forms, Official Google Docs Blog

Business Issues

• Twitter VC Funding Done. Raises $15 MM , GigaOM
• The Empire Strikes Back: Our Analysis Of Microsoft Live Search Cashback, TechCrunch
• Google co-founder pushes TV white space plan, Reuters
• Legg's Miller undecided on Icahn's Yahoo slate, Reuters

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Getting scientific with Google Earth, Google LatLong
• Measure Area of your Home or a Football Stadium with Google Maps, Digital Inspiration
• SpotCrime Keeps You On The Right Side of The Tracks, TechCrunch
• Larry Page talks about Google's vision of "wi-fi on steroids", Google Public Policy Blog
• More GIS Information for Google Earth, Google Earth Blog

Link Building

• Link Building for Dumb Asses, Search Engine Watch

Paid Search & Contextual

• The State of PPC Marketing, PPC Summit , SEO Book
• Yahoo brings paid-search to Philippines, ZDNet Asia
• Coming in June: iGoogle canvas view, ads, News.com
• Google AdWords Updates Billing Page, Search Engine Roundtable
• I think I might want 55% less Yahoo Sponsored Search Traffic, Search Marketing Sage
• Yahoo Reduces Top Ads & Changes Ad Layout Slightly, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Mahalo Listing Apears In Google OneBox at Top of Results, SEOdisco
• The URL Is Dead, Long Live Search, Read/Write Web

SEM Industry

• Do We Need Educational Standards For Learning SEO?, Search Engine Watch

SEO & SEM

• Google Double or Indented Listings , Andy Beard
• Google Offers Advice on Automatic Redirection Based on Geolocation & Language, Search Engine Roundtable
• How to Get in Google News (And Receive 8,000 visitors for One Article), ViperChill
• I Rank Too High on Google! Is Something Wrong?, Search Engine Roundtable

Social Media

• 16 Simple Ways to Improve FriendFeed, LIVEdigitally
• Strategic Collaborations: A Powerful Way to Promote Yourself, Dosh Dosh

Video, Music & Image Search

• AOL launches video portal in India, Taiwan, Canada, Reuters

Web Analytics

• Google's 'Analytics Evangelist' Explains Why Websites 'Suck', Ad Age

Other Items

• Janitor Hit by Driver at Yahoo Picket Line, Wired
• Google Treasure Hunt, Steve Lacey
• Exploring "las oportunidades" for small businesses, Official Google Blog

Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• A Box of Crayons, Not a Rubber Stamp
• Reddit Announces YourWeek: Reddit News Television
• Up, Up, and Away... A Look at SEO Job Growth
• Recession spurs online growth. Are you ready?
• Importance of Page Size with SEO
• Truth and lies in media marketing
• How to Use Social Media for Keyword Research
• Matt McGee: The SEO Success Pyramid (Live Blogging) from SEM Hot Seat
• Matt Cutts Suggests Google Penalties For Fake Stories
• Sphinn's Sock Puppets Take Post to Frontpage
• How to Target Social Media with Specific Posts
• How to Solve Communication and Differentiation Problems
• A Brand is Worth Protecting
• Friend Feeds Underappreciated Value - The Comment Nexus
• How Many Google Penalties Are There?
• Why You Should Nofollow Your Blog Comments?
• Selling More With the Right Articles
• 111 of the Most Important Spinns on Sphinn
• Shame on You: Twitter CAN be a Sales Tool
• Don't Hire a Butcher to do a Baker's Job - Part 2
• Social Media Power: Success Without the Frontpage : Slightly Shady SEO
• An Interview with Linkbait Expert Todd Malicoat
• Reputation Tip - Listen to Those Who Have Your Back
• AboutUs.org Adds "NoFollow" to External Links
• How to Fail at Social Marketing