Most people link on Friday's because (1) the end of a week is a great time for re-caps, and (2) they're too pressed on time to actually sit down and blog. For me, Mondays are best for linking because the work has been piling up all weekend, and I'm even busier. So without further ado, here are my finds for the day.

First, we take a look at how search is in its infancy, and there are some interesting directions in which it is poised to go. Similarly, it looks like search might not dominate the online ad space forever, and even Google seems to concede the point. Third, Microsoft seems to be shunning the Google example, and intends on acquiring smaller companies to become more competitive. Fourth, the Google Webmaster Tools are still a great resource for any affiliate marketer. Finally, Microsoft seems to be developing webmaster tools of their own to help webmasters track keywords.

10e20
Leveraging All Search Marketing Channels -- On point I like to stress over and over is that, as far as online media and technology have come in the last decade, they are still in their infancy, and what they look like in another decade will in no way resemble what we use now. Well, Shannon has a great synopsis of Chris Sherman's (Executive Editor from Search Engine Land) presentation at Search Marketing Now over a week ago. An excerpt:

The speaker challenged the audience to think of how many channels we are using and where we might be missing opportunities. Mr. Sherman believes the evolution of search has many parallels with television in that at the beginning there were a few big dominant players and ads were only available to big spenders. Later, as the medium developed smaller niche players and opportunities for smaller advertisers emerged.

In the world of search, at the beginning, we had three or four large search engines and now we are seeing opportunities in smaller, niche oriented markets.

HipMojo
Will Search Maintain Grip on Online Ads? -- In a world where the same company that dominates search also dominates online advertising, it's hard to imagine a world where search and advertising will be distinct entities. Well, it seems that this may not only be a possibility, but a likelihood. Ash at HipMojo takes a look at the latest trends and projections:

Google, the leader in search advertising and the company who accounted for 40% of online advertising dollars in the first six months of 2007 seems to [not think so]. After all, if it did, why would Google pay $1.65B for YouTube (when it earned $15M in all of 2006) and then subsequently $3.1B for Doubleclick when just two years before it sold for $1.1B and was taken off the market?

Marketing Pilgrim
Microsoft Plans 20 Smaller Acquisitions a Year -- Even though companies get big by making sound business decisions based on the bottom-line, big companies tend to be proud, vain, stubborn, and generally unwilling to concede when someone else does something better than them -- even if doing so means making more money. In any case, on Friday, Andy Beal had the scoop on why MSFT doesn't care about Yahoo! or Facebook. The gist of it:

At the recent Web 2.0 Summit in San Fran, Ballmer downplayed suggestions that MSFT would acquire Yahoo or Facebook.
[...]
Instead, Ballmer said the company would focus on doing 20 smaller deals each year. “We’ll probably buy 20 companies a year consistently for the next five years,” said Ballmer.

Top Rank Blog
Google Webmaster Tools Review -- If you're a professional webmaster or affiliate marketer, even if you hate Google, you've probably thought of using their webmaster's tools. After all, it lets you determine popular keywords, find broken links, and generally interact with your websites. Well, if you've never used it, or just flirted with it a bit, Thomas MacMahon has a comprehensive overview of how its features can be leveraged to increase your traffic.

Getting started with Google Webmaster Tools is not to difficult. The first thing you’ll need is a Google account. Since all Google services use the same login, you may already be setup. If you have Gmail, Adwords, Analytics, iGoogle or one of the many other services, then you are ready to go.

SEO by the Sea
Microsoft Search on the Seasonality of Keywords -- Whether you dabble in search arbitrage, e-commerce, or are an affiliate marketer of any kind, you know that traffic can fluctuate according to season. Mapping those patterns can make all the difference between junk clicks and cold, hard conversions. Well, Bill has the lowdown on Microsoft's latest beta product to forecast keyword performance.

By seasons, I don’t just mean winter, spring, summer and fall. There are many different seasons that can affect how and what people search for, such as seasons for baseball, football, basketball, and hockey.

Or seasonal variations based upon recurring holidays such as Christmas, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, and Thanksgiving. The start of a school year can trigger certain searches, and summer break from school can impact other searches.