These are some of the stories that caught my eye today. First, AOL is trying to pace the search industry, so I guess that they're not giving up just yet. Second, WidgetBucks has ticked off Google. Third, the LA Times is using Google maps in their coverage of regional disasters. Fourth, Google has made some important changes to their Adsense TOS. Finally, it looks like the majority of users are still not satisfied with the quality of SERPs. Enjoy...

Marketing Pilgrim
AOL Launches MyAOL for Cell Phones -- It looks like these guys have their eyes set on the near future of search. As Andy Beal explains:

It seems AOL wasn’t too serious about dropping the “AOL” part from their future products. After some beta testing, AOL is today launching MyAOL (a customizable mobile desktop) and a regular mobile portal for those not into the whole tweaking thing.

My Affiliate Journey
Did WidgetBucks Just Got Yanked From The SERPS? -- It looks like the latest media darlings of the affiliate marketing world have themselves in hot water. Indeed, this doesn't bode well for the kind of people that they are. As Vlad explains:

This definitely puts an interesting spin on things. It may be just one day episode where not all of the Google’s data centers indexed WidgetBucks, however it can very well be another John Chow case.

Natural Search Blog
Los Angeles Times Google Map of California Fires -- If you're in the Golden State right now, it really sucks to be in the path of the Santa Ana winds. Well, an esteemed member of the fifth estate is leveraging Google's recently sharable maps for keep its target audience informed.

Every day it seems like someone else is using Google Maps for some interesting application, and today’s yet another example. The LA Times has put together a special map of the fires raging in California:
[...]
Clicking on any of the little flame icons gives updated stats about the particulars of that specific fire.

Search Engine Journal
Google AdSense Coming to Facebook Apps? -- Granted, the title is a bit on the sensationalist side. However, the post brings up some interesting points about the incentive to build popular Facebook apps.

Google has recently loosened its AdSense Terms of Service so publishers can run other contextual targeted ads along with Google AdSense, but the change may be because Google wants to run their ads in publishing vehicles alongside other advertisements (like the ads running within Facebook).

Search Engine Land
Report: 7 Out Of 10 Americans Experience 'Search Engine Fatigue' -- Another study has been done on how users interact with search engines. Although the title of this article gives away the most interesting, there are a few summed up in this post that are worth paying attention to if you want to be able to understand user behaviour vis a vis search engines. Hint: search engines have still have a lot of work to do...

A recent report issued by Autobytel, based on on findings from a poll of 1,001 US adults conducted by Kelton Research, examined "The State of Search" and how automobile shoppers interact with search engines in particular. Below I excerpt some of the general search findings from the report.