Google is providing new ways for local search results to benefit from effective SEO, in the form of Place Pages.

A new feature accessible via Google Maps, Place Pages bring together multiple sources of information about a given location or geographical feature, making them available on a single web page.

Yahoo! has undertaken its own search engine optimisation, literally optimising its search engine's front-end technology to respond more quickly to queries.

The development was revealed last week on the Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! Search Marketing blogs.

Anchors - page elements that allow webmasters to link to a specific part of an HTML document - could now have an impact on SEO for websites targeting their Google search ranking.

That is because Google is now using anchors to link directly to parts of a page in its search results.

One "key" question remains to be answered in the social media marketing "battle", according to one sector commentator, which is how all the pieces interconnect.

Writing in a post for Search Engine Watch, Erik Qualman stated that it may be difficult for social media marketers to be experts in every recommended element, such as blogs, wikis, social networks, video sharing and so on.

Businesses running pay per click (PPC), search engine optimisation (SEO) or any other type of online marketing campaign should by now have ensured that their schemes are ready for the Christmas period.

Herndon Hasty, writing for Search Engine Watch, says that the job that now remains for companies is to carry out these campaigns cleanly and successfully, while adjusting to their fourth quarter results.

When launching a search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign, businesses may also consider targeting international audiences and in these cases, does the use of accents over certain letters matter?

In a post for Search Engine Watch, Andy Atkins-Kruger said that it has been argued that if a phrase is placed into Google without such accents, the search engine will do the work of adding them.

Internet advertising - such as pay per click campaigns (PPC) - is expected to increase next year, to account for some 15 per cent of global measured advertising spending in 2010, it has been predicted.

A new GroupM study noted that this was up from the 13 per cent that was expected to be reached in 2009.

A new search engine featuring a "unique" safe-searching system has attracted 500,000 visitors since it launched.

ImHalal could prove a useful tool for some specialist search engine optimisation campaigns as it filters content and warns users if their search results are likely to contain sexually explicit content, or other content which is forbidden under Muslim law.

A roundup of the most important stories in search and SEO during September 2009.

Just like old-fashioned school lessons, one sector commentator has claimed that in order to succeed in search engine optimisation (SEO) businesses need to follow the Rs - this time, four of them.

In a blog for SEOmoz, Dr Pete explains that the four Rs are robots, ranking, relevance and results.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) companies and campaigns can benefit from employees who have knowledge on a variety of subjects, one sector commentator has claimed.

In a blog for Search Engine Watch, Justilien Gaspard looks at the five skills marketers may find essential and notes that a person who is more "worldly" is likely to notice opportunities in SEO and marketing that may be overlooked by someone else.

Retailers looking to expand a social media marketing campaign may find that their key audience is already online, after new research revealed that mums are using social networks more than the average adult.

The study conducted by BIGresearch for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) revealed that women at home who have children are more likely to use Facebook (60.3 per cent) than the average adult (50.2 per cent).

When businesses are considering relaunching their website, they will often state that their motivations behind the decision include making it look and feel fresher, updating content to make it more relevant and removing any unnecessary information.

Such is the assertion of Mark Jackson, in a blog for Search Engine Watch, who adds that the things that really matter are usability and search engine optimisation (SEO) although he states that these are rarely a consideration in website re-design.

The second installment of our new series of blog posts from home james  - the most important stories in search and SEO for the last month, all in one easy to digest post. This month - August 2009.

In terms of search engine optimisation (SEO), Russian search engine Yandex has revealed the importance of language and effective translation.

Such was the assertion of a recent Search Engine Watch blog, where Andy Atkins-Kruger stated that this was one of the main factors driving the search engine's success, after ComScore figures revealed it was the fastest growing search service in the top ten.

Businesses looking to launch a social media marketing campaign may wish to turn their attention to Facebook, as the site now has 300 million users.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, writing for the Facebook blog, said although the figure seemed large, the team behind the social network was "just getting started".

Microsoft's 'decision engine' Bing has launched Visual search, which could prove useful to firms preparing to launch a search engine optimisation campaign.

The news follows a study conducted by Microsoft which revealed that results with images are processed 20 per cent faster than results which only contain text.

In terms of getting businesses and personal websites ranking higher in Google, one sector commentator has claimed there is just one really important rule to remember.

In a blog post for SEOmoz, Rob Ousbey states that the most valuable links are those that an organisation's competitors "will never be able to have".

Brands have been advised to "get over" their fear of social media marketing by one sector commentator, who claims that such networks are useful search tools.

Liana Evans, in a blog post for Search Engine Watch, says that there are a number of benefits for businesses adopting a social media marketing strategy.

Google has announced that it has increased the size of its search entry box, which may be good news in terms of search engine optimisation.

The search engine leader claims that while the change is only a simple one, it is "excited" about it.

In terms of search engine optimisation (SEO), search engines determine the value of links to decide the popularity, relevance and importance of a specific document, one sector commentator has explained.

In a blog post for SEOmoz, Randfish states that a rule to keep in mind is that what an external source says about a document typically is deemed to carry more weight and trust than what an organisation or brand says about itself.

Yandex, a Russian search engine, is rapidly becoming the fastest growing service in its sector, new figures have revealed, leaving one commentator to speculate on why this is.

Recent figures released by comScore revealed that Yandex had demonstrated a 94 per cent growth rate placing it at ten in the top ten search engines.

Social media marketing is not something that is only applicable for business to consumer (B2C) companies, but business to business (B2B) firms as well, one sector commentator has claimed.

In a post for Search Engine Watch, Erik Qualman said that to think the principles of social media marketing did not apply to B2B was "flawed".

Almost half of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) utilise social media marketing by allowing employees to use networks in the workplace, it has been revealed.

The findings from Fresh Business Thinking come after the BBC's Dragons' Den's Theo Paphitis called for Facebook should be banned in the office in his column in the Mail.

One of the main routes to success in the search engine optimisation (SEO) sector is by demonstrating the ability to differentiate, one sector commentator has claimed.

Eric Enge, in a post for Search Engine Watch, there was a two-fold reason to this, the first being that potential linkers were more likely to provide a link and the second that it would make a stronger impression on site visitors, leading to a conversion.

Businesses which use pay per click (PPC) advertising as part of their marketing campaign have been advised that they need to make the text accessible to both industry professionals and novices, which may mean having two different ads.

Frank Watson writes in a blog for Search Engine Watch that he came to this conclusion after chatting to two of his nieces online - one who was age six and one who was 12.

Although implementing a search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign and a pay per click (PPC) campaign are very different, they both need the foundation of keywords, it is suggested.

In a blog for Search Engine Watch, Melissa Mackey states that a priority for businesses is compiling a list of key phrases which offer a suitable description of the product or services deemed critical to their operations.

The prolific use of Twitter by celebrities has attracted more young people to join the micro-blogging site, new research has found, which could prove useful to businesses planning a social media marketing campaign.

According to comScore, it is the younger age groups that are adopting Twitter the fastest - those aged 12 to 17 and 18 to 24.

As more people get online, many marketers are now aware of how effective blogging can be in terms of search engine optimisation (SEO), one sector commentator has claimed.

Mark Jackson, in a post for Search Engine Watch, said that while search engines "like" it when blogs are created against assigned categories, they "love" it when this content is promoted through social media marketing, leading to new customers and links.

A recent study has revealed that 75 per cent of female social network users are uninfluenced by social media marketing which leads them to buying channels.

The report, conducted by ad:tech Chicago and Q Interactive's Women Channel, revealed that while females were "exceptionally engaged" in sites such as Facebook, they were largely uninfluenced by online brands and frequently "turned off" by them, Reuters reports.

Last week saw Twitter receiving more visits from UK internet users than MySpace for the first time, news which may prove useful to businesses preparing to launch a social media marketing campaign.

The figures by Hitwise reveal, that during the week ending August 29th, the micro-blogging site received one in every 400 UK internet visits.

The use of search engines around the world showed a significant increase of 41 per cent between July 2008 and 2009, new figures have demonstrated.

According to the research by comScore, the global search market garnered some 113 billion searches, which could be seen as good news for businesses set to launch a search engine optimisation campaign.