There's nothing like a global recession to expand one's perspectives, and now more than ever, connection-seekers can be counted on to appreciate potential contacts whether they speak Albanian, Vietnamese, or anything in between.  So LinkedIn has created a new profile option that capitalizes on this fact.

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Google has been providing tips for optimizing AdSense ads to enhance their performance. The company has provided a three-part video series on this subject, which it has just released the final installment for.

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Google has introduced a new keyword tool called Search-based Keyword Tool (beta) that enables paid search advertisers to see what keywords they may be missing out on based on searches on their Web site.

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Companies put all sorts of time and effort into getting people to search for certain terms.  This happens with the expectation that people will then visit corporate sites, but a fresh Hitwise report relays the somewhat threatening news that about 13 percent of searchers wind up somewhere else.

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YouTube announced its first-ever live programming aimed at user-generated content, which will take place on Saturday, November, 22.  YouTube may not be the first to offer live video online, but the brand power behind it (not to mention the force of Google) might be enough to push the concept into the mainstream.

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WebProNew's Mike McDonald caught up with Matt Cutts of Google at the Hofbrau House in Las Vegas during PubCon to get his views on a number of topics.

When asked about ranking being dead Cutts said that it's not as important as it used to be and that there are other factors to consider than just ranking.

On Google's Universal Search Cutts said that in 2009 it will continue to expand and people will have to go beyond basic SEO. As an example Cutts cited Google's Image and Book Search.

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At PubCon, Bruce Clay, Inc. President Bruce Clay presented at a session entitled "Top-Shelf Organic SEO" in which he discussed the approaching future of SEO as search engines evolve into more modern ranking methods through more personalized search results. Bruce was good enough to take the time to speak with our own Michael McDonald in a one-on-one interview about personal search, which can be viewed in the video below.

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Not unlike President-Elect Barack Obama's campaign for the Presidency, protestors fighting for gay rights are using the Internet as one of their biggest weapons in the battle for equality. More specifically, countless websites (and social network groups) have sprung up in support of gay rights. Sites like JoinTheImpact.com and MarriageEquality.org to name a couple.

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Subdirectories appear to be getting some respect.  Although there hasn't been any sort of conclusive announcement, sitelinks - those nice little link collections that appear beneath some search results - are becoming more prevalent.

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Flash content has long posed a lot of problems for the search and webmaster communities.  Now Google – and more specifically, the newly introduced Google Analytics Tracking For Adobe Flash – intends to solve at least a few of them.

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Recently, during a live chat Q&A, Googlers Matt Cutts and Maile Ohye, among others, faced the burning questions of webmasters around the world. Together, they put to rest some fears and myths, and confirmed some speculations.

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For every abolition an underground emerges. Google’s not exactly the law, and bootleggers during Prohibition didn’t exactly offer seminars about avoiding the revenuers. Todd Mailcoat, Rand Fishkin, John Lessnau, with six middle fingers between them, offer no such discretion and invited PubCon attendees under the table in a session titled Linkfluence: How to Buy Links With Maximum Juice and Minimum Risk.

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Barry Schwartz posted something of a rant at Search Engine Roundtable after an unnamed blogger attacked the site's live blogging coverage of PubCon:

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We all know that Yahoo's looking to cut costs.  Now, according to a new lawsuit filed by DivX, the search company went a little too far and backed out of two-year advertising services agreement.  DivX would stop receiving payments as a result.

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Online retail spending in October grew by only 1 percent compared to October 2007, representing the lowest monthly growth rate since 2001, according to a report from comScore who began tracking ecommerce seven years ago.

The report said that the softness in online retail spending was due in part by negative spending growth in households earning less than $50,000 a year.

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Google has a significant presence in Europe with large offices in Dublin, Zurich, and London, and smaller centers in Denmark, Russia, and Poland. The giant search company has been well received up to this point, but is now being forced to fight privacy laws.

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Back in March, LinkedIn announced the launch of company profiles.  The problem was, users couldn't create the profiles themselves, and Mario Sundar, LinkedIn's community evangelist who volunteered to help, was soon overwhelmed with requests.  So now we have the solution: a DIY company profile creation process.

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Once the election smoke has cleared, Congress appears poised to pass Network Neutrality legislation. With promises from the Obama campaign about upholding neutrality principles, any remaining FCC opposition will be left standing out on a weak limb.

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Google said today it is partnering with LIFE magazine to make more than 10 million images available online from the magazine's photo archive.

One of the most interesting things about the project is 97 percent of the photographs have never been seen by the public. The collection contains iconic images from the 20th century with works from LIFE photographers Alfred Eisenstaedt, Margaret Bourke-White, Gordon Parks, and W.Eugene Smith.

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While technology is well integrated into the lives of many Americans, close to half (48%) have to ask for help when it comes to getting their cell phones, Internet connections and other gadgets to work, according to new research from Pew Internet & American Life Project.

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