I’m excited to present the new Search-This to you guys. Since its conception the goal of Search-This has been to help web developers make their web sites more successful. Now, Search-This has a blog, but what makes this blog special is the people behind it. I have put together a team of some truly talented minds. Over the next month I will be introducing the team and they will start blogging about all things web related: SEO, CSS, PHP, .NET, OOP, Flash, Ajax and more.

So if that sounds of interest to you please stop by and say hello.

Also, if have interest in joining the team, you know how to reach me.

Thanks,
Mark

SEO guru and Google representative, Matt Cutts has put together some short videos in which he answers questions about search engine optimization.

Session 1 - Qualities of a good site
Session 2 - Some SEO Myths
Session 3 - Optimize for search engines or for users?
Session 4 - Static vs. Dynamic URLs
Session 5 - Site Structure
Session 6 - Supplemental Results
Session 7 - Webspam
Session 8 - Google Terminology
Session 9 - Datacenters
Session 10 - Lighting Round
Session 11 - Reinclusion requests
Session 12 - Tips for Search Engine Strategies (SES) 2006

Here is another excellent interview with Marissa Mayer - The Beauty of Simplicity

Have you tried the new snap.com? I really like it. It offers some nifty features from a user perspective:
- Autocomplete: type ‘jes’ and it opens a list of potential searches- jesus, jessica alba pics (um, yeah, I was going for jesus…)
- Preview Window: a large size preview window shows the home page of the site (kinda like Ask, but bigger)
- Ajax: the ability to update the preview images on the right while scrolling results on the left; very nice.
- Keyboard Enabled: use your up and down arrow keys to move through the results.
- The colors and layout are esthetically pleasing.

I think I will give up Google for a week and see how I like Snap!

Microsoft Corp. will introduce a search engine that’s better than Google in six months in the U.S. and Britain, followed by Europe, its European president said today.  

“What we’re saying is that in six months’ time, we’ll be more relevant in the U.S. marketplace than Google,” said Neil Holloway, Microsoft president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

[ more here ]

we shall see…But, it’s brilliant marketing by Microsoft to make a statement that can’t really be proved or disproved.