Today at 10:30AM New York time or 3:30PM UK time, Google is holding one of their first English language webmaster hangouts of the new year.

Google announced a new feature for Google Maps where they overlay public alerts on the map. So now if there are public alerts, such as weather issues and other issues, Google will overlay them on the map

The debate about what should — and shouldn’t — show in a Google search result for “santorum” has been well-documented, at this point.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Google is hoping to expand its Business Photos product with the launch of a new service called “Trusted Photographers” that essentially makes the process entirely self-service. Local businesses that are interested in having interior photos taken can use the new Business Photos website… Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.

Yahoo’s 2011 Q4 search revenue was $465 million, down 27 percent compared to the same quarter for the previous year. Yahoo attributed the decline to the search agreement it signed with Microsoft.

Google today dropped the age requirement from 18 to 13 for teenagers who want to join Google+, bringing Google+ in line with Facebook’s age policy. Bradley Horowitz, Google VP, product management, also announced new features for teen users.

Posted by randfish Having content that goes viral can seem like the luck of the draw, but there are a number of steps you can take to improve your odds. In this week's Whiteboard Friday, we will show you a few things you can do to increase your chances of having that well crafted content spread through the internet like a wildfire. Thanks for watching and don't forget to leave your comments below.

Posted by randfish Having content that goes viral can seem like the luck of the draw, but there are a number of steps you can take to improve your odds.