Google has quietly gotten rid of PageRank in Webmaster Tools. Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable points to a thread featuring an explanation from Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Susan Moskwa.

There is no question that people are putting a lot more of themselves out there online these days with the rise of social media. At this point, it seems that generations will be born into this lifestyle. Who knows what other tools/services will be popular in the future?

In this age of fast-moving information and technologies, it is extremely important for businesses to protect online reputations. Currently, that means getting involved with social media and real-time search.

Some say ranking is dead. Google’s going though changes that may turn SEO on its ear. Google’s Matt Cutts talked about some of these changes with WebProNews not too long ago. "I’m not sure I would say ranking is dead but it’s not as important as it used to be," he said.

If you live in the Southeastern United States, you’re going to want to pencil in Internet Summit ‘08 in Chapel Hill, NC on November 19, 2008.

More signs that online reputation management is becoming mainstream? Mainstream media, namely ABC News, decides to take a look at the importance of managing your Google reputation.

Managing your organization’s online reputation is no easy feat. It takes a lot of organization and keen eye for strategy. There are lots of people, in-house and out, that are talking. Marketing Pilgrim’s Andy Beal has some tips for knowing who’s saying what about you.

(Coverage of the SMX West Conference continues at WebProNews Videos. Keep an eye on WebProNews for more notes and videos from the event this week.)

At PubCon in Las Vegas, the Search and Blogging Reporters Forum fielded questions about an array of topics, from blogging to SEO, to videos and RSS feeds.

Maybe it’s not best to ask online players if online properties are overvalued. But the general consensus, save for an occasional cautious voice, seems to be that the market is bullish, not bubbled. Rational, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter.

If you were specifically looking for the population of the United States, you’d notice the big red numbers in the upper right corner of the US Census Bureau homepage right? Not so fast. A recent eye-tracking study suggests you’ve been trained to ignore things like that.

Ah . . . the wonderful world of maps.  Only Yahoo’s making it more of “a world” (as opposed to just “an America”), and is also making some other improvements – 34 European countries, a pinch of accuracy, and a dash of speed have been added to Yahoo Maps.

Blogging was never really a genteel medium. It’s raw, uncensored, no posts barred. Until the chaotic nebula condensed and started emitting death threats, nobody, except lawyers, really had a problem with it.

It’s been about two years now that I have wanted to write this article. Why haven’t I until now?