Check out the top SEO, search engine and Internet marketing industry news stories from around the Web this week.

Bing Fires Two Marketing Execs Over Vendor Issues
According to Search Engine Land, Microsoft recently fired two Bing executives for “mismanagement of company assets and vendor procurement.”

Google Shares 7 Tips With Free Web Hosting Sites to Avoid Penalties
Google recently shared reasons why it will remove websites from its index. The main reason why a website would be removed is if it doesn’t meet Google’s quality guidelines. Google’s main objective is to rid its index of spam websites that its users have no need for.

Too Much SEO? Google’s Working on an “Over-Optimization” Penalty for That
According to Search Engine Land, Google’s Matt Cutts made an announcement that Google is working on a search ranking penalty for websites that are “over optimized” during a panel at SXSW. The new penalty will be launched within the next few weeks.

9 Hot Social Networks to Watch
Although they haven’t had the same amount of success as Facebook and Twitter or the seemingly overnight success of Pinterest and Foursquare, these social networks are worth paying attention to. Don’t miss out on these 9 up-and-coming websites designed to connect people online and in real life.

Bing, Not Google, Favors Wikipedia More Often in Search Results
According to a recent study, when you conduct searches on Bing you’re more likely to see Wikipedia in your search results than for the same search on Google.

localseomapAccording to Brafton news, a recent report from xAD stated that over half of local mobile search clicks result in calls directly to the business. The study’s results showed that people searching for businesses in their local area are very likely to purchase and a solid local presence online will allow them to find a business’s information easily and quickly.

Local search has a 7% click-through rate compared to display ads that have a .6% click-through rate. According to the study over 37% of people who click the links end up calling the business, requesting more information about the business, searching for directions or taking another action.

A local SEO campaign can help your local business make a prominent presence in the local listings so your customers will be able to find you. More online exposure means more phone calls to your business, so check out Local Splash’s local SEO services today.

Check out the top SEO, search engine and Internet marketing industry news stories from around the Web this week.

Keeping Up With Google: Bing Launches New “Search Quality Insights” Series
Bing recently announced a new “Search Quality Insights” series so users can get a better understanding of how Bing creates its search results. Google launched a similar series in December called “Search Quality Highlights.” Find more details here.

Yahoo Sues Facebook Over 10 Patents
According to Mashable, Yahoo filed a complaint against Facebook

Pew Report: 65% View Personalized Search As Bad; 73% See It As a Privacy Invasion
According to a recent report released by Pew, many view personalized search as a bad thing. Almost three-quarters of people who participated in the survey believe that search engines gathering personal data to customize results is an invasion of privacy. Read more details about the report’s findings here.

What People Are Pinning on Pinterest
RJ Metrics recently conducted a study of approximately 1 million pins across 9,200 different users to discover what people are pinning on Pinterest. The results showed that the most popular pin categories included Home, Arts and Crafts and Style/Fashion. Read more for details.

Study: 72% of Consumers Trust Online Reviews as Much as Personal Recommendations
According to this year’s Local Consumer Review Survey, 72% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Fifty-two percent of the people surveyed said that positive reviews make them more likely to do buy from a local business.