Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: January 17, 2014
This week in search, we are still tracking a Google update. Google had a major hack in their hotel listings in Google Maps, they apologized and swept it under the rug. Bing is testing SSL search…
Google: You Stopped Ranking For Maternity Jeans Because You Spammed Us
Google is really stepping up their transparency about sites spamming them.

A Google Webmaster Help thread has a site owner upset his site no longer ranks for [maternity jeans] in Google…

Google Play Music Timeline
This is pretty cool, the Google Music Timeline, which plots genres of music based on how many Google Play Music users have an artist or album in their music library.

“Okay Eye” – Google Contact Lens
You thought a personal computer was cool, then a laptop was cool, then the smart phone, whoa, Google Glass. Scratch all that, how about contact lenses.

No more…

Hold Your SEO Client Hostage With Negative SEO Threats
A WebmasterWorld thread has a story of a webmaster who received a phone call from someone with an Indian accent threatening to use negative SEO on their site if they don’t pay up. A form of search pirates…

Seattle Seahawks Bing Towels
Seattle Seahawks head coach, Pete Carroll posted a picture of the rally towels they are handing out on game day. Bing, Microsoft’s search engine sponsored them. Pete posted a picture of them on Twit

Other Great Search Forum Threads:

Understanding program policies is an important part of…, Google AdSense – Google+
Brick And Mortar Retail Is Getting Killed, Cre8asite Forums
Query string generated pages… against Google guidelines?, WebmasterWorld
So you can drive with Google Glass…, Barry Schwartz – Google+
What Is 2014 Best Link Building Activity ?, HighRankings Forums