Could it be? Have we just lost one of the three valuable directories (Yahoo, DMOZ and bCentral) - recommended by many when launching a new site?

It appears Microsoft has shutdown its Microsoft Small Business Center, including the bCentral directory. Users trying to sign-up from this page, are greeted with the closure announcement.

As of November 15, 2006 Microsoft will no longer accept new sign-ups for select Microsoft Online Small Business Services.

These services, previously marketed under the bCentral™ brand, include Appointment Manager, Banner Network Ads, Commerce Manager, Customer Manager, FastCounter Pro, List Builder, Sales Leads, SharePoint®, Submit it!, Traffic Builder, and Web Hosting Packages.

While the services appear to be re-branding as Microsoft Office Live, the new site has no mention of a directory. Yikes!

Kalena Jordan’s Search Engine College has launched Certification Pathways, a series of courses that come with a certificate of accomplishment. While there’s no single, industry-recognized, SEM certification, someone new to the industry can make up for a lack of experience by completing a course such as this.

As Kalena explains in the press release…

Completion of one of our Certification Pathways indicates to a potential employer a graduate’s proficiency in the very latest search engine algorithms, guidelines and methodologies taught within our curriculum.

Three courses are offered, covering SEO and PPC.

If you’re not sure of the best way to buy links or how to judge if the link will benefit your web site, Text Link Brokers (a Pilgrim Partner) has published a Beginners Guide to Buying Links for SEO.

Here’s an example of the great advice contained in the guide…

The total number of outbound links on a page is an important factor to consider when purchasing a link. A site that has too many outbound links is not going to pass much link popularity. They are also at risk of being penalized in the search engines if the outbound links are thought to be “paid links” or are all pointing to “un-relevant” sites. On the other hand, if a site is authoritative in a particular field and naturally links to other sites in its industry, that is much different. Authoritative sites that link out to other sites are considered hubs and will provide a lot of benefit. This includes sites such as Wikipedia.org, Directory.Yahoo.com, DMOZ.com, and others.

Google has announced new merchants using Google Checkout – Toys “R” Us, Babies “R” Us, Golfsmith, Linens ‘n Things among others – but more importantly, they’ve announced the addition of eight international charities.

Google will add $10 to every $30+ donation to any of the eight charities.

A nice gesture and great PR for Google Checkout.