All About Google - Latest Articles on Google Products.

Google Universal Search Patent Granted

2008-11-05T05:13:00.001-08:00

Google was granted a patent today from the USPTO on Universal Search, which provides searchers with a mix of search results from different categories, such as news, images, advertisements, web pages, and kinds of results when they type in a search query

The original patent application was filed on December 31, 2003, and Google announced the introduction of Universal Search in May of 2007. The patent describes some different kinds of document categories that may be shown in search results, such as:

Sponsored links,
News documents,
Product documents,
Documents summarizing discussion groups,
Images,
General web documents, and;
Other document classifications

The Official Google Blog described a few more categories that could be shown to searchers in their announcement, Universal search: The best answer is still the best answer, including Maps, Books, Video, as well as additional contextual links to other categories of documents such as “blogs,” “books,” “groups,” and “code.”

Improving User Experience with Universal Search

The primary goal behind Universal Search, as noted in the patent, is to improve a user’s search experience without requiring them to have to choose a amongst different categories, such as images or news or web, before they send their query terms to the search engine.

Search engines have tried to provide access to different kinds of searches in the past, through the use of tabs or links above a search box that can lead to different kinds of results, such as news or images or products, but the patent’s authors tell us that “a large majority of users tend to ignore the category tabs, resulting in their search query being directed to the default category.”

Interface for a universal search engine
Invented by Bret Taylor, Marissa Mayer, and Orkut Buyukkokten
Assigned to Google
US Patent 7,447,678
Granted November 4, 2008
Filed: December 31, 2003

Choosing which Categories of Results to Show

Each of the different kinds of documents may be kept in separate databases, so that for instance, there’s a separate news category database, a separate product category data base, a separate image category database, and so on.

When someone performs a search, each of the databases may be searched to find the most relevant results in that database for the query terms that were entered by a searcher, and the results from each of those may be ranked.

The ranked results from each of the different data bases may then be compared to each other to see which provides the closest results to the search query.

For example, on a search for “buy running shoes, the results in the “products” category may be the most relevant to that search, and the ranking component may also look for terms like “buy” that indicate that a particular category may be related to a category like a “products” shopping category.

The patent also tells us that most searchers expect to see web page results when performing a search at a search engine, so a web page category will usually be the most prominent category for most searches.

Universal Search Interface

The interface shown for Universal Search in this patent is one where different groups of categories are shown in different segments of a page.

A more recent patent filing from Google has shown that the search engine has moved away from trying to group search results so strictly by category, blending different types of results together. I’ve written about that in How Google Universal Search and Blended Results May Work

Conclusion

The days of a search engine just providing a list of links in their search results are drawing further away as more kinds of content appear on the Web, and search engines are finding better ways of indexing that content.

News stories can present freshness in results, blog posts can provide unique perspectives, video can enable an alternative experience to reading, images can describe and tell a tale with one glance, and book results can lead to material that isn’t available online. Displaying results in these alternative categories of documents and others enables a richer experience for a searcher.

The pages of Google have remained very simple since the search engine was first introduced, and part of the reason for that was to make the site very fast, and easy to use even if you had a slow connection to the Web. As broadband access to the internet becomes more widespread, and as images and audio and video resources become more common, more colorful and complex results pages at search engines are more reasonable.

One of the challenges that site owners face is in presenting their audio and video and images and other non-text resources so that they can be found easily by people searching for what those site owners present on their pages. Universal and Blended search from the search engines provide ways for that material to be found by searchers.

This patent on Universal Search doesn’t tell us a lot that we haven’t already learned from using Universal Search for the last year and a half, but it does provide a few insights, such as a likelihood that most sets of seach results will always include Web pages because most searchers expect to see them, and that choice of different categories of results to present is tied most closely to how well the most relevant results in that category fit with the intent evidenced by a searcher’s query terms used during a search.

Google's approach to email

2008-11-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

What's new in Gmail?

15 new Labs features to try out

From the useful to the playful, there's a whole lot more to play with in Gmail Labs, our testing ground for experimental features. Here's a taste of what's new since Labs first launched:

Google Calendar and Docs gadgets
A forgotten attachment detector
Advanced IMAP controls
Canned responses to save and send common replies automatically

Turn on these and more from the Labs tab under Settings, and don't forget to let us know what you think. Learn more

Gmail on Android

Gmail is now available on the world's first Android-powered phone, the T-Mobile G1. All of the features you love about Gmail on your computer, plus real time push email so you never need to refresh your inbox. Learn more

Emoticons – they're not just for chat anymore

Express yourself with emoticons from to or even . Click the button when composing a message in "Rich formatting" mode, or choose the new emoticons tab in chat, and express yourself to your 's desire. Learn more

Gmail for mobile 2.0

Save multiple mobile drafts, compose and read recent email offline, use new shortcut keys and more. Download Gmail for mobile 2.0 for your BlackBerry or J2ME phone by going to m.google.com/mail in your mobile browser.

What's been keeping us busy...

Gmail Labs: A testing ground for experimental new features
Try out features in development and let us know what you think. To get started with Labs, click the Labs tab under Settings. Learn more

Gmail has a new look on the iPhone browser
Now with auto-complete when composing, automatic refreshing, and faster load times when viewing email. Learn more

More friends are more fun. Gmail welcomes your AIM® friends.
Now you can talk to your AIM® friends using an integrated chat list right inside Gmail. Learn more

AOL and AIM are trademarks of AOL LLC

Colored labels
Better organize your email with new colored labels. Just click the color swatch next to each label to assign a color. Learn more

Group chat
Chat with multiple people without multiple windows. Invite your friends to a group discussion. To start a group chat, click 'Group chat' from the 'Options' menu when chatting. Learn more

New emoticons
Start sending richer expressions to your friends. Learn more

Free IMAP
Sync your inbox across devices instantly and automatically. Whether you read or write your email on your phone or on your desktop, changes you make to Gmail will be seen from anywhere you access your inbox. Another way to use Gmail on your iPhone is through the browser. By going to m.gmail.com you get the full Gmail experience including conversation view, search, and more. Learn how to set up IMAP on other devices.

Set up IMAP on your iPhone. Watch the video

View as slideshow
Now you can open PowerPoint attachments as slideshows, without having to download anything. Just click "View as slideshow" next to the .ppt attachment you want to preview. Since you can open .doc and .xls attachments with Google Docs and Spreadsheets too, there's no need to leave your web browser to check out your Gmail attachments. Learn more
Increased attachment limit-- 20 MB!
Now you can start sharing more of those home videos, large presentations and files you just can't seem to get smaller. We have doubled the allowable attachment size to 20 MB to make your Gmail space even more useful. Learn more
It's a Gmail party and everyone is invited!
You can still invite your friends to enjoy Gmail's spam protection, 5GB free storage and other great features, but now you can also just tell them to visit www.gmail.com and sign up without an invitation.
Get mail from other accounts
Now Gmail can check for the mail you receive at your other email accounts. You can retrieve your mail (new and old) from up to five other email accounts and have them all in Gmail. Then you can even create a customized 'From:' address, which lets you send messages from Gmail, but have them look like they were sent from another one of your email accounts. Please note that you can only retrieve mail from accounts that have POP3 access enabled. Learn more
Embarrassment-reducing new message notifications
Ever replied to a message only to find out that someone sent a better, smarter reply right before you? Now, if someone sends a reply while you're in the middle of reading a conversation (or replying to it), you'll get a notification that a new message has arrived. Click "update conversation" to see what you’ve missed.
Forward all
When viewing a conversation, use the new “Forward all” link on the right if you want to forward the entire conversation instead of just one message.
Chat even when your friends are offline
Chatting in Gmail just keeps getting better. Now, if you're chatting with a friend who goes offline, your friend will be able to see whatever you were typing the next time he or she goes online.
Get Gmail on your mobile phone
Download it once, and start accessing Gmail on your phone with just a click or two. To try it for yourself, point your phone to gmail.com/app. Learn more
Voicemail
Your friends can leave you a voicemail using Google Talk. The voice message is sent to your Gmail account as an audio file that you can download or play right from your inbox. Learn more
Reply by chat
When you're about to (or in the middle of a) reply to someone, and you see that person online, you can just send your reply as a chat message. And if you've chosen to save your chat histories, then your chat even gets threaded with that original email conversation. Learn more
A picture's worth a thousand words
With contact pictures in Gmail, you can pick ones for yourself, see which ones your friends have chosen, and set certain pictures to show up for specific people in your Gmail account. Best of all, you can even send picture suggestions to your friends. Learn more
Gmail Chat
Get in touch with your friends instantly, from right inside Gmail! It's the biggest thing to happen to Gmail, since well, Gmail. Learn more
Vacation auto-responder
Set an auto-response so that if you're lying on a beach or taking a train across Siberia, your friends will know you won't be checking your email. Learn more
Contact groups
One of our most-requested features is finally here! Now you can send messages to a group instead of having to pick out the individual addresses every time.Learn more
View as HTML
Now you can view Microsoft Office, OpenOffice or .pdf attachments as web pages by clicking the "View as HTML" link instead of downloading. For when you want to see it faster, you're on a mobile device, or you don't want to install software just to view a document. Learn more
Shortcuts on the right
Now Gmail automatically detects addresses and tracking numbers, and displays useful information such as directions and package tracking alongside your messages.
Virus scanning is here!
For your protection, Gmail now automatically scans for viruses every time you open or send a message with an attachment. We even try our best to remove all the viruses we find. Learn more
Export contacts
Export your Gmail Contacts and save them in a file for back-up or to use in another account or service–great if you're using Gmail's free POP access. Learn more
Auto-save
Saves to ‘Drafts' as you're composing. Never lose a half-written email again.
Get to Gmail from any web page
Download the new Gmail-enabled Google Toolbar. Search your mail or instantly go to your Inbox from any web page with just one click. Learn more
Gmail on Google.com
See your new messages directly from your personalized Google.com homepage.
Google Talk
IM and make free calls through your computer with Google Talk. Your Gmail contacts are even pre-loaded. Learn more
Customized 'From:' addresses
Customize the address on your outgoing messages to display another one of your addresses instead. Learn more
An application for Macs
The Gmail Notifier for Mac OS X even supports plug-in development.
Free POP access and automatic forwarding
Access your mail the way you want to. Download your messages. Read them offline. Use your Blackberry or Outlook or any POP-enabled device. Or forward new messages to an email account you specify. You can even switch to other email services without having to worry about losing access to your messages. Think of it as email portability Learn more
Import Contacts
Move all your contacts from Yahoo! Mail, Outlook, and others to Gmail in just a few clicks. Learn more
Signature options
From the settings page, create a signature that's automatically added to the end of all your outgoing messages. Learn more

The Evolution of Online Advertising Technology

2008-10-09T23:57:00.000-07:00

Please bear with me as I go through a brief history of basic online advertising. The evolution of targeted online advertising is interesting, because I believe the perceived harmlessness of early advertising technology and targeting tactics lulled many people into a sense of complacency or perhaps even false security.

In the beginning of targeted online advertising, there were banner ads. As many people recall, these were supposed to drive the Internet marketing industry in its infancy. Scads of publishers paid scads of money based on a CPI (cost per impression) model or simply paid huge dollars for banner ads and other targeted online advertising on well-trafficked sites.

Then something crazy happened - nothing. It turns out that the banner advertising technology on the Internet was not the magic bullet it was purported to be. The old way of making money based on providing content (the way magazines and newspapers ran advertising) just didn't seem to work in this context.

This new advertising technology was part of the reason for the collapse of the dot-bomb era. All the talk was about "eyeballs," "stickiness," "bleeding edge," "cradle to grave," and several other terms that, in retrospect, would have sounded more at home in a Wes Craven movie than in an emerging industry. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of business models depended on a traditional marketing strategy working more or less the same as it always had when introduced into a non-traditional setting.

All the while, one company, originally called GoTo, then Overture, and finally bought by Yahoo!, actually formulated a targeted online advertising system that worked - keyword advertising. Companies could bid on a per-click basis for certain key terms, which sent valuable traffic to its website.

Obviously, the improvement in advertising technology had to do with the model itself, which was perpetuated on relevance. By only bidding on keyphrases that you wanted, you could only pay for visitors who had already shown an interest in your products or services. This targeted online advertising model was soon copied by Google, who tweaked it and made it better.

There were not many raised eyebrows at this time, in terms of privacy. After all, the user was the one entering the query, and nobody suspected at the time that search engines might one day actually create individual profiles on users. We were all just really enjoying "having the information at our fingertips" without the potential hazards of ink stains and paper cuts that traditional research required.

Google then took a similar idea a step further. Instead of just serving up targeted online advertising on its home page, the company created a content distribution network called AdSense. In this program, owners of websites could sign up to have the ads placed on their sites. Google would then use a "contextual" logic to determine which ads to place where. In other words, Google would "read" the content on a page and then serve up targeted online advertising in the area provided by the site owner that was relevant to the content.

There were a few missteps with this new advertising technology (one classic example was when the online version of the NY Post ran a story in 2004 about a murder victim whose body parts had been packed into a suitcase. Running alongside the story was an ad that Google served up for Samsonite Luggage). Yet this targeted online advertising service also caught on, with nary a cry from privacy people. After all, you don't have to visit the sites. And the site owners don't have to sign you up for the service, right?

Suddenly, Gmail was offered and that raised some eyebrows. Gmail, of course, is Google's free email-based platform. Gmail gave people an (at that time) unprecedented 1 gigabyte of email space (Yahoo!, if memory serves, offered 4 megs for free email accounts and charged people for more memory). The only caveat – Gmail would use a similar advertising technology platform as AdSense, but it would decide which ads to serve up by reading through your emails.

Well, this new approach to advertising technology creeped some people out, and privacy advocates were a bit more vocal about using targeted online advertising by parsing through people's emails. A California lawmaker tried to introduce some legislation preventing the practice. International privacy groups chimed in with their own concerns. In the end, however, the fact remained that one had to sign up for a Gmail account and everyone that did was (presumably) aware of how the service worked before they did sign up. So it was an opt-ín system – If you didn't want Google parsing through your email and serving up relevant, targeted online advertising, you didn't have to use the service.

So there we all were, happily surfing away, not a care in the world. What most of us didn't realize was that enough free cookies were being distributed to each of us to turn the otherwise docile Keebler elves into tree-dwelling Mafioso erroneously plotting a turf war.

These cookies, of course, are the ones that websites place on your computer when you visit – little packets of information that record your visit, and sometimes, your activity there. Certainly, there's a legitimate reason for this. When you return to a website, it can help if it remembers your last visit and you can pick up where you left off. Assume, for example, that you were making multiple purchases from an e-commerce site and had a bunch of stuff in your shopping cart but were forced to abandon the site before completion. It's nice to go back and pick up where you left off without having to do it all over again.

Digital advertisers, however, saw another opportuníty for targeted online advertising. They invented advertising technology that would scour through the cookies on your personal machine, figure out what you liked and disliked by looking at the types of sites you went to, and then feed up highly targeted online advertising based upon your browsing history. These companies included aQuantive, DoubleClick, ValueClick, and others. Of the companies I mentioned, only ValueClick is still independent. Google snapped up DoubleClick, while Microsoft snapped up aQuantive. Clearly, these companies believe in the future of Internet advertising technology and also believe in the long-term legality of this technology.

Now some real red flags were raised. I've written about this advertising technology before, so I'm not going to go over it all again here. Suffice to say that some government regulators were pretty skeptical about this new form of advertising technology and there have been numerous suggestions for regulation. The lack of uproar from the public, however, has not really created any backlash for the companies in question. It could be because there is widespread ignorance about Internet advertising technology (and I believe there is, based on conversations with people of average Internet experience). Perhaps a part of it is also that privacy has been eroding on the Internet one incremental step at a time.

-searchspiderz

Hi-Res Google Maps Images On the Way

2008-10-09T23:55:00.001-07:00

First Image from GeoEye Satellite Released

You may recall about a month and a half ago, it was announced that GeoEye would be launching a satellite with the highest resolution available on the market and would be lending its technology to Google Maps. Today, the first image was released from the GeoEye-1.

"We are pleased to release the first GeoEye-1 image, bringing us even closer to the start of the satellite's commercial operations and sales to our customers," says GeoEye CEO Matthew O'Connell.

The first image is of the Kutztown University campus in Pennsylvania, and was taken at noon on October 7th while the GeoEye-1 was moving north to south in a 423-mile-high orbit over the eastern seaboard of the U.S. at a speed of four-and-one-half miles per second. ReadWrite Web put together a side-by-side look at the GeoEye imagery compared to current Google Maps imagery:

That's nothing though. The satellite is capable of achieving .41 meters resolution in black and white and 1.65 meters in color, but government regulations will only allow half-meter images to the public, so those concerned about privacy can breathe a little easiser.

Financially, GeoEye is apparently right where it needs to be. "We are bringing GeoEye-1 into service within four years of our contract award with no contract cost overruns," says GeoEye COO Bill Schuster. "The entire program which includes the satellite, launch, insurance, financing and four ground stations was less than $502 million. That's the amount established and agreed to four years ago." He further noted, "GeoEye-1 is an excellent fit to meet the U.S. Government's important requirements for mapping and broad area space-based imagery collection over the next decade."

GeoEye will be selling imagery products from the GeoEye-1 later this fall.

Yahoo Web Analytics Comes To Light

2008-10-09T23:53:00.000-07:00

It's time for data hounds to start drooling. Jerry Yang still isn't ready to toss a Google Analytics competitor to every person who asks, but this afternoon, his company did announce that some people are being given access to the new Yahoo Web Analytics.

Yahoo's work on the product dates back to its acquisition of IndexTools. About 13,000 small business customers, along with an unknown number of advertisers and developers, will be the first to see the fruits of its labor. Then, a rollout is planned to continue through next year.

As for what's on the table, a fresh homepage says that Yahoo Web Analytics "provides real-time insight into visitor behavior on your website. With powerful and flexible tools and dashboards, Yahoo! Web Analytics helps online marketers and website designers enhance the visitor experience, increase sales and reduce marketing costs."

A success here could go a ways towards bridging the gap between Yahoo and Google. On the other hand, Yahoo's investors have to be running out of patience, and every tiny screw-up further endangers the company's independence and Jerry Yang's job. The timing of this development could go take us in either direction; think "great work under pressure" versus "last gasp."

Anyway, Yahoo Web Analytics at least represents something for data-hungry sorts to anticipate, and an official FAQ and some screenshots are available in the meantime.

Google Getting Aggressive with Advertising

2008-10-09T23:51:00.002-07:00

It's Not Just About Adwords Anymore

Google is trying to get advertising agencies to warm up to it after years of not being their favorite entity. After all, think of all the marketing dollars spent on search engine advertising (and SEO campaigns for that matter) that agencies missed out on because of a certain search giant.

Google Shows Off

Stephanie Clifford at the New York Times writes about Google invading the offices of advertising agency Leo Burnett back in July, setting up some kind of mini-carnival of sorts to show off their advertising technology. It seems that the company wants to recruit agencies to use its tools, but some of these agencies believe Google has ulterior motives.

"As Google begins trying to sell television, radio and print advertising and creates tools for buying and planning media campaigns, some advertising executives and academics say that the company is working with the agencies in order to eventually displace them," writes Clifford.

Aggressive Advertising

It's not unreasonable to suspect that Google has its own best interests in mind. Why wouldn't it? The company does seem to be working its way further into the advertising world more aggressively than ever. For example, they're talking about not even waiting for Federal approval before going forward with their ad deal with Yahoo.

That's being investigated as a possible antitrust issue. Imagine if Google was able to phase out ad agencies. I don't anticipate that happening anytime soon, however. Google is big, and it has a lot of pull, but it's not everything. It's a notion that even Google itself dismisses.

"I don’t see how we would be able to actually provide a better customer experience to an individual client than an agency can today," says Google Vice President for North American ad sales, Penry Price. "There’s no way we could actually line up behind one customer and offer the services and information that an agency can today."

A Lot of Ads in Google's Future

Don't mark the extinction of agencies yet, but there is no question that Google is getting a lot bigger in its advertising britches these days. You got YouTube ads starting to come out, RSS ads in Feedburner, and don't forget that DoubleClick aquisition. If that Yahoo! deal goes through unscathed, that's going to be one big chunk of the advertising market that's going to get even bigger.

Text Ads Get More Clicks Than Video Ads

2008-10-09T23:51:00.001-07:00

Young favor video ads

Online video ads are not as popular as perceived with only 11 percent of consumers saying they were likely to click on video ads, according to a new study from iPerceptions.

Simple text ads were found to be the most likely to receive clicks with 25 percent of consumers doing so, followed by display ads at 20 percent and banner ads at 12 percent.

The only people who seem to be engaged by video ads are young people under the age of 25, a group that accounts for nearly one-third of the video-ad viewing audience.

"Retail groups are predicting the toughest holiday season since 1991, so marketers need to make sure every dollar spent on advertising delivers an end result," said Jonathan Levitt, vice president of marketing at iPerceptions.

"Our research shows that inexpensive banner and text ads are still preferred among web consumers. By having a direct dialog with consumers, we are able to know - with certainty - what consumers want and expect from their online experience."

The study also found that the likelihood that a person will click on an ad goes down as their income increases. On average, 40 percent of consumers are likely to click on any ad make less than $50K a year- and only 15 percent make over $150K.

The income gap is the most significant with video ads, with 49 percent of consumers likely to click video ads making less than $50K a year- and only 13 percent making over $150K.

Overall, 65 percent of consumers are likely to click on online ads and they are weekly or daily browsers, while only 15 percent are first time visitors and 6 percent are sporadic visitors.

"Our research clearly shows that media sites that offer consumers compelling content and features - encouraging repeat visits - generate much better ad clickthrough rates than less engaging sites," said Levitt.

"Marketers that want to reach high quality audiences should focus ad placement on sites that deliver the highest customer loyalty and repeat visitor traffic."

Ads Appear On Google Maps

2008-10-09T23:50:00.001-07:00

Let the hotel hawking begin

Want to buy property in Bangalore, India? Or stay in a Dublin hotel? Google hopes so, because the search giant's latest effort in terms of monetization is tied to Google Maps, and when you search for certain cities, you'll see ads for things like these placed at the bottom of the page.

There's not much to the ads; they consist of a link, a line of text, and the words "Sponsored Link" against a blue background. There are also a couple of arrows that seem like they should lead to other ads, but we haven't yet found an instance in which they work.

As another example of things possibly going wrong, no ads appeared following Google Maps searches for major cities like Moscow and London.

This may be a test, then, but quite a few people, including Amit Agarwal in India and Dave Shaw in the UK, are starting to see the ads. So it looks like Google is going full speed ahead with the effort, and the potential problems are just due to not a lot of advertisers having been clued in.

The idea of monetizing Google Maps is clever, anyway, and if Google's third quarter report doesn't go well, the company will have at least ensured that investors have one less missed opportunity to complain about.

GM CEO Takes Message To YouTube

2008-10-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

Let’s annoy you by understating it and call these “uncertain” economic times. While it’s unclear what a tumultuous economy means for online business—after all, there was Internet in the Great Depression—old standby General Motors saw its stock drop the lowest it’s been in half a century.

What will also be historic to watch is how twenty-something cub Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg handles what appears to be economic Armageddon (as Jim Cramer prognosticated a year ago in his famous meltdown—the same guy telling you take your money out of the market now). Even more historic and interesting will be to compare how Zuckerberg handles it to how GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner does.

Early developments are pretty telling. Wagoner has taken his case to YouTube. In a two minute video, he spoke of innovation and new, more economically friendly cars down the pipe. He talked about gas prices and fuel economy and asked the YouTube audience for thoughtful commentary.

After 8,000 or so views there has been no commentary, but that’s beside the point. Wagoner’s video is kinda Iacocca-ish, which is probably what he was going for.

What sort of guidance can we expect from his quarter-life dotcom hotshot counterpoint? You might call it a cautious approach. Zuckerberg is set on nailing down a business model within the next three years.

Maybe that’s when his student loans come due?

In an interview for a German news site, Zuckerberg explains revenue for Facebook isn’t as important as growth at the moment:

“I don't think social networks can be monetized in the same way that search did. But on both sites people find information valuable. I'm pretty sure that we will find an analogous business model. But we are experimenting already. One group is very focused on targeting; another part is focused on social recommendation from your friends. In three years from now we have to figure out what the optimum model is. But that is not our primary focus today.”

Maybe Microsoft would like to take that quarter-billion it plunked down and put it toward buying up a failing bank. That seems to be a pretty popular move right now.

It’s still hard to believe Zuckerberg once blew off billion-dollar negotiations with Yahoo—pre-Microsoft bid and pre-tanking-stock Yahoo. Honestly, offer me a billion dollars for something. Anything. I’ll take it.

Google Devaluing DMOZ and Yahoo! Links?

2008-10-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

Removes Webmaster Guidelines

Google is no longer suggesting that you should be listed in relevant directories. In fact, they've even removed the suggestion from their webmaster guidelines, as Brian Ussery noticed. The page used to have bullet points for:

- Have other relevant sites link to yours.

- Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.

Those points are now gone in what would appear to be a slap in the face of directories, but SEO folks are the ones really irritated. Google doesn't appear to see it as a slap in the face so much, but more of simply a non-needed guideline.

Barry Schwartz points to a quote from Google's John Mueller in a Google Groups thread:

"I wouldn't necessarily assume that we're devaluing Yahoo's links, I just think it's not one of the things we really need to recommend," said Mueller. "If people think that a directory is going to bring them lots of visitors (I had a visitor from the DMOZ once), then it's obviously fine to get listed there. It's not something that people have to do though :-)."

Mueller also asks for feedback, "What do you think - does it make sense? :-) What else should we change / add / remove?"

Regardless of what guidelines are on the page, a relevant link is a relevant link. There are still directories like our own eBusiness Directory that don't offer paid links, and keep the listings quality without getting flooded by spammy and irrelevant ones by using a strict human-edited approval process (call it a shameless plug if you want, but it's the truth).

There is going to be a lot of outrage over this, but is it really necessary? Perhaps too much focus has been put on directories like DMOZ anyway.

-searchspiderz

Google Calls the Internet a - "Cesspool"

2008-10-09T23:26:00.000-07:00

Google CEO Eric Schmidt called the Internet a "Cesspool" Wednesday in reference to the quality of content and the amount of false information residing on it. This according to AdAge is a subject he spoke about with an audience of magazine executives at Google's campus, where an annual industry conference was taking place.

Schmidt stressed that "Brands are the solution, not the problem...Brands are how you sort out the Cesspool."

I couldn't agree more.

In response to an inquiry for advice about appearing more popular on Google, Schmidt told the magazine publishers, "We don't actually want you to be successful...the fundamental way to increase your rank is to increase your relevance."

Branding and relevance. Hmm. Could it be that proving your content to be relevant could increase the credibility of your brand, or "the authority" perhaps? Would it be safe to say that reader engagement is a reflection of relevancy as well? If more people become involved in a discussion, is that not a sign that it is more relevant? This sounds familiar.

OK, I'll come right out and say it (yes, I'm going to bring up Bankaholic yet again). Take Bankaholic, the financial blog that was just sold to Bankrate for $15 million. Part of the reason Bankrate bought it was because it ranked well in search engines for hot key words the company was going after.

Johns Wu, the guy that sold the blog has acknowledged that user engagement was a huge factor in its success. It's obviously relevant if it's creating a good amount of discussion. And it's ranking well. The name Bankaholic works as a pretty solid brand as well (some have speculated that this was also another factor of the purchase).

Schmidt is absolutely right. The Internet is a Cesspool of garbage, and relevancy and brands are the way to filter out what's good. It's no different than it's ever been. Think about classic print publications. You've got trusted magazines and sleazy tabloids. You were always taught not to believe everything you read. The same principle applies online, it's just that the amount of content is much greater (on both sides of the spectrum).

When discussion is taking place, relevancy is easier to pick out, and brands represent authority. Authority and engagement. Those are the keys to success, and that is the reason why new media is still a legitimate source of information despite people gaming the system to try and take advantage of it in unethical ways.

It Doesn't Stop with Content Sites

Let's look at the concept from a broader business standpoint, because these principles don't only apply to content sites. They also apply to eCommerce businesses or even the web portion of traditional brick and mortar businesses. I don't care if your site leads to selling products on eBay or Amazon. You need to have ways of showing your authority, which establishes trust. A blog or even expert articles that give tips and advice can be a good way to do this. The more a customer sees the people running a site know what they're talking about, the more likely they are to purchase products from that site.

When it comes to getting users involved, blogs are again an obvious choice, but you can also integrate web 2.0-type apps. Look at what Best Buy is doing now. They're launching an "enterprise-Twitter"-style application called Mix. While presently, this is more intended for employees, it still represents an authoritative way of conducting business, and you could just as well open up a similar tool to customers. Anything that can help you develop a dialogue with your potential customers is going to help inspire trust. At that point, customers can see that there are real people behind your business, and when they can humanize who they're buying from, they'll feel a lot more comfortable in trusting you with they're money.

A recent survey found that 81% of consumers don't trust small online businesses. Authority and engagement are ways to overcome this. For more on earning customer trust online, see my seven steps for small businesses. How do you earn trust from your customers? What methods do employ to engage users? How do you show your authority in your niche? Share your ideas with the rest of us. Engage.

-searchspiderz

What does Google Chrome offer developers?

2008-09-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

My first reaction to Google’s introduction of a beta version of its Chrome browser was: Do we really need another browser? So I decided to take Chrome for a test drive.

First impressions of Chrome

Google touts Chrome as an open source browser project, which means its main competitor seems to be Firefox and not Internet Explorer. The browser rendering engine was developed with the help of WebKit. Chrome is up and running after a painless download and install.

The first thing I noticed is the minimalist interface and its quick loading. The interface uses tabs (which most every browser does these days), but the tabs are located at the top of the window above the address bar. There is no bulky menu bar at the top and no status bar at the bottom, so it took a while to get accustomed to it. (This TechRepublic screenshot gallery offers a first look at Chrome.)

The following list outlines other Chrome features:

As there should be, there is a big emphasis on security in Chrome. This new browser maintains phishing and malware lists and warns users when they attempt to visit known harmful sites.
Google created a separate team to optimize the JavaScript engine used in Chrome. The result is the V8 JavaScript engine, which does show some improvements over its counterparts. (The various caveats of JavaScript performance are beyond this article, but there is a good discussion available online.)
Each tab within the browser runs in its own process — a sort of sandbox within the browser. However, browser plug-ins are not covered in this security model. One interesting aspect of Chrome is its ActiveX support. I read many articles touting its lack of support for ActiveX, but it there is an ActiveX plug-in available.
An interesting feature is the ability to browse in so-called incognito mode, which means the browser maintains no history or cookies of sites visited in this mode.
Gears is a standard component. This is more a feature for developers, as it provides a platform for creating Web applications that can run offline.

Given the beta status of Chrome, it is no surprise to find a few bugs. The browser crashed quite a few times while browsing various sites. Maybe Google is taking a page from Microsoft in releasing software to the general public before it is ready.

What Chrome offers to developers

With Internet Explorer and Firefox capturing most users these days, why should a Web developer concern themselves with a new offering? First, given Google’s footprint on the Web, it is hard to ignore anything new from the company. Of course, Google Apps is supposed to take market share from Microsoft Office but that remains to be seen. Other offerings like Google Talk have failed to dominate its space, so the Google name doesn’t guarantee anything.

I like to use Firefox since it offers so many development tool plug-ins, but I still have to make sure my applications perform properly in Internet Explorer. From a developer viewpoint, Chrome provides a few tools for working with Web pages. The list includes Gears, as well as the following:

Web Inspector: This allows you to take a closer look at any element on the currently open page. It is available by right-clicking on an element. It allows you to browse page elements and view object properties and style. This is a feature from the WebKit base.
JavaScript console: This allows you to enter command-line JavaScript code that can access page elements. It opens within the Web Inspector window — located in the bottom portion.
JavaScript debugger: A rudimentary command line JavaScript debugger. There is nothing intuitive about using this feature. (I did find a good tutorial online.)
Task Manager: This allows you to view the current processes running within Chrome; it is analogous to the Task Manager available in Windows. It shows the system resources by a process. This includes memory, network, and CPU usage. A button is provided to end a process along with link to a report that breaks down memory usage for individual processes.

All in all, this is a less than impressive list of tools for the Web developer. It remains to be seen whether more tools will become available to rival what is available with Firefox or Internet Explorer 8. At this time, I will stick with Firefox while keeping an eye on Chrome.

Don’t ditch your current browser just yet

For developers, the current beta version of Chrome provides no reason to switch from Firefox or even the latest Internet Explorer version. As for everyday end users, they will stick with whatever comes with their machine (Internet Explorer) with no reason to switch. Maybe Chrome can carve out a small slice of the browser market.

But what if Google makes it necessary? The company has an overwhelming Web presence, so it would be easy to serve up pages that provide Chrome-specific features. This sounds far-fetched, but it is something to consider.

Have you used the current version of Chrome? If so, what are your impressions of Chrome? Share your thoughts in the Web Developer forum.

Additional TechRepublic resources about Chrome

If Google was Iran

2008-09-16T10:25:00.001-07:00

Some days you think that Google is taking the piss on such as large scale that its primary goal is an entry for humor in the Guiness Book of Records. Then other days, the scope and might of Google is scary.

The latest Google everywhere news is plans to establish a Google Navy, floating data centers sitting offshore, harnessing wave power as they menace US cities. Earlier this month, it was Google in space with a Google labeled rocket (I’m not making this up) and exclusive commercial rights to all pictures from the latest GeoEye satellite. There’s talk that Google may acquire GeoEye, so Google would have the ability to make its own space hardware. Google already has an exclusive agreement with Digital Globe, GeoEye’s main competitor, so Google has high grade US commercial satellite imagery services nearly entirely to itself. Google is a partner in a move to bring Internet access to remote places from space, and has been named a partner on a number of undersea cable projects.

Google on your mobile phone isn’t just an Android handset or Apple distribution deal away either. Google is considering teaming up with Space Data to create a barrage of hot air balloons that will offer cell phone access and data from 20 miles up. A Google airforce.

Where do we start on the desktop? Google Chrome delivers a great browsing experience and is taking market share from established competitors. A near monopoly in search and search advertising sees the World Association of Newspapers among others calling for a stop to the Google/ Yahoo deal. The rest doesn’t need repeating, because chances are nearly every person reading this post would have used Google products or services this week, today, or even in the last hour.

Google is everywhere. Google knows everything. The humor of a Google Navy, Google Airforce, and Google in Space aside, what if Google decided to be evil?

Imagine if Google was Iran. Lets see: access to intercontinental ballistic missiles (aka rockets) and technology to develop space weapons: check. Considering putting ships off major American cities: check. Considering a constant presence in the sky above the United States: check. Ability to disrupt world communications and destroy stock markets: check (see what happened with United Airlines for a quick taste of what’s possible). Brilliant use of propaganda: check. Wouldn’t we be scared?

Anti-trust issues will be the main focus on Google in the coming years as Google’s dominance crawls to 100%, but the other things are worthy of watching as well. There has never been another company like Google in the history of mankind, and its ambition knows no bounds. One day we may just well wake up to find Google running the world, although some may argue now that they already do

Google Nominated for 2008 Best Software Award

2008-09-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

CompanionLink for Google Nominated for 2008 Best Software Award by Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine

CompanionLink for Google Allows Two-Way Synchronization Between Google and Productivity Software Like Microsoft Outlook, Palm Desktop and Handheld Devices

PORTLAND, OR, Sep 16, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- CompanionLink for Google, a software package developed by leading mobile synchronization solutions provider CompanionLink Software, is nominated for the 2008 Best Software Award by Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine. CompanionLink for Google was nominated by a team of 94 Windows Mobile experts from a pool of 5,292 applications.

CompanionLink for Google synchronizes contacts, calendar events, recurring appointments, notes, and tasks from software like Microsoft Outlook, Palm Desktop, and ACT! by Sage to Google and Google Apps accounts. The software can also synchronize Google data with handheld devices based on the Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Apple iPhone and Palm OS platforms.

"We're extremely thrilled to be nominated by an industry-leading publication like Smartphone & Pocket PC Magazine," said Rushang Shah, Director of Marketing at CompanionLink Software. "We were the first and most robust synchronization solution for Google calendar and contacts. Our nomination affirms the great productivity and value Google users achieve by using our software."

CompanionLink for Google is available on the company's website for $29.95. For more information about synchronizing Google with Microsoft Outlook and the latest handheld devices, please visit: http://www.companionlink.com/google.

About CompanionLink Software

CompanionLink Software is a pioneering developer of data synchronization solutions for mobile phones, PDAs and CRM software. They are also a leading OEM synchronization and solutions provider for companies like Sage Software(R), NVIDIA(R), Google(R), and Royal Consumer Electronic Products(R). For over 15 years, CompanionLink has helped mobilize information across multiple devices, computers, and applications. For more information, please visit www.companionlink.com or call (503) 243-3400.

Newspapers The latest Attacking Yahoo-Google Ad Deal

2008-09-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

Google and Yahoo's advertising partnership is under scrutiny by the Department of Justice, and it's been attacked by the Associatin of National Avertisers.

At least 11 states are conducting their own investigations, and the European Comission is examining whether the ad agreement beteween the two Internet giants is violating E.U. laws regarding restrictive business paractices.

Now joining the fray, the World Association of Newspapers is raising concerns about the agreement, saying it "will have a significant and adverse effect on all newspaper publishers worldwide." (And as I've been reporting for years now, the newspaper publishing industry has plenty of problems...) This Paris-based organization represents 77 national newspaper associaitons and 18,000 newspapers around the world.

The association argues that the deal would siginficantly impact European newspaper publishers even though Google [GOOG 440.00 6.14 (+1.42%) ]says the deal "is limited to Yahoo's U.S. and Canadian websites, and it will not have any significant effect on Europe." The association points out that many European publishers have a presence in North America, and more importantly, could unofficially impact the European market.

Newspapers say Google, Yahoo tie hurts competition

These newspaper publishers are concerned that the deal would disincentivizeYahoo[YHOO 18.95 0.10 (+0.53%) ] to compete against Google in Europe, and that the two companies control nearly all of the market in Europe, so if they chose to set terms together, it could have a particularly detrimental impact.

The bottom line is that these newspapers absolutely rely on both Yahoo and Google, and they like having them operate as two separate entitites because it guarantees that prices are kept in check and that they each deliver on their promises. That said, Yahoo-Google's deal does specify that it's only referring to the U.S. and Canadian market. So we'll see what the U.S. and European justice departments decide.

EU competition officials probing Google-Yahoo deal

-searchspiderz

Google offers cutting-edge Chrome, first update

2008-09-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

The Google Chrome Channel Chooser lets people get the latest updates to Google's Web browser.

(Credit: CNET News)

Through a new developer program, Google is letting people try the latest versions of its Chrome Web browser, and the first update is available.

Those who want the newest Chrome versions can install the Google Chrome Channel Chooser software from Google's Chrome Dev Channel site. The switcher lets people choose whether they want the latest cutting-edge Chrome builds or the less frequent but more stable beta versions.

"Google Chrome now provides a way for people to get early-access releases automatically: the Dev channel," said Chrome Program Manager Mark Larson in a Chrome mailing list posting late Monday night. "The Dev channel lets you test the latest fixes and get access to new features as they're being developed. We will release new builds to the Dev channel about every week so that you can preview--and provide feedback on--what's coming in Google Chrome."

The 'About Google Chrome' dialog box lets people update to the latest version.

(Credit: CNET News)

The first update available through the program, build 1251, is geared more for programmers and willing guinea pigs than for those who merely are curious.

Build 1251 fixes bugs with areas including Microsoft's Silverlight software, tab behavior, video playback with YouTube and other Flash players, and scalable vector graphics, and it suppresses full-text indexing of sites accessed with encrypted Web connections, according to therelease notes. It also enables two switches that can be set when the software boots that let users activate two developmental features, new technology for networking and for managing Chrome windows.

How to update
After running the Google Chrome Channel Chooser software, users can find if there's a new version by clicking the wrench icon in the upper-right corner of the Chrome screen, then selecting "About Google Chrome." If a new version is available, users can update there, then reboot to enable the changes.

The newest Chrome version is 0.2.152.1.

(Credit: CNET News)

My update to version 0.2.152.1 went smoothly--but afterward, the browser couldn't figure out whether another version was available. Instead, it said "checking for updates..." for a few minutes until I closed the dialog box.

Chrome is an open-source project, meaning that Google may draw on other work from Firefox, WebKit, and Microsoft, and that others may help Google. Judging by a couple of "thank yous" in the release notes, outsiders are in fact starting to submit patches.

Such submissions require programmers to extend copyright to Google, which means Google can have its way with the Chrome code, for example changing the open-source license under which it's offered.

Also, either Google is still hiding details of security-related Chrome fixes in the release notes, or some of the links are missing in the release notes.

Originally posted at News - Business Tech

-searchspiderz

Expert Systems for Google

2008-09-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Would-be Google AdSense rival Expert System launches its Cogito Semantic Advertiser tool, which discerns the meaning and context of words to provide more relevant ads. By leveraging semantic technologies, Expert System joins a cadre of search providers that includes Microsoft-owned Powerset, Hakia, Yedda and Zoomix.

Google has a new challenger to its AdSense platform, courtesy of semantic software maker Expert System.

Expert System, which makes software that interprets information in text, has launched Cogito Semantic Advertiser, a tool that, when paired with Expert's semantic search engine, processes the meaning of text to ensure that an ad's placement is relevant to its assigned Web pages.
Expert System is the latest vendor trying to nibble at Google's search advertising market share by offering an alternative to Google AdSense, which uses keyword frequency to place ads. Another upstart, Proximic, debuted earlier in 2008 to attack Google on this front, but Proximic leverages a contextual ad-based approach without semantics.

So, what problem is Expert System trying to solve? J. Brooke Aker, CEO of Italy-based Expert System's U.S. subsidiary, showed me in a demo how Google's AdSense program will occasionally place misleading or inappropriate ads for certain articles.

For example, next to a New York Times science story on a jaguar, the Google AdSense algorithm picked out ads for Jaguar automobiles. In another article on an airline disaster, AdSense showed ads about low airfare rates for vacations. The algorithm didn't intend to provide results in poor taste, of course, and neither did Google's human engineers.

The problem is that AdSense relies on keyword frequency but doesn't drill down into the semantics—the meaning in the words. Cogito Semantic Advertiser attempts to go further by using semantic intelligence to analyze the text on each page and ensure that ads are placed appropriately to increase click-through rates.

Semantic search, also used by now Microsoft-owned Powerset, Hakia, Zoomix and Yedda, looks at how words in a sentence relate to one another and tries to understand the context of keywords. Terms with several meanings require semantic analysis of the other words around them for context.

Asher told me Cogito Semantic Advertiser understands content based on four key methodologies: studying the morphology of words; looking at parts of speech; sentence logic, or the reduction of sentences to subject, verb and object; and disambiguation, which in the case of the jaguar story paired with the Jaguar car ad would determine whether or not the text referred to a car or an animal.

Cogito Semantic Advertiser also provides details on actual use of specific Web sites, so companies can tailor their messages and coordinate the timing of ad placements.

For example, if users are reading articles about fuel efficiency during a specific time frame, Cogito Semantic Advertiser can provide these details so a hybrid vehicle manufacturer can tailor its advertising budget accordingly.

Asher told me Expert System plans to sell Cogito Semantic Advertiser, priced between $100,000 and $200,000 depending on implementation size requirements, to big media houses and publications.

I like what Expert and others of its ilk are trying to do in terms of the technological approach. Indeed, finding AdSense ads on vacations next to articles on Hurricane Katrina has got to be unsettling.

However, the big question is whether or not big media houses and others that would buy Cogito Semantic Advertiser are sick enough of Google yet to go with an unproven company.

Like it or not, Google is to search keywords what Microsoft is to desktop operating systems. If you go for Google, you have to know that you're at the company's mercy. Are advertisers and publishers ready for an alternative? That remains to be seen.

9 Questions on Googleeeee

2008-09-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

You got your East Coast news. You got your West Coast news. Something about the cratering US financial system going on out there on the isle of Manhattan, sources tell me. Meanwhile, here on the Left Coast, it's round 74 of Google (GOOG) and Yahoo (YHOO). GooglyHoo is giving lots of people a case of the hives, an itching reaction in search of a rash.

The latest scratcher is the World Association of Newspapers. Yesterday, it denounced the proposed Google/Yahoo search "cooperation" deal as anti-competitive. For good measure, its statement released lots of frustration about newspaper companies' diminished standing in this new world order in creation. In part, WAN points out that of the $48 billion in online advertising revenue that Google has collected since 2001, less than one-third of that has been shared with online publishers. Those big numbers are of course the ones that hurt, more than the cost-per-click impacts of GooglyHoo.

So nine quick questions on the boiling Google/Yahoo cauldron:

1. Who gave the pile-on signal? Now, according to Bloomberg, the EU is joining the fray, asking for a few Yahoo and Google documents (no, not Google Docs). That makes the Department of Justice, eleven states and the EU. No word yet from Bruce Sherman.

2. Why is the inquiry only about Google's search dominance? Yes, it controls 70%+ of the paid search market, but its goals are clearly global ad dominance. It has made forays into print newspaper, print magazine and broadcast advertising. It bought YouTube, becoming a major video ad player. It bought DoubleClick, planning a major move into the display market. So on the sell side, it will be able to offer integrated packages of advertising -- a little search, a little display, a little pre-roll -- to ad buyers.

While today, much of advertising buying is segmented by type, I've got no doubt that there's a Starship Enterprise console out there in the ad buyer's future, with audience targetable, using various types of advertising through a single interface. Without legal roadblocks, today, you'd have to bet that the console would be branded "Google." Shouldn't DOJ ask P & G (PG), GM (GM) and Walmart (WMT) (all companies that have criticized the Google/Yahoo proposed combo) about Google's wider ad role?

3. Didn't Joe Nocera nail it in his Saturday New York Times column, describing the experience of one company, Sourcetools, as it first won big and then lost big in the Google ad world? The AdSense/AdWords stuff makes so many heads hurt; telling the story (journalism!) through one company's experience is a great analgesic.

4. Does it help or hurt newspaper companies? That kind of depends on whether they are bigger buyers of AdWords or bigger displayers of AdSense. There's little doubt that the further monopolization of paid search will lead to higher pricing -- there's not sufficient alternative inventory to buy of significant scale. So if you are buying AdWords, they should cost more.

But if you're a big AdSense partner, like the New York Times, your share of the take should increase as well. We don't know the particulars of each affiliate deal, but would hope that newspaper companies could get a fair packaged deal from Google. And yes, having Yahoo out there as somewhat of a paid search competitor, has made the chances of getting a better deal better.

5. Will it make a big difference to Newspaper Consortium members? Apparently not much. The Consortium members, almost half of US papers by circulation, take Yahoo search as part of their wider participation. For their participation, they get a contracted minimum payment, and sources say that earned ad payments haven't reached the minimums yet, generally. So, if GooglyHoo does increase pricing of ads, earned revenue should increase, but wouldn't result in actual new dollars falling into newspaper company pockets, at least for awhile.

6. The US Newspaper Association of America is a WAN member, but has been so far quiet on GooglyHoo. Is that because some US publishers think they'll be winners out of a GooglyHoo tie-up, some think they'll be losers, and some just don't know?

7. Isn't this more about the transfer of ad wealth than pricing? If you look at the big numbers, the US news industry was down $3 billion in the first half of 2008 compared to 2007. You can make the big-picture case that that most of that money is going to Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and a few other non-newspaper-owned places on the web. From my reading, it looks like newspaper companies used to pull in about 20% of the national ad pie in the US, pre-web, a percentage that of course is dropping annually. More significantly, newspaper company share of internet advertising is no more than 15%, and probably closer to 10%, if we were to untangle bundled ads. Yes, cpc pricing is at the base of this, but it's this larger transfer of wealth that's behind the current fuss.

8. How much of WAN's angst has been caused by Google's lukewarm response to ACAP? UK and European publishers have pushed ahead with their Automated Control Access Protocol, a program to better control and protect editorial content as it moves through the web ecosystem. In theory, publishers can express "terms and conditions" for use of their content by web bots. As with all such systems, they only work if they are near-universally used. And if the biggest search company in the world won't play, ACAP can't really catch on. Google keeps talking with ACAP, but won't commit.

9. How much of a competitor is Yahoo anyways? Jonathan Weber, who publishes the excellent New West site, makes a compelling case on Times Online today that Yahoo has long faded an as effective competitor.

-searchspiderz

Monetising Newspaper Content

2008-09-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Google has partnered with about 100 newspapers across the US to digitise them and make scanned copies available online, and to eventually cover newspapers worldwide.

NEWSPAPER sites around the world don’t make much money. With the exception of a few niche sites like the Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com), the overwhelming majority of newspaper sites give away the content for free.

This includes all the newspaper sites in Malaysia. Some considered charging in the early days but with the trend of “content wants to be free” pervading over the Internet, none has tried to charge a fee for news content.

Some newspapers do charge for archives but that doesn’t make much money. Few people bother to use the archives. Usually, the ones who pay for it are those who are looking for specific articles for research purposes.

Since this is not exactly mass consumer stuff, many newspapers find that it’s not really worthwhile to digitize their much older material. That typically requires either having people actually retype all the copy or using some scanning service to convert the printed articles into text. The problem with that is the converted text is never accurate and an editor will still have to clean it up to ensure accuracy.

Another innovation: Catering waiters working in front of a logo of Google at the Frankfurt Book Fair in this Oct 21, 2005 file photo. Its business model, as always, is to provide the service to consumers for free and for it to make money through its AdSense advertising service. — AFP

It’s a tedious process and the cost of doing so could never be recouped due to the relatively low demand for such archived materials. So, it often doesn’t get done, especially if it’s a newspaper that has a long history. Imagine doing this for a paper that dates back over 100 years or more.

Along comes Google with its “free” strategy supported by ads. Google’s business model all along has been to give all its products and offerings for free. And it is doing so again with this latest effort.

The search giant has partnered with about 100 newspapers across the US to digitise them and make scanned copies available online. Eventually it will cover other papers around the world.

“This effort will enable us to help you find an even greater range of material from newspapers large and small,” wrote Google product manager Punit Soni on the company blog. “This effort is just the beginning. As we work with more and more publishers, we’ll move closer towards our goal of making those billions of pages of newsprint from around the world searchable, discoverable and accessible online.”

Others from Google are lauding this as a real big deal. “This is huge,” said Google vice-president of search Marissa Mayer at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco earlier this week. “We’re branching into a new form of content.” In her demonstration, Mayer showed off pages from the Rome News Tribune and called up a story covering an American moonwalk.

The way it’s done means users will see entire pages of the original newspaper as they were printed at the time. This kind of approach, of scanning whole pages, would actually make old content more interesting. It shows the relevant story and other headlines, adverts and promotions of the day giving a sense of what it was like at the time.

“The compelling part of the product for me is to get a sense of context and the importance of what else happened that day,” Mayer said.

You could easily imagine people looking up newspapers to find out how life was like and what happened on a particular day in time. Perhaps on their birthday. Many people would like to know about the significant events on their birthday.

The technology involved is not rocket science. In fact, it’s very similar to the scanning technology that is used for Google Books and it expands on an initial two-year effort by the firm to work with two leading American newspapers, the New York Times and Washington Post, to index old papers in Google News Archives.

Google, of course, is not doing this for charity. Its business model, as always, is to provide the service to consumers for free and for it to make money through its AdSense advertising service. Revenue earned will be shared with publishers.

Initially, the archives will be available through Google News, its popular news links aggregator site, but the company plans to give newspapers a way to make their archives available on their own sites. Will this be a new source of significant revenues for newspaper websites? I doubt it’d be a big income earner. But it’s one additional revenue stream.

And if a newspaper’s archives are being converted by Google for the newspapers for free, that’s not such a bad thing for the newspaper companies even if they don’t make a lot of money from it.

Oon Yeoh loves the idea of news archives. Check out his archives at www.oonyeoh.com.

Get revenue just by ads..

2008-09-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Check this kool offer..

http://www.pogads.com/full-service-advertising.php?ref=2625  to send traffic to pogads advertising packages and earn 20% of everything you sale FOR LIFE !   These are subscriptions so it means you could be making a lot of money ... Give it a try now !

-searchspiderz

The Most Valuable Source for Leads

2008-09-08T01:10:00.000-07:00

Would you like to tap into the most valuable source for leads? You might be surprised to discover that you are climbing over the low hanging fruit in an effort to get to the top of the tree. In your haste to shout your message to the masses, you could be shouting over the heads of the potential business that is already in a queue at your door. Slow down and reflect for just a moment. Then tap into the most valuable source for leads.

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council has just completed a study of channel executives, distributors, resellers, and other channel representatives. The results of the surveys may not surprise you, but the contrasts of the responses provide a shocking insight into the sheer volume of missed opportunities. This is good news for you, because missed opportunities by others can create new opportunities for you. While you may agree with the initial results of the survey, consider how you can adjust your approach to the market and leverage these opportunities.

According to the survey results by the Chief Marketing Officer Council, most valued source of leads is from customer referrals.

54% Customer Referrals

14% E-Mail or Direct Marketing

8% Internet

7% Events

7% Leads from Vendors

3% Third Party Lead Generation Organizations

8% Other

Would you agree that the best leads come from the referrals of satisfied customers? Is it surprising that customer referrals were ranked as four times more powerful and valuable than E-Mail or Direct Marketing campaigns? Customer referrals were ranked nearly seven times more likely to result in sales and new business than leads derived the Internet.

Customer referrals are a means of providing immediate credibility. With the increasing ability for consumers to share personal expression on the Internet, Blogs, E-mail, and word of mouth, the ability to communicate has enhanced the voice of the customer. In business-to-business transactions, a customer referral is more likely to lead to an appropriate contact with a relevant message, which is far more powerful and likely to result in success than a cold call from a third party lead generation. Events and trade shows can be a powerful platform to market a brand, but fall short in delivering valuable leads.

With all of this insight, how did the same channel executives, distributors, resellers, and channel representatives respond to the survey by Chief Marketing Officer Council with regards to tactics for generating new leads in the coming year?

14% Plan to use Direct Marketing and E-mail campaigns

13% Plan to use Sales Brochures and collateral

10% Plan to focus on Tradeshows for lead generation

8% Will use Seminars to generate leads

7% Will rely on Print Advertising

7% Plan to use Public Relations and Article Placement

7% Plan to use the Internet and Online Advertising

6% Will revert to Telemarketing

6% Plan to invest in Internet Search Engine Marketing

5% Plan to engage customers in User Group Gatherings

4% Plan to rely on Yellow Page Advertising

4% Will experiment on the Internet with Blogs and Social Networking

3% Will use Online Directories

3% Will create Webcasts

1% Plan to use Content Syndication

2% Will try something completely different

The results of the survey regarding lead generation tactics for new business acquisition are hardly surprising. Very little has changed in the planning and tactics as conveyed by the survey response, and yet, the contrast in comparison to the most effective and valued leads is staggering. Even though 54% of respondents acknowledged that the most valued leads are based on customer referrals, the first mention of leveraging this goldmine occurs in the 4% of respondents that plan to engage customers in user group gatherings.

Fortunately, it would appear relatively that fourteen percent of respondents believe the most valuable lead generation comes from Direct Marketing or E-mail, and fourteen percent plan to use this tactic for lead generation in the coming year. However, even though only seven percent believe that the best leads come from trade shows, there are ten percent planning to take this tactic, and another eight percent who will augment this activity with seminars.

Although only eight percent believe that the highest chance for success comes from leads acquired by the Internet, there is a staggering number of diverse plans to leverage this channel of communication. The tactics include seven percent Internet and Online Advertising, six percent investing in search engine marketing, four percent using blogs and social networking, three percent using Online Directories, and another three percent experimenting with webcasts. The Internet provides an exciting vehicle to be creative, showcase the brand, and communicate to a very large audience. However, is it targeting the most valuable audience by engaging the most valuable leads that come from customer referrals?

As you can see, the tactics are not groundbreaking or unusual. On the contrary, the approach to market is contrived on establishing a brand, shouting a message to the masses, and hoping that the merit is recognized by the appropriate lead. The Internet, Trade Shows, Brochures, and Advertising, provide effective, if not innovative vehicles for spreading the slogan. While it may be necessary to invest in these channels of communication to maintain competitive placement, there remains untapped opportunity for higher rates of success when tactics engage customer referrals.

Stop what you are doing right now and imagine how referrals from satisfied customers could generate valuable leads and grow your business. It does not matter what kind of business you are in, or what responsibilities you have in the organization. Every member of an organization contributes directly, or indirectly, to customer satisfaction. Your actions may results in testimonials, endorsements, or positive word of mouth. If you could harness the power of customer referrals, your sales force would blossom with representation from independent trusted advocates.

So, how do you encourage and empower customers to grow this incredible pipeline of valued referrals? You ask them, of course. However, before you make such a bold request, your customers must know that you are fully engaged and obligated to their aspirations. When customers are assured that you are a trusted advocate, committed to customer satisfaction, they have the confidence to share referrals and recommendations.

Once customer confidence is established and the relationship is mutually rewarding, then it is just a matter of creating the appropriate opportunity for referrals to occur. This can be as simple as asking for referrals, or as formal as creating gatherings for existing clients and potential prospects to meet and exchange experiences. Introducing existing clients to potential prospects demonstrates immense confidence in your own relationship with your customers, because you are not fearful of losing the mutually rewarding relationship. Group gatherings and communications creates a unique opportunity to endorse your customers, grow their circle of influence, and for them to provide a third party endorsement of your efforts.

There are many ways to empower customer referrals by engaging individuals in group gathering or discussions, leveraging the Internet or Advertising, or by collecting a powerful collage of testimonials. The tactics for getting the most out of this goldmine pipeline are as diverse as the markets and customers in them. It all begins with recognizing the most valuable source for leads, acknowledging the value of these resources, and creating specific action items in a plan to unleash these untapped opportunities. Actively and effectively mining the most valuable source for leads will give you an advantage over 95% of your competition.

What's Wrong With E-Commerce Websites?

2008-09-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

What is going on with e-commerce websites? It appears that online entrepreneurs spend so much time worrying about website traffic that they ignore the customers who actually want to buy something.

Recently, I tried to order a product we spotted at a trade show. It was perfect for our application so we did a Google search to find the manufacturer and a líst of dealers who sold the item.

Almost all the websites that distributed the product had proper contact information and invited people to call, which we did. After six frustrating phone calls to dealers we still hadn't found anyone willing to answer the telephone. Since we had to leave a message almost everywhere we called, we decided to try California even though we are located in the east, and it was far too early for any reasonable person to be at work.

We finally got in touch with a friendly salesperson in Boston, who was very helpful but unfortunately the company was out of stock. Despite not being able to fill the order, we kept their information on file because they were friendly, accommodating, and dealt with all our questions. They tried their best to meet our needs but if we would have ordered using their online system and found out later that the product was back-ordered we would have been very upset since we had a deadline to meet.

Next we reached the manufacturer who told us he was too busy to check if he had any stock, and maybe he could get back to us by four o'clock. Just as we were ready to give up, the phone rang; it was the owner of the California dealer, who had the product in stock, took the order, and shipped it out the same day.

Businesses, especially website businesses cannot run on autopilot; customers are people and they expect to be treated like human beings. Now it is not always possible to answer every phone call the minute someone calls, or to have every product in stock when people need it, but the more human interaction you can build into your website the better your sales will be. To paraphrase that old saying about horses, "you can lead search traffic to your website, but you can't make them order."

Why Should Anybody Buy From You?

Ask yourself this simple question: why should anybody buy anything from you? You probably aren't the only company that sells your product or service, and even if you are, there are most likely substitutes available from competitors.

When potential customers find you on Google they are also finding all your competitors. So unless you sell a totally unique, non-fungible (non substitutable) product, service or brand that is also the lowest priced on the market, then you best give people some compelling reason to buy from you.

The product we were looking for was available from a dozen different website businesses, spread all over the United States and they all sold the same product at the same price. In the final analysis we purchased from the supplier that was the furthest distance away in a time zone three hours earlier than us; but we purchased from that supplier because we were able to talk to a someone who answered all our questions in a friendly, intelligent, and engaging manner.

It's what used to be called customer service before businesses were turned over to database programmers, number crunchers, and search savants who think of human interaction as something to be avoided.

The Human Touch Creates Confidence and Sales

Websites are a very efficient method of lead generation and potential sales as long as you engage your audience with a presentation delivered by a real person who explains as much as possible about the things you sell, and how you sell them. And that includes things like delivery, which is one of the major complaints and points-of-contention that online customers have. Nobody likes surprises, especially when they cost time and money.

Web sales success has little to do with features, benefits, or technical advancements, in fact a barrage of features and specifications is just as likely to confuse visitors, and paralyze their purchase decision. The one tactic that overcomes this problem, that inspires confidence in your advice, trust in your ability to deliver, and convinces people to purchase, is information presented by a real human being.

You Can't Always Handle Things Personally

Understanding you cannot always be available, the next best thing is Web video. A video provides a complete, consistent, error-free, professional presentation of the information you want customers to receive. Hiring, training, and managing staff is expensive, and their handling of customers is often unreliable, resulting in a negative impression of your company.

Lest We Forget Tricky Dick

And that brings me to the Web entrepreneur who thinks that they are so charming and persuasive that they are going to be their own Web-video host.

Anybody who studies audience behavior is familiar with the classic case of the 1960 Presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy. Most people who listened to the debate on the radio thought Nixon won, while the people who watched on television thought Kennedy won. This was a seminal example of how auditory and visual performance influences content, impression and response.

This lesson has been well learned by politicians but has somehow escaped the attention of business leaders and Web entrepreneurs.

Human Motivational Optimization

Web entrepreneurs' obsession with search optimization, and their fascination with technical solutions to human problems, has created an e-commerce environment that is decidedly remote and unfriendly. Sales are a motivational exercise in people-problem solving: people buy things that fulfill physical, emotional, and psychological needs. The answer is to adopt a Human Motivational Optimization approach to the presentation of your website material.

What is Human Motivational Optimization? It is a mindset used for designing Web experiences for human beings, not just search engine spiders.

Human Motivational Optimization For E-commerce

Let's say you have an online business that sells clothing. The best way to display clothing is on a model who twists and turns so the audience can see the item from all sides, as well as how it hangs or drapes on a real person. A garment displayed flat looks like a rag, and just doesn't do the product justice.

Even quality still photography doesn't show how a garment looks when someone moves; and high quality fashion photography is more expensive than short fifteen to twenty second Web videos.

You can also add some professional voice-over narration that explains all the fabric details, design features and options available. A Web video fashion catalog is the most effective way to sell clothes online.

Perhaps you sell cosmetics. Another product ideally suited for Web video. Teaching visitors what products look best together based on particular facial features and coloring as well as different makeup styles for work, play, and evening are ideal opportunities to up-sell and build confidence in you and your products. Customer education is one of the best Web marketing tactics you can employ in order to distinguish yourself from the competition.

Not Every Product Is Sexy

Clothing and cosmetics are both high profile products, but let's say you sell something that is not quite so sexy, something like sandpaper. Sandpaper is boring but, if you need an abrasive product, you better pick the right one or you'll make a mess of whatever you are trying to build.

Teaching customers what products to use turns one-time buyers into long-term customers. When customers buy the wrong thing, they invariably blame the supplier, while suppliers that provide valuable purchase advice create a significant barrier to competition.

Even major box store retailers have learned that they cannot afford to have a bunch of part-timers helping customers. Best Buy has their Geek Squad and Apple Stores have their Geniuses.

Returns on electronics and computer equipment are too costly, and that goes double for online businesses where shipping is a factor. And that doesn't take into account customer ill will created by the aggravation and frustration of being sold the wrong thing. Rather than being an expense, a professionally produced Web-video e-commerce catalog is actually a tactic that saves time and money, both in the sales process, and customer relations.

Web video engages audience attention; informs viewers of product advantages, details and options; and explains who should purchase, as well as who shouldn't. It educates people on how to get the most out of what you sell, and it does it in the most compelling and memorable manner. It establishes a trust-based relationship with clients and that is something competitors cannot overcome with high pressure, price-slashing tactics.

The Geeks are Killing Your Business

Today we have a generation of entrepreneurs trained in highly specialized technical areas like search engine optimization, database development, statistical analysis, and Web-based programming. All of these disciplines view business, even marketing, advertising and public relations as if they are somehow quantifiable, scientific disciplines that can be measured and managed without consideration of that messy notion called human nature.

The biggest problem in business is dealing with people, and just because your business is Web-based, doesn't mean people no longer count.

We know 'if you build it, they will come' is not a viable marketing strategy, and the idea 'if they find you, they will buy' is just as wrong. Start thinking in terms of Human Motivational Optimization: start designing websites for people, not search engines.

-searchspiderz

Google Shines Up Chrome Web Browser

2008-09-03T02:35:00.000-07:00

Article :-2

As America returns to work after the Labor Day holiday weekend, crusty eyes are abuzz about Google Chrome, the company's own surprise open source Web browser in beta. Bloggers on the scene European ones and those who apparently don't take holidays let the Chrome cat out of the bag a day early.

Editor's Note: Microsoft killer or not, Chrome has our attention. Be sure to read the rest of the article, which details what this development means to SEO. Chrome will suggest Webpages based on search rank or popularity. Thoughts? Let us know in the comments section.

On the Google Blog, Sundar Pichai and Linus Upson acknowledge they pressed the send button a day early, tipping off Philipp Lenssen in Germany, who set the fuse on the worldwide blog bomb. At the same time, Google coined a new PR move: announcements in e-comic book form.

You can check that out for in-depth descriptions, explanations, and philosophy behind Google's new browser but fair warning it will take a while. Bloggers immediately labeled it an assault on Microsoft, both on the browser level and, in an interesting stretch, the OS level. They wonder, too, about how this will affect Google's relationship with Mozilla.

Itll launch at some point today at Google.com/chrome

First the specs:

Like Android, Google Chrome is based on, built from the ground up with, open source application framework WebKit; it is intended to be next-generation built for handling Web applications rather than Web pages. It includes Google Gears built-in.
To that end, Google built its own JavaScript engine, V8, to power web applications with multi-threaded efficiency.
Browser tabs get their own process rather than tabs sharing processes to solve the ever-dreaded freeze-and-crash problem by freeing up memory and reducing memory fragmentation.
Each tab has its own URL box, effectively making each tab a browser window
No about:blank pages. Chrome defaults to a page featuring the four most used search engines and the user's nine most visited Web pages.
Similar to IE 8, Chrome has an Incognito mode to erase browser history when the browser is closed something Firefox 3 didn't include.
Chrome can be streamlined so that the toolbar and URL box are hidden and only the webpage is shown on the screen.
Chrome features browser extensions allowing it to make hybrid apps similar to Adobe AIR
An Opera-like dashboard start page and auto-completion.
It's pretty strong on the security front. Chrome sandboxes Webpages, preventing drive-by downloads and installations. It continuously makes contact with Google to update a list of known malware sites in order to warn the user.

No word yet on how much the browser actually communicates with Google. Given Google's history of watching everything its product users do, it wouldn't be surprising if Google would gather browsing information to use for its search and ad-serving algorithms.

The browser will launch in more than 100 countries today. The company says the launch will add value for the user while driving innovation on the Web. Available only for Windows for now, Google plans to release versions for Mac and Linux as well.

-searchspiderz

Court Orders Google to Turn Over YouTube Data

2008-08-29T03:32:00.000-07:00

A federal court has ordered the giant of all Internet companies - Google, to hand over documents concerning YouTube's viewing data to another media monster - Viacom. Viacom and Google are currently entangled in a no-holds barred lawsuit, concerning allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights. Viacom wanted the viewing data to help it determine the extent to which YouTube's success was built on the popularity of copyrighted clips that were illegally posted to the site. Google contended that YouTube's viewing data should be kept from Viacom to protect the privacy of its users.

Unfortunately for the millions of people who view YouTube videos, the judge granted Viacom's request. The court's ruling has caused many advocates of privacy rights to cry foul. For the following reasons, I believe the federal judge was correct in ruling against Google.

The Court's Powers To Access Records Cannot Be Denied

Like millions of Americans and other people around the world I love Google. I can say without a doubt that Google has been very good to me and my family law practice. And if Google wants to be viewed by it's customers as the champion of privacy rights, so be it. But, let's get real... , the court's access to private records under appropriate circumstances cannot be denied. We cannot let people hide behind their computers to commit crimes or torts. It would be absurd, for example, to give a child molester safe haven to either post or view child pornography. It would be equally absurd to give a person safe haven to infringe upon the property rights of another, to commit defamation of character, or to violate someone's privacy rights.

No Right Is Absolute!

The fact that the federal court did not buy into Google's privacy right argument comes as no surprise to those of us who go to court for a living and who know that the right of privacy is not absolute. Our courts are vested with the power to issue search warrants and subpoenas to allow lawyers access to private records. On every work day throughout America, judges are granting motions similar to the one filed by Viacom.

Within my family law practice, for example, I serve subpoenas for personal and employment records almost on a daily basis. Personal records frequently lead to hard evidence concerning the opposing party's true income for the purpose of paying child and spousal support. Likewise, data collected from the opposing party's computer usage can also lead to damaging evidence concerning the issues of child custody, community property, or domestic violence. Thank goodness for those incriminating little e-mails. There is nothing like cross examining a perpetrator of domestic violence as to why he thought it was necessary to send 40 messages to my client concerning her new boyfriend!

In case this information is beginning to scare you, keep in mind that our legal system allows parties the right to object to invasions of their privacy. In California, for example, before a subpoena for personal or employment records can be served, the attorney serving the subpoena must give notice to the opposing party and wait numerous days before sending the subpoena out for service. In addition, there are special rules when it comes to any attempt to obtain medical records, in which case the court is usually going to scrutinize the request for said documents. So if your ex is trying to get your phone records to obtain your friend's phone numbers, there are certain hurdles that need to be cleared before the court will release such records.

Can you say . . . , "protective order?"

There is nothing new about the possibilities of an attorney or party releasing confidential information. In the cruel world we live in, people misbehave and private information is often dispensed to people who have no right to the records. I'm sorry if I've just burst your bubble, but this happens all the time, especially in divorce cases.

Fortunately, the court has a pretty strong remedy to this problem. Courts issue "protective orders" that forbid the release of private documents to third parties and impose huge sanctions on people for violating such orders. And let us not forget the fact that an attorney's license could be in serious jeopardy for intentionally releasing such information, which is a pretty strong incentive for not violating the court's order.

Again, borrowing from my experience in litigating family law cases, I often find it necessary to obtain protective orders on behalf of my clients. In one case, where my client was an attorney who owned his own law practice, his wife demanded copies of all the records pertaining to his clients' files. She purportedly wanted the records to assist her forensic accountant in determining the value and cash flow of his law practice. Obviously my client was concerned about the confidentiality of his client's files, especially since his wife was on the war path to destroy him. We could not get into court quick enough to obtain a protective order, which was granted without hesitation!

What About Viacom's Underlying Motives?

For the purpose of this discussion, Viacom's motives are irrelevant. Viacom has the right to our system of justice as any other company or person. It is, after all, the court's responsibility to ensure that Viacom does not release the information to third parties. If Viacom violates the court's protective orders, well, look out for an astronomical monetary sanction.

Be Careful!

The bottom line is that the information obtained by Viacom will be safeguarded by a protective order restricting access to the data to outside lawyers or others. The lawyers representing Viacom will probably make sure the protective order is obeyed. Nevertheless, it behooves all of us to think twice about the sites we choose to view within the privacy of our homes. After all, the right to privacy is not absolute, and you never know who may get their hands on your records.

About The Author
Written by Donald P. Schweitzer.
Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer
201 South Lake Avenue, Suite 700, Pasadena, California 91101
(626) 683-8113 PasadenaLawOffice.com

-SearchSpiderz