Search Engine Strategies Forum

For the last 10 years Google has been on an upward trajectory making gobs of money and astounding us all with there seemingly endless fount of innovation. For a time, there seemed to be a new product announcement every week. Google has always been very savvy about exploiting the news …

It’s earnings week in Silicon Valley, even as the world is focused on the historic events in Washington today. Some heavyweights are on the financial reporting docket, including Google Inc., eBay Inc., Apple Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Here is a quick run-down of what we can expect this …

According to [URL="http://zooie.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/twitter-boss-real-time-search/"]Vik Singh[/URL] of the Yahoo! BOSS team, the combination of Twitter and BOSS is a real time news search facility that can mash Yahoo news with Twitter topics. What you end up with is the most timely delivery of news you can get, certainly much more so than …

There was a big fuss earlier this week when The Sunday Times of London published an [URL="http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5489134.ece"]article[/URL] claiming that every Google search was the equivalent of boiling a pot of tea. My my, talk about a tempest in a tea pot. The Times attributed this bit of profundity to a …

According to [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7827518.stm"]reports[/URL] the new Yahoo! CEO will be Carol Bartz, the 60 year old former Autodesk chairman. She will replace Jerry Yang, the Yahoo! co-founder who was pretty much [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/21770/53/"]forced into resignation[/URL] late last year following his handling of the [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2032.html"]Microsoft takeover[/URL] offer. Bartz has a good reputation in …

All 43 police forces across England and Wales have now published crime maps on the Internet, according to the UK Home Office. This means that people can access details of crime in the areas they live in via the neighbourhood crime maps scheme. What a monumental waste of time and …

Under new a new law adopted in the UK, the British police are now permitted to access data stored on home computers without benefit of a search warrant. Worse yet, officers are allowed to hack into computers remotely without notifying its owner. Even though officials say these methods would only …

I write a great deal about Google mostly because it is always trying new things and putting them out there for free for the world to try. The tools are easy to access and use from wherever you are--any device with a browser and an internet connection--and you can't beat …

Will January be a big month for stocks? Maybe so. Stocks have already grown by 20% since November, as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Index. A new survey from CNBC suggests more of that is to come, with stocks expected to score double-digit gains in 2009. The CNBC report …

After a year featuring tectonic shifts in the stock market and the economy, 2008 is set to go out with barely a tremor. A quiet Monday in the technology market, with the big news that palm looks like it’s going to get its own version of a bailout. That after …

There’s a light trading load on Wall Street this week, with trader’s thoughts turning to visions of sugarplum martinis dancing in their heads. Anything to help forget 2008, right? Although 2009 looks like it won’t be any better. This, from Subir Gokarn, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s, Asia Pacific. …

In a wide ranging [URL="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/10/marissa-mayer-at-le-web-the-almost-complete-interview/"]interview[/URL] with Tech Crunch's Michael Arrington on Wednesday at [URL="http://www.lewebparis.com/"]Le Web[/URL] in Paris, Google's Marissa Mayer talked about all things Google, but what I found most interesting was when the conversation turned toward the future of search. Mayer said the key to the future of search …

[I]Too much information running through my brain Too much information driving me insane ~Police, Too Much Information. [/I] Yesterday, Seth Godin wrote a post in his blog called, [URL="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/12/warning-the-int.html"]Warning: The Internet is almost full[/URL]. It's not of course, and he had is his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, but …

The Android Open Source Project continues to go from strength to strength as the [URL="http://www.openhandsetalliance.com"]Open Handset Alliance[/URL] announces a batch of new members. Amongst the 14 new companies to sign up and demonstrate [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3583.html"]support for Android[/URL] as an open mobile platform, are Sony Ericsson and Vodafone. The importance of which …

With much fanfare Sun announced its new JavaFX platform yesterday, but curiously [URL="http://channelsun.sun.com/video/javafx -- do more!/3856260001"]in a video introducing the platform[/URL], Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, made the browser the enemy of content owners, and set up JavaFX as the platform to give developers and content owners direct access to users. …

The market’s four-day rally, where it has recouped 14% of its losses – the biggest pickup in decades – is about to get a legitimate curveball this week with a new report out from the UK-based Telegraph that Microsoft is in serious discussions to buy Yahoo. The proposed $20 billion …

According to a recent [URL="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/23/microsoft-to-rebrand-search-will-it-be-kumo/"]TechCrunch article[/URL], Microsoft is planning to rename its Live Search product, Kumar, which means cloud or spider in Japanese. What Microsoft needs to learn, and what the [URL="http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/"]Get a Mac ads [/URL]have captured so well, is that it's not about PR or branding or the name …

Leave it to a Swedish postal worker to restore some credibility to the financial marketplace. Okay, Lars. G. Nordstrom isn't exactly a postal worker - just the head of the Swedish postal service. He's been at the post since July, and is paid the U.S. equivalent of $110,000 per month …

It has been a long time coming, but Google has at last approached the Wiki concept for search. With the announcement of the SearchWiki tool, Google now has something that lets users have a fair degree of control over results and adds sharing into the search mix. Control such as …

It's been about a week now since the now infamous Motrin ad hit the air waves. It caused a social media firestorm the likes of which the internet might never have seen and that's saying something. If for some reason, you haven't heard, you can go to [URL="http://parenting.amuchbetterway.com/the-motrin-mom-videos/"]parenting.amuchbetterway.com[/URL] and see …

Google announced on Friday that it was adding on-demand indexing to its hosted Google Site Search product, giving customers the ability to instantly re-index a site after adding new content. This gives web site owners running Google Site Search much greater control over the indexing process than in previous iterations …

Monday through Wednesday of this week saw some of the worst damage to investors in stock market history - over $1 trillion lost in shareholder value. Buyers inched, and then flooded in after the S&P 500 bounced back from a trough that veteran traders hadn't seen in years. That triggered …

The Google Press office today brought to my attention an unusual and totally unexpected bit of Google trivia: the modelling of real-world phenomena using patterns in search to [URL="http://www.google.org/flutrends"]map the spread of influenza[/URL] across the US. Google is proving to be far more than just a search engine these days. …

Android's Java front-end gives Google's mobile platform an instant community of app developers and Java-specific tools. But beginning today, there's also a static code scanner that's aware of Android's APIs. [url=http://www.klocwork.com/]Klocwork[/url], which makes automated source code analysis solutions, today began shipping a version of its Insight defect checker that's aware …

What a difference a year makes. Was it really only in August 2007 that Google added the Sun developed StarOffice suite to the Google Pack software collection? Yes, it was. Back then Google was happy to have a $70 value package available for free to Google Pack downloaders. Things, apparently, …

I was watching a [URL="http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1568178642/bctid1906856143"]video[/URL] of a panel from the Web 2.0 Summit on [URL="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/cloud_computing_panel_at_web_2.php"]ReadWriteWeb[/URL]. I've had a growing fascination with Cloud Computing in recent months, and this particular panel included key players from Google, Salesforce.com, Adobe and VMware (with Tim O'Reilly acting as panel moderator). As each man made …

If you like the Google Earth mapping application, there's now an application that works with it and provides information on [URL="http://earth.google.com/outreach/kml_entry.html#tMarine%20Protected%20Areas"]"Marine Protected Areas"[/URL] on the Earth. Installing the application shows all the various marine protected areas (MPAs); clicking on them provides some information, including a link to [URL="http://mpas.appspot.com/pa?id=agRtcGFzchULEg1Qcm90ZWN0ZWRBcmVhGJv9AQw"]more detailed information[/URL]. …

Wow. Let me say that again but with added exclamation marks: wow!!! Google has officially released a Google Earth client for iPhone and iTouch users. It's available right now from the iTunes [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2767.html"]App Store[/URL], and best of it is free. Actually, scrap that, because the real best of all bit …

Google's stock is up 10% today, and the stock market is up over 250 points (at 2 PM EST), and I don't think the twin spike is merely a coincidence. Why? As I wrote yesterday, the market looks to major tech players like Google, Apple and IBM, just to name …

The stock market has responded favorably, relatively speaking, to the rumor that Microsoft is once again making a bid for Yahoo. Traders are buzzing over whether Steve Ballmer will make the same $33 per share offer now that he made a few months ago. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if …

The group [URL="http://www.stopinternetpredators.org/"]Stop Internet Predators[/URL], claiming that the Street View 360-degree technology can be used by pedophiles to help stalk their victims, is recommending that municipalities "[b]an Street View from your neighborhoods until it is safeguarded to ensure children's safety and privacy." How Google is supposed to do that, the …

Last week, in the middle of the worst stock market meltdown since the 1930's, U.S. Secretary Henry Paulson called on some of the banking industry's leading lights to figure a way out of this mess. Paulsen, with Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman Sachs), John Mack (Morgan Stanley), Vikram Pandit (Citigroup), Jamie Dimon …

Wow! Now that really is a hard question to answer isn't it? If you listen to what 'Barmy' Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO and 43rd richest person on Earth, [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20745/53/"]has to say[/URL] then you might be forgiven for thinking it is Google (I'm going to f****** kill Google), or maybe Apple …

Over the last week or so, I've been exploring cloud computing. My basic thesis through this series has been that as the economy sours--it's darn close to curdling--cloud computing gives you access to sophisticated applications without expensive hardware. Sounds like a smart play on the face of it, but when …

Sometimes someone has something that's just a grand idea and everyone should have one. Take Google Goggles. The idea is that when you send an e-mail at certain times of day, particularly from home, they'll set you some [URL="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-in-labs-stop-sending-mail-you-later.html"]maths questions[/URL]. Why would it do a thing like that? Why, to …

My post the other day, [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3277.html"]Does Using Gmail Mean You're Stupid[/URL], produced some thoughtful comments from people that made me me think harder about the advantages and disadvantages of Cloud Computing. There are security risks and data ownership issues that you have to take into consideration. To get another point …

Of all the most cloying and over-rated virtues, for me self-deprecation is the worst. You know the sort of thing: people ask me what I do for a living and I tell them I write a bit, only when they press me do I confess that I write for most …

[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman"]Richard Stallman[/URL], the founder of the [URL="http://www.fsf.org/"]Free Software Foundation[/URL], stated the other day that he thought Cloud Computing was stupid and we were all being duped by the cloud vendors. Specifically, in[URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richard.stallman"] an interview with London's Guardian[/URL] newspaper, he said, ""It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype …

Evoking [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry3059.html"]Internet ads[/URL] that some people wondered might be a clue to Republican presidential nominee John McCain's vice presidential pick, the campaign is now reportedly running ads claiming that McCain has won tonight's debate -- not only before the debate had occurred, but before the candidate had even announced he …

T-Mobile has today announced the international launch of the first Android powered cellphone in the world. It is available 'soon' say T-Mobile, for customers in both the USA and Europe. The [URL="http://www.T-MobileG1.com"]T-Mobile G1[/URL], as it is called, will feature full touch-screen functionality a combined with a QWERTY keyboard and the …

Buddhist writer Scoop Nisker used to close out his news reports on a San Francisco radio station by saying, "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own." Now, if you don't like political advertising, you can go out and make some of your own. …

Here we go again. The hypemeisters are in full swing, the prediction market is growing again - glory be, Android is coming to a phone near you tomorrow, or at least it's going to do so if you live in America. The launch is in New York, America will get …

Google quietly introduced an audio search tool called[URL="http://labs.google.com/gaudi"] GAudi[/URL] this week in [URL="http://labs.google.com/"]Google Labs[/URL]. For now, Google is using to the tool for experimentation purposes to index political content on YouTube videos, but chances are they are exploring this for more than good citizenship points and will expand it at …

ZDnet's Deb Perelman asks if it's a good idea to ask IT job candidates to [URL="http://blogs.zdnet.com/careers/?p=178"]prove they've got the technical chops[/URL] to do the job they're after. You bet your server farm it is. Perelman says, "...increasingly, IT professionals are asked to take some sort of test when they go …

If you like using Google Maps and Google Earth in your applications, you're about to get better access to imagery. GeoEye Inc. of Dulles, Va., launched last Saturday a [URL="http://geoeye.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=304"]satellite[/URL] intended to provide high-resolution black-and-white and multispectral imagery. GeoEye and Google announced in [URL="http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN2837224420080829"]August[/URL] that Google had purchased the online …

Some headlines are just too good to pass up, and this is one of them. [URL="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10036131-93.html"]According to reports[/URL] it would appear that an iffy Google News search was responsible for stock in United Airlines to crash. And crash is a pretty good description as the stock plummeted by 75 percent, …

Bravo to Google for daring to compete in the two-party system of the world's desktop browser market. And kudos for bucking the status quo to design a "modern platform for Web pages and applications," as its [release statement](http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/why.html?hl=en) read. But there's also skepticism out there about Google's bravado, and about …

For the record, I don't think there is a lot of money in web browsers. They don't draw a lot of advertising money (although many of the web sites they send users to make money via advertising) and nobody has found a great profit-making model out of browsers, either. Just …

In what has to rank as one of the most surprising outbursts of the summer, the [URL="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7586789.stm"]BBC[/URL] reports how the president of the British Cartographic Society has blasted online maps and accused them of "demolishing thousands of years of history." The remarkable rant took place at the Institute of British …

With dozens of freshly minted applications on hand to stock its shelves, Google's Android Market is all but ready to open-- right across the street from Apple's App Store. All Google needs now is for someone to start selling phones that use Android, its Linux-based mobile operating system. According to …