Resellers online , trademarks & Google

I-Search Digest
Understanding Internet Search Technology
2004-01-15| Issue #582
MarketingWonk: Archives (online marketing and advertising news sorted by date and category)

Google has informed me that the trademark owner has complained about
the improper use of their trademark in our listing:

----------------------------------------------
Campaign: 'New Drivewerks Campaign,' Ad Group: 'Ad Group 17'
----------------------------------------------

KEYWORD(S): LifeLine, LifeLine Safety Kits, LifeLine Safety Travel
Kits, Lifeline First Aide Kits

Action taken: Disapproved
Issue(s): Keyword trademark term
~~~~~~~~~

SUGGESTIONS:
-> Keywords: We have disapproved the trademark term "Lifeline" and/or
variations of this keyword in your Google AdWords campaign.


This indeed opens up a huge can of worms. Suppose that you sell
automotive parts for Fords. If you can't use the name "Ford" in the search
listing, then the applicability of your paid-search listings is nearly
worthless. It would appear that it would be only a matter of time
before Google starts receiving hundreds of letters from trademark owners who
want AdWords listings pulled from the Queue (let's eventually include
Overture in there as well). If this continues, it will indeed have a
profound impact on paid search results. For example, if you typed in
"Cisco Routers" into Google, 100% of the AdWords listed use the
trademarked name "Cisco."

Trouble is brewing, any comments anyone? I'm going to have my SEO firm
(BeyondInk.com) look into alternative ways around this problem...


One question becomes, is your issue with Google or with the trademark holder? In particular, there is a big problem of trademark-holder-reseller relations that may speak to an unhealthy relationship there more than it does to any issue with Google and how they handle issues (or to the law, for that matter). Interestingly, though, such issues have been around for quite awhile in SEM even where one is not paying for keywords. There is competition amongst, for example, whether a weight-loss-company franchisee will get traffic to their site on certain keywords ("Jenny Craig South Florida") or whether the parent company takes a stand and begins making all sorts of demands of its franchisees regarding their marketing methods (including content, page titles, meta tags, etc.). It's a messy business and very often not somethng Google is in a position to solve. To their credit, in asking for a ruling on the American Blind case, Google seems to have taken the initiative in wanting to establish some legal principles where there currently are few precedents. You're quite right, though, a seller of Ford parts needs the leeway to be able to advertise to buyers of these, and surely, it should be neither Ford's nor Google's decision whether they're allowed to do this. Google would probably rather allow it, but they need the sanction of a court ruling or two, presumably, to give them the confidence to resist large trademark holders' complaints. In your case, unfortunately it seems that you might have to actually pursue legal action to be reinstated on those terms. It would not be a terrible idea to contact Google directly first to state your case,

Google Fans Fill Web With Buzz Over IPO (TechNews.com)

Google Fans Fill Web With Buzz Over IPO (TechNews.com): "going public is not Brin's and Page's first choice. Both have indicated in past statements that they're in no hurry to do an IPO. But because of Securities and Exchange Commission regulations governing private companies of a certain size, Google would be forced to disclose its financials this spring even if it didn't go public. Since the company will soon lose a key benefit of staying private, most Google analysts consider it a near-certainty that the company will try to reap the rewards of going public. And the rewards could be enormous. "

Prospect Google IPO similar scenario to netscape...

People worth looking up....HSMAI names top marketing minds in hospitality

HSMAI names top marketing minds in hospitality: "HSMAI's 'Hot List' of 25 Most Extraordinary Sales & Marketing Minds in Hospitality & Travel

- Mickey Arison, CEO, Carnival Cruise Lines
- Jim Berra, Vice President, Loyalty Marketing, Starwood Hotels & Resorts
- Dan Collins, Vice President of Marketing, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company
- Amy Curtis-McIntyre, Vice President of Marketing, JetBlue
- Mike Dimond, CHME, Senior Vice President of Marketing, The Broadmoor Resort
- Dorothy Dowling, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, ARAMARK, Sports & Entertainment
- Dan Hanrahan, Senior Vice President, Royal Caribbean
- Vicky Freed, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Carnival Cruise Lines
- Dave Hartvigsen, Senior Vice President of Lodging, Intrawest
- Priscilla Hurley, Director of Marketing Communications, Affinia Hospitality
- Dave Johnson, CEO, Aimbridge Hospitality
- Andrew Jordan, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing & CMO, Wyndham International
- Mike Leven, President & CEO, US Franchise Systems
- David Neeleman, CEO, JetBlue Airways
- Jill Noblett, Vice President of Loyalty and Direct Marketing, Cendant Corporation
- Betsy O'Rourke, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Travel Industry Association of America
- Steve Pinetti, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
- Spencer Rascoff, Vice President, Hotels and Packages, Hotwire.com
- Michael Reichartz, Vice President, Lodging, Expedia.com
- Barry S. Sternlicht, Executive Chairman, Starwood Hotels & Resorts
- Tom Storey, Executive Vice President, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
- Jens Thraenhart, Director of Internet Strategy, Fair"

Google adds travel search tools

Google adds travel search tools: "Google has also added new travel-related tools, allowing users to check the status of U.S. flights by typing a flight number into the query bar, or check the weather at a particular airport by entering the airport's three-letter code and the word 'airport.' "

Mike Grehan - Yahoo v Google

Features: "Unless you've been living in Saddam Hussein's last known address for the past month or so, then you may not be aware that Google is being ousted from Yahoo! And in its place comes Inktomi. Hence Yahootomi"

Search Engine Wars - Innovate To Survive in 2004

Search Engine Wars - Innovate To Survive in 2004: "Search Engine Wars - Innovate To Survive in 2004"

Google special searches

Just a reminder:
Free Pint - Helping you use the Web for your work: "TIP OF THE MONTH: Some Hidden Google Tools

I know, I know... you're already an expert Google searcher, and you've been using Google since you were in short pants (now, that's an expression that dates me, isn't it?). But I'm still going to toss out a few tools and resources that you might not have found already.

* If you want all of Google's tools and options conveniently displayed on a single screen, try FaganFinder (http://www.faganfinder.com/google.html). I like it because I am reminded of all the choices I have and settings I can tweak, including toggling the Duplicates Filter on or off, using the file format search, and setting the number of results per page. It even has handy links for typing non-English letters.

* Right now, the only search engines that support the 'NEAR' operator (search for this word within X words of that word) are Alta Vista and MSN. But there's a nifty Google hack called Google API Proximity Search (GAPS) that lets you look for two words within one, two or three words of each other. Head over to http://www.staggernation.com/cgi-bin/gaps.cgi and try it out.

* Google has a synonym feature that lets you search for not only the word you type in the search box but also for some common synonyms of the word. The syntax is ~word, so, for example, if you type ~food in the search box, you will also retrieve web pages that have the word cooking, nutrition, recipe or restaurant. Sometimes that's a nifty tool, but it has its drawbacks. I tried ~aluminum and it not only retrieved pages with the British equivalent, aluminium, and words with the atomic symbol AL, but also pages that mentioned Weird Al Yankovic, Al Jazeera, Al-Anon, and the official page for the state of Alabama. Use thi"

google duplicates - ie resellers, affiliates etc

ResourceShelf: "See Also: 'Challenges in Web Search Engines'
This twelve-page paper was written by Dr. Monika Henzinger (Research Director, Google), Dr. Rajeev Motwani (Professor at Stanford) and Dr. Craig Silverstein (Director of Technology, Google). From the abstract, '...article presents a high-level discussion of some of the problems with information retrieval that are unique to web search engines. The goal is to raise awareness and stimulate research in these areas.' Content quality, spam, cloaking, duplicate hosts, and vaguely structured data are some of the topics discussed."

More on Google's Upcoming (We Think) IPO
The article quotes Peter Norvig, Google's director of search quality saying, "Google is all about providing access to information, not being a venue for ads." The article continues, "Norvig said that although the company offers paid search results, they're always clearly marked and never get in the way of the objective results that remain the company's focus."

And while we're on the Google beat a couple of comments about this quote and other matters.


A comment or two.
1) All of the major web engines are doing a good job of labeling paid content. The problem is that many people have no idea what the differences is vs. non-paid content.

2) One problem that Google runs into is how much of their database is duplicate or near duplicate content, something that the traditional research database tries to avoid. Expect more on this soon (much more study is needed) but a few examples right now

SEO Chat - Google - Google PageRank Primer

Neatly put:
SEO Chat - Google - Google PageRank Primer: "Be sure to always keep in mind that PageRank is not the same thing as your site�s ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs). They are entirely separate items. PR is the relative importance of a page on the web, expressed as a number. The SERPs are where your site appears on a search for your keywords.

PageRank is not a series of equal steps; it is logarithmic in its calculation. In the same way that the earthquake Richter scale is exponential in calculation, so too is the mathematics behind Google PageRank. It takes one step to from a PR0 to a PR1. It takes a few more steps to PR2 and PR3. Now, it takes even more steps to PR4, many more steps again to PR5, and so on. Each level is progressively harder to reach."

Yahoo! News - Google Fans Fill Web With Buzz Over IPO

Yahoo! News - Google Fans Fill Web With Buzz Over IPO: "Jeremy C. Wright, a self-described 'Business and Tech type person' who asserts on his blog that the Google IPO 'is evil.'
The hype surrounding the offering, he writes, is 'creating a bubble-type mentality' that can end only one way -- with a bust.
He compares the Google IPO to another famous IPO, the Netscape offering in 1995 that is credited with helping set off the first round of Internet mania.
'Hopefully Google fares better than Netscape did,' he writes.
Most Silicon Valley insiders think it will, but no one can know for sure.
'What they've accomplished in five years is nothing short of remarkable,' said Think Equity's Moe. 'The question is whether they have what it takes to create the next act.'
Not even a Google search can answer that."

Brand Erosion, or How Not to Market Your Hotel on the Web / Critical Online Distribution Issues Revisited a Year Later / Max Starkov / June 2003

Brand Erosion, or How Not to Market Your Hotel on the Web / Critical Online Distribution Issues Revisited a Year Later / Max Starkov / June 2003: "Surveys show that overwhelming majority of customers will not stay at a hotel with a poorly done website that does not reflect well the hotel product and the destination. It is becoming a common belief now that if your hotel website is not up to par there is something wrong with the hotel itself.

Conclusion first but loads of meat here for selling totaltravel to small businesses...

Online distribution is here to stay. The Internet has changed the way travel is being negotiated, managed and purchased. By 2005 over 20% of all hotel bookings will be completed on the Internet. This year alone 13%-14% of all hotel bookings will come from the Web and 53% of them will be direct-to-consumer. How does your hotel company compare to these national averages and where are your competitors? If you do not fare better than the national average, you are already behind your proactive competitors.

It’s not just about selling over the Internet at any cost. You have to know that the Web can be either your best ally or your worst enemy. If your online distribution is skewed toward the online discounters, this can permanently damage your brand and price integrity. The direct-to-consumer model should become the foundation, the centerpiece of any hotel company's online distribution strategy. It provides the hotel with long-term competitive advantages and lessens dependence on intermediaries, discounters and traditional channels about to become obsolete.

There has never been a better time to embrace the Internet and Direct Online Distribution in particular. An experienced eBusiness hospitality consultancy can help you navigate and utilize the Internet to its fullest potential.


On the Search Engines:
Search engines are considered major brand builders on the Web. Hotel listings or paid advertising on Search Engines, Directories and Portals (e.g. Google, Yahoo, MSN) contribute directly to the brand building of the hotel itself. Due to the nature of these services and their perceived impartiality, the branding interaction is exclusively between the Internet visitor and the hotel. A natural (algorithmic) listing of the hotel website, paid hotel banner ad or pay-per-click sponsored listing directly contributes to the brand building of the hotel, not of the search engines.

Hotel listings and paid banner ads on the Online Intermediaries:
Some hoteliers claim that by positioning their hotels on the online discounters like Hotels.com, Travelocity or Expedia.com they are �branding� their hotels. We believe that this is a very na�ve justification for a very unhealthy Internet distribution strategy. And here is why.
When the Internet user lands on an Expedia.com page, due to the nature of this service as an online intermediary, the branding interaction is exclusively between the Internet visitor and Expedia, and not with the hotel-advertiser on Expedia. In this sense if an Internet user sees a merchant hotel listing or a paid hotel advertising banner on Expedia, the visitor considers this as a positive branding experience benefiting Expedia (“Wow, these guys even have the Waldorf Astoria! Good for them! I made the right choice to visit Expedia!”). Website users tend to view hotel listings and banners in the same manner as pop-up ads and promotional features such as “Featured Hotels” or “Hotel of the Week” and treat them as yet another marketing gimmick employed by the online intermediary to sell them more stuff.

The direct-to-consumer distribution model should become the foundation, the centerpiece of any hotel company’s online distribution strategy. Why? First of all, The Internet is the ultimate “Direct Distribution Medium”. Why direct distribution is so important? It provides the hotel with long-term competitive advantages and lessens dependence on intermediaries, discounters or traditional channels that are about to become obsolete.

Direct-to-consumer online distribution has the following benefits:

Puts the hotel in control of its Internet presence and exposure
Prevents brand and price erosion
Lessens dependence on online discounters and intermediaries
Is the shortest path to establishing interactive relationships with customers
Provides long-term opportunities to benefit from the lifetime customer value
Is the least expensive way to distribute hotel inventory--direct to consumer!
Direct online distribution is not just a theoretical, “ideal scenario” approach. Many surveys show that online customers prefer dealing directly with the travel suppliers, including hotels, when purchasing travel online.

Though some of the major brands have done a good job with their global websites, none of them fares particularly well on the local search engine level. For example, in order to be picked up by the search engines, a local Hilton property has to implement relevant copy and destination content with specific target keywords, description tags and meta tags that are completely different from the global Hilton.com website. It has to achieve link popularity on its own. Hence, the need a local branded hotel to pursue its own website and search engine strategy...

Online Lookers vs. Online Bookers

Another interesting phenomenon is the purchasing habits of online travelers. Jupiter Media Metrix estimates that nearly 60% of the online population in North America (192 million in 2002) uses the Internet to research travel. 50% of those researching travel information online (online lookers) actually make their purchases online (i.e. become online bookers). The other 50% look online, but book offline, due to privacy issues, security concerns, purchasing habits, or need to speak with a live agent to finalize the travel booking, etc.

PhoCusWright also reports that 50% of US Online Travelers looked online, but booked offline in 2001 (52% in 2000).

Simply put, if 100 people book on your website, at least another 100 will be influenced by your website to book your hotel, but will make the booking offline (via phone, walk-ins, etc). This underlines further the critical importance of your hotel Direct Online Distribution Strategy and your hotel website visibility to the bottom line.

Search by Location

Search by Location: "Search by Location FAQ" Google has very recently added structured Yellow Pages data (business names and phone numbers) to its Search by Location beta test. Formerly, search results were based exclusively on Google's algorithm. However, the inclusion of the new structured data, together with some additional enhancements, have tremendously improved the usability of the application.

Cool tool BuzzToolBox Blog

BuzzToolBox Blog: "Goofresh
Google offers a date-based syntax, but you can only access it via the advanced search, which limits your time options, or the daterange: syntax, which uses Julian dates and is a bit difficult to use. Goofresh is a way to search for sites added today, yesterday, within the last seven days, or last 30 days."

How to Cheat Google AdWords Select - Part 2

ADWORDS:
How to Cheat Google AdWords Select - Part 2: "if you�re not using all the tools and tricks that AdWords provides, then you�re definitely leaving money on the table. And, when your competitors see your results, they�ll think you�ve somehow cheated the AdWords system.

This series of articles will systematically show you how to:

Generate the absolute best keyword list for your target market

Use simple techniques to vastly expand your productive keyword list

Create highly clickable copy for your ad

Precisely limit the distribution of your ad to only those prospects who are most interested

Beat the competition with creative bidding strategies

Dramatically reduce costs of your campaigns while increasing clickthroughs "

Google Dance Case Studies - hugely useful

Google Dance Case Studies: "By Danny Sullivan, Editor
December 7, 2003
While various webmaster forums have lots of discussion about the recent Google changes, specifics about particular situations are often lacking. It's much more useful to look at real life examples rather than deal with generic situations. So, as people have been contacting me, I've asked permission to use their stories to illustrate in real life how the changes at Google have made impacts. Here are some stories. You can read them all by scrolling through the article or use the links below to jump directly to sections of interest. Also be sure to see other articles about the recent changes on the Florida Google Dance Resources page."

Report on Report On Google - Topic Sensitive PageRank? | SEO Research Labs

To edit & annotate;
Free Report On Google - Topic Sensitive PageRank? | SEO Research Labs: "How To Prosper With The New Google"

Core of new algo:

"Applied Semantics' CIRCA Technology is based on a language-independent, highly scalable ontology that consists of millions of words, their meanings, and their conceptual relationships to other meanings in the human language. The ontology, aided by sophisticated search technology, is the basis for a conceptual understanding of the multiplicity of word meanings, enabling computers to more effectively manage and retrieve information which results in improved knowledge discovery opportunities for searchers."

What CIRCA allows Applied Semantics (and Google) to do, is to identify concepts related to specific words and phrases. They use this technology right now to serve up relevant advertising in a variety of contexts. Applied Semantics technology may also be involved in Google's
keyword stemming system.

Among other things, CIRCA can calculate how closely related or similar "phrase A" is to "concept B." If you search for "Colorado bicycle trips," CIRCA can relate that conceptually to a region (Colorado, which is in the Rocky Mountains), to concepts like bicycling and travel, etc. This is important, because it means that they can calculate the "distance" between your search query and various concepts in their database.

Understanding The Changes, Ignoring The Noise: For some search queries, the results have been radically changed – in a few cases, the top 100
listed pages have all dropped out. The folks at Google Watch have compiled a listing of affected search terms (see www.scroogle.org), and the amount of change in each, which has proven very valuable in conducting parts of our research.

When we looked at hundreds of unbiased real world search queries and mapped out the amount that each has changed, there is a very clean distribution in terms of how much they have changed. In the real world, radical changes are the exception, not the rule.

Looking at "real estate," according to Scroogle.org's methodology, 77 of the top 100 pages dropped out of the top 100. Looking at the more pecific "colorado real estate," 24 of the top 100 dropped out. You can see this pattern repeated over and over again. The more generic
searches show more changes in the top results. Look at the pages that dropped out of the "real estate" top 100. You will see a whole lot of local
realtors who managed to link their way (using PageRank and link text) into enviable positions, but not too many are really among the 100 most relevant pages for that query.

The first page I see listed among the "missing" is titled "Southern California Real Estate." Interestingly enough, that page shows up at #2 for the more specific search "Southern California Real Estate." In other words, they haven't been penalized, they just don't show up where they
don't belong any more.

Not so different for TT if have followed tips for links & content....
Those sites that have a lot of content and lots of relevant links (both incoming and outbound) have done well. Those that have gotten by with doorway pages and link swaps are no longer quite so successful.


Nothing really new in conclusions, just the usual warnings:

If you have mapped out a lot of content in your site plan, the task of writing it all can be daunting. So much so, in fact, that some folks never start, and try to get by with cheap tricks like machine-generated "doorway pages." Don't fall for these "quick fixes." The risk exceeds the
potential reward, and it's not that hard to develop content.

So you've got a beautiful, useful, content-rich website, perfectly targeting your desired visitor with the search terms he/she is going to use. Every page is a shining example of optimized content, it's all linked together perfectly... you're done, right? Wrong! If you stop after step 3, you're going to be very disappointed. Search engines aren't terribly impressed with a website that nobody else has linked to.

Above all: Don't Stop When You Hit The Top!
A lot of folks make a very critical error, when they start seeing good search engine rankings and the nice increase in traffic that good rankings can bring. They get busy with their new visitors, then they stop. They stop working on content, they stop working on links, and they eventually
stop seeing good rankings.

Then, they start complaining about Google, or Inktomi, or whatever search engine dropped them first. They'll shout to the rafters that the search results have gone to heck in a hand basket, that the search engines are persecuting them, etc. etc. My advice to you is simple – don't stop when you hit the top. Keep forging new relationships, keep building links, keep adding content, and keep your web site up to date. Your competition
isn't going to stop trying to beat you, and that includes the folks who are still ahead of you. The effects of your efforts usually show up in the search engines a couple months later. Some folks give up after a few weeks, because they haven't seen instant results...

If you're going to make a commitment to a search engine strategy for your website, and make the substantial investments it takes (both time and money), then stick with your commitment and execute your strategy. Don't give up too early, and don't stop when you hit the top.

Why I wouldn't buy Google :: Search Engine Optimization at ChriSEO.com :: Search Engine optimization and web site ranking tips, articles and news

Google vs Yahoo - I see a head to head battle emerging....
Why I wouldn't buy Google :: Search Engine Optimization at ChriSEO.com :: Search Engine optimization and web site ranking tips, articles and news: "1. Any JimWorld regulars will recognize my first point, sagely given by jcokos, PageRank is patented by Stanford. A number of other acquisitions by Google also have this drawback. Meaning that, effectively, what Stanford wants it's likely to get. These aren't technologies that can be quickly replaced, so even if there is some sort of agreement, the balance of power is always going to be in Stanfords favour.

2. Google is inherently non-commercial. It comes with an expectation of being free to its users. Any attempt to change that would lead to the mass flocking of its users to elsewhere. The methodology that Google uses to draw revenue is it's text ads system. The internet has seen systems work well time and time again and then decline in to uselessness. Works now, as effective next year? Probably not. With competitors catching up text ads are going to have less and less effect o�n the viewer and therefore be worth less to the advertiser. What, exactly, is going to replace those revenues and shouldn't Google be implementing that now?

3. With Yahoo buying pretty much every decent search engine and Microsoft throwing its dollars at building o�ne, Google is set to face the strongest competition it has had to face in recent years. With the gap between technologies and capabilities closing, with o�ne engine being largely similar to another, you can no longer compete o�n being 'better'. It becomes a marketing game. Does Google have the skills? I doubt it. Even if it does, is it as good at it as Microsoft, definitely not.

4. Google exists and promotes itself o�n secrecy and rumours. Buying in would be a bit like buying a car that works"

IPO news

Bloomberg.com: Top Worldwide: "Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to arrange its initial public offering, a sale that may raise as much as $4 billion,"

Google's House of Cards

Problems inherent in the Adsense system...

Google's House of Cards: "The true reason Google refuses to budge is the program is built on a shaky foundation. To secure the large distribution network AdSense needs, Google must pay publishers good prices. But if advertisers make separate bids for contextual ads, most would bid significantly less than they do for paid listings. Publishers would see revenue fall dramatically. This, in turn, would lead many sites to either remove the AdSense tags from their pages or demand a better revenue share.
AdSense is a house of cards, built on a foundation that forces advertisers to overpay for contextual ads. If Google allowed separate bids, it would risk losing revenue on multiple fronts: from the lower bids, the loss of distribution, and the loss of revenue share. The company bet it could keep prices high and revenue shares low as it built this program. But with smart advertisers turning off their AdSense ads, it's time for Google to give advertisers what they want"

Slashdot | Better Search Results Than Google?

How people search...
Slashdot | Better Search Results Than Google?: "Searching for info about electronic products is the worst on google.
I use the following along with any thing i want to search and it usually does the trick
-shop -shopping -price -buy -order -shipping'.
This no doubts subtracts one or two sites which are good but atleast filters out most of the shopping sites."...

The thing I have noticed to be the greatest single limit on web searching is the operator. I can regularly find things on the net that my co-workers cannot. This is because I understand keyword boolean searching at a deeper level than most people.

I blame this on the level of education of the common population, as opposed to being evidence of my own superiority. 8-)

In a world where most people have never actually met or "dealt with" a librarian (archivist, whatever 8-) it should surprise nobody that these self-same people have no idea what it means to take personal responsibility for organizing their own approach to knowing things.

Having grown up near and actually talked to librarians all my life I actually understand how to group information. Applying that knowledge to a search for some words and against others isn't that far a stretch.

It is a personal pet peve of mine to have to listen to people bemoan Google (etc.) when these self-same people have never even *noticed* the advanced search link, nor even learned the power of the minus ("-") in the standard search bar.

There is no technology that can "fix" bad user inquiries that won't in turn "ruin" good ones.

From my own experience with developing search technologies for an e-content site, these guys are on the right track. Compared to a lot of search technologies out there, Google is dumb. But it is blazing fast, general purpose, and smarter than most of its (former) compettitors. Part of why it is dumb is that it is so general purpose. To make a search engine smarter, you have to add context. Specialized search engines can do this by standardizing their inputs. Google could do this too, but it would require complex parsing of everything that it spiders.

Another thing that Google really lacks is detection of duplicates. Google tries to do this, but does it poorly. I remember recently doing a search on Google for an obscure DB2 error code, and getting the same page out of the IBM manual over and over again, all on different college websites.
This is another area where linguistic/statistical analysis could really help. Most knowledge-base products offer a "More Like This" feature that is an index of linguistic similarities between items. An easy way to detect duplicates with such a system is to have a fine scale and place an uppler limit on similarities, i.e. any two items with a similarity > N are likely to be duplicates.

All of this being said, I would be surprised if Google does not address these issues in the very near future. I do not think they have gone down the path that many large companies go down where they stop trying to innovate and instead just try to protect their turf