Is Google's dependence on one main revenue stream search ads (Adwords) its achilles heel? Twelve page article runs through all of Google's current products and finds most of them weak and lacking marketing ...
on Grading Google - Forbes.com: "Can Google ever go wrong? With a stock price hovering around $435, Google ranks as one of the world's most valuable companies, and competitors quake at its name...
Google’s one and only successful marketplace is a system for the buying and selling of ads, but Card thinks a Google Money product is possible."
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Google Computer Talk Mounts
Rumors persist that Google will announce it is manufacturing a $200 networkable personal computer that has no hard drive and is based around an open-source operating system, when company founder Larry Page takes the podium at the Consumer Electronics Show. Google did not deny the story, but did not confirm it either, but last month a company called Wyse Technology told Red Herring magazine that Google had contracted it to build Google-branded PCs.
RED HERRING | Google Computer Talk Mounts: "Google Computer Talk Mounts Analysts say search giant plans Internet devices for the home...
Speculation mounted this week that Google and its partners will introduce plans for cheap, Internet-linked computers with the goal of changing the way consumers use computers and access the web.
Wyse Technology told RedHerring.com last month it has been in talks with the Internet search behemoth to make inexpensive Google-branded PCs (see Wyse to Make $150 Computers). Wyse’s hard-drive-less computers, called thin clients, are often used in clusters in business or organizational settings."
RED HERRING | Google Computer Talk Mounts: "Google Computer Talk Mounts Analysts say search giant plans Internet devices for the home...
Speculation mounted this week that Google and its partners will introduce plans for cheap, Internet-linked computers with the goal of changing the way consumers use computers and access the web.
Wyse Technology told RedHerring.com last month it has been in talks with the Internet search behemoth to make inexpensive Google-branded PCs (see Wyse to Make $150 Computers). Wyse’s hard-drive-less computers, called thin clients, are often used in clusters in business or organizational settings."
Saturday, December 24, 2005
AOL Deal Could Speed Google's Undoing
AOL Deal Could Speed Google's Undoing: "AOL Deal Could Speed Google's Undoing... What a difference 10 days can make. Earlier this month, it appeared as though Microsoft and AOL were going to pair off, the Time Warner business unit shedding its old ties with Google for new ones with MSN Search. At the time, rumor had it that no large sums would change hands.
Well, a large sum?$1 billion large?is leaving Google for Time Warner. In return, Google gets 5 percent of AOL, expands the advertising sales relationship between the two services, and the right to make a rude gesture in Steve Ballmer's direction.
With this deal, Google gets to save face, but it may also plant another seed of its ultimate undoing...
Google initially attracted users with a sparse interface that gave search results center stage and treated paid results?advertising?essentially as a necessary evil.
More and more advertising has been creeping into Google's results pages, sometimes there seems to be more paid results than free ones.
This depends, of course, on what you're searching for, but the change is quite noticeable. And is about to become much more so.
If the news stories are to be believed, coming soon to a Web browser near you: Google ads with images, sold by AOL.
According to a story in the San Jose Mercury News: "The partnership could also herald a new experience for people who use Google's search engine, because it allows AOL to place advertising with images on Google's search results pages. Until now, Google's search engine has been devoid of any image ads."
Is this, taken alone, a big deal? Not really, but it places Google one more step away from what attracted so many of us to the service in the first place.
It also creates an opportunity, perhaps, for a company with very deep pockets, to try to become a better Google than Google. I wonder who might do that? "
Well, a large sum?$1 billion large?is leaving Google for Time Warner. In return, Google gets 5 percent of AOL, expands the advertising sales relationship between the two services, and the right to make a rude gesture in Steve Ballmer's direction.
With this deal, Google gets to save face, but it may also plant another seed of its ultimate undoing...
Google initially attracted users with a sparse interface that gave search results center stage and treated paid results?advertising?essentially as a necessary evil.
More and more advertising has been creeping into Google's results pages, sometimes there seems to be more paid results than free ones.
This depends, of course, on what you're searching for, but the change is quite noticeable. And is about to become much more so.
If the news stories are to be believed, coming soon to a Web browser near you: Google ads with images, sold by AOL.
According to a story in the San Jose Mercury News: "The partnership could also herald a new experience for people who use Google's search engine, because it allows AOL to place advertising with images on Google's search results pages. Until now, Google's search engine has been devoid of any image ads."
Is this, taken alone, a big deal? Not really, but it places Google one more step away from what attracted so many of us to the service in the first place.
It also creates an opportunity, perhaps, for a company with very deep pockets, to try to become a better Google than Google. I wonder who might do that? "
Monday, November 28, 2005
Google refines content bidding for AdWords advertisers
Seperate bids for adwords on search sites v content sites.
Netimperative - Google refines content bidding for AdWords advertisers: "Google has launched a separate content bidding for AdWords, as the search giant aims to expand its paid-for search services.
The move lets advertisers place one bid for ads that run on content sites and a separate bid for ads that run on search sites within the Google Network. The move could give advertisers greater control in maximising return on investment from search campaigns. Previously, the single keyword bid placed by advertisers was applied to their ads on both search and content pages. In addition, the minimum bid for content is now a static $.01 in the U.S"
Netimperative - Google refines content bidding for AdWords advertisers: "Google has launched a separate content bidding for AdWords, as the search giant aims to expand its paid-for search services.
The move lets advertisers place one bid for ads that run on content sites and a separate bid for ads that run on search sites within the Google Network. The move could give advertisers greater control in maximising return on investment from search campaigns. Previously, the single keyword bid placed by advertisers was applied to their ads on both search and content pages. In addition, the minimum bid for content is now a static $.01 in the U.S"
Googling For Gold How Google changes the world
Googling For Gold: "With a market cap in orbit and more cash than a small nation, Google's heft is altering the tech industry's behavior....
The Google effect is already changing the delicate balance in Silicon Valley between venture capitalists and startup companies. Instead of nurturing the most promising startups with an eye toward taking the fledgling businesses public, a growing number of VCs now scour the landscape for anyone with a technology or service that might fill a gap in Google's portfolio. Google itself and not the larger market has become the exit strategy as VCs plan for the day they can take their money out of their startups. Business founders have felt the tug as well. "You're hearing about a lot of entrepreneurs pitching VCs with their end goal to be acquired by Google" ...
There's one snag in this planetary realignment: Google has shown little interest so far in doing big deals with anyone. Although it briefly sniffed around Web-phone giant Skype Technologies, Google blanched at the eventual price of $2.6 billion ponied up by eBay Inc. (EBAY ) in September. In fact, Google's biggest deal to date is the $102 million it paid for online ad upstart Applied Semantics Inc. in 2003. For now, at least, Google is passing on big, bold deals...
But if dot-com history is any indication, the risks of doing nothing could be substantial. Google could be sitting on an ephemeral asset. In 1999, Yahoo Inc. (YHOO ), Google's closest publicly traded equivalent, had a $115 billion market cap but passed up the chance to buy eBay. Today, eBay is worth more than Yahoo, whose value has since nearly halved. At its 1999 height, Doubleclick, the big online ad player of yesteryear, had $14 billion in market cap. It didn't put it to work, though, and in April this year was bought by a private equity firm for just over $1 billion.
in Google's prospectus when it first sold shares to the public 15 months ago. "We would fund projects that have a 10% chance of earning a billion dollars over the long term," wrote founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. And then they added: "Do not be surprised if we place smaller bets in areas that seem very speculative or even strange. As the ratio of reward to risk increases, we will accept projects further outside our normal areas, especially when the initial investment is small." ..
In the Silicon Valley food chain, the first to lay bets on which way things will shake out are the venture capitalists whose fate is now firmly entwined with that of Google. It's not a very comfortable position for VCs, who view Google with a mixture of disdain and envy...
luxuries aren't the real problem. It's what the VCs perceive as arrogance and a lack of respect for the role they play. VCs, after all, have at some point identified, believed in, nurtured, and funded -- not to mention made huge profits from -- the biggest names in techdom, from eBay to Cisco Systems and Google itself. Yet many feel that Google accords them roughly the same respect as it does vendors bidding on the groundskeeping contract.
Startup Day
Many VCs, for example are still fuming over the "Google Startup Day." VCs, who are used to making elaborate and proprietary pitches to potential investors, were instead summoned as a group to take turns making their spiels to Google's 10-person corporate development group. "Check out the gall," says one, sharing an Aug. 3 e-mail from Google's in-house M&A team. "Hi Very Senior Partner," the mass memo says by way of salutation. After explaining the hoops through which the VCs would have to jump to go to Startup Day, it asks those interested to "please fill in the attached spreadsheet with a brief description of each company and its business/technology, an overview of the team, any data points you would like to share, and a perspective of why the company might work with Google." Says the aggrieved VC: "Did it ever occur to them that this was like asking us to do their homework for them? It's the height of arrogance." Not so, responds Google's Drummond: "This was an attempt at outreach," he says. "Most VCs do like to talk to us. Google is very much involved in the venture community -- a lot more than people understand."
VCs have another more concrete reason to resent Google: With its deep pockets and its unwillingness to give quarter to outside professionals, it's now a growing competitor to Valley VCs. Google can easily afford to swoop in and outbid any VC for a startup..
Google strongly prefers to gobble up startups before they have embarked on a sales and marketing strategy, viewing companies that are completely tech-focused as a better cultural fit. It prefers to acquire small, local technology teams that it can simply plug into its headquarters. "Two guys in a garage with nose rings and a dog trying to catch lightning in a bottle" is how banker Smith characterizes the bias. Case in point: Last year Google snapped up Keyhole, a digital mapping company based next door in Mountain View, for an undisclosed sum. Its team moved down the road and within six months, Keyhole was providing the satellite technology behind Google's celebrated mapping tool. Conversely, Google has passed on larger, out-of-town deals, in large part because of integration worries.
Google is creating a whole new ecosystem for entrepreneurs, says Baris Karadogan of U.S. Venture Partners, a high-tech VC firm in Silicon Valley. Karadogan says he's closely watching a group of entrepreneurs who are designing a highly specialized online advertising tool, hoping to sell it to Google for $50 million. "Before," he laments, "you needed a VC. Now you can build a Linux-based data system for $100,000 and survive long enough to sell without ever raising a venture round."
The suits inside Google don't fare much better than the outside pros. Several current and former insiders say there's a caste system, in which business types are second-class citizens to Google's valued code jockeys. They argue that it could prove to be a big challenge in the future as Google seeks to maintain its growth. They deem the corporate development team as underpowered in the company, with engineers and product managers tending to carry more clout than salesmen and dealmakers.
A banker who interviewed for a Google corporate development job came to a similar conclusion. "They just aren't very focused," says the prospective hire, who didn't get the job. "They're biased against businesspeople, and their deal strategy is pretty much, 'O.K., if we see something, then we'll look at it."' The candidate, a Wall Street tech M&A specialist who was looking for a change of scenery and a more relaxed lifestyle, calls the experience "chaotic, bureaucratic, and very rigid."
Surprisingly for a company of Google's size, clout, and business needs, it doesn't yet have a thriving in-house VC arm. And that's despite some glaring holes in its product lineup. "We're clearly not going to do everything right," concedes Drummond. "There are areas we miss that others will fill out." For starters, Google has a long way to go to match the breadth, depth, and richness of Yahoo's portal. Ditto a peer-to-peer marketplace along the lines of an eBay, as well as Microsoft-like software applications.
Despite the hurdles they face, don't expect any of the legions of investment bankers, VCs, or entrepreneurs to fold their tents and go home. The stakes are too big, and everyone wants in. To steal a note from the Google home page: Feeling lucky?"
The Google effect is already changing the delicate balance in Silicon Valley between venture capitalists and startup companies. Instead of nurturing the most promising startups with an eye toward taking the fledgling businesses public, a growing number of VCs now scour the landscape for anyone with a technology or service that might fill a gap in Google's portfolio. Google itself and not the larger market has become the exit strategy as VCs plan for the day they can take their money out of their startups. Business founders have felt the tug as well. "You're hearing about a lot of entrepreneurs pitching VCs with their end goal to be acquired by Google" ...
There's one snag in this planetary realignment: Google has shown little interest so far in doing big deals with anyone. Although it briefly sniffed around Web-phone giant Skype Technologies, Google blanched at the eventual price of $2.6 billion ponied up by eBay Inc. (EBAY ) in September. In fact, Google's biggest deal to date is the $102 million it paid for online ad upstart Applied Semantics Inc. in 2003. For now, at least, Google is passing on big, bold deals...
But if dot-com history is any indication, the risks of doing nothing could be substantial. Google could be sitting on an ephemeral asset. In 1999, Yahoo Inc. (YHOO ), Google's closest publicly traded equivalent, had a $115 billion market cap but passed up the chance to buy eBay. Today, eBay is worth more than Yahoo, whose value has since nearly halved. At its 1999 height, Doubleclick, the big online ad player of yesteryear, had $14 billion in market cap. It didn't put it to work, though, and in April this year was bought by a private equity firm for just over $1 billion.
in Google's prospectus when it first sold shares to the public 15 months ago. "We would fund projects that have a 10% chance of earning a billion dollars over the long term," wrote founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. And then they added: "Do not be surprised if we place smaller bets in areas that seem very speculative or even strange. As the ratio of reward to risk increases, we will accept projects further outside our normal areas, especially when the initial investment is small." ..
In the Silicon Valley food chain, the first to lay bets on which way things will shake out are the venture capitalists whose fate is now firmly entwined with that of Google. It's not a very comfortable position for VCs, who view Google with a mixture of disdain and envy...
luxuries aren't the real problem. It's what the VCs perceive as arrogance and a lack of respect for the role they play. VCs, after all, have at some point identified, believed in, nurtured, and funded -- not to mention made huge profits from -- the biggest names in techdom, from eBay to Cisco Systems and Google itself. Yet many feel that Google accords them roughly the same respect as it does vendors bidding on the groundskeeping contract.
Startup Day
Many VCs, for example are still fuming over the "Google Startup Day." VCs, who are used to making elaborate and proprietary pitches to potential investors, were instead summoned as a group to take turns making their spiels to Google's 10-person corporate development group. "Check out the gall," says one, sharing an Aug. 3 e-mail from Google's in-house M&A team. "Hi Very Senior Partner," the mass memo says by way of salutation. After explaining the hoops through which the VCs would have to jump to go to Startup Day, it asks those interested to "please fill in the attached spreadsheet with a brief description of each company and its business/technology, an overview of the team, any data points you would like to share, and a perspective of why the company might work with Google." Says the aggrieved VC: "Did it ever occur to them that this was like asking us to do their homework for them? It's the height of arrogance." Not so, responds Google's Drummond: "This was an attempt at outreach," he says. "Most VCs do like to talk to us. Google is very much involved in the venture community -- a lot more than people understand."
VCs have another more concrete reason to resent Google: With its deep pockets and its unwillingness to give quarter to outside professionals, it's now a growing competitor to Valley VCs. Google can easily afford to swoop in and outbid any VC for a startup..
Google strongly prefers to gobble up startups before they have embarked on a sales and marketing strategy, viewing companies that are completely tech-focused as a better cultural fit. It prefers to acquire small, local technology teams that it can simply plug into its headquarters. "Two guys in a garage with nose rings and a dog trying to catch lightning in a bottle" is how banker Smith characterizes the bias. Case in point: Last year Google snapped up Keyhole, a digital mapping company based next door in Mountain View, for an undisclosed sum. Its team moved down the road and within six months, Keyhole was providing the satellite technology behind Google's celebrated mapping tool. Conversely, Google has passed on larger, out-of-town deals, in large part because of integration worries.
Google is creating a whole new ecosystem for entrepreneurs, says Baris Karadogan of U.S. Venture Partners, a high-tech VC firm in Silicon Valley. Karadogan says he's closely watching a group of entrepreneurs who are designing a highly specialized online advertising tool, hoping to sell it to Google for $50 million. "Before," he laments, "you needed a VC. Now you can build a Linux-based data system for $100,000 and survive long enough to sell without ever raising a venture round."
The suits inside Google don't fare much better than the outside pros. Several current and former insiders say there's a caste system, in which business types are second-class citizens to Google's valued code jockeys. They argue that it could prove to be a big challenge in the future as Google seeks to maintain its growth. They deem the corporate development team as underpowered in the company, with engineers and product managers tending to carry more clout than salesmen and dealmakers.
A banker who interviewed for a Google corporate development job came to a similar conclusion. "They just aren't very focused," says the prospective hire, who didn't get the job. "They're biased against businesspeople, and their deal strategy is pretty much, 'O.K., if we see something, then we'll look at it."' The candidate, a Wall Street tech M&A specialist who was looking for a change of scenery and a more relaxed lifestyle, calls the experience "chaotic, bureaucratic, and very rigid."
Surprisingly for a company of Google's size, clout, and business needs, it doesn't yet have a thriving in-house VC arm. And that's despite some glaring holes in its product lineup. "We're clearly not going to do everything right," concedes Drummond. "There are areas we miss that others will fill out." For starters, Google has a long way to go to match the breadth, depth, and richness of Yahoo's portal. Ditto a peer-to-peer marketplace along the lines of an eBay, as well as Microsoft-like software applications.
Despite the hurdles they face, don't expect any of the legions of investment bankers, VCs, or entrepreneurs to fold their tents and go home. The stakes are too big, and everyone wants in. To steal a note from the Google home page: Feeling lucky?"
Friday, October 28, 2005
The only sales guy on the planet who's taken a company from zero to $3 billion in revenue : Omid Kordestani
John Battelle's Searchblog: Titans Column: Omid Kordestani: "Google's Omid Kordestani conjured a formula that took its sales to $3 billion. Now he's rethinking the world of advertising again. By John Battelle...
What do you see as the future of advertising?
The measurability of online advertising will extend broadly to all areas of media. You have companies spending billions of dollars on television. As more and more consumers adopt technologies like TiVo, I think you'll be able to have much more useful forms of advertising -- more targeted, more measurable, and with new pricing models. Just imagine if we made it possible for our advertisers to quickly publish relevant ads that could range from the local plumber on one end to Super Bowl commercials on the other."
What do you see as the future of advertising?
The measurability of online advertising will extend broadly to all areas of media. You have companies spending billions of dollars on television. As more and more consumers adopt technologies like TiVo, I think you'll be able to have much more useful forms of advertising -- more targeted, more measurable, and with new pricing models. Just imagine if we made it possible for our advertisers to quickly publish relevant ads that could range from the local plumber on one end to Super Bowl commercials on the other."
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Google base - new way to submit content
Google Tests Potential Classifieds-Killer: "Google has confirmed it's testing a method of structured content submission called Google Base. The new service, unearthed by bloggers who took screenshots before the pages disappeared, could put Google into competition with classifieds providers as well as e-tailing giant eBay.
'We are testing a new way for content owners to submit their content to Google, which will complement existing methods such as Web crawl and the Google Sitemaps program,' Eileen Rodriguez, a Google spokesperson, wrote in an e-mail exchange....
The potential service has implications for every player that publishes structured data, such as classifieds, product listings, or travel information. Traditionally, specialized search engines like Oodle, Indeed.com, SimplyHired and SideStep have indexed such data. But all of these players have long expected, and perhaps feared, Google would enter the market.
For the original data publishers, such as online merchants, recruiters with job listings, or individuals trying to sell a used car, Google's effort could make it possible for them to sidestep paying to have their ad posted on a job board or on eBay. By asking users to submitting data in a specified format, Google could likely do a better job at returning appropriate results."
'We are testing a new way for content owners to submit their content to Google, which will complement existing methods such as Web crawl and the Google Sitemaps program,' Eileen Rodriguez, a Google spokesperson, wrote in an e-mail exchange....
The potential service has implications for every player that publishes structured data, such as classifieds, product listings, or travel information. Traditionally, specialized search engines like Oodle, Indeed.com, SimplyHired and SideStep have indexed such data. But all of these players have long expected, and perhaps feared, Google would enter the market.
For the original data publishers, such as online merchants, recruiters with job listings, or individuals trying to sell a used car, Google's effort could make it possible for them to sidestep paying to have their ad posted on a job board or on eBay. By asking users to submitting data in a specified format, Google could likely do a better job at returning appropriate results."
Monday, October 24, 2005
New AdWords Tool Suggests Keywords -
MediaPost Publications - New AdWords Tool Suggests Keywords - 10/24/2005: "GOOGLE HAS INTRODUCED A NEW tool that offers advertisers suggested keywords. Dubbed 'Keyword Tool,' it suggests terms related to those that have been supplied by the advertiser. Google also takes into account past performance in the AdWords system, price, and popularity. The product can also suggest keywords based on terms that appear on a page's URL. Another feature of Keyword Tool is that it estimates the position of an ad, average cost-per-click, and search volume on given keywords. "
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Google discloses details on how it collects and uses data
Update 1: Google Offers Glimpse at Data Collection - Forbes.com: "Google Inc. is now disclosing more details on how it collects and uses data obtained from users, but it is remaining silent on several key questions that concern privacy advocates...Danny Sullivan, editor of the industry newsletter Search Engine Watch, said that although Google can do more on disclosing how long it retains data, its rivals are also guilty of saying too little. "
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Google.org - Google Philanthropic Foundation endowed with $90 millionby Google Inc
Google Commits Funds to Philanthropic Arm - Forbes.com: "Google Inc. is financing its promise to make the world a better place with an initial commitment of nearly $1 billion to a philanthropic arm devoted to causes that mesh with the online search engine leader's crusade...
Brin and Page have since decided their company's ambition extended beyond the limitations of a traditional foundation, prompting them to pool all the company's philanthropy under Google.org.
"We hope someday this institution may eclipse Google itself in terms of overall world impact by ambitiously applying innovation and significant resources to the largest of the world's problems," Brin wrote...
the company is endowing the Google Foundation with $90 million and budgeting another $175 million to invest outside the foundation, said Sheryl Sandberg, Google's vice president of global online sales and operations. Google is investing outside the foundation because it plans to put some money into "socially progressive" companies striving to turn a profit...
Google is pegging its total philanthropic commitment to the value of 3 million company shares - slightly more than 1 percent of the stock outstanding at the time of its IPO 14 months ago...
The Google Foundation already has started to give away some of its money. Several million dollars will be donated to the Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture that also has received money from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Cisco Systems Foundation. The Google Foundation also is backing separate projects working to protect the water supply in rural Africa and to promote business startups in Ghana"
Brin and Page have since decided their company's ambition extended beyond the limitations of a traditional foundation, prompting them to pool all the company's philanthropy under Google.org.
"We hope someday this institution may eclipse Google itself in terms of overall world impact by ambitiously applying innovation and significant resources to the largest of the world's problems," Brin wrote...
the company is endowing the Google Foundation with $90 million and budgeting another $175 million to invest outside the foundation, said Sheryl Sandberg, Google's vice president of global online sales and operations. Google is investing outside the foundation because it plans to put some money into "socially progressive" companies striving to turn a profit...
Google is pegging its total philanthropic commitment to the value of 3 million company shares - slightly more than 1 percent of the stock outstanding at the time of its IPO 14 months ago...
The Google Foundation already has started to give away some of its money. Several million dollars will be donated to the Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture that also has received money from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Cisco Systems Foundation. The Google Foundation also is backing separate projects working to protect the water supply in rural Africa and to promote business startups in Ghana"
Monday, October 10, 2005
Google Feed Reader
Google Reader: "Reader makes it easier to keep up with your ever-expanding reading list of content from across the web."
Holizz versus the Web Blog Archive Google Reader lets: "you subscribe to a feed when youre already at a website and you cant be bothered to go to Reader and search for the feed?..It finds the author’s preferred feed and takes you to the preview page where you can subscribe. It only has one real bug; it takes you to a blank page with a cryptic message if there are no feeds listed on a Web page."
Holizz versus the Web Blog Archive Google Reader lets: "you subscribe to a feed when youre already at a website and you cant be bothered to go to Reader and search for the feed?..It finds the author’s preferred feed and takes you to the preview page where you can subscribe. It only has one real bug; it takes you to a blank page with a cryptic message if there are no feeds listed on a Web page."
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Google localises online maps search feature
CTV.ca | Google localizes online maps search feature: "Google Inc. is combining its popular online maps with its local search features, continuing a quest to increase its already rapidly rising advertising revenue.
...
The hybrid service blends addresses, phone numbers, maps, driving directions and other details, like user reviews and credit card information, on the same Web page. Google also offers a satellite-mapping option that provides an aerial view.
By combining maps with local search, Google is following its rival Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), which already provides a similar package, said industry analyst Greg Sterling of the Kelsey Group."
Google Local: "Example searches:
Go to a location
kansas city
10 market st, san francisco
Find a business
hotels near lax
pizza
Get directions
jfk to 350 5th ave, new york
seattle to 98109"
...
The hybrid service blends addresses, phone numbers, maps, driving directions and other details, like user reviews and credit card information, on the same Web page. Google also offers a satellite-mapping option that provides an aerial view.
By combining maps with local search, Google is following its rival Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), which already provides a similar package, said industry analyst Greg Sterling of the Kelsey Group."
Google Local: "Example searches:
Go to a location
kansas city
10 market st, san francisco
Find a business
hotels near lax
pizza
Get directions
jfk to 350 5th ave, new york
seattle to 98109"
The Google Sun Microsystems Deal
Google and Sun are going for open source development as a means to hinder Microsoft in various ways. Together they form a strong challenge to Microsoft. Google rich in cash has no need to charge for software. Open source software is cheaper to develop anyway because of support due for such systems from the wider tech community. Expect a lot more to come from this partnership soon.
More on the Google Sun Microsystems Deal: "Google is gunning for Microsoft, using the Java Sun Microsystems as its muscle, and Google's strategy goes far beyond pushing Microsoft around.
Under the terms of the deal, the Google Toolbar will be bundled into downloads of the Java Runtime Environment. Java will be used to power new software developed and released by Google, effectively endorsing Java and nailing Microsoft's .Net as an emerging development platform. "
More on the Google Sun Microsystems Deal: "Google is gunning for Microsoft, using the Java Sun Microsystems as its muscle, and Google's strategy goes far beyond pushing Microsoft around.
Under the terms of the deal, the Google Toolbar will be bundled into downloads of the Java Runtime Environment. Java will be used to power new software developed and released by Google, effectively endorsing Java and nailing Microsoft's .Net as an emerging development platform. "
Google ETA? 300 years to index the world's info | CNET News.com
Google still on mission to index all the information in the world and money to be made from offering free WiFi.....has to be advertising..
Google ETA? 300 years to index the world's info | CNET News.com: "It could take 300 years to index all the world's information and make it searchable, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt predicted on Saturday at the Association of National Advertisers annual conference in Phoenix.
Schmidt admitted to the audience of advertisers that when he first arrived at Google four years ago, he viewed ads from a skeptical consumer standpoint. Shown ads on Google, he thought "You've got to be kidding! People actually click on this stuff? And they do."
He said he quickly realized, though, that "ads actually do have value if you can figure out the right ones to show."
Technology and the interactivity it enables, such as the ability to measure an Internet ad's success rate by viewing how many people click on it, is shifting power in the advertising industry from executives at corporations to consumers, he said.
"The power is moving from us to the end user; it's occurring by the power of the personal computer, by the power of the cell phone," he said. "Thirty years ago we would make the decision (about ads). Now, that person, that individual makes that decision
During the question and answer session, audience members turned to social, ethical and legal topics. One question dealt with criticism Google and Yahoo have received for cooperating with Chinese government censorship efforts. "The technology is neutral. It can be applied for good or evil," he said. "Overwhelmingly, the message of technology is a positive one."
Previous Next Asked to explain why Google has submitted a proposal to provide the city of San Francisco with free wireless Internet service, Schmidt said the plan arose out of work several engineers did on a system that would allow companies to make money offering such a service. "It's an interesting experiment," he said. "If it scales and if it is successful, we think it's going to be very good for the world.""
Google ETA? 300 years to index the world's info | CNET News.com: "It could take 300 years to index all the world's information and make it searchable, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt predicted on Saturday at the Association of National Advertisers annual conference in Phoenix.
Schmidt admitted to the audience of advertisers that when he first arrived at Google four years ago, he viewed ads from a skeptical consumer standpoint. Shown ads on Google, he thought "You've got to be kidding! People actually click on this stuff? And they do."
He said he quickly realized, though, that "ads actually do have value if you can figure out the right ones to show."
Technology and the interactivity it enables, such as the ability to measure an Internet ad's success rate by viewing how many people click on it, is shifting power in the advertising industry from executives at corporations to consumers, he said.
"The power is moving from us to the end user; it's occurring by the power of the personal computer, by the power of the cell phone," he said. "Thirty years ago we would make the decision (about ads). Now, that person, that individual makes that decision
During the question and answer session, audience members turned to social, ethical and legal topics. One question dealt with criticism Google and Yahoo have received for cooperating with Chinese government censorship efforts. "The technology is neutral. It can be applied for good or evil," he said. "Overwhelmingly, the message of technology is a positive one."
Previous Next Asked to explain why Google has submitted a proposal to provide the city of San Francisco with free wireless Internet service, Schmidt said the plan arose out of work several engineers did on a system that would allow companies to make money offering such a service. "It's an interesting experiment," he said. "If it scales and if it is successful, we think it's going to be very good for the world.""
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Google & Sunin software distribution pact to challenge Microsoft
Sun, Google in software distribution pact - Yahoo! News: Seems Google will be partnering up with Sun to help promote Sun's OpenOffice and Java software systems. The partnership will intensify the battle between Google and Microsoft as OpenOffice is potentially a serious challenger to MS Office if given the proper backing and marketing.
"Working with Google will make our technologies available more broadly, increase options for users, lower barriers, and expand participation worldwide," Scott McNealy, chief executive of Sun Microsystems said in a statement."
"Working with Google will make our technologies available more broadly, increase options for users, lower barriers, and expand participation worldwide," Scott McNealy, chief executive of Sun Microsystems said in a statement."
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Easier AdSense payments
Google Adsense blog announces electronic funds transfer EFT is out of beta and the service will be available to all users. I like the sound of them putting in a small test deposit for you to keep!
Inside AdSense: "Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT for short) is officially out of beta. So what's changed? Our process for verifying bank account information has improved.
After you submit your bank account information, we will place a small test deposit into your bank account for you to keep. Once you see this test deposit credited to your account, just input the amount of the deposit into your AdSense account to help us verify your bank account information"
Inside AdSense: "Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT for short) is officially out of beta. So what's changed? Our process for verifying bank account information has improved.
After you submit your bank account information, we will place a small test deposit into your bank account for you to keep. Once you see this test deposit credited to your account, just input the amount of the deposit into your AdSense account to help us verify your bank account information"
Thursday, September 29, 2005
New GooglePatent Application: Variable personalization of search results in a search engine
United States Patent Application: 0050216434: "Variable personalization of search results in a search engine
Abstract
A search engine provides personalized rankings of search results. A user interest profile identifies topics of interest to a user. Each topic is associated with one or more sites, and a boost value, which can be used to augment an information retrieval score of any document from the site. Search results from any search are provided to the user, with a variable control of the ranking of the results. The results can be ranked by their unboosted information retrieval score, thus reflecting no personalization, or by their fully or partially boosted information retrieval scores. This allows the user to selectively control how their interests affect the ranking of the documents. "
Cre8: Variable personalization of search results - Google - Cre8asite forums bragadocchio writes: "This invention would enable a searcher to fill out a profile, perform a normal search, and then use a slider button to indicate how much his or her personal information from the profile should be used to modify (rerank) that search based upon the personalization information that they have entered into the profile, by sliding the button partially, or all the way to a full influence on the results. "
He highlights the following "interesting aspects of this invention is the discussion on how certain sites are determined to be related to the specific topics.
Quote:
[0045] where nih.gov, cdc.gov, and med.Stanford.edu are various sites that have been determined (either manually or automatically) to be related to the topic "Health". In other words, for each topic in the directory, there is a set of sites that have been determined to be relevant to the topic, and for each of these sites, a boost value is defined.
[0046] The boost for the sites listed in the topical directory is generally determined as follows:
[0047] a) A "site graph" is generated where nodes of the graph are sites (basically, pages on the same host) and edges between nodes are weighted based on the number of pages from one site that link to pages on another. This same type of graph can be used to compute all topic boost maps.
[0048] b) For each topic in the directory, say "Health", a number of sites are selected as "start sites" S0 whose home page is listed in the Open Directory. For example, for a university like Stanford, start sites may be selected as any site ending in .stanford.edu.
[0049] c) A computation is run in two passes:
[0050] i) first identify a set of sites S1 that are linked-to heavily by those sites in S0, with each site in S1 assigned a weight according to how heavily it's linked-to by sites in S0.
[0051] ii) then identify those sites S2 that are linked-to heavily by those sites in S1, weighted as with S1.
[0052] d) The sites in S2 are boosted with their assigned weights."
Abstract
A search engine provides personalized rankings of search results. A user interest profile identifies topics of interest to a user. Each topic is associated with one or more sites, and a boost value, which can be used to augment an information retrieval score of any document from the site. Search results from any search are provided to the user, with a variable control of the ranking of the results. The results can be ranked by their unboosted information retrieval score, thus reflecting no personalization, or by their fully or partially boosted information retrieval scores. This allows the user to selectively control how their interests affect the ranking of the documents. "
Cre8: Variable personalization of search results - Google - Cre8asite forums bragadocchio writes: "This invention would enable a searcher to fill out a profile, perform a normal search, and then use a slider button to indicate how much his or her personal information from the profile should be used to modify (rerank) that search based upon the personalization information that they have entered into the profile, by sliding the button partially, or all the way to a full influence on the results. "
He highlights the following "interesting aspects of this invention is the discussion on how certain sites are determined to be related to the specific topics.
Quote:
[0045] where nih.gov, cdc.gov, and med.Stanford.edu are various sites that have been determined (either manually or automatically) to be related to the topic "Health". In other words, for each topic in the directory, there is a set of sites that have been determined to be relevant to the topic, and for each of these sites, a boost value is defined.
[0046] The boost for the sites listed in the topical directory is generally determined as follows:
[0047] a) A "site graph" is generated where nodes of the graph are sites (basically, pages on the same host) and edges between nodes are weighted based on the number of pages from one site that link to pages on another. This same type of graph can be used to compute all topic boost maps.
[0048] b) For each topic in the directory, say "Health", a number of sites are selected as "start sites" S0 whose home page is listed in the Open Directory. For example, for a university like Stanford, start sites may be selected as any site ending in .stanford.edu.
[0049] c) A computation is run in two passes:
[0050] i) first identify a set of sites S1 that are linked-to heavily by those sites in S0, with each site in S1 assigned a weight according to how heavily it's linked-to by sites in S0.
[0051] ii) then identify those sites S2 that are linked-to heavily by those sites in S1, weighted as with S1.
[0052] d) The sites in S2 are boosted with their assigned weights."
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
What Google Blog Search means for your website search results
Why Google Blog Search Matters to Your Business: "According to Google, Google's Blog Search is 'Google search technology focused on blogs'. It includes search engine results specific to blogs not just in the Blogger.com community, but across the blogosphere at large....
Google...was already paying particular attention to blogs in regular search results, seems to make a subtle statement with the introduction of blog-specific searches.
Blogs are important enough to warrant their own special level of search, and not just as an advanced search option, but in their own search engine.
If search engines are paying attention to blogging that closely, you should be too -- if you want better search engine results. "
Blogs are easy to get listed in the SERPS..."
Google's Blog Search Help Page states:
"If your blog publishes a site feed in any format and automatically pings an updating service (such as Weblogs.com), we should be able to find and list it. Also, we will soon be providing a form that you can use to manually add your blog to our index, in case we haven't picked it up automatically. Stay tuned for more information on this."
So if you're already blogging - and responsibly pinging, you're probably already listed." If you are not already running a blog "get started blogging today. You'll be missing out on targeted traffic from the most dominant search engine, from the most sophisticated surfers today, and sooner than you know it, the mainstream web."
Google...was already paying particular attention to blogs in regular search results, seems to make a subtle statement with the introduction of blog-specific searches.
Blogs are important enough to warrant their own special level of search, and not just as an advanced search option, but in their own search engine.
If search engines are paying attention to blogging that closely, you should be too -- if you want better search engine results. "
Blogs are easy to get listed in the SERPS..."
Google's Blog Search Help Page states:
"If your blog publishes a site feed in any format and automatically pings an updating service (such as Weblogs.com), we should be able to find and list it. Also, we will soon be providing a form that you can use to manually add your blog to our index, in case we haven't picked it up automatically. Stay tuned for more information on this."
So if you're already blogging - and responsibly pinging, you're probably already listed." If you are not already running a blog "get started blogging today. You'll be missing out on targeted traffic from the most dominant search engine, from the most sophisticated surfers today, and sooner than you know it, the mainstream web."
Monday, September 26, 2005
Google Releases Firefox Toolbar
The long awaited google toolbar for firefox browser users has been released....MediaPost Publications - Google Releases Firefox Toolbar - 09/26/2005: "GOOGLE'S FIREFOX TOOLBAR APPLICATION, IN beta testing since early July, was officially released last week with a set of new Firefox-only functions. Among the new features are the ability to rearrange the toolbar interface and move around the search bar, and the incorporation of Google Suggest, which suggests queries based on what the user has already typed"
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO Remove result
Search Engine Journal: "Google Testing Remove Result and Spam Report Options
Matt Cutts confirms that Google is testing a new Remove Result features that lets users of Google personalized search exclude various sites from their search results. If Google Personalized Search users are sick of spam showing up in their results or irrelevant sites being listed, they can simply remove the pages.
From Cutts : One request we sometimes hear is for the ability to modify Google results, especially to block unwanted sites. A few eagle-eyed people may have noticed a user-interface experiment on Google that adds the ability to remove results. At that point, your options would normally be to 1) ignore that result, or 2) report the url to Google via our spam report form. If youre in this experiment, youll have newfound powers. Click the Remove result link and with one click you can drop that url from your search results."
Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO UI fun: Remove result: "One request we sometimes hear is for the ability to modify Google results, especially to block unwanted sites. A few eagle-eyed people may have noticed a user-interface experiment on Google that adds the ability to remove results. Heres what youd see. Imagine that you did the search [lynx paw clipart], and you notice one particular result that looks spammy:
You check the cached page, and you notice that if you turn off Cascading Style Sheets, theres a bunch of spammy text:"
Matt Cutts confirms that Google is testing a new Remove Result features that lets users of Google personalized search exclude various sites from their search results. If Google Personalized Search users are sick of spam showing up in their results or irrelevant sites being listed, they can simply remove the pages.
From Cutts : One request we sometimes hear is for the ability to modify Google results, especially to block unwanted sites. A few eagle-eyed people may have noticed a user-interface experiment on Google that adds the ability to remove results. At that point, your options would normally be to 1) ignore that result, or 2) report the url to Google via our spam report form. If youre in this experiment, youll have newfound powers. Click the Remove result link and with one click you can drop that url from your search results."
Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO UI fun: Remove result: "One request we sometimes hear is for the ability to modify Google results, especially to block unwanted sites. A few eagle-eyed people may have noticed a user-interface experiment on Google that adds the ability to remove results. Heres what youd see. Imagine that you did the search [lynx paw clipart], and you notice one particular result that looks spammy:
You check the cached page, and you notice that if you turn off Cascading Style Sheets, theres a bunch of spammy text:"
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