Visual Knowledge

» Google Comments on Napster Rumor : Search Engine Journal:
"The search engine world should be taking this rumor with a grain of salt, but as speculation of a Google Music Download Service is heating up; we’d like to pass along the Google Rumor of the Day: Google Buying Napster.

From the New York Post (a News Corp publication) :

Google is considering an extensive alliance with Napster, which could include an outright acquisition, as it plots its move into the digital music world, The Post has learned.

According to sources within the music industry, Google has been pushing to align with Napster — rather than build its own online music store — a sign that Google sees subscription services, rather than the individual download model that Apple’s iTunes is built on, as the future of digital music..."

Google Earnings Disappoint; Shares Plunge - Yahoo! News:
"SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc.'s rapid financial growth decelerated in the fourth quarter as the online search engine leader's profit fell below analyst expectations for the first time since its August 2004 initial public offering.
ADVERTISEMENT

Tuesday's disappointing financial report rattled previously bullish investors, causing Google's stock
...

Google released its results after the stock market closed Tuesday. Company shares plummeted $53.65 — 12.4 percent — in after-hours trading after gaining $5.84 to close at $432.66 Tuesday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares had fallen by as much as 19 percent earlier..."

Article: DCS alum Kawell's Pepper Pad puts Internet media into consumers' hands | News | Computer Science | UIUC:
"The increasing popularity of compact mobile phones, iPods and PDAs suggests that when it comes to consumers and technology, size matters. Len Kawell, a 1977 graduate from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois, noticed this trend and created the Pepper Pad, a device that combines the convenience and cool factor of these compact devices with the usability of a PC..."
Note: see the photo on this, it's a larger screen than a pda/smart phone

TechCrunch » SpongeCell, an Ajax Calendar:
"SpongeCell is a new Ajax calendar built on the Ruby on Rails platform. In addition to the now-ubiquitous drag and drop interface, Spongecell is adding artificial intelligence aspects to turn natural language into structured calendar entries, and has a nice mobile interface. More information is here. Spongecell is having an open launch party on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 in San Francisco.

Ajax calendars are faily commonplace now (they are kissing cousins to Ajax home pages as far as I’m concerned) and seem to be breeding just as prolifically. My list now includes:

* 30 Boxes
* CalendarHub
* Hula
* Joyent
* Kiko (and here) (service may be broken or discontinued)
* Planzo
* SpongeCell
* Trumba

Renkoo, Skobee and Zimbra also touch this space."

Mea Culpa on Ning:
"...In my post linking to TechCruncher Mike Arrington's post on Ning, I said Mike's arguments about Ning not delivering on its promise sounded reasonable. But after talking with Ning cofounder and CEO Gina Bianchini--and by Mike's own admission in a comment on the blog of Ning lead software architect Diego Doval, whose response I'm reproducing below--it appears that two of Mike's claims about the service were erroneous, or at least could be construed that way. (The other two might be considered a matter of opinion.)..."

Amazon Expands Tagging:
"After first quietly experimenting with tags back in November, Amazon lately has added a couple of interesting new wrinkles. In some listings, you can also view what other tags customers applied to the item, as well as see which customers did the tagging.

That last suggests some interesting possibilities--namely, the potential for spontaneous communities to emerge from folks who share the same interests. Amazon already has the capability to add another customer to 'Amazon Friend' and 'Favorite People' lists. In fact, as I poke around some more, I see these are now part of a 'Your Amazon Home' page where you can set up your profile, upload a photo of yourself, and share your purchase info with others.

The company's just testing the new tagging features for now (isn't everything on the Web just a test?). But it'll be interesting to see if Amazon can spice up its matching algorithms with the secret sauce of Web 2.0: real, live communities on its site."

New Study Reports that Search Sites Provides Twice the Conversion Rate When Compared With Other Acquisition Sources:
"The Dow Jones story: Search Sites Better At Getting Shoppers To Buy: Study, reports on new research from WebSideStory that shows search engines (both paid and organic listings) provide more than twice the conversion rates than other forms of Internet advertising and marketing.

However, direct navigation offered the highest conversion rate. The sites used in the study cover five product categories.

From the article:

The study defines conversion rate as the percentage of visitors to a site who view an ad or clicking on a search result and purchase a product or service.

Numbers

Search
Search Sites had a conversion rate of 2.3%, meaning that for every 100 consumers clicking on a search result or advertisement, 2.3 people made a purchase.

Other Forms of Internet Marketing

Banner ads, affiliate marketing links, comparison shopping search sites* and other online marketing efforts had a conversion rate of 0.96%.

* Note, that shopping engines are not considered in the main search category.

Search Bypass: Direct Navigation/Bookmarks
Direct to a company's web site (including via a bookmark) offered a
conversion rate of 4.23%.

Where did the data come from:

The study collected data from Web sites that sell apparel, toys, electronics, sporting goods and leisure products. Among the most successful were toy sites. When reached through a search engine, they had a conversion rate of 4.85% while Web sites selling computers and electronics had a conversion rate of 1.35%, the study found.

The sites used in the study generate more than $3 billion in annual sales online in five categories listed above.

This news release from WebSideStory has more including precise definitions for each category. "

Google AdSense begins rich media beta test - JenSense.com:
"Google AdSense is moving beyond the traditional text and graphical advertising to rich media, including interstitials, expanding ads and floating ads. AdSense began contacting publishers last week to be involved in the rich media limited beta test.

The campaigns will likely be site targeted, rather than contextual, but details on the actual implementation of these new ads are still under wraps. With these kind of top-secret beta tests, NDAs are often requirements before being accepted into it.

Floating ads are ads that either stay on top as the page is scrolled, or ones that 'float in' from the side of the page to the center of the page. Expanding ads are those that require user interaction to expand, either with a mouseover or a click. Interstitials are perhaps the most interesting addition to this rich media beta, because they are a format that people love to hate, and that are often more annoying than pop-ups. You have likely stumbled across an interstitial ad - they appear when you click through to read a page, and before they will show you the page, you are bypassed through to a full page ad that you must view before seeing the actual content you were wanting, often by having to click a link on the interstitial ad page..."

John Battelle's Searchblog: The Real Irony Here...:
"...is that Google is, for the first time, being a content editor. I've written extensively about how Google, by its very DNA, does not like to be an editor of content. But in China, it's doing exactly that. (SEW)

Google's first big editing job? Deciding which sites to exclude because they might offend the Chinese government. There's still time to pull out, guys. I've read your rationalizations, and Uncle Bill's as well. I don't buy them. I don't buy that this is what, in your heart, you believe is right. Sure, I understand the logic. But, well....in your heart, is this what you wanted to do? No? Then why did you do it?

I was having dinner with some dear friends tonight. They asked me why did Google do this? My answer: I think they convinced themselves it was the right thing to do. They thought themselves into it. And deep down, they aren't sure they did the right thing. At least, that's what I want to believe. Sure, Microsoft is going to go in. Yahoo and IBM are going to go in. But Google? We thought...well, we thought you were different."

A Picture Says 1000 Words About Google's Censorship In China:
"Plenty are writing and writing about Google's agreement to censor results for China. But pictures perhaps better illustrate the differences that Google now endorses.

Google Images Censors Too in China from Google Blogoscoped shows you how a search for [tiananmen square] on Google Images China provides happy scenes while over at uncensored Google Images, there are tanks rolling in.

I took a look for just [tiananmen] at Google Images China versus Google Images. Here's a side-by-side:..."

» Google AdSense Limits Referral Payout to 90 Day Window : Search Engine Journal:
"I’m not using this program, and probably just as well. Jensense reports that Google have quietly added a new term to all AdSense referrals generated by a publisher, a 90-day time limit on that referral, meaning a referred publisher must earn the $100 within the first 90 days, before the referring publisher is eligible to earn that $100 for a completed AdSense referral.

When a publisher that signed up for AdSense through your referral earns their initial $100.00 and is eligible for payout, we’ll credit your account with $100.00. *

Note the asterisk at the end. And at the bottom where the asterisk references:

* An AdSense referral is counted when a publisher, who has never previously enrolled in AdSense, creates an account and earns at least $100.00 within 90 days of sign-up. The referred publisher must be eligible for payment to qualify as a successful referral.

Let’s face it, most people signing up to Adsense for the first time aren’t going to make this (and if they were they’d 99% most likely already be using Adsense)."

New fine print to Adsense - what will outcome of this be???

» Google Adds Personalization to Toolbar Upgrade : Search Engine Journal:
"Google went live tonight with version 4 of its toolbar for IE (Firefox version coming soon I’m told). You can take a look at the laundry list of features and upgrades here.

Worth noting from my point of view are the following:

* Bookmarks (the ability to add any page or custom search to the toolbar; it’s the return of bookmarks to a degree)
* Custom buttons (Google has created a bunch of custom buttons and an API to allow third parties to create them [a la “widgets'])
* Send to (ability to share Web sites through email, SMS or publish on blogger). Yahoo! currently offers a comparable feature
* Account sign-in (from the toolbar; creates another incentive to sign up for an account/Gmail)

Google also enables users to put Local, Froogle, Image Search, Video, News and Gmail (as mentioned) into the toolbar. Will this impact usage of these services? It could well boost their visibility and, ultimately, their usage..."

Also see: "Google Gets Social" http://battellemedia.com/archives/002279.php

» Kanoodle to Power MSN Spaces Sponsored Links : Search Engine Journal:
"Kanoodle just announced today that they will be providing content targeted sponsored links on Microsoft’s MSN Spaces blog network.

“Through this deal with MSN, Kanoodle’s advertisers will have access to one of the best sites on the Web,” said Lance Podell, Kanoodle’s chief executive officer. “This arrangement demonstrates Kanoodle’s commitment to effectively provide publishers with the most relevant and highly monetizing sponsored links programs.”

This sounds like a very large contract for Kanoodle, which will be providing and serving as the marketplace for 10 million MSN Spaces users/blogs - quite a bit of reach for the sponsored search and contextual targeting company.

The Kanoodle MSN agreement will also pay the bloggers themselves via a revenue sharing model : “As part of its relationship with MSN, Kanoodle will enable MSN Spaces users to seamlessly add sponsored links to their Space. In return, participating members will receive a percentage of revenues generated by these links. Kanoodle will provide sponsored links and manage the reporting and payment aspects for all MSN Spaces members who opt-in to the program.“

The announced agreement however does make one wonder if MSN will ever get around to launching MSN adCenter to its full capability, which would include contextual ads. Additionally, why is MSN not working with Yahoo Publisher Network as Yahoo supplies the default linking for MSN Search results?

This agreement also may lead to some speculation that MSN is testing the Kanoodle BrightAds system before deeming it an acquisition target. "

Java developer tool backs AJAX | InfoWorld | News | 2006-01-25 | By Paul Krill:
"AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript + XML) programming figures prominently in a free upgrade of the Sun Java Studio Creator (Overview, Articles, Company) developer tool being released by Sun Microsystems (Profile, Products, Articles) on Wednesday.

Sun Java Studio Creator 2 is positioned as Sun's easy-to-use tool for Java development; it is geared toward corporate developers and Visual Basic developers. Looking to enable development of richer Internet applications, Version 2 features a set of JavaServer Faces components and code clips for building AJAX-style applications.

The reusable components, for functions such as mapping and text completion, enable developers to have AJAX functionality without having to program in AJAX, according to Sun. A progress bar component supports long-running processes in programs, such as an inventory check.

"These components themselves are style-able and theme-able," said Dan Roberts, Sun director of developer tools marketing. "That's important for developers who want to customize the look of [their] Web applications or coordinate the look of multiple Web applications.

"By theme-ing, you can define in a set of stylesheets how you want that page to look," Roberts said.

AJAX gives a boost to Sun's tool, according to analyst Stephen O'Grady, of RedMonk. "AJAX in particular is an important addition to Creator, because it allows for the generated Web applications to have a far richer user experience," O'Grady said in an e-mail.

But Java Studio Creator's focus on simplicity may turn away experienced developers. "The product, via substantial abstraction, allows for less skilled developers to rapidly generate relatively sophisticated Web applications. The catch is that more experienced developers may find some of the abstraction unnecessary and/or undesirable," said O'Grady.

Version 2 is based on the NetBeans 4.1 open source tools platform, which features functionality such as version control, refactoring, and support for class browsing and navigations in applications.

Also featured in Version 2 is a data provider API for working with data regardless of the source. For example, a Web service could be dragged and dropped on a page without having to write code to bind to that Web service. Data sources are treated identically.

The tool includes a drag-and-drop environment for Web application and portlet development. Version 2 also has updates to the application server, sample database, and developer kit that have been included in the package. A Cascading Style Sheets Editor enables developers to edit project style classes and themes, providing a customized look and feel in Web applications. Support for visual design, based on Java Specification Request 168, boosts portlet development.

Originally, Sun charged $99 for Sun Java Studio Creator, but dropped the fee in November. "The goal here is to remove all barriers to entry and get developers easy access to our tools," Roberts said. Sun hopes to generate revenue from its tools by selling ancillary services, training, and support."

FirstGov.gov revamps search functionality | InfoWorld | News | 2006-01-24 | By Grant Gross, IDG News Service:
"Internet users looking for information at the U.S. government's Web portal will get more complete and relevant results using a new search engine unveiled Tuesday, according to officials with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

The GSA's FirstGov.gov Web portal now will connect users to more than 40 million official U.S. government documents and Web pages, compared to 8 million under the old search technology. GSA contracted with Microsoft (Profile, Products, Articles) Corp. for its MSN Search functionality and Vivisimo (Profile, Products, Articles) Inc., for its contextual search software, to create the new search engine.

The new search, which went online late Monday, incorporates federal, state, local and tribal government Web sites, said M.J. Pizzella, associate administrator of GSA's Office of Citizen Services and Communications... "

John Battelle's Searchblog: Yahoo: All About My?:
"Om reports from a Yahoo retreat (I wanted to go, but had a school board meeting, sounds like it was really interesting!).

My contention is that forget search, because Yahoo has something better than that.
My.Yahoo.Com is no longer a portal page, but instead an �attention page� which can be and should be leveraged to become the aggregator site for complicated digital life.

I consider search the interface for all this, in fact. Om also notes that Yahoo's new Chief Product Officer, Ash Patel, is a recent Mac convert. "

Google admits online stumble:
"Google Inc., trying to extend its dominance of Internet search into the market for videos, said it made a mistake with the design of an online store.

Shows for sale weren't well promoted on the home page of Google Video, which was introduced earlier this month, Vice President Marissa Mayer said in an interview in Munich, Germany. That left customers unable to tap easily into hits such as CBS' top-rated "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and reality show "Survivor."

"We made a big mistake," Mayer, who oversees all of Google's search products, said Tuesday. "You can't come out and launch a product like Google Video and say 'CSI' and 'Survivor' are there if they're not on the home page."

...

In other Google developments, the company started a search engine in China on Wednesday that censors material about human rights, Tibet and other topics sensitive to Beijing -- defending the move as a trade-off granting Chinese greater access to other information.

Within minutes of the launch of the new site, bearing China's Web suffix ".cn," searches for the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement showed scores of sites omitted and users directed to articles condemning the group posted on Chinese government Web sites.

The move has been criticized by the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which also has chided Yahoo! Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com for submitting to China's censorship regime.

"When a search engine collaborates with the government like this, it makes it much easier for the Chinese government to control what is being said on the Internet," said Julien Pain, head of the group's Internet desk.

This report by Bloomberg News includes information "

Kevin Burton's Feed Blog: Yahoo Will Buy Digg - Announcement Early Next Week:
"I've now heard from two sources close to Yahoo which tell me that Yahoo is going to be buying Digg for nearly $30M. I haven't yet heard from anyone working for Yahoo that this is 100% (they obviously had 'no comment') but I'd be surprised if we didn't hear an announcement by early next week.

Since Digg launched, the service resonated with users who wanted a way to find hot and alternative news. I think what we're not seeing is a new space emerge alongside RSS aggregation with Digg, Reddit, and TailRank being major players.

If Digg continues on this pace they're going to need Yahoo's help scaling the site as hardware alone should become a major expense. With Delicious, Digg, Flickr and related services, Yahoo seems willing to do whatever it takes to 'own' Web 2.0."

Latest NetRatings Stats Show Status Quo With Search Engines:
"I always warn not to worry much about month-to-month changes with search popularity stats. The now updated search engine popularity stats I've posted from Nielsen//NetRatings illustrate why. I've added data for the past four months, and it shows no real major changes over that period. Indeed, you can look at all the data going back to the beginning of last year. It shows things have pretty much not changed -- good news for Yahoo, which is happy to maintain the status quo..."

When Carl Talked to Barry: Sources Say Time Warner Investor Carl Icahn Has Had Conversations with IAC/InterActive (Ask Jeeves) CEO Barry Diller:
"According to this Fortune.com story: Time Warner: Is Icahn looking to deal with Diller?, that legenday investor Carl Icahn (controls about 3.1% of outstanding TW shares) and who is preparing to wage a proxy fight for control of the TW Board of Directors has had conversations with IAC/InterActive president, Barry Diller.

From the article:

Icahn is also seeking to merge some of Time Warner's businesses -- AOL, the TV networks, and the movie studio -- with an Internet portal. A source says Icahn has had discussions with one or more portals about combining the businesses and then spinning off the publishing and cable operations. And other sources confirm there have been discussions between Icahn's camp and IAC, the Internet company run by Barry Diller [and new owner of Ask Jeeves]. How could Icahn pry those businesses out of Time Warner using IAC, given that TWX is nine times bigger than IAC? That's unclear. It's possible that Diller, Icahn, and [Bruce] Wasserstein could come up with additional partners. [My emphasis]Right now Diller says the discussions are neither hot nor ongoing.

Is a discussion(s) between Icahn and Diller a surprise? Not really.

You probably remember that right before the Google/AOL deal was announced last month, Icahn issued a public statement calling that the Google deal a "disasterous decision," if it, "makes it more difficult in any way or effectively preclude a merger or other type of transaction. In a statement he specifically mentions the names of four companies:

* IAC/InterActive
* eBay
* Yahoo
* Microsoft

Icahn's statement added:
...a recent Goldman Sachs report concludes, "In contrast to the conventional perspective, we believe that eBay, followed by InterActive Corp, would provide greater incremental benefits to AOL's option value with fewer conflicts of interest than Yahoo! while MSN and Google would provide the least incremental benefits."

Interesting days indeed. Stay tuned. "

» Yahoo Publisher Network Expanding This Spring : Search Engine Journal:
"Yahoo is preparing its answer to Google AdSense, the Yahoo Publisher Network, and has been going about the launch of their contextual advertising offering in a slow and careful fashion. Instead of letting mass publishers apply for and automatically receive Yahoo Publisher Network accounts, Yahoo is inviting samples of United States based publishers which fit into certain advertising categories.

Such ’smart growth’ tactics by Yahoo are leading to the monitoring of ROI and controlled reach of Yahoo Search Marketing advertiser ads, as Yahoo is taking the quality approach as opposed to quantity.

For example, Yahoo is following a strict editorial review process which includes :

* editorial review and assessment on quality of publisher
* no hate or adult related sites,
* higher standard of quality sites
* size of the site
* how vertical or niche is the site

With somewhere around 3,000 quality publishers currently serving YPN advertisements on their sites and in their RSS feeds, Yahoo has spent the past two quarters planning expansion of the network in what is gearing up to be an active year in the world of site monetizing. During the Q4 earnings conference last week, Yahoo CEO Terry Semel discussed the vision behind the Yahoo Publisher Network as going beyond the offerings of a normal context..."

» Ask Jeeves Launches New Image Search Engine : Search Engine Journal:
"Ask Jeeves is expanding its internal search offerings by launching its first proprietary image search technology, available on Ask Jeeves at pictures.ask.com. Ask Picture Search is the engine’s first internally-created index of images with new & innovative image search ranking algorithms. Image Search accounts for 16% of all searches on Ask Jeeves.

“Image search is the second-leading type of search on Ask Jeeves after Web search. The improvements we are introducing today move the needle for searchers where they really need it,” said Jim Lanzone, senior vice president of search properties at Ask Jeeves, Inc.

Ask Jeeves’ new Image Search includes improved ranking algorithms, patent-pending image recognition technologies and, for the first time, Ask’s own image index.

Ask says that The image search technology utilizes Ask Jeeves’ unique algorithmic search ranking, which clusters the Web into topic areas and determines the authoritativeness of pages and images among their topic community. This approach requires additional computations beyond that of other ranking methodologies that simply evaluate the popularity of pages and images on the Web at large. Ask Jeeves combines this methodology with new sophisticated image recognition technologies to further increase relevance. These patent-pending recognition technologies measure a wide variety of image attributes, such as image type, shape, brightness and contrast level to determine picture quality. The combination returns extremely relevant, high quality images for unparalleled visual relevance.

“Our new image search combines Ask Jeeves’ unique text ranking and clustering algorithms with sophisticated image recognition technologies and our new image index,” said Apostolos Gerasoulis, executive vice president of search technology for Ask Jeeves. “Our goal is to give users the best technology and tools to get the most out of the Image Web.”

Additionally, Ask Jeeves is expanding Image Smart Answers and all image search results can be saved to users’ MyJeeves personalized search by clicking the ‘save’ link under each image. "

John Battelle's Searchblog: Earnings Whispers:
"It's been a not so great quarter for earnings in our world, and now comes news (via SBeat) that a Yahoo employee (Amr Awadallah) is posting musings about why he thinks Google might be in line to miss earnings, or, at the very least, has employed tried and true tricks to increase its revenues in the past, and is not doing so this time.

This is why I love the blog world. You keep finding gems like Amr..."

Traffick: My Yahoo! Gets Ajaxy: Search Engine Enlightenment | RSS: traffick.com/atom.xml:
"...Anyway, Yahoo! is finally getting with the times and has built in some Ajax functionality into My Yahoo! Users can now move around components with drag and drop, and you can supposedly view entire news articles on the My Yahoo! page without leaving the page, as with Netvibes, although it doesn't seem to work for me at the moment. (Upon further research, Yahoo! has apparently removed this non-working functionality; it will surely return after the kinks are worked out).

All of this is certainly in response to the proliferation of purely Ajax-driven personal portal pages, which are far more engaging than the stodgy old static pages like Yahoo!'s. Old school portals like Yahoo know they're falling behind and they're scrambling to catch up.

My favorite of these neuvo-portals (there's another new word... I'm on a roll tonight) is still Netvibes, which continues to out-innovate its competitors. Seems like they add a neat new widget every day, and they promise big things to come. Watch this space!..."

CNN.com - Apple changes iTunes feature - Jan 23, 2006:
"SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- Apple Computer Inc. has altered its iTunes software after users raised privacy concerns over a new spy-like song-recommendation feature in the music jukebox program.

The Cupertino, California-based company last Tuesday switched the so-called 'MiniStore' feature to give users the choice of turning it on, rather than having it automatically activate with its new version update of iTunes..."

TechCrunch » Healthline Just Raised Serious Cash:
"San Fransico-based medical search engine Healthline (launched in October 2005) just raised $14 million in a recapitalized Series A round of financing. They also are written up by Bob Tedeschi in tomorrow’s New York Times.

The round was led by Vantage Point. Reed Elsevier and Mitsui (Mitsui recently invested in Feedster as well) also participated in the round.

This was a recap round for Healthline, which has raised a total of around $30 million since its founding in 1999. It is an absolutely wonderful search engine."

InformationWeek | | IBM Turns Over Search Project To Open Source Community | January 23, 2006:
"IBM is open-sourcing important components of the Unstructured Information Management Architecture, in an effort to spur the growth of collaborative enterprise search technology.

By W. David Gardner - TechWeb News - Jan 23, 2006 12:05 PM

IBM said Monday that it will begin turning over key intellectual property from its UIMA (Unstructured Information Management Architecture) project to the open source community in an effort to spur the growth of the collaborative enterprise search technology...

'Developers can start working with the code,' said IBM's Mark Andrews in an interview. 'Before UIMA, there was no easy way to (collaborate on) search.' The firm plans to move the entire project to a full open source community development model before the end of the year.

IBM said it is publishing UIMA source code to open source development site SourceForge.net."

Also see:
http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=532409
http://sourceforge.net/projects/uima-framework

InformationWeek | Blogging | Ex-Senator Bill Bradley Joins Blog Company's Board | January 18, 2006:
"...Gather seeks to organize content among its members, who are bonded through the portal's community, rather than having to blog away on their own, according to the firm. Gather plans to integrate community ratings with advertising and a rewards system to compensate contributors. Membership on Gather is free..."

InformationWeek | Software Licensing | Novell Plans Corporate Licensing Overhaul | January 20, 2006: "Novell Plans Corporate Licensing Overhaul

A new option will let customers buy licenses on a named-user or per-device basis, paving the way for transaction-based pricing... "

Home Buyers Look Online:
"JANUARY 24, 2006

The Internet is transforming the way Americans buy and sell their homes.

Nine out of 10 home buyers still use a real estate agent to purchase a home, but use of the Internet to search for a home has risen dramatically over the past several years, transforming the way the real estate industry does business.

According to new figures from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), use of the Internet to search for a home increased from only 2% of buyers in 1995 to 77% in 2005 — it now ranks as the number one most-used aid.

The next most-mentioned source of information for home seekers was the yard sign, mentioned by 71% of buyers.

When asked where they first learned about the home they purchased, 36% said from a real estate agent — 24% of buyers identified the Internet, up from 15% in 2004 and only 2% in 1997.

Does this mean that realtors, in a classic middle-man position, are about to become disintermediated? Apparently not. In fact, the industry is embracing new technology.

"The real estate industry today bears little resemblance to the way we did business ten years ago. It is hard to find another industry that has adopted technology so readily to its customers," said NAR President, Thomas Stevens. "Realtors have invested a lot of time and money in building information technology, and because of these efforts, more consumers than ever are using the Internet in their home search."

If you wonder why, Mr. Stevens explains, "Buyers who use the Internet in searching for a home are more likely to use a real estate agent than non-Internet users."

The survey showed that 81% of buyers who use the Internet to search for a home purchase through a real estate agent, while only 63% of non-Internet users buy through an agent — they are more likely to purchase directly from a builder or an owner they knew in advance of the transaction.

Realtor.com was the most popular Internet resource, used by 54% of buyers, followed by multiple listing service (MLS) Web sites at 50% and real estate company sites at 38% and real estate agent Web sites at 31%.

For more information on this industry — or any other — online, search eMarketer's eStat Database."

CNN.com - MySpace intent on staying user-friendly - Jan 20, 2006:
"LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -- If MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe has his way, the quirky social networking site he co-founded two years ago will hold tight to its homegrown roots, even though it now boasts more unique users than Google or America Online and has a new owner at its helm.

Still, the company's recent acquisition by News Corp., one of the most powerful news conglomerates on the planet, has some of the site's 43 million members nervous that their online home might become subject to the rules of an overbearing parent.

"The secret to our success is our one-to-one relationship with our users," the 39-year-old DeWolfe says about the portal he created with co-founder Tom Anderson. "All the site's features have stemmed from users' requests. We don't plan to change that at all. The folks at News Corp. understand that."..."

John Battelle's Searchblog: What's the Big Deal?:
"...in the Google v. DOJ case? Well, I've argued it's the slippery slope. But reading through the subpoena, it's clear that from where Google stands, there's something else at stake.

Remember this whole goat rodeo (on the size of indexes)? Remember how slippery both Yahoo and Google got when we tried to figure out exactly how many documents were in their indexes? Well, turns out, that's pretty much what the DOJ is trying to do as well. Hence, Google's defense on a "trade secrets" basis.

Apparently, the subpoena originally asked for a lot more than just a million addresses, as reported Thursday. From the motion the DOJ filed to force Google to comply with the subpoena:

"The subpoena asks Google to produce an electronic file containing '[a]ll URL's that rea available to be located through a query on your company's search engine as of July 31 2005."

and

"all queries that have been entered on your company' search engine between June 1, 2005 and July 31, 2005."

HELLO. You think Google is going to give that over? Me no think so.

This is why Google originally fought the order. The DOJ then narrowed its request to a random sample of one million URLs and agreed to not ask for personally identifying info on the search queries, but it still wants all search queries for a one week period. No way in hell Google would give that up, given the company's penchant for secrecy. Sure, the DOJ might guarantee that the data would not enter the public record, but, once in the DOJ's hands, it's out of Google's control.

So how to fight it? Well, standing up to the DOJ and getting major praise for doing so is a very smart strategy, in my book. As much as I'd love to believe Google is fighting this for heroic reasons, I'd wager that the data has more to do with it.

Also, just a note, but it's interesting to note that Google now has its very own DOJ case, just like Microsoft did. "

What's Wrong At Marc Andreessen's Ning?:
"Just about everything, in Mike Arrington's opinion. The online service for creating customized social applications out of other Web services--do-it-yourself mashups, in other words--launched only last October by the Netscape cofounder along with Ning CEO Gina Bianchini. Mostly, Mike thinks the promising company hasn't moved fast enough to help non-programmers create these applications. As a result, he says:

The reality of Ning is that it’s lost whatever coolness it had, no one uses it and Ning is going to have a very hard time getting people’s attention when they finally do roll out better functionality.

Hope to hear from Marc for his take, but Mike's analysis sounds reasonable. Still, it may be a tad early to write them off completely. Things do move ever faster these days, but if Ning really does find ways to make truly DIY Web services, I'll be there. As 37Signals' Jason Fried says, cool may wear off, but usefulness never does..."

» Yahoo Answers & Yahoo Publisher Network To Pay Users? : Search Engine Journal:
"Let’s see, the future of Yahoo is Social Media. Social Media is interactive user generated content such as tagging, blogs, MyWeb, user reviews, photo sharing, ratings, and perhaps even user generated mashups (I’m thinking that Ning is an obvious acquisition target) and, oh yes, Yahoo Answers.

With plans to differentiate not only their search engine from the algorithmic Google, but also their travel, autos, and almost every other Yahoo channel - one question comes to mind; “How to mobilize 200 million active registered users?”

Sure a good percentage of those users are going to get big thrills out of seeing their photo or avatar next to a local business review (or in some cases ALL of the business reviews) or when answering a distressed Yahoo user’s questions. As the novelty of having your name up in pixels wears off however, Yahoo’s going to have to find another bone to throw. And it looks like they are planning just that and a lot more.

Using the same mentality as my Grandfather ("Hey, go wash my boat and I’ll give you $5.” Or “Here’s $5 kid, now scram."), Yahoo will be offering their registered members the ability to join the Yahoo Publisher Network and perhaps earn revenue towards the contextually targeted Yahoo Search Marketing ads which are shown on the Answers that those members contribute..."

» ReachLocal Delivers Local Search to FTD Florists : Search Engine Journal:
"ReachLocal and FTD Florists are working together on a customized local search campaign in which 20,000 FTD merchants will be advertising on Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing, IYP’s like SuperPages, and Advertising.com. According to the agreement, FTD will implement all of its local search advertising through ReachLocal.

ReachLocal, which is almost perfect for the small town mom & pop store, uses a low maintenance local search marketing interface which uses customized toll free numbers for local search lead tracking and ReachLocal hosted landing pages for lead and sales generation.

Albeit an easy system for the novice online marketer to understand, more experienced search marketers with higher budgets may find it more efficient, speedier and more cost effective to purchase directly from the search engines or work with a local integrated search marketing agency.

“FTD is the most respected and recognizable name in the floral industry, and we’re thrilled to partner with the organization to bring our leading online marketing solution to thousands of florists,” said Zorik Gordon, president and CEO, ReachLocal. “FTD provides tremendous value to its member florists, and our solution will take its advertising and marketing capabilities to the next level – helping them incorporate the most dynamic advertising tool available today: local search.” "

BusinessWeek on Yahoo and Social Search:
"BusinessWeek's Ben Elgin takes a look at social search, focusing on Yahoo, in his article: Yahoo's Social Circle.

Ben's article offers a review of recent "social search" purchases from Yahoo including WebJay, del.icio.us, and Flickr.

Elgin writes:

These deals are key building blocks in one of Yahoo's biggest bets. By cultivating online communities -- and encouraging people to tap into the collective knowledge of these groups -- Yahoo is hoping to change the way people find information online.

Let's also not forget the introduction of homegrown services like Yahoo 360 (beta), MyWeb, and Yahoo Answers.

He goes on to say:

Social search aims to shift power from Web publishers, who create these links, to everyday Internet users by examining their bookmarks or giving them tools to express their opinions.

The article also focuses on those who are skeptics to the whole social search "thing." They include that, at least to this point, "most Internet users haven't even heard of Flickr or del.icio.us, let alone spent time sharing photos online or posting bookmarks of their favorite sites." He also correctly (IMHO) that it takes effort and time (something many people don't have enough off) to make social search work well for both the individual and group as a whole.

Vivisimo/Clusty CEO, Raul Valdes-Perez is quoted saying that the wisdom of crowds might not trump what "raw" computing power can offer.

The article has more on Google's feelings about social search that Elgin characterizes as "tepid." He also includes as mention of Eurekster (kudos Ben on remembering a pioneer) and includes a comment from Charlene Li who says that, "social search is not one of these things that will take off overnight. It will take a lot of time to build."

So, the question is how long, if ever, to make these services mainstream and if, the smaller ones, can keep going if and until social search becomes something mom and grandma are doing.

Personally, I see a combination of the raw computing power that Valdes-Perez describes coupled to some degree with professionals, yes humans, to help make the most efficient use of this power. Remember, what some call metadata, tagging, etc. has been done by librarians for years and is really cataloging. Granted, it's not at the scale that the open web poses.

However, the skill sets info pros (aka librarians and other info scientists )have and are trained to have could prove to be very useful both with large general-purpose engines as well as the booming search vertical marketplace. Perhaps this is new and growing role for information professionals and a reason why library and information science graduate programs have never been more crowded."

Why Viral Marketing Is Essential To Low-Cost Search Marketing:
"...Viral marketing campaigns both online and off are especially important to small businesses and start-ups because they usually cost almost nothing. The real investment in getting a viral marketing campaign going is the time and effort that it takes to build a product worth talking about. That means that the small businesses that have more creativity than marketing dollars can still find themselves turning a nice profit thanks to a healthy influx of referred customers.

What this all really boils down to is a staunch reminder that if you spend your time and effort creating a really good product, both the search engines and your customers will like you. Yes you need to spend time making sure that your site is indexable by the search engines and some keyword research and copy editing also tends to pay off, but the reality continues to be that search engines are simply trying to deliver the best quality site to a searcher. Make sure that you are building that site and that you are offering those products and both search engines and shoppers will find their way to your door.

It's funny when you think about it... Ralph Waldo Emerson died more than one hundred years ago, but he still understood viral marketing. That's why he left us with this famous quote:

Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door."

InformationWeek | Google | Google's Achilles Heel | January 23, 2006:
"Too Dependent On Search Advertising

Google's chief strength--its dominance in the search advertising business--is also its main vulnerability. Currently, 99 percent of its revenues come from search-related advertising. The remaining 1 percent comes from sales of its enterprise search appliance.

"Google needs to broaden its horizons," said Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with Hoefner and Arnett, pointing to the fact that although Yahoo also gets the bulk of its revenues from advertising--85 percent--those dollars are divided 50-50 between search and display, or "branded" ads.

Online advertising is divided into two types of ads: search and display advertising. Search-related ads are the simple text-based ads that appear on the right side of the page after completing a search. Display, or branded, ads include the banner ads commonly displayed on Yahoo and American Online; they contain graphics and, increasingly, video and animation, and are placed on pages specified by the advertiser.

Display advertising is an area that Google has yet to venture into. And although Google owns nearly 70 percent of the paid search advertising market, it only controlled 28% of the $12.9 billion market for all online advertising in 2005, according to eMarketer.

"Google needs to make that leap into display advertising," said Charlene Li, a Forrester analyst. "Right now, their advertising base is really comprised of direct marketers, not traditional brand marketers, and they really don't have the expertise and credibility that Microsoft and Yahoo and AOL have in that area."

The foray into radio advertising with the dMarc acquisition is a step in the right direction, said Li.

...Click fraud presents a more serious threat. Google search-related advertising is known as pay-per-click, because advertisers don't pay for the display space; they only pay Google when an Internet user actually clicks on the link. The price per click depends on the going price for the search term in question, which is determined by auction.

But there have been numerous examples of times when advertisers have had to pay for clicks that turned out to be manipulated or fraudulent in some way.

In June 2005, Click Defense Inc. filed a class action suit, alleging that Google has refused to take serious action against click fraud, leaving its advertisers vulnerable. Click Defense withdrew as representative plaintiff in the suit in December, and Advanced Internet Technologies (AIT), a Web hosting company, filed to take Click Defense's place as lead plaintiff.

AIT, like Click Defense, alleges that Google has not taken steps to reduce click fraud on its pay-per-click advertisements despite the fact that is aware of the problem. This negligence, AIT says, has cost it hundreds of thousands of dollars. Google says it is still in the process of determining how it will handle the allegations.

Google has also taken some heavy public relations hits for its Google Books Search project (originally called Google Print), which has as its ambitious goal to scan millions of books and make them searchable online. In September, the Authors Guild filed a class-action lawsuit, charging that Google violated copyright law by digitizing books without the permission of copyright holders. In October of this year, major publishers represented by the Association of American Publishers jumped on the bandwagon with a suit of their own. Still, in November, Google resumed its controversial copying of library books. Then, also in October, Rates Technology Inc. filed suit against Google claiming that Google Talk illegally uses Rates' technology for billing VoIP phone calls. Google Talk is Google's VoIP and instant messaging platform, which the company launched earlier this year. The suit alleges infringement of two patents obtained in 1995 and 2001. Rates is seeking patent enforcement, damages, and court costs, and an injunction against Google's use of the technology.

"You take this cluster of legal problems, and it begins to get serious," said Stephen Arnold, a Google watcher and author of "The Google Legacy: How Google's Internet Search is Transforming Application Software." "It may not shut down services, but it could cause advertisers to jump ship."

Eroding public perception

Legal issues, privacy concerns and perceived conflict of interest are eroding Google's reputation, bringing growing skepticism about Google's famous mantra, "don't be evil."

"Through sheer ambition, it is risking the goodwill it built up as a scrappy startup with naively benign objectives," said Schatsky. "It's very dramatic to see the change in public perception from technology wunderkind to Big Brother."

Privacy advocates fear that Google is collecting too much data about its users' search habits.

"Google is amassing an enormous amount of information about people, and it's not just public Web pages," said Bruce Schneier, founder and chief technology officer at Counterpane Internet Security Inc., a security managed services and consulting firm. "There are enormous concerns that Google knows too much about you." Schneier also worries about the "inadvertent" aspects of Google's products and services that put users at risk. "Google's search engine is so good that hackers can use it to search for vulnerabilities that can be exploited," he said. "We’ve seen worms that use Google as a reconnaissance tool. These are very serious things that Google needs to address."

A major privacy issue that Google refuses to discuss has to do with its policy on complying with law enforcement requests for data, said Chris Hoffnagle, legislative counsel for privacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). "On the commercial side, Google's policies look pretty good: they're very clear that they don't sell data to other companies," said Hoffnagle. "But they have refused to comment on the legal side. You have all these different products collecting information, and it becomes a pretty comprehensive and centralized database about individuals. How is Google handling requests from law enforcement? They won't say, which makes me believe that they know their policy is unpalatable."

Simson Garfinkel, a fellow at the Center for Research on Computation at Society at Harvard University, and the author of "Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century," said that Google has done a better job than most companies in making its policies both clear and understandable. "Unfortunately, it is at a disadvantage because of the lack of strong data protection legislation in the United States," said Garfinkle. "Google should have a chief privacy officer. I don't understand why it hasn't created this position."

The privacy issue came to a head last week, as Google said it plans to resist a subpoena from the U.S. Justice Department, seeking information about searches. The Justice Department is looking to reverse a court ruling claiming that Child Online Protection Act anti-pornography laws are un-Constitutional. Google won praise from privacy advocates for standing up to the Justice Department.

Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo went along with the subpoenas, saying that, since the information was aggregated search queries, no personal information would be conveyed to the federal government and therefore there were no privacy issues involved.

Google faces the perception of bias as a result of its recently consummated deal to buy 5% of AOL for $1 billion. Google has always prided itself on being neutral, a level playing field for advertisers to display their ads. But with the AOL deal to display banner ads and to directly sell Google search advertising, the search engine company opens itself up to more criticism.

"They've mounted a public relations campaign to counter the perception of bias, but the perception is definitely out there," said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Watch.

And there's the very real fact that unscrupulous people can manipulate Google searches, leading to a distrust of results. The British newspaper The Guardian successfully influenced the Google search index with a spoof of a footwear product. At the start of the experiment, there were more than 11,500 research results on the term "eco-friendly flip flops." Within 2 days of the spoofers creating the site, Google discovered it, but ranked it at the lowest 100 pages of search results. But within days, by the end of the experiment--during which the newspaper used a number of relatively low-tech techniques for manipulating the results--the spoof site had rocketed to the top place of the other 11,500 sites. Lack of Focus

Some analysts warn that there's the danger that Google is simply spreading itself too thin. "If they continue to expand into other areas, they could become a behemoth, slow to act and meet the needs of its core customers," said Jim Murphy, research director at AMR.

"Google has been very successful as a search engine, and very successful with Web advertising," said Sherman. "But look at some of the other projects they have attempted--they're taking some major steps away from what they are good at, and this imposes some significant risks."

In addition to all the other projects it has cooking, Google is running a wireless trials in various cities around the globe, leading some to speculate that it will eventually put up a large-scale wireless network that spans multiple cities or even countries.

And the dMarc acquisition is only the latest in a series of buy-outs. In May, Google acquired Dodgeball, the developer of social-networking software for mobile devices. In July, Google invested in Current Communications Group LLC, a company that offers broadband access over power lines. Also in July, the company snatched up the startup Android. Although little is known about Android, published reports of its activities include an operating system for mobile phones.

About all this divergence, Sullivan said, "this is potentially a significant challenge. Anytime they have a problem with search, people will say, it's because they're not focused on the right things. They have all these great people, but it's not as though all these people are concentrating on the core search technology."

IDC 's theory is that Google is looking to be a services rather than technology organization. "One of the things we did to poke around and see what domain names they own, and it's possible that they will be getting into banking, auctions, micropayments--all of that would make sense," said Susan Feldman, research vice president of content technologies for IDC, who also expects to see Google getting into hosted application services. "We could see them acting as a middleman to a whole range of companies, providing a range of services through partnerships with content producers and application vendors."

And, of course, the risk of getting into hosted applications is that there are plenty of companies out there who already possess a lot more experience, said Forrester's Li, who also expects to see collaboration software, office suites, and other applications coming from Google, with or without partners. "The downside is that they would be facing a host of competition from vendors with much more expertise in how to design, build, and market applications," she said.

"They seem to be pursuing every business opportunity they can think of," said Rich Skrenta CEO, Topix, a firm that focused on local search. "I really wonder about Google in five years: will it primarily be a search company, or a collection of freaky stuff?"

Mighty Microsoft

We've seen this scenario before. An upstart appears, with a better or perceived better technology, is seen as cool and exciting, and word gets out that we finally have a Microsoft killer on our hands. After all--or so the prevailing wisdom goes--Microsoft has become large and bloated, and unable to compete effectively. Then Microsoft pulls out the stops and the competitor dies.

Microsoft has already making moves, with a massive reorganization and an announcement of a "sea change" in its software strategy that moves toward delivering services and value over the Internet. And in late 2005, in a widely published memo, Microsoft chief technology officer Ray Ozzie singled out Google as a company that Microsoft had seriously underestimated.

Indeed, there's high stakes here. Microsoft could see the erosion of its control over the platform for the next generation of software application development, according to faculty members of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. "Google's goal is to reduce people's dependency on Microsoft," said Raphael Amit, a management professor at Wharton.

"The No. 1 competition for Google is Microsoft," declared Chris LeTocq, an analyst with Guernsey Research. "Google owns Web search, and is moving to the desktop, and Microsoft owns the desktop and is moving to the Web. All the comparisons and the risks can be found right there."

Author Arnold has analyzed Google's patent portfolio, technical publications, and engineering documents and concluded that Google has an ambitious plan to push the battle for the hearts and minds of computer users off the desktop and onto the Web.

"As everyone knows, Microsoft owns the desktop. But it's possible that the core platform could be moved to a higher level, and programs could be written to the browser rather than to the operating system," said Arnold. This was the goal of Netscape's Marc Andreessen, back in the 1995 when Andreessen famously boasted that the Web would reduce computer operating systems to nothing more than a "poorly debugged set of device drivers."

That statement turned out to be the red flag for Microsoft, which reared up and crushed Netscape. Although the struggle between the two companies was dubbed a "browser" war, it was really a struggle for control of the operating system platform. When applications are written in the Web browser, they work equally well on any operating system. Although individual computers still need operating systems, it doesn't matter which one, from the point of view of the application. Thus the operating system may eventually become the commodity that Andreesen predicted it would be--and that hits Microsoft where it hurts, according to Amit.

Search Engine Watch's Sherman doesn't believe Google will take on Microsoft directly so much as encroach on its territory as digital convergence becomes more of a reality. "Is it possible that Google will offer an Office clone? Perhaps, but I don't see Google as having that as a primary mission," said Sherman. "Rather, the whole notion of what we think of as computing is changing and evolving. Google is very focused on making it easier to use and consume information, no matter what kind of media, or what kind of device you happen to be using. More and more, it looks like it will collide with Microsoft in that arena."

Stymied By Its Own Success?

Although most people think of Google as a search company, they are really a future-looking media company--and this is something they have yet to master.

"Whether they like it or not, they are a media company," said Allen Weiner, an analyst at Gartner. "What they provide is very valuable aspects of media, all wrapped up in search. But they're missing the internal talent and internal capability to think like a media company. Everything is from a technology perspective, and that is a real shortcoming."

And the sheer velocity of growth could seriously impact the company. "It's very difficult to manage this kind of growth, they hired 800 people last quarter, and when you grow that fast, how do you know that all the people you've hired will be employed as efficiently?" said CitiGroup's Mahaney. "Problems inevitably occur when you're ramping up at this rate." ..."

Whither WiMAX?:
"Remember when Uncle Sam used to talk about using the freed spectrum from switching analog TV transmissions to digital for emergency communications?
According to Michael Gallagher, assistant secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, come 2009, that spectrum will be allocated instead for the WiMax technology that has been much-touted by Intel as the way to offer universal Web access to the masses.

Gallagher at a wireless symposium in San Jose last week called the move an effort to stay "one step ahead" of Asia and Europe in providing affordable, widespread access.

Is he kidding? I can't imagine he hasn't been to places like Korea and France, where broadband is more widespread, an order of magnitude faster than even the top speeds offered by U.S. wireless carriers and cheaper per megabyte?

What's the real reason by this sudden effort? Cash, and plenty of it. The government expects to rake in billions from auctioning off the spectrum, which may become more valuable than gold if enough big-name players like Rupert Murdoch and Craig McCaw sign on more completely to the idea of using WiMax to deliver a quadruple play of services to major U.S. markets.

There's nothing wrong with auctioning the spectrum, since the government plans to free up obscure bandwidth elsewhere for military and emmergency communications, but let's at least be honest about the intentions here."

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | Fists, bombs and blood: Google's brave new world of home video gets off to a shaky start:
"· Democratic ideal of shared films marred by violence
· Critics attack search giant for amorality and secrecy

Xan Brooks and Bobbie Johnson - Monday January 23, 2006 - The Guardian

It was to have marked the dawn of a new age in entertainment, a democracy where the home movie went hand in hand with the Hollywood classic and where film and TV shows were available at the click of a mouse. The Google Video Store offers users the chance to download everything from basketball games to amateur videos to musty episodes of The Brady Bunch or I Love Lucy. But some of its wares are less savoury than others.

Launched last week by the internet search giant, Google Video claims that its 'user-generated' content is carefully vetted by both human and software-based censors. However, the new website, video.google.com, currently hosts a number of home movies that contain explicit scenes of apparently non-simulated violence. The company's stated terms of service prohibit films involving 'invasions of personal privacy' and 'promotions of hate or incitement of violence'..."

Anxiety Surrounds Upcoming Google Report - BizReport:
"Yahoo's financial results provide a clue about how Google fared during the same quarter because the two adversaries run the Internet's two largest advertising networks.

Yahoo! Inc. salesman Jason Daley holds up a Yahoo! basketball at the company store at their headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006. Yahoo Inc. will provide the first concrete information about how much more advertising shifted to the Internet during the holiday shopping season. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

As advertisers have been shifting more money online, the earnings expectations and stock prices for both Yahoo and Google have been steadily rising.

Yahoo nearly doubled its fourth-quarter profit to $683 million, but its earnings per share _ excluding some unusual accounting expenses _ still fell a penny below analyst estimates.

Some analysts think there's a chance Google will also disappoint investors when it releases its fourth-quarter results Jan. 31, given that investors are anticipating even more rapid growth from the Mountain View, Calif. company..."

Slashdot | Preview Of New Beagle Search UI:
"...'The new Beagle Search UI was merged into Beagle CVS last week, after being developed as a separate module known as 'Holmes'. A preview is now online with plenty of screenshots. It currently doesn't look as smooth or well integrated as Spotlight, but it does look promising and it is still in a very early stage.'..."

In Google Shock, Shares Fall Nearly 10 Percent:
"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)—Google Inc. shares tumbled 8.5 percent Friday—their sharpest drop ever—as mounting concern over Internet sector growth fused with fears over Google's heady valuation.

The stock that bullish analysts on Wall Street said earlier this month was headed soon for $600 turned tail and fell below $400 as the shares suffered their worst day and week of trading since the Web search leader went public in August, 2004.

Suddenly—with little warning if you ignore the two rare brokerage downgrades of Google 's stock earlier this week to 'sell'—the phenomenon that has come to embody rapid growth and speculative possibilities of high-tech stocks was sinking.

Analysts pointed to any number of different reasons ranging from a sluggish sector outlook by rival Yahoo earlier this week to a legal spat between the U.S government and Google..."

Europe Seeks Its Search Engine - Internet Life - NewsFactor Network:
"Germany and France are negotiating plans to inject 1 billion to 2 billion euros over five years into a public-private initiative to develop a series of sophisticated digital tools including a next-generation Internet search engine, a project organizer said.

The program, called Quaero, would be paid for by the French and German governments and technology companies in both countries, including Thomson, Siemens, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom. Philippe Paban, a spokesman for Thomson, which is leading the French effort, said Quaero's organizers might be ready to announce details of the project by next week.

Quaero, which means "I seek" in Latin, still faces several hurdles, including scrutiny of its public funding by the European Commission and uncertainty in Germany, where no single company has taken the lead and a coalition government elected in November has yet to publicly endorse the project. Organizers are also fighting some skeptics who maintain that Quaero could waste taxpayers' money in academic research that produces no commercial benefit.

The project, conceived in April by President Jacques Chirac of France and Gerhard Schroder, then the chancellor of Germany, is an attempt by two of Europe's largest economies to develop a local challenger to Google, the California-based search engine, which spent $327 million on research and development in the first nine months of 2005.

In a speech this month laying out his 2006 agenda, Chirac spoke to those concerns, saying: "We must take up the challenge posed by the American giants Google and Yahoo. For that, we will launch a European search engine, Quaero."

Quaero organizers said they were racing this month to complete the main details of financing, which one participant in the project, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity and fluid nature of the discussions, said was "in the realm of 1 billion to 2 billion," or $1.2 billion to $2.4 billion, over five years..."

» Here, look! New Google service strips out ads and pix from websites | IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband | ZDNet.com:
"What if I were to tell you I've found a way to use a thus-far unannounced Google service to strip out the graphics from your favorite Web sites? Something ideal for Web browsing over dial-up PCs and low-bandwidth, non-broadband handsets?

Well I think I stumbled on it.

This unbranded Google 'service,' if that's what you call it, is so stealth that Google doesn't even give it a title. And ya can't find it on Google Labs, either..."

Is Behavioral Targeting Better?:
"JANUARY 23, 2006

All marketers know that targeting is good. But now on the Web they must also decide what kind of targeting to use, behavioral or contextual?

According to a new "Eye Tracking" study, conducted by Next Century Media, and sponsored by Tacoda, a provider of behaviorally-targeted online advertising solutions, behavioral ads win hands down.

The study showed that behavioral targeting generated an average of 17% more ad looks than contextual targeting. Furthermore, after the first exposure, the advantage actually increased — "skyrocketed," to use the language of the release — to 54%.

That means that regardless of context, ads unrelated to a page's content generated interest even on repeat viewing, Tacoda CEO Dave Morgan told MediaPost. "Behavioral advertising does not seem to suffer the same banner burnout when you present these ads out of context."

In other words, the more you show a behavioral targeted ad, the more it gets noticed. That is not always, or even usually, the case with advertising.

Results like these would catch any marketer's eye. But as Advertising Age wrote, "While it's not surprising the study, conducted by Next Century Media, an interactive TV and online ad research firm, would come out in favor of its backer's main business, the results were nonetheless impressive in how strongly they favor behavior-targeted ads."

Quite impressive — and absolutely contradictory to long-held media practices, which hold that you put ads in editorial environments where they "fit." It has been a tenet of magazine advertising for decades.

When asked how behavioral targeting could generate more looks than contextual targeting Bill Harvey, Next Century Media CEO, replied, "It is probably a combination of more relevancy and less clutter."

He elaborated, "It could be that there are just too many ads for the same product category attacking the user's eye in contextual targeting, causing the user to avoid looking at any of them. Even though they are on that site researching a planned purchase, they might try to stay focused on the editorial content during that process, resisting the bombardment of similar ad messages. On the other hand, when in the market for a product, and finding an ad for that product in a completely unrelated site, the user might react to the surprise of that unexpected event by looking at the ad.

"We call these two hypotheses 'Clamor' and 'Surprise' respectively, and will be studying both of them more in future studies."

For another comparison, at the end of 2005 ad:tech and MarketingSherpa, partnered to survey online marketers and look at what worked for them. They found that behavioral targeting lost ground with marketers, dropping from third to fourth in the 'Great' performers list, and getting a 36% rating for strong performance, down from 41% in the 2004 survey. It's the first time that the tactic fell in the ratings.

So, is behavioral targeting better? Right now, there are only a few numbers, and a lot of speculation. Before answering that question, and toppling decades of best advertising practices, smart marketers would be well advised to wait for more research results before deciding.

For more information on this and similar subjects, consider purchasing the eMarketer Ad Spending Trends report"

Cheaper Keywords?:
"Are you paying too much for keywords? Maybe. According to one source prices are easing somewhat.

Eighteen months ago Fathom Online began tracking keyword prices in eight categories. The average of all the prices tracked is summarized in their Keyword Price Index (KPI).

In December 2005, Fathom reported that the average KPI dropped 2% in one month — down to $1.43 from $1.46 in November.

There was a great deal of fluctuation between categories. Telecom Wireless keyword prices climbed 15% to $1.09 after dropping 10% in November, and the Automotive sector showed a gain for the second month in a row, rising 10% to $1.52. Those increases were offset by drops in the prices paid for Finance Investment and Mortgage keywords. These fell 11% and 10% respectively.

Overall, prices fell by 19% between December 2004 and December 2005. In the former month the average price for all eight categories was $1.70, partially attributable to a $4.79 average keyword price in the Finance-Mortgage category. The December 2005 price for that category was $3.30, confirming reports of a gradual slow down in the housing market.

In Q4 2005, average keyword prices fell only 1%, with the KPI moving from $1.44 in September to $1.43 in December. This downward trend sharply contrasted the 2004 trend, when keyword prices rose 24% in the fourth quarter.

Regardless of the price of individual keywords, Fathom Online's Gregg Stewart told MediaPost that his agency sees continued growth in search volume, "The pie is still increasing pretty dramatically.".

After noting that more advertisers, especially in the business-to-business arena, are entering the space, Mr. Stewart concluded: "As the keyword and phrase inventory continues to expand, average prices stabilize, and we see both advertisers and consumers learning to refine their search keywords for more relevant results."

For more information, check out eMarketer's recently published Ad Spending Trends report"

ZDNet India > Insight > commentary >:
Google in a patent pickle?
"...RTI has filed suit against Google in federal court in New York, arguing that the search giant has infringed two of RTI's patents by way of the search giant's marketing and selling of Google Talk VoIP services and related products. The smaller company seeks damages caused by the alleged infringement, including a tripling of lost profits and royalties. RTI also requests a court injunction that would bar Google from further marketing and selling Google Talk services and products, which use VoIP, or voice over Internet Protocol, technology to let people make phone connections via the Internet..."

» Top search engine terms in November 2005: ebay, google, yahoo, mapquest, yahoo.com, pogo.com, walmart, ask jeeves, msn, ebay.com | IT Facts | ZDNet.com:
"Nielsen//NetRatings reported that Web surfers often use search engines to navigate their way to common Web sites rather than typing the Web site's URL directly into the address bar. Web users' top search terms were popular, well-known Web site names, such as 'ebay' and 'google'. 43% of online searchers use the search box much like an address bar. Leading the top 10 most popular search terms for November was 'ebay' with 13.9 mln requests, followed by 'google' and 'yahoo,' with 13.3 mln and 8.0 mln requests.

5 of the top 10 search terms were for sites with search engines themselves, supportingthe argument that Web visitors are not likely to be loyal to a single search engine. Other popular search terms were for retail and auction sites including eBay and Wal-Mart, as well as sites that offer a service, such as Mapquest and pogo.com. What all ten search terms had in common was that they were the names of popular Web sites rather than topics. The first topical search term, 'weather,' ranked #23."

From the report:
"“There are two types of online searchers that type a Web site’s URL into a search engine rather than into
the browser’s address bar: Those inexperienced enough not to appreciate the difference between the
two, and those that are so experienced they have become habituated to using the search engine as their
portal to the Internet,” said Ken Cassar, chief analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. “Whether this behavior is
driven by ignorance or savvy, the end result is the same: The search engine is the focal point of the
online experience for Internet users across the spectrum.”"

The Korea Times : Korean Site Drags Google Into David-Goliath Match:
"World’s 3rd Largest Site Accused of Not Paying 24,952nd Ranker Ad Fees
By Cho Jin-seo
Google, the world’s third largest Web site by the number of visitors, may go head-to-head against a 24,592nd-ranked South Korean site in a tiny but potentially damaging lawsuit.

The U.S. Internet giant was accused by Humor University (Utkin Taehak), www.humoruniv.com, a popular Internet community site which mainly carries humorous articles, of not paying the Korean site for having Google’s advertisements on its Web site for two months.

``Don’t trust Google,’’ says a banner on the Web site posted by Lee Jung-min, operator of Humor University, which claims to have some 400,000 visitors everyday. Lee said he will file a lawsuit against Google, supported by the rising anti-Google sentiment in Korea’s Internet society..."

USATODAY.com - Google online video store starts without a bang:
"By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — Google's new online video store, announced with great fanfare two weeks ago, isn't getting the applause typical of most new releases from the Internet's most-used search engine.

The digital video store — at video.google.com— sells reruns of TV shows from CBS, PBS, the National Basketball Association and independent producers.

Media reviewers, bloggers and users complain that selections are skimpy and hard to find. Strict usage rules which prevent prime-time shows from being viewed offline, aren't prominently identified, and some shows promised initially aren't there..."

Hot: Real Estate Industry Uses of Satellite/Aerial Imagery:
"The combo of online maps, satellite/aerial imagery, and real estate are a hot combo these days. This new Reuters article, Every inch of Netherlands viewable online, offers a profile of Funda.nl a database that lists 75 percent of the Dutch property for sale and gets 2.6 million visitors every month. It will soon provide 15 million photographs growing it to 21 million images by year-end.

Full-circle pictures taken at 20 meter intervals (about 65 feet) in metropolitan areas and every 50 meters (about 165 feet) in rural areas will show the entire country at street level, with satellite images supplied by Google Earth offering a bird's-eye view.

The local imagery comes from Cyclomedia, a company out of Delft Technical University.

With the release of Google Maps and Google Earth last year we saw numerous mashups that combine real estate listings with aerial and satellite imagery. Example include OnOneMap (UK) and HousingMaps (US)..."

Study: Google #1 in China:
"Despite trailing Chinese traffic leader Baidu, Google is rated the best search engine in China, according to new research from Keynote Systems.

The study focused on the user experience of the four leading search engines in China: Alibaba/Yahoo!, Baidu, Google China and Sohu/Sogou. The study observed the searching habits of more than 1,200 adult users, with 70% residing in major mainland China cities and 30% located in diverse locations within the country.

In a moderately surprising finding, Google was ranked #1 over market share leader Baidu..."

Search Engine Journal » Internet Users Judge Sites in Fraction of a Second:
"New research released indicates that users take much less time than expected to critique a website. In light of this research it is important for website owners to realize how big an impact that initial response is. Therefore in this article we dig a little deeper into the research and provide some thoughts on what the findings could mean for you.

The research, which was performed by Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario tells us that our first impressions of a website influence how we react to that site from that point forward. In other words, our initial responses to a site, our “gut feelings” will impact how we feel about that site now and in the future. In the research, three studies were conducted to determine how quickly people form an opinion about web page visual appeal.

...

Well, flashy sites are out. The study suggests that people are turned off of sites with too many images or moving parts. However, too much text also can cause problems. Therefore one needs a balance of flair and content to impress most people. I recently talked about customer segmentation in a previous article and I think that commentary is directly related to this.

You see, we already know that men and women search differently, as do people of different ages and income levels. So in reality, your website isn’t going to be all things to all people.

Therefore if your product reaches a wide customer base then your site should as well. However if your customer base is narrow (for example you sell knitting supplies) then you must target your site to the user.

Again, the need for detailed research into your target customer is needed. Because if they can make a snap assessment of your site in the time it takes to flash a single frame of of your favorite TV show, then you know they will hit that “back” button almost as quickly.

So before you go rushing out to hire a designer, take some time to check with your customers. What do they like? What don’t they like? Perhaps consider hiring a research company to hold a focus group or eye tracking study to determine what are the things you should keep and what you should throw away.

I can tell you from experience that such intimate knowledge of your customers can go a long way to improving your relationship with them ultimately increasing your sales and bottom line.

...

But what if you can’t afford expensive eye tracking or focus groups?

Well, there’s always the feedback loop – on every page of your site place an email link or form or rating box or some other way to get your visitors engaged in the site so they can leave feedback. That way your customers can tell you what they like or don’t like.

And if you do have some budget to allow for testing there are services like Optimost which can help you do landing page testing to find the best converting landing page.

This system I find is pretty interesting. It can manipulate pages on the fly and capture conversions. Then they tie the conversion rates to the best performing page and ultimately that would become your ideal landing page.

My only concern is (and I don’t know if this has been changed) that they use Javascript to manipulate the page layout making much of the page non search engine friendly. So, now that you know that we are all hyper-channel changers, and that people search differently, do you think it is time to review your site to make sure it is the most compelling user friendly site it could be?"

Google Buys Radio Ad Firm; AdWords Headed To Radio Distribution:
"Wow. Google is to acquire dMarc Broadcasting, a company that puts ads into radio stations, paying up to $1.1 billion for it. Google plans to distribute AdWords via radio this way. Says Google VP of advertising sales Tim Armstrong in the press release (and here at Google):..."

AOL Acquires Truveo Video Search and Crawling Technology For Undisclosed Sum:
"News from AOL this morning that they've acquired video search engine and video crawling technology, Truveo, for an undisclosed sum. The deal was formally signed on December 21st and is being made public today.

Truveo first went launched in beta last summer and we blogged about it here. Truveo technology crawls the open web for video files using a technology they developed called 'visual crawling.'..."

John Battelle's Searchblog: When Might the PPC Gap Close?:
"In conversation with folks equally besotted with all things search and marketing, the talk often turns to click fraud.

After some mandatory clucking of tongues, I go off on my own little riff about the subject - how it's difficult to prove as a percentage of overall PPC revenue (beyond the anecdotal), and how - for the time being anyway - it really doesn't seem to matter. Click fraud is something of an ecosystem 'tax' - advertisers who are putting $1 into AdSense, for example, are (usually) getting more than $1 back. Whether they get $2.00 or $1.75 is not that important, if, say, 12.5% of the clicks are fraud, who cares? You can always petition Yahoo or Google for a refund (though not all do).

Only when they start getting back 99 cents (or less) for that $1.00 will the 'margin pressure' build to 'do something about click fraud' in any real sense. In the meantime, advertisers are happy with AdSense, because, well, it works well enough, and there's no incentive to change it.

This post about a recent earnings release from FTD, written by Jeff Matthews, struck me as a potentially important insight with regard to all this...

...A possible conclusion? Search marketing may be on its way toward a slowdown, if not a plateau. And while this is entirely anecdotal, and certainly nothing to base decisions upon, it points to the margin pressure idea, and, I think, validates it. At least as far as FTD is concerned..."

Search Engines As Leeches, The Difference Between Paid & Free Listings & Keyword Price Rises:
"Jakob Nielsen's just posted a Search Engines as Leeches on the Web article that makes a good point, don't be too search engine dependent. However, he muddles his point by confusing the issue of paid search advertising and free 'organic' listings. A closer look at that, plus how 'super conversion trackers' and 'brand idiots' are likely to keep pressure on keyword prices.

As a reminder, the major search engines give you two main types of listings when you do a search. There are the 'organic' or 'free' or 'natural' listings that they gather from crawling the web. They don't charge for these listings (though Yahoo's paid inclusion program kind of clouds the water over there). These listings are like the editorial content you get at newspapers.

Search engines also carry paid ads. Pay, and you can get listed for terms you want without hoping that it just happens naturally..."

Good article on the "economics" of search and what effects ad pricing.

No Page Reload Required: See Sponsored Ads in Various Categories on Yahoo Movies Pages:
"Is Yahoo testing something new with sponsored links on some pages found on Yahoo Movies?

Allow me to explain.

Sponsored links on Yahoo Movie pages for thousands of films and actors are found at the very bottom of the page in a box labeled 'sponsored links.' Here's an example using one the page for one of the best (IMHO) films of 2005, Good Night, And Good Luck.

Once at the bottom of the page you should see the ad box.

What's interesting (and possibly new) is that instead of seeing actual ads and links, you should spot links to various ad categories. For example, George Clooney (the director of GNGL, he also acts in it), Satellite television, Movie posters, Movie by mail, etc..."

Search engines going far beyond maps:
"By ALLISON LINN - AP BUSINESS WRITER
SEATTLE -- The images are so detailed you can tell whether a neighbor's hedge was recently trimmed or whether the car parked in front of a favorite local eatery might belong to a friend.

Such views are available online for anyone to see from some of the biggest names on the Internet, including Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc.

The companies' newly evolving local search and mapping services, where the photographic images are typically rendered as search results, make it easier than ever to scout out everything from vacation destinations to a new hairdresser.

Never before have searchable databases of detailed pictures covering wide swaths of urban areas been readily available like this to the public..."

Google's shadow payroll not such a secret anymore | CNET News.com:
"Feeling depressed because you missed out on Google's stock bonanza? Not to worry. Just get on the company's shadow payroll.
Hundreds of thousands of people have essentially done just that by starting blogs, forums or other informational sites and getting paid for posting ads on Google's behalf. And while the money they earn might not be enough for them to buy, say, a share of Google's stock, such revenues are growing.

The trickle-down effect from Google does not stop at fledgling entrepreneurs. A growing number of rank-and-file contributors to Web sites are also profiting. Consider Digital Point Solutions, a software company in San Diego, which publishes an online forumfrequented by about 15,000 users. Any one of them who starts a new forum discussion topic receives half of the advertising revenue paid to the site by Google for ads on the front page of that topic section. (The discussion's creator then splits his share with others who post messages.)...

...for every dollar the company brings in through AdSense and other places that distribute its ads, it pays roughly 78.5 cents back to sites like Digital Point that display the ads...."

For full story see: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/16/technology/16ecom.html?ex=1139115600&en=b71df3a6eeb65220&ei=5070

Buzz-marketing firm rakes in $13.8 million | CNET News.com:
"By Daniel Terdiman - Staff Writer, CNET News.com - Published: January 13, 2006, 5:14 PM PST
BzzAgent, one of the world's leading word-of-mouth marketing firms, said Friday that it closed a $13.75 million series-B round of funding.

The marketing company, which has clients such as Anheuser-Busch, Cadbury Schweppes, Ralph Lauren and Levi's Dockers, uses what it calls buzz-marketing strategies to build consumer interest in products.
Buzz marketing is unlike traditional marketing, the company said, because it involves unpaid volunteers talking to friends and family about products they believe in.

The company said it will use its new windfall--raised from General Catalyst Partners and IDG Ventures Boston--to build new market share and add staff..."