links for 2006-09-30
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Biased (and poorly written) attack article on blogs. When will old media get that articles that attack new media just make them look bad, and that the way to win is not through propaganda, but by not doing a crappy job?
Yahoo Finance Employee Exodus?
A guest post on Valleywag says that 66% of the Yahoo Finance team has deserted, leaving for other companies and leaving Yahoo in a bind. Granted, we are talking four people of a six person team, but the exodux isn’t good for Yahoo, which was earning major big bucks with the product.
Remember how Yahoo’s Q2 earnings plummeted? They said it was slumping advertising from online finance (plus automotive). Remember that Nielsen NetRatings gives Yahoo 54% of all online financial services advertising in the US. That’s over half the entire category, folks. Oooooooooooooohhhhhhh!
Yeah, that’s a cash cow, falling apart as the Google machine sharpens its swords. On the other hand, knowing how important Finance is to Yahoo, you could probably negotiate a good salary to take one of those open spots. Just search HotJobs.
- Yahoo Finance - Managing Editor: Used to be Christopher Jones, who went to Conde Nast Portfolio Online.
- Yahoo Finance - Assistant Managing Editor: New position, not yet filled.
- Yahoo Finance - Director of Business Development: Used to be Maria Molland, who followed former GM Nathan Richardson to Dow Jones.
- Yahoo Finance - Senior Business Development Manager: Used to be M. Scott Havens, who went to Conde Nast Portfolio Online.
- Yahoo Finance - Business Development Associate: Used to be Chris Hunter, who went to CNNmoney.com.
- Yahoo Finance - Intern: It’s an intern; there have been several over the years.
- Yahoo Finance - Senior Sales Producer: Unclear who this person may be; one sales producer is on maternity leave.
- SPECIAL ADDED BONUS DEPARTURE! The Director of Ad Solutions who ran all the sales producers for Finance and some other verticals — Ari M. Brandt — also left for Conde Nast Portfolio recently.
Bloglines Also Does An Update
Not only did Google Reader get a major overhaul, but Bloglines improved a bit today. They stuck to the reliable UI, but added AJAX to the left pane so that it can reload the number of unread items without a page refresh. You can now just browse your feeds reliably, and never have to hit the refresh button, every. They’re still working on it, since the functionality seems to improve by the hour, but its a good add.
Google AdWords Fridge On eBay
The fridge gifted to AdWords 1,000,000 hit high-spenders (the one with the Google logo and the words “Cooler Thinking”) is being auctioned up by one eBayer who found no use for it. The fridge is roughly 18×18x10, and since similar fridges cost about $80, just decide how much the Google logo is worth for you and put in a bid. The auction ends early Tuesday, so don’t expect the current $10.49 bid to be the last.
(via Digg)
What Is Google Doing To Protect Your Publisher ID?
Jensense writes that a growing number of publishers are seeing hackers edit their websites, substituting the publisher’s AdSense ID for another, in order to basically steal that publisher’s revenue. Additionally, we’ve heard stories of AdSense IDs getting used on sites not owned by the person who controls the ID, resulting in charges of click fraud, among other problems.
The reason these things can happen is that Google does not have a verification process for AdSense, making it real easy to do crazy and evil things to unwitting users, who may never realize they’ve been hacked. There’s no way to list all your domains in AdSense’s control panel, so that your ads never turn up where you don’t want them, and there’s certainly no way to claim your own website, in order to prevent other AdSense IDs from stealing your page views.
Even if Google doesn’t want to invest in verification, I’m sure it would be a simple matter to display on the AdSense control panel (a) a list of all domains currently running your publisher ID and (b) a list of all other publishers running ads on sites you run ads on (the implication that, in most cases, if there’s more than one name on the second list, we’ve got a problem). A simple list would at least alert publishers that there might be a problem, and then they can let Google know not to penalize them for it.
links for 2006-09-29
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Owners of Search Engine Watch sold, again. Too much movement like that can ruin a good think; lets hope it doen’t happen.
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Finally, Matt Cutts’ avatar tries to push the damn red button!
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Quote: “This mock-up shows a future in which Google indexed almost everything… only to show almost nothing, due to copyright complaints.”
Facebook Etiquette For Bloggers?
I saw that Dave Winer had created a Facebook group for Scripting News readers, so I signed up for Facebook to join up. Immediately, I was struck with a problem: Who is my friend? Do I add to my friends anyone I know reads my blog? What about anyone who has linked to me? Or do I just limit it to people I correspond with? Oy, what a conundrum!
In the meantime, I’ve set up a group for InsideGoogle readers, as a good point of reference. Let me know what you think I should do about the friends question. If you are on Facebook and read this blog, let me know as well.
Google Talk: Now For Everyone
Perhaps realizing that limiting to just the audience of Gmail created an unnecessary barrier, Google now allows absolutely anyone to create an account for use with Google Talk. Good call!
Last year, we launched Google Talk, a free and easy service for making voice calls and sending instant messages. It used to be that only Gmail users could use Google Talk but now anyone can sign up for Google Talk.
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There are, however, still some features including chat histories and mail notifications that will only work if you sign into Google Talk with a Gmail account. Either way, we encourage you to give it a try.
Google Reader Easter Egg
Google Reader has one other cool new feature: A “Next” bookmark. Just add it to your browser toolbar, and clicking it will bring you to the next article in your reading list, automatically. Build a large enough RSS feed collection, add the bookmark, and you’ll be able to browse the web without any real effort every again.
However, what happens when you hit the bookmark and there are no more unread items in your Google Reader? Why, you wind up here.
Yes it reads:
Congratulations, you’ve reached the End of the Internet .
And it links to the famous last page on the internet page. Pretty cool.
The End of the Internet
Congratulations! This is the last page.
Thank you for visiting the End of the Internet. There are no more links.You must now turn off your computer and go do something productive.
Go read a book, for pete’s sake.
This was discovered by zhangchn of The First! blog, via Digg.
Yahoo Buys Default Search On HP Systems
Yahoo has made a deal (read: paid a bundle of cash) to be the default search engine on computers by HP, the second largest PC manufacturer.
This headline and lead sentence stolen from a post I did 15 days ago:
Yahoo Buys Default Search On Acer Systems
Yahoo has made a deal (read: paid a bundle of cash) to be the default search engine on computers by Acer, the fourth largest PC manufacturer. Okay, so Google got Dell (#1), Yahoo got Acer (#4), so who will get HP (#2) and Lenovo (#3)? I would be real interested if someone made a deal with Apple (#5), including for Boot Camp installs of Windows.
Sense a trend? While Google probably overpaid for Dell (whose market share is shrinking), Yahoo is looking to snatch the rest of the market. I still think buying the default search is just stupid, but at least Yahoo is being smarter at it.
Lenovo’s next. Who will close the deal first?
Google Reader Updated
Google Reader has been updated with an all new look, one that is a cross between the simplicity of Gmail and the tried-and-true Bloglines model. Tossing most of the old system out the window, the new Reader features a two-pane view, with labels as expandable folders in the left pane. The rest of the page is where you read your feeds, and the view is big, easy-to-read, and with lots of options right at your fingertips. You can also use that area as a list view, identical to your typical Gmail inbox. Reader looks ready to handle the demands of a full-fledged RSS reader, and that makes me happy.
One caveat: It doesn’t work at all in Opera. Shame, since I really, really like it now. In fact, Reader is similar enough to Bloglines, with enough unique features, that I’d maybe consider switching if it worked in my favorite browser. Reader’s home view includes a few articles chosen from some of your favorite blogs. There are a lot of useful keyboard shortcuts.
Also, look at how cool the shared items feature prints out. It’s like if del.icio.us became an auto-blogging tool.
Here’s Chris Wetherell, introducing and demoing the new Reader:
Google should do these videos for every product launch in the future.
Read more at the Google blog and the Google Reader blog, Niall Kennedy, ReadWriteWeb, Scoble and TechCrunch.
UPDATE: On my system, Reader hogs 100% of the CPU when open in IE7 on Windows Vista, even when completely idle. Anyone else experiencing performance hog problems?
UPDATE 2: Philipp notes that you can revert to the old design in the settings, and that Google has “feed bundles”, with similar categorized feeds, that you can subscribe to.
MapQuest Beta?
Yesterday, I saw some new features on MapQuest, including draggable maps. They appear to be gone now, but it looks like AOL-owned MapQuest may finally be trying to catch up in features to Google Maps, Windows Live Local, and a smattering of other AJAX-based map sites. It was at beta.mapquest.com, but appears to have dissapeared after a brief time (and before I could not the other new features).
MapQuest’s brand is so strong among longtime web users (and in search engine rankings), and its experience and expertise in driving directions is mostly unsurpassed (fastest route, shortest route, avoid highways route) that if it catches up technology-wise, it can make all the hard work by Google and others go to waste. If MapQuest stops looking like a chump, it is going to be hard for the new sites to steal its loyal userbase any more.
Who else noticed it?
Worldwide Google Video Rankings
Google Video has a new page, one that shows you the top 100 videos, or the top movers, divided by country. This is available in every country’s Google Video, although it could cause problems with videos that are popular in one country and not allowed in others. You could previously see top Google Videos, but not as well organized in a single place. I just wish Google had thought to make this a Google Trends service.
To give an example: The number one videos:
Creepy (and inaccurate) “Steve Irwin stingray video - Extreme”
Also #1 in U.S., Canada, UK, India and Australia.
#1 Germany and Switzerland:
Walter Moers - Der Bonker
#1 China:
为是女子
#1 Russia and Spain:
Bagman (WARNING: Very explicit)
#1 Japan:
Otaku Culture
#1 Israel:
Painful Kick boxing Accident !! ORIGINAL - NO SPOOF ! INSANE !
#1 Mexico:
Allison Fragil
#1 Hong Kong:
公園偷拍 (appears to be two people having sex in a discrete way in a public park)
#1 France:
Fittness cica (incredibly fat woman in bikini on a treadmill)
#1 Italy:
Trailer di “Incantesimi” lo spettacolo 2006 di Beppe Grillo
#1 Vietnam:
Physics 10 - Lecture 01: Atoms and Heat
I kind of doubt the stats on the Vietnam one. Perhaps Google doesn’t have a lot of users in that country.
So, what does your number one Google Video say about your country?
Two other video stories:
Warner is pulling their music videos from Yahoo. Could this be part of the YouTube deal?
Yahoo picked up Jumpcut, which lets you remix and edit video online. Looks like a smart aquisition, the type Google usually does.
Good Charlotte Visits Google
Google got a concert from the band Good Charlotte. It was covered by multiple Googler blogs, including Chris DiBona (who chose an Electronic Frontier Foundation talk instead), Jason Shellen (who has a photo of the band as they were about to take the stage) and Kimbalina (who has more photos, and says they were awesome). Here are some of Kim’s Flickr photos of the concert:
Great pics, obviously. Good Charlotte is most famous for the 2003 chart-topper Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, which probably wouldn’t be appreciated by some of the richer Googlers…
I’d like to see them spend a week
Livin’ life out on the street
I don’t think they would survive
If they could spend a day or two
Walkin’ in someone else’s shoes
I think they’d stumble and they’d fall
They would fall…Lifestyles of the rich and the famous
They’re always complainin’
Always complainin’…
If money is such a problem
Well they’ve got mansions
Think we should rob them
If you vaguely remember them (god, the music industry moves fast), read the Wikipedia entry. Looks like they’re attempting to get back to their roots with a new album next year.
Google Maps Spots Giant Bug Terrorizing Germany
A giant bug of an unknown type was discovered in a field in Germany during a recent Google Maps survey. The bug, which measures over 120 feet, was spotted in a field northeast of Arlesberg, halfway between Stuttgart and Numberg, and it is assumed that the bug intends to slowly devour all the people living in the nearby small towns.
Here’s the bug as spotted in Google Maps:
Here’s a closeup with the map’s scale placed next to it:
Here it is in Google Earth, at 48°51′27.74″N, 10°12′19.07″E (or just to the left of a search for “hulen germany”:
If anyone has information about the bug, including what type of bug it is, please inform the authorities as soon as possible. The war is coming…
And, on the serious side of things: No, this is not a Photoshop. Here’s the link to Google Maps, where you will clearly see the bug yourself. Run a Technorati search to see who else spotted it. So, what happened? Did a bug get on the camera lens during a flyover? Is that even possible?
Pretty crazy, right?
I’ve never seen so many Men In Black jokes in one place as I do at the original Digg post. General consensus is it could be a thrips (Thysanoptera) that climbed into the scanner as the overhead photos were being scanned for Google from whatever third party they bought these images from. There’s also discussion at the Google Earth community forums, complete with a Google Earth placemark.
Watch Out For The Attack Of The Evil Matt Cutts
Here’s a great blog for you to read: Evil Matt Cutts. This blog takes everything Google’s SEO guru says and reveals the evil nature behind it. Evil Matt redoes most of Regular Matt’s blog posts in his inimitable evil style. I only wish he linked out to the original post, and to whoever Matt linked to (since I got a recent link, of course).
I am Evil.
The year was 1822 when Grandfather Cutts sold his blood line to the devil. Before his death, he tried to resend the evil by selling his entire fortune and giving it to a nunnery. Yes a nunnery. It was at this moment a pact was made that the great grandchildren of Cutts would eventually form the battle for good and evil. Unknowingly to the parents of these Cutts descendants, one was given up for adoption because their parents knew he was evil. Ironically at the home for abandoned children the staff would eventually name the child Matt unknowing that his good counterpart was also named Matt.
For 13 years Evil Matt Cutts would be forced to peer out from iron bars and see the world as it passes him by. With anger growing, he knew he’d one day take revenge and become as popular as his twin brother.
Till that day, all he could do is hum a little tune:
I might tell you that it’s fine.
That your webpage is better then mine.
But then I hit the big red button.
Then your website goes Kurplunken.
I very much doubt the person who owns the domain is who I think it is, so I wonder if the person behind the site will step forward.
(via Search Engine Watch)
Google Video Delivering Berkeley Courses
Google Video has struck a deal to provide videos of University of California at Berkeley courses and symposia, over 250 hours of video. They’ve got their own page featuring their videos, divided up by course. Right there on the front page is a video of Google founder Sergey Brin talking to an Information Systems 141 class about, of course, search engines.
All in all, this is pretty cool, and something more universities should consider. I heard about that professor selling podcasts of his courses; Google Video already has the system in place to upload and sell downloads of courses, and students would be able to put them on their iPods to learn while on the train. Wave of the future, people.
In an unrelated story, a former professor of mine was featured in the New York Post yesterday. They basically called him racist, anti-semetic, ranting, crass, and filled with hatred. I remember him being all of those things, but incredibly entertaining.
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The Tire Has A Mind Of Its Own!
Funny video posted on the Google Video blog.
Gotta love it.
Not that it beats Baby Toupees. I’m getting one for my dog.
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