Month: January 2005

As One Might Expect

No company is immune to this story. From Cnet: Employee complaints aren't exactly piling up about Google's generous stock grant policies, which have helped create an estimated 1,000 new millionaires, on paper at least. But the SEC filings have struck something of a nerve inside the company by offering…

No company is immune to this story. From Cnet:

Employee complaints aren’t exactly piling up about Google’s generous stock grant policies, which have helped create an estimated 1,000 new millionaires, on paper at least. But the SEC filings have struck something of a nerve inside the company by offering an unusually candid look into the wealth of co-workers. That’s creating unaccustomed tensions inside a workplace that has long projected an image of collegial egalitarianism to the outside world, some people said….

…The culture has reflected that kind of college-kid humility, with its hallmark lava lamps, colored balls and on-campus free food. Many Google employees outwardly project the role of starry-eyed believers, carrying the ideal of a grand mission in the mold of early Apple Computer days.

Read More
2 Comments on As One Might Expect

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER

Stay up to date on the latest from BattelleMedia.com

Usenet Timeline

Smart move by Google: Publish a 20 Year Usenet Timeline to promote the new Groups. Fun stuff. Slashdot chews on it here. UPDATE: As my astute readers have noted, this is not new, though it is to me, and apparently to the initial posters at /….

Smart move by Google: Publish a 20 Year Usenet Timeline to promote the new Groups. Fun stuff. Slashdot chews on it here.

UPDATE: As my astute readers have noted, this is not new, though it is to me, and apparently to the initial posters at /.

4 Comments on Usenet Timeline

Morningstar to Big Banks: Pound Sand

The Google IPO has given at least one company the courage to stand up to the Big Banks. Morningstar has selected WR Hambrecht over Morgan Stanley to be their lead underwriter. From Bizweek: Morningstar is a marquee deal for Hambrecht, one that could potentially bring the auction process into…

Mstarlogo2The Google IPO has given at least one company the courage to stand up to the Big Banks. Morningstar has selected WR Hambrecht over Morgan Stanley to be their lead underwriter. From Bizweek:

Morningstar is a marquee deal for Hambrecht, one that could potentially bring the auction process into the mainstream. Of course, Hambrecht may not want to start celebrating just yet. Wall Street will still have the last word

.

Leave a comment on Morningstar to Big Banks: Pound Sand

The Price of Infamy: 5-12 Cents a Click

Ken Lay, infamous Enron executive, has begun a paid search campaign to tell his side of the story. The Houston Chronicle says his CPC is about 5-12 cents a click. I sense a Dave Pell opportunity here. Anyone want to get into a bidding war for "Ken Lay" on…

LayKen Lay, infamous Enron executive, has begun a paid search campaign to tell his side of the story. The Houston Chronicle says his CPC is about 5-12 cents a click. I sense a Dave Pell opportunity here. Anyone want to get into a bidding war for “Ken Lay” on Overture or Google?

(image from Wall St. Most Wanted)

2 Comments on The Price of Infamy: 5-12 Cents a Click

Google Recruits

Huh. This is an interesting post from Google. The timing is interesting, the text is interesting, and, well, the rather honest tone is interesting. Basically, Google is saying – we're having trouble hiring folks. We want more applications. Now, some will read it this way: We hope those of…

Work At GoogleHuh. This is an interesting post from Google. The timing is interesting, the text is interesting, and, well, the rather honest tone is interesting. Basically, Google is saying – we’re having trouble hiring folks. We want more applications.

Now, some will read it this way: We hope those of you that may have passed us over – perhaps when we were a bit arrogant and full of ourselves – will take a look again. Or – we hope those of you that we passed over – perhaps when we weren’t so well organized, and all had our hair on fire, and basically were only hiring our friends – well we hope you’ll take a look at us again too. At least, that’s how it will read to the scores of folks I have spoken to in the past 18 months who had an interview there, but didn’t end up at the company.

But there’s an elephant in this post which is not discussed. The IPO is over, the first thousand or so have gotten rich. Why come and work at Google when the stock’s at 200? That’d be like taking a package at Yahoo in early 2000, right? I wonder if this reality has slowed the torrent of resumes that has flooded Google from the get go. Or, more likely, I wonder if it’s slowed the flood of resumes that they want to get.

Read More
12 Comments on Google Recruits

Google to Restrict Duplicate Ad URLs

It's been in the works for a long while, but the news is now out – Google is taking moves to restrict how affiliates use AdWords. SEW has commentary here. With the change, Google will allow only one ad to lead to a particular web page per query, whether that…

It’s been in the works for a long while, but the news is now out – Google is taking moves to restrict how affiliates use AdWords. SEW has commentary here.

With the change, Google will allow only one ad to lead to a particular web page per query, whether that ad be from an affiliate of the web site or the web site owner.

“We’ve seen and heard from users that there are many cases where we are showing the same creative with the same visible URL linking to the same page,” said Salar Kamangar, director of product management at Google, explaining users don’t like this. “Just like with search where we have duplicate removal, we want to make sure we aren’t showing duplicated ads.”

Read More
3 Comments on Google to Restrict Duplicate Ad URLs

Videora – a BitTorrent RSS Reader

Slightly off topic, but not so much as you might think: via PVR Blog, I see that Videora, a BitTorrent RSS reader, has launched. Om noted it here. So why do we care? Well, I've long theorized that video over IP will come from the bottom up, as opposed…

VideoraSlightly off topic, but not so much as you might think: via PVR Blog, I see that Videora, a BitTorrent RSS reader, has launched. Om noted it here.

So why do we care? Well, I’ve long theorized that video over IP will come from the bottom up, as opposed to the top down, much as it has with blogs, and with music before that. This feels right along those lines. I very much hope that we see folks starting to make really cool video and ripping it, some rights reserved, to the web, CC style. The business models will come, let’s see the good stuff now!

Of course, we’ll need a way to find all that stuff, and categorize it, and make sense of it. Search, ho!

2 Comments on Videora – a BitTorrent RSS Reader

Fathom on Keyword Pricing: Up…

MediaPost covers keyword pricing trends courtesy Fathom Online. Search engine advertisers on average paid 24 percent more for keywords in the fourth quarter than they did at the end of September 2004, according to estimates being released today by Fathom Online. The price hike, one of the steepest since…

MediaPost covers keyword pricing trends courtesy Fathom Online.

Search engine advertisers on average paid 24 percent more for keywords in the fourth quarter than they did at the end of September 2004, according to estimates being released today by Fathom Online. The price hike, one of the steepest since Fathom began publishing its so-called Keyword Price Index (KPI) earlier this year, may have been influenced by increased demand during the fourth quarter holiday marketing season, or it may have simply been organic price inflation as more advertisers enter the marketplace and increase their bids for top placements on search engines.

Leave a comment on Fathom on Keyword Pricing: Up…

Happy Day: Desktop Search for Mac

Blinkx announced today that it is launching a version of its popular desktop search tool for the Mac (it will be ready Monday). I can't wait to try it. Release in extended entry….

Blinkx announced today that it is launching a version of its popular desktop search tool for the Mac (it will be ready Monday). I can’t wait to try it. Release in extended entry.

]]>

Read More

5 Comments on Happy Day: Desktop Search for Mac

The Interface Evolves

Philip at Google Blogoscoped notices that Google is testing incorporating image thumbnails into its web searches. This represents an evolution of Google's sacred SERP interface – the company has already begun to incorporate News, Froogle, and other "smart" search results at the top of some queries, a la Yahoo….

Googleimage05Philip at Google Blogoscoped notices that Google is testing incorporating image thumbnails into its web searches. This represents an evolution of Google’s sacred SERP interface – the company has already begun to incorporate News, Froogle, and other “smart” search results at the top of some queries, a la Yahoo.

I have not been able to duplicate this, it could just be an ephemeral test, not to be incorporated. A9 has a nifty approach to images, where you can turn images off or on as part of a multi-framed interface.

14 Comments on The Interface Evolves