Those of you who've read my book will recall that the whole story started when someone sent me a link to Google's original Zeitgeist – the top gaining and declining queries for the year 2001. Since then, ol' ZG has been hitting the lists every week, and I check…
1. rosa parks
2. halloween
3. daylight savings
4. jack-o-lantern
5. costume ideas
Come on Google, you know so much more in your own version of the Database of Intentions than you are letting on. Think what you might be able to surface with a bit of imagination? How about some of you Googlers start futzing around in that fabled 20% time, and come up with something interesting again?
Googler Matt Cutts, whose site I recommend if you want to stay current on that which Google allows him to talk about (usually Adwords) has an interesting post on the practice of hard coding a response for a particular query, in this case, "Google." Loren points out Yahoo has…
Loren points out Yahoo has hard-coded some special behavior for the query [google]. Searching for [Google] at the Australia/NZ version of Yahoo returns “Try the new Yahoo! Search:” with a prominent search box right above the listing for Google. Interesting..
This reminds me of similar incidents from other search engines in the past. Remember when Inktomi hand-coded the result for [dumb motherfucker] so that the #1 result was a Google page about its executives? Boy, I do. That was motivating.
But let’s be honest here. Everyone does this. Google might do it through targeted AdWords, but it’s hard coding by another name…
Some choice words for Microsoft from Russell (who you may recall now works at Yahoo). Though it doesn’t seem to make sense for Live to have the Windows or Office names right now – live.com is just another web dashboard at the moment – there are far more ambitious…
Though it doesn’t seem to make sense for Live to have the Windows or Office names right now – live.com is just another web dashboard at the moment – there are far more ambitious plans to come. The Windows and Office monikers are there because Microsoft will, of course, be up to it’s old tricks by heavily integrating Live services into the desktop sucking the air supply out of any online competitors. It doesn’t seem that they should be allowed to do this sort of thing, but the success of iTunes seems to have given them a new excuse to start tying products again. And hell, the DOJ agreement only lasts until 2007, no? ….Yep, for Microsoft, Live isn’t about Web 2.0 at all, it’s all about Monopoly 4.0.
Update: Om adds a graphic here.
Slashdot has the chew through, but I think this is utter speculation. Of course, I thought Gmail was a hoax. The original article which spawned this rumor is here, that piece*is* utter speculation….
Earnings at IAC were boosted by its Ask acquisition, Rafat reports….
Gates is unveiling an online version of Office, and "Windows Live" – a MSFT answer to the rest of the web. More as it comes in. Here's more from MarketWatch. Nothing surprising … but it's on. And Cnet's coverage: Kicking off what he called the "live era" of software,…
Here’s more from MarketWatch. Nothing surprising … but it’s on.
And Cnet’s coverage:
Read MoreGoogle's back at the scanner (WSJ free link), despite the lawsuits. The company had planned to start again Nov. 1, after halting its program to see if negotiations might bear fruite. They ain't….
I've always enjoyed talking with Perry Evans, CEO of Local Matters, and found that his company is a quiet but interesting contender in the local search space. Why is that? Well, the partnerships with Dex (a Yellow Pages company) among others. And the fact that Evans is the guy…
Local coverage (Denver Post) here.
Release here.
