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May 29, 2004

Neat: Search just those sites you want to

Not that I think most will want this kind of dashboard, but it's a neat hack - Scoble points us to lushe.net, which forces Google to search only the sites you tell it to.

This site is a project by Glen Murphy. Who is he? I have no idea, but here's his site. This is why I love the web.

May 28, 2004

Google Responds To Gmail Privacy Issues: The Higher Standard

gmail_logoGoogle has a page up reacting to the Gmail privacy brouhaha. Thank the California Legislature for this: a modified version of the Gmail privacy bill just passed the CA Senate.

Since the first privacy concerns were raised nearly two months ago, one of the smartest things Google has done in response is to give accounts to a bunch of journalists (I was on the list, but have not really used the account - I'm too swamped to conjur up a reason to fill a secondary account, and in any case I'm writing a book in which Google plays a critical role, so the idea of running my email through their servers feels a bit...odd, to say the least. I can just see my sources at Yahoo or Microsoft wondering whether I'm capable of fairness as they send mail to jbattelle@gmail.com...).

Anyway, those journalists who did use the service almost universally praised it. As a breed journalists are prone to piling on when they identify what they believe to be a clever or counter-intuitive meme. Gmail offered them a pretty prime opportunity to do just that. Most caught the counter-spin on Gmail's scanning of email - to wit, everyone else does it (Hotmail, Yahoo etc) so why jump on Google? They are right, and it was a brilliant move on Google's part to point that out. Now the press is full of articles beating up the privacy advocates, and as I mentioned earlier the California legislator who introduced the grandstanding Gmail privacy bill has modified it to allow scanning.

Google's page points to all these journalist's reviews as proof that the whole issue has been misconstrued, and in some regards they're right. But I think the debate is light on a very important, larger point. It's not that Gmail scans your email, or that it might take a while for duplicates of your mails to be deleted off the system. It's that with a gigabyte of storage, user habits with regard to email change entirely, and we start to keep our entire computing life online, moving massive amounts of personal and private communications and files into a new realm of "discoverability" - from the ephemeral to the eternal.

Very much to their credit, Google addresses this issue, and acknowledges their role as market leader requires they be held to "a higher standard." But it's buried down at the bottom, and it doesn't take the logical next step, which is to call directly for clarification around providing email and files stored on a third party servers the same legal status that they already enjoy on our private machines and as they are transmitted over networks, thanks to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

In any case, here's the language that I think stands Google in good stead on this issue:

Let's be clear: there are issues with email privacy, and these issues are common to all email providers. The main issue is that the contents of your messages are stored on mailservers for some period of time; there is always a danger that these messages can be obtained and used for purposes that may harm you. There exists a real opportunity for misuse of your information by governments, as well as by your email provider. Careful consideration of the relevant issues, close scrutiny of email providers' practices and policies, and suitable vigilance and enforcement of appropriate legislation are the best defenses against misuse of your information. The only alternative is to avoid new technology altogether, and forego the benefits it provides.

Various people and organizations, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), have been helping to focus the debate on the real issues surrounding privacy and email. We've welcomed their input on Gmail and are engaging in a productive dialogue with them, and others.

When we began the limited test of Gmail, we had policies that were substantively no different from those of all other major webmail services. However, we understand that as a leader in our industry, we are held to a higher standard. We don't believe that the questions around email and privacy are resolved, and we are working to better understand what the issues currently are, and what they will be in the future. We are keenly interested in addressing these issues head-on, and in helping to fashion guidelines and public policies that protect the privacy of not only Gmail users, but everyone. We'd like your help in that process.

Gmail is still in a limited test period. While we're working to improve Gmail and make it more widely available, we welcome your feedback and suggestions on the service and its features. We encourage users and interested groups around the world to share their thoughts on our policies and procedures by writing to us at privacymatters@google.com.

Net net: a good move on Google's part, and a sign the company recognizes some of the larger issues at play.

- Overview from MediaPost here.

May 27, 2004

If At First....

wsslogoWebSideStory, which first filed four years ago right before the bubble burst, has filed again. The web analytics company just hit profitability after losing money the past few years. It's a great field, but to be honest, this feels a bit rushed to me.

Search as Media Gatekeeper

Once again, a good piece from Stefanie Olsen, this time on audio and search. Recall how I am always on about how search will become the interface to media? From her piece today on NPR's decision to optimize their sound files for search engines:

The stakes are enormous, not just for the search engines, but for content owners hoping to harness the Internet, stand out in the online information glut and attract new audiences. The winning search companies could become the gatekeepers in a new era of media increasingly defined by consumers' ability to seek out programming on their own terms and consume when and how they want.

Featured companies include SingingFish and StreamSage.

May 26, 2004

MSFT Hints at Future Search Strategy

msoft1.jpgAt the Goldman Sachs internet conference today in Las Vegas, MSN search chief Yusuf Mehdi let slip some of MSFT's plans with regard to search. How do I know he let slip? Well, far as I knew, this stuff was not to be disclosed for quite a while (recall that I was briefed recently by MSFT, on background, for my book).

The news: Microsoft will be including a pretty significant local PC search function as part of its upcoming beta. Mehdi also mentioned that personalized search will be a significant focus going forward, and that MSFT is looking at integrating ads into mail a la Gmail.

From the AP story (Link to an edited version):

SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft Corp. will soon release technology that takes search functions far beyond the Internet, allowing users to pour through e-mails, personal computers and even big databases to find the information they want, a top executive said Wednesday.

The system being developed by Microsoft's MSN online division "will, as far as the consumer is concerned, be an end-to-end system for searching across any data type," Yusuf Mehdi, head of Microsoft's MSN division, told analysts at a Goldman Sachs Internet conference in Las Vegas Wednesday. The speech was broadcast over the Internet.

The new technology would be a huge step forward for users trying to grapple with an increasing amount of digital information, offering a one-step system instead of having to use several different search engines, file management systems or other tools.

Microsoft's Windows operating system, which is on 90 percent of personal computers, provides tools for file management on PCs. But Mehdi conceded there really isn't a quick system for searching.

"I think it's fair to say that we will tackle all of the things that you expect, including PC search, as part of the MSN effort," Mehdi said.

Mehdi said Microsoft plans to release an early version of the technology soon, as part of the software giant's push to compete with Internet search leader Google Inc. A final version is expected in the next 12 months, he said.

May 24, 2004

Search, Meet Desktop. Desktop, Meet Search. MSFT, Meet Plaxo. Plaxo...

plaxo_logoTake a look at this deal between Yahoo and Plaxo. (Who's on the Board of Plaxo? Yup, Ex-Yahoo CEO Koogle.)
From the the Merc:

Today Plaxo integrates Yahoo's search engine directly into the Outlook e-mail program. Under the deal with Yahoo, Plaxo will get paid for channeling people to Yahoo's search engine. The search box will be placed beside a Plaxo icon that sits atop Outlook.

Plaxo will eventually make Web searching possible from individual e-mails, according to Masonis. Ultimately, he wants Plaxo to search individual words within the e-mails. You would click on the word and Plaxo would do a Web search through Yahoo.

``We're in Outlook, so we're effectively within the operating system. We can scan words,'' he said. '

The deal is significant because it puts Yahoo search directly into one of the most popular e-mail programs. That helps Yahoo leapfrog rival Google, which earlier put its search engine on the bottom of the computer desktop with its Google task bar.

Do you think MSFT is going to let this happen, on *their* desktop, in *their* application, for very long?

(By the way, Google investor and board member Ram Shirram is also an investor in Plaxo...what tangled webs we weave...)

Just in Time for AdTech: Record Q1 Ad Revs

I'll be moderating a panel on "Advertising's Horizons" today at AdTech. Just in time for the event's opening day this news comes out: Online ad revs hit $2.3 billion last quarter, according to the IAB and PwC. Interesting that Q1 04 beat Q4 03, the Xmas season. Now that's strong growth. I still think this market is undercounted - but that's just a gut feel.

If anyone is coming to AdTech and wants to grab a bit of time after, come on up at the end of our session....

Release here....

May 23, 2004

Manber on Search from NYC WWW Conference

manberThe A9 chief gave the keynote at the WWW conference, where search played a starring role:

"A9's mandate is to build new search technologies to improve the user experience. We want to invent new things and new ways of finding relevant information. The first question I get from people is, 'Are you going to build another Google?' But, no, that's not what we are doing. There's so much room for innovation that you can build interesting things that aren't available today."...

..."For most users, they expect it to be as simple as possible and that's a barrier. If music was invented 20 years ago, we'd all be playing one-string instruments," he said, suggesting that user habits needed to change to adapt to the advancement in search technologies.

May 19, 2004

Seruku: Another Clickstream/PersonalWeb High Order Bit

OlduvaiFootYou know how I get about the concept of the ephemeral to the eternal. From what I can tell, it bores the pants off most of you. But you responded to my write up of Furl, which helps you create a PersonalWeb, and A9, which creates a search history (and more). Given that I am supposed to be writing my book, I won't give you a detailed report on Seruku, but thanks to Gary Price, I don't have to, as he's done it for you. The cool thing about this application is that it allows you to create a local archive of *every page you view on the web.* Now, the fellow behind Furl is quick to point out that Seruku has no comments, no topics, no keywords, and a proprietary format (not to mention, a price tag and no thin client). But still, Gary loves it. And I love that it makes a version of your PersonalWeb that YOU control (trust me, Furl is working on this, and...MSFT, Yahoo and Google are paying attention.) Check it out.

Oh, and by the way. Thank you for all the aid on comment spam. A post on that is forthcoming.

Paid Inclusion

You've heard me raise this issue before, during the initial brouhaha over Yahoo's announcement of paid search, which I tagged as something of a major PR bungle, coming as it did when the world was focused on search thanks to the SES show. Yesterday Danny Sullivan came out with a fine overview of the issue in his SEW newsletter. Watch this space. It is going to get more interesting, that much can be surmised.

The Desktop Search Wars

Markoff breaks the news officially that Google will have a PC/hard drive search. I was meeting with MSFT folks today when this broke (on my way out from NYC...). That's a story for another day.

Some have asked what the business model is for local hard drive search. My answer: Good will, and lots of it.

May 18, 2004

Shocker: Google Has an Ethics Committee

The Register breaks this "news" - groups of folks get together at Google to determine what to do when difficult issues like the Jew Watch controversy break. Well of course they do. At least the company has an ethics committee in the first place. It's true, they have not been forthcoming on this subject, but as the reality of being public company sets in, they've get better at it. It's an engineering-driven culture in the process of realizing that it's playing on a major media stage. DNA changes slowly, and not without pain.

May 17, 2004

What's the Value of Brand Advertising?

As Stefanie points out, just about zero, in the new Adsense image scheme. Good point. I sympathize with this quote:

"Google's making a public statement that the only value of a banner is when it's clicked upon, and it flies in the face of all the research done in the last five years that demonstrates the impact a banner can have on brand awareness and purchase intent," said Dave Moore, CEO of 24/7 Real Media, a New York-based company that sells advertising for 800 sites worldwide.

"Why shouldn't I get paid for creating the step to the ultimate purchase?" Moore said.

Brand advertising *is* important, and does deserve some value. Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Clearly, if I am an advertiser and believe in brand advertising, AdSense images make a lot of sense, because (for now) I am getting a lot of free brand advertising. On the other hand, at some point either Google will begin to charge a fee for placement, and/or only image ads which are clicked on will run on the system.

May 14, 2004

Search, R.I.P.?

rip.gifDanny Sullivan today writes something of an obit for the brief, glorious phase of Internet industry development in which search played a starring role. Danny has always warned that Google was on track to become a portal in the classic sense, but I think the recent AdSense news, in which Google essentially proclaimed itself a massively parallel ad agency, and the Google Groups news, where Google is playing catch up with Yahoo, has pushed him over the edge. Yahoo's comments yesterday during an analyst meeting didn't help - the company stressed that it was "much more than a search engine" - this after a year in which it focused almost entirely on earning cred in the search field.

Becoming a media player did make great sense for Google. It was a natural move to leverage the large advertising base it has. But its role in placing ads on sites across the web has nothing -- absolutely nothing -- to do with organizing information. ....

..."More than a search engine." It's almost unbelievable to hear those words spoken, especially from Yahoo, which over the past year has been desperately trying to resurrect its image as a search engine. While I've yet to hear Google utter those exact words, its actions speak them loudly.

Is this the end of an era? Yes and no. Yes, in that Google is clearly no longer just a search company, and Danny is right to declare this fact. Google is bigger now, and it has to act like a bigger company. Along with Yahoo, it is one of the first truly "new media" companies of our era. Search is its core editorial product, the internet is its distribution network, and advertising its revenue stream. What's new is that the company breaks some pretty sacred media company norms - distributing advertising across editorial sites that it doesn't control, for example, or abstracting traditional editorial judgment behind opaque curtains of algorithmic logic. Just wait until Google starts to distribute video ads attached to net-based television programming. Don't think it will happen? I'll bet you dinner it will.

But this is not the end of search as we know it, for search will continue to be the engine driving this industry, as the Yahoo folks took pains to point out during their analyst day.

Still, it is the growth potential of search that is receiving the greatest focus at Yahoo these days. The company has a two-pronged strategy for going after the local market that it plans to introduce soon: a primary emphasis on major retailers and other large businesses in a region, and the creation of a locator page for small businesses that do not have any online presence.

"It is a nice acorn to plant for the future," Meisel (head of Yahoo subsidiary Overture) said.

A significant part of the growth in search is coming from existing Internet users, who are doing more and more searches each day and driving commercial opportunity and demand for innovation. Jeff Weiner, Yahoo's senior vice president of search, described this as an unprecedented time, given the growing interest of computer users and the influx of talented engineers with advanced degrees focusing their energies and talents on helping people find relevant information as quickly and easily as possible.

"As fast as search is growing, there is an enormous opportunity ahead of us," Weiner said. "As good as all of us believe search results are, we are only delivering high-quality results about half the time as an industry. We have only scratched the surface. We are going to get much better at that."

Should either Google or Yahoo take their eye off the ball again, there are plenty of entrepreneurs ready to take advantage of their missteps. Search has taken its place as an enabling application to the most important new medium in the history of media. And that's a pretty big deal.

May 13, 2004

Zeitgeist: War Beats Britney

As ClickZ points out, the Lycos 50 shows that searchers got serious last week, with war-related searches (Nick Berg in particular) beating the usual fluffernutter of Paris, Britney, and Clay by a huge margin - 12 times, Lycos reports.

May 12, 2004

Fast and Furious Comes the News

Used to be, they did one thing, and one thing well. But, the world has changed. And Google has had to respond, yet continue to innovate, defend, as well as declare. Welcome to the second inning. Play Ball!

(too cryptic?! Pray for me to finish this fucking book.)

May 11, 2004

Google Launches Blog

google-blogDon't expect a hell of a lot of news during the quiet period.

(Thanks Gary)

May 10, 2004

More S-1 Grokking: Google Purchases Ignite Logic, Inc.

IgniteLogoMedIAstute Searchblog reader Rohit Khare points me to this odd passage on page 77 of the Google S1:

2003 Equity Incentive Plan
Our 2003 Equity Incentive Plan was assumed by us in connection with our acquisition of Ignite Logic, Inc. in April 2004. At April 23, 2004, options to purchase a total of  (blank)  shares of Class A common stock were....

Well, the purchase was in fact covered by a local paper (the firm is based near Sacramento, Ca.).

What is Ignite Logic, Inc.? It's a startup which helps law firms set up web sites. But why buy them? Hey, if you have good tech and processes to get a law firm's site up and running, one might imagine it just might scale to the entire SMB market (and beyond). Recall my "Incubation Platform" post - about how Google might leverage its platform to let others build on top of their infrastructure? You thought I was smoking something, eh? Nope.

Blogger Redux

relaunch_ufosCongrats to the team there, which has shipped a major upgrade. Details on new features here. Main stuff: Comments are enabled, a new "profile" page for Bloggers (watch that space, will be important in the building of meta-Web stuff), stronger permalink support, conditional tagging, email blogging, etc.

May 8, 2004

Neat PageRank Hack

ProogleA fellow by the name of Stephen Morrison has hacked up "Proogle," a Google skin that returns Google's results but adds in PageRank scores. The site is linked to what I presume is Stephen's home site, Webmaster Brain" (no contact info on his site, but a number of neat tools are there, including a link popularity tester).

I'm told Proogle has gotten quite popular among the webmaster community, as a result, I'll wager won't be up for long - it more likely than not generates more than 1000 searches a day, a violation of Google's terms of service. (The site even implores: "Google, Please Don't Sue!") This is yet another example of interesting hacks built on top of Google that, in the end, will probably end up on the dustbin due to popularity. Another recent example is Social Grid. I did hear back from the fellow behind that site, who admits he has yet to "ask permission" to build on top of Google. His credo: Code now, ask for forgiveness later.

Thanks to Aaron Wall of SEO Book/ SEO Index for pointing this out to me.

May 6, 2004

Info Porn

From Comscore, via IP:


* SEARCH VOLUME: In total, Americans conduct between 3.0 and 3.5
billion searches per month. More than one billion of these searches are
typically conducted at Google. The average search engine user conducted 32
searches in February. The average Google user conducted 25 searches at the
engine, more than twice the average number of searches (12) conducted by
users of the top ten engines. (Source: comScore qSearch)

* SHARE OF SEARCH: In February, Google controlled approximately 35
percent of searches conducted at major search engines by U.S. Internet
users. Yahoo!, its closest competitor, conducted 30 percent of searches by
U.S. Internet users in February. Among worldwide Internet users (Anglophone
population), Google's lead is even more dramatic, with the company
accounting for more than 43 percent of all searches. (Source: comScore
qSearch)

Share of Online Searches
February 2004
Source: comScore qSearch

U.S. Internet Users / Worldwide Internet Users
(Anglophone population)
Google Sites 34.7% / 43.3%
Yahoo! Sites 30.0% / 30.8%
MSN-Microsoft Sites 15.4% / 14.1%
Time Warner Network 15.0% / 7.1%
Ask Jeeves 1.9% / 1.7%
All Other 3.0% / 3.0%


* PENETRATION: Approximately 50 percent of all U.S. search engine
users conducted at least one search at Yahoo! in February, the highest
penetration of any search engine. Google ranked second, conducting at least
one search for 45 percent of all U.S. search engine users. (Source: comScore
qSearch)


* UNIQUE VISITORS: Combined, search sites reach more than 130 million
Americans or approximately 85 percent of all Internet users each month,
ranking Search/Navigation among the most popular categories on the Web.
Just over 65 million people visited Google sites in March 2004, an increase
of 23.5 percent versus March 2003. (Source: comScore Media Metrix)

Unique Visitors and Audience Reach
March 2004
Source: comScore Media Metrix
U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users

Unique Visitors / Reach %
(000)

Total Internet Users 154,051 / 100
Search/Navigation Category 131,030 / 85.1

Google Sites 65,029 / 42.2
Yahoo! Search 59,755 / 38.8
MSN Search 48,912 31.8
AOL Proprietary Search 34,629 / 22.5
Ask Jeeves 17,524 / 11.4
Lycos Network Search 9,024 / 5.9

* PROPERTY BREAKDOWN: Below is a breakdown of traffic to Google's
network of sites. With the March introduction of Froogle as one of the tabs
on the Google home page, traffic to this section of the site is likely to
increase quickly in the coming months. (Source: comScore Media Metrix)

Property Breakdown: Google Sites
March 2004
Source: comScore Media Metrix
U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users

Unique Visitors
(000)

Google Sites 65,029
GOOGLE.COM 63,057
Google Web Search 58,494
Google Images 15,924
Google Directory 5,074
Google News 3,277
Google Groups 1,954
Froogle 749
BLOGSPOT.COM 3,382

May 5, 2004

Google's Financials, In .xls Format

cnbc_logo.gif
A big thanks to CNBC Valley corresondent and Searchblog buddy Cory Johnson for this file (will download upon click), which takes all the financial information found in Google's S1 filing and pours it into a handy spreadsheet form.

Cory has broken out Applied Semantics, the one acquisition with related financial information. As he says:

Google paid $41.5 million and 1,825,226 fully-vested shares, as well as
557,574 "fully-vested and unvested options" of Google stock valued at $60.9
million (that'd be $109 an option).

Metadata Tagging The Social Grid Via Search

gray_logoInteresting idea. Social Grid. Does this violate the Google API? (I've sent the owner an email.) This is, however, a good example of how others can build on top of the search platform. From Internetnews.com:

The idea is simple. Registered members turn their own personal or business Web pages into free personals ads.

Members that sign up with the Orange County, Calif.-based firm get a string of HTML to put on their personal or business Web pages. The SocialGrid Search System then translates information that members enter into their SocialGrid profiles. Then Google and other search engines index not only the page but also the profile.

"It's a Google for people," said SocialGrid founder Chau Vuong.

Apparently, he's hoping to be acquired, as he has a rather self defeating approach to his own business:

With the search wars in overdrive, Vuong thinks that Google should continue to expand. "Sooner or later, Google is going to come out with their own HotJobs and GeoCities," he said. "Orkut is like Google's answer to Yahoo Groups. SocialGrid is basically a Google's version of Yahoo's GeoCities and HotJobs."

May 4, 2004

The Foundation for the Platform

Alex reports on Google's 2004 capital spend and what it augurs.

Bad Idea

Really bad idea.

May 1, 2004

Two Bits of News From Looksmart

logo_ls_2002.gifI met with Damian Smith, who came from Australia to run Looksmart on an interim basis this January, a month or so ago. I didn't post on it here, mainly because our conversation was book related or topics I imagined he didn't want posted all over the net. But he sent me a note Friday regarding the two Looksmart news items last week, and they do merit attention. First, the company bought Net Nanny. From the release:

Net Nanny is the world's leading brand name in consumer online filtering.

"This acquisition is both strategic and prudent for LookSmart," said Damian Smith, LookSmart's CEO. "Strategic, because integrating our search technology into Net Nanny provides a stronger product for their users, while also providing LookSmart with a desktop platform from which to launch high margin search and paid listings applications. Prudent, because Net Nanny is expected to produce positive margin contribution for LookSmart in 2004."

Second, the company announced better earnings than were expected - and raised guidance for next year.

Tidbits from the S1, continued

KK points me to this post from Tristan Louis which reverse engineers how many machines Google has based on reported IT costs. Answer: roughly 50-80K machines, each with two CPUs. Honestly, I think it's more. In any case, Tristan makes the case that taken together, it's the most powerful computer in the world. Anyone care to disagree? I'd be interested to hear if IBM agrees.

Ujiko

ujiko Kartoo has launched new search engine, Ujiko. I am sure there is an explanation for this name, but I don't know it. Uses Yahoo Search technology, and lets you to customize results based on what you like and don't like, and, interestingly, keeps all user data on *your* machine. I do believe this issue of who controls/owns/has rights to user data will be important to most users in a few years, and a significant point of product differentiation. Gary has a review here.