Category: Policy

And The Worm Slowly Turns

If you don't think this is keeping the folks up late at night over at Google, you're wrong. And if they are NOT up late at night, sell your shares. From the Journal piece: The Justice Department has quietly hired one of the nation's best-known litigators, former Walt Disney…

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If you don’t think this is keeping the folks up late at night over at Google, you’re wrong. And if they are NOT up late at night, sell your shares. From the Journal piece:

The Justice Department has quietly hired one of the nation’s best-known litigators, former Walt Disney Co. vice chairman Sanford Litvack, for a possible antitrust challenge to Google Inc.’s growing power in advertising.

Mr. Litvack’s hiring is the strongest signal yet that the U.S. is preparing to take court action against Google and its search-advertising deal with Yahoo Inc. The two companies combined would account for more than 80% of U.S. online-search ads.

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I Was Wondering … Matt Answers

I was wondering what data was sent to Google from Chrome users. Matt has the answers, and so far, seems innocuous….

I was wondering what data was sent to Google from Chrome users. Matt has the answers, and so far, seems innocuous.

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Google In the News

Google launches Ad Manager to the public and Google Suggest. Meanwhile, Street View keeps pushing the big question in our society: Where do we end and the public begins?…

Google launches Ad Manager to the public and Google Suggest. Meanwhile, Street View keeps pushing the big question in our society: Where do we end and the public begins?

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Link to Many

Tim brings up a very good point here. In short, he's worried about the second click issue, write large (yep, I just linked to myself). I'd like to put out two guidelines for anyone adopting this "link to myself" strategy: 1. Ensure that no more than 50% of the…

Tim brings up a very good point here. In short, he’s worried about the second click issue, write large (yep, I just linked to myself).

I’d like to put out two guidelines for anyone adopting this “link to myself” strategy:

1. Ensure that no more than 50% of the links on any page are to yourself. (Even this number may be too high.)

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Privacy: The Frog Boils, Slowly

This article strikes me as another slow drumbeat on an issue that has to be both frustrating and impossible to own for Google. The headline: "Some Web Firms Say They Track Behavior Without Explicit Consent" implies ulterior motives and wrongdoing. In fact, it's standard operating procedure for companies who…

This article strikes me as another slow drumbeat on an issue that has to be both frustrating and impossible to own for Google. The headline: “Some Web Firms Say They Track Behavior Without Explicit Consent” implies ulterior motives and wrongdoing. In fact, it’s standard operating procedure for companies who run ad networks, and has been for a very long time. However, now that the guv’mint is involved, SOP is no longer AOK. The lede:

Several Internet and broadband companies have acknowledged using targeted-advertising technology without explicitly informing customers, according to letters released yesterday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The kicker:

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Watch This Space

Potential regulation and new industry attempts at providing privacy controls. For background, read my "Data Bill of Rights."…

Potential regulation and new industry attempts at providing privacy controls. For background, read my “Data Bill of Rights.”

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Google-Viacom Suit Gets Interesting

The ruling yesterday on the merits of Viacom's data requests is worthy of review. Ars has more here. I am preparing for a vacation and can't elaborate, but trust me on this one……

The ruling yesterday on the merits of Viacom’s data requests is worthy of review. Ars has more here. I am preparing for a vacation and can’t elaborate, but trust me on this one…

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More Fun for Yahoo, DOJ Moves In

The DOJ is reviewing the Google/Yahoo deal. Expected, to be sure, but still, not a lot of fun for a place that has not had tons of fun lately….

The DOJ is reviewing the Google/Yahoo deal. Expected, to be sure, but still, not a lot of fun for a place that has not had tons of fun lately.

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Flash Is Searchable

This is a Big Deal. Now, I want to know: how will Flash files be ranked? Any ideas? Adobe is a major competitor to Microsoft in this front. How will Microsoft make Silverlight searchable? And will Google index all both equally? (My take: Oh yes it will. If it…

This is a Big Deal. Now, I want to know: how will Flash files be ranked? Any ideas? Adobe is a major competitor to Microsoft in this front. How will Microsoft make Silverlight searchable? And will Google index all both equally? (My take: Oh yes it will. If it does not, that spells trouble in any congressional hearing…)

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What Are Community Standards?

Is it what people say they value publicly, or what they search for in the privacy of their home? Man, that's a tricky one. In the trial of a pornographic Web site operator, the defense plans to show that residents of Pensacola are more likely to use Google to…

Is it what people say they value publicly, or what they search for in the privacy of their home? Man, that’s a tricky one.

In the trial of a pornographic Web site operator, the defense plans to show that residents of Pensacola are more likely to use Google to search for terms like “orgy” than for “apple pie” or “watermelon.” The publicly accessible data is vague in that it does not specify how many people are searching for the terms, just their relative popularity over time. But the defense lawyer, Lawrence Walters, is arguing that the evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that interest in the sexual subjects exceeds that of more mainstream topics — and that by extension, the sexual material distributed by his client is not outside the norm.

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