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Google's stock rising even further

Google's stock is trading near the $200 mark, and investors have to wonder whether many of those buying the stock near such a high price could be money managers, the same managers who once turned the IPO down and said they would never buy any shares.

And it's not just day traders and mom-and-pop investors accumulating Google shares.

Even though Wall Street veterans know that all hot IPO issues eventually come back to earth, and that Google faces long-term challenges from formidable rivals such as Microsoft and Yahoo, trading data suggests that institutions are indeed among the buyers.

On Thursday, Google was the most active Nasdaq stock, as measured by the dollar value of the shares traded. Trading volume in the stock has exceeded 10 million shares for seven straight days.

"With this kind of volume, it's not just retail demand," said Mark Lehmann, head of securities at the San Francisco investment bank JMP Securities.

That likely means some deep-pocketed investors have had a change of heart.

While some big fund firms - most notably Fidelity, which accumulated 5 million Google shares by early September - were early believers in the stock, many others rejected it for reasons that had nothing to do with its price.

When the Mountain View search firm held investor meetings in New York, San Francisco and other cities ahead of its August offering, many in the big-money crowd expressed indignation that the Web search company had decided not to play by the old IPO rules.

Those rules, which gave managers of mutual funds and hedge funds inside information on and access to hot IPO's, enriched many during the tech boom of the late 1990s.

But Google, as everyone knows, did things differently.

At those meetings, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page adhered to the letter of federal securities regulations, which restrict executives of companies in IPO registration from sharing any information that is not contained in its public prospectus.

That brought indignation from those managers who already were peeved that Google had estimated its IPO auction would value its shares in a range between $108 and $135 a share. The nerve!

Some made it clear, as they were leaving the Google meeting room at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco, that they wouldn't be interested in Google at any price because the company wouldn't play ball with Wall Street.

Their comments are a reminder that while Google's battle with Wall Street was marked by antagonistic relations with big investment banks, some of the company's most vocal critics were institutional investors.

No fools, they knew how much institutions had to lose if a successful Google offering prompted other companies to use auctions to give retail investors an equal shot at IPO shares.

So far, the auction trend has yet to materialize. But the torrid performance of Google shares since the IPO is evidence that holding onto the old ways can lead to missed opportunities.

Source: CBS MarketWatch

Internet users making less searches for sex

Internet users are making far fewer searches for pornography and sex, and instead are searching for eCommerce and business topics as compared to seven years ago.

"Twenty percent of all searching was sex-related back in 1997, now it's about 5 percent," said Amanda Spink, the University of Pittsburgh professor who co-authored "Web Search: Public Searching of the Web" with Penn State professor Bernard J. Jansen.

"It's a little bit more in Europe, 8-10 percent, but in comparison to everything else, it's a very small percent," Spink said. "People are using (the Web) more as an everyday tool rather than as just an entertainment medium."

Experts aren't surprised by the results.

"They're not getting excited about using the Internet anymore," said Barry Wellman, a University of Toronto cyberspace researcher said of the findings. "Remember when cars came out, and people would say, 'Wow, we're going for a ride today!' Now they just go for a ride."

Or go shopping. Spink said her studies show queries for e-business or commerce increased by 86 percent in the past seven years.

"That makes sense because e-commerce in the last seven years has boomed," said Gary Price, news editor of SearchEngineWatch.com, a branch of Connecticut-based Jupitermedia.com, which reports on Internet surfing.

In one study detailed in their book, Spink and Jansen randomly selected thousands of search sessions from more than 1 million they culled anonymously from search engines such as AltaVista. They tracked the type of search terms used, how many search terms were entered and how deeply into the results computer users clicked for information.

What hasn't changed much in seven years is how hard people are willing to work at searching. The answer: Not very. Spink and Jansen found that people averaged about two words per query and two queries per search session.

"The searches are taking less than five minutes and they're only looking at the first page of results," Spink said. "That's why people are wanting to get their results on the first page" of search engine results.

That's one reason behind a proliferation of sponsored links that appear at the top of results pages, often highlighted or in bold print. And it's why search engine companies — and the creators of the Web pages they're sifting through — are trying to develop technology to help computer users hone in on desired results and filter out the rest.

Spink and Jansen have just begun a study on Pittsburgh-based Vivisimo.com. Their findings will be used to improve the "metasearch" engine, which culls results from other search engines and categorizes them for users.

"We were surprised that people weren't doing more complex searches," Spink said. "If you put a couple of words into the Web, you're going to get hundreds of thousands of results. I think people aren't trained very well to use the search engines."

Source: Yahoo News

Yahoo adds search feature for cellphones

While Google's SMS uses text-only messages to deliver its results, Yahoo's new mobile search feature offers localised search results, maps and site icons that let people point, click and make the call.

The two companies took their most significant steps yet into the cellphone market within a few weeks of each other, showing just how eager the web search industry is to expand its reach.

Yahoo chief operating officer Dan Rosensweig said during a keynote speech on Wednesday at the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment trade show in San Francisco that the mobile internet industry is at a "tipping point". As mobile use continues to grow, he said, more customers will want access to their Yahoo services.

"The Internet has become essential. The industry is ready, and mobile usage is exploding," Rosensweig said.

But the cellphone industry still poses some challenges to search providers. US customers typically prefer to use the internet over a wired connection, although in Europe and Asia using a cellphone to access the web has become popular.

However, the mobile web also represents a new revenue source for Yahoo, Google and other traditional internet companies. While Yahoo has no plans for display or commercial search ads yet, the company hasn't ruled out commercial search in the future, Yahoo executives said at the trade show.

Yahoo's mobile search is available now to AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless and Sprint subscribers. Meanwhile, Google's SMS test product works with the top five US operators.

Source: Silicon.com

Search engines reach local advertisers

BellSouth's Yellow Pages Online unit is helping sell advertisements on Google's search engines, a move that underscores the growing emphasis by search engines to reach local advertisers.

The two companies plan to announce an agreement today, under which BellSouth Advertising & Publishing Corp.'s close to 2,000 sales people in nine Southeast states will sell online advertising packages featuring Google.

The deal, one of the first of its kind, is part of Google's efforts to sell advertising to more small- and medium-size local businesses. Some analysts have questioned how Google could significantly reach that group with its traditional Web-based, self-service ad-sales model.

The Mountain View, Calif., search company and rivals including Yahoo Inc. and Ask Jeeves Inc., have this year launched special sites to allow consumers to search for businesses and organizations in their neighborhoods, moves linked to their quests for more local advertisers.

The search engines' revenue related to such local searches should climb from $45 million last year to $2.5 billion in 2008, according to the Kelsey Group, a Princeton, N.J., consulting and research firm.

BellSouth aims to simplify the process of buying search-related advertising for businesses, by providing flat-rate monthly packages.

Search engines generally require businesses to bid on key words and then charge based on the number of times consumers click on an ad, a system that can sometimes be unwieldy and unpredictable.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Google buys mapping company Keyhole

Just as Keyhole started to generate some interest, Google just acquired the company for an undisclosed amount.

With Keyhole, you get a satellite image of the world and can view streets in the major cities and political hotspots, while finding local hospitals, restaurants and libraries.

Unlike traditional mapping technologies like MapQuest, Keyhole creates a dynamic 3D interface for geographic information.

Keyhole is a great tool for anyone, from a travel agent to a 13 year old studying geography. With an Internet connection, users enter an address or other location information and Keyhole’s software accesses the database and takes them to a digital image of that location on their computer screen.

The interactive software then gives users many options, including the ability to zoom in from space-level to street-level, tilt and rotate the view or search for other information such as hotels, parks, ATMs or subways.

Keyhole’s technology combines a multi-terabyte database of mapping information and images collected from satellites and airplanes with easy-to-use software.

Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president, Product Management adds “This acquisition gives Google users a powerful new search tool, enabling users to view 3D images of any place on earth as well as tap a rich database of roads, businesses and many other points of interest.

Keyhole is a valuable addition to Google’s efforts to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Google also announced, effective immediately, a price reduction for Keyhole 2 LT from $69.95 to $29.95.Keyhole was founded in 2001.

Keyhole customers include consumers, large and small businesses and public agencies. Current Keyhole users will benefit from the expanded resources and operational scale made possible by the integration into Google. Their service will continue uninterrupted.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Is Google's new Desktop Search too powerful?

Google's new Desktop Search feature is really fast and efficient. But is it capable of too much power?

Introduced last week as a free download, Google Desktop Search (http://desktop.google.com) keeps track of files on your computer's hard drive in much the same way that regular Google finds information you want on the Internet.

After installing Desktop Search, when you go to the Google search page in your browser, the first results you see are your own files. If you're searching for information about Detroit, for example, you get a list of e-mail, Word documents and plain-text documents on your computer that contain the word "Detroit."

With Desktop Search, I no longer have to ponder where I saw some piece of information: In an e-mail? On a Web page? In a document?

A single Google query now covers everything I've seen on my computer since installing the program, as well as whatever is available on the Web.

This is hugely valuable, yet occasionally creepy. Desktop Search does three things in particular that could compromise your privacy when someone else uses your computer.

First, the software keeps a copy of all your AOL Instant Messenger conversations. Until now, AIM conversations with your buddies disappeared from your computer the moment you closed the discussion window. Desktop Search, however, makes a copy of AIM conversations and keeps them forever.

Second, the software keeps its own copy of all your Outlook and Outlook Express e-mail messages -- even after you delete them from within Outlook or Outlook Express. In other words, a confidential company memo will still pop up during Google searches after you've emptied the Deleted Items folder in Outlook.

Third, the software keeps a copy of every Web page you visit and lists those pages in search results with the date and time of your visit. This even includes Web pages that are supposed to be secure from prying eyes, such as those run by online banking sites.

That means if someone else uses your PC and enters the word "bank" or "brokerage" in Desktop Search, they could uncover your confidential financial information.

There are controls within Desktop Search to block each of these three search features, but it's not immediately obvious how to find them, and many users will never bother to learn.

On the other hand, many users will find these same features very useful. If you're getting important work or school information through IM, not just gossip, the Desktop Search archive could be a lifesaver. Similarly, we've all had the experiences of accidentally deleting an important e-mail and being unable to find our way back to a crucial Web page.

Desktop Search is officially a so-called beta, or unfinished prerelease program. That gives the company room to make improvements, and Google has already said it's working on password protection, so only you or anyone you give your password to could search your personal files.

Despite the beta status, I would recommend Desktop Search now to anyone who's having a hard time keeping track of the many types of information that accumulate on a computer.

You'll need a PC running Windows XP or Windows 2000 with 500 megabytes of free space on the hard drive. Desktop Search doesn't work with older versions of Windows or the Macintosh.

You'll also need to be patient at the start. Desktop Search works in the background to keep an index of your personal files and requires five to 24 hours of computer running time after installation to fully catalog your hard drive.

I called several experts on Internet security and privacy last week to see whether the far-reaching power of Desktop Search would stir up controversy. The consensus, for now at least, is no.

The experts know how many threats exist in malicious software that hides its intent to steal personal information. Google Desktop Search doesn't disguise itself. The program shows its presence with a small icon in the Windows system tray that looks like a child's swirly lollipop.

Still, I wouldn't recommend installing Desktop Search on any computer you don't own, such as PCs at work or school. If you think there's a risk of strangers using a machine you own, disable the part of Desktop Search that keeps copies of secure Web pages.

Source: Detroit Free Press (Freep.com)

Copernic will offer enterprise search: Coveo

Copernic announces the creation of a new separate company, Coveo Solutions Inc.

The company will focus exclusively on providing easy-to-use, powerful and secure enterprise search software to businesses, organizations and government entities.

The creation of Coveo is in response to overwhelming market demand for its flagship product, Coveo Enterprise Search (CES), formerly known as Copernic Enterprise Search.

Currently, CES is being used by more than 3,000 businesses worldwide. These businesses and organizations require robust document-level security, low total cost of ownership, and superior relevance with one, unified approach from the desktop, across the enterprise and the Internet.

“Copernic is pleased to have seen tremendous success and growing demand for both its consumer and enterprise products.

Based on the differing needs of each audience, we felt it was imperative that we align strategically to effectively address these distinct market opportunities” said Martin Bouchard, Chairman of Copernic.

“Copernic will continue to focus on the consumer market and Coveo is the answer for the enterprise.”

Coveo will leverage its seasoned search specialists and R & D staff to quickly react to growing market expectations and to drive innovation for the core enterprise search solutions.

By streamlining operations and focusing exclusively on enterprise search solutions, Coveo will develop and market the most precise, secure and cost effective search software to ensure that customer’s needs are met.

According to a recent IDC Technology Assessment Report, CES is in a position to disrupt the current search market because of its favorable price point, rich set of features and short implementation time.

Laurent Simoneau, formerly COO at Copernic Technologies, Inc. has been appointed President and CEO of the newly formed company. A 10-year search industry veteran, Simoneau was deeply involved in every milestone of Copernic Technologies.

Other executive appointments are Eric Negler, VP Sales; Richard Tessier, VP Products; and Marc Sanfacon, VP Technologies. Martin Bouchard will serve as Chairman, David Burns will continue to lead Copernic Technologies as CEO.

Source: Copernic

Microsoft includes Google to help sell Windows

Microsoft has started offering a Google search tool for download from the Microsoft website.

Google's Deskbar is included in Microsoft's Partner Pack for Windows, a collection of Microsoft and third-party products released last week that Microsoft describes on its website as "the ultimate application package" for a Windows XP PC. (www.microsoft.com/windows/partnerpack/).

The Deskbar adds a search box to the Windows taskbar, allowing users to search the web with Google without having to start a web browser (deskbar.google.com/).

Other applications in the Partner Pack include Computer Associates International's eTrust EZ Antivirus 2005 and Post-it Software Notes from 3M.

Microsoft's promotion of the Google Deskbar comes as it works to deliver a beta version of its own MSN Search engine and a desktop search application by the end of this year.

"We should see some good MSN search technology in this calendar year, probably late in the second half, and we're going to have a heck of a great race in search between Google, Microsoft and Yahoo," said Microsoft chief financial officer John Connors.

Inclusion of the Google Deskbar in the Windows Partner Pack is an example of how Google can be a partner for Microsoft's large Windows group while at the same time a rival to MSN, a relatively small Microsoft group that in June ended its first profitable year ever, said Joe Wilcox, a Jupiter Research senior analyst.

"While MSN Search may be in hot competition with Google, for the Windows platform Google is a valuable partner," Wilcox said.

With Windows XP adoption lagging, Microsoft's biggest challenge right now is promoting Windows XP's capabilities, Wilcox said.

"Over the past couple months, Microsoft has stepped up XP evangelism, in part by showing the capability of partner products that extend the operating system’s capabilities. The products available with the Partner Pack are consistent with that approach," he said.

Another reason for Microsoft to include the Google Deskbar in Partner Pack was because it was built using Microsoft technology.

"Microsoft is pleased that Google recognised the potential of the Windows platform and the .net Framework and chose to use it to enable the delivery of a great search application," a Microsoft spokeswoman said.

Google spokesman Steve Langdon said bundling the Deskbar in the Windows Partner Pack is an example of industry collaboration. "From time to time we work with Microsoft and this is an example of that," he said.

Source: Computer Weekly

Google's market capitalization now bigger than Yahoo

Google's stock soared for a third day Monday, increasing the company's market value above that of Yahoo, to more than $50 billion, just two months after Google's IPO.

Google rose $14.97, or nearly 9 percent, to $187.40, boosting the Mountain View, Calif. company's market capitalization to $50.8 billion. Shares of Yahoo edged up 24 cents to $35.20, for a market cap of $47.8 billion.

Google's shares have more than doubled since they debuted in August at $85 each. Read recent IPO report as Google sets new milestones.

The stock continued to ride the momentum generated by its quarterly earnings report last week, when Google said it had more than doubled sales and earnings.

While analysts widely applauded Google's strong sales growth for the third quarter, Janco Partners analyst Martin Pyykkonen commented that the stock is "priced to perfection."

Pyykkonen said he would be reluctant to recommend picking up the stock at current levels. He rates Google shares "market perform."

In fact, Google's rapid climb has prompted some of the company's IPO investors to sell their shares and take profits.

Connor Browne, associate portfolio manager of the Thornburg Core Growth Fund, (THCGX: news, chart, profile) said his firm sold its Google shares near the end of the third quarter when the stock was trading "near $130" a share.

"It hit our price target in a hurry," said Browne, whose fund holds $80 million in assets and whose firm, Thornburg Investment Management of Santa Fe, New Mexico, manages more than $10 billion.

At the IPO price of $85 a share, Google's forward-looking price-to-earnings ratio and other metrics the firm uses to evaluate stocks "looked cheap" compared to those of more-established Internet firms like Ebay (EBAY: news, chart, profile) and Yahoo, Browne said.

"We valued it based on what we thought it could do" over the next five years, said Browne. "We didn't think it was cheap near $130," he said.

At Bear Stearns, analyst Robert Peck said he expects the stock will settle into a less volatile range once investors tweak short-term expectations and long-term projections.

"Although fundamentals remain strong for online advertising, we are concerned about current volatility in the stock," Peck said. He maintained a "peer perform" rating on Google shares.

Last week, the Internet search giant said it earned $52 million, or 19 cents a share, for the third quarter. In the same period a year earlier, earnings were $20.4 million. Read full details on Google's earnings report.

Google exceeded analysts' expectations for revenue and cash flow in its first quarterly report as a public company.

Quarterly sales doubled to $805.9 million from $393 million a year ago, underscoring the expanding business of search advertising on the Web. Excluding traffic-acquisition costs, Google generated sales of $504 million, topping analysts' average estimate of $456 million.

Source: CBS MarketWatch

Yahoo and Adobe partner to provide toolbars

Yahoo and Adobe have partnered to provide more Yahoo toolbar downloads to Adobe reader downloaders. Adobe and Yahoo announced the strategic relationship aimed at providing consumer services to Internet users.

Leveraging the over half-a-billion copies of Adobe Reader software distributed to date and Yahoo the two companies will introduce integrated products that feature Adobe services, significantly increase the reach of Yahoo Search and expand the online utility of Adobe Reader.

This week Adobe will introduce a co-branded Yahoo! Toolbar that will provide users with access to Yahoo! products including AntiSpy, Pop-Up Blocker and Yahoo! Search, as well as Adobe products such as Create Adobe PDF Online, a web-based service that provides consumers and small businesses easy access to creating documents in PDF.

Over time, the co-branded toolbar will launch additional functionality, such as the ability to quickly and easily convert web-based content into Adobe PDF files. Capturing and converting web pages into PDF means HTML content can be taken offline for viewing, sharing and archiving.

“We are excited to enter this strategic relationship with Adobe as it underscores Yahoo’s commitment to providing users with products and services that enrich their online experience,” said Dan Rosensweig, COO, Yahoo! Inc. “Additionally, our multi-faceted relationship will dramatically increase our exposure and reach to consumers via Adobe’s installed base of more than 500 million copies of Adobe Reader.”

A future release of Adobe Reader, Adobe’s universal client software for viewing and interacting with Adobe PDF files, will feature Yahoo! Search as the default Internet search.

This new service will provide Adobe Reader users with a much easier and faster way of accessing web search for additional information or content that they may be viewing in Reader.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Google to expand into brand advertising

Once it has built its business model through generic search listings, Google might soon want to expand into brand advertising.

Speaking to investment analysts on the company's first-ever earnings call last week, Google executives said its fledgling effort at distributing graphical ads was an important initiative for the company.

Google has begun to test the display of graphical ads on Google Image search.

"Currently, it is a small component of our business, but we think it has a very exciting future," CEO Eric Schmidt said of graphical ads.

Google's image search engine has indexed more than 880 million images from the Web. A Google spokesman said the test began recently.

"It's a limited test and we're serving the ads on a small percentage of queries," the spokesman said.

In May, Google began offering advertisers the opportunity to display keyword-targeted graphical ad units on the pages of participating publishers in Google's worldwide AdSense network, which consists of thousands of Web sites.

Publishers can choose whether or not to display the image ads and where they appear on the page.

Google said its ad system would determine whether to display an image ad over a text ad based on relevance and performance.

"I think what you're seeing with our foray into image ads and other products is that we are serving a larger and larger base of advertisers and users," said Larry Page, a Google co-founder and president of products.

The company spokesman declined to say how many sites have chosen to run the image ads, which do not include animation. However, none of Google's large AdSense partners, like NYTimes.com and Forbes.com, are displaying them.

"We are only starting to get more and more publishers, and more space for them," said Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder and the company's president of technology. "I think that's something that's going to need to evolve, because there are a number of technological features that need to be added to them."

Graphical ads, traditionally used by brand advertisers, could signal a move to diversify its advertiser base beyond direct-response marketers to attract brand-advertising dollars. The Google spokesman also declined to say how many of its 200,000-plus advertisers had chosen to run image ads.

"I think they've realized that no one will buy search to do branding, so they need a new offering," said Jupiter Research analyst Gary Stein.

Jeff Lanctot, vice president of media at ad agency Avenue A/Razorfish, said image ads have piqued some advertisers' interest in AdSense content ads.

"I think Google is actually pretty well-positioned to garner brand dollars," he said. "They have significant reach through their content network and they have smart targeting."

For now, the graphic ads shown through AdSense are priced on a click basis. Display advertising is often sold on a cost-per-thousand-impressions basis. Stein said Google is unlikely to simply adopt CPM pricing, but could instead have a hybrid system that charges a flat fee for impressions on top of click charges.

Page told investors that the company has a direct sales force that works with major advertisers that typically spend the most on brand advertising.

"I think it is really a natural transition for us," he said of selling image ads.

The Google spokesman said the company is selling image ads both through its direct sales force and its agency relations team, led by Chris Theodoros. Lanctot said Theodoros made early efforts to build strong relationships with agencies that will likely pay off as it rolls out new products to meet advertiser needs beyond direct response.

The move into display advertising would come as that part of the online ad market has started to perk up. While much of the industry's growth in the past year was driven by search, display advertising showed 24 percent year-over-year gains in the second quarter, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Schmidt said any moves Google makes would keep with its mantra of only serving relevant ads that users find useful.

"We just don't do untargeted ads," he said.

Source: DM News

26 percent of Internet surfers use online rating systems

Pew Internet and the American Life Project closely analyzed almost 1,400 Internet surfers and users in the US during the summer of 2004, in an effort to better gauge the country's use of online rating systems.

Overall, 26% of adult Internet users in the US have used online rating systems, or about 33 million people. A look at the demographics of those users shows that most groups displayed the same general level of use (usually between 20% and 30%), with a few exceptions. Among the demographic differences:

1) Men used online rating systems more than women by seven percentage points

2) Younger Internet users rated things online more than mature users (for example, 30% of Generation Y users had done online rating, compared to 11% of those over 69 years-old)

3) Hispanics did more online rating than blacks by five percentage points, with usage by whites falling in-between the two groups

4) Those with higher household incomes reported did more online rating than lower income households

5) College graduates and those who had completed some college used online rating systems more than high school graduates and non-high school graduates by about 10 percentage points.

Broadband users rated products online more than dial-up users.

Web sites use online rating systems for a variety of products and in a variety of ways.

Popular online auction site eBay lets users rate those who they do business with, helping potential buyers and sellers decide whether someone on eBay is trustworthy enough to do business with.

Other sites, like Amazon or Epinions, allow consumers to rate an almost limitless number of products, aiding other customers who are winnowing their purchase down to one product.

Similarly, sites like Citysearch lets users rate restaurants, bars, stores and other services, while the Internet Movie Database features movies ratings by those who have (it's assumed) seen a film.

Finally, sites like HotorNot.com offer anyone a chance to rate the physical attributes of anonymous people and assign a numeric score.

As this varied list demonstrates, these sites are not only useful as a source of buying advice, but can be a source of both entertainment - from reading humorous reviews to the tackiness of HotOrNot.com, for example - and as an engaging or even self-gratifying activity, such as when a user writes reviews and dispenses wisdom to others.

With so many applications and facets, use of online rating systems by US consumers is sure to rise even further.

Source: eMarketer

New search engine marketing association in the UK

A number of search engine marketing professionals have founded the Search Marketing Association UK (SMA-UK), with the intention of promoting search engine optimisation and positioning services in the UK.

The group temporarily headed by Barry Lloyd of MakeMeTop, is looking to establish itself as the principle organisation for search engine marketers in the UK.

It is looking to provide legal advice on search engine techniques, promote best practice, publish data on the search engine business in the UK and generally represent the industry.

Lloyd said 'The UK search engine market is currently the second largest in the world outside the United States.

It has became apparent that the UK should have its own association for this growing sector, set up in a manner to reflect the specific way that both businesses and trade associations operate in the UK and other parts of Europe.'

The Search Marketing Association UK can be contacted via their web site at http://www.sma-uk.org/.

Source: PC Pro.co.uk

MSN still promising its search engine for 2004

The world's biggest software company has set a closer date for the delivery of its desktop search program, after Google released a test version of its competing search feature for searching a personal computers' hard disk.

During its earnings call with financial analysts, Microsoft said an MSN-branded tool would be made available before the end of 2004. The tool and an algorithmic Web searching engine will be in beta testing by year's end, a representative said Friday.

"In terms of search, we should see some good MSN search technology in this calendar year, probably late the second half," John Connors, Microsoft's chief financial officer, said in the conference call. "We're going to have a heck of a great race in search between Google, Microsoft and Yahoo. It's going to be really fun to follow."

Google beat Microsoft to the punch last week, when it introduced Google Desktop Search, a Windows program that indexes a computer's hard drive to quickly search inside documents and e-mail. Yahoo executives have said the company plans a desktop search tool as well.

Microsoft first demonstrated the technology for its own desktop search tool at a financial analysts' conference in July. At the time, MSN executive Yusuf Mehdi would say only that it would be out before the release of Longhorn, the next version of Windows, scheduled for 2006.

Yahoo and Microsoft have been making acquisitions to boost their capabilities in this area. In July, Microsoft bought Lookout Software, which has a program for searching within Outlook e-mail. Yahoo acquired Oddpost in July and said this week that it would buy Stata Labs.

Google has emerged as a key rival to Microsoft. In addition to the battle over search, the company is seen as a potentially broader competitor in several areas, including the market for Web browsing and instant messaging.

Google also confirmed this week that it is opening an office in Kirkland, Wash., a Seattle suburb not far from Microsoft's Redmond headquarters.

Source: ZD Net

Stock analysts see Google at $ 200 soon

Today, Prudential Securities just raised its price target for Google's stock to $200 from its previous target of $130.

Google cited a "blowout third quarter as net revenue growth returns to triple digit."

It also raised its fiscal 2004 earnings estimate to $2.62 from $2.22 and boosted 2005 estimates to $3.67 from $2.91, the official told CNN/Money by phone from London.

Google stock has nearly doubled since the No. 1 search engine went public in August at $85 a share.

The shares soared 8 percent in after-hours trading Thursday, after rising during regular trading, following Google's first earnings report as a public company.

Google posted strong gains in sales and earnings, and the stock rallied as investors applauded the solid sales gains, which outpaced those at rival Yahoo!

The stock continued to gain ground early Friday, rising as high as $165 in electronic trading, Reuters reported, after moving above $161 in after-hours trading Thursday.

Source: CNN FN

Google repairs its security hole

A security hole that could have placed users of Google's desktop search feature in a vulnerable position has been eliminated, according to the company.

Google on Thursday fixed a security flaw in its Web search service that could have allowed malicious hackers to modify its pages.

According to a report posted to the Bugtraq Security Focus list on Wednesday, Google's new Desktop Search tool did not prevent a hacker from inserting JavaScript, a programming language, into the Web address of its page image, or logo.

That vulnerability could have allowed any rogue third party to change the appearance of Google's Web page to ask for personal data such as credit card numbers from its visitors, what's known as a phishing scam, according to the warning.

Google said it has fixed the problem. "Google was recently alerted to a potential security vulnerability affecting users of our Web site," a company representative said. "We have since fixed this vulnerability, and all current and future Google.com users are protected."

The warning came only a week after Google released its newest product -- a tool to search the files on a PC alongside Web pages. Security experts have scrutinised the technology, with some interesting finds. Last week, security consultant Richard Smith found clues that could point to a coming instant chat client from the search giant.

Jim Ley posted, in his Web log, the warning about Google's script-insertion flaw, which he said has affected Google's main site for as long as two years. But with the addition of Google Desktop, the flaw became more serious, he said, because "it places the results of a desktop search into the output of a regular Google search."

He said that the flaw could have allowed third parties to make a record of all the searches people make.

The flaw primarily had affected people using Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, Ley said.

Source: C-Net News

Google's desktop search feature poses security risks

It is relatively easy to snoop on networked computers which could be running Google's desktop search tool.

The search-engine firm recommends loading it onto only stand-alone machines.

People who use public or workplace computers for e-mail, instant messaging and Web searching have a new security risk to worry about: Google's free new tool that indexes a PC's contents for quickly locating data.

If it's installed on computers at libraries and Internet cafes, users could unwittingly allow people who follow them on the PCs, for example, to see sensitive information in e-mails they've exchanged. That could mean revealed passwords, conversations with doctors, or viewed Web pages detailing online purchases.

"It's clearly a very powerful tool for locating information on the computer," said Richard M. Smith, a privacy and security consultant in Cambridge, Mass. "On the flip side of things, it's a perfect spy program."

Google Desktop Search, publicly released Thursday in a "beta" test phase for computers running the latest Windows operating systems, automatically records e-mail you read through Outlook, Outlook Express or the Internet Explorer browser. It also saves copies of Web pages you view through IE and chat conversations using America Online Inc.'s instant-messaging software. And it finds Word, Excel and PowerPoint files stored on the computer.

If you're the computer's only user, the software is helpful "as a photographic memory of everything you've seen on the computer," said Marissa Mayer, director of consumer Web products at Google Inc. The giant index remains on the computer and isn't shared with Google. The company can't access it remotely even if it gets a subpoena ordering it to do so, Mayer said.

Where the privacy and security concerns arise is when the computer is shared.

Type in "hotmail.com" and you'll get copies, or stored caches, of messages that previous users have seen. Enter an e-mail address and you can read all the messages sent to and from that address. Type "password" and get password reminders that were sent back via e-mail.

Acknowledging the concerns, Mayer said managers of shared computers should think twice about installing the software until Google develops advanced features like password protection and multi-user support.

In the meantime, users of shared PCs can look for telltale signs.

A multicolored swirl in the system tray at the lower right corner of the computer desktop means the software is running. A user can right-click on that to exit the program — thereby preventing it from recording Web surfing, e-mail and chat sessions.

Users can also surf on non-IE browsers like Opera and Mozilla, although the software may index Web pages already stored before the software gets installed.

Managers of public access terminals can also install software or deny users administrative privileges so they can't install unauthorized programs, such as Google's. In fact, many libraries and cybercafes already do so.

Herb Jones, owner of Herb's Cyber Cafe in Oblong, Ill., tried out the desktop search program on his computer and likes it — but he won't install it on his two public terminals. In fact, he's written software to prevent customers from installing programs like it. "Otherwise, they can put on their own files if they want, a worm, a virus, anything, and you're shut down," Jones said.

The FedEx Kinko's chain is also taking preventive measures. It's deploying software designed to automatically refresh its public access terminals to a virgin state for each new customer. So any errant software would disappear, as would any personal settings, files or Web caches, said Maggie Thill, a spokeswoman with FedEx Kinko's.

But policies do vary, and no precaution is foolproof, warned Carol Brey-Casiano, president of the American Library Association and director of public libraries in El Paso.

"We do our best to protect our patrons and computers and network, but as you can imagine, thousands of people can use public computers in a given week," she said.

The new Google tool would not only aid people in spying on past patrons on public PCs. At home, parents could record their kids' instant messaging conversations or view a spouse's e-mail. In the office, employers could index what their workers are up to.

If each user has a separate logon to Windows, Google Desktop Search will be stymied, however. That's because only one person can install and use the software on a given computer.

Google's software's power relies on centralizing what's already saved on computers; most browsers, for instance, have a built-in cache that keeps copies of Web pages recently visited. The difference is that Google's index is permanent, though users can delete items individually. And the software makes all the items easier to find.

Neel Mehta, leader of the X-Force research and development team at Internet Security Systems Inc., said the threats are real, though there are plenty of other products available for spying — ones better at doing the recording secretly.

"It's not designed to be an illicitous tool," Mehta said of the Google software. "It's designed to be a search engine."

Source: Information Week

Google expects strong growth in advertising

Google expects to add well over 350,000 new advertiser accounts until 2008, according to internal documents obtained by The Chronicle.

The growth reflects the search engine's confidence in remaining a beacon for online marketing. But it also illustrates the maturing of the search industry because the rate of adding accounts is expected to slow over time.

Google, in Mountain View, will be in the spotlight Thursday when it issues its first quarterly earnings report as a public company. Analysts will be looking for any indication about its future.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google's two maverick founders, have vowed to provide little help. They said that they will talk only about broad trends in their industry, not the company's financial outlook.

"A management team distracted by a series of short-term targets is as pointless as a dieter stepping on a scale every half hour," the founders explained in their now-famous letter to shareholders earlier this year.

Analysts who follow Google grumble about the decision. They must rely on their own calculations to evaluate the stock rather than getting guidance from management.

Everyone agrees that Google is expanding rapidly. The questions are how much and for how long.

The internal Google documents obtained by The Chronicle give unusual detail about the matter. They include advertising forecasts that have not been publicly disclosed.

Google predicted that the number of advertiser accounts will jump from 280,000 this year to 378,000 in 2005, according to the documents. From 2004 to 2008, the number of accounts is expected to more than double to 652,050.

Google made the forecasts as part of its specifications for a new billing system that was to be built earlier this year by BFS Finance, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Bertelsmann AG. The numbers, labeled "assumptions," were intended to help in designing the project.

A Google spokesman declined to comment other than to say that the company has thousands of advertisers.

The figures in the documents show that Google expects to continue adding clients at a rapid pace. They also reflect the difficulty of maintaining the current expansion rate, analysts said.

Google expects its advertiser accounts to grow 35 percent between 2004 and 2005, according to the internal documents. However, Google estimates that the growth rate will decline to 15 percent between 2007 and 2008.

"Clearly, adding close to 100,000 customer accounts per year is pretty significant," said Scott Kessler, an analyst for Standard & Poor's. "But the number of customer accounts is going to be increasingly less relevant over time."

Kessler said Google's future growth will be tied largely to higher ad prices. Customers will bid up the price of the ads, putting more money in Google's pocket, he said.

That's already happening in the search industry overall. A study by Morgan Stanley showed that ad prices for queries with two or three words, such as "APR credit card," nearly doubled to $1.84 per click between April 2003 and March.

Google sells ads on its Web site and those of its partners. They are increasingly featured in areas outside traditional search such as Google's e- mail and blogs.

Companies of all sizes advertise on Google. They range from small mom and pops that sell political novelties to corporate giants such as EBay, Target department stores and Sam's Club discount retail warehouses.

Google's future growth also depends on luring new users and expanding its ad network to new products, Kessler said. Recent releases include a feature that allows users to search books from cover to cover and desktop search software to help users sort through documents and e-mail on their hard drives.

These new products don't yet include ads. However, analysts believe they will soon.

Google's internal documents don't explain how the company forecast the growth in advertiser accounts nor were any related revenue figures disclosed. There was no way of telling whether the numbers have been updated since they were published.

Google held its high-profile initial public offering in August, selling its shares for $85. Since then, the stock has soared 74 percent, finishing regular trading at $147.94 Tuesday.

Google will follow Wall Street tradition in hosting an earnings conference call, scheduled for Thursday at 1:30 p.m. Management is expected to make a presentation and answer questions.

That Google's executives refuse to give financial guidance hasn't stopped analysts from making their own predictions. Those polled by Thomson/First Call expect the company to earn an average of 54 cents per share for the third quarter, excluding unusual items.

Analysts had expressed some doubts about Google after its last earnings report, which came out while it was still a private company. The firm's revenue increased 11 percent from quarter to quarter at the time, far less than previous quarters.

Yahoo's third-quarter results, reported last week, have revived confidence in online advertising. The Sunnyvale Web portal met Wall Street expectations with the help of a robust advertising revenue, then modestly raised its financial guidance.

Google isn't alone in declining to provide financial guidance. A few other companies follow similar policies, including the Washington Post Co. and IAC/InterActiveCorp., which controls several Internet companies including online travel agent Expedia.

David Garrity, an analyst for Caris & Co., said Google may eventually be pushed to make some disclosures about its future. He said they would help analysts and investors hold Google's management accountable for reaching certain targets.

"At some point in time, there will have to be some sort of milestones," Garrity said. "They don't necessarily have to be financial, but people want to have some idea of what the company is shooting for."

Google's advertisers

Here is Google's internal forecast of how many advertiser accounts it will have.

2004 - 280,000
2005 - 378,000
2006 - 472,500
2007 - 567,000
2008 - 652,050

Source: SF Gate

Copernic updates desktop search tool

Copernic announces the availability of Copernic Desktop Search 1.1, an improved version of its critically-acclaimed desktop search product.

CDS enables users to instantly search their personal files, emails and attachments, as well as pictures, music, and videos. The company also announced that CDS 1.0 has been named as an “Editor’s Choice” by CNET in a review that included desktop search products from Google, Microsoft (Lookout), Hotbot, Blinkx, and X1.

In the CNET review, CDS was lauded by CNET editors as being “fast and easy to navigate,” and its interface was described as “the best of the desktop search engines.” With CDS 1.1, users will benefit from an even more refined search experience, thanks to performance optimizations, new customization options, user interface improvements, and better compatibility.

“The response we’ve had from users, analysts, the press, and many sophisticated bloggers since the launch of CDS is simply amazing, and the recent recognition as Editor’s Choice by CNET is another great validation of our product,” said David Burns, Copernic CEO.

“We improved CDS by listening carefully to our user’s feedback. For those seeking the absolute best desktop search experience available, we are already the clear market leader. And we will continue innovating to further increase our competitive edge. CDS 1.1 is just a beginning.”

Copernic Desktop Search 1.1 Includes:

* Performance – Faster scanning of Outlook emails and contacts; better monitoring of computer resource usage to pause the indexer as soon as another application requires CPU time.

* Customization – Scheduled indexing options now customizable for each category with specific minute/hour/day intervals; new option to configure custom music, picture, and video file types.

* User Interface – Ability to perform one query in multiple windows simply by clicking on category buttons; improved and faster loading of preview pane with easier access to contextual commands for email attachments.

* Compatibility – Better compatibility with Office 2000.

Search engines, portals and browser systems are trying to get off of the Internet and your desktop and into your hard drives, email, and private files.

By taking advantage of a basically lame Windows Search tool used by Microsoft since the dawn of MS Windows, huge public monsters like AOL and Google as well as smaller software developers are introducing desktop and email search which is filling the demands of Windows users.

Source: Search Engine Journal

LookSmart names new CEO

LookSmart announces today that David Hills has been appointed as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, effective October 25, 2004.

Mr. Hills will succeed Damian Smith, who has served as interim CEO since January 2004.

Mr. Hills, 48, has nearly twenty-five years of experience in media sales, operations, and a wealth of interactive media experience in online advertising, search marketing, paid listings and subscriptions.

He has served as President, Media Solutions for 24/7 Real Media since August 2003, overseeing all domestic media, search and technology businesses for the company.

Prior to joining 24/7 Real Media, he was COO and President of Sales for About, Inc., which owned About.com and Sprinks, the innovative pay per click service.

Prior to that, Mr. Hills held various media executive positions for subsidiaries of Cox Enterprises, including Vice President, Sales for Cox Interactive Media, which owns and operates a network of Web sites focused on local content; Vice President and Director of Cox Interactive Sales, which operated an Internet advertising network; and Vice President for Telerep, a television advertising sales representation firm and a division of Cox Broadcasting.

“I am thrilled to be joining LookSmart and leading the team in delivering high impact and relevant paid listings to our advertising customers and search engine partners,” said Mr. Hills.

“With the company’s restructuring efforts completed successfully, and a focused plan for returning to operating profitability, LookSmart is in great shape to grow and expand its business, taking advantage of a very robust search marketplace.

We have superior technology and business assets, coupled with the tremendous expertise of the team in place, that provide a solid growth platform for the future.”

“Dave Hills is a seasoned and highly successful leader, with demonstrated experience in growing businesses through strong customer focus and disciplined execution,” said Terri Dial, Chair of LookSmart’s Board of Directors.

“LookSmart is well-placed in a rapidly-growing industry, and the Board is confident David will deliver on the promise that our unique technology assets and business model hold.

The Board would like to thank Damian Smith for his effective interim leadership of the company, and wishes him every success as he returns to pursue a promising business career in his native Australia.”

Source: Search Engine Journal

AOL Europe inks deal with Google

AOL Europe and Google announces a new multi-year agreement that will provide users of the AOL European services with targeted advertising from Google's AdWords advertisers.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The agreement underlines AOL's commitment to providing the most comprehensive, relevant and useful search experience for its approx. 6.3 million members in the UK, France and Germany.

Google currently provides web search results for AOL search products in Europe. Under the new expanded alliance with Google, users of the AOL services in the UK, France and Germany will now also get targeted advertising from Google related to their search request.

Google AdWords advertisers can now appear on the search results pages of AOL's European properties based on users' expressed interests. This enables Google advertisers to reach millions of potential customers searching on AOL properties across the UK, France and Germany.

This enhanced partnership allows AOL to continue to take full advantage of the rapid growth in online marketing in Europe, particularly in search-related advertising.

"This strategic alliance with Google, one of the leading search providers, underscores our commitment to providing our European consumers with the best online experience possible, while providing great value to our marketing partners," said Philip Rowley, President of AOL Europe.

"By expanding AOL's relationship with Google, AOL Europe provides our members in the UK, France and Germany with useful information about products and services relevant to their searches, and ensures that we are continuing to provide a vehicle for advertisers to reach a highly desirable audience in a compelling and effective way."

"We are pleased to strengthen and grow our existing worldwide partnership with AOL," said Omid Kordestani, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Field Operations at Google.

"Partnering with one of Europe's leading online and interactive services providers reflects Google's continued commitment to providing value to our European advertising customers.

With this new agreement, AOL's European operations will benefit from the revenue opportunity, while its users will enjoy an enhanced online experience through the addition of relevant commercial information."

Source: AOL-Europe and Google

Ask Jeeves launches AJinteractive

Ask Jeeves launches AJinteractive, the company's new U.S. advertising products and sales division.

AJinteractive was formed to provide advertisers and publishers with world-class search, direct marketing, and media solutions, to effectively reach their target audience.

AJinteractive brings together the advertising products and the sales forces from Ask Jeeves U.S. and Interactive Search Holdings (ISH).

ISH was acquired by Ask Jeeves in May 2004, and ISH properties include the MaxOnline network, Excite (www.excite.com), My Way (myway.com) and iWon (iwon.com).

AJinteractive was formed to accommodate the larger suite of advertising products as a result of the acquisition, and provide a single point of contact for advertising across a network of leading online properties.

AJinteractive provides online marketing solutions within three main categories: Search, Media, and Direct Marketing:

-- Search Solutions: Offers advertisers targeted online advertising opportunities. The product offering includes graphical and paid listing ad units that are delivered within the Ask Jeeves, Inc. network of search properties.

-- Media Solutions: Leverages a portfolio of properties to enable advertisers to effectively reach their target audience while providing publishers with powerful revenue- generating opportunities. The media solutions product offering includes Ask Jeeves (Ask.com), the MaxOnline network, Excite, My Way and iWon.

-- Direct Marketing Solutions: Provides advertisers with effective direct marketing solutions by leveraging industry expertise, customer relationships and a diversified product suite. The direct marketing product offering includes email, lead generation, search engine marketing and promotions.

Source: Ask Jeeves

26 percent of Americans use the Web to search p. drugs

While 26 percent of Americans has used a search engine for finding drug information online, still only a few are venturing into the online prescription drug marketplace.

The prescription drug market is enormous and includes millions of Americans who go online to get information about the medicines they consume.

According to the new Pew Internet & American Life Project "Prescription Drugs Online" report, 64% of American households contain a regular user of prescription drugs, and one in four Americans (26%) has used the Internet to look for information about prescription drugs.

However, just 4% of Americans have purchased prescription drugs online, because, simply, most Americans do not fully trust the online prescription drug marketplace.

While 62% of Americans think purchasing prescription drugs online is less safe than purchasing them at a local pharmacy, only 20% think online purchases are as safe as local purchases. The remaining 18% responded that they did not know or that it depends on the situation.

In fact, even though one in five said online drug purchases are safe, only a fraction have ever bought prescription drugs online. The survey found a mere 4% of Americans have ever actually purchased prescription drugs on the Internet. To put that in actual numbers, of the 2,200 American adults surveyed just 93 people said they had purchased prescription drugs online.

When it comes to why people purchase drugs online, even though the sample size was small, Americans who have ordered prescription drugs online cited convenience and cost savings as the main reasons why they decided to take the leap. Privacy was the least likely factor of the choices offered in the survey.

When asked about the last time they purchased prescription drugs online, the majority of Rx purchasers said they visited a site that was based in the United States, and only a few visited a site based in another country. In addition:

-- Three-quarters of Rx purchasers said the last time they purchased prescription drugs online, they bought a drug for a chronic medical condition such as high blood pressure or arthritis.

-- One-quarter said their last purchase at an online pharmacy was to aid weight loss or sexual performance.

-- Most were satisfied with their last contact with an online pharmacy and plan to order prescription drugs online in the future.

All in all, the survey was upbeat about the future of the online drug market, stating that "Ignorance and mistrust of the online prescription drug market may be dispelled by further research and good experiences," and indicating that many Americans may soon change their minds about the safety of online prescription drug purchases.

Drawing an analogy to the growth in another large online category, the report stated: "[Prescription drug purchasers] who research a product online often become customers.

Convenience is the number one reason why banking became the fastest-growing activity between 2000 and 2002 — and it is the main reason why current Rx purchasers made the switch from offline to online ordering."

Source: eMarketer

Rumours say Google will enter Instant Messaging

Speculation is rampant that Google will soon enter the Instant Messaging (IM) arena. Such rumours aren't new, but gained momentum as some interesting facts have been discovered.

First, although few people seem to realise it, Google already owns an instant-messaging (IM) client called Hello that it picked up this summer with its acquisition of photo-sharing service Picasa.

Meanwhile, code uncovered in the Google Desktop Search tool released Tuesday suggests that the company may have broader plans to integrate IM into its growing list of products.

Richard Smith, a well-known security consultant, said he examined the code in the desktop application and found included in the program files a new protocol: "google_im://". (A protocol allows desktop software to interact with the Web browser.) "This is a good sign there's an IM client," he said.

A Google representative said the protocol flagged by Smith does not hint at a pending Google IM product; rather, it is merely a component used to capture IM data from America Online Instant Messenger and make it searchable on the desktop.

Smith also unearthed some of the history behind the desktop search application, the most ambitious new product launch for Google since its $1.7 billion initial public offering earlier this year.

For example, before it was named Google Desktop Search, the software was code-named Total Recall, according to a file name detected in the software by Smith. Google confirmed the handle and said the project had also previously taken the code name "Fluffy Bunny".

Right or wrong, the guesswork is a seemingly irresistible sport among technology buffs and investors, driving endless speculation about Google's next steps and perpetuating a Wonka-like mystique about the company. Google, founded in 1998, has also been rumoured in the last year to be working on a Web browser, a thin-client operating system, and a searchable digital archive of library and reference material, supposedly code-named Project Ocean.

To be sure, it's not a stretch to imagine Google's future. Just look at its past. In six years, the company has gone from a straightforward search engine to a Web portal extraordinaire, with an advertising network, comparison shopping service, email and Web publishing products.

Perhaps half the fun in the conjecture is the detective work involved in tracking a highly secretive company.

Smith ran a string utility search on the binary files in the desktop application, found the protocol "googlemail://" and next to it "google_im://." He speculated that the Google email protocol could eventually help the desktop application interact with the company's free Web-based search service, Gmail.

Web loggers at the Digital Life conference in New York were atwitter with the possibilities of a Google IM tool.

Google has incorporated Picasa's photo-sharing technology into its Blogger Web publishing service to help people publish photos to their blogs. But it has largely kept Picasa's IM technology under wraps.

"It's a good bet that as Google integrates Picasa better with the rest of its services, Hello will be its chat client, with full feature support for Gmail and Google Desktop. And if you are worried about security, Google claims that it's more secure than AOL Instant Messenger," said Nathan Weinberg, who runs the InsideGoogle blog.

Source: C-Net News

Tiscali offers search and targeted advertising

Tiscali offers search and targeted advertising on Tiscali’s European portals, thanks to a partnership with Google.

Through the agreement, Google will provide Tiscali users with web search as well as targeted advertising from Google AdWords advertisers.

Tiscali and Google will share revenues generated from the search engine’s sponsored links. Google’s search results will be available on Tiscali portals in The Netherlands, Denmark and the Czech Republic and will be extended to the other main countries where Tiscali operates by mid-2005.

Mario Mariani, Tiscali’s SVP for Business Development commented, "We have always been committed to offering our customers the best possible Internet experience and to experimenting with new Web frontiers.

The agreement with Google not only guarantees that we can offer our users the best search technology on the market, but will allow us to be the first to offer new functions which will become available as the technology evolves."

Omid Kordestani Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Operations at Google said, "The agreement with Tiscali, one of Europe’s leading Internet operators demonstrates the continued value we provide to ISPs through innovative products that drive both user loyalty and site profitability.

The agreement also enables Google AdWords advertisers to reach Tiscali’s 17 million European unique visitors with targeted advertising, increasing their reach across Europe."

Source: DM News

Survey shows people prefer doing product research online

The results of a new survey done by the Dieringer Research Group, show that in the past year US consumers spent $1.00 online for every $1.70 they spent offline, after doing online research using a search engine.

The survey was conducted in the 12 months between Q2 2003 and Q2 2004 among 3,000 US consumers in order to determine multi-channel consumer behavior. In total, $180.7 billion in offline purchases were made after consumers had conducted online research, a figure bigger than the $106.5 billion in purchases made online.

Not only were more Internet-influenced offline purchases made than online purchases over the 12-month time frame, but the percentage of offline purchases influenced by online research has grown faster than online purchases.

Online sales increased by 14% from 2003 to 2004, while Internet-influenced offline sales rose 31% in the same period.

A recent survey by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) shows that people favor doing product research online rather than offline by a large margin — 76% say they prefer finding product information online rather than in offline media, like magazines, compared to 21% who feel neither is better and 3% who favor offline methods.

The DRG study indicates, however, that when it comes down to actually making the purchase, people seem to prefer doing it offline.

Source: The Dieringer Research Group and eMarketer.

Clustering technology used at Google

Google just gave a sneak preview of its next steps to improve Internet search, and clustering technology played a critical role.

During a panel discussion of research lab leaders at the Web 2.0 conference here, one of Google's top researchers previewed the search company's work in clustering both entities and words as a way to better glean users' intentions and distill information on the Web.

Another space in Google's research net is statistical machine translation for turning Web pages into other languages, said Peter Norvig, director of search quality at Google.

"[We're] trying to go just beyond keywords and the linking structure of the Web, the innovation that we brought to search, and get behind the deeper meaning," Norvig said during his presentation.

In clustering, Norvig demonstrated a six-month-old project called "named entities abstraction," where Google's researchers are analyzing the company's large Web index to extract entities—such as the name of a company—from the structure of content and then decipher their relationship to one another.

For example, Norvig said, researchers are looking for ways to break down sentences by looking for a phrase like "such as" and grabbing the names that follow it. The goal is to not only pull out the name but also its clusters, so that a name such as "Java" can be associated both with the computer language and with language in general, Norvig said.

"We want to be able to search and find these [entities] and the relationships between them, rather than you typing in the words specifically," Norvig said.

With word clustering, the focus is on making the search engine better at understanding the multiple meanings of a word, Norvig said. Google started working on word clustering about three years ago.

Apropos of the heated U.S. presidential election, Norvig demonstrated a prototype of word clustering with results both for President Bush and for his Democratic contender, Sen. John Kerry.

Bush appeared in clusters for words around "president" and "White House," to name some examples, but the results drew laughter when he also appeared in descriptive categories such as "idiot" and "chimp."

"This is what the Web says, not my opinion," Norvig said following the laughter.

Kerry appeared within groups for "senator" and for his wife, "Teresa Heinz Kerry," as well as for "Bob Kerry," a former senator with whom some people may confuse him.

None of the clustering approaches is publicly available, though Norvig said in an interview following the panel that they may become Google Labs betas in the future.

Google Labs often prototypes features and services publicly that, sometimes, become new offerings. News alerts and Google's local search are among the labs' graduates.

"Certainly one application for clusters is in results pages, and it may be something we do at some time," Norvig said in the interview.

A growing number of search startups have targeted the automatic clustering of search results. Vivisimo Inc., one of the best-known startups that recently launched Clusty search site, groups results gathered from other search engines into clusters, or categories, as a way of drilling down into results.

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While it might make sense for startups to deploy clustering technology today, Norvig said, Google still views the technology as too immature. It is most useful only for a small percentage of search results, he said, so Google is focusing on improving the technology and increasing its usefulness.

"Our take is that the state of the art is not there yet," Norvig said.

With machine translation, Google is bringing to bear its formidable Web index—which at last count included 6 billion documents, images and items—as well as its computing resources. Google is well-known for having one of the largest clusters of Linux-based servers, which number in the thousands.

Google already provides a Web-page translation feature, but Norvig said it is based on technology from a third party. Its research project is based on homegrown technology that eventually could translate Web pages and links more automatically, he said.

Source: SF Gate.com

Numerous bogus and fake SEO forums?

As posted on Andy Beal's blog, there are a number of new fake SEO forums, that would seem to discredit reputable SEO firms, while at the same time promoting lesser-known individuals.

Law firm Girard Gibbs & De Bartolomeo, LLP from San Francisco is investigating a potential class action lawsuit against search engine optimization firm Traffic Power.com operating out of Las Vegas, Nevada. The suit is apparently based on numerous consumer complaints about improper business practices.

The SEO Consultants Directory have been commissioned by a Consortium of anonymous business owners, past and present Traffic-Power clients and a few industry representatives to research, assemble and publish a collection of online documents that refer to Traffic-Power.com.

The documents are extremely detailed and include alleged reports of Traffic-Power's estimated revenues, executive staff and photographs of a toga party held to celebrate the company's achievement of $100K in revenue earnings in a single week and over $300K in a four week period.

Current and former clients of Traffic-Power are being encouraged to read the documentation and get in touch with the law firm directly for further information. Additionally, it is recommended they keep posted on the Traffic Power issue by visiting http://www.trafficpowersucks.com/.

In the last few weeks, Traffic Power has apparently changed its name to 1P.com. What's really curious in this is that, strangely enough, the two new forums appear to be bad-mouthing many reputable SEO firms, while at the same time promoting themselves. One such forum is SEO Professional Forum at http://seo-professional-forum.com/.

As a whole, forums are great and are meant to help people better understand the world of search engines and how to optimize a website. However, the two above-mentioned forums seem to lack a lot in objectivity.

Here are a few examples of what has been recently posted:

http://seo-professional-forum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=86#86
http://seo-professional-forum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=85#85
http://seo-professional-forum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=80#80
http://seo-professional-forum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=74#74
http://seo-professional-forum.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=73#73

Source: SEO-Professional-Forum.com

One more securities analyst recommends to sell Google

Another securities analyst downgraded his rating on Google from hold to sell Monday.

Not surprisingly, he wasn't from one of the investment banks that underwrote the deal.

Despite all the reforms intended to separate research from investment banking, it seems Wall Street analysts are still unlikely to slap sell signals on companies their employers take public.

So far, analysts from five of the firms that underwrote the Google IPO have issued "buy" or equivalent ratings on Google and two rate it hold or neutral. None has a sell on the stock.

Among non-underwriting firms, the opinions are more widely dispersed: Three rate Google a buy, seven rate it hold/neutral and four recommend selling the stock, according to data from Bloomberg and Thomson Financial via Starmine.

The latest sell recommendation came Monday from Mark Mahaney of American Technology Research in San Francisco, who questioned whether Google's earnings for the quarter that ended in September will be strong enough to meet "what we believe may now be overly aggressive expectations."

On Monday, the stock fell $2.47 per share to $135.26. Mahaney writes that Google's share price rally -- it is up almost 60 percent since it premiered at $85 -- leaves it trading "at no material discount" to Yahoo, "and we believe a discount is warranted."

He also says new search technologies from Snap (an Idealab company) and Yahoo Local "highlight how competitive and dynamic the online search landscape is."

Finally, Mahaney says there are signs that Google is becoming "increasingly momentum driven," which means "there may not be near-term support for the stock on any correction."

Last Tuesday, Google stock jumped 2.5 percent on nothing more than Legg Mason's disclosure that it owned 4.3 million shares, or almost 13 percent of Google's stock.

"The skeptical translation is that somebody bought at $135 on the news that Legg Mason bought at $85. Sounds like fast-money to us," Mahaney writes.

About 2 million of Legg Mason's Google shares are in its flagship Value fund, run by noted manager Bill Miller. He is one of the few value-fund managers who have invested in Internet stocks such as Amazon.com.

Legg Mason is Google's second-largest outside shareholder after Fidelity, which owns about 15 percent of its Class A shares.

Fidelity Growth Company Fund, because it holds more than 5 percent of Google, had to disclose that it owns about 1.8 million shares, but Fidelity has not said where the rest of its Google shares reside. That news will trickle out slowly. Fidelity's funds disclose their entire portfolios about 60 days after the end of their fiscal quarters, which vary by fund.

Some of the major investment banks involved in the IPO -- such as Deutsche Bank Securities; Goldman, Sachs; and Piper Jaffray -- have yet to rate Google.

Analysts from underwriting firms couldn't comment on Google shares until late September, by which time they were at $118.

It's possible that some analysts who wanted to slap a buy on it at $85 or $110 "got jammed, like a batter with an inside pitch," says Mahaney. "Now, to have a buy, you have to argue why it should be worth $150 or $160. It's hard to make that argument," he adds.

But if they wait for a correction, they may be able to rate it a buy.

In other words, don't hold your breath waiting for Google's underwriting firms to issue sells.

The firms that have rated Google a sell include Mahaney's, which does brokerage but no investment banking; Janco, which does both; Soleil Securities, which distributes research produced by independent analysts and boutiques; and Spelman Research, which publishes research for which the rated company has paid a fee and research that has not been paid for.

Google did not pay for its rating, says Spelman President Guy Cohen.

Source: SF Gate.com

Google launches desktop search

Google releases software that will simultaneously search files on a computer hard drive, as well as on the Internet.

Other companies have released desktop search products in the past year, and competitors Ask Jeeves and Yahoo are expected to follow suit.

But Google's integration of the product into its home page, and the company's strong brand awareness among Internet users, ups the ante in what is expected to be a tough battle with Microsoft over search technology.

``This is the newest extension of the browser wars,'' said Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox, referring to Netscape Communications' epic battle with Microsoft in the 1990s. ``Microsoft has to be worried.''

Google was to announce the software at the Digital Life conference this morning in New York.

Andy Beal, vice president for the search engine marketing firm WebSourced, said until recently, search companies were focused on providing the most useful Internet search results.

``Now the race has moved to who has the most bells and whistles,'' Beal said. ``How can you distinguish yourself from your competitors?''

Called Google Desktop Search, the software is a 400-kilobyte file that Microsoft Windows users can download to their computers (a Macintosh version is not yet available). The software is accessible through a Web browser and the ``Desktop'' link that is automatically added to the Google home page.

Once the software is installed, users can perform simultaneous searches for Web and desktop files directly from google.com, or they can limit the search to the desktop. The end result is a hard drive search that looks nearly identical to a typical Google Web search.

``The integration into the main Google look is essential,'' said research librarian Gary Price, who watches the search engine industry closely. ``Overall, it's very impressive.''

Like other, similar tools, the Google software performs a one-time comprehensive index of a hard drive after installation and then updates the index any time a new file is created.

The software can index the content of most common types of files, including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and Outlook e-mail messages. The software also keeps a record of a user's Web surfing history, and it logs all AOL Instant Message conversations.

The software does have limitations. It cannot search across computer networks, it cannot search the text of PDF files. And, for now, it can only search e-mail messages from Outlook or Outlook Express.

The program, oddly enough, cannot index messages from Gmail, Google's e-mail service. Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer Web products, said that because Gmail is written in the Javascript programming language, the desktop software cannot access its files. But engineers are working on an HTML version of Gmail that can work with the desktop searcher, she said.

Like Gmail, Google's desktop search may raise privacy concerns. Some users may be uncomfortable with instant message conversations being recorded, though they can disable that feature. And there may be another rude awakening:

``If you thought that it was easier for people to find out about you on the Web, this makes it real easy for a co-worker to pop over to your desk and search your hard drive lickety split,'' said search engine expert Danny Sullivan.

The Google announcement follows a flurry of Internet search developments this year, including Yahoo's creation of its own search engine, the unveiling of Gmail, and a bevy of other product upgrades by nearly every player in the industry.

But Google's move is especially significant because it signals that the Mountain View company may be readying itself to challenge Microsoft's ownership of the computer desktop.

Rumors have been circulating that Google may be developing a Web browser; the company has refused to confirm or deny them.

Now, by integrating desktop searching capabilities into its browser, Google is ``blurring the lines between the desktop and the Internet,'' said Joe Wilcox, senior analyst with Jupiter Research. That suggests Google is trying to position itself as the primary gateway to the increasing amount of digital content that people access every day.

``More and more it's about content, whether that's written in a file on a desktop, or multimedia or on a blog,'' Wilcox said, ``and who is going to control the information and provide the utility to access the information.''

Sullivan, editor of the Search Engine Watch Web site, said the new tool once again raises the specter of a potential Google operating system, where users would store all their digital files on the company's servers and access them through a specialized interface.

``It raises the question, what is the desktop?'' Sullivan said. ``I think down the road, it opens the possibility of moving your stuff over to Google, where you can always access it and they'll back up copies for you. I think it seriously changes the dynamic in a very Google-esque way.''

For their part, Microsoft executives have vowed to make search technology a top priority. The company's MSN division is developing an Internet search engine to compete with Google and Yahoo. And the company has promised to make desktop file-searching a key feature of Longhorn, its next operating system.

Microsoft Windows' file searching capabilities are considered mediocre at best, opening the door for quicker, easier-to-use tools such as Google's. But when Microsoft eventually releases its new operating system, with embedded search capabilities, the company could gain a clear advantage.

That's because Microsoft's search technology would be readily available on the desktop, while Google and other companies would need to persuade users to take the extra step of downloading software.

Moreover, Microsoft's technology will leverage a powerful new database system the company is developing for Longhorn, potentially making it far more robust than anything a competitor could provide with a small downloadable program.

One feature Microsoft is developing, called Implicit Query, automatically displays a list of items or files -- Internet links, e-mail messages or music files -- related to whatever task the user happens to be working on. The company is also looking at ways to personalize search results based on what the operating system knows about users.

But Wilcox said Google's reputation for fast, reliable results may ultimately make it difficult for Microsoft to convince people to use its technology. Wilcox conducted a survey last year that found the majority of business Windows users change their default Web search setting away from MSN to other search engines.

``What I see is Google leveraging its strength,'' Wilcox said, noting its popularity with Web users. ``If Microsoft can do the research and catch up, then anything can happen. . . . Microsoft can improve search in two years. But if people are already using Google, it will be hard to get them to change.''

Source: Times Leader.com