Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google’s Facebook Competitor, The Google+ Social Network, Finally Arrives Google’s long expected second shot at taking on Facebook in the social networking space has arrived in the form of the Google+ […]
Google’s long expected second shot at taking on Facebook in the social networking space has arrived in the form of the Google+ Project. It has some interesting twists on the social networking model but is far from a Facebook-killer. That Name The terrible name is a bad start. Google+? Google+! I can’t even question or […]
Foursquare announced today that they reached the mark of 10,000,000 members. The popular location based check-in app has been growing quickly in both features and members. The release of Foursquare 3.0, enhanced analytics and improved specials have helped to make the free service popular with more than those just checking in. Since inception two years ago over […]
Did you know that out of all social networking users 92% partake in Facebook, 29% participate on MySpace, 18% are on LinkedIn and Twitter is the least utilized network with just 13% usage? Or that males on LinkedIn nearly double the number of females, yet female usage of Twitter almost doubles male usage? Today Pew […]
While Facebook gets the lion’s share of attention, the overall adoption of social media is also lifting several sites to all-time traffic levels and there’s no sign that this will change anytime soon. According to a new comScore report, LinkedIn, Twitter and Tumblr — in addition to Facebook — all hit new highs for U.S. […]
A fascinating study published last year compares the reviews and reviewers at three local business websites: Yelp, Citysearch and Yahoo Local. And, in explaining how Yelp overtook the other two, it also hints — in my opinion — at how Google is trying to beat Yelp by using Yelp’s own playbook. Citysearch and Yahoo Local […]
The Google I/O developers conference has turned into an event where people anticipate big announcements about forthcoming Google products. But at Google I/O 2011 next week, don’t expect Google to rollout a shiny new social network. Expect little to do with social at all. That’s the word from a source close to Google. There will […]
In the past month, Google’s +1 has been the most hyped Social feature that Google has launched to date, as it has the potential to compete with Twitter and Facebook. A less noticed launch during this same time included social changes to Google’s Latitude product, which have also been launched to help Google compete with Foursquare. […]
If you’ve been hoping that someone’s search engine would turn into a social network, today is your lucky day. Sure, Google and Bing have been making search results more social, and Bing shows Facebook “likes” in its search results, and Google has its +1 button experiment … but that’s nothing compared to what Blekko is […]
Groupon’s purchase of Pelago, the parent company of Whrrl, offers an interesting glimpse into what the local daily deals powerhouse might be up to next. With the acquisition, which was for an undisclosed amount, Groupon gets a team that’s been focused on consumer check-ins at local businesses and offering relevant suggestions — similar to the […]
2011 bonuses for Google employees are reportedly being tied to how well the company fares in its efforts to integrate social elements across Google products. That’s according to two reports from Silicon Alley Insider — reports that say the news first spread in a company-wide memo last Friday from co-founder (and now new CEO) Larry […]
Is Google readying several new “connect an account” options in Google Profiles? Today, if you visit the connected accounts settings for your profile, Google offers a dropdown with six options: Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Quora, Twitter and Yelp. But, as James Slater pointed out today, there are several additional social account options that appear to be […]
Has Facebook patented social search? It appears so, according to a patent awarded earlier this year by the USPTO. The patent, written the same year Facebook was founded, has been previously discussed but escaped our notice until now. Originally filed in October 2004 and awarded this past February, the patent is for a system that […]
There’s lots of buzzing and posting this morning based on a couple of tweets from Tim O’Reilly and Steve Case. They state that “Google Circles” (which is “awesome”) is going to launch “possibly today.” (See updates below.) ReadWriteWeb has a lengthy discussion of the reportedly impending product launch. It’s based largely on hearsay but here […]
Google announced they have revamped the design for Google Profiles. Google said the new profile design is “even easier for you to control and enrich your public profile.” Here are before and after pictures of my profile: Before: After: As you can see, the profiles do look slicker and more “social,” as you would expect […]
Sure, everyone has heard of Facebook and Twitter, but what about Feed the Bull or Tweako? Yes, you can talk about sports on your old college roommate’s Facebook wall, but what about squaring off with strangers on a site like YardBarker? These types of niche social networking sites are what the social media industry has […]
Total unique Facebook visitors in 2010? Up 38 percent. Average daily Facebook visitors in 2010? Up 69 percent. Total Facebook page views in 2010? Up 71 percent. Overall time spent on Facebook in 2010? Up 79 percent. The list could go on and on. In fact, it does. Here’s a look at comScore’s estimates for […]
Google has finally added full check-in capabilities to its Latitude product, following in the footsteps of Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp, Facebook, and others that have been doing check-ins for some time now. Latitude has been a tool that lets one user share his/her location with friends, but now it goes further and allows users to check-in […]
Sure, the current social buzz might be about Quora, Tumblr and Twitter, but there are a variety of great upcoming social sites that can help you accomplish tasks and are quite frankly fun to use! I have highlighted my five favorite social up-and-comers and how you can use them to benefit your causes and social […]
In an apparent effort to cut down on spam, Foursquare has started limiting the number of friends and friend requests that a user can have. The About Foursquare blog explains that some companies have friended tens of thousands of Foursquare users so that, when those users check-in somewhere, the companies’ tips appear more often. In […]
Facebook passed Google as the most-visited website in the US in 2010, according to a new end-of-year report from Experian Hitwise. And not only that, but Facebook was also the most searched-for keyword of the year, too, just as it was a year ago. In fact, Hitwise says four of the top ten most popular […]
In a bid to continue momentum and broaden utility and engagement Foursquare released a new version of its iPhone app. The new app contains two big new features: photos and comments. (Android and BlackBerry are coming shortly.) Both have been on the white board for some time according to Alex Rainert, head of product for […]
Google and MySpace just have announced they have renewed their search and advertising deal. The multi-year agreement will expand on their current relationship and give MySpace access tot Google’s web search and search ads, as well as access to Google’s Display Network and DoubleClick Ad Exchange. Google will continue to power the search results on […]
Using search engines is the second most common online activity among all age groups, according to the new Generations 2010 report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. E-mail is the most popular online activity among each age group. According to the Pew study, 87% of all US adults who use the Internet also […]
The subject of “Google Me” has been discussed and debated and picked apart at length already. It’s already tired and the “product” hasn’t even launched. A new round of rumor and speculation has emerged from Quora (and TechCrunch). The supposed internal-testing name for Google Me was reported to be “Emerald City” but is now actually, […]
Mashable reports Google has delayed their social networking platformed, rumored to be Google Me, until Spring 2011. It was expected to be out in 2010 or early 2011, but that has been pushed back to do delays. Mashable said they have a source that said the delay is due to internal “disagrement” about the “design, […]
TechCrunch reports Facebook has removed the Gmail option of finding friends on Facebook. If you go to the find friends section on Facebook, you will find options to find your friends via Skype, AIM, Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, Comcast, MSN, sbcglobal and verizon.net, but you won’t see Google’s Gmail as an option: This doesn’t […]
The next time you login to Twitter.com, you might see a new tab at the top of the page called “Directory” or “People” or “Who to Follow.” Different names for Twitter’s latest tool for helping users find new accounts to follow. And it’s their best attempt yet at facilitating user connections.
Last week, things boiled over between Google and Facebook over data sharing. This week, the CEOs from both companies took the stage at Web 2.0 Summit. Despite the obvious conflict, neither CEO would just clearly say what they wanted from the other. It’s a pity two innovative, groundbreaking companies can’t show any innovation when it […]
Google has just launched Hotpot, a personalized recommendations engine based on what you like and what your friends like. When Facebook launched Places to compete with Foursquare, we here at Search Engine Land explained how even though it had the same name as Google Places, it was actually entirely different. After all, you don’t check […]
TechCrunch reports Google has made a small but significant change to their Google Contacts API terms of service that technically prevents Facebook from using it to improve their friends database. When users sign up to Facebook, they are prompted to add friends. They can do so manually or by uploading their contacts or email lists. […]
The Pew Internet Project published findings from a recent survey about usage of “location-based services” (LBS). According to the Pew data, 7 percent of mobile Internet users are on location-based services and 4 percent of all internet-using adults “use a service such as Foursquare or Gowalla that allows them to share their location with friends […]
Search engines are the number one way that consumers find out about new products, according to a new study commissioned by commerce software developer ATG. The survey was conducted online and polled 1,002 U.S. adult consumers in July 2010. One question asked respondents to list up to five ways they discover new products. 53% of […]
Flickr wants its users to make more connections and has launched a new tool that simplifies the process: Find your friends. It’s a search engine that looks for Flickr users you may know across five platforms: Flickr itself, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, and Facebook. The new tool is accessible via a “People you may know” […]
I missed Facebook’s press conference yesterday about the new Facebook Groups feature that promises that you can share comments, photos and other information more tightly among only people you trust. But I learned about the feature firsthand soon enough, when I found myself added to a group without being asked. And that was worrisome. Robert […]
In a bid to give users more tools and control over the sharing of information (and perhaps preempt Google) Facebook introduced a new way to create and communicate with small private groups of people. Through an API this same functionality will be extended to publishers and third party developers like Facebook Connect is today. The […]
Google’s been under fire in various quarters, including the New York Times, that it should open up about how its ranking algorithm works. I think offering the exact formula would be difficult plus potentially give away trade secrets. But how about just listing some of the basic “ingredients?” Nope, said Google CEO Eric Schmidt, this […]
There are a number of critical articles, even complaints, coming out of yesterday’s Yahoo press event featuring new Chief Product Officer Blake Irving. The main portion of the event had Irving and CTO Raymie Strata discussing Yahoo strategy and reiterating that Yahoo wasn’t simply a media company but a company with deep technology as well. […]
The unconfirmed “Google Me” appears not to be a product per se rather a placeholder for a broader social strategy. According to reports coming out of Google Zeitgeist (Danny’s there so he can expand on this) Google is going to integrate a “social layer” into more and more of its products over time. According to […]
Last week Google acquired Angstro. The site has been described as a way to discover and organize information about individuals across various professional networks. Here’s how Angstro describes itself: Ångströ represents the ability to hone in on highly focused, relevant news across professional networks. Where search engines such as Google and other news aggregator services […]