I’ve written that Google has plenty of public data to allow parts its new Search Plus Your World feature to be inclusive of rival social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Now, those networks are proving that true, through a new “Don’t Be Evil” tool that lets anyone leverage Google’s own results to see this. The tool […]
The wide-ranging Federal Trade Commission investigation into Google’s potential anti-competitive practices has been expanded to include its Google+ social networking service, according to a Bloomberg report citing “people familiar with the situation.” The news is likely to please critics like the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), which earlier this week called for the FTC to […]
I woke up this morning to discover some fairly outrageous allegations against Google in Kenya. Local search/directory startup Mocality says that Google crawled its site for local business sales leads and then falsely claimed in cold calls to those businesses it had a partnership with the publisher to sign them up. Mocality founder Stefan Magdalinski […]
Google’s favoritism of Google+ in its new Search Plus results is just the latest in the line of favoritism it has done with vertical search? It’s not, because Google hasn’t really favored itself with vertical search. It is favoring itself with Google+, and that’s why things are so disturbing. Vertical Search Is What Search Engines […]
The new Google “Search Plus Your World” feature — which I’m now simply calling “Search Plus” — has just gone live for me. Huge debate erupted yesterday over whether it somehow favors Google+. I can see now that it clearly does, even more than I thought. Here’s a closer look at the changes, including how […]
That didn’t take long. In my coverage today about the new Google “Search Plus Your World” feature, I detailed how part of it gave hefty ammunition to claims that Google is abusing its dominant position in search. The anti-trust charges have now already started. Here’s the short story why. Imagine, Sending People To Other Stores! One of […]
Google’s search results are undergoing their most radical transformation ever, as a new “Search Plus Your World” format begins rolling out today. It finds both content that’s been shared with you privately along with matches from the public web, all mixed into a single set of listings. The change is live now, though not everyone will […]
According to CNET, Google faces the “maximum potential penalty” for allegedly obstructing South Korea’s antitrust investigation against the company. Korean officials “raided” Google’s Seoul offices last Fall in connection with an investigation into whether Google was acting in an anti-competitive way toward home-grown Korean search/portal sites on Android devices. (It wasn’t the first time for […]
TechCrunch reports a company named buySafe is suing Google over their Trusted Stores program, which Google launched in October. buySafe claims several strong things in this law suit: (1) Patent Infringement (2) Stealing proprietary business information (3) Pushing buySafe customers to switch to Google Trusted Stores (4) Google is trying to squash the company from […]
Bing’s not-so-newest push into online travel hasn’t begun to roil the industry, the latest example of where if Bing does something, no one cares, but if Google does it, it’s time for a Wall Street Journal story examining the potential evilness of the move. In case you missed it, the Wall Street Journal has a […]
Did watching elected representatives debate SOPA last week without understanding some fundamentals of the internet rattle your nerves? Welcome to my world of watching the same thing happen about Google and search. In September, the US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights held a hearing called “The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: RIAA Scolds Google, Wants Search Algorithm Changed To Fight Online Piracy Saying that Google has a “special responsibility” to fight copyright infringement, the RIAA has issued a report card that scolds […]
US Senators Herb Kohl and Mike Lee are urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Google unfairly favors its own properties in search results. Kohl and Lee are both members of the Senate’s antitrust subcommittee — that’s where Google’s Eric Schmidt testified in-person back in September on the same subject — and have jointly […]
It’s being reported today (originally by VentureBeat) that Verizon has blocked implementation of Google Wallet on the new Galaxy Nexus handset. Verizon is the exclusive US carrier of the heavily anticipated device. According to a statement issued to Bloomberg, Verizon is citing security as the rationale: Verizon Wireless, the largest U.S. wireless carrier, blocked Google Inc.’s […]
ZenithOptimedia has issued a report that contains both good news and bad news for Google. The good news is: Google controls 44 percent of global online ad revenues. The bad news is: Google controls 44 percent of global online ad revenues. At a time when Google is defending against antitrust investigations on two continents this […]
Which Way Google? Presentations from SMX East – NYC, NY, September 2011 Google’s going through an extraordinary time. It faces anti-trust investigations in the US and the EU. Competitors worry more and more about it, as the company seems to continually expand into new areas, such as social. Some consumer groups worry about privacy issues […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Movember SEO Moustache Competition Raises $17,000 For Cancer Research What started out as a friendly rivalry between Bing’s Duane Forester and Google’s Matt Cutts resulted in $17,000 for the Movember, a […]
According to dealReporter (via the Financial Times), the first stage of the formal European antitrust investigation against Google is almost complete. Google will shortly receive a 400-page “statement of objections” presenting findings from the European Commission’s investigation. It will detail Google’s alleged “abuse of dominance” and presumably — this is drawing an inference from the […]
Ironically, the trade group that created the Cyber Monday concept had its own CyberMonday.com site lost in cyberspace this week. Lost, that is, if you tried to use Bing to find it. The site, along with some Black Friday deals sites, have been deliberately dropped from Bing as being too “thin” in content. Bing’s Version […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Third Party Page Managment Comes To Google+ Google+ pages for brands & businesses were announced last week, and Google has been busy rolling out supporting features. Yesterday, Google began displaying select […]
The search trade association SEMPO sent a letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz asking for regulators to restrain their urge to regulate Google. In the letter SEMPO argues “Free-market innovation in the Search industry is a key element in ensuring that the Internet continues to serve humanity’s needs as our reservoir of vital information and […]
Google Is Target of ShopCity Antitrust Complaint to FTC from Bloomberg News reports yet another FTC antitrust complaint was filed against Google. This time the complaint was filed by ShopCity, a service aimed at helping local businesses sell products online. The complaint was filed on November 11th by Gary Reback, an antitrust lawyer at Carr […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Brands & News Sites Among Winners From Google’s Freshness Algo Update, Report Says Major brands and a variety of news sites — from established outlets to internet-only gossip sites — are […]
Is Google is a malevolent monopolist or merely the beneficiary of consumer choice in an intensely competitive environment? Has Google created a “network effect” that locks people in or is competition truly just “one click away”? These opposing views are on display in a PR war between Google and its opponents, such as anti-Google coalition FairSearch.org (which includes […]
Google’s universal search results — things like videos, news, images and local business listings — aren’t “separate ‘products and services’ from Google,” according to company chairman Eric Schmidt. He makes that claim, and many others, in a lengthy written response submitted today to the U.S. Senate’s antitrust subcommittee — a required follow-up to Schmidt’s in-person […]
Does Google favor its own sites in search results, as many critics have claimed? Not necessarily. New research suggests claims that Google is “biased” are overblown, and that Google’s primary competitor, Microsoft’s Bing, may actually be serving Microsoft-related results “far more” often than Google links to its own services in search results. In an analysis […]
Fresh on the heels of a free pass from a befuddled congress after admitting that they are a monopoly, Google’s decision to cloak search query strings under the guise of privacy makes it clear they are doubling down on their abusive, anti-competitive practices. Consider the following points: Cloaking the referrer and the query string it […]
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+ Search Goes Real Time & Gains Hashtag Support Google has announced that its still relatively new Google+ Search feature now will update its results in real time plus has new […]
FairSearch, a group of search companies including Microsoft which lobbies that Google is too dominant, has sent a white paper outlining its anti-trust concerns about Google to the 50 state attorneys general in the US. Below, a review and some fact checking of the paper. You’ll find the paper here, if you wish to read […]
Can Google beat Facebook in social media? Not unless Google changes the game, says Google chairman Eric Schmidt. Schmidt’s comments on Facebook, search rankings and a possible joke about a teenager civil rights act to protect them from social media discrimination came during an interview this week with PBS correspondent Gwen Ifill. Change The Social […]
While the US government accuses Google of, in part, favoring its own properties in search results, Yahoo appears to be doing the same thing on download-related searches. And, in the process of offering downloads of popular software, Yahoo is also offering searchers additional downloads including the Yahoo Toolbar. This was first spotted by GFI Labs, […]
Politics are messy and often riddled with ethical potholes and challenges. One illustration of this is Senator Al Franken’s apparent “conflict of interest” where Google is concerned. Discovered by Mike Blumenthal Franken did a “commercial” on behalf of Google’s “Get Your Business Online” initiative in Minnesota. Blumethal characterizes Franken as “shilling for Google.” It’s not […]
I swear, it’s like watching the Titanic having run into that iceberg, as Bing and Yahoo try to figure out what to do with their sinking ships of search. Except that the Titanic was big, and Bing and Yahoo are like small — and they haven’t run into an iceberg. They’re being run over by […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Why So Many Blogs Fail (And What to Do About It) It’s a safe bet that right this minute, someone, somewhere, is advising a small business owner to start a blog. […]
Earlier this morning I predicted that today’s three-hour Senate subcommittee hearing on Google and competition would be more theater than fact-finding. (You can read Danny’s live blog here and here.) And while there were lots of numbers and statistics thrown around by the witnesses (many of them inaccurate) there were few new facts; it was […]
Fairsearch.org has released findings from a new study that raises serious and important issues about Google, its influence on searcher behavior and whether the search giant’s actions are deliberately hindering competition. Unfortunately, the study results are tainted by flawed methodology and a blatant anti-Google bias, implicitly favoring the agendas of the companies that sponsored the […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing “Action Buttons” Lets You Book Flights, Rent Cars & More Bing announced a new feature in the search results named “Action Buttons.” Action buttons give you quick links to perform […]
OK, it’s round two. And I can tell you no, don’t expect much. How do you clear the press table when Google competitors are about to testify at a Senate hearing? Have Eric Schmidt do a post-game recap in the hearing room hallway. He’s done, I’m back, will catch up as best I can. NOTE: […]
Precision evaluations. Side-by-side experiments with human focus groups. Click evaluations. All of it led to more than 500 algorithm changes in 2010. Eric Schmidt is speaking today at a Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC, about Google’s business practices, and answering claims that Google’s business practices are anti-competitive. As part of his appearance, Schmidt (as […]
Today’s the day. Google chairman Eric Schmidt is being called on the carpet in front of a US Senate subcommittee, to talk about whether his company is a monopolistic orge. I’m here, live blogging. Fun starts at 2pm ET. NOTE: Our follow-up article, which covers the entire hearing with highlights and without live blogging typos […]