Nextag CEO Jeffrey Katz is out today in the Wall Street Journal with an opinion piece taking Google to task over a lack of transparency and fairness. Perhaps it’s not the smartest move, given that all his arguments can be neatly turned back against Nextag. Moreover, unlike Google, NexTag is probably in violation of US […]
Google now faces antitrust investigations on multiple continents. The US FTC recently hired a prominent outside litigator in a sign that it may be preparing to bring an action against the company. But does Google have a “slam dunk” defense against such a case (at least in the US) under the First Amendment of the […]
Several members of Congress continued to express reservations about Google’s new privacy policy after a closed-door meeting on Thursday, with one House member saying that Google’s handling of sensitive medical searches may violate HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Members of the House Energy and Commerce committee grilled Pablo Chavez, Google’s director of […]
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: Paid Clicks Up 34% While Cost Per Click Down 8% YoY Google just posted their Q4 2011 earnings resulting in a massive quarter but not meeting expectations of investors. In […]
Many U.S. Senators and Representatives are tweeting opinions, updates, images, documents, etc. these days, and Twitter can be a very useful, if not an essential tool, to learn about what’s going on directly from each member, especially regarding controversial legislation such as SOPA. An easy to use but powerful web tool (it’s also free) named […]
As promised earlier, Google has voiced its opposition to two bills currently being discussed in Congress that the company says — and countless critics around the world agree — would censor the web and hurt U.S. businesses. While some sites like Wikipedia are going black for the day on Wednesday, Google has instead chosen to cover its logo […]
Google has confirmed to several media outlets (initially CNET) that it will join other prominent websites tomorrow, including Wikipedia, in protesting the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills. While Wikipedia has said it will go dark, Google will link to anti-SOPA information on its homepage. Still, that information will be […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: How To Blackout Your Site (For SOPA/PIPA) Without Hurting SEO A number of websites are (or were) planning to “go black” this week while the U.S. Congress discusses issues related to […]
A number of websites are (or were) planning to “go black” this week while the U.S. Congress discusses issues related to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). The website blackouts are part of a larger social media effort against the bills that our Greg Finn wrote about this morning […]
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 […]
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 Adds Christmas & Hanukkah Decorations To Search Results If you go to Google and search for variations of either [christmas] or [hanukkah], you will see Google has dressed up the […]
China has historically been the land of copyright and trademark infringement of Western software, goods and other intellectual property — and Chinese websites such as Baidu and Taobao its willing handmaidens. In February of this year the US trade authority named Baidu one of the world’s “notorious markets” because it was seen facilitating copyright infringement. Here’s […]
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 […]
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 […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) Stalls In Congress The U.S. House Judiciary Committee abruptly adjourned today without voting on the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA), a controversial measure that would […]
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee abruptly adjourned today without voting on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a controversial measure that would impose radical new requirements on search engines, ISPs, ad networks and other key internet players. The hearings will resume “earliest practical day that Congress is in session” according to the chief sponsor of […]
There’s a multi-pronged assault on the internet going on now. It comes from over-zealous legislators, the US executive branch and individual judges. There’s an effort on multiple fronts to grant over-broad powers to copyright owners to instigate domain seizures, cut-off funds and de-index “rogue” websites if found guilty of “infringement,” where that concept is very expansively defined […]
According to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal the world’s largest social network is nearing a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that will subject the company to 20 years of “privacy audits.” A nearly identical punishment was imposed earlier this year on Google over “deceptive privacy practices in Google’s rollout […]
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 […]
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 […]
Mark Zuckerberg at F8, the Facebook developer conference held last week, exhorted people to “tell their life story” on Facebook via its new Timeline feature. Facebook also promoted new Open Graph apps integration and so-called “frictionless sharing.” But frictionless sharing is already creating a great deal of friction for Facebook in privacy circles and with […]
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 […]
Welcome! It’s the “Which Way Google?” panel here at SMX East. We’ve got a great panel — Jeff Jarvis, Steven Levy and Marc Rotenberg — set to cover a range of issues. Let’s live blog. This is new for me — I never live blog at my own conferences. But I saw the queen of […]
100 million active users. 1 billion tweets every seven days. Plans to grow the ad business. These stats and facts are part of a “State Of The Twitter” talk Twitter CEO Dick Costolo gave to the press today. Live blogging below! Dick arrives. Nothing big, he says. “I just wanted to give you a state […]
The seemingly inevitable antitrust investigation of Google appears to be taking another step forward, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the US Federal Trade Commission is “poised” to serve the company with subpoenas as part of a probe. Google may receive the FTC demands within days, and other companies may get similar requests asking […]
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 Expands Use & Display Of Related Searches Google has announced an interesting expansion of its related search capabilities. The updates to Google’s search results will show up in a number […]
Two mobile-location privacy bills have been simultaneously introduced in Congress. Both are intended to regulate when location on mobile devices can be accessed and provide penalties for failure to obtain proper consent or authorization. The first of the two bills is from Democratic Senators Al Franken and Richard Blumenthal and would require Google, Apple, app […]
Following the revelation last week that the iPhone stored user location data a consumer class action was filed. This kind of disclosure/revelation-class action cycle is now familiar. And because Google also collects location data it is now also the subject of a similar class action (Brown et al v. Google) seeking $50 million in damages. […]
Apple and Google are helping intensify an already intense digital privacy debate with last week’s revelations that both companies’ mobile software track your movements in detail without your affirmative consent. This morning the Wall Street Journal reported that the iPhone stores user location data even when location-services are entirely turned off: Apple Inc.’s iPhone is […]
Imagine my shock when I used Bing to search for “Where to buy knockoff products in New York” and found a treasure trove of information on the web leading me to an apparently little-known area of New York City where such products are available around Canal Street: Imagine my further shock to discover that major […]
It’s a well known feature of Google. Start typing in a search, and Google offers suggestions before you’ve even finished typing. But how does Google come up with those suggestions? When does Google remove some suggestions? When does Google decide not to interfere? Come along for some answers.
Bloomberg provides more evidence of a coming antitrust investigation of Google by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or Justice Department. We’ve now been hearing these kinds of statements and suggestions — from various “unnamed sources” and “people with knowledge of the matter” — for months. The Bloomberg article says that the ITA-acquisition decision could […]
As you read earlier the US Federal Trade Commission concluded its investigation of Google over the company’s supposedly “deceptive privacy practices in Google’s rollout of its Buzz social network.” My view after talking to people at Google following the Buzz launch is that Google was not intentionally seeking to deceive users. Rather it was overzealous […]
Google is encouraging TV show owners/providers to begin tagging their online videos with several new fields that can be used in both video sitemaps and mRSS feeds. The new fields include specific data for identifying the show/series title, season and episode numbers, premiere date and more. Google’s blog post explains and shows the correct code […]
Bloomberg is reporting that Ohio Attorney General (AG) Mike DeWine is the latest figure considering an antitrust investigation against Google. So is Wisconsin’s AG, but specifically around the proposed ITA acquisition. Texas is already conducting its own broad antitrust investigation against Google. Google is formally under antitrust investigation by the European Commission. In addition, Wisconsin Senator […]
The big tech news of yesterday was the announced $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA by AT&T. In less than 24 hours almost every potential angle has already been covered at length. Both AT&T’s and Deutsche Telekom’s boards have already approved the deal. So now it’s on to the regulatory drama. If approved by US […]
Should the US demand that Google, Bing and other search engines give preference to “authorized” sites offering television shows and movies? At least some members of the US House of Representatives pondered the idea yesterday, during a hearing on online piracy issues. The US House Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee hearings yesterday on […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: How Potential Clients Search For An Interactive Agency The search behavior associated with businesses trying to find an interactive agency is very different from other models that I’ve looked at in […]