Google’s perhaps inevitable encounter with a formal anti-trust inquiry in the US took a step closer yesterday. Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl, a vocal Google critic and the head of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, indicated that Google would be the subject of scrutiny by his committee in the 112th Congress. […]
The phrase “Obamacare” was intentionally concocted by health care opponents to create a negative impression or connotation in an attempt to defeat the program. The phrase stuck and is now widely used by some in the media. That’s all according to Wendell Potter, a former health care industry PR executive who’s written a disturbing book […]
The new “net neutrality” rules passed yesterday by the FCC (3-2 along partisan lines) are a kind of “Rorschach test.” Depending on where you sit on the political spectrum or in the internet economy you may see the new rules as “not going far enough” or “a unnecessary power grab by the government.” Some people […]
Much of the attention and online discussion around the US Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) just-released privacy report focuses on the concept of a “Do Not Track” mechanism, similar to the “Do Not Call” list now in place. The recommendation is that any such capability operate at the browser level and communicate to publishers and their […]
Google is remembering the historic day when Rosa Parks refused to listen to the bus driver when she was told to give up her seat for a white passenger. Today, 55 years ago, was that day in Montgomery, Alabama. Although she wasn’t the first to make such a statement, her action on that day initiated […]
The New York Times is reporting that FBI Director Robert S. Mueller met this week with executives from several tech firms — including Google and Facebook — to talk about a plan to make Internet wiretapping easier. The Times says the US government is looking to expand a 1994 law, the Communications Assistance for Law […]
Although the FTC ended its investigation into Google’s collection of personal data via unsecured WiFi networks, Google’s not necessarily in the clear with the Obama administration. According to the Wall Street Journal, the FCC is looking into whether Google broke the law when its Street View cars collected personal data between 2007 and May, 2010. […]
In a six-page letter to House Oversight Committee leaders, a watchdog group has called on the government to do a “thorough investigation” of both Google’s WiFi data collection and the FTC’s recent decision to end its investigation without penalizing Google. In a blog post announcing the letter (PDF download), Ken Boehm, chairman of the National […]
No stranger to lawsuits and regulatory complaints, Google is dealing with a trio of new claims and contentions. Ad reseller partners in China are suing Google for lost commissions and other damages tied to Google’s recent pullout of that market. According to an article in Shanghai Daily: Seven former advertising resellers for Google China in […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Hot At Sphinn: SEO’s Bad Reputation, Google ‘Pollutes’ The Web & More A news article about Google from The Guardian was popular last week on Sphinn, as was last week’s member […]
Calling Google’s collection of personal data over unsecured WiFi networks “very troubling,” a US congressman says CEO Eric Schmidt may be called to answer questions when the new Congress convenes next year. Representative Joe Barton made the comments on C-SPAN’s The Communicators program today. Although Google has repeatedly said the data collection was inadvertent, Barton […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Twitter Promoted Tweets Come To Google In a first ever move, Google is now carrying ads from someone else’s ad network — Twitter’s, as Google integrates Twitter’s new Promoted Tweets into […]
Google and Verizon have announced that they’ll be hosting a conference call today at 10:30 AM Pacific Time. Topic? Not said, but probably related to the rumor last week that the two companies have cut a deal to ensure Google’s content has preferential treatment in Verizon’s network, something that made many wonder if Google’s abandoned […]
Google has won a “motion for summary judgment” in its bitterly fought lawsuit with Viacom over YouTube. This ruling effectively ends the case. Google has won, at least in this court. Viacom vows to appeal.
There are more signs that federal regulators may be ready to challenge Google’s purchase of AdMob, the mobile advertising company it bought for $750 million in November. The Wall Street Journal reports today that the groundwork is in place for a formal government challenge: The FTC has assembled an internal litigation team to prepare for […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: SearchWeek: April 5, 2010 Search Week is an exclusive weekly newsletter for Search Engine Land premium members that recaps stories covered on Search Engine Land over the past week. Below are […]
Just in time for this year’s mid-term Congressional elections in November the US Supreme Court opened the financial floodgates by overturning campaign finance rules that prevented corporations from spending at will to oppose or support political candidates. Two of the biggest likely beneficiaries of these new more liberal (not in the political sense) spending rules […]
A broad coalition of interest groups, non-profits and private companies, including Microsoft, Google, AOL, the ACLU, EFF and others, have come together to set forth four principles that would update Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). That statute was enacted in 1986 and, in the words of Jim Dempsey, Vice President for Public Policy at the […]
Google has unveiled a new Living Stories are, where the New York Times and the Washington Post are experimenting with how coverage of a particular news story would look if content was all centralized within a single page. The experiment puts into practice a vision that Google has long expressed previously as “Living URLs,” a […]
I’m at the FTC’s “Journalism & Internet Age” Workshop in Washington DC today, where we’re expecting addresses from Rupert Murdoch and Arianna Huffington, along with Josh Cohen of Google News and a variety of panels. I’ll be on one of those panels later today. I’m going to do a big live blog of things I […]
As expected, a revised Google Book Settlement has been filed today — about as late as possible. The agreement narrows the scope to the US, UK, Canada and Australia. It alters how revenue generated by “unclaimed works” will be handled. It formally grants retailers who license out-of-print books covered by the settlement — including Google […]
Congress’ debate on healthcare has sparked many different opinions about the right path for the future of healthcare insurance. Regardless of where that debate is headed, all Americans share the same challenge at one point or another: finding good healthcare. And that’s where local search comes in—to help connect medical professionals with patients. Recently, Dennis […]
As expected, the US Department Of Justice today has filed a list of objections and modifications it would like seen made in the proposed settlement to the Google Book Search lawsuit. It’s not saying that the settlement should go back to square one. In fact, it suggests that “momentum” potentially could be lost to improve […]
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is boosting spending on lobbying in Congress: Google spent $950,000 lobbying lawmakers, regulators and the White House on issues ranging from cloud computing to copyright in the second quarter, according to public lobbying disclosures. The sum tops the $880,000 it spent in the first quarter and represents a […]
As a nation, the US seems to be more interested in politics than we’ve been in a long time. Voter turnout in last year’s presidential election was 61%, the first time it passed 60% in 40 years. When President Obama was inaugurated in January, Google reported spikes in search activity. Yahoo said that inaugural search […]
Although it’s been around for a little while, Google is doing some promotion of its new “Small Business Network.” Believe it or not it’s a lobbying effort to represent small business interests in Washington DC and at the state level. It’s also a clever way to open a new direct communication channel with SMBs: Google’s […]
The 2008 election is over and so, in all likelihood, are Samuel J. Wurzelbacher’s appearances on cable news shows. Wurzelbacher, better known as Toledo’s own “Joe the Plumber,” gained national celebrity, of course, as the symbolic everyman both presidential candidates hoped to reach with their economic messages. Joe’s 15 minutes of fame are about up […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have agreed on a common set of principles governing how they intend to do business in countries that restrict free speech and human rights. All three companies have been criticized by rights groups and the US Congress in the past for putting profit over principles […]
It’s fairly safe to say: 1) patent law is a mess, 2) patent law is in transition, and 3) newer court rulings are reducing the rights of patent holders. But in a very provocative argument, based on recent cases, the PatentlyO law blog argues that new rules and tests imposed by courts (though not yet […]
Privacy has re-emerged as one of the most pressing and complex issues for everyone online, including search engines, after a sustained period of relative calm. However, the rise of behavioral targeting, domestic spying/wiretapping by the Bush administration, attempts by states to regulate privacy, and more aggressive moves by Europeans to protect consumers have created conflicting […]
You have no privacy on YouTube. So effectively declared a US judge yesterday. And now somebody in the US government better stop grandstanding about search and privacy protection and actually get some laws enacted. Yesterday’s move might be the ultimate incentive, as US politicians realize that what they’ve watched on YouTube may now be open […]
Going to Washington, D.C. to represent our industry to Congress was a great honor and the highlight of my career as an online marketer. It happened so fast, I never really had time to think about it, and I’m glad I didn’t because I probably would have freaked out. We had fun, saw the sights, […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Rob Snell, likely the first search marketer to testify before the US Congress, has done his duty. He emailed me, “We ran over the allotted time by 15 minutes or so, but they let us keep talking.” So I guess Congress likes SEM, they really like it. Below, you can watch a video of his […]
Earlier today TechCrunch reported that Yahoo and Microsoft were in acquisition talks again. However, Silicon Alley Insider says that’s incorrect and it’s only about search. But that doesn’t make much sense either given the recent rejection of that very proposal by Yahoo, unless the terms now being discussed are substantially different than before. CNBC says […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Just in case you hadn’t gotten enough news and speculation about the various potential deals surrounding MicroHoo, AOL, and News Corp. there are a flurry of articles (as one might expect) today about all this. The most interesting is probably the one in the Wall Street Journal that interviews ad executives about their thoughts regarding […]
For most people, today is Monday, January 28. However, today has been designated “Data Privacy Day” in North America and in 27 European countries in conjunction with the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Google’s privacy counsel, Jane Horvath, says the company is joining in an international privacy conference being held at Duke University in Durham, […]