Gawker
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clips
Microsoft's Bing Puts Google and Yahoo on the Defensive
In the tech world, dominance can be lost with mere clicks, which in turn spring from mere thoughts. Perhaps that's why Google and Yahoo's CEOs are so quickly dismissing Microsoft's new search site, Bing. More »
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By Ryan TateComment by TheHonJudgeSmails: I have used it, and it is no better than anything else out there. Mindshare is really all that matters. 3 Responses | Other threads
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politics
Is Google Heading For an Antitrust Trainwreck?
Everyone has misunderstood why Google, from CEO Eric Schmidt on down, is cozying up to Barack Obama. It's not out of some likeminded geekiness. It's out of desperation and fear.
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By Owen ThomasComment by FormerEnglishMajor: Terrific incentive for all you guys who want to build a business - as soon as you succeed, Uncle Sam... 6 Responses | Other threads
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flackery
Amazon.com Says 'Embarrassing' Error, Not Hacker, Censored 57,310 Gay Books
After gay-themed titles disappeared from Amazon.com's search results this weekend, everyone looked for someone to blame. One hacker took credit. Some faulted an Amazon engineer in France. One source thinks it was the Conficker worm.
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By Owen ThomasComment by cdmunch: I think it's adorable that all you butt pirates and twitterers still read books. 14 Responses | Other threads
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free
Google, No Longer the Land of the Free
The accountants have taken over the Googleplex, once a hotbed of amiably unprofitable innovation. The notion that ads would pay the way for everything has been dropped — and "fee" is replacing "free." More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by unclevanya: What the hell is Google Checkout? I use the Web, Image, Video and Map searches. Anything else is delusional meat... 4 Responses | Other threads
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nerdfight
The Humans Who Will Kill the Google Machine
A mild-mannered British physicist is trying to render Google irrelevant. Stephen Wolfram, the creator of Mathematica, a grandiosely ambitious piece of software, has come up with Wolfram Alpha, a grandiosely ambitious engine of knowledge. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Claire Buoyant: "Compute" answers to questions? Like...42? 3 Responses | Other threads
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clips
Google's Marissa Mayer Pities Yahoo
Why is Marissa Mayer, Google's athletically inept cupcake princess, going on such a publicity tour of late? She was in the Times Sunday. Last night, she hit Charlie Rose to make excuses for not innovating. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by LorraineSquirrel: Amazing how much excoriation this smart, attractive young woman is receiving. Is jealousy at play here? Or are people in... 2 Responses | Other threads
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fake trends
The Sick Internet Joke About 9/11: ✈ ▌▌
An airplane flies into two vertical objects: For many ordinary New Yorkers, it's a horrible, still-living memory. For Internet commenters, it's absolutely hilarious. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by TheHonJudgeSmails: Well, it certainly merits the echo chambering you so neatly provided it with. I like your stuff, Owen. Really, I... 10 Responses | Other threads
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Mahalo Dollars
Jason Calacanis's funny money
With Mahalo Answers, the latest Web project from Brooklyn-born blog blowhard Jason Calacanis, you can pay people to Google for you with fictional bucks. Genius! More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Scott Stephan: I have a great e-currency. It is called "Dollars" and you get them from work and you can use them... 2 Responses | Other threads
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search
Why Pamela Anderson can't beat Google
Remember AltaVista? The search engine, long swallowed up by Yahoo, once hired professional trashy babe Pamela Anderson to win our affections. What that terrible TV ad tells us: TV ads don't build Web brands.
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By Owen ThomasComment by incrediblehelp: The best ones were the Hot Bot commercials: [www.jaankanellis.com] more » | Other threads
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toogle many googlers
Google now lets TechCrunch pretend we don't exist
With a name like SearchWiki, you know it's going to be clever, yet stupid. Google has spent ten years and I don't know how many hundred million dollars refining a rocket-science algorithm for ranking Internet search results. Now, a few Google coders have whipped up a feature that lets you boost or cut the scores of individual websites from your own future searches. For example, grudge-o-matic TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington can click his own posts to the top of any Google search he performs. With one more click, he can remove Valleywag entirely from his life. That frees us to post as many photos of Big Mike's girlfriends as we want. Everybody wins! Personal note to Google engineer Amay: Next time you make a video, try to go longer than seven seconds without saying "cool."
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By Paul BoutinComment by sample032: Finally I'll be able to ignore search results from the tech support website (its name escapes me) that requires registration... 2 Responses | Other threads
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antitrust
A taste of their own medicine
Microsoft, harried by regulators in the 1990s, once lobbied Congress to cut spending on antitrust enforcement. Now, it's profiting from their efforts. The software giant's lobbying budget nearly doubled from 2006 to 2008, helping it sink Yahoo's deal to have Google sell ads for its search pages. The failure of that deal helped speed Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang out the door, and could set Microsoft up to win Yahoo's search business. CNET News]
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By Owen ThomasComment by sample032: Which reminds me: Apple is overdue for a visit from the antitrust fairy over not letting 3rd parties create fairplay... more » | Other threads
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your privacy is an illusion
Google CEO has no time for your privacy
Is Google becoming the king of the Web? Well, duh — that happened about five years ago, before anyone really noticed. But activist groups, now and again, worry about whether Google knows too much about us. Yesterday, Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson quizzes Google CEO Eric Schmidt about whether his company is doing enough to guard our privacy. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by ShreemayiDexamenus: I don't understand why anyone expects Google to protect your privacy on search. They are not a utility. They are... 1 Responses | Other threads
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steve ballmer
Microsoft: "We are done with Yahoo"
Microsoft's chair-hurling 800-pound gorilla slammed the door on talk of a renewed Yahoo acquisition deal at today's shareholder meeting in Bellevue, Washington. "We are done with all acquisition deals with Yahoo ... We did our best. We've moved on." In business, this often means: We'll be back. For now, though, Ballmer said he'd rather cut a deal to serve Live Search results to Yahoo users — as a vendor, not an owner. Why can he speak with such confidence? Because he's already snapped up Yahoo's key search engineers.
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By Paul BoutinComment by mew: Microsoft no longer needs to buy Yahoo!. Ballmer probably knew that their original offer would be rejected. By... 3 Responses | Other threads
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exits
Is Yahoo done with search?
Among the many windmills Jerry Yang tilted at in his brief career as Yahoo's CEO was his devotion to Web search. It veered on an obsession for him. It played into his decision to resist Microsoft's offers to shower him with cash, first for his whole company, then for just its search business. Is it a coincidence, then, that Yahoo's top search engineer has left a day after Yang stepped down? A tipster tells us Sean Suchter resigned yesterday, and speculates that he may be joining Microsoft. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by CurtisHippomedon: Am I to believe Yahoo doesn't have an iron clad NDA with its employees preventing them for working for the... 1 Responses | Other threads
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Tim the IT Guy
Microsoft does a victory dance on Sun's head
Redmond's biz-dev gorillas have strong-armed Sun Microsystems into bundling the MSN toolbar as an optional add-on to Sun's Java downloads in the US. What does the Silverlight-powered toolbar have to do with Java? Nothing! That's the genius of it. More »
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Comment by ShrikumariKollenda: Yup, to be a little more accurate - the only success Sun has had in generating significant new revenue for... more » | Other threads
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patents
Google in $3 billion Russian lawsuit
A Russian company, Era Volodeya seeks $3 billion in damages for allegedly violating its patent on contextual advertisements, the keyword-matching technique which has made Google the largest company in online advertising. I'm waiting for some tipster to tell me that Era Volodeya is secretly a KGB front with ties to Vladimir Putin, and that this is just a follow-up to the government's move to block a Google acquisition in Russia on antitrust grounds.
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By Owen ThomasComment by deluxe2000plus: In Soviet-Russia the Internet finds you. Putin will put Eric Schmidt in jail for stealing great Russian Technology. Russia has... more » | Other threads
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antitrust
America's CTO bows to the feds on Yahoo-Google deal
When did Eric Schmidt turn into such a wimp? When Google and Yahoo first proposed a deal to have Google sell search ads for Yahoo, Schmidt brazenly gave antitrust regulators a four-month deadline to review it. After that, Google would blaze ahead with the deal. The deadline came and went. Over the weekend, Google and Yahoo turned in a revised deal that they hoped would impress regulators. The bottom line: It is half as lucrative as Yahoo had hoped, generating $400 million a year rather than $800 million, limiting Google-sold ads to a quarter of Yahoo's search-related revenue. It's better than nothing, but it leaves Schmidt in a weak position the next time he wants to talk tough with the feds. Then again, maybe he's planning to dump Larry and Sergey for a nice, safe government job.
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By Owen ThomasComment by its_a_feature: I don't think he's ever intended to actually implement the deal. Instead, it has just served as a way... 2 Responses | Other threads
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bad ideas
3 reasons why Google's bookstore will be a disaster
The lovingly jumbled piles of books at Shakespeare & Co., the famous Paris bookstore, must madden Googlers. All that information, unorganized! In the wake of its $125 million settlement of a lawsuit filed by book publishers, Google is now thinking about turning its money-burning Book Search product into an online store. This will end badly. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by macbeach: Granted, Google Books won't replace Amazon.com or local bookstore for the things that those stores do: provided a browsing place... 1 Responses | Other threads
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antitrust
"Is Google playing chicken with the Justice Department?"
That's the question about the company's obvious leaks to the Wall Street Journal which suggest it might walk away from talks with the government about its search deal with Yahoo. Short answer: Yes, yes it is. [BoomTown]
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By Owen ThomasComment by QuennellClotho: I don't understand this "playing chicken" analogy at all. It is not the brief of the Justice Dept.'s Antitrust Division... more » | Other threads
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search
The Yahoo-Google deal? Let's just assume that's not happening
Yahoo's deal to outsource some of its search advertising to Google continues to face scrutiny on Capitol Hill. Google CEO Eric Schmidt had said he'd carry out the deal whether or not regulators had finished their review. Regulators called his bluff, and America's CTO has now lost face, not to mention credibility. Why not just bow out and move on? That seems easier.
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By Owen ThomasComment by macbeach: I was stunned to actually hear and ad for Yahoo on a local niche radio station yesterday. Seems like... 1 Responses | Other threads
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mysteries
Mahalo is hiring
"Do you know that you're amongst the very best, but can't find a company that appreciates you or gives you the opportunity you deserve?" So begins Mahalo's come-on to developers. The bulldog-powered search engine just laid off a large chunk of its staff, including some developers. Why is it hiring more? We're sure Jason Calacanis, Mahalo's voluble CEO, has some entertaining spin, which we'll let him add it in the comments. But since his HR department didn't stamp the Craigslist posting with "DO NOT REPRINT," as Calacanis is known to do with his emails, we're republishing it below. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by irrational-exuberance: "as Calacanis is wont to do with his emails" im in ur artikl, pointn @ ur grammr 2 Responses | Other threads
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mahalo
Is Microsoft ripping off Jason Calacanis's ailing startup?
Talk about adding insult to injury. As Jason Calacanis was sucking his thumb about the coming startup depression, Microsoft quietly launched a competitor to his intern-edited search engine, which has just gone through the layoffs Calacanis predicted for everyone else. Redmond's experimental entry into the market is called U Rank, an experiment in collaborative editing of search results. The sites aren't that similar in their approach to helping users find websites — but they are eerily similar in their flowery logos and pastel color schemes.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Shadowlayer: Oh snap! calacanis is going to release his bulldogs of war now! :P more » | Other threads
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meltdowns
SearchMe lays off 20 percent
"Visual search engine" company SearchMe had, according to CrunchBase, 52 employees and $43.6 million in funding, led by Sequoia Capital. Just two weeks ago, TechCrunch ranked the company No. 76 in "Startups Best Positioned To Weather A Downturn." But VentureBeat confirms the company has fired 20 percent of its staff. Using the ad-hoc Sequoia formula, "you need a year of cash and a revenue model," here's my guess: Too much spending. And it doesn't help that the first demo I clicked on the site's front door broke Firefox.
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By Paul BoutinComment by BaxterHaedjinn: I felt this was a great company, but after reading this news, I believe it's not a good employer. If you... more » | Other threads
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search
Google gamed by small businesses
Search marketing icon Danny Sullivan recently moved back to his native Southern California after 12 years in a small English town. Yeah, we thought he was British, too. Sullivan documented several infuriating problems he hit trying to connect with local businesses through Google. One stands out, because it was caused by a local business with too much Web savvy, rather than not enough. More »
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By Paul BoutinComment by dorian: Wait, how is this different from calling your company AAA Locksmith LLC to game the yellow pages? 1 Responses | Other threads
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vish makhijani
Yandex nixes IPO, which sucks for that Yahoo it just hired
This summer's no-brainer career move now looks like a headscratcher. Vish Makhijani left his job as Yahoo's head of search in June to join Yandex, a Russian search engine which had filed for a $3 billion public offering the month before. Getting pre-IPO stock options, with the exit in plain sight? Much better than watching Yahoo shares sink from $34 to below $13. But Yandex has postponed its IPO plans. Anyone want to take bets on how long Makhijani will stay as CEO of Yandex Labs, the company's U.S. outpost? Memo to Vish: Microsoft may still be hiring. -
eric schmidt
Google CEO says Internet is a "cesspool" without brands
"Brands are the solution, not the problem. Brands are how you sort out the cesspool," Eric Schmidt told an audience of magazine publishers assembled at Google yesterday. Wait, what happened to the magic Google algorithm that reverse-engineers our reputations? Does it now rank pages by brand, too? I hope so, because when I Google myself at midnight all I see is Valleywag, Valleywag, Valleywag. I'd like to believe Google knows something my agent doesn't. (Photo by AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
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By Paul BoutinComment by WilliamMarkFelt: Sounds to me like Schmidt is kissing the fleshy hindquarters of Madison Avenue. He knows how much they love... more » | Other threads
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deals
Facebook adds subpar search from Microsoft
Forget Facebook's controversial redesign. Users of the social network have something new to complain about: third-rate Web search, provided by Microsoft. The two moves are connected; when ad-hating CEO Mark Zuckerberg forced through the revamp of Facebook's profile pages, he bumped Microsoft-sold banners off of them. To make Microsoft whole, Facebook agreed to a search-advertising deal. You know it must burn Facebook's proud engineers — those who haven't left — to partner with an organization that has done nothing but lose market share for years.
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By Owen ThomasComment by WagCurious: It's not that bad. At least your site can actually show up in their index after a couple months. With... 3 Responses | Other threads
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search
Yahoo, Google delay ad deal
After Google CEO Eric Schmidt insisted for months that a partnership to have Google sell ads on Yahoo would launch on time, regardless of the status of the government's investigation, he has now delayed it. That's the news. What's not news? That Schmidt lies whenever it's convenient to him. Remember how he said Google wasn't developing a Web browser. [BoomTown] -
search
Is Ask.com feeling lucky?
Ask.com's latest revamp, unveiled by CEO Jim Safka to the New York Times, attempts to dive deeper into the Web, pulling "structured data," a fashionable buzzword, from sources like TV listings and health databases. Give Barry Diller's scrappy search engine, owned by his IAC conglomerate, this much: When at first it doesn't succeed, it tries, tries, tries again. But you can't blame the market, or users, for finding all this trying, well, trying. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by ILikeThemBig: I'd like to blame Barry for something. How about for spending nearly 2 billion on the fourth ranked search... more » | Other threads
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mysteries
Why is Google afraid of links?
Google's official advice for boosting a website's presence in Google search results has been the same for years: "Have other relevant sites link to yours.” The search engine's original PageRank formula was based entirely on which pages link to which other pages — a mathematical analogy to real-world reputations. But Google has removed its original rule from the latest revision of its Webmaster Guidelines. Why? More » -
self-promotion
Googling "I Google Myself"
Funny because it's true: Web-video comedienne Kara Luiz's "I Google Myself" aptly charts the YouTube's generation self-obsession. The best part: A blog post about the video is already the No. 2 Google result for Luiz's name.
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By Owen ThomasComment by porterhouse125: These lyrics could use some work. more » | Other threads
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search
Search for an eBay item, get $250 back from Microsoft's shareholders
Wonder why Microsoft is losing so much money online? Its Live Cashback offer isn't the sole reason, but it's symptomatic of the problem. Since June, Microsoft has included eBay in a program which offers users of its Windows Live search engine discounts when they click on ads and buy a product. Coupon-tracking blogs report that Microsoft and eBay have increased the discount to 30 percent, up to a maximum of $250. It's inconceivable that this can pay off for Microsoft, but there's no reason not to get a cheap laptop. Trust us, Bill Gates can afford it.
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By Owen ThomasComment by elicit: not very accurate. the bulk of the cost of the discount is covered by referral revenue. maybe live search is... more » | Other threads
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search
Google launches vintage search index from 2001
As part of Google's tenth anniversary, the company has partnered with the Internet Archive to offer a slice of the World Wide Web circa 2001 — the oldest available archive of the company's search index. Before the Paris Hilton sex tape, before lolcats, back when Google was just another search engine in the roster of the Dogpile metsearch engine from the University of Washington. Oh those bygone, innocent days. Of course, the first thing I did was look myself up to see what flotsam and jetsam of my "Web presence" washed up from the tides of the past. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by stellar678: Link for the vintage search index: [www.google.com] more » | Other threads
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search
Yahoo thinks you're looking for porn
A reader reports that an attempt to get information from Yahoo about ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition got diverted into a search for porn, thanks to Yahoo's automated suggestions. What's the worst search-term suggestion you've gotten? Tell everyone in the comments.
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By Owen ThomasComment by LucasDawgkatt: What's most shocking is that someone is actually using Yahoo! search. 1 Responses | Other threads
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caption contest
BoothRank == 0
Google is a big believer in automation. But did it really mean to pay for prime real estate at a search conference and leave its booth unstaffed? A tipster says that a Google exhibit at last week's Enterprise Search Summit was devoid of Googlers as late as mid-morning on Thursday. Can you think of a better caption for this picture? If so, suggest it in the comments. The best one will become the new headline for this post. Friday's winner: ThatKid for "Reduced emissions from electric car offset by VCs' unwillingness to carpool." Read on for our tipster's report from the scene at Enterprise Search Summit: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by rwe112: The afternoon shift was assigned to google employee booth babes. Larry and Sergey finally realized that the 3.5 GPA requirement... 1 Responses | Other threads
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nerdfight
Kara Swisher vs. Google
The Justice Department met with Google and Yahoo's customers and competitors this week as it continues to build an antitrust case for its litigious hired gun Sandy Litvack. On top of that, Canada is now on Google's case too, having hired antitrust lawyer David Kent. Never heard of him, sure he's a hoser, eh. In response to all the haters, Google just made itself another enemy: Kara Swisher, the mean lesbian mommyblogger employed by Rupert Murdoch and partnered to Google executive Megan Smith. Fun times at home! More »
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Comment by garbanzo314: Not only is Swisher's partner a Google exec, but she's the VP of bizdev, which likely means that she's involved... 2 Responses | Other threads
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meltdowns
Americans more interested in "cupcakes" than "financial crisis"
Want to know why newspapers are dying? Because they've been running boring cover stories about that confusing economic meltdown on Wall Street instead of what Americans really care about — stuff like wizards, cupcakes and sex toys. Bristol Palin headlines can stay above the fold, though. Online searchers love them some pregnant teenagers with high school-dropout baby daddies. [Mother Jones]
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By Jackson WestComment by bdombrow: So that's what I've been doing wrong. I'm supposed to search for wizards and sex toys on the weekends and... more » | Other threads
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online advertising
Microsoft research finds Microsoft ads better
Microsoft's never going to win in search, right? Its only hope against Google is that marketers will decide that search ads aren't worth the money. Microsoft has new research out which purportedly shows that Internet users exposed to both search and display ads are more likely to purchase an advertiser's product than Internet users who only clicked on a search ad. The research comes from the Atlas Institute. Guess who that is? More »
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Comment by tillman: Where do you think people get inspiration to search for something? Most of the time it is tv, radio or... more » | Other threads
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politics
The keywords John McCain and Barack Obama are buying on Google
Google is the modern American voter's oracle, able to provide an answer to almost any question. Which is why the McCain and Obama teams pay to put their websites on its pages. Hitwise, a Web research firm, helped us dig up the search terms which the campaigns' have selected to show their ads against over the last 12 weeks.The terms reveal what the politicians' Web-savvy advertisers believe is on the public's mind — such deep issues as "sarah palin vogue," "raising mccain lyrics," "obama birth certificate," and "obama as a muslim." The entire list: More »
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Comment by tkennon: Wow, almost total lack of issues which i would think could be smart way to capture engaged and potentially undecided... 1 Responses | Other threads
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antitrust
Google hikes ad prices even before Yahoo deal kicks in
CEO Eric Schmidt says Google is moving at full speed with plans to place ads on its archrival Yahoo, even though the Department of Justice is just gearing up to take action on the deal. The deal, signed in June, is set to start in weeks. "You face a question as a large company trying to change things: How many initiatives do you want to take on that are unpopular or lead to criticism?" said Schmidt in a press conference. By "change things," Schmidt would have you think he's talking about saving the world. But here's something that should draw interest from antitrust cops: A Valleywag tipster says that one unpopular change Google is making is to hike the minimum bids on some ads tenfold. That kind of pricing power is usually a sign of a monopoly. And it should well lead to criticism. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by ciscod: Tenfold? LOL. Wagulous is right. Your tipster has no idea what they are talking about. 3 Responses | Other threads
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Fri Jul 10
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