June 21, 2009

Yahoo! Toolbar Gets an Update and Made Available for Firefox

Yahoo! this week released an update to their browser toolbar. Previously only available for Internet Explorer, the toolbar is now ready for the Firefox browser as well.

Additionally, here are the updates you can expect:

Faster search - utilizes technology from Inquisitor to provide search suggestions, recalls sites from search history, and searching sites like Flickr and Wikipedia directly from the toolbar search box.

Site Preview - works in the IE toolbar. For certain site apps that you can add to the toolbar, displays a preview of the site or info without having to load the site. For example, if you have the movie showtimes app selected for your toolbar, you can click the arrow next the clapboard icon and a preview box will drop down. Other apps that use the preview are Yahoo! Mail and eBay.

Image via Yahoo! Anecdotal blog

What do you think of the new Yahoo! toolbar? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 27, 2008

Reinstalling My PC, Part 2: Secure Your PC, For Free!

Once the most popular reasons for reinstalling your operating system is that it is often the easiest way to deal with a preponderance of viruses, spyware and other collected nasties that find their way onto your computer. So when reinstalling, it make sense to secure your like-new PC as best as possible. Here are five programs that make that possible.

AntiVirus – AVG Free The most important security measure you can take on a new computer is protecting against viruses and Trojans. That's where anti-virus software comes in. AV software, usually, runs in the background of your computer, analyzes new files received via email, downloaded or elsewhere to make sure they are safe. You can also schedule it to check your computer for viruses it may have missed, or manually check whenever you want. For AV software to be good, it needs to stay up-to-date. For it to be tolerable to the user, it needs to run lightly in the background, and it needs to easily offer the user options to override it when it's too aggressive, as nearly all anti-virus programs have been reporting too many false positives lately. AVG's Free version accomplishes all that—and does it for free. Runner ups include NOD32, Kaspersky and BitDefender.

Anti-Spam – SpamBayes Viruses may be the most dangerous problem possible affecting your computer, but Spam is probably the annoying. According to Akismet, nearly 90% of all email received is Spam. That comes out to 1,000 spam messages per day for an average user. While most of that Spam is trapped on your mail server, more than enough makes it through to your email reader, clogging up your folders, slowing down your email downloads and generally making finding real emails that much more annoying and tedious.

That are plenty of solutions for combating Spam, including the filters built into Microsoft Outlook, but I'm a big fan of SpamBayes. I've been using the open-source SpamBayes filter for more than five years now, ignoring newer and flashier filters. Why? Well, for one, it just works. It catches nearly all my Spam, and I get very few false positives. The way it works is also significant; like the name suggests, SpamBayes draws its power by using Bayesian algorithms to determine what is spam and what is ham. Simply stated: SpamBayes learns from you. Every time you tag a message as spam or ham, SpamBayes analyzes the email for clues as to what makes spam and what comprises ham. The more emails you tag, the smarter it gets. SpamBayes is easily added on to Outlook, other desktop mail applications, webmail or even to your mail server. Set up is a breeze (just tag a few emails and go) and the program is light and fast.

Anti-Spyware – Ad-Aware and SpyBot If viruses are dangerous and spam is annoying, spyware is the unholy marriage of the two; it slows down your computer, hijacks your home page and—as its name suggests—spies on you. It certainly annoys you, and can be very dangerous, either leaving your PC susceptible to viruses or stealing private data from you. Above all, it is intrusive. And it comes from some unlikely sources: companies you know, love and trust. But you don't have to succumb to it. Anti-virus programs like AVG will prevent most spyware programs from lodging on your computer, but there is more you can do. Firstly, read the End User License Agreement (EULA) on every new software program you install. Don't just blindly click ‘Next' when installing new programs. Secondly, download the above two programs: Ad-Aware and SpyBot. Both will scan your computer for spyware, adware and malware programs, and offer you the option of removing the programs they find. The free version of Ad-Aware won't protect your PC in real-time, but you can upgrade to get that feature. SpyBot, which is freeware, includes TeaTime, which provides free real-time protection, including registry monitoring. SpyBot can even replace spyware programs with “dummy programs” so you can still run spyware-dependant programs. Between the two, you can remain completely spyware-free.

Extra Protection – Sandboxie Even after all that protection, sometimes you need a little bit more. That's where Sandboxie comes in. Sandboxie is a remarkable (and free) program that protects your PC from everything and anything run on it—by providing a virtual “sandbox” for that program to run it. Within the sandbox, no registry changes can be made and nothing can be installed to your actual PC; nothing bad can happen.

Someone sent you a program they swear is virus-free—and AVG also thinks it's clean—but you're still unsure about? Run it in the sandbox. You teenage niece is using your computer and you don't want her messing anything up? She can browse the internet and work in Sandboxie. Son uses P2P software? No problem when it runs in Sandboxie. Don't trust Internet Explorer? Set it to always run sandboxed. All downloads need to be approved by you before they can run. Executables run without affecting anything else. And Sandboxie manages to give you all this protection without slowing down your PC. It runs quietly and unobtrusively in the background, and gives you that extra measure of protection you need.

Posted by at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 9, 2006

Groowe Toolbar Gets Digg & Delicious Support

Groowe is that rare product promising to improve search that I've stuck with over the years. Indeed, this toolbar that lets you search multiple search engines is on my list of new things I always install on a new computer. Now version 1.5 for Firefox is out, with new support for Digg and Delicious. Fantastic!

I've been using Delicious more lately, but I hate having yet another toolbar cluttering my screen (I use the Delicious bookmark, which meant enabling my bookmark toolbar that normally I never use). Now if I want to post to Delicious, it's just a click to make the Groowe toolbar get that functionality:

Want to Digg something? Just select:

Then click, and now you have I have special Digg elements:

Need to search Google? No problem:

There's all the key functionality of the Google Toolbar, including things like translate and cached page viewing, right within Groowe.

Even better, with a click you can hit Yahoo, Ask and MSN as well. Yes, MSN needs to be updated to Windows Live -- but though the old name is used, it will still resolve back to Live.com. Plus, you can add it manually by using the customization page here, along with others.

I can't recommend Groowe enough. One toolbar, so many search engines and functionality. I love it!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:08 PM | Permalink

October 25, 2006

New Toolbar and Bookmarks from Yahoo

Yahoo has applied a major facelift to its toolbar and bookmarking feature, creating a slick new visual interface and tightly integrating your own bookmarks into search. More on the new service in today's SearchDay article, Yahoo Updates Toolbar and Bookmarks.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 1:00 AM | Permalink

October 19, 2006

Searching Via Internet Explorer 7 & The Battle To Be The Default Search Engine

Now that Internet Explorer 7 has been released in final format, I wanted to look at how search is being handled within the browser. There's been lots of discussion and worries about this in the past. Speculation time is over; reality is here. In this article, how the IE7 search box works, how you can change it and how Google and Yahoo's toolbars behave within it to try and maintain their default status, once gained.

The biggest difference with Internet Explorer 7 is the one that's been most discussed, a visible search box built into the "chrome." In the picture below, you can see the search box, complete with the word "Google" in light text to remind me what search engine is my default.

(NOTE: I've used a lot of screenshots, drawing off my Flickr account and picked a day when Flickr has became sluggish after I wrote this. Apologies if the pictures don't show when you view the page. Try reloading or checking back).

Google is my default search engine because it was that way in Internet Explorer 6. It became my default there with my permission, when I installed the Google Toolbar on my laptop (where I did today's testing) ages ago.

I removed the Google Toolbar for the purposes of testing IE7. That didn't cause the IE6 default settings to change, and to Microsoft's credit, they didn't try to override it when I upgraded to IE7.

Microsoft had previously said that if it detected a particular search engine was set to be a default, it would respect that. So, IE7 did -- sort of. Notice however what comes up in the main window of Internet Explorer 7 when I relaunched it:

Here, I'm notified that Google's my default, and I'm asked to confirm this or make another choice. Overall, I think that's fine. Yes, it's Microsoft hoping to change some minds. Maybe "Keep my current default search provider" should be ticked already. But I'd say most people who have Google as their default now will confirm keeping it that way. It's hardly anti-competitive.

Google, in particular, has disagreed. On a new machine, where Google has no presence or partnership, Microsoft Live Search will be the default. Google had suggested that users should be explicitly asked to make a choice from one of several providers. In my past article about this, I wrote about not being sympathetic to that idea, given that Google has had no problem paying to override consumer choice to gain the default position through deals with Firefox or through Dell installations.

Since then, deals have only accelerated. Yahoo partnered with Acer and also with HP. Google cut a deal with Adobe. It's difficult to know how a consumer is going to buy a "virgin" machine where the defaults haven't already been decided or influenced by some business deal.

Given this, let's focus on how consumers can make their choices after the fact. That's pretty easy. From that opening screen that IE gives after installation, tick the "Let me select from a list of other search providers" option and then choose Save Settings at the bottom of the page.

That will brings up this page (other pages might come up for other language/country configurations):

Very fairly, Microsoft isn't positioning themselves at the top of the list or more prominently than others. In fact, I think Microsoft is making a terrible mistake by just saying "Live Search" rather than "Microsoft Live Search." I think relatively few people know the Live brand right now. I can well imagine some people thinking, "Live Search -- what's that?" and skipping the search engine from consideration.

I selected Live Search from the list. That made a pop-up box appear:

Notice the option to make the choice as my default is NOT ticked. This allows you to add several search engines to the search box, which you can then selectively use while still maintaining your default search engine. You can add a bunch of different providers, and I'll come back to this more below.

It's worth noting that the Search Provider page links to information about the OpenSearch system, a way for anyone to easily create search engines that can be added to IE7. Of course, that doesn't mean you get added to the all-important Search Provider page. It just means someone visiting your site might be able to use a button that you promote to them to change their IE7 settings.

That Search Provider page also has an interesting box allowing you to visit any search engine, then do a copy-and-paste action to make your own search box. It's very clever. You simply search for TEST on anything that gives you a search box. Copy-and-paste the resulting URL, and IE7 will automatically create the right way to access that search engine for you. I added Search Engine Watch as a search engine to my IE7 installation easily by doing this.

In the example above, I didn't change my default search provider. Now let's say I want to, perhaps some time after I've initially installed IE7. Google has previous spun the idea of changing settings in IE7 as some complicated task. It even cited research saying only one third of users could figure it out. I have more faith that people can do it, so let's go through the steps.

1. Click the Tools button in IE7's menu, then pick Internet Options  
2. On the General tab of the Internet Options window that appears, there's a Search area. Click on the Settings button here.  
3. That brings up a Change Search Defaults menu: (FYI, I wish the "Find more providers" link was much more visible here. If you didn't pick more providers from when IE was initially installed, you won't have any choices in the main selection area -- and you might miss that link. This is handled in a better way through an alternative method I'll cover below).  
4. Choose the search engine you want, push the Set Default button, then OK. Now you're done.

Well, not necessarily. After I did this, Google was shown as my choice within the search box in the chrome. Evil Google! No, it seems more an IE thing. When I closed and restarted IE7, the default was changed to Live Search.

Let's go back to that search box in the chrome. Obviously, you can use it to search. Enter some words, hit return or click the magnifying glass icon/button, and the browser will pull back results from your default search engine.

The box also allows you to temporarily or permanently change your default search provider. Next to the box, use the down-arrow to get a drop-down menu like this:

From it, any search engine you've added to your providers list is shown. You can see how several providers I've selected are added, including the custom choice I made for Search Engine Watch.

Choose a provider, and then your search will go to that provider for that particular search, similar to how the box in Firefox works. It stays this way until you change it back or until you close IE7 entirely.

Look at the bottom of the menu. The drop-down box lets you get to the IE7 search providers page or bring up the Change Search Defaults box I showed in step 3 above. That makes changing providers a two step process.

Next up, I wanted to see how the search engines competing with Microsoft were reacting to a freshly minted copy of IE7 showing up at their doorsteps. Would I get prompts to change, as we've seen in the past from both Google and Yahoo?

Google and Yahoo surprisingly did nothing. I wonder if this might because the final release of IE7 has made some type of browser agent change that the two have set to identify. We'll see. Meanwhile, Ask gave me this box enticing me to change:

Next up, time to deal with concerns that Google might be too aggressive in protecting itself once installed as the default via the Google Toolbar. I loaded up a fresh copy. In short order, Google asked me if I wanted to make it both my default search provider and notify me if something tries to change that:

To help avoid controversy, Google ought to make these separate options. But from a usability perspective, I can well understand the logic of making then a single choice. If I want Google to be my default, I probably don't want something to try and change that behind my back -- and many have had bad experiences with adware and spyware doing exactly that.

I told it Google fine, then I was surprised that the next screen made me decide whether to have PageRank display enabled or not.

In the past, I recall this as an option you were never prompted to enable. Instead, I recall it as something that search engine optimization folks (about the only ones who care) would enable by diving into the advanced options and switching it on.

I could be wrong in my recollection. If so, my apologies. But even with Google's clear "in your face" warning that enabling PageRank will send data to them, I still wonder if perhaps the screen should be different.

Maybe PageRank display should be disabled by default, rather than making you choose. The screen that appears would then ask explicitly if you wanted to change to enabled. It would explain what it provides to the user (the screen itself tells you nothing, not even a short description such as here). It would then warn, as it does now, that enabling the feature allows Google to see every page you are visiting.

All installed, Google gives me a big notice to let me know I'm ready to go with the toolbar:

I then tried to change search providers using the steps above. That seemed to work, but then I got this small notification in my task bar, along with an audible signal:

My task bar is at the top of the screen (where it belongs, in my opinion!). By default, the task bar is at the bottom of Windows machines by default, so the notification could be less noticeable there. The sound helps, but frankly I don't know why this was blocked at all.

There's a big difference between spyware changing your default setting and users themselves trying to change the default using the options within Internet Explorer. Google ought to be able to distinguish the two. Changes made by a user shouldn't be blocked. Moreover, any blocking ought to ask me for confirmation that it's going to happen, not just be done on my behalf.

In other words, consider this. I'd consented for Google to notify me if something was trying to change my default settings, as shown on that earlier screenshot. I did not consent to it doing the blocking on my behalf, which is what it did. It would have been far better if Google had produced some type of pop-up box telling me that something wanted to change my defaults and asking me if I wanted to allow this. Leave the choice with me.

I'll follow-up with Google about this. Meanwhile, what to do if you want to override the decision Google made for you? When that notification happens, you have to click on the little G button in your task bar (if the notification is gone, try changing again to make it come back). Clicking on the G brings up a box like this:

That box is what I think Google should actually show you, rather than processing it behind the scenes unless you manually make it appear. It tells you something wants to change your default, asks if you want to allow that to happen and lets you override what Google wants to do, remain the default, if that's your decision.

If you override, that should disable Google from doing any future monitoring, as it tells you will be the case:

That's what I found to happen. In fact, I see no signs that Google is still monitoring despite being told not to. That's what happened in July, when the GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe program continued to run. Google said this was a bug, which got some dubious laughs in some quarters. Bug or not, I certainly don't see it happening now.

To further test it, I went back to Ask.com and let it make it my default search provider. That worked fine.

Once you've disabled monitoring, what if you want it back? Use the Settings menu of the Google Toolbar, then on the More tab, you'll see two options:

The two different options intrigued me. What was the difference between:

• Set and keep Search settings to Google
  • Notify me on settings change

I enabled only the first. Bad, bad choice. If you do this, you simply cannot change your settings at all unless you go back into the Google Toolbar and override the option. Google will silently keep any settings from being altered. If you enable them both, then you get back to the behavior where at least Google will give you a notification.

Overall, here's what I'd like to see. The Google Toolbar should ask if you want to be notified about changes. If something tries to make a change, it should then ask you for explicit permission whether to override this, at least the first time -- perhaps it gives you an option to let Google handle these changes without notifications behind the scenes after that. But yes -- get in the users face more about what you're going to change initially, so they know what's going on.

Having played with Google, I next loaded up the Yahoo Toolbar. Ugh, not fun. First, Yahoo by default wants to cram Norton Spyware scan down your throat. Yes, right under the big Download Yahoo! Toolbar button in smaller text is an option to get just the toolbar without it. I'd rather see that option get equal play.

After the installation, like Google, Yahoo stands ready to be both my default search engine and help me get back to Yahoo if something changes my default settings:

Like Google, Yahoo makes it clear you've got the toolbar with this big pop-up window:

Decide to personalize the toolbar, as Yahoo suggests? To do that, you've got to have a Yahoo account. That means the toolbar does more than drive searches for Yahoo. Unlike Google, Yahoo's trying to generate user registrations, as well. The toolbar works without registration, of course -- but it no doubt encourages some people to sign up.

I manually changed my default provider from Yahoo to Google, using the steps above. Yahoo didn't block this. But when I closed the browser and relaunched it, I got this:

Fair enough. Unlike Google, Yahoo didn't silently switch itself back. It asked me to make that choice. It was also a one time thing. I told it to allow the change, then closed my browser and reopened it. Yahoo didn't come back and try to get me to switch back to Yahoo again.

Actually, I wouldn't have minded that. I find it very helpful that Firefox or Internet Explorer will keep asking me if I want them as a default unless I explicitly use the offered tick box not to be asked again. That's because it's easy to accidentally hit the wrong button. It's harder to both hit the wrong button and enable a tick box.

All this effort by the toolbars to maintain default status comes off the fear that the IE7 search box is going to somehow gain Microsoft tons of search traffic. I've been pessimistic about this actually happening. I've noted for ages that despite Microsoft long having hooks into IE for its own search, Google and Yahoo have both survived and thrived. My Google Worried About Microsoft's Browser Advantage? What Advantage? article goes into much more depth about this.

It's uncertain to me that the search box in the "chrome" is going to make that much of a difference, but I haven't seen much user behavior data here. I could be completely wrong, and Microsoft's competitors are certainly worried about it. We'll know in short order. IE7 is being rolled out in a mandatory fashion to Windows users beginning November 1 through the Windows update system. If Microsoft's search share rises, the chrome search box may be working.

However, I think many people will still fire up their browser and go back to the search engines they regularly use. Google and Yahoo might not have the enticements to switchover today up, but those will come. And I think those will help them to largely preserve their shares despite the IE7 rollout.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:16 AM | Permalink

September 29, 2006

Yahoo China Sues Hongyi's Qihoo For Unfair Competition

Reuters reports that Yahoo China is suing Qihoo, claiming that 360safe spyware software is prompting users to uninstall the Yahoo Toolbar. The spyware software claims that Yahoo's Toolbar is "malware" and is a risk to their computers. Joseph Tsai, Alibaba's chief financial officer, said that this is unfair competition, alluding to a former Yahoo employee named Zhou Hongyi who now heads up Qihoo. It is important to note that Zhou Hongyi sued Yahoo last month for defamation.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:30 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Toolbar To Be Installed On HP Computers IE7 Browsers

The Associated Press reports that Yahoo and HP have struck a deal to have all desktop and laptop computers in the United States to have the Yahoo Toolbar pre-installed on top of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7. HP computers sold in Europe will have the home page default to Yahoo.com, starting immediately. Earlier this month, Yahoo & Acer set Yahoo as the default search engine on Acer computers.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:03 AM | Permalink

July 28, 2006

TrustWatch Extension Puts Phishing Warnings Into Google, Yahoo & MSN Results

Using Firefox or Flock? Now you can get an extension from TrustWatch that will may help you spot phishing scams in your search results at Google, Yahoo and MSN.

TrustWatch & MSN Offer Anti-Phishing Tools To Searchers & Surfers covers how TrustWatch already does this on its own Ask-powered search engine. But the extension lets you get TrustWatch info inserted into results at Google, Yahoo and MSN (but oddly not Ask).

That article above also explains how MSN has an anti-phishing tool you can download. There are several others, as covered in these past articles:

• Google Anti-Phishing Will Be Part Of Firefox 2.0
• New Tool Scandoo Scans for Scumware in Search Results
• Google Firefox Extensions For Anti-Phishing & Popping-Up Google Blog Search Results

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:06 AM | Permalink

July 26, 2006

Google Toolbar Look-Alike Installing Malicious Programs

Search Engine Journal reports on a SurfControl release that fake Google Toolbars are being downloaded unknowingly and causing those computers to be contaminated with malicious programs. The programs then use the computers to send out mass-email spam and/or for "internet attacks." So be careful where you download your toolbars.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:18 AM | Permalink

June 8, 2006

Google Browser Sync For Firefox

Google announced a new Firefox plugin named Google Browser Sync. The Firefox extension allows you to "synchronizes your browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across your computers. It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions." I have a more detailed write up and walk through of the extension at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:52 AM | Permalink

May 31, 2006

Google Anti-Phishing Will Be Part Of Firefox 2.0

As rumored, Google is to power the anti-phishing capabilities in Firefox 2.0. Firefox 2.0 Bakes in Anti-Phish Antidote from InternetNews.com has more details.

While Microsoft makes the dominant Internet Explorer 7 which will be bundled with Vista, Google has strong ties to the upstart Firefox browser, employing key developers and supporting Firefox with a search affiliate deal worth millions of dollars. Both browsers will have state of the art anti-phishing capability, protecting users from online scams that steal identities among other crimes.

Firefox has approximately 20% of the browser market share and appears to consistently gain ground against Internet Explorer. This may be because influential technically-minded people favor Firefox and promote its use.

By employing key developers and supplying technology support, since Mozilla Corporation is snug tight with Google, perhaps Google should simply purchase Mozilla with its war chest if and when a tipping point were to occur, and abandon any plans to ever produce their own browser client.

Posted by Detlev Johnson at 7:53 AM | Permalink

May 12, 2006

Microsoft Fires Back at Google Over IE7 Complaint

News.com reports that Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, feels Google is asking for special treatment with the whole controversy on IE7 defaulting the search to MSN Search. Ballmer explains that if you configured IE to use Yahoo search, then when you upgrade to IE7, Yahoo will remain as the default. Only when you get a new computer, will the default search be MSN Search. Also, if you want to change that, the first option in the list is Ask.com, since the search engines are sorted alphabetically. More food for thought off Danny's last comment on this.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:34 AM | Permalink

May 10, 2006

New Google Desktop Beta Features Google Gadgets

The Inside Google Desktop blog announced the release of a new version of Google Desktop. The new version's main feature are Google Gadgets, some of the many widgets include Weather Globe, Google Calendar and many more.

Developers can also build Google Gadgets themselves, more information on that at SDK Overview section. Let's not forget that Yahoo bought Konfabulator and renamed it to Yahoo Widgets, plus I never use Apple's widgets (i.e. Dashboard).

Postscript From Danny: A few more points not covered in the Google blog post which are covered as part of Google Press Day presentations:

• It's supposed to automatically suggest gadgets to try based on your web history. Go to a lot of movie sites? Then it might suggest movie-related gadgets, for instance.  
• The new Google Desktop will sync settings across computers, if you sign in through a Google Account. It will remember your to do lists, gadget preferences and other things regardless of where you are.  

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 2:47 PM | Permalink

IE7 Users Are Prompted To Use Google, Yahoo

ClickZ reports that they have noticed when using Microsoft's new browser, Internet Explorer 7, and visiting Google, you are prompted with a DTHML popup box that says, "Make Google your Search Engine in Internet Explorer," as you see here:

Click For Larger Image

Is this Google's way of fighting back against their objections of IE7? Google is upset that Microsoft sets MSN Search as the default engine on IE7. So if you are using IE7 and visit Google, Google will go out of their way to help you switch that default to engine to Google Search.

This is not the first time Google or even Yahoo has promoted their search engine. Philipp Lessen reported this exact thing for IE7 users back September 2005. Also, Yahoo did the same, to IE 7 users in January 2006.

Postscript From Danny: I added the Google image above, plus Yahoo's still doing the same thing, as you'll see below:

Click For Larger Image

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:25 AM | Permalink

May 4, 2006

Microsoft's Short Hand Search "Wild Thing" & IM Link Sharing "Nocturnal"

TMCnet.com has an interesting article explaining two new projects Microsoft is working on in relation to MSN Search. The first is something named "Wild Thing" that enables short hand searching. It was first designed for mobile Web searching, to allow users to type short hand, but now if you don't know how to spell "Schwarzenegger" you can type "ar* sc*w mo*" into the engine and it will try to figure it out. The second is something named "Nocturnal" and this shares bookmarks and Web browsing activity with your MSN Messenger buddies. Nocturnal can also be used to learn your Web behavior and tailor search results specifically for you.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 3:16 PM | Permalink

May 2, 2006

Google Worried About Microsoft's Browser Advantage? What Advantage?

I was off yesterday (it was a holiday in England), so I merrily missed the fireworks over Google's objections to Microsoft's plans for search in Internet Explorer 7. Nevertheless, a few calls from reporters penetrated my holiday bubble, and I added a brief note with my thoughts below Barry's post about the news. But today, I wanted to more formally revisit the issue. In short, I find Google's concerns pretty overblown, somewhat hypocritical and most important, worry over something that's not likely going to hurt them.

I am nauseatingly exhausted by idea that Microsoft will conjure up some magical method of yanking people into its MSN Windows Live Whatever You Want To Call It search service via the Windows operating system or the Internet Explorer browser. Microsoft has failed for years to be successful in this, which is why it's amazing anyone would still believe it.

In the longer version of this post for Search Engine Watch members, I revisit the tired facts in more depth:

• How search has been integrated into Windows and Internet Explorer since 1996 but failed to help Microsoft.  
• How even when MSN Search was made the default choice by 2001, Google still rose in traffic share.  
• How putting the search box into the "chrome" of the browser doesn't necessarily mean Microsoft will have a major win this time.  
• How search via toolbars still remain the minority of the way searches happen.

Meanwhile, skip past the business aspects. What about the consumer issue of choice? The New York Times writes of Google's preferred solution:

The best way to handle the search box, Google asserts, would be to give users a choice when they first start up Internet Explorer 7. It says that could be done by asking the user to either type in the name of their favorite search engine or choose from a handful of the most popular services, using a simple drop-down menu next to the search box. The Firefox and Opera browsers come with Google set as the default, but Ms. Mayer said Google would support unfettered choice on those as well.

Sure, I can get behind the "give people a choice from the beginning" idea. But if Google wants Microsoft to do that, then Google should make it happen right now in Firefox, which pretty much is Google's surrogate browser. If this is the best way for a browser to behave, then Google should be putting its weight on Firefox to make it happen. And Google should also ensure it does the same with Dell, where it has a partnership that I believe makes it the default search engine on new Dell computers.

It would be much easier to back Google's suggestions for IE7 if it was already doing this with its own partnerships. That's especially so given this latest article comes two months after the Wall Street Journal gave big play to Google's concerns with IE7. Back in February, the Journal wrote:

In December, for these and other reasons, Google refused to sign an agreement with Microsoft relating to the new browser's search capabilities. Microsoft left Google off the list of alternative search services. A month later, Microsoft notified Google it would be included on the list with or without a signed agreement, according to people familiar with the matter. Microsoft says after a review of its legal position, it realized it could include Google without a formal pact.

So Google's been concerned about choice for months. Nevertheless, it has failed to make any changes in Firefox, as I wrote after reviewing the Wall Street Journal article:

It's an odd argument, given that Google has not demanded that Firefox make consumers do similar choices in that browser. A partnership deal makes Google the default in Firefox, except for Asian-language versions where Yahoo cut its own deals.

In the end, I find it almost amazing that Google feels it needs to drop hints to the US Justice Department and the EU that it perhaps needs protection. In the search space, it's Google that remains the major player that many people feel may need to have a counter to. A list of the most popular search engines? Since those are largely US-dominated companies, I suspect the EU would want to change the playing field not to stop Microsoft but to hinder both Google and Microsoft. Is that a box Google really wants to open?

Finally, some second-day stories, that I've reviewed after writing the article above:

• Google supports choice...except on FireFox and Opera from Microsoft's Don Dodge raising the same issue I covered above, that Google has hardly demonstrated a support of choice in the way it demands of Microsoft.  
• Google's Double Standard from Yahoo's Jeremy Zawodny, again looking at Google's failure to support choice.  
• Google cries foul, but for what? from Ed Bott provides nice screenshots on how changing providers in IE7 is about the same as changing in Firefox with one exception - MSN Search is NOT an option in Firefox while Google IS an option in IE7. How about Google putting some pressure on Firefox to let Microsoft in the door. It is one of the web's major search engines. It ought to be on that list.  
• Google and choice from Nick Carr has the interesting suggestion that if Google's for choice, shouldn't the Google home page -- which gets far more users than any browser toolbar -- let users make a search choice? The idea gave me a chuckle, but I wouldn't agree. If you go to Google, you wanted Google. I don't buy into the idea you went there because you thought Google was just a synonym for search.  
• Microsoft and Google Set to Wage Arms Race from the New York Times follows on yesterday's article to look at the idea that in the war between Google and Microsoft (and Yahoo, but they don't get a mention), Google's hardly a scrappy underdog. In fact, it has people worried about it perhaps being a monopoly or too powerful. That's something that's been going on since 2002, as my Google: Can The Marcia Brady Of Search Stay Sweet? article from back then covers in more depth.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, Google Objects To Microsoft's IE7 Search Default Plans.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:09 AM | Permalink

May 1, 2006

Microsoft's IE 7 Serve Unfair Advantage Over Google & Yahoo?

Everyone is pointing to a NY Times article that claims Google is complaining to the Justice Department and the European Commission about Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 7. IE7 has set the default browser search engine to MSN Search, Google feels this puts Microsoft at an unfair advantage. Marissa Mayer is quoted as saying; "The market favors open choice for search, and companies should compete for users based on the quality of their search services." She adds, "We don't think it's right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN. We believe users should choose." Microsoft replied to this saying that Google is correct, IE7 sets MSN Search as the default, but changing that setting is incredibly easy and can be done at any time.

The article also says "Microsoft insists it has no intention of deploying its browser as a weapon in the search wars." I have always thought Microsoft would use its browser as an asset in wining the search war. I even claimed that relevancy wouldn't play a part in which search engine gains the most market share in the future. Let me be clear, Danny Sullivan disagrees with me on this point. And this weekend, recent information showed that Danny may be right and I may be wrong. But if Google is that worried about IE7 and Microsoft, than maybe I will be right? Time will tell and I hope Danny follows up on this entry with his own thoughts.

Postscript From Danny: Just briefly, I've written before (and here and here) that despite having a browser tie-in for years, Microsoft has failed to maintain search marketshare. IE7 and Vista, in my view, will hardly be the killer tool in beating Google and Yahoo for Microsoft.

In some related articles, see Google Testing Software Distribution With Dell, Plus Details On IE7 Search Battle, which summarizes a Wall Street Journal article earlier this year on the ongoing fight/issues with search and Internet Explorer. The article itself is here: Pressuring Microsoft, PC Makers Team Up With Its Software Rivals. Also see Google-MSN Fight In Internet Explorer 7; Yahoo Pokes At Google In Firefox.

Postscript 2 From Danny: I've now posted some extended comments here: Google Worried About Microsoft's Browser Advantage? What Advantage?

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, Google Objects To Microsoft's IE7 Search Default Plans.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:29 AM | Permalink

April 18, 2006

comScore: Google Leads On March 2006 US Search Share

You may have seen some rumblings a couple of weeks ago about Google being up in search traffic compared to competitors, based on comScore figures. I'm going to do a big drill down on that later this week, bringing in some NetRatings and Hitwise figures as well. But more comScore figures have just arrived for March, so here they are:

Share of Online Searches US Home, Work & University Users

Search Network March 2005 March 2006 Change Google 36.4% 42.7% +6.3% Yahoo 30.6% 28.0% -2.6% MSN/Microsoft 16.5% 13.2% -3.3% AOL/Time Warner 8.9% 7.6% -1.4% Ask 5.5% 5.9% +0.4%

Other notes from the comScore release:

• Americans conducted 6.4 billion searches online in March, up 10 percent from last month and 15 percent from last year. The increase in search queries from the previous month marked the largest gain over the past twelve months.  
• Google Sites led the pack with 2.7 billion search queries performed, followed by Yahoo Sites (1.8 billion), MSN-Microsoft (849 million), Time-Warner Network (486 million), and Ask Jeeves/Ask Network (376 million).  
• The toolbar search market continues to be dominated by Google and Yahoo!, which combined for more than 95 percent of toolbar searches in March. Google led the way with 48.9 percent, while Yahoo! captured 46.5 percent.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:31 AM | Permalink

April 13, 2006

Typo Domain Spotting Tool & Domain Registration Stats

I've got some domain name related items I'm throwing into this post: a new typo-domain spotting tool from Microsoft, new stats on the difficulty of getting a short domain plus stats on how many sites there are on the web.

Strider URL Tracer with Typo-Patrol is a new downloadable tool from Microsoft Research that lets you discover typo domains, domains that are misspellings of popular web sites.

Why bother checking? So you can know who might be trying to tap into your brand name or so you can protect children or naive web surfers from landing at the wrong sites.

If it's the latter, anti-phishing features built into the toolbars from Google, Yahoo and MSN Microsoft Windows Live are likely more useful for you and won't require the .NET download.

Typo domains have gotten renewed attention in part because of recent reports on how people are earning large amounts of money off of them. See these past articles from the SEW Blog for background on this:

• Search Engines Making Millions Off Type-In Traffic From Domains  
• Google AdSense For Domains Program Overdue For Reform -- And Yahoo & Microsoft Should Also Take Note

I'm still working on a follow up about the issue and how these domains are funded by the major search players of Google and Yahoo. The short good news answer is neither company says that typo domains are kosher. If they spot them, they're supposed to be ousting them from their domain monetization programs. The short bad news answer is that it seems like there's much more work that could be done to kill these off.

Need a good example of a type domain? Try windowsmessenger .com. When I was on a trip recently, I wanted my wife to try and reach me on my watch through MSN Messenger (a long story that I'll explain some other time on my personal blog, Daggle).

I told her to install MSN Messenger. She guessed at the domain, ending up at this place. It looks like the MSN Messenger site, which isn't surprising since it frames the real site in order to run Google AdSense ads alongside it. In my view, that's misleading and the type of thing I hate to see supported.

Yes, it's not a proper typo domain, in that it's not a misspelling of the real messenger.msn.com site. But it's close enough in intent to be annoying. FYI, messenger.masn .com is a better example of a typo domain for MSN Messenger. The new typo tool helped me spot that one. And yes, it's carrying ads from Google.

Back to the tool, I thought one of the best features is how you can point it at a web page, then watch what other sites get contacted as a result of your visit. For example, a visit to msn.messenger.com (the real site) shows me that Omniture gets contacted (probably to track my visit for Microsoft), as does live.com and msn.com (probably my live.com and msn.com cookies kicking in). Google also gets contacted, the result of my Google Toolbar calling back to the mother ship to get PageRank data.

In other news, The Search For A Domain Name came out at the end of last month has lots of interesting stats on the availability of domain names. Want a three letter domain name? Sorry, they're all registered. It also has stats on the length of domain names and other tidbits.

And who owns a domain name? Whois information can tell you, but only if it's accurate. ICANN has a system designed to let people report if they find inaccurate or missing whois info about a domain. Spotted via ResourceShelf, now out is a report (PDF format) on how the system performed over the past year. The system got 63 percent of problems solved.

Finally, got a domain name? You'll probably want a web site next. April 2006 Web Server Survey from Netcraft reports there are now more than 80 million sites on the web, with charts gong back to October 1995.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:26 AM | Permalink

April 3, 2006

Review Of Online Feed Reading Services

The State of Online Feed Readers over at TechCrunch has Frank Gruber taking a look at several online feed reading services, along with a big hunking chart o' features. Interestingly, the popular My Yahoo service doesn't get a nod for review, not being robust enough with the features it offers. Top speed honors go to Google Reader and FeedLounge, with Bloglines and Rojo best for feature sets overall. But me, I'm firmly a software-based feed reading person. I'll be sticking with RSS Bandit, which I reviewed on my personal blog here a few weeks ago: Reading Feeds With RSS Bandit. Of course, maybe FeedDemon 2.0 will tempt me away. Niall Kennedy recently gave it a rave review here: FeedDemon 2.0 raises the bar.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:56 AM | Permalink

March 27, 2006

Yahoo Updates Search Toolbar; Tabbed Browsing in IE & Delicious Tags

The Yahoo Search Blog announced that they have updated the Yahoo Toolbar. For IE users, you can use the toolbar to enable tabbed browsing in IE 5 or 6. For Firefox users, they have added for bookmarks, mail alerts, and AntiSpy for all countries that Yahoo supports (and no list of these is given).

In addition to those updates, they are now giving users the ability to tag content with del.icio.us directly from the browser. It is an optional feature that can be turned on by clicking here if the toolbar is already installed. If not, you can find the option under the Add/Edit Buttons page in the "Personal Tools" section. This move makes practical sense, since Yahoo Acquired Del.ico.us. Oh, you know del.icio.us is hard to spell, when Yahoo has a typo in the blog entry ("del.icio.us ito save").

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:52 AM | Permalink

March 14, 2006

Ultimate Googling with Advanced Dork Firefox Extension

Search Engine Journal covers at new Firefox extension named Advanced Dork that enables advanced Google searches with a right click on your mouse. If you are a Firefox user, you can download the extension to utilize its features. You simply highlight a word or two on the page you are browsing, then right click and presto, you have advanced search commands from Google that include; intitle: inurl: intext: site: ext: and filetype. For more information on these features, visit Advanced Google Search Operators help page. I personally use Apple's Safari, so I use a little tool named Saft.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:43 AM | Permalink

February 9, 2006

Buttons, Buttons, Get & Make Your Google Toolbar Buttons

Google Releases Upgraded Toolbar from us earlier covered how the new Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer allows for custom search buttons, which can benefit both site owners and searchers. I wanted to highlight a few new resources since then. If you're a Search Engine Watch member, also see this longer post that goes into more in depth on how to make your own buttons for visitors without needing to be a tech guru.

• Jim Boykin spots some cool Google Toolbar buttons that Aaron Wall has posted. There are a variety to give you link popularity stats, with some complex stuff to remove forum links that might be discounted. I especially like the domain age, competitive analysis, blog analysis and some handy tools.  
• The Google Toolbar Button Gallery has a growing number of buttons in various categories, ready for use. The tools category has some especially shiny stuff, like being able to visit a site anonymously.  
• Want our button? Click here to get it. Our button lets you search everything on the Search Engine Watch Blog and get the last 15 items posted, refreshed every 15 minutes.  
• Niall Kennedy's Google Toolbar search button template is an easy way for those using Movable Type blogs to get their own buttons with blog feed updates embedded in them.  
• Getting Started with the Google Toolbar API is an overview of how you can click and make your own buttons for any site, useful for searchers and webmasters alike. Webmasters will want to dive into the full documentation for further instructions.

Postscript: Aaron's added a number of buttons for various search blogs, including our own. Be sure to check out the logo next to the search button for Google's Matt Cutts's blog.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:05 AM | Permalink

February 8, 2006

Google Testing Software Distribution With Dell, Plus Details On IE7 Search Battle

We covered last month that Google was providing personal home pages for Dell. Dell testing preinstalled Google software package from Reuters now looks at how Google is working with Dell to put Google's desktop search and toolbar on Dell computers. It's said to be a test distribution, at the moment. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal looks at that and more about the search battle shaping up within IE7.

John Battelle points to Pressuring Microsoft, PC Makers Team Up With Its Software Rivals (paid sub. required) from the Wall Street Journal, which sparked the Reuters story about Google and Dell. The WSJ article covers how Google might pay Dell fees approaching $1 billion over three years for distribution.

The story goes deeper into concerns by Yahoo and Google that the new search toolbar in Internet Explorer 7 might hurt them, since MSN would be the default. Sure, it might. Then again, MSN Search has been the default in IE since at least IE3, if I recall. Despite this, non-Microsoft search engines haven't just survived, they've thrived. Yes, IE7 sports an actual search box this time, but I still think we'll see users change this off the default setting in various ways.

There's lots of detail on Google wanting Microsoft to ask consumers to make a conscious choice about search providers, rather than IE7 automatically using their choice in IE6 (which is probably MSN Search, for most people). It's an odd argument, given that Google has not demanded that Firefox make consumers do similar choices in that browser. A partnership deal makes Google the default in Firefox, except for Asian-language versions where Yahoo cut its own deals.

Chris Sherman is planning our own look at some of these issues in the near future. I'd love to see some universal agreement about how ALL browsers should handle choices of search providers, in terms of how defaults are set and can be changed. What I fear is another round of stealth default changes, where each of the players constantly try to switch you around.

Google and Yahoo encourage you to choose them as a default search provider through their software apps. I don't mind, because I can see they are clearly asking me when this happens. Both also try to encourage you to change in other ways, as you can see here and here. Again, I don't mind, because you can understand what's going on. But a few years ago, other players would just make the changes, leaving users puzzled about why all their searches mysteriously started going through some new search engine. We don't need that again.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:39 AM | Permalink

January 30, 2006

Sharing and Sending Web Content and More Via SMS

I'm constantly sending reminders to myself and others via SMS (text messaging). In today's SearchDay overview of the new Google Toolbar 4 for IE (beta), Chris points out that a new feature built into the toolbar allows the user to send web content via SMS (or via Gmail or Blogger) to any other SMS user in the U.S. Very cool! Google also offers a "Send to Phone" (U.S. numbers only) extension for Firefox.

Another service that you might want to check out (also free) is called Vazu.

This service requires a small app (free) and allows the user to cut and paste text from web pages, send files, images, and more via SMS to anyone with access to SMS in the U.S. or Canada. Sending content is free with Vazu but of course, make sure you know how much your wireless plan charges to receive messages. With non-text material you'll need to also have a mobile web browser to view an image or download a file.

More about the phone providers that Vazu is compatible with here. You can even integrate with Outlook. The Vazu client app is available for Windows (2000 or XP) and a widget is available for Mac OS X. The service is compatible with IE and Firefox. Btw, IE users will also want to check out the often useful "Contact Detector" feature.

Also, Yahoo Local and Yahoo Maps, and Yahoo Shopping also provide a send-to-phone features that let the user to receive driving directions, merchant info, and pricing data via SMS. Look for the "Send to Phone" link. More info here.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:36 PM | Permalink

Google Toolbar Version 4 Now Available

Google has upgraded its toolbar for Internet Explorer, adding new search features, online bookmarks, custom buttons that can be configured for a number of tasks, and some sharing tools. More on the new toolbar in today's SearchDay article, Google Releases Upgraded Toolbar.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 12:15 AM | Permalink

January 15, 2006

Tools that Optimize Web Content for Mobile Web: Google Joins Skweezer and IYHY

Since lots of web content has not been optimized for the mobile web, thanks to Nathan Weinberg* at InsideGoogle for the news tip about a new (it's new to me) resource from Google that optimizes most html-based web pages for a mobile phone, PDA or any other wireless device with a web browser. You'll find the interface here. No documentation is available.

Google is not the first to offer this type of service. I've been using Skweezer for about six months but the it has been around for much longer. It works well. You don't have to register to use Skweezer but if you do (free), you can personalize the home page and basically create your own mobile ready web portal.

This handy user guide explains the Skweezer's features and how their patent-pending technology works. Questions? A user forum is also available.

I've also just learned about another player in this (will check out soon) space named IYHY that also optimzes content for mobile web browsers. More about the service here. It comes from WebJillion.

Try them all and see which service works best for your needs and browser.

* On a personal note, a big congratulations to Nathan on his his just announced engagement to Raquel. The wedding will be this summer.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:10 PM | Permalink

January 13, 2006

Google-MSN Fight In Internet Explorer 7; Yahoo Pokes At Google In Firefox

Nacho points out in What? No Google on Vista? Google Strikes Back on IE 7! at Search Engine Roundtable a screenshot showing how Google is not among the recommended search engines on a guide for those wanting to customize IE7. OK, the page is under construction, but it's hard to believe it's an oversight. Below this, he's got a screenshot showing how Google is prompting in IE7 for users to make it the default search engine. I seem to recall seeing something similar like this from Yahoo, but I can't track that down. It's all kind of an aside to me. I'm not leaving Firefox!

Postscript: Just remembered the Yahoo thing. It's how they try to promote you searching from Yahoo rather than Google in Firefox's built-in toolbar:

Click To Enlarge Screenshot

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:22 AM | Permalink

January 5, 2006

Google Pack Software Bundle & Pay Per View Video Coming From Google, To Be Announced At CES

Via Threadwatch, Google to Offer Video Downloads, Software That Rivals Microsoft's from the Wall Street Journal says that Google cofounder Larry Page will announce in his CES keynote this week that Google will offer pay-per-video downloads through Google Video and a new "Google Pack" bundle of software that people can download.

Per-per-view video or video for purchase is no surprise. Google's already said it would do this. It's simply been a matter of timing, so perhaps the time -- Page's first CES address -- is right. Rumblings supporting the Wall Street Journal's story are out there. Garrett Rogers has spotted per per view screens in the wild, along with perhaps a new video software program coming.

The Google Pack would bundle Google software along with other software such as Norton AntiVirus, RealPlayer and Trillian. Google's given no previous indication something like this would be coming. However, the company did recently do a bundling deal to put its applications on Lexar flash drives, the latest in a series of deals.

There's also an arrangement with Sun for distribution of the Google Toolbar, a bundling deal with WinZip to distribute the Google Toolbar and Google Desktop, a similar one with InterVideo and a long-standing one from 2004 to put the Google Toolbar with RealPlayer.

Interestingly, one of the bundled applications within the Google Pack will be the Adobe Reader. Adobe already has a partnership with Yahoo to include a cobranded Yahoo Search toolbar within copies of reader that Adobe hands out.

Postscript: Please see full details at Google Pack Offers 1-Stop Downloading Of Software and Google Video Store Opens

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:47 AM | Permalink

January 3, 2006

Watching the Web, Even While You Sleep

Anyone who monitors web sites for changes knows what a pain it is to manually revisit and hunt for new information. But there's no need for that—automated web site tracking tools can do the work for you and alert you when anything new turns up. Gary reviews several of these tools in today's SearchDay article, Tracking Changes on Web Pages.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 10:36 AM | Permalink

December 28, 2005

WebSite-Watcher: A Key Tool for Tracking Web Page Changes

My friend and librarian colleague, Phil Bradley, points to a blog post by Marshall Kirkpatrick that looks at tools and services that alert you to page changes. I'm planning my own review of a couple of these tools and other alert services in early in 2006 so stay tuned. For now, a few brief comments:

In my upcoming reports I plan to focus on a couple of tools not included in Marshall's post that are great for tracking web page changes. Often a small change to a web page can detect something big has happened or will happen.

First and by far the best (nothing comes even close), is client software called WebSite-Watcher (WSW).

I've been using WSW for years and it's essential. I couldn't work without it. Why do I like it? Here are a few of the MANY reasons. More later.

+ You buy it, you own it. No monthly charges + Stable, rarely crashes. + Updated versions on a very regular basis. + Can monitor pages up to once every minute. So, Phil's request for a service that monitors pages once an hour is not a problem. + Pages are highlighted to show where changes (new content has been added, old content removed) have occurred. + Keywords: only show a page has a changed page if certain keywords are included on it. + Works on pages that require a login. + Also will handle RSS and ATOM feeds + Notification of changed pages via email, with changed page attached. + Easy to add new pages, one-click and you're done. + Archiving of pages not a problem with this free add-on tool + I could go on but we'll stop here for now. A two week trial (free) is available.

The other service I'm currently testing is a web-based alerting service from noted web-developer, Marc Fest, of QuickBrowse fame. It's called Trackle. While it's not nearly as powerful as Website-Watcher but Fest always creates useful tools. Can also monitor pages on an hourly basis. So far, I'm very impressed. Free trial.

+ Marshall discusses WatchThatPage.com. Not a bad service though it can be a bit tricky to get it all working right and the price is right (free). However, the fact that it's a donation ware site scares me a bit. If I'm going to invest the time and effort to import and organize lots of sites for tracking, I want to know it's going to be around for a while. That said, it has been online for several years but as we all know, things can change rapidly.

+ Kirkpatrick also writes about TrackEngine. This is a service that I haven't used but several colleagues tell me it's quite impressive. The biggest downside is that tracking many pages can get expensive.

As I said, look for more about alert tools and services soon.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:23 PM | Permalink

December 15, 2005

Google Firefox Extensions For Anti-Phishing & Popping-Up Google Blog Search Results

New Firefox extensions over at Google highlights that there's a new anti-phishing tool now out for Firefox users plus a new add-on that lets you see what people are saying about pages you visit through Google Blog Search.

Google Safe Browsing for Firefox is the anti-phishing tool, similar to the Phishing Filter Add-In for Internet Explorer with the MSN Search Toolbar. More about that in our past post, TrustWatch & MSN Offer Anti-Phishing Tools To Searchers & Surfers.

Blogger Web Comments is the Firefox extension to show you what people are blogging about relating to pages you are viewing.

What happens is that when you go to a particular page, a little window pops-up in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. It will show you a comment from someone on a blog that's linking to the page you are viewing. You can also click to see more "comments," which is a handy way to check what people are blogging about the page you are reading.

These are NOT just people using Blogger that are commenting via blogs. Instead, what Google's doing is simply generating a backlink lookup on Google Blog Search and showing you the summary of the first thing listed on that page.

For example, here are the backlinks to the Search Engine Watch home page. The first thing on that page at the moment is:

Google Adds Music Search Feature 33 minutes ago by Bruce Houghton GoogleGoogle this morning added a music search feature to it's popular search engine. Type in for example "Pink Floyd" and the top result featured includes a photo of the artist, a bit of information, and a link to "More music results ... hypebot - http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/

In my pop-up box, that got turned into:

hypebot GoogleGoogle this morning added a music search feature to it's popular search engine. Type in for...

You can also use the "Add comment" link in the pop-up box to add your own comments about the page. What this really does is send you to your own Blogger-based blog (or suggests you open one). But to "comment," you simply need to have a page that shows up in Google Blog Search that links to the page someone is viewing. Remember, however, that over time your "comment" will drop down the list.

More about Google Blog Search is covered in our past articles, Google Launches Industrial Strength Blog Search and Thoughts On & Poking At Google Blog Search.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:28 AM | Permalink

December 12, 2005

Writely Adds New Convert to PDF Feature and Another Free PDF Conversion Tool Called DocMorph

It was about 36 hours ago that I pointed to a ResourceShelf overview of Writely, a wonderful and free web-based word proccessor and collaboration tool. Today, according to this article, Writely has added a new feature. Now users can convert documents into PDF format by just pointing and clicking. The article says that this is now free feature will eventually become a "fee-based" premium feature from Writely.

More in the article: Web word processor adds PDF conversion.

Of course, many other web-based convert to PDF tools exist. Here's one example. For years, I've been using DocMorph from NLM's (National Library of Medicine) Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications.

DocMorph has been around since 1999. It's a completely free service that allows conversion to PDF, TIFF, text, and synthesized speech from more than 50 file formats. Registration is fast and easy. You can also download (not required, Windows only) MyMorph that makes the conversion process a bit easier (it's really not a challenge in the first place).

Posted by Gary Price at 11:52 AM | Permalink

December 10, 2005

A New Online Poetry Archive and Database; Writing Online With Writely.com

About a week ago, the The Online Poetry Archive (OPA) debuted in the UK and is now accessible on the web.

The brainchild of Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and recording producer Richard Carrington, the Poetry Archive is recording significant poets reading their own works and preserving them for posterity on an online database freely available to everyone.

At this point, poetry can be browsed by poet, author, theme, or form. In fact, the list of poem themes looks like a tag cloud, as does the list of poems by form. Poems (full text) and poets can also be keyword searched and read online.

There is also a a poets section that lists poets by region and also highlights historic recordings. The audio player is included on each page. Bios and bibliographies are also available for all poets.

Sections for teachers, students and a children's archive are also part of the OPA. A very impressive start for this project. Keep up the good work. Btw, this post about the OPA came after I was planning to put together an overview post about the increasingly popular Writely.com (a web-based word processor a collaboration tool).

However, I remembered that we recently published an intro and overview on ResourceShelf that was written by our Deputy Editor, Shirl Kennedy. So, I'll let Shirl's post tell the whole story about Writely.com, a wonderful and constantly improving tool. If you've never checked out Writely (it's free) you should. Sure, you can file it in your Web 2.0 folder if you like.

Postscript: Since Shirl's article, Writely.com announced that they're going to support for the OpenDocument Format.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:02 PM | Permalink

November 30, 2005

Answers.com Now Embedded into Firefox 1.5 Search Toolbar

A quick note from Answers.com that a link to this ready-reference database is now embedded directly and automatically into the new Firefox 1.5 search toolbar. Additionally, Firefox 1.5 users can download a plug-in and have an option to search highlighted text with Answers.com via a right-click. The agreement calls for an ad-revenue split between Answers and Mozilla on Answers traffic originating from the Firefox search toolbar.

Along with these new features, Answers.com added the following content to their database today:

+ Webster's 1913 Dictionary - dictionary edited by Patrick J. Cassidy + Tips Resource Center - guidelines to help you find what you're looking for on Answers.com + Antonyms - dictionary of antonyms

Posted by Gary Price at 4:38 PM | Permalink

Yahoo Now Default Search Engine on Asian Versions of Firefox 1.5

Yesterday, Firefox launched version 1.5 of its browser and at the same time announced a "stratgic partnership" with Yahoo in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Yahoo will now distribute Firefox 1.5 in those markets and will be the default search engine on Firefox 1.5 in each of those countries.

Previously, Google was the default engine for these versions of Firefox.

I just downloaded the U.S. package of Firefox 1.5 and Google was still the homepage.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:39 PM | Permalink

November 29, 2005

CustomizeGoogle Offers New Option to Block Google Analytics Cookies

CustomizeGoogle is a popular Firefox extension that offers numerous (understatement) to change the look of Google pages. One options is being able to easily remove ads from Google results pages.

Today, the CustomizeGoogle Blog points out yet another new optional feature that allows users to block Google Analytics cookies on ANY web site.

This page has a detailed explanation, examples, issues, and other methods of how not to be tracked.

Over the weekend I posted about a another new option discussed on the also new CustomizeGoogle blog that allows pages from Google Book Search to be printed.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:57 PM | Permalink

November 25, 2005

CustomizeGoogle Gains Blog; Pitches New Feature To Override Google Book Search Print Restriction

CustomizeGoogle (CG), the popular and award winning Firefox extension that offers numerous options to customize the search engine (including one option to remove ads from most Google results pages) now has its own blog that's located here.

The most recent blog post mentions that an update to CustomizeGoogle now, "makes it easy to removes[sic] image copying restrictions in Google Book Search (aka Google Print)." The CG home page puts it this way:

Removes image copying restrictions in Google Book Search

This is accomplished by first heading to the "Book" tab in CG and selecting, "Restore Right-Click Context Menu" and then placing your cursor on a page from a book.

I don't believe this feature allows you to print Google Book Search content by just clicking and selecting print. When I tested, I didn't see pages from a book but only the material surrounding the actual page.

However, using the right-click menu (now easily enabled for CustomizedGoogle) and placing a cursor on a page from a book, I was able to quickly isolate the page (as a JPEG file) and then print, save, convert, etc. I was also able to isolate direct urls to book pages and send them via email. You can even save book pages as wallpaper on your PC.

As we've pointed out on this blog before as well as others mentioning it in their writing, content in Google Book Search, particulary new in-copyright content, is not supposed to be printable (short of screen caps).

Of course, limits about how many in-copyright "Sample Pages" you can view are still in place and the "copyrighted material" text is still visible on each page. Google Book Search does offer the full view of public domain materials.

It will be interesting to see how (if at all) Google and participating publishers respond to this new option since it's coming from such a highly lauded software program.

Postscript from the CustomizeGoogle Developer (via Email): Before, Google disabled right click. With CustomizeGoogle, right click is enabled again, and now you can right click choose save image/view image/etc.

Google also have some restrictions on how many book pages you can view in a single session or per day. If you anonymize your Google ID, you should be able to view more book pages. However, I haven't tested it so I don't really know if it does work.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:54 PM | Permalink

October 4, 2005

Sun To Distribute Google Toolbar & Closer Relationship Beween Two; McNealy Says, "Lots of Money Flowing Both Ways if We Do This Right"

The Google and Sun Microsystems press conference is over and word is that Google and Sun have announced a "multiyear" strategic relationship for Google to cross-promote their technologies. Bottom line: another potential jolt to Microsoft software dominanance especially, MS Office. The relationship will begin with the optional inclusion (not yet available) of the Google Toolbar in upcoming downloads of the Java Runtime Environment. Financial terms were not disclosed but Sun CEO, Scott McNealy said, "There is going to be a lot of money flowing both ways if we do this thing right."

Here's a review of some of the press coverage to this point:

For the most part, the blogosphere is underwhelmed by the news, according to News.com

You mean Google makes an annoucement and it wasn't a big deal from the get go? Say it isn't so. (-:

• Watch the Press Conference
• Press Release

Key Facts and Quotes: + As part of the agreement, Sun will include the Google Toolbar as an option in downloads of the Java Runtime Environment from Java.com. The new functionality will be available soon.

+ Due to the popularity of Java on the desktop, downloads of Java have more than doubled year over year, reaching 20 million per month.

+ The distribution of Java and the Google Toolbar underscores Google's advocacy of Java technology.

+ The agreement between Sun and Google also kicks off further collaboration between the companies on projects like OpenOffice.org, the open source productivity suite that is the world's leading suite on the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS) and Linux--and the leading alternative suite on Microsoft Windows.

+ "Working with Google will make our technologies available more broadly, increase options for users, lower barriers, and expand participation worldwide." --Scott McNealy, CEO Sun

NOTE: You can already register by email and be notified when the Google Toolbar for the Java Desktop will be available. From the looks of it, the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer (kind of ironic) will be the version distributed by Sun. Sorry Firefox fans (at least for now). Scott

Sun CEO Scott McNealy said the toolbar, "will appear in weeks if not days."

From Reuters: Financial terms were not disclosed. "There is going to be a lot of money flowing both ways if we do this thing right," McNealy said.

From AP: Eventually, the Java component could be offered to users who download the free toolbar that offers quick access to Google search, spell checking and a popup blocker.

From Forbes.com: "We believe that this heavily promoted [Sun and Google] announcement is overblown, and does not represent a real definitive product threat to Microsoft's Office," S&P Equity Research. The Sun and Google partnership is "primarily as an enhanced distribution platform for each company," the research firm said.

From The Register: The problem, however, is that even Google freaks - the types who would be excited if the ad broker started conducting mandatory, aggressive anal probes under the Fistoogle brand - won't find much to cheer here.* They've already got the Google toolbar, and are tooling around like, well, you know. For its part, Sun already serves up more than 20m downloads of Java per month. Will the availability of the Google toolbar - something already available from Google - make people want to download Java more? No, this deal centers more around the obvious - marketing.

* Wow, that's one strong comment. Comment of the year? It's a contender. (-:

From News.com John Loiacono, Sun's executive vice president for software. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that what separates the Toolbar distribution deal from others the company has is the "vastness" of it.

Google also committed to buying more Sun servers, though Schmidt refused to detail how many or what type. That's significant, given the search giant's prestige as an Internet company and its reliance so far on machines it has built itself. Pending agreement of project programmers, Sun will add a Google search bar to OpenOffice.org, an office software suite Sun turned into open-source software in 2000.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:53 PM | Permalink

September 29, 2005

MSN Search MyCroft Plugin Now Available for Firefox

If you're a Firefox user who wants to have easier access to the MSN Search database, a post on MSN Search's WebLog points out that a new MSN Search "Mycroft" search plugin for Firefox is now available. Actually, a number of MSN Search plugins are available for various versions of the MSN database.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:11 PM | Permalink

September 27, 2005

TrustWatch & MSN Offer Anti-Phishing Tools To Searchers & Surfers

TrustWatch is a new Ask Jeeves-powered search engine designed to give you a green, yellow or red light warning on whether to trust pages listed in its results. It follows on the release of an anti-phishing add-on for users of the MSN Search toolbar.

At TrustWatch, the warnings are to help you know if you are reaching a fake site or one that's "phishing" for you to reveal personal information.

For example, imagine you were trying to reach the Bank Of America site. It's possible that someone might create a site that looks like the real BofA site and ranks well for a search on the company's name. A good search engine shouldn't let this happen, but it still can occur. Even more likely, it can happen if you search using a slight misspelling.

TrustWatch places colored rating icons next to each listing. Green means the listing has been verified as real and trustworthy by a third party. Yellow means there's been no verification, but neither has the site been reported on a blacklist. Red means someone has reported a site as disreputable and that you shouldn't trust it.

Run a web site and want to be trusted? GeoTrust, the company behind TrustWatch, will conveniently sell you a site identity seal for $49 per year. You can also get a trust rating from one of the other companies that it lists, including TRUSTe. I wish the page TrustWatch lists with these organizations made it exceptionally clear exactly which products each of these companies are selling are acceptable, especially what the lowest cost options are.

I can understand that site owners probably should pay to be rated. Someone's got to do the reviewing. But it shouldn't be super expensive. Plus, non-profits and governmental groups should get a break. Of course, I see the US White House site is considered trusted, and I'm betting they didn't pay for a review.

Want to know if something is trustworthy as you surf the web? There's a TrustWatch toolbar you can install that lights up to let you know if a site is trusted when you visit it.

That brings me over to news from earlier this month. Microsoft has a Phishing Filter Add-In for its MSN Search Toolbar. Like TrustWatch's, it's only for Internet Explorer, unfortunately. It will block sites that are on known phishing lists and warn you of sites that it suspect may be phishing based on scanning for common characteristics.

Having these features in toolbars is great, of course. In fact, I'm guessing we'll see Ask Jeeves down the line add TrustWatch-powered warnings to its toolbar since it's partnering to provide TrustWatch with search results. But it would be nice to see anti-phishing warnings in the results of the major search engines, as well.

I mean, the Ask Jeeves blog today is what alerted me and others to the new TrustWatch service. Rather than have Ask Jeeves point me elsewhere, I obviously want them to put these features into their own search results. Same, too, with MSN. Give phishing warnings in the search results, as well as in the toolbar. And let's see Google and Yahoo do the same.

Want to discuss? Visit our forum thread, Ask.com Powers TrustWatch - GeoTrust's Secure Engine.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:26 AM | Permalink

September 22, 2005

Search Supreme Court Nominee Hearings and MacBeth With askSam

Database software provider askSam continues to roll-out free searchable databases containing documents in the news and other interesting content. These databases can be browsed and searched online and/or downloaded and searched offline. You'll need the askSam viewer to use the material offline. No worries, the software is free to download.

In the past week, askSam has released two new databases:

• The Confirmation Hearing Transcripts of Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts
• MacBeth by William Shakespeare

You'll find a complete list of the free databases that askSam makes available in this news release.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:47 AM | Permalink

September 20, 2005

Issues With Yahoo Messenger Installs

Yahoo IM users get more than they bargained for from News.com earlier this month looks at how the latest version of Yahoo's instant messaging client wants to make itself at home on your desktop beyond just instant messaging. Go with the defaults, and you'll not just get Yahoo Messenger but also the Yahoo Toolbar and new "Yahoo Extras" with "live links" that sound like Google AutoLink but seem to only act that way in the IM client, from what I can see. The install also tries to make Yahoo your default home page and search tool. It's easy to choose not to add any of these additional features, programs and changes, assuming you look for the right checkboxes, but many don't.

Yahoo's Jeremy Zawodny saw the story and commented that he found the practice "insulting and disrepectful." Google UI designer Kevin Fox chimes in on the comments at Jeremy's blog about dislike the tactics as well and defending Google's bundling of tools with WinZip as being "upfront."

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:59 AM | Permalink

September 1, 2005

Which RSS Feed Reader?

I'm wrapping up my series of articles on RSS today, focusing on the tools available to keep track of your favorite RSS feeds. RSS readers (or aggregators or news readers) are plentiful, and have a wide variety of features. Today's SearchDay article, Choosing an RSS Reader offers tips on selecting one that best meets your needs, with reviews of some of the more popular and useful RSS readers available.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 4:16 AM | Permalink

August 23, 2005

Google Top Search Engine In July 2005; Toolbar-Based Queries Grow & Yahoo Tops There

I've posted the latest comScore search engine ratings for July 2005 on our comScore Media Metrix Search Engine Ratings page. As is usual, Google is the top ranked search engine in the US, based on the share of those searching at the site for the US. Google came in with a 36.5 percent share, followed by Yahoo at 30.5, then MSN at 15.5. Full details on our other page.

That page also looks at how things have changed over the past few months. AOL and Ask Jeeves have both shown some interesting growth patterns.

comScore also released some limited stats about search toolbars driving queries:

• In July 2005, 11 percent of all US searches were done using toolbars, up from 8 percent the year before.  
• Yahoo had the most popular toolbar, handling 51 percent of all toolbar-based search queries.  
• Yahoo processed 282 million queries via the toolbar last month

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:52 AM | Permalink

August 22, 2005

Google Desktop Search 2 Offers New Sidebar Widgets, Outlook Integration & More

Google has released a new version of its desktop search tool. Now in beta, Google Desktop Search 2 offers features such as integration with Outlook, indexing of email at Gmail, a sidebar with nifty widgets to display photos, headlines, RSS feed and a virtual scratch pad. The changes will likely have folks at Microsoft and Yahoo nervous but Google users pleased. Some of the changes will also no doubt kick off another round of speculation that a Google OS may be coming.

Everything Google Desktop Search has offered -- the ability to find and locate things on your computer -- remains. Here's a closer look at what's new in the latest release.

Installation

If you're already a user of Google Desktop Search, you're going to have to download the application and reindex your hard drive. Your current version of GDS will not automatically update with this beta release. If you want an auto-update, it's likely you'll have to wait until the program leaves beta. Also, another question you might be asking, is if GDS 2 available for Mac users? The answer is no. Also, at this point its is only available in English.

The download is still very small and installation is point, check, and click. After beginning the installation process you'll see a page asking you to set your preferences (which can be changed at any time). By the way, note the option to change the default search engine in IE to Google. (-:

Options include being able to search your desktop and Google's Gmail with the Google Deskbar, a floating deskbar, or the new Google Sidebar that stays on desktop when minimized. It provides quick access to not only a search box but to other services from Google and on your hard drive.

Google Sidebar

The Google Sidebar is is the most important "new" part of this beta release and will not only get people talking but also get developers developing.

The Google Sidebar can be placed anywhere on your desktop and offers several new widget/tools within easy virtual reach. However, Google Desktop Search must be running for the sidebar to work. You can't just have only the sidebar part if you want, unfortunately. Google says the sidebar is too dependent on personalizing itself based on GDS activity for this.

The sidebar remains visible unless you minimize it in most Windows applications. Just like we've seen with the Google Deskbar, you can now Google from just about anywhere in Windows.

The Google Sidebar I used last week came pre-loaded with eight panes or panels, each customizable. All eight panels can also be minimized or removed. They also automatically update with new info. The 8 panels offer access to:  

• E-Mail: This option allows you to see and read new Gmail without having to go to the Gmail site. Your Gmail is also indexed and made searchable via GDS2. The email "window" of the Google Sidebar will also works with Outlook. Take that Microsoft.  
• News: News headlines from a variety of sources. If you allow Google to know what stories you're clicking on your news headlines headlines will be personalized over time based on what articles you've looked at in the past.  
• Web Clips: Web Clips is the Google name for RSS feeds. In other words, the sidebar can also function as an RSS or ATOM aggregator. Web Clips also offers an autodiscover function. Say you visit a bunch of sites that have feeds but can't find the feed. Simply click and add them to your list of feeds. Note to Google: It would be nice to have an option to view full text feeds directly from the sidebar.  
• Scratch Pad: Type and save quick notes.  
• Photos: Images from whatever folder(s) you store images in are accessible. In fact, you can also view all/some of your photos as a slide show. You can also display photos from an online photo album.  
• Quick View: Provides access to frequently used web pages and files. The sidebar also offers a new feature called QuickFind that allows you the chance to open any program by just typing a few keystrokes into the search box. For example, you can type the letters WOR to open MS Word. Also, all of the custom search shortcuts that you might have created with Google Desktop Search 1 will be available here.  
• What's Hot: A combination of different sources to let you know what people are talking about. How something makes the "hot" box is unknown but Google did tell us that presently material comes from blog/RSS engines Technorati and DayPop. I'm wondering if some day certain advertisers or products might make it into the "hot" panel.  
• Stocks: Current stock prices, customizable  
• Weather: Current temperatures and a one day forecast for places you set.  
• Search: At the very bottom of the default sidebar is a search box. By the way, sidebar boxes can be reordered by simply dragging and dropping.

Are sidebars and similar tools a new idea? No. IE has had an "Explorer" bar for years and Firefox offers numerous sidebar plugins like the PubSub sidebar I use regularly. Of course, don't forget the very popular Mac Dashboard. Nevertheless, since Google is now releasing one, the whole sidebar "concept" will likely gain a new audience.

No doubt the Google Sidebar will appeal to Google fans and tech geeks (see below) alike. However, I wonder if all of these bells and whistles, although potentially useful, are just too much for the typical user. Do they really want or need all of these cool services? Of course, one wonders if the typical user knows about or uses a desktop search app in the first place? Sorry for being just a bit cynical. I wish Google and others would spend 1/10 of the time they spend developing new services and use it to teach people how to become better searchers and better consumers of information.

What else does the Google Sidebar do? It gives Google some serious real estate on the desktop. Although there presently isn't a panel that shows keyword advertising, it's easy to envision panels with contextual and local advertising in them. What about sponsored panels for new movies, TV programs, new products, etc. For the record, Google says it has "no plans" on the advertising front.

Google Sidebar API

Google is also opening up the sidebar to developers with an API. I'm sure developers will have a field day developing new panels. The sidebar and the panels available today and those likely be available soon, remind me of what Yahoo now offers with their acquisition Konfabulator and Apple offers with their application. Not familiar with Yaho Konfabulator? Check out Chris Sherman's recent article that looks at all the widgets that Konfabulator brings to Yahoo: Why Yahoo Bought Konfabulator.

Will today's release start a war for who offers the most sidebar apps or Konfabulator widgets? My guess is yes, it will. I'm looking forward to seeing the plug-ins that combine the sidebar with Google Maps and satellite imagery. Kind of killing two birds with one stone for the Google developer.

New File Types

Along with the 14 file types indexed with GDS, GDS2 will now index:

• Gmail
• MSN Messenger Chats
• Outlook Contacts
• Outlook Appointments
• Outlook Tasks
• Outlook Notes
• Outlook Journal

Outlook Integration

Here's another one for that I'm sure Microsofto will love -- not. Yes, it's the debut of the Google Toolbar for Outlook. If you're an MS Outlook user, look for this box that points you to where the Google's Toolbar for Outlook was placed. On my computer, the toolbar sits next to the MSN Toolbar! In addition to searching your Outlook email, you can also use it to search Outlook You can Outlook Contacts, Appointments, Tasks, Notes, and Journal.

Other Features

Along with what I've mentioned above, the GDS2 beta also offers:

• Password Protection / Index Encryption (available on the GDS2 preferences page)  
• Improved Filtering of Results (depending on document type)  
• One new feature allows you to see a timeline of everything that Google Desktop Searched cached. In other words, at 8:23 PM cached MS Word Doc xxx, at 7:31 cached AIM Chat. Got to tell you, this is very useful.  
• Options to Search Network Drives

Bottom Line?

For Google Desktop Search fans, it's Christmas (or choose other holiday) in August! This is some cool stuff and yes, Virginia, Google now has an RSS aggregator. I'm sure developers will also be busy building new ones. By the way, if you don't want to use Google Desktop Search to search your desktop, the sidebar is still completely usable. For developers? More Google toys to play with.

Finally, if you're a GDS fanatic and want to let others know about your fanaticism, the GoogleStore began selling a Google Desktop Search Baseball Jersey last week.

Posted by Gary Price at 7:04 AM | Permalink

August 18, 2005

Track Your AdSense Earnings in Firefox Status Bar

Here's one for AdSense customer who uses Firefox. Google Blogoscoped points to the Adsense Notifier extension that allows you to track your AdSense earnings in the Firefox status bar.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:08 PM | Permalink

August 2, 2005

A9 Enhances Toolbar with Cool New Feature

Word from A9 that they've just released a new version of their toolbar for Firefox and IE. I've listed the new features below including an option to add the search functionality from ANY search engine directly to the A9 toolbar by just clicking. The engine doesn't need to have its own toolbar or an A9 Open Search column. This is as cool (very) as it is useful. However, it's not the first time we've seen such a feature.

Both NeedleSearch (see my 2003 SearchDay article) and Copernic's Toolbar (both free) have offered this option for a couple of years.

Regardless, this is a welcome new option from A9. Try it, you'll like it. Kudos to A9.

Adding any search engine couldn't be easier. Here's an example:

Let's say you want the ability to search the SEW Blog archives directly from your toolbar.

First, go to http://blog.searchenginewatch.com and look for the search box in the left column.

Second, right-click in the search box and select the "Add to A9 Search Menu" option

Next, enter a title, I'll call this entry SEW Blog.

That's it. Wasn't that easy? Again, this should work with just about any search box.

Now, simply select "SEW Blog" in the search menu, enter your terms, and click enter.

Here's another example.

This time let's search Yahoo Video and limit our searches to Flash videos that are greater than one minute and come only from .edu sites.

+ Go to Yahoo Video Search (advanced interface) + Select the options stated above + Place your cursor in the search box and select add to A9 search menu. + Give the search a title + That's it. Now, go to the A9 toolbar and run a search. You should see all of the limits you selected are included in the url.

Have fun!

Here's a complete list of what's been added to A9 Toolbar 1.3 :

• Fast Sign In?Switch between accounts quickly if you share your computer
• Open Search?Search your favorite columns directly from the toolbar
• Performance?Drastically improved startup and page-turn times
• Customizable Search Menu?Add your own custom searches to the search menu with Smart Bookmarks
• Enhanced SiteInfo Menu?Website owners can add custom menus for their site

More info and and complete instructions here.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:20 PM | Permalink

July 31, 2005

Gigablast Debuts Toolbar for Internet Explorer

Gigablast has released a toolbar for Internet Explorer that offers a couple of features I haven't seen elsewhere:

• Search the sites linked from the current page
• Search the sites in your bookmarks

A Gigablast toolbar for Firefox isn't available yet but a MyCroft plug-in can be found here.

Presently, the Gigablast index provides searchable access to over 2 billion pages.

Posted by Gary Price at 8:15 PM | Permalink

July 27, 2005

Yahoo Toolbar for Firefox Leaves Beta, Version 1.0 Now Available

After about 5 1/2 months as a beta release, version 1.0 of the feature-filled Yahoo Toolbar for Firefox has just been made available.

Version 1.0 includes several new features including:

• A drag-n-drop resizable search box
• A right mouse click menu to open bookmarks and toolbar buttons in new windows or tabs
• A search history drop down that automatically expands to the length of the longest search query
• Addition of RSS / Atom feeds to My Yahoo! via the Live Bookmarks icon
• Support for the latest Firefox developer releases and alpha/beta browsers

Additionally, the Yahoo Toolbar for Firefox is now available in the following languages:

• Chinese (Taiwan, Hong Kong)
• English (UK)
• French
• German
• Korean

For more about the Yahoo Toolbar for Firefox, here's a link to Danny's overview article from February.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:01 PM | Permalink

New MSN Screen Saver With Search & RSS Integration

Need a screensaver? The new MSN Screen Saver puts a search box on display, plus shows you RSS feeds, photos from your desktop and more. Seem odd to have a search box in your screen saver? Yes and no. It's odd in that if you go to use your computer, you want your screen saver to go away. But it's smart in that if you like the other things the screen saver offers then realize you need to search for something, there's a search box -- and MSN's search box -- ready to go. Yahoo and Google don't offer screen savers that I know about. I'm sure they'll come. More details on the MSN Search Blog: MSN Screensaver with Search & RSS

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:58 AM | Permalink

July 19, 2005

Inquisitor: A New Search Tool for Safari Users

Inquisitor 1.0 is a new search app that those of you who use Safari might want to take a look at.

Here's how the developer describes the tool.

[Iquisitor 1.0 ] is a novel search extension for Apple’s Safari web browser that adds live, predictive search features to the standard web search field in Safari. As you type, Inquisitor offers suggestions to complete your query based on your own personal search history as well as the search history of every Google user.

You can download Inquisitor here. It's donationware.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:19 PM | Permalink

July 10, 2005

Search SEW With YubNub Command & YubNub Mobile

Danny blogged a great overview of YubNub, a service that "gives you a command line interface for search" a couple of weeks ago.

Two quick updates. First, you can now use YubNub to search all of Search Engine Watch (via Google).

The command is sew [foo].

You can also use the command sewb [foo] to search only the SEW Blog.

Second, a post on the YubNub blog points out that YubNub now has an interface optimized for mobile web users.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:02 PM | Permalink

July 7, 2005

Firefox Search Goodies Keep on Coming

Google released its top-secret toolbar for Firefox today, and it has all of the features found in the Internet Explorer version—see Gary's post below for details. If you're a toolbar fan, it's definitely something you'll want to investigate.

But don't overlook the dozens of other plugins and extensions designed to make your searching and browsing experience far more complete. In today's SearchDay article, Still More Cool Firefox Tools, I check in with the Mozilla developer community and report on new (free) tools that I'm using on a daily basis.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 9:57 AM | Permalink

July 6, 2005

Google Toolbar For Firefox Available Tomorrow With Send-To-Phone & Google Suggest

A new Google Toolbar for Firefox for users will be available for download tomorrow morning Pacific time from the Google Toolbar page. It will offer generally the same features as the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer, Google says. However, Google Labs will also be releasing tomorrow "send-to-phone" and Google Suggest extensions specifically for the toolbar:

• Google Suggest: Will allow you to utilize Google Suggest directly from the toolbar. So, as you enter your query into the toolbar, you'll see suggested search terms.  
• Google Send To Phone: Will allow you to quickly send the text from any web page to a mobile phone as a text message. The service is free but make sure to check with your mobile phone provider to determine the charges (if any) to receive text messages.

The extensions were created by Google engineers during the 20 percent free time, Google says.

FYI, other services also allow you to send web content to your mobile device. Yahoo has offered options to send entries from Yahoo Local and maps from Yahoo Maps to a mobile phone since early 2005. Last week, Yahoo began offering an option to material from Yahoo Shopping via SMS.

Palo Alto-based Vazu also offers a services the allow the user to send contact info, text snippets from any web page, and more to their mobile phone as a text message. Vazu offers both free and fee-based services.

Unlike the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer, the Firefox version will have no pop-up blocker. That's because Firefox already has its own built-in blocker.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:00 PM | Permalink

July 5, 2005

Official Google Toolbar For Firefox Comes This Week, But Don't Comment!

Google is to release a version of its Google Toolbar specifically for Firefox later this week. Watch the Google Toolbar site for news of when it is ready, and see below about Google's absurd advice not to comment about the toolbar launch until it happens.

Finally! In February, I'd asked Google why, despite being a close Firefox partner, it still hadn't produced a toolbar for the increasingly popular browser. The response was that the Googlebar tool for Firefox was seen as filling the need. Googlebar For Firefox, Plus The Google & Firefox Deal covers that plus how Googlebar does much of what the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer doesn't.

Can't wait? Go get Googlebar and also SearchStatus, which as I've explained gives you PageRank information and other cool features.

Yahoo Toolbar For Firefox and Closer Look At Yahoo Toolbar For Firefox covers the existing official toolbar for Firefox that Yahoo offers. Also see Firefox Got Yahoo! for more directly from Yahoo.

For some other Firefox and search-related tips, see our recent series on searching and Firefox, the Three Cool Search Gizmos and A Great Search Tool for Firefox article and our Toolbars & Utilities category for Search Engine Watch members.

Firefox users who like toolbars should be sure check out Groowe, an easy way to search against multiple search engines at once and imitate special features their own toolbars provide. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Finally, remember that if anyone in the press asks you about the new Google Toolbar For Firefox, don't comment! At least, don't comment until the news is officially released via a planned Google press release. To help everyone understand this important need, Google posted this publicly:

Hey Googlebar folks, long time no talk. I thought I'd drop you a note to give a heads up on something Google will be releasing next week: a version of our IE Toolbar for Firefox. It will most likely be released on July 7th, but press releases will go out at 9pm on July 6th. Since you were in the Google-toolbar-for-firefox space first, it's conceivable that the press might contact you for comment. If they do it would be great if you could hold of replying until our press releases go out on the 6th.

Yes, if you post news of a secret launch in a public place, it's conceivable the press might hear about it before the launch. But then again, this is becoming a nice way to get triple the publicity for your products, these days.

In the past, we had the "beta" release and then the "final" release as a way to get a double-dose of press gushing. Now we have the triple -- news that accidentally leaks out, then the formal beta release, then the final release (or some product upgrade for those product that never emerge from beta).

A leak like this worked for Google Video last week, so why not do the same for the Google Toolbar For Firefox this week? The real question is, how do you get the quadruple dose of publicity going forward?

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:21 AM | Permalink

June 9, 2005

MSN Search Toolbar Users Get Browser Tabs

One of the great features that both Opera and Firefox offer is tabbed browsing. Having multiple pages quickly accessible in different "tabbed" windows is a huge timesaver.

While it's true that some apps that utilize the Internet Explorer engine (Netcaptor, Avant Browser, etc) offer tabbed browsing, the actual IE browser doesn't. That was until today, sort of. Now, if and only if you use the MSN Search Toolbar, tabs are available. This sounds like a stop gap measure until IE 7 is released. More info on MSN Search's WebLog. A screen cap is available from BetaNews.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:41 PM | Permalink

A Nifty Search Toolbar & Password Manager Combo

Raise your hand: How many of you have dozens of online login names and passwords? OK, and how many of you follow security experts' recommendations to construct your passwords from random letters and digits, and change them frequently? And how many of you use a high-tech approach to managing your passwords, like writing them on sticky notes that you plaster on your computer monitor? Thought so.

There's a better approach. In today's SearchDay article, A Search Tool for Your Online Passwords, I review RoboForm, a combination search toolbar and password manager that makes it easy to save your sensitive information in a secure format, easy to retrieve it whenever you need it, and easy to move it around to other computers, to boot.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 10:43 AM | Permalink

June 6, 2005

Easy Multi-searching with Firefox

Firefox provides a lot of built-in search tools, but using them requires a two-step process of typing search terms and then selecting a specific engine to use. There is a built-in contextual search that lets you highlight words on a page and right click to search, but you're limited to Google results using this feature.

Enter ConQuery, a nifty Firefox plugin that gives you access to all of your installed search plugins via the right-click context menu. This makes it easy to launch a search from any page on the web with any of your favorite engines with just a few quick gestures. See today's SearchDay article, Contextual Search with Firefox for a closer look at this powerful search tool.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 9:15 AM | Permalink

May 18, 2005

Even More Firefox Search Hacks

I've ranted several times about Mozilla Firefox, which I consider the quintessential searcher's browser. Firefox comes with lots of great search tools built-in, and it's a snap to add literally hundreds of other search tools from free sources throughout the web.

You can do lots of other really useful things with Firefox in addition to beefing up its search capabilities. in today's SearchDay article, Supercharging Firefox, I review Firefox Hacks, a new book from O'Reilly that shows you how to supercharge the browser to get the most out of your web experience.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 8:39 AM | Permalink

May 16, 2005

MSN Desktop Search Toolbar Out Of Beta In today's SearchDay, MSN Toolbar with Desktop Search Officially Launches, Chris Sherman looks at the new MSN Toolbar coming out of beta. Desktop search is a key part of the toolbar.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:57 AM | Permalink

May 11, 2005

New Google Toolbar 3 With AutoLink Leaves Beta

Google has released an update of its Toolbar for Internet Explorer, addressing many of the concerns with the controversial AutoLink feature that adds additional hyperlinks to web pages that contain package tracking, U.S. addresses, book or automobile information. The changes are both cosmetic and functional.

"Our links look different than links put on the page that are placed by the author," said Marissa Mayer, Director of Consumer Web Products. The Google-inserted links now have a pale blue background, which distinguishes them from ordinary hyperlinks.

In addition, AutoLinks now include a number of bookstores and automotive sites in addition to the default choices offered in the beta version. You can also set your own preferred default site either through Toolbar preferences or by right-clicking a Google inserted AutoLink. Either way, once you've made a choice your preferred source is persistent until you change it again, according to Mayer.

The sluggish performance of AutoLink has also been addressed. The pull-down menus that show all suggested URLs and the display that appears when you mouse over a link now appear virtually instantly, rather than appearing after a delay with the earlier version.

While the new features address some concerns expressed by users after the initial release of AutoLink, many issues remain. For a thorough discussion of these issues, with some suggestions for changes that Google did not implement, see Danny's Google Toolbar's AutoLink & The Need For Opt-Out blog post.

If you already have the version 3 beta Toolbar installed, you can just wait and the new version will be installed automatically. Google plans to initiate the automatic update process for Toolbar users sometime in the next week or two. However, the auto update process can take up to three weeks after Google begins the process, so if you're impatient, or want to get the new Toolbar right away, download and install it now from toolbar.google.com (the Google Toolbar is for Internet Explorer only; Firefox users clicking this link will be invited to download the free third-party Googlebar, an excellent clone that I highly recommend).

Posted by Chris Sherman at 7:59 PM | Permalink

April 22, 2005

Do You Want to Demo Filangy?

Filangy, the web search history tool that I posted an overview about the other day remains in a closed beta. However, I just noticed that I have a few (about 30) invites to share. If you're interested, send me a note and I'll send one to the first 30 people I hear from. If you don't here back in the next day or so, sorry. Please send your requests to resourceshelf@myway.com.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:03 AM | Permalink

April 15, 2005

Groowe Releases Firefox Search Toolbar

A past Search Engine Watch Awards winner, the Groowe search toolbar makes it easy to search against multiple search engines from your browser and access the special features that some search toolbars provide, all within one single toolbar. Previously only for Internet Explorer, now Groowe's out for Firefox users: Groowe Search Toolbar for Firefox.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:08 AM | Permalink

April 4, 2005

Blinkx 3.0 Goes Live

Blinkx is online today with the release of Blinkx 3.0 (Windows only) that now combines (into a single results list) material from the web, your desktop, Blinkx TV, and other databases. Another new feature is a document preview window with support for more than 200 file formats.

You can read more about Blinkx in the these new articles:

+ Blinkx upgrades search tool (via IDG News)

+ Blinkx carves out new search niche (via the San Jose Mercury News)

To date, Blinkx has no revenue.

But the company is testing different ways of generating advertising with its desktop search software. Another possibility, Chandratillake says, is to receive payments from content producers such as CNN whenever Blinkx searchers go to subscription-only video clips.

In the meantime, Blinkx and its 28 employees are surviving on a $10 million investment from six wealthy angel investors. The company has several announcements planned for this month, including a partnership with a ``big'' unnamed company.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:47 PM | Permalink

March 30, 2005

Keeping Current With Persistent Search Tools

The Wall Street Journal is online with an about persistent search from companies like PubSub. The article is titled: New Web-Watching Tools Pique Interest of Investors.

Providers of persistent-search services like to say it's "prospective," or forward-looking, rather than "retrospective," which is how they describe aggregators such as Yahoo and Google. It often takes most search engines days to add new content from sources such as blogs or corporate Web sites. Yahoo and Google scan billions of sites and download them into their massive computer databases, which can add a significant time lag between when content appears and when it is available for searches. Google does provide a service that will notify users of new Web content, but with less urgency when compared to persistent-search engines.

Btw, one of my favorite tools (one I couldn't live without) is called WebSite-Watcher (Windows only). This very stable shareware monitors both RSS feeds and just about ANY web page for changes. WSW then notifies you when changes occur (you define how often it looks for changes) and highlights the new or changed text. Think about all of the pages on the web where no RSS feed is available but you really need to check on a very regular basis. Sometimes the addition or removal of just a couple of words can signal something big about to happen. TrackEngine, is very similar if you want a web-based solution. Other services include: + WatchThatPage.com + Trackle.com

We're also started to see targeted tools looking for new material in specific areas of interest. For example, DiplomacyMonitor.com, looks for new primary documents from governments around world and posts them onto a single page while at the same time caching the content and making it all searchable.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:58 AM | Permalink

March 16, 2005

New Firefox Toolbar from Ask Jeeves

A post on the Ask Jeeves Blog informs us that the company is now offering a version of the AJ Toolbar for Firefox users.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:43 PM | Permalink

March 15, 2005

Google AutoLink, Meet Butler, Which Enhances Google Results

Upset about Google AutoLink, the new Google Toolbar feature that adds links to web pages that it feels are appropriate? You might try a new tool created by Mark Pilgrim that inserts links on Google's own pages (NOTE: Updated below with comments from Mark Pilgrim). Via Boing Boing, news of his new Butler Firefox extension that among other things:

• Removes ads from Google pages.
• Inserts links that let you do web searches on competing search engines directly from Google's results.
• Get news results from news sources beyond Google.
• Get similar links to "alternative" sources for image and shopping.
• Removes image copying restrictions from Google Print.

For example, in a search for cars, Butler inserts this at the top of the Google search results:

★ Try your search on Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, AlltheWeb, Teoma, MSN, Lycos, Technorati, Feedster, Daypop, Bloglines

And below news results listed, it says:

★ Find more news at Yahoo News, Ask Jeeves, AllTheWeb, MSN, Lycos, Technorati, Feedster, Daypop, Bloglines

To use it, you need to have the Greasemonkey Firefox extension. Once that's installed, you can then go back and install the Butler extension. Once activated, it can be disabled without actually having to uninstall it, should you want to play with the tool from time to time.

The usefulness of the tool is clear. It's very handy for the searcher to have. Given this, it would be hard for Google to object to the tool especially after Google's statement in my Google Toolbar's AutoLink & The Need For Opt-Out article on how they'd react to tools that added links or perhaps stripped ads from their search results:

"I think we'd need to look overall at the utility offered to the users. Can a good argument be made that those users understand what's going on?" said Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer web products at Google. "It would be hard for us to argue against user utility because those are the same metrics we're going to use in evaluating our feature set."

In that article, I wrote my view that when trying to balance desire of users and rights of publishers, tools that added links to pages went too far if they didn't provide a publisher opt-out. And that's main main issue with Butler. While it's giving Google a taste of its own medicine, by rights, it should be letting publishers also opt-out of having links added. And that means Google as a publisher should get that right to opt-out of Butler.

Will an opt-out be added? Would that be added if Google did the same for AutoLink? Pilgrim actually responds that his creation wasn't made as a way of pushing back at AutoLink. He emailed me:

I couldn't care less about the AutoLink hoopla, except that it gave me the idea for Butler. I think anything running on my computer should be under my complete control. I say this as someone who publishes content for money (although it's not my primary income).

Look, I run ZoneAlarm Pro with highest sensitivity and all advanced options enabled (including popup blocking). I run Proxomitron on top of that, and AdBlock and FlashBlock on top of that. These tools don't block ads by accident; they come pre-configured with specific knowledge of specific ad servers. Butler is just another ad blocker.

As for the "try your search on" feature, I am old enough to remember that Google used to offer this feature themselves. Back then it was "try your search on Altavista, Hotbot, Lycos, Excite, etc." All the popular search engines of the day. The point is, linking to competitors makes Google more valuable, not less. They seem to have changed their attitude about that as they've added more and more services of their own.

Google as a whole is becoming more and more of a walled garden, which is ironic, given that they started out in the business of sending people away. Now they take every opportunity to keep you within their walls. This might sound like a good idea in a Powerpoint slide deck, but it will kill them in the long run.

None of this answers your question about why I wrote it. Honestly, I wanted to teach myself Javascript and DOM scripting. I'm a geek, not an activist. I spend a lot of time using Google's services, and with the AutoLink faux-crisis still brewing, it seemed like an obvious choice of project.

As for a Google comment on the new tool, I've got a question in to them. In the meantime, some related reading:

• Ok, Ok, I lied [I fired my butler]: From Jonas Luster's blog, this post against Google AutoLink follows the metaphor of AutoLink as a butler, but one that isn't necessarily acting in the interest of his employer. So Luster fires his butler, Google AutoLink.  
• A New Butler For Jonas: While Pilgrim isn't positioning Butler as a slam against Google AutoLink, his colleague Sam Ruby does make that connection that this is an example of an open source push-back against Google's tool, one that anyone can potentially modify and change. From my view, the fact that it is open source doesn't make it any more acceptable to me as a publisher. I still want an opt-out. Be sure to read the comments below the original post for some interesting discussion.  
• Want a line? Here's a line: From Yoz Grahame is referenced in the above Ruby post, and Grahame comments on that. At issue is his attempt to draw a line about when content-modification is acceptable. He argues that Google AutoLink is in the spirit of his definitions of being acceptable because users understand it, it isn't automatic, it can be limited by the user and it's in the spirit of the web.

My own view is that trying to come up with some type of universal guidelines for content modification tools isn't going to be successful. I think there's going to be a variety of lines that we draw over time, and those lines might even change over time. But for me, right now, adding links is a clear and simple line we can start with. If you make a tool that adds links to a page, you should give the publisher an ability to override that feature.

How could opt-out be done? SearchGuild -- which published the first widely-cited AutoLink killer -- is pushing a meta tag. No tool uses this tag right now, but they could. I'll expect to add the tags to Search Engine Watch soon just to show my support. More about the tag here: JavaScript to Kill Google Autolink.

All-in-all, Butler is just the latest example of the "mess" AutoLink created when it was released, as I wrote earlier. It came out, then we got an AutoLink killing script, a supposed way to kill that script, now a tool some will use to fight back at Google plus heaps of bad PR for Google continuing.

Two years ago, the company pulled the related searches feature that its own AdSense publishers hated within 48 hours. We don't need months more of testing AutoLink for Google to realize it needs to make some significant changes to please publishers and not just the usual noises of always considering feedback. Let's get on with an actual solution, starting with an immediate opt-out.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:37 AM | Permalink

March 10, 2005

WSJ's Mossberg Against AutoLink

I've got an update coming on developments with Google AutoLink since I last wrote about it (see Google Toolbar's AutoLink & The Need For Opt-Out). There's a petition, meta tags against it and so on. But in the meantime, via Steve Rubel, news that Wall St. Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg has come out against the system: Google Toolbar Inserts Links in Others' Sites, And That's a Bad Idea. Mossberg was instrumental in getting Microsoft's Smart Tags killed, as my earlier article explains more.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:03 AM | Permalink

March 7, 2005

Web Research "Dashboard" Nextaris Formally Launches, New Services Added

Nextaris, a web-based "dashboard" for the researcher was formally released today. Chris had several positive thing to say about this feature-filled service in his September 2004 Search day review: Nextaris: An Integrated Web Research Dashboard. He concludes his article by saying that Nextaris is, "blazing a trail for the next generation of web research tools."

I think Chris was 100% on target with these thoughts and after today's launch of their new Nextaris Mobile service, this Menlo Park company continues to blaze even more trails.

Nextaris offers a variety of services (all free) in a single location. Here are just a few of the services available:

+ Capture and save web content to a secured Nextaris server 100MB of disk space is available for free + Save desktop content to a secured Nextaris server + Share folders of material with colleagues and friends

In his November SearchDay article Chris writes, "To me, the most interesting feature Nextaris offers is the ability to share folders with others. This is a true peer-to-peer system, allowing you to collaborate in virtually real-time with others."

+ Privately message members of your group(s) + Blog publishing and RSS tools + Create and share photo albums + Search multiple databases simultaneously, create news alerts + A directory of all Nextaris services can be accessed here along with a "What's New" page listing new services and features available today.

When I used Nextaris in 2004 it was a bit slow in capturing and saving web pages. Chris also mentions this in his article. However, I've noticed that Nextaris is now much faster when saving/caching web content to one of their servers. Excellent!

Now, Nextraris Mobile. Wow!

I've mentioned numerous time that the mobile web will continue to grow in importance not only for the casual web user but also for the web researcher and services like Nextaris Mobile will help make it happen. All Nextaris services are now available on the mobile web. It's easy to use, fast, and saved material renders nicely in a mobile browser. It's also a good business move by the company. In a word, awesome!!! I'm going to stop writing and return to using Nextaris Mobile. I'll write more soon.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:03 PM | Permalink

March 6, 2005

Blinkx Profiled in Technology Review

The Technology Review article: Search for Couch Potatoes, offers a brief look at contextual/desktop/video search tool, Blinkx. According to the article, Blinkx currently has over one million users.

With $10 million in funding from private individuals, Blinkx says it has enough money to last at least though the year without seeking venture capital financing. The companys first goal is to get more users to download its software. One way to do this, says Blinkx CEO Mark Opzoomer, is to partner with companies such as online retailers and publishers; a branded button on the Blinkx toolbar would only return results from the partner companys site. Because downloading the toolbar is free, Blinkx will rely on advertisingin the form of a separate ad button on the toolbar to bring in revenue.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:23 PM | Permalink

February 25, 2005

Googlebar For Firefox, Plus The Google & Firefox Deal

Last week, when Google rolled out the latest version of its toolbar, I was dumbfounded that a Firefox version still wasn't offered. What's the deal?

After all, Google is the default search engine within Firefox. Also by default, Firefox starts you off at a page with Google's search box front and center. And Google is the company that seems to keep hiring Firefox developers. How about a little Google love for the up-and-coming browser, such as with an edition of the Google Toolbar for it?

As it turns out, Google says it hasn't felt it needed to create its own tool because of the handy Googlebar tool that's already been developed by others.

"There is the Googlebar, and we've been respectful of the fact they've done a very good rendition," said Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer web products. "It's one reason we feel the Firefox community has already been serviced."

Chris Sherman's written about this extremely good clone of the Google Toolbar before. I've even mentioned in way in the past. Nevertheless, I somehow I had a brain funk when I complained earlier this month about missing Google Toolbar features in an all-in-one package.

Google helped cure that with a new special page that's now up which managed to shake me out of my forgetfulness on Googlebar. Detecting that I was visiting the Google Toolbar page with Firefox, they redirected me earlier this week to a new page that promotes the Googlebar option. Dirson's noticed it too this week, pointing to where the change is being discussed. Google says the change happened late last week.

Googlebar doesn't have the PageRank meter, an essential tool for many search marketers. Don't worry. My Closer Look At Yahoo Toolbar For Firefox explains how to get a PageRank meter via a plug-in and summarizes some other nice Firefox search features that Chris has written about before, at the end.

Meanwhile, what about Firefox being so friendly with Google? How did that happen?

"That is a business relationship that we fostered alongside of Firefox. They really felt we were the best search engine and were interested in providing a good user experience," Mayer said.

Though she didn't reveal specific terms, she said it encompassed a variety of things, such as hosting the Firefox start up page (which will increasingly grow in traffic and bandwidth demands) plus distribution gains for Google by being a favorite in the browser.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:22 PM | Permalink

Google Toolbar's AutoLink & The Need For Opt-Out

AutoLink is new feature in the new third version of Google's popular Google Toolbar that's raised controversy since it was released last week. Why are publishers upset? Can they block the feature that adds links to their web pages? Who rules over content, users or publishers? Why do I think Google should give publishers an opt-out for the feature. That, and other issues, we'll explore in this article. It's a long one, so the links below will let you jump to particular sections, if you prefer.

• How AutoLink Works
• The User Benefit
• The Publisher Benefit & Fears
• We've Been Here Before
• Monopoly & Monetary Fears
• Future Development
• What's Acceptable & What's Not?
• Drawing The Line At Links
• Provide An Opt-Out!
• They're My Users Too
• Turning The Tables
• The Toolbar Area Itself Is Yours
• Alt-Click Away!
• Here's An Opt-Out

How AutoLink Works

Let's start by revisiting how the feature works. It's only available to those using the Google Toolbar 3 beta. Existing Google Toolbar users have not automatically had this feature added, so the number of people currently AutoLink-enabled is small. It will grow, of course, when the toolbar comes out of beta and takes over as the main one offered to the public, something likely to happen in the next few weeks.

Currently, AutoLink only reacts if it spots four types of information on a page:

• Package Tracking Numbers (those currently supported in Search By Number for regular search results)
• US Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs)
• US Addresses
• Publication ISBN numbers

Below, I've inserted two examples in the article so that anyone with the AutoLink-enabled toolbar can see autolinking for themselves easily. The first is the book Web Search Garage by Tara Calishain with its ISBN number shown. The second is Google's address:

Web Search Garage Prentice-Hall, August 2004 ISBN 0131471481, $19.99

Google Headquarters 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043

If you have the AutoLink-version of the Google Toolbar installed and come to a page like this one with such "trigger" content on it, you'd hear a little "popping" sound familiar to anyone who uses the Google Toolbar currently, when it blocks a pop-up window from opening.

The AutoLink button in the toolbar also lights up or goes active, changing from "Not Active" to "Active" as shown in the illustration below:

When active, you can push directly on the button or use the little drop-down arrow next to it to get a menu, as shown with the "Drop Down Box" example.

Whether you push directly on the button or use the drop-down option, in both cases, links are also added to the page, making them look like this:

Web Search Garage Prentice-Hall, August 2004 ISBN 0131471481, $19.99

Google Headquarters 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043

Click on the ISBN link, and you'll be routed via Google over to a page about the book at Amazon. Click on the address, and you'll be routed to that address shown in Google Maps.

Alternatively, use the drop-down box, select an option shown, and an entirely new window will open to display the AutoLink content. In contrast, with the links on the page, new windows aren't opened. Instead, the original window is replaced with the new content.

Don't like the links? Via the drop down box, you can use the Remove option to get rid of them or put them back using the Add option, if they have been removed.

By the way, earlier this week I found that using the drop-down box did NOT add links to the page. In fact, because I was using the drop-down box rather than pushing on the button, I at first didn't think links were actually added to the page at all. I talked with one other person who had the same thing happen to her. But in writing this article, that behavior changed for me.

Google says it's made no alteration to the toolbar behavior since it launched. Nothing has been changed on their end, the company says, and I should have always been seeing links added to a page whether I pushed directly on the button or chose the drop-down option. Given this -- and how corroded my IE installation has become over the past year or so (one reason I now use Firefox), I'll chalk it up to an oddity on my end.

The User Benefit

Google says feedback from users so far is that they like the feature. That's easy to see why. If you come across a page about a book without a link, as I showed above, it's very nice that you can get to another page with more information about it or the ability to buy it. Amazon fills that role nicely. I've often come across books mentioned on pages, then had to do the copy-and-paste routine over at Amazon in the way AutoLink helps make unnecessary.

Similarly, if you see an address such as on a corporate web site and would like to get a map, this is a handy way not to have to cut-and-paste into a mapping program.

The Publisher Benefit & Fears

Fair to say, feedback so far from publishers isn't so rosy. Yes, some think the feature is nice, such as prominent blogger Anil Dash has said. But from my review, he's in the minority. We've had other prominent bloggers such as Steve Rubel, Dan Gillmor and Dave Winer crying foul.

Closer to home for me, many search marketers who are also publishers clearly dislike the tool. At our Search Engine Watch Forums, the AutoLink & Google As Anti-Webmaster thread isn't finding many people in favor of it. The same is true for the New Google Toolbar Feature Rekindles the Old SmartTag Debate thread at WebmasterWorld.

Publishers do get a benefit from the tool. If they've failed to add useful links, those visiting their sites perhaps may come away happier that they were still able to leverage the information on the pages to get further information.

The publisher fear is far larger. Many publishers consciously decide what links they want to add. Having some tool come along and modify their content is simply unacceptable to them. That's especially so given how easy it would be for any tool to grow capabilities, such as making words into ad links that generate no revenue for them -- something that's happened in the past.

We've Been Here Before

There is a ton of hue and cry about how Google is trying to repeat a plan Microsoft abandoned after large outcry in 2001 called Smart Tags, which would have allowed words on pages to be turned into links. Which links and to where? That would have been determined by Microsoft.

By the way, a key developer of Smart Tags from Microsoft does now work for Google. However, rumors that he was involved with Google AutoLink aren't true. Google says he's involved in a completely different product.

Microsoft backed off from Smart Tags, but TopText from eZula went ahead later that year. It inserted yellow hyperlinks into pages -- paid links that earned eZula money but not the publisher. My Forget Smart Tags; TopText Is Doing What You Feared article from back then looks in depth at the system and the concern that arose over it. I'd strongly encourage reading it, because there are plenty of direct comparisons between what happened then and what's happening now.

eZula's still out there and apparently offering the same type of placement, but my impression is that the system didn't gain greater popularity due to search marketers who especially rallied around the late Jim Wilson's Scumware site to fight the program.

Why did search marketers care so much? They were footing the bill. Ads they placed with people like LookSmart got inserted into pages that they never actively chose. Many disliked this and made threads to their ad providers like LookSmart to stop partnering or lose them as customers.

Predating both the Smart Tags idea and TopText was Amazon's zBubbles and Flyswat, both from 1999. They came and went without any major outcry. Flyswat in particular inserted links on pages just as TopText did, Smart Tags would have and AutoLink now does.

I see now that some places like Symantec now class Flyswat as spyware, which sort of amazes me given that I thought the product long ago had died. I can't even reach the Flyswat site, but I suspect old installation copies are still floating around via download sites such as PC World (which offers it here, then offers an anti-spyware tool to get rid of it here). But at the time it was out there, Flyswat drew praise in many quarters as a great browser "helper."

Monopoly & Monetary Fears

Why was Flyswat largely acceptable, when only two years later, Smart Tags and TopText drew ire and today, Google AutoLink faces criticism?

With TopText, the answer is easy. Publishers didn't like the fact the system let competitors manage to insert themselves into their own content. Others who had purchased precisely targeted search ads weren't happy to discover that these ads were then in turn distributed to TopText for less precise contextual targeting.

With Smart Tags, it was the monopoly factor. Microsoft had such a dominant share of the browser market that letting it control how words would be linked was simply too frightening to many -- and this despite opt-outs the company decided just before the end that it would offer.

Enter Google. It, too, occupies a dominant role. We don't know exactly how many toolbar installations it has, but the company acknowledges millions of users. To be fair, Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer web products, told me that queries generated through the Google Toolbar are "by no means a majority of all Internet Explorer users" who access Google.

"With AutoLink versus Smart Tags, the toolbar is different is that its only installed by users [as opposed to automatically being part of the browser] and is by no means a majority," she explained further.

Even Microsoft blogvangelist Robert Scoble agrees here, arguing that Google can do things Microsoft can't because Microsoft still has a browser on 9 out of 10 desktops out there. Nevertheless, he was against Smart Tags and doesn't seem to favor the current Google implementation of AutoLink.

Monopoly or not, the toolbar clearly has many users. In addition, people like Winer fear that if Google is able to offer this type of feature, nothing prevents Microsoft and others from doing the same.

So with Google, there's a bit of the monopoly factor. I think there's also the TopText-like fear that AutoLinks could cost publishers money. If you have a page about a book, you might not want Google sending someone to Amazon to purchase it, especially without your own affiliate code.

As an aside, it's worth mentioning that there are other reasons why you might find advertising links inserted into editorial copy. Vibrant Media's been doing this for some time through its IntelliTXT service. However, the issue of publisher rights as with Google AutoLinks is not in question with this type of service. That's because the publisher themselves has chosen to add the links.

Instead, the issues are more about the practice from an editorial integrity standpoint, and yesterday's Ads Embedded in Online News Raise Questions article from the New York Times is just one of many articles to look at this.

Back to Google AutoLink, a remaining major concern for publishers is simply that they might not want Google sending anyone anywhere out of their sites via links that they didn't provide in the first place. There's a potential traffic loss people worry about, though Google doesn't see this as a serious problem.

"Are we really taking traffic away from them? Think about what they've [users] have done. They've been looking at the page. They've decided there's a piece of information on the page. They had to get the idea that they wanted to get more information some way. They clicked a toolbar button, and then they clicked a link. That's a pretty determined series of user actions. It seems to me that that user is going elsewhere anyway," Mayer said.

Future Development

What about the idea that Google might put ads links on pages? That's not something it does now, nor does the company have any plans to in the immediate future, it said.

As for those Amazon links, Google said it gains nothing from them. Amazon was selected because it was seen as the best choice for book information.

"Obviously Amazon is a partner of ours, but there was no monetary exchanges as part of this development. We picked out what we thought was the best user experience for things we linked to," Mayer said.

Don't like that choice? When the tool emerges from beta in the near future, it is definitely planned for people to choose some of the content providers they want to tap into. If you want links to Barnes & Noble for ISBNs rather than Amazon, you'll almost certainly be able to do that or pick from others.

How about the tool expanding the range of what's auto-linked. That could happen. Google's not saying what may or may not change, because the tool is still in beta -- a traditional style beta that should only last a few months at most.

It's possible, Google said, that if users push the button, it might decide that the toolbar should always automatically show links rather than make this a page-by-page choice users initiate. Or not, depending on feedback.

New features could also be added or removed. The company is interested in link enabling anything that someone might have to cut-and-paste to get existing information from Google. For instance, enter a stock symbol into Google right now, and it links to you stock data. Potentially, stock symbols could be turned into AutoLinks.

Couldn't any word be made into a link? Sure, but that would be too much, Google says.

"That goes a little too far. We aren't interested in turning an entire page into hyperlinks. That's not particularly helpful to the user," Mayer said.

What's Acceptable & What's Not?

AutoLink also raises anew the philosophical debate of who ultimately controls content. "It's my content, hands off!," is a common theme that resonates with many publishers. What gives Google the right to start tampering with your page?

Google's response is that the users give them the right. The users want this tool. The users want to control how they view that content.

"It's important to recognize that the toolbar is installed by people who want Google-enhanced functionality," Mayer said. "I would argue that the user is adding the link to the page. Google just provides the tool."

That's a pretty forceful argument. We don't hear many objections to the fact that users can control font sizes as they like, for example. Google's open source program manager Chris DiBona goes through a litany of more things like this in his personal blog post on the issue, Oh, please.

It's easy to add more. I've heard plenty of praise for various Firefox browser plug-ins that can do special things to pages when they spot certain types of links or the ability to restyle entire pages with Firefox. Why is Firefox so praised for enabling users but Google suddenly seen as evil for doing the same?

Indeed, this isn't the first time Google has interacted with publisher content via its toolbar before. The ability to highlight or jump to words on a page are widely praised. But more dramatic was the addition of a pop-up blocker in June 2003. That not only prevented some web sites from doing what they wanted to do, but it also arguably cost some publishers money through the blocking.

Wide-spread criticism? Hardly. I've seen a few grumblings from time-to-time that Google might be blocking commerce and publisher intent this way, but the praise over the pop-up blocking feature has been enormous -- and mimicked by other search toolbars. My guess is that publishers didn't fight back more against this because it was clear how hated pop-ups where by consumers.

Drawing The Line At Links

So where is that line when a tool gives a user too much control -- or better, when a user is given control that a publisher ought to be able to counter? I agree with many others that adding links crosses it. I don't care if the user thinks adding links to my pages will make things better for them. As a publisher, I want to be able to override a tool that tries this.

Legally, we don't know where publishers really stand on this, as the recent Google toolbar move raises online ire from News.com examines. But forget legal.

Instead, adding links is a line that I think any respectable software publisher shouldn't cross. Last year, Google introduced a set of software principles that are all about protecting the user experience. An addition to those principles should be made to protect the publisher experience, as well.

Provide An Opt-Out!

In this case, I think Google should provide an easy opt-out that publishers can implement to block AutoLink. Some others want AutoLink to be opt-in -- that Google shouldn't be able to do anything like this unless publishers explicitly say they should.

I think that's too far. Users do have rights. They have installed this software. Opt-out gives any publisher seriously concerned with the tool the ability to control it on their site. Many won't be concerned, so requiring an opt-in is overkill that does hurt the user experience.

It's also somewhat hypocritical to demand Google do an opt-in for this tool when virtually no one demands an opt-in about being crawled. Why that isn't demanded is pretty clear. People want in Google because of the traffic it will bring them. But being crawled is another form of messing with content.

For its part, Google doesn't want to do an opt-out. The fear is that it will hurt the user experience.

"If you had opt-in or opt-out, that's overall a lot less useful," Mayer said. "If the links sometimes won't show because there's a publisher opting-out, that's bad for the user experience."

Explaining further, she said:

"It's an interesting balance to strike, but we're going to weigh more heavily on the user side," Mayer said. "We think we struck the initial balance in a reasonable way. The publisher's page is seen as intended in the browser. It's a user-elected action that changes things. Beyond that, we aren't driving all traffic to Google."

Google also feels there's a form of an opt-out in that it won't overwrite any existing links. Worried that an ISBN code might get turned into a link by Google? Make it a link yourself, and it will be untouched.

Indeed, when Gary Price first wrote about the AutoLink feature in Search Engine Watch last week, he used an example of going to Barnes & Noble to show how unlinked ISBN codes there got auto-linked through the Google Toolbar to connect people to Amazon.

That made Barnes & Noble into a poster child for many publishers about why AutoLink was bad. Look at how it put links to a competitor on the Barnes & Noble site!

It took the company about a week, but an opt-out is effectively in place with Barnes & Noble. As I wrote yesterday, all ISBN numbers on the site now have links to Barnes & Noble's own content.

It was probably an easy move for them to make, having a database-driven site. But for others, it could involve a lot of hard-coding. In addition, if Google adds new content types for AutoLink, then publishers have to go back and make more changes. Adding your own links to block Google AutoLinks is simply not an effective form of opting-out for many to use.

They're My Users Too

My response to the "protect the user experience" argument is pretty blunt. Too bad if it is harmed in this case, from Google's perspective.

They may be Google's users, but they are also my users as a publisher as well. If my visitors are upset that my site prevents them from using Google AutoLink, they can tell and lobby me directly. I don't need Google deciding for me what my users want on my web site.

Google would gain on the public relations front from offering an opt-out. Even better, I'd encourage them to lobby for a single standard type of opt-out that other publishers could support such as through a robots.txt file extension that works for everyone. That would be real leadership in the industry and in line with the software principles statement it started last year.

Turning The Tables

How about turning the tables? How would Google feel about programs that modified its search results. It's not even theoretical. We have tools that will strip out ads from Google because the user may not want ads. We have software that will add links to Google's own results (for more, see our forum thread).

"I think we'd need to look overall at the utility offered to the users. Can a good argument be made that those users understand what's going on?" Mayer said. "It would be hard for us to argue against user utility because those are the same metrics we're going to use in evaluating our feature set."

It's a change from when Google was asked about this in 2001, on what it thought of TopText adding links to its results. At that time, it wasn't an issue of it being OK if it helped the user. Instead, the Google wasn't concerned because there didn't appear to be much take up of TopText.

Still, things change -- and it's helpful to have a current view on where Google stands, especially if a competitor like Yahoo or Microsoft decides to add a feature to its toolbar that allows users to hit links inserted on Google pages to generate results from their search engines.

The Toolbar Area Itself Is Yours

I'd sweeten the pot a bit to encourage Google to give an opt-out. Personally, I only want it to prevent adding links to my pages. Want to display links via the toolbar? That's fine -- it's your toolbar, do what you want with it.

Wouldn't that mean Google might down the line start showing ads or content related to my pages in the toolbar. Yes, it might. But we've had tools do this sort of thing already (a new toolbar program from Searchfeed and EffectiveBrand just came out this week), plus free useful tools do need to be supported somehow.

I wouldn't necessarily like it, but if it's not interfering with my actual page -- popping things over my content, adding links but instead staying within the toolbar area, I'd live with it.

That's especially so as long as the user clearly knew what was happening in the toolbar. All the same arguments Google makes about the user having the right to do what they want, I heard the same from TopText way back when. But Google says its history of user disclosure on what the toolbar does is better, and I largely agree.

"You can just look at Google's track record as with the PageRank feature. We tell people it's not the 'usual yada yada' and we are very up front," Mayer said. "We make sure our users are really informed that something going to happen, because we want to have the trust of our users."

In other words, no one gets tricked into downloading the Google Toolbar. And the links aren't automatically enabled. You do have to make the choice to turn them on.

Nevertheless, I still don't want links added to my pages. But if someone wants to consciously choose to click on a button that makes new windows pop-open, it's hard to object.

Similarly, we have a long history of other tools being tolerated for showing related content, such as Alexa. Heck, for ages both Internet Explorer and Netscape had built-in "related links" functionality powered by Alexa that few ever objected to.

Alt-Click Away!

Another option for Google is to provide Alt-Click functionality in the way that the GuruNet helper application (now Answers.com, also once called Atomica) has long allowed. In this case, people can select a word, hold the ALT key and click with their mouse, which in turn brings up a page with more information about what's described.

This doesn't add anything to a web page, easing concerns about content manipulation. Indeed, Wall St. Journal writer Walt Mossberg, who rallied against Smart Tags in 2001, nevertheless loved GuruNet for letting him Alt-Click on words in his same complaint against Smart Tags and has continued to praise the GuruNet's Alt-Click feature in 2003 and 2005.

In short, Alt-Click is an easy way to provide the user who wants to make a conscious choice to act upon ISBN numbers, addresses or other content that lacks links with AutoLink-like functionality -- just without having to use the actual links that are objectionable to some publishers.

Google did consider this option, but links were seen as more intuitive:

"We talked about whether we should make this work like that or something else. But we think that if you're going to create a link, the ability to get to get to another page, the web already has paradigm for that. Right now, the link really does make sense," Mayer said.

Adding further, she said:

"The links that we add do look different. We work hard to help the user understand that this was a link added by the Google Toolbar, that it wasn't a native link. We do this through a mouse rollover that is visible when you mouse over the link."

From my end, the mouse rollover isn't enough, little Google color "bubbles" or "balls" added to the hand icon, along with link pop-up text that says "Google Toolbar AutoLink." That's because before you hover, these links look identical to native links -- and some people are just going to click rather than hover for very long.

A different color or a double-underline or something would help. But while I certainly agree that links are far more intuitive, whether they look radically different from native links or not, they simply clash too much with publisher rights, in my view, and at this moment.

Here's An Opt-Out

You don't have to wait for Google to provide an opt-out, especially in that it might never do so. Threadwatch describes a JavaScript blocking solution cooked up by Search Guild. Download the solution (instructions are provided), insert it into your web pages. The same Threadwatch thread is also tracking any new solutions that come up -- some new server-side ones have just been posted.

Meanwhile, an anti-anti-AutoLink option appears to also be out there for users who want to override publishers trying to prevent AutoLink. I say appears because it seems like a clunky workaround that I can't really understand -- and looking at the comments posted, some others don't get it as well.

I mention it mainly because it highlights how quickly things have become absurd. You have third-parties working to prevent AutoLink and potentially others working to prevent preventing AutoLink. It's a mess.

The user experience is hardly being protected by Google refusing to provide an opt-out. It would be much better for Google to provide an opt-out in a way that makes publishers happy but also lets Google report clearly to its own users if the publisher has blocked AutoLink from the site they are visiting.

After all, it's arguably bad for the user experience if they can't get cached copies of pages. Nevertheless, Google has long allowed web site owners the ability to opt-out of having pages cached, primarily it seems to avoid conflicts over copyright. Despite this opt-out, the cached pages feature has survived for years. AutoLink can survive opt-out black spots, as well.

Finally, just weeks ago, Google acknowledged that publishers should have MORE ability to control their links through the introduction of the nofollow link attribute. It's disconcerting to say the least to then have the same company assume a right to add links to publisher pages without permission.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:43 AM | Permalink

February 24, 2005

Word of a Yahoo! Toolbar for Mac Users

On the heels of their just released Yahoo Toolbar for Firefox, we just read a report by O'Reilly blogger Nat Torkington that a Yahoo Toolbar for Macintosh is coming. Is this just a rumor? Nope, Torkington says that he has been using the Yahoo! Toolbar for the last few weeks via a copy he received from a "Friend on the Inside." No word as to precisely when the Yahoo! Mac toolbar will be released. More in Torkington's post: Yahoo! Mac Toolbar.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:32 PM | Permalink

Barnes & Noble Overrides Google Toolbar AutoLink

I'm working on a story about the Google AutoLink feature and controversy is has raised with some publishers that should be out tomorrow. But I wanted to note an interesting change now that I spotted at Barnes & Noble, the poster child for concerns over the tool.

Yesterday, I could go over to Barnes & Noble, find a page with an ISBN number and use the AutoLink tool in the Google Toolbar to turn the numbers into links that lead to Amazon. Today, all those ISBN numbers are already links.

What happened? My guess is that Barnes & Noble got wise to the fact that AutoLink won't impact any ISBN numbers that are already links -- so they made every ISBN a link leading back to within their own site.

Powell's Books hasn't figured that out yet. If you are using the Google Toolbar with the new feature, visit this page, and see how clicking on the button will show you how the ISBN can be turned into an Amazon link.

For more on the AutoLink feature, see our forum discussion AutoLink & Google As Anti-Webmaster and this past blog post, A New Version (Beta) of the Google Toolbar is Now Available. And more from me tomorrow, of course.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:09 PM | Permalink

February 21, 2005

New Releases of Web Information Managers

Paula Hane has written an excellent overview of two new releases in the web information management space. In her article: Two New Web Information Managers Debut at DEMO@15, Hane takes a look at Pluck 1.0 and OnFolio 2.0.

On Pluck 1.0: Pluck 1.0 is now freely available as a browser plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer and as a Web-based service. The company plans to release a plug-in for the Mozilla Firefox browser in the spring, according to co-founder and CEO Dave Panos. The Web version works on any browser. Panos said, ?Pluck was created with the single goal of helping any individual take advantage of the Web?s latest capabilities, quickly, easily, and free of charge.?

On OnFolio 2.0: Onfolio 2.0 extends the capture capabilities of the earlier version by adding an integrated, newspaper-style RSS reader that runs within Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. Combining RSS feed reading, local capture, and personal Web publishing in a single application, Onfolio puts all information together in an easy-to-read and easily searchable format that helps users build sources of information, organize that data, and share it with others. Additionally, the company announced that it has partnered with Feedster to bring persistent Web searching capabilities into the new release of Onfolio 2.0.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:28 PM | Permalink

February 10, 2005

Closer Look At Yahoo Toolbar For Firefox

I've been using Firefox for the past three weeks now and generally enjoying the experience. But I've missed some of the easy access options the Google Toolbar has allowed, like being able to quickly search for all pages on a particular web site or viewing a cached copy of a page.

Google, of course, doesn't yet support Firefox. That dawdling is Yahoo's gain, thanks to the new Yahoo Toolbar For Firefox that Gary blogged about earlier.

At a site and want to search all the pages just there? A drop-down box makes this easy. The drop down box also provides easy access to things like Yahoo News, Yahoo Shopping and other specialized search options.

That's handy. For example, I used to hit Google News using its toolbar drop down option. The built-in Firefox search box isn't configured for this. I know, I know -- there are ways to customize that to your heart's content. I could search at Mycroft for a plug-in that will do it. But I'm busy like other people, so it's nice to have a search engine just configure things I want for me. Yahoo's done it -- Google hasn't. As I result, I'm more likely to hit Yahoo News now.

Want a dedicated button for some of these options? Use the customization screen you can reach by using the toolbar's pencil icon to set these up. Among those options is the ability to have a Translate Page feature added to the toolbar, along with a range of other items.

The ability to add a page's feed to your My Yahoo account is handy, but this only works for pages where autodiscovery is supported. If the site you are at has done this, you see a blue box with a + symbol show up. Click on that, and into My Yahoo it goes. Want to test? The SEW Blog has autodiscovery in place and should show you a blue box, while it's not yet been added to the SEW home page.

Yahoo also knows about feeds from all over the web, as I've written before. A nice feature would be if it could provide this option for places where autodiscovery isn't provided. Even better would be a way to send the feed to the feedreader of your choice instead of -- or at least along with -- My Yahoo.

What's missing? Cache viewing is a biggie. With a click, I can see exactly what Google has recorded for any page I'm viewing. I want the same from Yahoo in this. Click on that, and the feed will be added.

Google Desktop-like support of capturing copies of what I've viewed on the web also isn't present. That's actually part of the Google Desktop tool -- but I want someone, Google, Yahoo, anyone, to make it so what I'm now viewing in Firefox isn't lost for future recall.

Reverse link lookup is another missing in action. It's nice to be on a page and with a click, see all the backlinks to it. Yahoo, bring it on! But in the meantime, checkout SearchStatus, which I've written about before. That will give you backwards links from Yahoo, Google and others.

Those who can't drag themselves away from the Google PageRank meter will be happy to know that SearchStatus provides this and Alexa rankings, plus cached pages from Archive.org. It's a seriously nice little tool.

For some other Firefox and search-related tips, see our recent series on searching and Firefox, the Three Cool Search Gizmos and A Great Search Tool for Firefox article and our Toolbars & Utilities category for Search Engine Watch members. Also see Firefox Got Yahoo! for more directly from Yahoo.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:08 AM | Permalink

Yahoo! Toolbar For Firefox Now Available

Requests from Firefox users asking for a version of the Yahoo Toolbar for their browser have been heard. Yahoo Toolbar for Firefox has just been released for Windows. Versions for MacOS X and Linux are coming soon. We haven't had a chance to download and test the toolbar yet but from what we've heard it will contain all of the features that Yahoo Toolbar for Windows offers except the anti-spyware option which is coming soon. It also offers a Yahoo Mail alert option and provides a one-click solution to add RSS feeds to your My Yahoo! page.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:01 AM | Permalink

February 9, 2005

Bug Found in Some Releases of Blinkx 2.0

If you've been using the Blinkx beta (any 2.0 release before version 2.0.10 ) it might be a good idea to download the latest release with the bug removed asap. PC Magazine's Neil Rubenking reports that a flaw was found in some versions of the Blinkx 2.0 release in the Smart Folders feature. The flaw has been confirmed by Blinkx co-founder Suranga Chandratillake.

The problem does not occur on all systems, which made it difficult to track. On an affected system, files can be deleted unexpectedly and permanently under specific circumstances.

You can download the latest version of Blinkx 2.0 sans bug here.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:27 PM | Permalink

January 28, 2005

Cool Tools: Jux2 and NeedleSearch in the News

I'm happy to see that that two cool tools that we've mentioned several times on the blog are discussed in a new Forbes article: Searching For Searches.

First, you'll read about Jux2. This resource allows you to quickly compare search engine overlap between Google, Yahoo, and MSN. For those of you who do web search training, Jux2 is a wonderful resource to show students that results vary (often dramatically) between engines. Ranking.Thumbshots.com is a similar service that Chris wrote about in a SearchDay article.

The Forbes article goes on to mention a couple of plugins for Firefox including one that I've been using for over a year called NeedleSearch. This plugin allows you easily (two clicks) capture the search functionality from most search engines and map it to a toolbar. You can learn more about NeedleSearch in an overview article I wrote for SearchDay.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:36 PM | Permalink

January 21, 2005

New My Yahoo Ticker For Windows Taskbar

Using My Yahoo to track stocks or read feeds? Now there's a little My Yahoo Ticker you can get that will stream material to you via your Windows taskbar. Email notifcation, weather forecasts and more are also provided. There's also some search capabilities built in. My Yahoo! on Your Desktop from the Yahoo Search Blog provides some more details.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:35 AM | Permalink

January 17, 2005

10GB of Free Storage Space

Since the beta launch of Gmail, its 1GB of free online space, and several hacks that can turn the space into a virtual hard drive, many of the other online email providers have increased the amount of space available either for free or for a small fee making online storage another area for competition.

I thought I would point out this recent News.com article: Company offers 10GB of Net storage, for free, that discusses a new and free offering from Streamload where you're given (registration took me all of 20 seconds) 10GB of remotely accessible storage space for free. That's the good news. The virtual desktop is getting closer. The bad news (actually, it's not all that bad) is that with Streamload's free service there are monthly and yearly download limits of 100mb/month and 1.2GB/year. Of course, Streamload also offers several fee-based storage/download plans that allow the user unlimited storage and additional download bandwidth beyond 100mb/month. Btw, you can even drag and drop files from your computer and stream audio/video material directly from your storage area. This one is worth a look. I'm looking forward to spending some time with this one.

Posted by Gary Price at 7:40 PM | Permalink

January 12, 2005

Three Cool Search Gizmos

SearchDay readers know I'm an avid collector of search tools of all types. Though I love multipurpose tools, I also have a soft spot for simple search gizmos that perform one or two basic tasks, but save time or effort in the process.

In today's SearchDay article Three Cool Search Gizmos, I cover three search gadgets that I use just about daily. They aren't a replacement for any of your other search tools, but they may very well become an integral part of your web search toolkit.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 10:58 AM | Permalink

January 10, 2005

Turbocharging Adobe Acrobat

Google was the first search engine to index PDF files back in 2001. All of the other major search engines soon followed suit, and now it's not uncommon to see PDF files turning up in results for many types of queries.

Meanwhile, Adobe has repeatedly "enhanced" its free Acrobat reader, with each new version taking an ever-increasing amount of time to start up. To read PDF files found in search results, you must first endure a painful wait just for the bloated Acrobat reader to load. It's enough to make you want to avoid potentially useful information just because of a dreaded PDF label next to a search result.

No more. In today's SearchDay article Speeding Up Acrobat Reader, I review a nifty free utility that gooses the program into starting up in a flash. If you use Acrobat Reader even occasionally this cool utility is a must-have.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 9:22 AM | Permalink

January 6, 2005

Mac Version of Blinkx Coming Next Week

On Monday, Blinkx will launch a verion of its app for the Mac. It includes desktop search functionality.

Mac versions are something that many other well-known desktop search tools (Google, Copernic, Microsoft, X1, Jeeves, etc.) are not offering at the present time. Details in the InternetNews.com article: Blinkx Brings Desktop Search to Macs. The full text of the Blinkx annoucement is posted on Searchblog.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:44 PM | Permalink

January 3, 2005

GuruNet Becomes Answers.com and Is Now Available Free!

Some exciting news for the web researcher to begin the year.

GuruNet, the very useful and formerly subscription-based ready-reference web database and client app, full of fast facts and other information from over 100 reference sources, has launched a new site: Answers.com and is now available for free.

That's right, the complete database, is now accessible via a web interface or a "1-click" client app (Windows or Mac), is available at no charge. Here's a directory of the sources available from Answers.com.

GuruNet plans to earn revenue via keyword-based ads. The company is currently talking with several companies to provide the advertising.

Answers.com is formally a service from GuruNet. In October 2004, GuruNet went public and is now trading on the American Stock Exchange. GuruNet also provides reference content to other sites, including a9.

Walt Mossberg's 2003 WSJ review of the GuruNet service offers some excellent points about how this service is different as compared to what you find with general-purpose web engines. + First of all, in most cases Google doesn't actually provide you an answer, just a list of links to Web pages where information might be found. + Second, you're doing all this in a general, undifferentiated piece of software called a Web browser that isn't designed to help you drill down into information. + Third, neither the browser nor Google gives you a good sense of the credibility of the sources that turn up, just their popularity.

Since Mossberg wrote the review it's worth noting that the general web engines are also beginning to focus on answers (for certain types of queries) instead of just links offering shortcuts and other tools. I have examples of some of what's available in this blog post.

If you've never used this excellent search tool, make sure to check it out. It's more than worthy of your attention.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:52 PM | Permalink

December 22, 2004

MSN, MSN UK Plug-Ins For Firefox

Use a Mozilla-based browser like Firefox, with the integrated search box? The ability to hit a number of search engines is already built in, but not the beta MSN Search UK service. Solution for those who want it? Matt Cox has one for you here: MSN UK Search (beta) Mycroft Plug-in. Wait, you want the global MSN Search beta? No worries, he points over to one on the Ryanware Blog: MSN Search Beta search plugin for Mozilla.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:30 PM | Permalink

December 21, 2004

Scirus Science Search Engine Updates Toolbar

Looking for scientific information? The Scirus search engine is a favorite of ours for hunting down scientific, technical and medical information. Now the service has introduced a new version of its Scirus Toolbar that lets you search against Scirus without having to visit the site directly. New features include things like pop-up blocking, term highlighting, "last search return" and jump-to-word buttons. And for all those webmasters with science or technical sites, there's also a Submit Web Site feature built in.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:05 PM | Permalink

December 8, 2004

Another Yahoo Co-Branded Toolbar Announced

We mentioned a few weeks ago that the Yahoo Toolbar would be available with downloads of the Adobe Acrobat Reader. About three weeks ago, Yahoo announced a co-branded version of their toolbar with library database provider, OCLC.

Today, another co-branded toolbar is available from Yahoo and partner, InterContinental Hotels. Members of Intercontinental's Priority Club Rewards program can download and use the toolbar to not only access Yahoo services but also manage their PCR account.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:54 PM | Permalink

MoreGoogle Now LostGoggles

The former MoreGoogle tool, which enhances Google's results with thumbnails and other features, is now called LostGoggles. The site gave up its old domain name to Google after a dispute. For a review of LostGoggles, see Chris Sherman's past article: Visualizing Google Search Results. For the moment, the old domain name is forwarding to the new location.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:40 AM | Permalink

December 2, 2004

A Great Search Tool for Firefox

A quick reminder about a wonderful search tool for FIrefox I wrote about in February. I think it's worth mentioning again since Firefox has MANY new users.

NeedleSearch is a toolbar app that allows you to quickly and easily (two clicks) add just about any web engines search power by just entering the word "NeedleSearch" into a search box. It's even possible to do multifield searching.

More info and examples in my SearchDay article: A Better Search Tool for Finding Needles in Haystacks.

Almost forgot. Do you use IE? Want the same "add any engine" functionality that NeedleSearch offers? The Copernic Meta Toolbar allows the user to add any web engine to the toolbar. Instead of entering "NeedleSearch" enter "addengine." You'll see how it works on lower right side of this page.

Posted by Gary Price at 7:58 PM | Permalink

November 19, 2004

Welcome to the Babelplex

Here's a new tool called Babelplex that leverages the mechanical translation technology from Yahoo (Babelfish) and Google.

Babelplex allows the searcher to build a query in one language and then have their search terms translated and executed in the "other" language with just one click.

Interesting. Links at the bottom of results pages allow you to view results using either Babelfish or Google translation software.

Of course, cavert emptor the max with mechanical translation.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:16 PM | Permalink

November 17, 2004

Searching for Real Time Information

If search engines have an Achilles heel, it's that the crawling process lags the content creation process. While content from some sites appears quickly in search engines, it takes up to a month for crawlers to do a comprehensive refresh of all new web content. This means that all search engines, no matter how comprehensive, are to one degree or another out of date.

Today's SearchDay article, Managing the Firehose of Real-Time Information, focuses on PubSub, a service that monitors blogs, SEC filings, Newsgroup postings and other sources, and matches your keyword based queries against those sources in real-time. It's a great "prospective" tool for supplementing the "retrospective" results you get with search engines. It's also a terrific early warning system for new sources of information that you might miss using other tools, such as feed aggregators or blog search engines. Definitely worth a look.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 11:07 AM | Permalink

November 14, 2004

Blinkx 2.0 Now Available

Blinkx, the web application that helps you find releated material based on the context of what you're currently viewing in your browser window (they call it implicit query), has a new verision (Blinkx 2.0) available. I'm going to download the new version (it's a 6.7 MB file) and spend some time testing it out. Stay tuned.

From the news release, A key attribute of 2.0 is the introduction of the world’s first Smart Folders. Smart Folders are intelligent folders that automatically update their content as new information becomes available based on the ideas contained within the content of those files. Each Smart Folder contains content from multiple sources that is individually relevant to each individual, and acts as a persistent implicit query. Other features announced today include "Stuff I’ve Seen" (SIS), which acts as a contextual historical record of an individuals viewed files, and the ability of blinkx 2.0 to implicitly query peer-to-peer networks.

NOTE: Microsoft Research also has protoype named Stuff I've Seen.

Blinkx is available for MS 2000 and XP only.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:00 PM | Permalink

November 9, 2004

New Firefox Resources

One toolbar that's not included in Chris's Firefox overview is one released a few minutes ago.

Clusty's Toolbar for Firefox offers up what you've come to expect from search toolbars along with a context-sensitive searching option called "Clusty Clips." This feature allows the searcher to access definitions and encyclopedia entries (via Wikipedia) and run searches without having to click off of a web page.

Bloglines, the popular web-based RSS/ATOM reader, weblog engine, etc, has released Bloglines Firefox Center today with info and a couple of useful Firefox extensions.

Finally, Michael Abramowitz from Yahoo, offers up a Firefox/Yahoo extension on the Yahoo Search Blog.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Got Firefox?

I'm dating myself here, but I can vividly recall the web browser scene ten years ago, when I'd eagerly download every new version of Netscape Navigator the moment it was released. Each new version introduced something Really Cool, like being optimized to run smoothly over 14.4 kilobit/second modems or offering a faster, better search engine with an index of more than a million pages!

That all stopped sometime in the late 90s when I, like most people, defaulted to Internet Explorer. Over the past couple of years, however, IE has grown long in the tooth, and has been besieged by nasties that require add-ons like pop-up blockers, scumware removal agents and all other manner of props just to maintain a "passable" browsing experience.

Meanwhile, the open source Mozilla movement has been creating a newer, better browser. Today, the Mozilla Organization launched Firefox 1.0, the next-gen version of Netscape Navigator. And the thrill is back: Firefox not only eradicates the annoyances of Internet Explorer, it also offers all kinds of goodies that make web browsing seriously fun again. And because it's open source, there are literally tons of cool search gadgets that plug right into the browser.

This week, SearchDay is reviewing and paying tribute to the new browser. Yesterday's article, Mozilla Firefox: The Searcher's Browser leads off with basic info and links to download the new browser. Today's article, Firefox, Google and Web Search explores the search tools built into the browser and ways to easily enhance them. Tomorrow I'll be looking at some of the cool add-ons that extend the browser in powerful and fun ways. I'll be writing additional articles all week about this must-have browser; stay tuned.

Postscript: Two other articles in the series have now been posted:

• More Search and Browsing Fun with Firefox
• Another Cool Firefox Search Tool

Posted by Chris Sherman at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 1, 2004

A9 Toolbar Now Available for Firefox

I just noticed that Amazon's A9 has released a version of their toolbar for Firefox. Until now, the toolbar was only avaiable for IE.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blinkx Names CEO

Reuters reports that Blinkx has named a CEO.

Effective immediately, Mark Opzoomer, former managing director of Yahoo Europe, is at the helm.

The Reuters story goes on to mention that Microsoft has plans, "to launch a test version of Blinkx's desktop search." News to me.

Also, Rafe Needleman at AlwaysOn sits down with Blinkx co-founder, Suranga Chandratillake, and asks, "how Blinkx will survive the Google onslaught."

Posted by Gary Price at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 18, 2004

A Groxis Update

Matt at the Merc reports about the latest goings on at info visualization tool Groxis in the article: Groxis moves up in the world. You'll read about the move to a new office along with recently "snagging" more than $12 million in venture cap funding.

I used Groxis for several weeks year and didn't find it all that useful but that could just be me and the way I search. Several people have told me that they love the product. I think I'm going to take another look.

If you would like to check some other info visualization tools available on the web, here's a list of a few tools that are available: + Hoover's via anacubis Visualize some of the business data that Hoover's makes available for free.

You can also use anacubis to visualize Amazon and Google.

+ SmartMoney's Map of the Market A very cool and useful way of looking at stock market data. Access to some maps is free while others are fee-based.

+ Amazon, Google, and LiveJournal visualization tools from TouchGraph

+ Google News Map (Note: Osinga works for Google's engineering team, and this is part of his blog)

+ Client software: Personal Brain

Posted by Gary Price at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 30, 2004

Blink 2.0 Coming Soon

An InternetWeek article, Search Underdog To Take On Google, Microsoft, And Amazon, lets us know that a Blinkx 2.0 beta will be released in the next two weeks. The article also mentions that peer-to-peer MP3 file searching will be coming soon after the new version becomes available. Mac support is also still in the works. I've used Blinkx from time-to-time since it became available about three months ago and haven't found it especially useful but that might be just me. The company reports that Blinkx has been downloaded more than 1 million times since its launch. I'll take the new release for a spin and report back. Want to comment? Visit our forum thread: Blinkx Continues To get Attention

Posted by Gary Price at 7:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New Tool Blocks Paid Search Engine Listings

I wonder what Google, Yahoo and others will have to say about a new version Super AdBlocker that removes paid listings from about 20 search engines?

Older versions of the product blocked pop-ups, pop-unders, rich media, Flash, and some spyware but this is the first time that sponsored results can be blocked.

A bit more from the news release and this page that explains why someone would want to block sponsored listings.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 24, 2004

The Daily Rundown Chats With Copernic Co-Founder

Sid Yadav chats with Copernic Co-Founder Martin Brouchard in this new interview.

Copernic has been doing some impressive work lately.

About three weeks ago they launched a new and free desktop search tool that I reviewed in this SearchDay article.

Another tool that Copernic offers is a wonderful toolbar (for IE). that allows you to easily add the search functionality from any search box by just entering a single word and clicking twice.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 21, 2004

Citysearch Joins Toolbar War

CitySearch is entering the toolbar "war" today with a beta release of their entry (IE Only).

In addition to being able to search CitySearch data the toolbar also provides direct access to the Google and Yahoo local search services.

Btw, CitySearch content also powers the new Ask Jeeves Local which was officially launched today.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Google Toolbar Security Concern

Google Toolbar Input Validation Hole in 'About' Page Lets Local Users Execute Scripting Code from SecurityTracker.com has a report of a possible scripting security problem with the Google Toolbar. Spotted from our forum thread: Toolbar scripting vulnerability, and you can comment and discuss there.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 20, 2004

New Toolbar From Gurunet

Gurunet, the useful research database/answer engine, has been making plenty of news lately.

Last week, we learned that some of GuruNet content is available via a9. A week earlier, word that a beta version of their search app (ver. 5.2) offers desktop search capabilities. Today, Gurunet released a new toolbar (ver. 2.0, IE only) that contains a pop-up blocker, a page translation tool, and Alt Click support.

You can learn more about GuruNet in this SearchDay article.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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