Below, a recap of stories posted today to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with other items we've spotted but not blogged separately:
From The SEW Blog...
- ChaCha Search: Take Two
When "human-powered" search engine ChaCha launched in September it was a great idea with very flawed execution. The site offers algorithmic search, but also IM-chat based search with actual people in real time. Here's my previous post on ChaCha. Today, the site has gone from "alpha" to "beta" based on lessons learned during the alpha period. And it appears from casual searching there have been some significant improvements.... - Google Owns AdSense.com Now
Nathan Weinberg reports that Google is now the owner of the domain adsense.com. The story goes a bit back when a company named the AdSense Consulting Group became Fed Up With Google AdSense, after receiving tons of unwanted traffic and inquiries on AdSense consulting services. They did not disclose the amount AdSense.com was sold for, but you can still visit the AdSense Consulting Group at www.adsense2.com. I wonder if Google will do the same with UTube.com, kinda similar to News.com's story that YouTube.com sued by UTube.com.... - Topix.net Gains $15 Million Investment From Newspaper Parents
News aggregator and search engine Topix.net announced a new round of funding in which its newspaper owners, Gannett, Tribune Co. and McClatchy, have invested $15 million in the site to help further develop it. According to Hitwise, Topix has been on a tear and, according to the company itself, is now a "top 25" news site. Over the course of the past year Topix has had success developing community forums and has launched local classifieds. The site also recently implemented a news archive search. I have more discussion of the investment and its potential implications for newspapers on my blog.... - Google Earth Release 4 Adds Drawing Tools
Nathan Weinberg reports that Google released a new version of Google Earth. The new version has "path and polygon drawing tools" to enable you to "easily sketch figures on the imagery for richer annotations and can share these overlays as KML or KMZ files." There are some other features, but that one is the most significant.... - Windows Live Product Upload Released
LiveSide.Net reports that Microsoft launched Live Product Upload over the weekend. The tool that allows catalogers to upload their products to the Windows Live Product Search database. LiveSide that this feature "guarantees their inclusion in the Live Search extension."... - Google Wins Right To Buy YouTube In Antitrust Review
The Chicago Tribune reports that Google has won the right to buy YouTube after antitrust authorities reviewed the documents by the Federal Trade Commission. So now it is official, Google can go through with the acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion.... - Google Confirms Small Test With Newspaper Ads
Last week we have been [1] [2] tracking PPC Discussions request from Google to participate in a test on placing his ads in newspapers. The main press now gets a hold of it with official confirmation from Google that they will be once again testing ads in newspapers. The New York Times and Business Week have the two most popular articles, I believe. They state that the ads will appear in "50 major newspapers" and that a "100 advertisers" are in this test that will begin to happen "later this month."...
Headlines & News From Elsewhere
- Google.co.uk gets a very British doodle, CNET.co.uk
- Yahoo to Offer Internet Telephony in India, CIO
- Interview with Adam Lasnik of Google, Online Marketing Blog
- Alexa has sexy new traffic rankings UI, SEO Scoop
- Statistics: First Ad Age Search Marketing “Fact Pack”; Includes List of Top 20 Agencies based on SEM/SEO Ops, ResourceShelf
- Yahoo!'s Logo Surprise (Yahoo! Easter Egg), Search Engine Roundtable
- Google Takes Local Angle, The Street
- Better Shopping In Search, Yahoo Search Blog
- Google Video Loses NBA, Gains NHL, eWeek
- Google Change Content Ads Algorithm; AdWords Advertisers Complaining, Search Engine Roundtable
- Subdomains & The SEO Benefit in Google, Yahoo, & MSN, Search Engine Roundtable
- What makes a searchterm competitive?, Phil Craven
- Job Search by Zip Code and Region, ResourceShelf
- YouTube Named TIME Invention of the Year, Online Marketing Blog
- Rand's Unofficial Guide to Speaking at SES, SEOMoz
- Podcast: Google Tries Yet Again To Sell Print Ads; Buying Off Copyright Threats; Yahoo Expands Robots.txt Support; Ask's New Flashy Demo & More!, Daily SearchCast
- Israel-Based Google R&D Centers Begin Hiring, All Headline News
- AOL early backer of its new approach, Chicago Tribune
- Collection of search engine commercials, SEO News
- New Free Competitive Research Tools, SEO Book.com
- Google Consumer Packaged Goods?, Threadwatch.org
- My Experience at Google New York with Vanessa Fox, Search Engine Roundtable
- MSN Music presses mute on downloads, News.com
- Greasemonkey Script: Gmail and Reader Integrator, The Next Phase
- Ask.com becoming the search engine that could, News.com
- AdSense showing you invalid clicks, Tony Hill
- MarketingSherpa Acquired by MarketingExperiments, Marketing Pilgrim
- ReviewMe.com to give away $25,000!, Link Building Blog
- Google Maps Sights Book, Google Blogoscoped
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