Today's search podcast covers Yahoo and Miva settling over a patent dispute about paid listings, the formal opening of the Ask Jeeves sponsored listings program, a written ruling about trademarks in search ads at Google, how most blog readers have no idea what RSS is, Rupert Murdock's interest in multimedia search engine Blinkx, how Google and Yahoo need to step back from the "who's biggest" debate, a new "block view" map service from A9, a new UC Berkeley center being formed to study search, how to find movie reviews and more.
Tune-in by listening to this MP3 file, listening via WebmasterRadio at 11:30am Eastern and repeated at 2pm Eastern or via our Odeo channel. Below are links about the stories that were discussed. Below are links with more information about the stories that were discussed.
Paid Search & SEM
- Ask Jeeves Sponsored Listings Program Formally Opens covers the new Ask
Jeeves sponsored listings program formally opening to anyone.
- Miva (aka FindWhat) & Yahoo Setting Paid Listing Patent Dispute on an $8
million plus royalties deal that sees Miva and Yahoo putting aside differences over patents on paid listings.
- U.S. District Court Judge Issues Written Decision in Geico v. Google AdWords Case covers a US court
putting into print an earlier oral ruling that trademark terms in ad copy are bad but ads showing up in relation to trademarked terms are not.
- Yahoo Expands Ambassador Program and Adds Services for Certified Affiliates covers how even more SEM
firms and others can partner directly with Yahoo to get training, $20 advertiser bounties and do certification.
- Preparing Feeds for Inclusion in Become.com Database covers a two-part interview on how relatively new shopping and shopping research engine Become.com works and ways to prepare content for inclusion into it.
Blogs & Feeds
- Nielsen//NetRatings: 11% of Blog Readers use RSS covers how half of those surveyed in the US who are
blog readers had never heard of RSS before, a further 16 percent had heard of it but had no idea what it does while 23 percent know of RSS but don't use it. The tiny minority
left actually use RSS, 6.4 percent to read via a web aggregator and 5 percent to read using software.
- Feedster Launches Top 500 Blog List on Feedster coming out with a new way for bloggers to know if they are hot or not.
Business Moves
- Murdoch Wants Blinkx covers how Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. apparently wants to purchase multimedia
search engine Blinkx.
- Report: Yahoo Will Launch VoIP Service and What About a Google Wi-Fi Net? covers Yahoo perhaps going past PC-to-PC calling through Yahoo Messenger and into offering phone-to-phone calling over the internet. And speculation on Google perhaps offering universal, free wi-fi access, following on a broadband through power lines investment last month and a statement it sees promoting universal access as part of its mission.
Gadgets & Stuff
- Universities, Search and IR Research covers a new multidisciplinary, and perhaps multi-search engine
backed, research center on search that is to open at UC Berkeley -- along with other university-based research projects into search that are going on.
- MSN Begins Rolling Out "Add-Ins" for Search Toolbar covers how you can now get one-click access to
weather forecasts through a new add-on for the MSN Toolbar and other features are expected to come, as well.
- A9 Officially Launches Maps Service; Block View Imagery Added for More Cities
on the more formal rollout of A9's mapping service.
- Searching for Movie Reviews with the Movie Review Query Engine covers a specialized search engine that
lets you find movie reviews from hundreds of sources.
- UK TV Listings Engine Releases List of Popular Search Queries covers football, star trek, big brother
and -- yes -- sex being among the top terms people search for on a new search engine for UK TV listings.
- Screw Size! I Dare Google & Yahoo To Report On Relevancy looks at why in my opinion, the current dispute over index size between Google and Yahoo is yet another waste of time that avoids focusing on the figure everyone really wants, a relevancy figure.
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