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October 10, 2006

Search Headlines & Links: October 10, 2006

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...

  • Google Blog: Please Get Descriptive With Your Headlines!
    A public rant, and I'm sorry -- but I've had it with the Official Google Blog having post headlines that give people no idea what the post is about. First some recent examples, then why this is bad in general....
  • Justin Uberti, AOL's Top AIM Developer, Hired By Google
    Steve Bryant reports that Justin Uberti, who has been with AOL for about 10 years and working on AIM for almost 9 years, has been hired by Google to work in the Kirkland, WA office. Justin posted this news on his old blog and announces the launch of his new blog at juberti.blogspot.com, where he has links to the Google Blog, Google Talk Blog and Google Video blog - which may be signs as to what he will be working on at Google....
  • Maharashtra Farmers Fight Government With Google Earth
    IBN Live reports that Maharashtra farmers are using Google Earth to fight back against a government ruling that they would take 25,000 acres away from them to build a Maha Mumbai Special Economic Zone. The government told the farmers that "only a small portion of the earmarked land is fertile and that some parts of it is submerged by salty creek water." But Google Earth came to the rescue of the farmers, where they were able "to prove to the authorities that the land is fertile," said Arun Shivkar an SEZ activist. No wonder the Maharashtra state government in India...
  • Google To Set Up R&D Office In South Korea
    The Associated Press reports that Google is setting up a research and development center in South Korea. The details of the size of the office were not disclosed. Robert A. Eustace, Google's senior vice president, said "South Korean government's strong encouragement persuaded the company to make the investment." DNS India adds that Google also has research centers in Britain, Israel, Norway, Japan, Switzerland, India, Russia and the Americas....
  • Court Issues Notice To Google For Allegedly Spreading Hate In India Via Orkut
    The Times of India reports that Google is in hot water over Orkut once again, this time for allegedly spreading hatred for India. The article says, "The Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to issue notice to Google for the alleged spread of hatred about India by its social network service Orkut." The problem is over a "We Hate India" community in Orkut that posted a picture a burning Indian flag....
  • Yahoo Time Capsule Project Launched
    Yahoo has created the Yahoo Time Capsule, what it calls the "first-ever electronic anthropology project" to document human life in 2006. You have about 29 more days to contribute to the time capsule, until November 8th, to be exact....
  • Sizing Up Search Engine Instant Answers
    The major search services have all be increasing their efforts to deliver focused "answers" to many types of queries. They each take a different approach to this process, with names such as Ask's Smart Answers, Yahoo's Shortcuts, Google's Onebox results and Microsoft's Instant Answers. In today's SearchDay article, A Closer Look at Ask's Smart Answers, SEW correspondent Brian A. Smith kicks off a four-part series that takes an in-depth look at each of these programs, illustrating the unique approaches offered by the major search engines....
  • Recapping Coverage Of Google's Acquisition Of YouTube
    I don't have a ton to say about the Google acquisition of YouTube. That's because to me, it's more an eyeball landgrab than a search development. There's no doubt people search for video on YouTube, and getting the leading property will help Google. But the searching isn't the deep dive video search involving transcripts linked to video clips or other technological advances you might think Google would want in a more in a true search deal. This, to me, is basically YouTube as a hot property that Google hasn't been able to replicate with its own Google Video....

Headlines & News From Elsewhere

Posted by Danny Sullivan at October 10, 2006 3:14 PM