The Google giant begins to topple
Last week, Facebook hit a major milestone: the site officially received more traffic than Google, thanks to the activities of its more than 400 million users.
Yes, that only considered traffic during a one-week period. Yes,...
China to Google: "That's not a knife"
Our story begins on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010. On the official Google blog, David Drummond, Google SVP and Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, makes some startling claims:
That Google China is under cyberattack, along...
Universal Google personalization a virtual given
Congratulations! You're the proud owner of personalized search results -- whether you like it or not. This past Friday, Google announced the extension of personalized search results to everyone, by default, whether or not they were...
Dramatic license in the Bing/Google race
Media coverage of the search industry often reminds me of the editing on The Amazing Race. Even if the first-place team is miles and hours ahead of the second-place team, the producers have to make things seem close and exciting....
Searching For Cream: The Endless Battle To Find The Best
Search represents the coming together of two parties: the seeker and the sought. Just as communication engages both a "sender" and a "recipient", effective search consists of helping people find the most relevant result, on the...
Getting To Know Google
It’s hard to imagine a world without Google. The Mountain View-based search giant has become completely integrated into our online existence. Their name is effectively synonymous with search, a function that arguably made widespread...
Microhoo allows economies of scale? Ho-hum
By now, we've all heard: nearly a year and a half to the day Microsoft first tried to take Yahoo to bed, the pair have finally completed their prenup negotiations and gotten hitched.
For both of these companies, this is a big deal....
It's Lonely At The Top
We are comparative creatures in a polarized world. Like magnets or batteries, we exist only in relation to. Without positive, there is no negative; without contrasts, there is no current.
Our lives play out with this same polarity....
Google's Dilemma and Why It Will Die, Part II
In Part I of this two-part series, I softened Google up with a few well-placed punches to the torso. In this post, I'll deliver the knockout blow -- and hopefully encourage a bit of reflection.
Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, we had...
Google's Dilemma and Why It Will Die, Part I
Please trust me on this one: Google will die. If it hasn't happened by the time you read this post, you're just not patient enough.
Last week, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster was quoted by Wall Street Journal blogger Andrew...
Hey Google, did you just feel the floor shake?
I've already gone on record saying that I think Twitter has the potential to unseat Google in search. I believe this precisely because they're not trying to. Nobody will win against Google head-to-head, but perhaps, just perhaps, an...
If it's too big to die, it probably should
In a recent piece called Let Beached Whales Die, Max Kalehoff suggested that, just as it can be more humane, if more emotionally painful, to let beached whales die, it can also be more humane to allow large, poorly run businesses to...
We don't care about privacy; we care about choice
Privacy is the hottest news story nobody cares about.
Oh, sure, we say we care. We may even leave outraged comments on blogs, ranting about Big Brother Google or Facebook's transgressions. But, really, we don't care.
How do I know...
'Anonymous' doesn't mean nobody knows who you are
Google has always been an easy target for privacy infractions, but it's been a doozy of a month even for them.
First, they announced their new behavioral targeting model -- and got immediately ripped into by privacy...
In an online ecosystem, the barnacles offer the benefit
You know you've made it online when other people start building services around you.
Okay, Google doesn't exactly need a sign to know they've made it, but you get my point. The more other businesses use your business as the basis...
The Problem With Google
The problem with Google is that it has such a clear identity.
This clear identity has been a boon to the company for the past ten years. Their laser focus, manifested by the complete lack of clutter on their home page, has led them...
Behavioral targeting and some comments from Google's Chief Economist
Earlier this week, I attended a talk by Hal Varian, Google's Chief Economist, on how computer-mediated transactions are transforming business practices.
Towards the end of the talk, Varian touched on behavioral targeting -- or, as...
What do Google, Obama, a heavyweight fight, and HDTV have in common?
Answer: They all need to get their distance right to be effective.
That may not make any sense just yet. Bear with me a moment, if you please.
Let's start with Obama. It's been a long time since the general public in America...
If your model relies on Google, you'd better have a Plan B
First of all, hello! This is my first post for the Network World Google Subnet. I'm delighted to start this conversation, I welcome your comments, and I look forward to having some good hearty debates with you.
Now let's get down to...
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