The Google URL shortening service Goo.gl, that allows you to transform long Web addresses into short easy to remember links, was opened to the public Friday. After nine months of testing the Goog.gl service, Google now joins the ranks of Bit.ly, TinyURL, and Ow.ly. All of these services cater to people who despise long URLs and use services such as Twitter to share Web address and limit messages to 140 characters.
Yahoo confirmed that the head of its North American business, Hilary Schneider, plans to leave the company.
The vision outlined by Google CEO Eric Schmidt for autonomous search that knows what you want to look for before you even think of it seems like pure science fiction. The reality, though, is that the convergence of Web search, location-based services, and social networking mean that the foundation is already there. As the concept evolves, there will be benefits and pitfalls for businesses that want to take advantage of autonomous search.
Google is reportedly set to announce later today that it has developed a JPEG alternative that should speed up the Web.
Google's Instant, a new feature that predicts search queries as people type them and refreshes results and ads accordingly on the fly, will be extended to 12 new countries, bringing the total to 19 countries.
A top Microsoft official dismissed as conceptually misguided the new Instant feature that lets Google's search engine refresh search results on the fly while people type queries.
Google has unveiled its Google Transparency Report, the company's latest effort to stick to its "don't be evil" mission statement. The new site helps users differentiate between regular Google downtime and service interruptions caused by government interference, but that's just some of what the site can do.
Microsoft's Cashback service didn't work out, but the company is still experimenting with the concept of repaying users, this time with a program that rewards people for searching on Bing.
Google is at its wit's end dealing with illegal sellers of prescription drugs that market medicines on its ad network, so it has decided to take some of these allegedly rogue advertisers to court.
Google has trotted out an interactive tool that it says shows government-induced blocks and disruptions of the search company's services.
Google has trotted out an interactive tool that it says shows government-induced blocks and disruptions of the search company's services.
Ten years ago this week Google extended its reach into some of the world's largest Internet markets by offering local-language search results in China, Japan and South Korea. After a decade of hard work, it is in the unfamiliar position of having to fight hard to become the dominant search engine.
It takes more than an exclamation point at the end of your name to create excitement. Maybe Yahoo! is finally waking up to that. At least there were signs of it at the company's press event held today at its headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Yahoo will sharpen its search engine by providing richer results for news and entertainment-related queries, as well as revamp its webmail service by making it faster and more connected to Twitter and Facebook.
Bing's vault over Yahoo in U.S. search volume should come as no surprise to anyone who's been following the horse race, but it's a symbolic milestone for a baby search engine whose prime directive is to take some of Google's advertising pie.