Cloaking By NPR OK At Google
(May 28, 2004 - Search Engine Watch)
A technique used by National Public Radio to get its audio content indexed by Google seems acceptable to the search engine despite apparently violating its own guidelines about cloaking.

Yahoo Embraces Anti-Spyware
(May 27, 2004 - News.com)
Yahoo on Thursday is expected to release an upgrade for its downloadable toolbar to help people detect and remove spyware, or malicious files, on their PCs.

Mamma.com Gets Rich
(May 26, 2004 - MediaDailyNews)
Mamma.com Inc. Tuesday announced its deployment of a new rich media ad delivery code across its Mamma Media Solutions Publisher Network.

Owning the Standard for Search Engines
(May 26, 2004 - Fool.com)
A $30 billion valuation of Google implies that due to strong network externalities, the company will own the standard in the search engine space, like Microsoft in PC operating systems or eBay in Internet auctions. While a standard will likely be established for search engines, Google's ability to own that standard remains highly uncertain.

An Insider's View of Microsoft's Longhorn Search
(May 24, 2004 - Search Engine Watch)
Longhorn, the long-anticipated upgrade to Windows, will have a completely new, search-centric file system. One of Microsoft's lead developers last week offered a tantalizingly brief preview of search on this upcoming system.

Kanoodle to Target Sponsored Links Behaviorally
(May 24, 2004 - ClickZ)
Search and sponsored links player Kanoodle will license technology and audience data from 24/7 Real Media to launch a behaviorally targeted ad network. Called BehaviorTarget, Kanoodle's new offering marks the first time behavioral targeting technology will be used in a sponsored links environment, though at least one competitor is developing such a network.

Google's Desktop Bet
(May 21, 2004 - News.com)
Google could establish a foothold--and a competitive edge--in this desktop search market by getting in early with free consumer software, supported by advertising. Also, it could broaden its advertising into a much more intimate PC environment, off the Web, where people spend at least 50 percent of their time.

10 Things to Ask Google's Ethics Committee
(May 20, 2004 - BBC News)
It's reported that Google, whose motto is Do No Evil, has an ethics committee to debate its impact on the world. The BBC has some candid questions, courtesy of Danny Sullivan, that it would like the Google ethics committee to answer. So what sort of things might it discuss?

Google Isn't Keeping Quiet After IPO Filing
(May 20, 2004 - Washington Post)
This may be the "quiet period" before Google Inc.'s initial public offering of stock, but the company is bucking tradition by making plenty of noise.

Search Engines Turning Trademark Law Upside Down
(May 19, 2004 - Search Engine Watch)
Search engines, most notably Google, are pushing the limits of trademark law, allowing anyone to use these protected marks in advertising. Some trademark owners are fighting back.

Google Moves Toward Clash With Microsoft
(May 19, 2004 - News.com)
Google is preparing to introduce a powerful file and text software search tool for locating information stored on personal computers.

Yahoo Reawakens The Paid Inclusion Debate
(May 18, 2004 - Search Engine Watch)
Yahoo drew widespread criticism for new paid inclusion programs launched in March. What is Yahoo doing? How does it impact the advertiser and searcher? Are there changes Yahoo should be making? The first in a series of articles looking at paid inclusion.

Just How Different Is Google?
(May 17, 2004 - BusinessWeek)
Google may want to imagine itself as some kind of revolutionary managerial entity, but it seems to be more a modern-day money machine. Nothing wrong with that, so long as people understand what they are getting -- and what they're not getting.

Google's Ad Plans Provoke Grumbling
(May 17, 2004 - News.com)
Google's success in Web advertising is fast becoming bittersweet for other companies that rely on ads to pay the bills. With the search engine's move last week to sell display advertising across the Web, Google firmly established itself as a major online advertising network and a solicitor to deep-pocketed brand advertisers.

Yahoo Takes Google's Spot on CNN
(May 14, 2004 - News.com)
The news Web site bumps Google for Yahoo to power its search results, in a deal that underscores the heated rivalry between the two companies.

Yahoo Boosts Free E-mail Storage to 100MB
(May 14, 2004 - News.com)
The Web portal also will begin offering "virtually unlimited storage" for its paid e-mail customers.

Search Engines: What's the Difference?
(May 14, 2004 - InternetNews.com)
Yahoo! Google and Ask Jeeves go toe-to-toe in frank discussion of which technology yields the best results.

Yahoo! Fires Back at Google
(May 13, 2004 - TheStreet.com)
Yahoo! launched its analyst day Thursday with Google lurking in the background, but it wasn't long before executives felt the need to address their big challenge explicitly.

Overture Eyes Canadian Market
(May 13, 2004 - ClickZ)
Expanding its reach, Yahoo!'s paid search division partners with pay-per-click network NetWorldMedia.

Google Offers Banners & Image Ads -- But Not On Google Itself
(May 13, 2004 - Search Engine Watch)
Google has debuted a new graphical ad option for its advertisers -- the ability to run banners, skyscrapers and other image-based ad units. However, these ads won't run on Google itself.

Google Groups Adds Mailing Lists & Other Features, Competes With Yahoo Groups
(May 13, 2004 - Search Engine Watch)
Google has added new mailing list creation functionality to its Google Groups service, giving it a capability that competes directly with the Yahoo Groups service.

Google PageRank, Meet Yahoo! Web Rank
(May 12, 2004 - ClickZ)
Yahoo! has launched a system to show the "Web Rank" popularity of pages viewed by those using its toolbar. It's similar to Google Toolbar's long-standing PageRank (PR) meter, and it brings with it some of the same potential problems.

Google AdSense Introduces Image Ads
(May 12, 2004 - Google)
Now, in addition to text ads, publishers can choose to show highly-targeted image ads on their web pages. Unlike traditional banner ads, Google's image ads are contextually targeted to the content of one's page, providing users with a high impact, high value advertisement - and providing the opportunity to earn more revenue.

Google Launches Official Google Blog, Not Blog Search
(May 11, 2004 - Search Engine Watch)
Google has launched its own official blog, promising much insight about the company though not yet delivering much. The company also says it has no news about long-discussed plans to offer blog or web feed searching at Google.

Verizon Launches Self-Service Tool
(May 10, 2004 - ClickZ)
Verizon is catching up with other players in the pay-per-click space, launching a self-service application Monday enabling marketers to start and manage their pay-per-click ad campaigns on Superpages.com. Until now, advertisers had to call or meet with a representative.

Google Overhauls Blogger
(May 10, 2004 - Search Engine Watch)
Google has launched an improved version of Blogger, the first major upgrade to the the popular web log service in nearly four years.

Ask Jeeves Closes $501 Million Web Search Acquisition
(May 6, 2004 - Yahoo! Finance)
Ask Jeeves Inc. on Thursday said it closed its $501 million purchase of Interactive Search Holdings, a move expected to double Ask Jeeves' share of the competitive Web search market.

Google's Orkut Personal Information Offered Outside Orkut
(May 6, 2004 Source: Search Engine Watch)
The personal connections of some in Google's Orkut social network service can now be viewed across a map of the United States -- but through a third party site that apparently has mined the data without permission.

Web Search for Tomorrow
(May 6, 2004 - BusinessWeek Online)
Google's success is spurring competitors to take search technology to the next level. Here are some areas they're exploring.

Can Google Survive Monster Microsoft?
(May 6, 2004 - Boston Herald)
Google can expect a fierce fight from Microsoft Corp. to stay the Internet's No. 1 search engine even after it raises up to $2.7 billion through its first public stock offering, industry experts say.

Google's Big-Bucks Expansion Plans
(May 4, 2004 - BusinessWeek)
SEC filings reveal a vast capital-spending program in 2004 -- an indication of just how huge the search giant's ambitions are.

SuperGoogle: When All Is Known
(May 3, 2004 - ClickZ)
How would you feel about a SuperGoogle knowing almost everything about you? Because soon, it will. It doesn't take a whole lot of imagination to construct SuperGoogle. Take the Google we know, give it access to a large marketing database such as Acxiom, throw in the white pages; LexisNexis; our medical records; credit card transactions; location information from our mobile phone operators; INS, IRS, and DMV records; and we're getting close.

Technology Smoothes Path to Stock Market
(May 3, 2004 -News.com)
The success of bid-for-placement advertising and other technology advances help build confidence in Google's plans for a Web-based stock auction.

Investment in Google IPO Not For Frugal
(May 3, 2004 - Arizona Republic)
Could brokers break the Google dutch-auction idea? According to the Arizona Republic, brokers are already trying to make this an exclusive IPO by insisting that investors deposit hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to get a piece of the action.