Buy Your Own Search Listings
(December 28, 2004 - iMedia Connection)
Apparently, an employee of a noted search engine sent a series of emails to advertisers within a specific vertical with the express intent of bypassing the agency relationship and any level of known decision-making hierarchy on the side of the advertiser. This isn't the first time such an email has been sent, but it was the most instantaneously notorious.

Which Search Engine Firm Is Coming Back?
(December 27, 2004 - latimes.com)
Ask Jeeves. Many observers had expected it to fall with the dot-com bust. But it has survived and has become known for innovation.

Will Google Stay As Hot As Its Lava Lamps?
(December 27, 2004 - News.com)
Although Google has signed on big-name talent from major companies such as Microsoft, its hurdles include retaining newly minted millionaires who helped build the company before its initial public stock offering earlier this year. Google also faces the challenges of attracting new workers without the lure of pre-IPO stock.

Search Engine Spam? You're Fired!
(December 22, 2004 - ClickZ)
Why would a search engine marketer put an organization's Web reputation at risk by utilizing questionable SEM tactics? The answer is obvious: It's all about profiting from others' ignorance by dancing between the lines of what's right and wrong.

Will Branded Keywords Kill Search?
(December 21, 2004 - ClickZ)
Nothing burns me more than to have a cheap competitor try to hijack a customer by leveraging my client's good name. Especially if the competitor tries a low-ball claim or provides incorrect information during the purchase-consideration process.

Google Units Include Social Networking, Photos, Maps
(December 20, 2004 - USAToday.com)
Even if Google adds products that have little to do with search, they potentially "bring more people to Google, the site gets bigger, and they have more people to show their ads to."

Overture Draws Web Sites into Local Listings
(December 17, 2004 - ClickZ)
Yahoo!'s Overture has modified its local business listings, part of its Local Match program, to let advertisers highlight their Web sites.

Google Trademark Issues Remain Unresolved
(December 16, 2004 - ClickZ)
Despite a key win in court yesterday against auto insurance giant GEICO, Google's trademark-related legal battles are not yet over, and individual advertisers can still be held accountable for trademark violations in search engine ads.

Yahoo Maps Offer Live U.S. Traffic Conditions
(December 16, 2004 - News.com)
The dynamic maps draw on real-time traffic information from cities and private sources, including traffic helicopters.

Ask Jeeves Launches Desktop Search
(December 16, 2004 - SearchDay)
Ask Jeeves has launched a beta desktop search application, capping off a very busy year in the desktop search space.

Yahoo Tests Video Search Engine
(December 16, 2004 - News.com)
Late Wednesday, the company introduced the beta site, which searches for files in Microsoft's Windows Media, Apple Computer's QuickTime and RealNetwork's Real Media.

Google Wins in Trademark Suit With Geico
(December 15, 2004 - News.com)
Google scored a big legal win Wednesday when a federal judge ruled that its use of trademarks in keyword advertising is legal.

Google Partners with Oxford, Harvard & Others to Digitize Libraries
(December 14, 2004 - SearchDay)
Google is working closely with five new content partners on a massive scanning project that will bring millions of volumes of printed books into the Google Print database.

MSN Joins the Desktop Search Fray
(December 13, 2004 - SearchDay)
Microsoft has launched its long anticipated desktop search application, and it's packed with promising features and tools that make it a strong contender coming out the gate.

Google-Geico Trial Begins Today
(December 13, 2004 - MediaDailyNews)
The result in the closely watched trial could force Google to change its keyword bidding practices--believed to account for a significant portion of Google's revenue.

Microsoft Notebook: MSN Search Engine Has Foot in Door
(December 13, 2004 - Seattle Post-intelligencer)
A seemingly innocuous box on the screen inside the latest MSN instant-messaging program provides a clue to Microsoft's broader strategy in the search business.

Yahoo! and Google - Archrivals Take Very Different Paths to Web Growth
(December 8, 2004 - MSNBC)
"You might say that Google is closer to the technologists at Intel, while Yahoo! is more like the consumer product makers at Procter and Gamble. These are two fundamentally different cultures," said American Technology Research analyst Mark Mahaney.

Yahoo Bolsters Local Search Business Listings
(December 7, 2004 - SearchDay)
Yahoo has quietly expanded its local business listings and rolled out a service that gives businesses control over their listings in Yahoo Local through a new paid inclusion program.

Accoona Launches, But Isn't Ready for Prime Time
(December 7, 2004 - SearchDay)
New search engine Accoona launched with great fanfare last night, but hold the applause. It's a promising start, but testing shows Accoona isn't yet ready to play ball in the big leagues.

Yahoo Puts its Mark on Consumer Electronics
(December 6, 2004 - News.com)
The Web portal giant on Monday unveiled a branded line of consumer electronics products for sale on its Web site, raising the profile on a quiet initiative aimed at bringing its name out of the study and into the living room.

Google CFO: Fraud a Big Threat
(December 3, 2004 - CNNmoney)
"I think something has to be done about this really, really quickly, because I think, potentially, it threatens our business model," Google Chief Financial Officer George Reyes said Wednesday.

Lycos Europe's Antispam Tool No Longer Available
(December 3, 2004 - News.com)
After days of negative publicity and criticism, Lycos Europe's "Make love not spam" screensaver application is no longer available. The company says it's just been too popular and promises it will be back.

The Definitive Secret to SEO Revealed
(December 2, 2004 - Virtual Promote Gazette)
I don't much go in for hype, and heaven knows the title to this article smacks badly of it, but I honestly believe the title is nonetheless accurate. There really is a Secret to SEO. And I'm going to tell you what it is.

Searching Smarter, Not Harder
(December 1, 2004 - Wired)
Topic maps are smart indices that improve search capabilities by categorizing terms based on their relationships with other things. For example, William Shakespeare is a topic that would be mapped to essays about him, his plays and his famous quotes.

China's Google Block Sparks Media Group's Protest
(December 1, 2004 - InternetNews.com)
Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group, reported that Google News has been blocked for about 10 days. The organization also accused Google of pandering to Chinese interests and filtering its Chinese-language site.