Google's Threat To Microsoft Continues With OpenOffice
(October 31, 2005 - News.com)
Google plans to hire programmers to improve OpenOffice.org, a demonstration of its affinity for open source initiatives and one the company believes also shows sound practical sense. Does this make Microsoft even more nervous? You bet it does!

How Small Misses Can Add Up To Big Losses
(October 31, 2005 - InternetRetailer.com)
Its the small stuff that can wreck havoc on a search engine marketing effort. Issues like internal site search, store locators, poorly written page copy and usability issues can make it difficult for even a carefully crafted search marketing campaign to turn a profit.

LookSmart Goes Vertical, Searches for Comeback
(October 28, 2005 - ClickZ News)
Search player LookSmart, which has struggled for the last couple of years to find and define itself, takes a significant step forward on what it expects to be its comeback trail, launching 161 new vertical search sites.

Yahoo!'s Trip Planner Boosts Personalized Search to a New Level
(October 28, 2005 - Search Engine Guide)
Yahoo!'s new trip planning tool does a great job of mixing personalized search with community and has a lot of potential. But it also has some serious usability issues that they need to address before they see massive adoption rates.

Infospace Introduces Pay-Per-Call
(October 24, 2005 - DMNews.com)
Online directory InfoSpace is working with Jambo, a new pay-per-call lead-generation service starting today, simultaneously launching its Pay Per Call patented solution, giving search providers a pay-for-performance advertising tool to offer local businesses.

SEW Forums Live In Anaheim Next Week
(October 21, 2005 - Search Engine Watch Blog)
Just a reminder that the SEW Forums Live Anaheim 2005 event takes place at the Disneyland Hotel next week. David Wallace, founder of SearchRank will be part of the panel of moderators answering questions from audience during the "meet the Mods" session.

Google Releases New Keyword Research Tool
(October 21, 2005 - SEOBook)
Aaron Wall at SEO Book provides a nice rundown on what the new tool offers, including sorting by popularity, performance history, cost and predicted ad position.

PPC Spending Continues to Grow
(October 18, 2005 - Online Media Daily)
Online ad spending increased by around 10 percent in the third quarter, according to a new study conducted by Deutsche Bank in conjunction with MediaPost.

The Top Ten Design Mistakes for Weblogs
(October 17, 2005 - Alertbox)
Weblogs are often too internally focused and ignore key usability issues, making it hard for new readers to understand the site and trust the author. Usability guru Jakob Nielsen outlines the ten most common blog design mistakes.

Rethinking Who You Market To
(October 17, 2005 - Search Engine Guide)
One of the most important ideas behind search engine marketing is understanding who your audience is and how they search. After all, in a direct response medium like the web, you have to be able to get your offer in front of the right buyer at the right point in time. Jennifer Laycock asks the questions, "Are You Missing Out on Customers?" in this article.

First MSN Wants a Piece of AOL, Now Google Does as Well
(October 12, 2005 - Search Engine Watch Blog)
Google and cable television/high-speed Internet giant, Comcast, are in "serious discussions" with AOL (Time Warner) about acquiring a "minority" stake in AOL's portal business. This after MSN recently considered buying a piece of AOL.

Google is Coming To Arizona!
(October 11, 2005 - The Business Journal, Phoenix)
Google announces that they plan to launch a new "major new operations in the Phoenix area that could bring 600 new jobs to the area. It is unclear where exactly Google will be landing but some sources indicate that it will likely be Tempe while others say the company may also be looking at locations in other cities, including Scottsdale.

Aaron Wall (SEO Book) Interview Matt Cutts of Google
(October 10, 2005 - Search-Marketing Info)
Aaron Wall gives Matt some floaters, some tough questions and some in the middle and he answers them all with honesty and forthrightness that is unexpected from SE reps.

Google Testing Personalized News Feed Service
(October 7, 2005 - News.com)
Google launched a test version of a new service called Google Reader that gathers reports from syndicated news sites and blogs across the Web. It lets users subscribe to material from the sites and create a reading list that they can sort and organize.

AOL to Buy Weblogs, Courts Bloggers
(October 6, 2005 - Yahoo News)
America Online announces that it will buy Weblogs Inc., a network of Web sites focused on topics ranging from scuba diving to gadgets, marking the biggest bet on unfiltered online commentary. The deal, which is expected to close next week, is worth about $25 million, one source said on Wednesday.

Blinkx Teams With Miva for Smart Ads
(October 6, 2005 - ClickZ)
Video search engine blinkx has unveiled its first attempts at monetizing the service, signing a deal with Miva to supply contextual ads for its new Smart Ads platform.

New Features at AOL Search
(October 5, 2005 - Search Engine Guide)
America Online announced several new features for AOL Search this morning in a bid to help create a more customizable and comprehensive search experience. The new features are the result of extensive consumer testing on AOL's part and are available as of this morning at search.aol.com.

First Google Print, Now Yahoo & the Open Content Alliance
(October 3, 2005 - SearchDay)
Yahoo, The Internet Archive and several other organizations announced the formation of the Open Content Alliance (OCA) to make thousands of books, multimedia files and other materials freely searchable and accessible online.

Geico Versus Google - R.I.P?
(October 3, 2005 - iMedia Communications)
Now that the dust has settled (and so has Google), what should the search advertising industry make of the results of that case? Has it settled everything regarding Google's right to sell branded keywords to the highest bidder? Has it settled anything?