Retailers Oppose Google’s Secondary Search Feature & Other Daily Finds for March 24, 2008

Here are some great and newsworthy posts I came across today including a story at The new York Times claiming that some retailers are opposed to Google’s secondary search feature when it comes to their listings, Bill Slawski breaks down a new patent filed by Microsoft that may use anchor text to determine the relevance of a page and finally, Google wants to offer nationwide WiFi access for free.

Some Retailers Oppose Google’s Secondary Search Feature (TechCrunch)
Google started offering secondary search boxes for major sites March 4, and TechCrunch readers split 55% for, 45% against the feature. Now the New York Times reports that some companies oppose Google offering secondary search. According to the article, objections are focused on Google selling adds against the secondary search results and potential customers being led astray, by both competitors ads and because they are not immediately searching via the particular site.

Using Anchor Text to Determine the Relevance of a Page (SEO By The Sea)
A patent application from Microsoft explores the use of anchor text to define the context of a page and terms that it might rank for that don’t appear upon that page. It also discusses how the search engine might generate snippets for those pages which have been determined to be relevant for a query based upon the anchor text being used to point to those pages. Bill Slawski breaks the patent down for all to understand.

Google Wants to Offer National Wi-Fi for Free (Marketing Pilgrim)
Jordan McCollum writes, “Free, nationwide WiFi. Drooling yet, or do I need to say it again? Free, nationwide WiFi from Google. As we mentioned earlier, Google is lobbying the FCC for some of the wireless spectrum that will be freed next year when television will cease analog transmission. Google’s plan? “Wi-Fi on steroids.” (Without the ‘roid rage, I’m guessing.)”