eBrandz Blog

Search Engine News Updates: September 15-30-2010

Welcome to another weekly edition of Search and Social updates — packed with announcement, alliance, disputes and axing down services or products, from Silicon Valley’s tech leaders like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, Bing and others, as well as many more interesting Search Engine Optimization news from across the web…
Google To Take On Facebook With New Social-Network Elements

Rapidly growing social-networking site Facebook is giving a nagging pain to search engine behemoth Google Inc., and starting this fall, the Silicon Valley search engine titan plans to gradually infuse its core products with elements of social networking features, reviving attempts to directly compete with Facebook and its 500 million users after pulling the plug on its stillborn Wave project, said Chief Executive Eric Schmidt…

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Twitter Revamps Its Website, Making It Faster To Post Photos And Videos

Popular micro-blogging website Twitter Inc., the service that sends 140-character messages, on Tuesday unveiled a major redesign of its home page, making it easier to post photos, videos and maps directly on the page, for the first time in its four year history to lure more users and…

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Google Snaffles Up User-Generated Video Startup “Quiksee” To Add Virtual Reality To Maps

Google’s relentless acquisition of emerging technology companies continues apace, as the search engine giant’s buying spree continued with its recent purchase of “Quicksee,” an Israel-based company that develops interactive video mapping technologies based on user-filmed videos with…

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Microsoft’s Bing Outpaced Yahoo As Number Two Search Engine In August: Nielsen

For the first time since it launch, Microsoft’s Bing and other Internet search services has outpaced Yahoo to claim the number two search engine position in the United States, according to Tuesday data from Nielsen…

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Microsoft Unleashes 1080p HD Sensor LifeCam Studio

Software behemoth Microsoft Corp., on Wednesday unleashed the latest entry into its LifeCam series of Webcams, the LifeCam Studio, which brings full-frame 1080p video to the platform, which is also a perfect for Windows Live Messenger 2011, with HD video calling and…

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Google Tweaks Google Health, Adds Fitness And Wellness Features As Well

Google on Wednesday released an upgraded Google Health that includes a new design and some new features and reminded the world that it has updated one of its lesser-used sites with a new look and feel with an increased focus on wellness…

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Microsoft, Facebook Talks On Deepening Search Partnership To Add “Like” Utility To Bing: Report

Software colossus Microsoft Corp. and social-networking website Facebook are in discussion to further deepen their search ties, with the possibility that Bing could use anonymized data generated by Facebook users to better personalize their search results, according to a report published by tech news site All Things Digital today…

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Skyhook Wireless Sues Google For Infringement On Location Patents And Contract Dispute

It is rightly said that the larger and more successful you become, the bigger a target you are. That certainly seems to be the case when you are Google, as it would appear the company is facing “a legal trouble a day” lately. Today, it was revealed that “Skyhook,” a well-regarded location firm is suing search engine giant Google for infringing its location patents…

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Bing Maps Delivers Public Transportation Directions Help

Software maker Microsoft’s rising search engine, Bing Maps has unleashed another nice feature recently, added public transportation guidance to its directions options, with directions available initially on routes to 11 major metropolitan cities in North America…

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Facebook Places Unfolds Location-Aware Service For UK Users

Facebook has just unfolded its location-based service known as “Places,” the social network’s smartphone location-sharing service launched last month is designed to encourage users to publish their location, is now available in the UK from today…

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Google Introduces Higher Quality Video Chat To Gmail Labs

Without visual communication the world would become quite stale but that is more than obvious. Video chat addicts who use video chat in Gmail can now rejoice as, search engine titan Google over the weekend rolled out a new feature in Gmail Labs, dubbed “Video Chat Enhancements”…

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Bing Social Adds Twitter-User Recommendations To Boost Search Results

Microsoft’s Bing search engine has just unleashed a new feature for Bing Social, which now recommends users to follow on Twitter, based on your search queries, calling the new feature People Recommendation…

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Google Promises To Deliver Docs Editing On Android, iPad

A short blurb in a press release from Google today has Google Docs users to high spirits. On Monday, search engine behemoth Google announced that soon users will be able to edit Google Docs from their iPad or Android phones…

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Google Voice Apps Finally Returns To The iTunes App Store

Back in July last year, Apple infamously provoked some controversy when it removed a number of Google Voice application for the iPhone, effectively banning it from ever appearing on anything but jailbroken iPhones. Now, in the wake of Apple’s relaxed rules pave way for third party applications offering access to the Google Voice VoIP service have reappeared on the iPhone app store…

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The Yahoo-Bing Transition May Wreak Havoc In The Search Ad Market

Last month, Yahoo began redirecting all of its organic search traffic to Bing, and when Microsoft finally begins powering all paid searches scheduled to make the switch by next month, the cost paid by advertisers may rise sharply after the duo merges their Internet search services, clicks will go through the roof, and the market for search ads will be…

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Microsoft Tries Again With Another Bing Rewards Program To Boost Loyalty

Microsoft may have abandoned its Bing Search CashBack program, but users and lovers of palm-grease, this could be your kind of day. Microsoft is trying its hand at another attempt to increase search share using rewards, now based on credits, has gone live…

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Google’s Street View Banned In The Czech Republic

After submitting a request that would allow search engine behemoth Google’s dream to expand its Street View mapping service in the Czech Republic have been dealt a fresh blow as the country’s privacy watchdog says the product “disproportionately invades citizens’ privacy”…

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Microsoft Unveils Web Embeddable PowerPoint, Excel, Expands Into 7 More Markets

It might have seemed impossible, but now that 20 million people have tried out Redmond-based Microsoft’s suite of free Office Web Apps since its launch in June, and now PowerPoint and Excel are about to become even more pervasive, besides the company is expanding their reach to seven more countries and adding several new features…

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LinkedIn Acquires Business Reviews Site ChoiceVendor, Founded By Google Alumni

LinkedIn, the Mountain View online business networking site, has agreed to acquire start-up “ChoiceVendor” a company that classifies and reviews business-to-business service providers in its second major acquisition in the space of six weeks…

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Microsoft To Target Small Businesses With Free Security Essentials

Software major Microsoft on Wednesday disclosed plans that it will offer its Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) anti-malware solution product for free to small businesses with up to ten computers, starting in October…

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Google, Apple “Recently Extended” iPhone Search Deal, Says Eric Schmidt

Despite harsh rivalry between Apple and Google in the mobile space, as each vying for supremacy in the emerging markets, the companies have “recently extended” its search deal, said Google CEO Eric Schmidt…

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Microsoft Splatters Hotmail With Social Networking Updates, Adds LinkedIn Partnership

Software monopolist Microsoft is leveraging its huge webmail user base to get a piece of the social-networking pie. The Redmond Vole on Thursday unleashed several updates to its free Hotmail service, after users continued to complain about the firm’s recent shaky overhaul of its free web email service…

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Sony To Preview First Integrated Google TV Device On October 12

For all the cool stuff to start hitting shelves this season, Sony has just dispatched an invitation for a New York City press event slated for October 12 that promises the official unveiling of its Google TV-capable Bravia line, “the world’s first Internet Television.”…

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Google Celebrates Its Last Pre-Teen Birthday With A Cute Wayne Thiebaud Cake As Google Doodle

As the clock struck 12 today, September 27, 2010, the search engine titan Google begins to celebrate its 12th (pre-teen) Birthday with yet another “doodle” cake with a candle by eminent 89-year-old Los Angeles artist Wayne Thiebaud. And what better way could there to do it, then to share a birthday cake with Google’s millions of users…

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French Court Convicts Google And CEO Eric Schmidt Of Defamation

A French court earlier this month convicted US search engine titan Google and CEO Eric Schmidt for defamation, liable over results from its “suggest” feature, a French legal affairs website has disclosed…

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AOL Unleashes New Online Ad System Code Named: “Project Devil”

Right in the nick of time for the first day of New York City’s Advertising Week, struggling web portal AOL Inc., made headway to take a jump on attention getting news with its latest endeavor to build a better advertising business. AOL said it has officially unveiled a new online advertising system codenamed — “Project Devil,” which essentially seeks to blow…

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Microsoft’s Bing Releases Updated App For iPhone With Travel, Maps Features

If you love the iPhone but you are a Microsoft fan at heart, you are certainly already familiar with the Bing app for iPhone. In its attempt to keep the Bing for Mobile iPhone app head-to-head in the swiftly evolving mobile OS space, Redmond-based software maker on Monday released yet another update for the iPhone and iPod Touch to version 1.3, enhancing the…

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Google Warns Gmail Users Of Hacking Attempts From China

US search engine giant Google is dispatching automated warnings to alert some of its Gmail users about attempts in China to access personal e-mail accounts from Internet addresses, according to a report by Threatpost.com. Recently, a number of users have been experiencing a glaring red banner popping up when they accessed their Gmail account, saying…

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AOL Officially Scoops Up Influential TechCrunch, Adds To Tech Blog Stable

AOL Inc. chief executive Tim Armstrong on Tuesday confirmed that his company has scooped up the technology blog TechCrunch Inc., one of the most influential blogs in Silicon Valley, for an undisclosed sum, adding it to their arsenal of content sites that range from the gadget blog Engadget to local news site Patch.com…

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Microsoft Scraps Windows Live Spaces, Taps WordPress

Microsoft on Monday announced that it is scrapping its aging Windows Live Spaces blogging technology and has instead forged alliance with WordPress to move the millions of blogs hosted its blog publishing platform, which will be closed, the companies announced

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Amazon Debuts “Kindle For The Web” App In Beta

Hot on the heels of announcing that it will have a Kindle app for the upcoming Blackberry PlayBook tablet, Amazon on Tuesday moved forward in its attempt to cover-all-the-bases approach to digital books online with the test launch of a new product called Kindle for the Web. The new program will allow users to access e-books through the browser without having to download the content…

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Google Reportedly Acquires Schedule Management Startup Plannr

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, search engine behemoth Google continues its frantic acquisition pace, this time scooping up Seattle, Washington-based mobile schedule management startup Plannr, touting social scheduling solutions for platforms including Apple’s iPhone, and interesting the company was just launched in August…

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