Google Blogoscoped

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Google Meme Observatory

“All your memes are belong to us” – the Google Meme Observatory tracks memes via Google (this doesn’t look like it’s automated in any way).

PI Search Engine

Talk about special purpose search engines. If you ever wonder if your seven-digit phone number appears in PI, wonder no more: the PI Phone Number Search Engine is waiting.

Spyware AdSense

“Companies that make spyware are actually advertising on Google for “anti-spyware” keywords. So, you’ll get hit with even more spyware.”
Scoble, quoting Chad Lind, January 25, 2005 [Via Nathan Weinberg.]

Google Blogger’s Back

Mark Jen, the Google blogger I reported on yesterday, is back up with his content (case adjusted, emphasis mine):

“I goofed and put some stuff up on my blog that’s not supposed to be there. Nothing serious and they didn’t ask me to take anything down (even the stuff where I’m critical about the company). I’m learning that Google is understandably careful about disclosing sensitive information, even vague financial-related things. The quickest way for me to fix the situation at the time was to take it all down. (..) Google was pretty cool about all this.

So what’s missing in the blog’s revised version? RC compared old with new.

The Googlebox

“And what’s to stop [Google] at the operating system level? What about a Googlebox? An actual machine.

Since all the X86 computers are essentially generic machines made in China, why wouldn’t Google leverage its brand name and roll out the Google X1 – the “computer for the X-Generation!” It could probably get an Apple-like premium for such a machine and load it up with proprietary software too.”
– John C. Dvorak, ’Plan 9’ from Google (MarketWatch), Jan. 26, 2005 [Via World 2 Come]

Brin’s Video Quote of 2004

Last year, Google Co-founder Sergey Brin spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos and ruled out video search (part 1, part 2):

“Q: Do you see delivering videos eventually?

Brin: I’m sure we will eventually have them. You know the issue of video, and this is actually something that deserves media attention. It doesn’t work very well. There are these fights between different standards. Like what are the odds if you have a video file, it’s actually going to play a [on your software]?

Q: Just download all the players.

Brin: I don’t know. I had the situation you had. If you download all the players, it is a lot of effort. Different computers don’t all have the latest version of Media Player and Real and QuickTime and all the way to Kodak... But they serve over at each other in funny ways. You end up with the wrong thing playing. So I think there is a real issue. And even if you do have the right player it’s really slow. Like the buffer [disruptions].”

Did Google change their minds? So far, we can’t tell. Google Video, as Jeremy Zawodny puts it, is “like video search, without the video.”

Nofollow Spam?

We didn’t have to wait long to see “nofollow” being abused. Fexweb* is a web directory, and if I’m not mistaken it heavily leans to the spam-side – it’s the kind of directory which gets backlinks from “RefinanceMortgageCompany.com” and sells “Grape Seed Extract.”

Now here’s what must be new: all outgoing directory content links have a “nofollow” added to them, while all internal shopping links stay normal. I’m not exactly sure how the webmaster intends to benefit from using “nofollow” here; possibly, he wants to focus the Googlejuice onto internal links only (though that begs the question why he created a link collection in the first place, instead of e.g. dummy content). [Thanks Adam M.]

*Of course, I’m linking to this directory using “nofollow” myself.

HyperPopup

Enter any URL into the HyperPop Engine, and you will be able to hover over every word to mark all occurrences of it with a specific color. This might make for an interesting Firefox extension.

Venture Capitalist John Doerr (Audio)

Over at ITConversations, you can find an immensely interesting interview with early Google investor John Doerr at the Web 2.0 conference from back in October 2004. Main focus of the talk is Google, future markets, political online activism, and how to deal with the problem of expanding into countries which restrict freedom of speech.

Google Advertises "Slaves"

It looks like Google should really start cleaning up their AdSense alleys. The latest blunder in a series of mistakes is an advertisement for “African Slaves” on eBay. Or should we say they aren’t responsible for ads, like they aren’t responsible for search results (in the sense that they don’t monitor people providing the content)?

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