Views of Australia’s well-known metropolis on Google Maps have diminished in their clarity, resulting in conspiracy theories and denials from the search company.
Google Earth Won’t Get Virtual London
I’ve seen it: an amazing 3D model of London that was meant to wind up in Google Earth. Only now, due to what I’ll politely call “bureaucratic nonsense,” it won’t.
Google’s Click Fraud Bot Did Not Get The Email
At WebMasterWorld, yet another story of an AdSense publisher who was banned on suspicion of click fraud. This happens all the time (I get comments from banned publishers on random posts), but what makes this infuriating is that the publisher knew there might be a problem, emailed Google, got permission, and got screwed anyway.
StarOffice Stuffed Into Google Pack
As described by Sun, StarOffice 8 is “a full-featured office productivity suite that’s compatible with Microsoft Office at just a slice of the cost.” That “slice” is normally $70, but, thanks to Google, the software is now free – StarOffice has become available in Google Pack.
Oh No, There Goes Google Video!
Google’s nineteen-month experiment in selling online video ends in a few days, as the company shuts down Google Video and all of the videos purchased from it by consumers.
Google Testing Privacy-Enhanced Ad Serving
New privacy practices announced by Google will get a workout in a test of third-party ad serving technology.
Google Starts Shared Storage Service
Google users can boost their available storage for Gmail and Picasa Web Albums to as much as 250GB for an annual fee.
Doodle 4 Google Contest Creates Huge Response
When I first wrote about Google Australia’s Doodle 4 Google contest, I thought it was a nice idea – “nice idea” meaning a warm-fuzzies PR initiative that not a lot of people would notice. But people are noticing, and a new post on the Official Google Australia Blog quantifies the matter.
Why Google’s Walling off its News Garden
Mike Arrington notes that Google is walling off its news garden and keeping other services from spidering it.
Mike is right to point this out as hypocrisy. Google is making money off of other people’s work and wants to have some exclusivity.
Imagine if they did this with Blogger. To tell you the truth I’m very shocked Google hasn’t behaved like this earlier.
Here’s why walled gardens are important to companies (and why we hate them).
Google, Yahoo Win Spots As Top Two Brands
Google’s the best brand! Well, to be more accurate, it’s the favorite online brand. And to add still more qualifications, it’s the favorite online brand of about 36 percent of the people who took part in a JupiterResearch study.