In a recent update, Google has added a new feature to its personalized homepage that might signal a focused effort to snatch another one of Yahoo’s strongholds away. By allowing users to give their Google homepage a more artistic look and feel, the company is sending a clear message that it wants to become the primary portal for everyone’s Internet experience.
Google Loves A Tasty Blogroll
Judging by a patent application filed by Google for ranking blog search, one of the three things a blog should have is a blogroll, and being included in some high-quality ones will help too.
How Does Google Rank Your Blog?
Google has filed a patent application for ranking blogs using measures of quality, and Bill Slawski at SEO by the Sea has an excellent summary of the key factors. The quality factors fall into both positive and negative categories:
NCAA Hoops, Celebrity Deaths Top Google Searches
The top Google searches from the past week carry a sobering dichotomy of elation and sorrow as information seekers sought to join in the celebration of March Madness as well as take part in mourning the suicides of actor/comedian Richard Jeni and former Boston frontman Brad Delp.
Google Gives Apps To Rwanda, Kenya
Google has a habit of showing up where you least expect it; from a hub in Ireland to server farms in North Carolina, the company isn’t afraid to venture out of its Mountain View home. Now Google has made two new deals, and both the Rwandan Ministry of Infrastructure and the Kenya Education Network should benefit from its willingness to travel.
Resurrect Jeeves, Ask How Not To Slam Google
Here’s the thing about boldness: you’d better have the chops to back it up. While Ask.com’s anti-Google guerrilla marketing campaign in London’s Underground was outed in record time, indexing of its own campaign site was even close to a record.
Background
Ads appearing in the Tube encouraged bystanders to fight Google’s "information monopoly."
Google Maps Integrated Into Media Platform
Reality Digital, a media sharing and social community solutions for businesses, has integrated its digital media-hosting platform, Reality Digital Opus and Google Maps. This allows users to find the geographic location of videos uploaded to Opus.
In Game Advertising: Google Acquires Adscape
Continuing it’s efforts toward exerting advertising dominance within the Web 2.0 sphere, Google has announced the acquisition of Adscape, a small San Francisco based advertising firm that specializes in developing integrated in-game advertising for an assortment of clients.
Comcast Flirts With Microsoft, Teases Google
Just as AT&T wants to leverage a better deal with Yahoo over their co-branded services, Comcast would like to parlay its broadband customer base into a bigger chunk of the search advertising revenue pie.
Google Seeks “Flexibility” Through Trendalyzer
For a while, they just came one after another – it seemed like Google was acquiring other companies at the rate of at least one per day. Now the pace has slowed, but a few hours ago, the search engine company announced another acquisition. This time, Google has taken on not a company, but a piece of software known as “Trendalyzer.”
Marissa Mayer herself (Google’s “VP Search Products & User Experience,” in case you didn’t know) wrote the blog entry announcing the event and explaining the software.