If you saw the post from the Google Analytics Blog this morning announcing the updated user interface and thought that was all they had up their sleeves—you’re wrong. The UI is just the updated wrapping to go with major upgrades coming to Google Analytics in the coming weeks. (Update: the official announcement.)
Google-Yahoo Deal Delayed
A report surfaced yesterday saying the Googel-Yahoo ad deal was effectively toast. That was according to an unnamed lawyer present at a meeting between the Dept. of Justice and attorneys for the companies. But the companies’ official public response is that the (waiting) game is still on.
Google CEO Denies Interest In Government Job
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been on the campaign trail stumping for Barack Obama, virtually formalizing his “informal campaign advisor” role, a suddenly very public endorsement that fueled speculation about a possible cabinet position, specifically Obama’s proposed tech czar.
Google Expands Geolocation API to WiFi
Google announced that they have expanded the Google Gears Geolocation API to include WiFi compatibility. Previously, it was only available for mobile phones. It is set up so that applications using the API can find WiFi networks within 200m.
Experiments In Google Quality Scores
A lot has been made about quality scores for Google ads. Rated on a scale of 1 to 10 per keyword targeted, the quality score is the ultimate determinant of ad placement on the search results. As webmasters experiment, tips for how to achieve a perfect 10 are emerging in the forums.
Google Executives Bound For Obama Administration?
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, to no one’s surprise, officially endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President, a “natural evolution” from his current informal campaign advisor role. Though he says it’s a personal thing, and not an official Google endorsement, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Googler stumping for the other side.
Google Apps And Gmail Problems Resurface
Some people check their email once an hour. Others, every five minutes. But a recent Google Apps outage made a number of accounts inaccessible for around 30 hours, and a prominent blogger had his account disabled to boot.
Google Actively Seeking Testimonials From Advertisers?
Search Giant Google is apparently doing a little searching of its own – for support of it’s proposed advertising deal with Yahoo that is. TechCrunch tells about one of their readers (who advertises with both Google and Yahoo) getting a call from a lawyer representing Google and asking them to provide a public testimonial as to why they think the Google-Yahoo deal would be a good idea.
Google Helps Find Missing Links
It’s been said links are the currency of the Web, and an honest-gotten inbound link is like a tip for good work. Locating broken inbound links, then—links attempted but because of an error don’t connect with a page on your site—is like an opportunity to locate missing money.
Google Up, Up and Away
For another straight month, Google has gained in search share. At this point you wonder why one bothers measuring by the month. How about for the 15th (at least) straight quarter Google has gained in search share? How about for the fourth straight year, Google has gained in search share? I’m not sure about that last statement. I’ve only been covering search for three and a half years. You know how many months during that time Yahoo has beaten Google in search share? Not a one. Microsoft? Ha!