Several reports today suggest that Google will formally announce their departure from the Chinese market on Monday. This means that effective as of April 10th, China could well be one of the few Google-free zones.
Whilst heavy handed state censorship in China is a way of life, clearly Google are no longer prepared to play ball. Their ongoing feud with the communist nation’s leadership regarding the hacking of accounts and removal of content looks set to come to a juddering halt on Monday, with the announcement that they are to withdraw from the market.
The row initially kicked off in January [see: Google Threatens China Walkout], when Google allowed access to censored information following a breach of security. The attacks were supposedly carried out from two Chinese schools; a claim that China’s Government refutes. Regardless of the whys and wherefores, this caused a rupture in the already fragile relationship between Google and China; a rupture that now looks to be terminal.
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The much feted Google Caffeine update is a little behind schedule, with extensive testing still ongoing. Currently live on just one datacentre, a global release is still a little way off. But could Europe be next to get it?
Whilst discussing the latest news and issues surrounding Google with WebProNews, Matt Cutts suggested (although was at pains to affirm that it wasn’t official) that the next ‘data centre to be hit’ might be Europe. This could well mean that we could finally see what all the fuss is about on these shores.
Caffeine represents a new and improved Google. It relies on exceptionally quick data centres providing results almost instantaneously. But it isn’t just about faster results. Indexing and crawling are also getting turbo-charged. There’s no visible change for those visiting Google, just a more comprehensive list of results in double-quick time.
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PubSubHubbub, otherwise referred to simply as PuSH, is the real-time search engine publishing tool developed by Google. Announced a little over half-a-year ago, PubSubHubbub could finally about to revolutionise content distribution.
When PubSubHubbub was announced [see: What is PubSubHubbub?], it was seen as a new, real-time way to distribute content. Whilst Google Buzz, Wave and the Caffeine update may have taken the spotlight in the interim, it appears that PubSubHubbub (PuSH) is ready to come out of the darkness.
The principle is simple. Content distributors automatically fire their latest blog post, news story or update to a hub. This hub then redistributes to subscribers in real-time. The whole process is automated and is complete in seconds. It is a great win-win situation. Content gets wider distribution to targeted traffic streams. Readers get instant updates, reducing search time. What could be easier?
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With Google facing an antitrust investigation in Europe, the question of search neutrality has once again raised its ugly head. But can search engines really be regulated?
Google’s alleged fiddling of search engine rankings for Microsoft associates Foundem and Ciao! have landed them in some pretty hot water. With a European antitrust case pending, the issue of search neutrality and monopolising of the search/advertising market is in the spotlight.
On their European Public Policy blog, Google have been quick to defend its actions. Yesterday, under the title of ‘This stuff is tough‘ Amit Singhal (a Google Fellow) explained just how complex it is to regulate and maintain a search engine. This was in response not only to the pending court action, but also an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times by Adam Raff, co-founder of Foundem.
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Following yesterday’s guilty verdict for three Google executives accused of breaching privacy laws in the Italian courts, will sites now have to be more accountable for the content that they host?
This could well prove to be a landmark ruling in the history of the Internet. The air of invincibility surrounding content hosts has been well and truly shattered. With high ranking executives being handed suspended jail sentences, any lethargy towards removing illegal or damaging content on sites has been forcibly quashed with one drop of a judge’s gavel.
But who exactly is accountable for content? Should the executives bear the brunt for something they’ve (most likely) never had any prior knowledge of? Should there be more blocks in place to ensure that any content that is deemed offensive or goes against the terms of use never sees the light of day, or at the very least, is removed quickly?
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The tit-for-tat battle between Google and Microsoft could be heading to the European courts after it was announced that the former is now the subject of an antitrust investigation. This news comes as three executives are found guilty of invading privacy in Italy.
An initial complaint from consumer review site Ciao in Germany has now spilled over to Brussels and the halls of the European Commission. The antitrust probe has been launched following complaints from Foundem, ejustice.fr and the aforementioned Ciao.
As with most antitrust suits, it relates to Google supposedly using, or perhaps abusing their market dominance in the fields of search and search advertising. However, this is far from coincidental. Microsoft now own Ciao, even renaming it ‘Ciao from Bing’, and have a fair stake in the ICOMP (Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace) member, Foundem. This certainly looks like a shot across the bows from Microsoft, an attempt to derail the juggernaut-like progress of Google.
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Google offer far more than just a search engine. They have become a driving force in online innovation, developing some exceptional tools and programmes along the way. Here, we take a look at some of the most significant of these.
Google AdWords
This is Google’s Pay per Click platform. It provides site owners the opportunity to advertise their site within specific search terms on Google’s SERPs. Within AdWords you will also find the Keyword Tool, which will highlight potential phrases and the competition levels you face. Perfect for websites looking to get additional exposure.
Google Alerts
Get the latest updates in any field delivered straight to your inbox. Alerts scrapes Google News for stories that contain your requested keywords and phrases, then sends the information and links to your email account.
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Google are to launch a new social media tool that will be bolted on to their Gmail service. But has Buzz got enough to compete with Facebook and Twitter?
With the social media bandwagon continuing to gather momentum, Google have now thrown their hat in the ring. Not satisfied with integrating Twitter updates in their SERPs or introducing Social Search [see: Google's Social Search Adds Further Personalisation to SERPs], they are now getting in on the action with a new platform of their own – Google Buzz.
But with Twitter and Facebook seemingly cornering the market, is there really enough room for Buzz to get take a slice? Conventional logic would suggest not, but this is Google.
It would take a brave man to suggest that a Google product will fall flat on its face, and I’m certainly not going to buck that trend. But Buzz does have an uphill challenge. Facebook is the king of social media. With 350 million users and the second largest traffic stream (behind Google.com) of an individual domain, there is undoubtedly healthy competition out there.
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Some call Google a monopoly, others one of the most innovative companies in the online technologies sector pushing forward the progress of the Internet. The one thing that can’t be argued though is that it is the most popular website in the world, and with it, the most used search engine. So is their dominance having a negative effect on the Internet?
Google as a company and an entity has grown so rapidly in such a (relatively) short period of time. Today, as it has been for some years in truth, the company name is the byword for online search. We don’t simply look for information, products and services any more, we ‘Google them’.
Their encroachment into the day-to-day language has helped the brand grow and the search engine develop. With an 80% share of the lucrative search market, as well as developing their own operating system, Internet browser and mobile phone amongst many other things, Google have gradually expanded their influence and gone far beyond the parameters of their original business. So the big question is, has this growth had a positive or negative effect on the Internet?
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Google have been developing their Social Search profile for a few months now. Last week we finally saw the emergence of their latest endeavours, a new element within their blended results featuring related messages from your online social circle.
Social Search is now going to appear as an option within Google’s search results. Essentially it works by pooling the public information shared by your online friends and will show those that include the keywords used – in order of relevance of course.
So how does Google know who I’m friends with?
Well, the Social Search element will only appear for those who have a Google profile and are signed in. It collates the data from the links that you voluntarily supply. For example, your Google profile might include Facebook, Twitter and Gmail, with links to each of your related accounts. Google can then reach in and grab your public information – i.e. your friends or contacts list – and include them within your social circle – ready for Social Search integration.
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Google have now just launched a ‘fun’ quiz aimed at Webmasters.
If you are responsible for a website, have an interest in SEO or just simply want to know a bit more about what Google look for, this 40 question quiz should help.
Just make sure you follow the instructions at the end to save or print at the end before pressing submit. It has been known for individuals not to do this, lose their data and have to repeat the test in its entirety…
Take the Google Webmaster Quiz Online
Our in-house SEO Copywriter, Steve Logan, recently made an excellent post that explored the importance of spelling and grammar, with particular reference to writing for the web (see ‘The Typos and Language Errors that Turn Visitors Away).
Another consideration content writers and search engine optimisers need to have is for the use of synonyms in their writing. For some time now, Google have been showing synonyms bolded in the search results for stemming variants, such as the plural of a word, e.g. the searcher enters ‘picture’ but ‘pictures’ is also shown in bold. More…
The scale of the devastation in Haiti has taken the wider world by surprise. Efforts to coordinate aid and generating funds though have come in some unusual guises.
Google, a search engine with the world’s information at its fingertips, has been quick to develop ways for loved ones to contact one another on the beleaguered Caribbean nation. Using the Google Crisis Response page for Haiti, they have provided a specialist ‘Person Finder’, in which people looking for their loved ones or have information about people can share details. This database may be simple, but it will undoubtedly come as an invaluable resource for families attempting to make contact.
The page also includes a number of ways to make donations, primarily through Google Checkout, as well as information on the latest news. Google Earth has been put to good use with specialist GeoEye imagery of the affected areas following the earthquake itself. Interestingly Google have also opened up Google Voice, allowing those calling to or from Haiti – where communication systems have been hugely damaged – to do so for free.
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Google have always had a strained relationship with China. With Government censorship rife and state search engine Baidu more popular with users, it has been a difficult market for the Internet giant to crack.
Today Google have announced that they will no longer be self-censoring their results (as evidenced by the hugely controversial inclusion of the illegal image of the ‘Tank Man’ in the Tiananmen Square protests) and are considering a full withdrawal from the Chinese market.
This unprecedented move comes in the wake of user accounts being hacked from within the country; whilst not openly accusing the Government, Google clearly take this violation of its users’ information extremely seriously, so much so that they can afford to walk away from one of the most lucrative, or at least potentially lucrative, world markets.
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In terms of the Internet environment, the noughties were dominated by one company, Google. But will this decade be any different?
Google have laid their cards on the table pretty early in this new decade (okay, officially it’s not actually the new decade yet, but for all intents and purposes…) unveiling their brand new smartphone, the Google Nexus. Chrome, their Internet browser is now the third most popular (just ahead of rival, Apple) and Google Goggles looks set to revolutionise mobile search. Not bad after just over a week.
However, it’s not all plain sailing. The French Government have announced that they intend to tax online advertising in the country, worth an estimated £720 million, taking vital revenue from Google as well as their rivals. Of course that is only a proposal, but it does perhaps highlight a potential fallibility in the search giant; along with the somewhat lukewarm reception for their Nexus phone from industry professionals, maybe Google are aiming too high and 2010 might be the year that their rivals close in.
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