12 updates to read over a lazy weekend.
This week started off fairly quiet in the search news world, but the last two days have been pounded with stories. Here’s a roundup of news we couldn’t quite get to:
Wired did an expose on Google’s algorithm.
Xerox sued Google and Yahoo over search patents.
YouTube introduced a new playlist interface, enabled an add-to-queue feature in search, and integrated video comments with text comments.
Facebook patented their News Feed.
Google Ad Planner is now DoubleClick Ad Planner in the wake of the announcement of DoubleClick for Publishers.
Tell us your favorite search engine for Olympic information.
Recently we took screenshots and compared search results on Oscar nominations and the Super Bowl. This time, we’re fueling the flame of the search wars by looking at results for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Last night’s ladies figure skating was epic, so that’s the term used for this competition. Take a look at the screenshots (click to enlarge for better view) and then leave your score for artistic and technical impressions in the comments below:
The other day I reported on how Google and Bing are competing for attention when it comes to querying the Winter Olympics, which begin TODAY in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Since then, we’ve gotten word about other search and social efforts related to the Games.
Yahoo! is providing a Shortcut to info on Winter Olympics events and athletes.
Facebook has fan pages, an official minigame, and a photo sharing effort.
MapQuest’s Business Locator has decorated the hometowns of Winter Olympics athletes with symbol of the Olympic Torch.
Tell us which search results you prefer for professional football’s biggest day.
The other day we checked out what search engines did the best job of relaying timely information on Oscar nominations. Now, we’re taking a look at how the search engines are handling the Superbowl. We’re also comparing them to social media sites for good measure and fun times.
Browse the screenshots below. (Click on an image to view a larger size.) Then tell us who you think scored a touchdown on Superbowl search results by leaving a comment below.
Yahoo! is rolling out their monthly search algorithm change. You might notice some shakeup in the rankings as a result. This will take place over the next few days.
Yahoo! alerted the search community to the update via a typically brief and vague message on their Search Marketing blog:
The Yahoo! Search engineering teams are rolling out updates to crawling, indexing, and ranking algorithms. Similar to previous updates, you may notice some ranking changes and page shuffling during the process, which we expect to complete over the next few days.
When it comes to teaching machines how to understand human languages, one of the key ingredients is synonyms. Yet what is easy for humans to understand is difficult for machines to grasp.
Search engines are making progress, and Google feels they’ve made enough progress to make a significant adjustment to their results. Synonyms are now bolded in some search results, just like the keywords from the search phrase are.
Google says this will only happen when their algorithms determine its “useful and important to bold.” It’s as vague as it sounds.
Every January, journalists, bloggers and other industry folk take to their respective blogs and publications to predict what may happen in the New Year. Search is no exception to such speculation.
We compiled a list of five predictions for search in 2010 and asked experts to weigh in on whether they think those predictions will play out.
1. John Battelle – Google will make a corporate decision to become seen as a software brand rather than as “just a search engine.”
Pat Duncan, Associate Partner in Rosetta’s Consumer Products & Retail vertical
For about a year now, I’ve been saying that Apple should get in the search game. Now business analysts are beginning to agree and experts are pondering the possibility.
Per Business Week
Some analysts believe the Apple-Google battle is likely to get much rougher in the months ahead. Ovum’s Yarmis thinks Apple may soon decide to dump Google as the default search engine on its devices, primarily to cut Google off from mobile data that could be used to improve its advertising and Android technology. Jobs might cut a deal with–gasp!–Microsoft to make Bing Apple’s engine of choice, or even launch its own search engine, Yarmis says. “I fully expect [Apple] to do something in search,” he adds. “If there’s all these advertising dollars to be won, why would it want Google on its iPhones?”
On CNN’s iReport, they’ve set up a page to help people look for and find loved ones in Haiti. Thankfully, they’ve added a search function to make the process much easier.
It’s kind of slow and you may get error pages – likely due to timing out. There are probably so many people trying to use the tool, it’s going to take awhile to get your info.
Also, it will automatically add in the words “haiti earthquake” to your search query. This is likely due to the need to filter down the search to relevant pages – as iReport involves information beyond the Haiti earthquake.
The AOL/Google search partnership agreement is ending this year and according to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong the company will be looking for the best possible deal, though Google will get “firsts dibs”, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Initial reports had Armstrong stating the new partnership was open to the highest bidder, but the Wall Street Journal updated their online story to state that Google had “first dibs” – suggesting there was an option in the previous deal with Google.
Microsoft is interested in the partnership to increase its market share and AOL could “get the same economics from a new deal”, Armstrong said according to WJS.com.
