google

Yahoo is to follow Google's leads in highlight potential security risks in sites which show up in its search results. There are several differences between the two systems. Google highlights the most serious cases -- sites which exploit flaws in ... browser software and automatically download viruses -- with a warning. In Yahoo's case, the sites will automatically be deleted from the list of results. Yahoo will also highlight pages which appear to include downloads which are likely to include viruses, spyware (programmes which collect information from a user's computer without their knowledge) ... (view more)

Google now has a secret weapon in the ongoing fight against irrelevant image results: VisualRank. VisualRank is basically an algorithm that blends image-recognition software methods with techniques for weighing and ranking images that look similar. ... You are sitting in front of a computer screen, relieved to have finished a lengthy term paper on wild animals. You decide that adding a picture of a jaguar would be a nifty way to give your title page some flare. You connect to an image search engine and type "jaguar" in the designated box. Suddenly, your screen fills with images of automobiles, ... (view more)

Google Website Optimizer Website Optimizer, Google's free website testing and optimization tool, allows you to increase the value of your existing websites and traffic without spending a cent. Using Website Optimizer to test and optimize site ... content and design, you can quickly and easily increase revenue whether you're new to marketing or an expert. http://www.google.com/websiteoptimizer Auto Context Auto Context is a Firefox extension that will open a customized popup menu when you select a text. https://addons.mozilla.org/ (view more)

Google App Engine Run your web applications on Google's infrastructure with App Engine. Applications are easy to build, easy to maintain, and easy to scale as your traffic and data storage needs grow. With App Engine, there are no servers to ... maintain: You just upload your application, and it's ready to serve your users. http://code.google.com/ Unhider Unhider is just as it sounds: a small utility meant to help hide or display any window on your desktop clearly and easily. http://www.softdesigner.com/ (view more)

A program originally designed to block pirated videos on YouTube will now assist tracking child predators on the web. The technology, developed by Google, will help the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in reviewing 13 ... million images of abuse. (Source: reuters.com ) A key component of the new program has been described as "finger-printing technology". Google has been advocating the measure as a standard to combat web-based video piracy. "The program uses pattern recognition and will work even if the pattern has been modified," technology analyst Larry Magid told the ... (view more)

Is "racial profiling" the best way to compete with Google? It would seem that InterActive Corp (Nasdaq: IACI), the owner of Ask.com, thinks so. The company has introduced a new search engine site called Rushmoredrive.com to provide more relevant ... search information for the African-American searcher. The new search engine was created using behavioral targeting techniques. Researchers analyzed the results of the most popular search terms used in geographic areas that have large black populations. The site then catalogues the 'click-throughs' from those results to determine the sites of most ... (view more)

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is reportedly poised to join Microsoft in its bid to takeover Yahoo. The talks between News Corporation and Microsoft are hush-hush, but insiders say an eventual deal might see Murdoch chip in some cash for the ... takeover and hand over his Interactive Media division, which owns MySpace. That could mean MySpace, the MSN network, and the Yahoo search engine would all be owned by the same group. Yahoo had already been talking with News Corporation themselves, but only in the hope of forming a partnership. They are trying to avoid the type of complete takeover ... (view more)

Google has given 10,000 developers free access to its servers to test and run new applications. The Google App Engine is a service by which developers can write their own applications; in effect, online programs. It's the same system Google uses for ... its own online services, including a calendar and a photo gallery. It's considered a challenge to similar services from Amazon, which rents out server space. Servers are the computers that physically store and run online programs and web pages. Many individuals and small firms find it cheaper to rent server space rather than buy and maintain their ... (view more)

On April 5, Microsoft sent Yahoo an ultimatum to enter buyout negotiations or suffer a prolonged proxy contest for control. Less than 48 hours later, Microsoft received a response: sweeten the offer. Refuting Microsoft's claims that Yahoo was ... avoiding a takeover offer and that shareholders were interested in an agreement with Microsoft, CEO Jerry Yang wrote, "Contrary to statements in your letter, stockholders representing a significant portion of our outstanding shares have indicated to us that your proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo." (Source: shareholder.com ) However, Yang is not ... (view more)

Google displayed its sense of humor Tuesday, April 1st, and avid Goolge fans unwittingly went along for the ride. As bleary-eyed computer users around the world opened their Gmail accounts that morning, they were greeted with a hyperlink in red: ... 'New! Gmail Custom Time'. The link led to a page describing how users could now change the time stamp on 10 emails per year! The limit had been decided through a bizarre formula that took into account important factors such as 'Average Life Expectancy', 'Probability that users believe the time stamp' and something called the 'Golden Ratio'. (Source: ... (view more)