Google

In the beginning, there was Yahoo, Lycos, and even a little search engine 'that could,' called AltaVista. While each offered varying abilities in crawling the web, none could quite match the rise of Google. And although its roots were only modest, ... Google's impressive search capabilities quickly rocketed it to the top of the web, with the power to control the rise and fall of companies vying for space in the Internet community. Now, less than a year after buying YouTube, Google is flexing its muscle again, buying advertising firm DoubleClick for an astounding $3.1 billion. The sheer value of ... (view more)

Google has recently added a new feature to Google Maps. MyMaps, an added sidebar to the Google Maps main page, allows users to create their own mashups. Users can personalize a map by marking places on the map or adding text, photos and videos. ... Further, users can choose to publish a map on the web or share a map with friends. (Source: franticindustries.com ) Some have elected to create mini-stories with the new feature. A Google employee even created a virtual tour of Google Headquarters with MyMaps. If you prefer, check out a world tour of the places where programming languages were invented ... (view more)

If you were getting bored with the lack of juicy gossip in the tech world, don't worry: there's a new Google rumor making waves. Ex-entrepreneur and technology buff Simeon Simeonov has posted a blog giving his two cents on what he thinks is Google's ... next move: the Google Phone. He purports that Andy Rubin, former founder of the company Danger, is working with a group of 100 Google staff members to develop the phone. (Source: theinquirer.net ) Simeonov also points out that Google has been slowly acquiring mobile-centric companies. Reqwireless, Inc., which produces mobile applications, and Skia ... (view more)

Although Google pulled the plug on its Google Answers service in November, not everyone who worked on the project was quite as willing to toss their service in the trash. A group of researchers who worked on the Google Answers project have decided ... to reincarnate the service into a similar one called Uclue. Uclue is definitely reminiscent of Google Answers. It allows users to ask a question and set a price, ranging from $5 to $250, in return for having their question answered. Although Google eliminated Google Answers when the service failed to rake in solid traffic, the researchers who worked ... (view more)

Massively popular search engine Google has been diversifying its interests as of late. Previously known only for its ability to transfer the user to the most relevant websites in a query, Google expanded into the interactive mainstream last year by ... purchasing YouTube.com for more than a billion dollars. And if that wasn't enough to show the might of the almighty Goo, the company recently released its own "gadget" web tools, designed to offer Internet services similar to Vista's operating system helpers. Now, it appears major tech company IBM wants to use Google's tools for business use. ... (view more)

Google will be taking its applications in a new direction soon: the company will begin charging business for the use of its set of apps, known as "Google Apps for Your Domain." The package includes G-mail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Page ... Creator, a start page, and will soon include Google Doc's word processing and spreadsheet applications. Google has said that they have been flooded with requests from business wanting to use these services -- and it hasn't just been small companies itching for Google Apps. Disney, Pixar, and the University of Arizona have also shown interest in ... (view more)

Do a quick search for Google here at Infopackets, and you'll be amazed at all of the different ventures the company is involved in. And, even though the buzz is currently centered on Windows Vista, Google has managed to keep itself strongly in the ... news. The latest: it appears that the search engine giant is looking to branch out into a new frontier -- video game and television advertising. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is looking to purchase Adscape Media, Inc. -- a company that puts advertising into video games. It could be a response to Microsoft's purchase of Massive Inc ... (view more)

An influx of online videos is expected to infiltrate the Internet following Google's recent announcement that the YouTube video library will now be a major part of their search index. Whatever the topic, Google search results will attempt to yield ... the most appropriate match from their YouTube database. If the user wishes to watch the video, they just simply click the "video" tab feature that will accompany the web result. The videos will not appear as web results themselves. (Source: mediainfocenter.org ) Representatives from Google Inc. commented on the recent changes to their search engine ... (view more)

Pranskers beware. Google has made what it says is a "pretty small" change to the way it indexes websites for its search results in an attempt to prevent 'Googlebombing.' (Source: betanews.com ) Googlebombing (also known as linkbombing) is a prank ... where many people link the same keyword to a specific website in order for that website to appear at the top of search results. For example, a search for "miserable failure" would return a website on George W. Bush. (Source: citizen-times.com ) Although there are less than 100 well-known googlebombs, Google has decided to remove these bombs using an ... (view more)

When investment firm J.P. Morgan Securities conducted a survey of online shopping habits, they found that Google Checkout has already snatched 6% of the market share despite only being open for eight months. Despite initial results, Google should ... not be celebrating. The survey also found that Google Checkout significantly lags PayPal in terms of customer satisfaction, a hindrance that could likely cripple the company's market share. (Source: arstechnica.com ) Google's quick market penetration is attributed to the company's offering of discounts and rebates. Unfortunately, Google has failed in ... (view more)