Google Makes YouTube Audio, Video Searchable

Fastest-growing US search term in 2007

(NEWSER) - The iPhone topped Google’s list of fastest-growing search terms this year, reports Reuters. "iPhone, of course, is a word very few people typed in a search box in 2006,” said a Google rep. “It didn’t exist.” The list was dominated by social networking and celebrity terms.

1. iPhone
2. Webkinz
3. TMZ

Imagemakers offer services to improve web persona and dodge bloggers

(NEWSER) - If your first hit on Google feels like a mafia hit, don't despair. Firms like ReputationDefender and Reputation Management offer clients an enhanced image on the top search engine by creating links, sites, YouTube videos, and MySpace profiles that promote positive Google results, and lower the pageranks of defamatory comments. More»

Ray William Johnson's one-man show has 1.5 billion views

(NEWSER) - Sure, it's full of keyboard cats and double rainbows, but these days, YouTube is also a serious moneymaking machine. YouTube star Ray William Johnson is showcasing the medium's potential: With more than a billion total views, he's making about $1 million a year through his clips, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal . Thanks to a twice-weekly show that gets 5 million regular viewers, the comedian—who mocks other popular YouTube clips—currently boasts the site's biggest audience. He goes by RayWJ. More»

Why Mat Honan is switching to Bing

(NEWSER) - Don't look now, but Bing just became the best search engine—purely because Google shot itself in the foot. Google this week launched its " Search, Plus Your World " overhaul, which deeply integrates Google+ into your results. "Long story short: It's a huge step backwards," writes Mat Honan at Gizmodo . Some people are crying "anti-trust," since the change favors Google services over Facebook and Twitter, but who cares? "Boo-hoo. I only care if it hurts me," Honan writes. "And this does. Google broke itself." More»

Integration of Google+ content sparks backlash

(NEWSER) - Google's latest search revamp is a blow to both privacy and competition, critics complain. The search giant is integrating search results with content from its Google+ social network, meaning searchers will soon see results from content they have shared with friends as well as from the wider Internet, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Your world was missing from search until now," a Google exec says. "We are bringing your world into search." More»