Keeping users on site by enabling links to Netflix, Craigslist is goal
San Francisco Chronicle Sep 12, 08 12:04 PM CDT
(Newser)
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After struggling through months of takeover battles and sagging stock prices, Yahoo says it’s working to become a web destination for users rather than simply a jumping-off point, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It plans to add third-party content and newly developed applications on a new Yahoo home page, allowing users to access sites like Netflix without leaving.
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Step in possible antitrust case against Internet giants
Wall Street Journal Sep 9, 08 9:39 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Justice Department has hired a top lawyer to review a possible antitrust case against the Google-Yahoo advertising deal, which would give the companies control of 80% of web search ads, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sanford Litvack, a former Disney vice-chairman, was Jimmy Carter’s antitrust chief. While officials have been deposing witnesses and collecting documents for weeks, it’s not yet certain they'll go to court.
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OPINION
He finds dependence stunningly strong
Washington Post Sep 7, 08 10:31 AM CDT
(Newser)
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On the tenth anniversary of Google, Colbert Report writer Rob Dubbin attempts to avoid using the Internet behemoth for 24 hours—and finds its tentacles impossible to escape. He discovers "deeper" dependence than expected, "encompassing personal use" and the "nested dependencies of people and institutions surrounding me"—a "harrowing" discovery. "The blue 'G' found a way to surprise me around corners, grinning like some horrible fanged maw," he details in his diary.
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Chrome 28% slower than Firefox 3.1 on XP
TechCrunch Sep 4, 08 12:07 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The next version of Firefox will be faster than Google's Chrome, the fastest browser out there, Mozilla said today, according to TechCrunch. Chrome is 28% slower on XP and 16% slower on Vista than Firefox 3.1, which releases this year, Mozilla claims. By using the new engine TraceMonkey, one coder says, the browser will "easily eclipse even the fastest instance of Chrome."
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'Chrome' announcement appears in comic book
Wall Street Journal Sep 1, 08 4:36 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Google will soon launch its own Web browser, called Chrome, aiming to make web surfing easier and faster, the Wall Street Journal reports. The announcement is the latest volley in the long battle between Microsoft and Google, which released the news by sending a comic book outlining Chrome's features to a blog that follows the company.
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Problems in the kitchen will send employees home for dinner
Valleywag Aug 25, 08 12:43 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Life at the Googleplex just got a little less delicious. Google is cutting back on its famously generous food benefits, taking free dinners and free snacks off the menu, Valleywag reports. It’s a surprising change, since Google has milked its cafeteria for publicity, and recently told shareholders to expect more perks for employees, not fewer.
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Giants in their respective fields, the duo will offer simplified mobile search
Wall Street Journal Aug 22, 08 1:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Verizon and Google are nearing a deal that would make Google the default search tool on Verizon mobile devices, the Wall Street Journal reports, giving a boost to the under-monetized $244-million mobile search business while setting a precedent for mobile ad revenue sharing. The deal, expected to close within weeks, will simplify mobile search for users while ending a standoff between carriers and Internet heavyweights.
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As TV goes digital, tech giants, broadcasters vie for unused space
San Jose Mercury News Aug 19, 08 9:49 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Google has launched an aggressive campaign to free up the soon-to-be-emptied "white spaces" of the TV spectrum for Internet devices and broadband access, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The spaces will open up when TV switches entirely to digital in February. Google and other tech giants are hotly disputing use of the spaces with broadcasters.
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The search-giant's Android operating system to rival Apple's
New York Times Aug 15, 08 11:05 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Google’s long-rumored Android-powered smartphone could have customers surfing the Web and chatting by as early as October, the New York Times reports. The gadget, the product of a partnership between T-Mobile and HTC, is expected to challenge Apple’s iPhone and other smartphones that offer PC-like functions as well as voice service.
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Google blames outage on internal error
Los Angeles Times Aug 12, 08 9:59 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Google's Gmail was largely inaccessible for 2 hours yesterday, as both the company and compulsive email checkers struggled to figure out what went wrong, the Los Angeles Times reports. The blackout was followed by a flurry of anxious web-chatter on the subject of the much relied-upon email service. The company later blamed the downtime on an internal outage.
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Engineer uses cameras to capture
his 'Marry Me' sign
San Jose Mercury News Aug 6, 08 5:55 PM CDT
(Newser)
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It was bound to happen: A Google software engineer has used the company's new Street View feature to propose. The self-described geek held up a "Marry Me, Leslie!" sign as the roving cameras covered his Silicon Valley neighborhood, the San Jose Mercury News reports. When the photos went online, he launched a website with his girlfriend's email address, and strangers helped him plead his case. The wedding's in May.
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Writers say Google allowed unwarranted freeze of their accounts
New York Sun Aug 5, 08 7:25 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A rash of bloggers running anti-Obama sites are charging that Google took away their soapboxes, the New York Sun reports. Many of their blogs were temporarily suspended, likely after being flagged as spam by Obama supporters. Google reactivated the conservative blogs the next day, but those involved are not satisfied with the company’s apparent lack of safeguards.
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Content sometimes generates odd associations
Associated Press Aug 4, 08 11:09 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Automatic "tagging"—the generating of related links and targeted advertising, custom-tailored to whatever the reader is browsing—is now commonplace across the web. But the young technology is not without its share of kinks. The AP examines the sometimes inexplicable, often embarrassing links served up when when human editors aren’t looking.
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Search engine giant may look to seed start ups
Wall Street Journal Jul 31, 08 10:57 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Google is planning to launch a venture capital arm, the Wall Street Journal reports, and has hired an entrepreneur who's also been an investor to head the project. Other tech firms, including Intel, Motorola, and Comcast, already have VC units. Just how big a commitment Google will make and what type of businesses it will back haven’t been revealed.
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