Search

Thanks to tabloid headlines, we all know that social networks such as MySpace and Facebook can be fertile ground for sexual predators. And we have learned that information posted in the naivete of youth can come back to haunt teenagers in later years, as prospective employers and others come across them in simple Google searches.

Now, however, a much larger interested party has taken to scouring social networks in search of information: the federal government. According to this article in New Scientist, the National Security Agency "is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post … Read more

Figures on Web search in May show that Google's still on top.

ComScore Networks on Wednesday released figures that show Google gained market share for the 10th consecutive month. Google had 44 percent market share in the U.S., ahead of Yahoo at nearly 28 percent, MSN at nearly 13 percent, Time Warner's AOL at 6.7 percent and Ask.com at 5.3 percent, ComScore says.

Nielsen/NetRatings also released its latest figures on Wednesday and found that Google had 49.1 percent of all Internet searches conducted in the U.S. last month. That was followed … Read more

Bots often get a bad rap, thanks to spam and other scourges of life in cyberspace. But it's worthwhile remembering that not all Web robots are bad and, in many cases, still have noble uses. And those "well-behaved" robots have a home at Robotstxt.org.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders has issued a report finding that of the major Internet search engines operating in China, Yahoo censored more terms in a limited test it conducted.

The group used six terms, including "Falungong," "Tibet Independence" and "Democracy," and noted what the first 10 results were on the Chinese sites of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and the local Baidu.com. While there is no official published list of banned terms provided by the Chinese government, the companies are believed to follow the same general guidelines.

"While yahoo.cn censors results as strictly … Read more

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.--Does click fraud have a sense of humor?

Just type in: "earn rupees clicking ads" (or ruppies, for that matter) in a Google search box. The results turn up Google ads for a slew of businesses promoting--and likely making money from in order to advertise--the practice of fraudulently clicking on text ads in Google search results in order to inflate commissions paid to marketers.

Ironic, no doubt, but David Smith, CEO of ad-buying agency Mediasmith, said it highlights a complex and ongoing problem that the search giants won't properly divulge. Smith, who spoke at … Read more

Google's main search site at www.google.com is back online in China, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said on Friday. The company has been criticized for launching a censored version of its site for China at www.google.cn.

"Google's unblocking tends to confirm the theory that online censorship was stepped up for the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre" on June 4, the group said in statement. To circumvent censorship, Reporters Without Borders said it recommends users download DynaPass.

Google accounted for 59 percent of Web searches conducted in the United States in May, more than double the searches on Yahoo, data analysis provider Hitwise said on Thursday. Google had 59.3 percent of the searches last month, up from 58.6 percent in April, the statistics show. Meanwhile, Yahoo and MSN had 22 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively. Google's share of U.S. searches has risen slightly for the last three months, while Yahoo's and MSN's have inched down, according to Hitwise.

Google has dodged a lawsuit filed by a California man who claimed his Web site rankings precipitously and unfairly dropped.

Mark Roberts, who ran two protein drink sites (including MrProtein.com), sued the search engine for breach of contract (click for PDF). He represented himself in court and did not hire an attorney.

But Roberts backed down after Google's attorneys threatened to file a "SLAPP" motion against him. California has a strong SLAPP law, which is designed to discourage frivolous lawsuits and permits successful defendants to seek attorneys' fees.

Roberts had claimed that Google was negligent and … Read more

Internet companies have talked a lot about Net neutrality -- but their top executives haven't been making the visits to Capitol Hill that are a sign that it's truly a top corporate priority.

Until recently, that is. On Tuesday, Google co-founder Sergey Brin met with politicos in an effort to lobby them to support far-reaching regulations that would, in essence, block telecommunications firms from favoring some Internet sites over others.

"The thesis is that some content providers will pay for premium service. Why are they paying? Just because they feel charitable toward the telcos and ISPs?" … Read more