Search

Google shares soar as analysts chime in on earnings

Google's shares are on the rise following a strong earnings report yesterday.

In early trading, Google's shares jumped more than 5 percent to $740.37. The company's stock price closed the day at $702.87 yesterday.

Google's share jump is due in part to Google's strong fourth quarter. The company beat analyst expectations during the period and posted a $2.9 billion profit on $14.4 billion in revenue. That performance helped Google post its first $50 billion revenue year.

It didn't take long for a slew of analysts to chime in on Google'… Read more

Microsoft brags: Bing is better at Facebook searching

Two days after the limited beta release of Facebook Graph Search, Microsoft's Bing search engine has provided people with a more accessible and straightforward way to uncover the status updates of their Facebook friends.

Thursday, the number two search engine announced that it has expanded its ability to display Facebook status updates and other information from friends in its social sidebar. Microsoft somewhat incoherently claims that "[f]ive times more of your friend's Facebook is now searchable on Bing," although it's not entirely clear what that means.

The social sidebar is the right-hand area that … Read more

Facebook might make money from its search tool, analysts say

Facebook did not introduce a phone as many had hoped, but its new Graph Search might actually be able to generate revenue for the social-networking giant, analysts say.

Still, Facebook likely won't make much money from the tool in the near term as it focuses on user experience, analysts added, and people shouldn't expect Facebook to actually challenge Google's search dominance anytime soon.

In addition, Facebook's stock could see some short-term pressure from investors who were expecting a larger announcement like a phone or Web search, RBC analyst Mark Mahaney said.

Facebook, during an event yesterday … Read more

1 in 3 people have gone online to diagnose a health problem

A fair number of people are turning to the Internet to help them with medical problems.

Among 3,000 adults surveyed by Pew Internet, 35 percent say they've gone online at one time or another to diagnose a medical condition. Some were researching their own medical problems, while others were looking into problems suffered by people they know.

Dubbed "online diagnosers" by Pew, 46 percent of them said the information they found online made them think they needed the help of a doctor. Another 38 percent said they felt they could remedy the problem at home, and … Read more

EU still unhappy with how Google shows search results

Google will have to change the way it presents its own services in its search results if it wants to avoid antitrust charges in the European Union, according to comments made by EU antitrust chief Joaquín Almunia.

Almunia, the EU's competition commissioner, told the Financial Times (subscription required): "We are still investigating, but my conviction is [Google is] diverting traffic" to in-house services such as maps, comparison-shopping info, and flight details. "They are monetizing this kind of business, the strong position they have in the general search market, and this is not only a … Read more

Twitter puts real humans into its search algorithm...and profits

Twitter has made an old idea new again, unveiling a new system that lets actual human beings tell its data center how to make sense of trending hashtags and other topical searches.

But don't get too excited about this apparent triumph of man over machine. First, the actual work done by these people seems likely to be menial and poorly compensated, even if it does accomplish something that Twitter's mighty information systems appear unable to manage on their own.

Second, and more important, you shouldn't expect to see Twitter's service improve in any ways you might … Read more

Watchdog seeks FTC staff opinion on Google antitrust case

Consumer Watchdog, a group that's accused Google of antitrust misconduct, is trying to find out why the FTC's investigation into the subject resulted in only mild punishment.

The group requested the Federal Trade Commission release its staff's report to detail the situation, according to a letter Consumer Watchdog sent to the commissioners (PDF). The agency's staff prepare such reports then forward them to the five commissioners who vote on what course of action to take.

"I call on you to release the FTC staff report to help make clear what was behind the commission's … Read more

Library of Congress digs in to full archive of 170 billion tweets

The U.S. Library of Congress said today that it has completed a process of collecting a full, ongoing stream of tweets, and that it has begun work to archive and organize more than 170 billion tweets.

Under an agreement struck between the government institution and Twitter in 2010, the microblogging company is providing the Library of Congress with a full stream of all public tweets, starting with 21 billion generated from between 2006 and April 2010, and now supplemented with about 150 billion more posted since then.

In an announcement about the status of the project today, the library … Read more

What Google's settlement with the FTC means for users

The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it has completed a nearly two-year investigation into Google's business practices. Here are some of the key takeaways:

On the issue most important to Google, Google won. The most potentially damaging line of inquiry undertaken by the FTC concerned accusations that Google's search results were unfairly biased in favor of its own products. Some critics wanted to see mandated changes to Google algorithms. But after considering a number of approaches, FTC commissioners decided unanimously that Google was not violating any antitrust laws when it comes to search results. For Google, this … Read more