google

Google tool lets advertisers scrutinize site stats

Google announced a tool called Ad Planner on Tuesday that lets advertisers find Web sites whose visitors match various demographic attributes.

"Enter demographics and sites associated with your target audience, and the tool will return information about sites (both on and off the Google content network) that your audience is likely to visit," the company said on its AdWords blog.

The tool, which was expected, also can show in detail how many people visit a particular Web site. The tool competes with offerings from companies including ComScore and Nielsen Online.

Right now, Google's tool is available by … Read more

Google News torpid growth not keeping pace with other Google sites

The New York Times is reporting that Google News, the world's eighth-ranked news site, is struggling to maintain a 10 percent growth rate, far behind that of rivals like Yahoo! With no ads, few visible improvements to the service, and only 11.4 million visitors in May, as compared with over 35 million to Yahoo! News, Google News appears to be the forgotten child within Google.

Google, of course, defends the site, but I found the defense a bit odd:

[Google's Marissa] Mayer called Google News one of the company's most innovative products, and said that it … Read more

Google plans new Internet measurement tool

Google is expected to unveil on Tuesday a tool that measures Internet use to help advertisers identify the best places to buy ads that will reach their target audiences, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The measurement tool, which will be offered free to advertisers and their agencies, will compete with services offered by established leaders Nielsen and ComScore. While those services base their estimations on selective surveys or customer panels, the newspaper said, Google's results will be based on data collected from Web servers, providing a deeper and broader picture of Internet behavior. By giving away the … Read more

Google wants to destroy the advertising industry. (At last someone says it.)

In a post last week, I mentioned that the world's advertising agencies and their clients were all congregating (religious reference intended) in Cannes for the annual Advertising Festival.

Finally, one of the advertising executives, perhaps enjoying the fresh sea air that thankfully accompanies the hot air coming out of some people's mouths, could take it no more.

Google "clearly wants to replace the advertising industry in its totality," said Cindy Gallop, former CEO of the extremely well-respected agency BBH.

According to the International Herald Tribune, Ms. Gallop went on to declare that Google would be "… Read more

Marc Benioff: No more status quo

Steve Gillmor and Nik Cubrilovic, the hosts of the new TechCrunchIT site, snagged an interview with salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff after the announcement of Force.com Toolkit for Google Data APIs. Benioff gives a lengthy commercial for his platforms-as-a-service strategy to remake the software industry and create a multi-billion dollar software company.

When asked about the challenges for older enterprises, Benioff said, "I don't have time or patience for the status quo...for people who are trying to control innovation or stop the future." He included Microsoft, as well as unnamed vendors, partners, journalists and other … Read more

Google: Server efficiency needs new recipe

BURLINGAME, Calif.--Chipmakers have been applying lessons learned in mobile computing to servers in an effort to increase efficiency by lowering power consumption. But a noted Google engineer threw some cold water on the approach on Monday, arguing the two styles of computing are too different.

"The data center is a different device than the key targets for mobile electronics, laptops, and mobile devices," said Luis Barroso, a Google engineer who closely studies the company's power consumption, speaking at the O'Reilly Velocity conference here.

And naturally, with at least hundreds of thousands of servers in operation … Read more

Yahoo and Microsoft: Is it on again?

Update 10:33 a.m. PDT Tuesday: Adds details of Jerry Yang's activities over the past week

And you thought a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo was over and done with?

Not so fast.

Microsoft has signaled that it is willing to sweeten its previous offer for a partial buyout of Yahoo's search business, according to one major investor who has been in contact with both parties.

Neither Microsoft nor Yahoo had immediate comment.

After the termination of discussions with Microsoft less than two weeks ago, Yahoo's board said in a statement that a sale leaving the … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 751: No big black hole deal

Black holes from the Large Hadron Collider? No worries. Mac OS X Trojan in the wild? Minor worries. Total top-level domain overhaul? Worries deferred until we see it in action. EFF attacks the entire foundation for the RIAA's lawsuits against alleged pirates and specifically their troublesome "making available" claim? RIAA shouldn't worry, even though we wish they would. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 751

Why the LHC Won’t Destroy the World http://news.slashdot.org/news/08/06/23/134251.shtml

Mac OS X Trojan reported in the wild http://news.cnet.com/8301-10789_3-9973703-57.html … Read more

Marc Benioff's mantra: Anything but Microsoft

Today Salesforce.com announced a "global strategic alliance" (also known as a partnership) with Google, introducing a new integration point, Force.com Toolkit for Google Data APIs. The alliance allows developers using Salesforce.com's cloud-based development platform to integrate with data from Google services via Google Data APIs. This integration service is in addition to Salesforce for Google Apps, which integrates Google's suite of applications with Salesforce.

CODA, which is developing a financial suite of applications on the Salesforce platform (Force.com), has developed a prototype that takes data from Google Spreadsheets and brings it into … Read more