Google on Wednesday added a new factor, Web page loading speed, to the criteria by which it judges which text ads to place next to search results.
The search company, which makes almost all its revenue from the text ads, gives a boost to advertisers with better ad quality. Google announced Wednesday that quality now includes a measurement of the loading speed of the Web page users see when they click on an ad.
"Starting today, this load time factor will be incorporated into your keywords' quality scores," Google said on its Inside AdWords blog. "Keywords with landing pages that load slowly may get lower quality scores (and thus higher minimum bids). Conversely, keywords with landing pages that load very quickly may get higher quality scores and lower minimum bids."
It may sound like a minor tweak, but a lot of money flows through AdWords, and minor changes affect a huge number of companies bidding for placement next to search results.
Higher-quality ads serve a variety of purposes, Google argues. For one thing, it means somebody who clicks an ad--the action that triggers payment to Google--are more likely to be satisfied. In the long run, higher quality also means that users might be less likely to ignore ads as irrelevant or annoying.
Early in its history, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin set down "10 things Google knows to be true," and one of them is "fast is better than slow."
Google warned in March that page-load speeds would factor into quality ranking and let advertisers see how they rated beginning in April.
For more details, see the detailed Google article for advertisers on page-loading speeds.
It's tough to stay on top of Google, but I thought I'd draw some attention to some developments involving the search powerhouse.
Google Street View now blurs all over, not just in Manhattan.
(Credit: Google)• More Street View with more privacy: One year into Google's launch of the Google Maps feature to show a driver's-eye view of the world, Google added 37 new cities, including Atlanta, Buffalo, N.Y., Ann Arbor, Mich., Fresno, Calif., and Cincinnati. It effectively doubles the coverage of Street View, engineer Jiajun Zhu said in a Google LatLong blog posting.
In addition, Street View face-blurring technology that first was tried with Manhattan imagery now is deployed all over, Google said.
• WordPress snafu: Google blocked e-mail sent to Gmail from WordPress.com on Wednesday, including notifications that blogs at the site had been updated. "A handful of third-party sites had problems sending email to Gmail users. We resolved the issue within a half hour of discovering it," Google said in a statement.
• Updated Trends. Google added two new abilities to make its Google Trends service more useful as a tool to monitor what's popular in searches and the chatter of news and blogs. First is a quantitative element that more precisely compares different search terms--for example Windows XP vs. Windows Vista; the chart is now calibrated so the relative popularity can be judged. Second is the ability to export Trends results as a data file.
• Journalism on YouTube: The Google video-sharing site now is able to call specific attention to journalistic efforts by creating a new "reporter" channel, according to the YouTube blog.
• PDF support in Docs: The Google Operating System blog has uncovered some evidence that points to support of Portable Document Format within Google Docs, the online applications suite. That makes sense given how widely used it is and that it's an openly documented and now standard format.
• Bypass Flash. On search results, Google now lets users bypass Web pages' Flash introductions--the kind of whiz-bang animations that rarely are worth watching more than once. Google search results now can let users, in effect, click the "skip intro" button on such sites if they want, Google Blogoscoped reported.
• Members of Google's mobile device team discuss how its Google Maps for Mobile service (think GPS Lite) works. The technology lets some phones figure out their rough location based on proximity to cell phone towers. It's available through Gears for Windows Mobile, and Google is adding support for geolocation in general to the new 0.4 version of Gears under development now.
If you create custom AutoCorrect entries to speed up your typing in Microsoft Word as I described on Monday, you might need to move those entries to another PC someday.
Years ago, Dave Rado wrote a Word macro for backing up and restoring the program's AutoCorrect files. It still works for Word 2007--or at least it did on my PC.
First, make sure macros are enabled. In Word 2003, click Tools > Macro > Security > Security Level, and select either of the bottom two options. In Word 2007, click the Office button, choose Word Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Settings, select "Enable all macros (not recommended; potentially dangerous code can run)," and click OK twice.
Make sure macros are enabled in Word before you run the AutoCorrect backup script.
(Credit: Microsoft)With Word's macros enabled, double-click the AutoCorrect.dot file inside the AutoCorrect.zip download. Choose Backup, and when the Save As dialog box opens, select the removable medium or network address you'll use to transfer the settings to the other system.
Run the AutoCorrect.dot macro to back up your settings and restore them on another PC.
(Credit: Dave Rado)Repeat the steps on the second system, but choose Restore rather than Backup when the macro runs, click Yes at the warning, point to the backup file you created, and click Open.
Tomorrow: a free program warns you about potentially dangerous sites just before you click the link.
Sun Microsystems has released the first beta for OpenOffice.org 3 for Windows and Mac. The new version of OpenOffice, which is a popular open-source competitor to Microsoft Office, looks to offer users improvements on every component from interface to features to behavior.
OpenOffice.org 3 Start Center
(Credit: CNET Networks)OpenOffice now natively supports OS X, so Mac users won't have to install the X11 module before running the suite. Full Vista support is also included in the beta, and didn't cause any problems during light testing. Notably, OpenOffice 3 includes filters for the new Microsoft Office document formats such as DOCX and XLSX as well as continuing support for standard Microsoft formats. Support for Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows and Office 2008 for Mac has been lacking until now.
The user interface doesn't look to have undergone many changes, besides getting a slightly snazzier gradated background and slightly larger icons. However, the new features more than make up for this. Enhancements include support for OpenDocument Format 1.2, a Solver feature, spreadsheet sharing to facilitate collaboration, improved PDF creation and importation, and improvements to the Notes feature in Writer.
The new Start Center should appeal to users who like having a landing page or only want to have one link on their desktop. It opens up a window that highlights all of the OpenOffice tools with big icons. Another of the more exciting OpenOffice extensions also being released is a Wiki Publisher tool that should make uploading wiki information from the program to a MediaWiki server a snap.
In-depth details of the changes planned for OpenOffice 3 can be found at the OpenOffice.org feature list and release notes.
Tom Cruise and his publicity crew are apparently buying up ads on Google AdWords. Hollywood Newsroom first noticed the fact that when you type in "Tom Cruise" in a Google search, paid sponsored ads for the Scientologist's official, soon-to-be-launched Web site appear. "Stay Tuned For Official Site Launch" and "Get the real scoop from Tom Cruise," the ads proclaim.
The timing of the Google Adwords move appears to coincide with Cruise's recent appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he made an earnest attempt to convince Oprah and the public that he's not the couch-jumping lunatic he made himself out to be the last time he was on the show.
Maybe taking publicity into his own hands will help the general public realize he's just sadly misunderstood. Right.
Faster is almost always better, at least when it comes to computers. So what's the fastest way to open a word processor?
You can create a keyboard shortcut to open Notepad, WordPad, Word, or any other word processor on your PC by right-clicking the program's shortcut on the Start menu, choosing Properties > Shortcut > Shortcut key, entering your keystroke combination of choice (be sure not to overwrite one that's already in use), and pressing Enter. I described how to get fast access to all your keyboard shortcuts in a post from last week.
Now press the keystroke combination to open the program, and start typing (or navigate to an existing file you want to open). When you're done working in the file, press Ctrl-S, give the file a name (if it doesn't have one already), choose a location to store it (or accept the program's default storage folder), and press Enter. What could be simpler?
Well, skipping the file-naming and storage location-choosing steps, for one thing. And having access to the notes from any Internet-connected computer, for another.
Web word processors auto-save files
You can create a keyboard shortcut that opens Google Docs or any other Web word processor. Start by opening a new document in the service. Select the URL in the Address bar, and type Ctrl-C to copy it to the clipboard. Now open Windows Explorer to the Desktop or any other folder, right-click anywhere in the folder, choose New > Shortcut, paste the URL of the service into the location field, press Enter, give the shortcut a name, and press Enter again.
Next, right-click the shortcut you just created, click Properties > Shortcut > Shortcut key, type your preferred keystroke combination for opening the service, and press Enter. Now you can open the service ready to create a new file by pressing that keyboard shortcut.
Unfortunately, if you're not already logged in, you'll have to enter your username and password before you can open the blank file. You can avoid the login step by creating the shortcut to the Writer online word processor that mimics the look of old DOS-based text editors running on a green-phosphor display. (The service's bare-bones look is itself modeled after the free Dark Room word processor, which, in turn, is the Windows version of the WriteRoom word processor for Mac OS X.)
Since Writer doesn't require you to log in--or even to create an account--you need not give your files a name. Just stick with the default, and when you want to reopen the file, select it from your list of documents, which appears just below the text window.
Use the Writer online word processor for instant--and universal-access to your notes.
(Credit: John Watson/BigHugeLabs.com)Writer remembers your files by leaving a cookie with the identifying information. If you delete the cookie, you lose access to the files, unless you sign up for a free account. The account has the added benefit of providing access to your files from any Internet-connected PC.
Should you find Writer to your liking, be sure to make a donation to its creator to help keep the great services coming.
Monday: get more use out of Windows' taskbar.
Microsoft is looking into a vulnerability that could affect Word, the company said Monday.
Overall, Microsoft said, it believes the vulnerability's risk is limited because its requires people to take multiple steps for the hack to be successful. Microsoft said it is only aware of targeted attacks that take advantage of the flaw.
The vulnerability is in Microsoft's Jet Database engine, which can be exploited through Word. Microsoft is investigating whether other applications can also exploit the vulnerability.
According to Microsoft's security alert:
Customers running Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 are not vulnerable to the buffer overrun being attacked, as they include a version of the Microsoft Jet Database Engine that is not vulnerable to this issue.Customers using Microsoft Word 2000 Service Pack 3, Microsoft Word 2002 Service Pack 3, Microsoft Word 2003 Service Pack 2, Microsoft Word 2003 Service Pack 3, Microsoft Word 2007, and Microsoft Word 2007 Service Pack 1 on Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 are vulnerable to these attacks.
People who believe they have been attacked can go to the Microsoft Web site for support.
Microsoft Office includes industrial-strength tools for creating forms of all types, but the Access database and InfoPath information manager are overkill for my meager form requirements. If I need to collect basic information from a bunch of people in a hurry, such as for planning a potluck lunch, I stick with the simple form-creation tools in Word.
Word 2007 groups the options found on the Forms toolbar in Word 2003 into the Legacy Tools button in the Controls section under the Developer tab. These form fields are a subset of Office 2007's Content Controls, which allow you to populate forms automatically from external sources, extract form data as XML for use in other applications, and perform other operations. I may have use for these advanced features someday, but for creating a basic form, they're too much.
Start with a template and a table
Whether you're using Word 2007 or Word 2003, create a template to serve as the master copy of your form document. The simplest way to format the form is by using a two-column table: The left column lists the field names, and the right one holds the data you're collecting. In my example form for planning a company potluck lunch, I created fields for the respondent's name, department, and preferred event date, as well as for the food and beverage each person plans to bring.
Text boxes work for the name, department, and food fields, and I use a drop-down menu for the beverage choice. I also use a drop-down menu for the date preference in Word 2003, but Word 2007 adds a control that lets people select a date from a monthly calendar.
To select a form control in Word 2007, place the cursor in the table cell where you want the control, click the Developer tab, and choose the appropriate icon in the Controls section, or click the arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Legacy Tools icon and select the control from the drop-down list.
Click the down arrow on the Legacy Tools icon to insert a form control.
(Credit: Microsoft)In Word 2003, place the cursor in the table cell you want the form field to appear in, right-click an empty area of the toolbar, select Forms to open the floating Forms toolbar, and choose one of the controls on the toolbar.
Select a control from the floating Forms toolbar to insert it in a document in Microsoft Word 2003.
(Credit: Microsoft)Once your form control is in place, right-click it and choose Properties to customize it. Another way to access the control options is by selecting the Properties button in the Controls section of the Developer ribbon in Word 2007, or by clicking the Form Field Options icon on the Forms toolbar in Word 2003. For text fields, you can change the default text that appears (by adding "Click here to enter text," for example). You can also specify that a number, date, or other type of text be entered; set a maximum length; specify a text format; and even set a macro to run when data is entered, or when the field is exited. This is also how you enter items for drop-down lists, and set the size and default values of checkboxes.
Add items to the drop-down form control by entering them in the Field Options dialog box and clicking Add.
(Credit: Microsoft)There's a more elegant way to ask people to select their preferred date in Word 2007: choose the Date Picker control, which adds a month-by-month calendar to the form that appears when you select it and choose the down arrow to the right of the current entry. The Content Properties dialog lets you specify the resulting date format.
Set the date format used in your form's calendar control via its Properties dialog box in Word 2007.
(Credit: Microsoft)When your form controls are in place, save the file using the .dotx format in Word 2007, or .dot in Word 2003. When you're ready to distribute your form, open a new Word document, and choose the template from the list that appears. Save the resulting file with the .docx format in Word 2007, or .doc in Word 2003. Now the form is ready for distribution, but first make sure your recipients can add text and otherwise access its fields. In Word 2007, place the cursor in the field, click the Properties button in the Contents section of the Developer ribbon (or right-click and choose Properties), and make sure "Contents cannot be edited" is unchecked. In Word 2003, ensure that the lock icon at the far right of the Forms toolbar is selected.
When the forms are returned, you can collect the data as comma-separated values in a text file (.txt) in Word 2003 by selecting File > Save As > Tools > Save Options, checking Save data only for forms, and clicking OK > Save > OK. In Word 2007 you should be able to do the same by clicking the Office button, choosing Save As > Word Document > Tools > Save Options, selecting the Advanced tab in the left pane, scrolling to the "Preserve fidelity when sharing this document" section in the right window, checking "Save form data as delimited text file," choosing Plain text (.txt) in the Save as type drop-down menu, and clicking Save > OK. Unfortunately, I couldn't get this function to save the form content when I tested it. I'll keep experimenting, though, and I'll let you know if I find the solution.
Tomorrow: Customize the Details view in Windows Explorer.
Recently an associate whose PC lacked Adobe Acrobat sent me a Word file via e-mail, asking if I could convert it to PDF and e-mail it back to her. Since the process took all of about 30 seconds, I was delighted to help. Then the next day she sent two more files in need of conversion to PDF, and a couple of days after than another. After her fourth request of the week I felt compelled to tell her about two ways she could have converted the files herself for free: Adobe's own Create Adobe PDF Online free trial, and Arco Software's great CutePDF Writer freebie.
If you use Office 2007 you can download Microsoft's free Save as PDF or XPS utility, which adds the ability to convert files to PDF or Microsoft's competing XML Paper Specification to all eight applications in the suite. The great thing about CutePDF Writer is that it works with programs other than Office 2007. See below for more.
Slow and limited, but readily available: Create Adobe PDF Online
I've used Adobe's free PDF-conversion service for years, and while the $10-a-month service ($100 for one year) used to allow you to create 10 PDF files for free, that number has been reduced to five free conversions, which is sufficient for people who rarely have the need to make a PDF. (If you need more than five files converted, sign up for a new free e-mail account and re-register with that address.)
The downside to Adobe's free trial is that you have to register, and you have to wait for your PDF to be delivered. Otherwise using the service is straightforward. After you sign up, click Convert a file (you can also choose Convert a Web page), enter the path to the file/page you want to convert, or click Browse and navigate to the file.
Enter the path to the file you want to convert to PDF, and click Continue.
Click Continue to open the Conversion Settings window. Here you select the type of output you want to optimize the file for (Web, Print, etc.), password-protect and otherwise limit use of the file, and select a delivery method.
Optimize your PDF for print or viewing on the Web via these options.
The default delivery method is to have a link to the PDF e-mailed to you, but you can also choose to have the file sent to you as an e-mail attachment, wait for the file to open in your browser, or download the file from your account's Conversion History page.
Choose the delivery method for your PDF file: e-mail link, e-mail attachment, open in browser, or download from server.
After you click the Create PDF button, you receive a confirmation of the conversion that tells you how long you'll have to wait for the file to be available. When I tested the service, I had to wait a little less than 25 minutes for the file to be delivered, which seems like a long time to me. You're also informed that you have 72 hours to retrieve the file.
The confirmation screen lets you know how long you'll have to wait for your PDF file.
Fast and full-featured: CutePDF Writer
If you have more than the occasional need to convert a file to PDF, downloading and installing CutePDF Writer is a faster and simpler approach. The program installs in just a few seconds, though it requires a second program, which it downloads automatically--after you grant it permission--as part of the installation process. Once it's in place, simply open the file you need to convert in the application of your choice, choose File > Print, and select CutePDF Writer in the drop-down list of available printers. The utility opens a Save As dialog box, where you can rename the file and choose where to store it. What could be simpler?
Which makes me wonder why anybody would choose Adobe's clunky and limited online PDF-conversion service over a free utility such as CutePDF Writer. Perhaps they have an aversion to downloads, though this one lacks ads, spyware, or other unwanted companions. Or they may be using a PC other than their own and need a one-time conversion that doesn't entail a download. Still, downloading, installing, and using CutePDF Writer is faster and simpler than using Adobe's service even after you've completed the initial sign-up. I guess this is one of those computing areas where the online version can't match the desktop approach.
Monday: disk management and optimization made simple.
The only reason I've opened Microsoft Outlook or any other desktop e-mail program in the last year is to test tips. Since I added my ISP account to my Gmail in-box, and moved my Outlook appointments to Google Calendar, I get all the information I need in my browser.
Now I'm getting ready to boot Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for their Web alternatives, but before I bail on Office entirely, I stuck a toe in the Web-apps water by using the free ThinkFree Online service irregularly over the past few weeks. So far, I haven't missed Word, Excel, or PowerPoint one bit. In fact, I appreciate the comparative simplicity of their Web counterparts, which have worked without a hitch--so far, at least.
ThinkFree Online is a Java-based service that provides 1GB of storage for your files, though individual files can't be larger than 10MB. You can upload .doc, .xls, and .ppt files to the site (it works with Office 2007's XML formats as well), work on them in an environment much like their native Office apps (though in a smaller window with text ads along the right margin), and return them to your desktop, where they open in the Office equivalent with all changes in place. There's also a limited-function, Ajax-based Quick Edit app for making fast, simple changes to files.
You can choose to keep your files private, or share them, either with a select group, or the world. In fact, easy collaboration is one of the great features of the service for workgroups. You can tag files for easy retrieval, but ThinkFree's search feature located the files I was looking for without having to attach tags to them.
The first time you open a file in the service, it loads some information in your Java Virtual Machine, but subsequently files load at near-desktop speed. You have to make some concessions, such as the text ads, and your selection of fonts is limited. You can't be certain your macros, functions, and other Office customizations will work in the online apps. (I haven't needed any.) Also, a browser can't match the resolution of your desktop apps, but generally the transition from Office to ThinkFree is seamless.
Work on Office documents in the free ThinkFree Online service much like you do in their native apps.
(Credit: ThinkFree)From the My Office page you get a snapshot of your files, as well as controls for creating, uploading, downloading, and syncing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Click the "Go to the file list" button near the bottom of the window to get a more detailed view of your files, as well as to share them, tag them, rename them, or perform other operations.
The ThinkFree Online Webtop lets you upload, download, and otherwise manage your files.
(Credit: ThinkFree)If you need to work on your files while offline, you can upgrade to the Premium Edition of the service, which is free during the beta period (no indication of when that period may end). The Premium version also lets you sync files automatically in the background, and load files larger than 10MB, though you can't open these larger files in the online version. There's also the $50 ThinkFree Desktop version, though I use the free OpenOffice.org on my Ubuntu system, which provides all the Office compatibility I need.
Even though ThinkFree offers the ThinkFree Server version for enterprises, I can understand why large organizations would hesitate to abandon Office. First there's the support costs, since their help-desk staff is trained in Office apps. Then there are the many customizations large organizations have applied to the programs. But the biggest reason enterprises will likely stick with Office is the greater amount of control it gives them over file management. I'm sure it makes a lot of IT managers nervous to think about their organization's important documents residing outside of the Office system. (Just suggesting that people save their Outlook e-mail outside of the program raised some IT hackles.)
Google's online apps loom as another Office threat
Even with my reliance on Gmail and Google Calendar, I haven't been tempted to use Google Docs full time, in part because I'm happy with ThinkFree Online. On those occasions when I have tested Google's online apps, I've been pleased with their performance. But ThinkFree comes closer to matching the Office work environment, even with those darn ads. Still, with the expected arrival of online applications using the Google Gears API for offline access, it's difficult to ignore the potential Google's services could have for current Office users. Another factor that might change my mind is whether Google Apps become more tightly integrated with other services from the company. Right now there's not much tying them together besides a log-on ID.
Tomorrow: Customize the Open and Save dialog boxes in Vista and XP.
