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Google speeds up mobile web search, introduces expandable sitelinks and quick view badges
Continuing its efforts to speed up the way we find things when searching the web from our smartphones, Google is rolling out expandable sitelinks. Instead of wasting time sifting through a website trying to locate a specific page, this new feature generates a list of related quick links that allow you to jump directly to what you're looking for. Already available in desktop results, expandable links are hit or miss when used on mobile. Not stopping there, Google also announced the release of its new Quick view badges. This experimental project produces highlighted links from Wikipedia, which offer snippets of information relevant to your query. Pictured above are results for different types of poker hands. It won't stop you from losing your money, but now you'll always remember a flush beats a straight. As of now Quick view is only available in English search results, but Google is working on adding support for additional languages.
Google60 simulates 'Mad Men' era punch card web searches, BYOB
If you've ever pondered what Google "web" searching would have been like in the 60s, the Google60 art project has got a pretty natty-looking response. Created by designer Norbert Landsteiner of Google BBS fame, it lets you enter your search term via punch cards of the era, then heads off to the tape archives for text, news or image results -- which it furiously outputs on a simulated typewriter-style printer. The project uses actual sounds from an IBM 129 keypunch and Teletype Model ASR 33, while paying homage to the classic IBM system 360 mainframe in the image above. So, hit the source, pour up a scotch and have a gas searching, man.
Google offers to settle with EU over antitrust gripes, olive branch now fully extended
Google knows that there's a looming EU antitrust lawsuit if it doesn't volunteer some kind of change to its search practices, so it's not entirely surprising that chairman Eric Schmidt has sent a letter offering a settlement to the European Commission's competition chief Joaquin Almunia. The details of just what that potential truce entails are under wraps, although Almunia has long broadcast his concerns that Google might be unfairly favoring its own services above those of others -- he'd be most happy if the results were more organic. It's hard to say whether or not Google is prepared to follow along, but a peace gesture is a sharp break from the company's previously firm view that there's no need to change. We wouldn't be surprised if the EU's recent success in fining Microsoft has left Google hesitant to take its chances in court.
Google talks specifics about its network infrastructure, hopes to inspire the rest of the internet
Key Google employees were in attendance this week at the 2nd annual Open Network Summit in Santa Clara, CA to discuss some significant changes, including the implementation of OpenFlow -- an open-source technology designed to change the way that data is used, transferred and managed -- and is supposed to significantly reduce costs by a projected 20-30 percent, increase efficiency, and better organize the massive amounts of data that the company handles on a daily basis. Google said it went public at the summit with hopes of provoking change all over the internet by disclosing that it has recently made some of the most significant modifications to its network infrastructure since setting up shop in the days of The Backstreet Boys and Furbies, aka 1998. Extensive information is available at the source links.
What do you love, asks Google with a new portal to its many web services
Say hello to your new online friend, wdyl.com. An eagle-eyed TechCrunch tipster spotted this freshly launched Google portal, whose purpose it seems to be to gather up all of the company's multifarious web services under one umbrella. A Google search for Google products, in other words. Punching in a topic brings up its popularity in Google Trends, lets you set up Google Alerts, plan related events in Google Calendar, email someone in Gmail, or hit up Picasa, YouTube or Google News with the same query. You get the picture. It hasn't yet been made official and hitting up the site without the "www." prefix throws up a bad URL error at the moment, but it's there and seemingly fully functional. Give it a try and let us know which search terms bring up the most humorous results.
Google search blocked in China, again; other services partially blocked (update: false alarm, says Google)
A conciliatory end? Looks like we spoke too soon. Yes, Google and China seem to be on a collision course yet again, with the company's "Mainland China service availability page" showing that web search and ads have once again been fully blocked. Additionally, image and news search have been downgraded from "fully accessible" yesterday to "partially blocked" today. YouTube, Picasa, and other services already blocked remain as such. Looks like the saga continues. Update: TechCrunch reports hearing back from Google, who now say this is all much ado about nothing -- or rather, it's a false alarm. Apparently there was "relatively small blockage" last night, but it has since returned to normal. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
China happy with Google's latest tweaks, saga appears at an end
The China versus Google spat seems to be drawing to a conciliatory end today, as a senior state official has announced China is "satisfied" with Google's latest round of changes. This was somewhat predictable given that the country just recently renewed El Goog's license to host sites within its borders, but it's always reassuring to get confirmation from an official source. The American search giant had tried to strike a precarious balance, by having its local .cn domain adhere to Chinese laws and dictum while also providing a link out to its uncensored Hong Kong hub, and that seems to have done the trick. Ultimately, even the .hk search results will be subject to China's firewall -- which will render the most sensitive info inaccessible -- but at least Google can walk away from this dispute claiming that it's providing uncensored search in some form, even if its output can't always be put to good use.
China partially blocks Google search results from Hong Kong, the saga continues
You didn't think that just because Google started redirecting its Google.cn domain to its Hong Kong site, we were coming to a neat compromise to the big brouhaha between the search giant and China, did you? Oh no, brother, this thing is far from over. China has now responded by whipping its state computers into a filtering frenzy, blocking and censoring out content it considers objectionable from Google's HK-based search results. Adding to its show of strength, it's expected the Chinese government's influence will also result in China Mobile canceling a deal to have Google as its default search provider on mobile handsets. We suppose it's Google's turn to respond now. How about offering a friendly game of badminton to settle their differences? [Thanks, Colin]
Quicksilver + YubNub: one search to rule them all
Over at LifeClever, Chanpory has a post about integrating Quicksilver and YubNub, a kind of web search aggregator with a built-in "command line" parser. If you go to YubNub.org, you can enter searches by entering an abbreviation and then the search phrase (there are apparently over 10,000 existing search shortcuts, and you can even add your own). So a search for "TUAW" on google becomes: g TUAW. Similarly, a wikipedia search starts "wp," an IMDB search starts (wait for it), "imdb", dictionary.com with "d," and so on. Using the Web Search Module Plugin it becomes really easy to add this search aggregator to Quicksilver. Just create a bookmark in your default browser that points to: http://www.yubnub.org/parser/parse?command=*** You should now be able to use the standard Quicksilver web searching model to access YubDub (with the Web Search Module installed Quicksilver will automatically substitute the contents of the text field for the *** and open the URL in your browser). LifeClever has the complete instructions. One really neat thing is you can do multiple searches in one line, e.g. mash Apple g wp will open both a Google and a Wikipedia search on 'Apple' in separate frames of a single browser window.
Monocle: Web Search Tool
The just-released Monocle adds a simple little search box to your menubar, which by default supports Google, Wikipedia, Windows Live, and Yahoo. You can add other search engines just "by performing an example search inside a web browser window in Monocle". You can also define a Global Hotkey to bring up Monocle quickly. Personally, I much prefer Quicksilver for this sort of task, but I know some folks like good single use programs, so Monocle might be worth a look.Monocle is a free download, but donations are requested.[Via Ranchero]
