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Baidu Browser tips hat to old Steve Jobs quote, copies Chrome's special sauce
Could this be a case of Baidu's browser in Chrome's clothing? The Wall Street Journal seems to think so and the Chinese company isn't exactly dismissing the KIRF claims. Announced back in April, the recently beta-released Baidu Browser brings a "sleek, stripped-down interface" eerily reminiscent of Google's web-surfing entry (or a likely fork of Chromium). The copycat similarities don't just end in the looks department: there's also an app store, fast-tab functionality and familiar menu icon placement. In its defense, the company claims its 30,000 plus free app offerings, in addition to China-specific entertainment features are enough to set it apart. Sure, this may seem like a case of the Asian search giant that doth protest too much, but it's the company's desire to drive traffic to its own engine that has us seeing Google. [Thanks, Hardy]
Microsoft, Baidu strike China search deal
When it wanted to increase its search market share in the US, Microsoft sought out a partnership, resulting in a Yahoo-branded engine with Bing-flavored results. So, it seems natural that the company would look for a similar deal in China, the world's largest market, where the company only manages a presence of around one-percent of search. This time, however, Microsoft's managed a deal with the number one search engine, Baidu, which currently lays claim to three-quarters of the Chinese market -- far greater than Google's 20-percent or so. Baidu and MS announced a deal this week that will put Redmond in charge of English searches on the site. No money changed hands with the deal -- Baidu gets advertising revenue, Microsoft gets a larger slice of China's search pie, and we get an excuse to do an image search for Steve Ballmer on a Chinese search engine.
Google temporarily suspends Realtime search, thanks to expired Twitter deal
If you noticed a distinct lack of tweetage in your Google search results yesterday, you weren't alone. Turns out, the company has temporarily suspended its Realtime search feature, as part of its ongoing Google+ launch. El Goog made the announcement, ironically enough, in the form of a tweet, explaining that it needs time to integrate Google+ within its social network-based search tool, but without offering a specific time frame. Mountain View later revealed further details with the following statement, provided to Search Engine Land: Since October of 2009, we have had an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results through a special feed, and that agreement expired on July 2. While we will not have access to this special feed from Twitter, information on Twitter that's publicly available to our crawlers will still be searchable and discoverable on Google. Twitter offered a similarly curt explanation, saying that it would continue to provide tweet integration to companies like Microsoft and Yahoo, while adding that it still works with Google in "many other ways." Google's Social Search, meanwhile, continues to function, but has been stripped of all Twitter data. No word yet on whether the two sides have entered negotiations, but when they do, the fate of humanity will certainly be hanging in the balance.
Google to face €295 million French lawsuit over alleged anti-competitive practices
Google's legal woes are piling up in a hurry. French search engine 1PlusV is suing El Goog over alleged anti-competitive practices, less than a week after the Federal Trade Commission opened a formal inquiry into similar accusations levied stateside. The suit, set to be filed in a Paris court this week, claims that Google uses its market dominance to bury rival search results while unfairly promoting those for its own services. According to 1PlusV, Google "black-listed" 30 of its vertical search engines between 2007 and 2010, making it difficult for the firm to compete. The company is also complaining about having to adopt Mountain View's technology in order to use AdSense and, in total, is seeking €295 million (about $418 million) in damages -- the largest damage claim Google has ever faced in Europe. 1PlusV operates the legal search group EJustice.fr and, along with Microsoft, helped spur an EU antitrust probe against Google last year. The company says its forthcoming lawsuit represents the "logical" next step in its ongoing antitrust crusade, while Google issued a brief statement, saying it "look[s] forward to explaining this."
Bing Mobile updated, news and maps get minor facelifts
How can you "be what's next" without having what's next on your phone? Bing is here to help you fulfill its tagline by updating its mobile site for any device that runs HTML5. If the update had a highlight reel to show off the newest features, here's what would be on it: a carousel-like interface in the news section that lets you swipe your finger left or right to switch to other categories; maps that show directions together in split-screen format; a search history complete with trending topics; and the ability to share images and links on Facebook. The new enhancements are now available to iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, so it's an easy jaunt over to your browser to check it out. Or, if you're reading this on your phone, give the ol' More Coverage link a quick tap.
VideoSurf brings its recognition virtues to Android, expects iOS to follow shortly (video)
If you haven't heard of VideoSurf before now, you'll be forgiven. The company has existed for a few years as a web service, but it wasn't until CES 2011 when it made waves in the mobile arena by demoing its video recognition software for Android. Now it's ready for prime time in the Android Market, where the free application promises to deliver a Shazam-like experience for movie and television viewers. If you're not wholly familiar with the process, VideoSurf attempts to identify what you're watching and who's on screen after capturing only a few seconds of video. From there, you can follow the rabbit hole and learn more about the actors, find other roles they've played, and receive recommendations based on your interests -- seems to be what everyone is doing these days. Although there's nothing for iOS yet, if you watch the video (after the break), you'll see the company is rather confident about what's on deck.
Google News Archives stops digitizing old newspapers, picks great day to do it
Ain't like you'll be reading 'em anyway after today's over.
Yahoo to retain search data for 18 months, says it's in your best interest
We've heard this one before: a seemingly well intentioned corporation makes promises to uphold user anonymity, but when market pressure proves too much to handle, it's left to weigh the benefits of privacy over profit. Well, it looks like Yahoo's not immune to such goings on, as it's just announced that it will renege on its previous data retention promises and hold on to raw search data for 18 months. That's a pretty significant change, as the previous policy boasted data retention limits of only 90 days. If you ask Yahoo, though, it's just good business. In a post to its policy blog, Anne Toth said "we will keep our log file data longer than we have been – offering consumers a more robust individualized experience – while we continue our innovation in the areas of transparency and choice to protect privacy." We suspect "more robust individualized experience" actually means more aggressive targeted ads, but we'll just have to wait and see. The new policy goes into effect this July.
Bing for Mobile portal gets updated, brings HTML5-based fanciness
Whatever Google (and Yahoo!) can do, Bing can do better? It doesn't exactly have that so-called ring to it, but Bing has proven to be a legitimate contender in the search wars -- particularly on the mobile side. This week, Microsoft launched a number of updates to the Bing for Mobile browse portal, giving users access to better and faster image search, real-time transit and directions, app search for the iPhone, and more. The new version relies on HTML5, and the company assures us that Windows Phone 7 support for the updates (and HTML5) will be available later in the year. On-the-go users will also see transit directions (real-time in Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and Los Angeles), a reorganized shopping experience, automated weather suggestions and app / movie searches. Head on down to the source link (on your phone, of course) to see if any of the new features have you sold.
Yahoo intros Search Direct, takes on Google Instant with insular effect
Remember Google Instant? Now, Yahoo's got something like that -- it's called Search Direct -- and like Instant, it consists of a search box that quickly and automatically suggests results as you type. Unlike Instant, however, it won't update the entire results page to reflect the outcome of your potential search, but rather just an enlarged search box like the one you see above, providing up to ten suggested queries and three suggested results. That makes it a little bit speedier (we were able to use it on our 3G phone connection quite easily) but also fairly limited in comparison. It's also a bit... ahem... self-serving, as any search that happens to include the same letters as one of Yahoo's own services will promote them above all others in the results -- in fact, only five letters of the alphabet presently bring up anything but a Yahoo website as the first result when typed in solo. I = iTunes J = Jennifer Lopez Q = QVC X = Xbox 360 Z = Zsa Zsa Gabor Some of the improved functionality is pretty useful, though, as that Xbox query will instantly bring up prices for the console, and you can type in "movies" or "weather" and your zip code to immediately plan your night out. ("Restaurants" and "food" don't work, though.) Anyhow, Search Direct is in beta. Why not give it a go?
Google guesstimates release dates for movies and games
You can already do plenty of calculations and conversions right in Google's search box, and it looks like the company's now made it even smarter still. Searching for the title of an upcoming movie or video game plus "release date" will now instantly give you Google's best guess for when the title will actually be released, which is apparently based on how often it's been mentioned on certain websites. So far, we've only been able to get it to work with movies and games, although it seems pretty likely that it will soon expand to other areas as well -- maybe even gadgets? Try it out yourself and let us know if you find anything. [Thanks, Mario]
Google brings Instant Previews to mobile, makes them seriously useful (video)
We've never had a use for Google Instant Search on mobile, so we didn't expect much when Google's Instant Previews invaded the smartphone realm as well. You know what? They're actually surprisingly useful. Instead of trying to cram additional information into Google's already-crowded mobile website, Instant Previews adds a little magnifying glass next to most every result instead, and clicking on the magnifier brings up a series of cached thumbnails of each page that you can scroll through in portrait or landscape modes. It's a very visual way of finding what you're looking for, and more importantly, it's quick even over 3G, saving time and mobile bandwidth that would otherwise be spent clicking through links one by one. Rather than decipher that long-winded explanation, though, why don't you try it out for yourself or watch our video demonstration after the break?
Bing advances past Yahoo! to become world's second most used search engine -- with 4.4 percent
How far we've come from the heady days when Microsoft was willing to splash $44 billion to acquire Yahoo! Since then, the online portal has done whatever the opposite of going from strength to strength is, and today it's suffered the somewhat predictable ignominy of losing its second spot in search to Microsoft's upstart Bing. Statcounter places the February global share of search at 4.4 percent for Microsoft and 3.9 percent for Yahoo! (the Redmond giant can actually lay claim to a bigger slice since Bing "powers" Yahoo! search results in some countries), neither of which should give Google much reason for concern while it's sitting pretty with a share of just under 90 percent. It's the first time Google has dipped below the 90 percent mark for a long time, but Statcounter says "it shows little sign of losing its global dominance any time soon." So that settles that.
Google Social Search update makes your friends more relevant, difficult to ignore
Google's been talking up its Social Search function for sometime, but up until now your friends' tweets probably haven't made it to the top of your search results -- unless of course you're besties with TMZ, and you've been searching the Miley Cyrus bong salvia rip again. Thankfully, it looks as if that could change with El Goog's latest update to the socially minded search function, which now mixes updates from your contacts' various online accounts, like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, in with the standard search fare -- pulling them up from their previous position at the bottom of your results. Google's also included a photo and annotation to show the origins of relevant links, and given you the ability to manage how you connect your accounts -- either publicly through your profile or privately through your account. The new functions started rolling out yesterday, which means you could be seeing a whole lot more from those contacts you regretted friending in the first place. Isn't social media a wonderful / disastrous thing?
Google rolls out Chrome extension that lets you block sites from search results
Tired of waiting for Google and its algorithms to filter content farms and other shady sites out of your search results? Then you can now finally take things into your own hands thanks to an "experimental" extension that Google has just made available for its Chrome web browser. That works about as straightforwardly as you'd expect -- once installed, you'll simply see a link to block a site along with each search result, and you'll also be able to unblock sites at any time if you go a bit overboard. What's most interesting, however, is that Google says it's going to study the feedback it gets from extension and that it will consider using it as a potential ranking signal for its search results.
Google's 2010 holiday doodle: its 'most ambitious one yet'
Taken a look at Google's homepage recently? If not, we'd recommend you do so, STAT. The image you see here will only be an active doodle -- a name given to Google's "special" logos used to commemorate certain events and holidays -- for a few more hours. According to a lengthy report over at the Wall Street Journal, the Holiday 2010 Doodle is El Goog's "most ambitious one yet," taking five artists some 250 hours to create. Google estimates that it has crafted some 900 doodles since 1998, with a whopping 270 of 'em running in 2010. This particular one relies on 17 interactive portraits of holiday scenes from around the globe, and it took the team a number of months to finally whip up a finished product that everyone was stoked on. We'd encourage you to click around on it to discover what the tiles actually mean, and if you're hungry to learn about the shockingly interesting backstory that surrounds it, the source link has a URL with your name on it.
Google under fire for promoting own content ahead of competing websites
This isn't exactly a new allegation, but the idea's spreading fast: Google is tuning search results to favor itself, and perhaps that's not entirely fair. Though the European Union is already investigating Google for potential antitrust violations, a recent article in the Wall Street Journal cites several US businesses that aren't too happy themselves, claiming that Google Places, Product Search and the like took a big chomp out of their traffic. Google's defense, as usual, rests on its secret algorithms, which it claims aren't rigged in any way, adding that the prominent placement of location- and product-based search results are just a way to get users quicker answers to their queries. If you type in "day spa nyc," you're looking for some catered suggestions, right? And what of those who argue differently? Well, obviously they're in league with Microsoft.
Google plans 1-800-GOOG-411 funeral, asks for an indefinite moment of silence
If you're still using Google's 1-800-GOOG-411 voice search hotline, you're obviously one of only a handful. But you're special nonetheless. To that end, Google's giving you just over a month to speed dial its dedicated local search line, and come November 12th, the aforementioned number will likely lead to a dial tone (or a decidedly unpleasant disconnected message). The Big G isn't pointing to a decrease in use as the reason for its death, but is instead suggesting that the company will be moving onward and upward with "more innovation" in the voice search department. Of course, Google's voice search app can be downloaded free of charge on most any smartphone, but it looks like dumbphone users may have to find an alternative to calling in their search queries. We'd say "going with you gut" is probably a solid choice.
Google ordered to pay libel damages to perturbed gentleman, plans to appeal
You know those search terms that automatically pop up once you begin typing something on Google? Yeah, that's Google Suggest, and it's just an aggregate of the most popular searches based on past requests from users. In other words, Google doesn't actually generate those suggestions itself, nor does some magical alien in its California labs. Despite all that, the Superior Court of Paris has ordered El Goog to shell out €5,000 ($6,721) to an unnamed gentleman who claimed that searches for his name automatically led to a list of suggestions that were damaging to his reputation. The kicker? Said gentleman actually had been "condemned to a prison sentence on charges of corrupting a minor" earlier in his life. Imagine that -- humans interested in his story were searching for his name along with "rape," "rapist" and "prison." Shame on you, Google. P.S. - Google's appealing, for obvious reasons.
Google music service might offer subscriptions as well as digital downloads
We know that Google's been thinking about launching a music service, and now the crazy kids at Billboard are reporting details of a proposal that the search giant's been circulating among the major labels. Apparently the company is pursuing a sort of hybrid digital download store / cloud-based locker service, with the store offering individual tracks or albums, while the "locker" would scan the user's hard drive for music files and, upon finding tracks that Google is licensed to offer, allow the user access to them on the cloud (presumably you won't be actually uploading your MP3s to the service, just streaming their content once it's determined you have a copy of your own). And since you can't offer any service without a little "social networking" on the side these days, Google would like to give users the opportunity to send each other tracks, which they could listen to once -- and then either purchase or preview (um, review) in thirty second snippets, similar to Lala. There's no word yet on which -- if any -- labels are willing to take the bait, but we'll let you know as soon as we hear anything else. Promise.
