Digital Domain: The Human Touch That May Loosen Googleâs Grip
389742
The fumbling of Googleâs largest challengers has not dampened the enthusiasm of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists for entering the search game.
83261
The core business of Internet search engines is being threatened by the evolution of new generation of content providers. The search engines like Google or Yahoo make money by indexing the web sites all over
148961
Google said it may start using more human interaction to improve its search, following the launch of a search site that uses only human labor.
110852
Last week when Google came up with its Desktop Search, it promised to make finding files on our desktop a lot less painful. Knowing Google and its other services, I had little doubt that the new tool from their stable would be incredible.
628149
(InfoWorld) - Just a few days after the introduction of a search engine that works primarily using human labor, Google says, "Me too." "People think of Google as pure algorithms," said Matt Cutts, search quality engineer at Google, speaking at the Search Marketing Expo in Seattle on Monday. "We've recently begun trying to communicate the fact that we're not averse to using some manual intervention." Cutts' comments follow the launch Wednesday of an early version of Mahalo.com, a new search engine that operates using people who dig through the Internet manually looking for quality sites. Mahalo.com currently can deliver results for 4,000 popular search terms with plans to reach 10,000 terms by the end of the year. Workers weed out spam sites, sites with overbearing advertising, pages that regurgitate information without giving appropriate credit to the source, and sites of unknown origin. Over the last couple of months, Google has altered some explanations on its Webmaster Guidelines pages to reflect changes it may make in how much human interaction affects its search results, Cutts said. Google has changed the wording in places from saying that certain functions operate 100 percent using the company's search algorithms to now saying more vaguely that the company uses scalable and robust techniques, he said. "We're trying to make the distinction that humans are a wonderful way to improve search quality, but we have to do that in a way that is scalable and robust. Our Webmaster Guidelines have changed to reflect this possibility," he said. Some Google functions do fully work using the algorithm. For example, the algorithm designed to prevent Google bombing, where people cause certain sites to rank, usually for an obscure or humorous search term, uses no human intervention, Cutts said. "The Google bomb algorithm is completely automatic," he said. It runs once every three or four months, he said. Google uses human interaction for a variety of different functions such as acting on spam, he said. "Google does reserve the right to use humans in a scalable way," he said. Additional human interaction might come if Google decides to allow anyone to report people who buy links in order to try to improve their search rankings. "I wouldn't be surprised if we add something on the Webmaster console to report that," Cutts said. He also said that Google may rewrite its guidelines to include more detail about the types of techniques that could get sites banned. Currently, the guidelines include often vague instructions, such as to avoid link schemes designed to boost a site's popularity. That can include a number of different tactics, which Google doesn't spell out. "It would be great to start giving more examples," Cutts said.
243470
Google is working with mobile content providers on a search tool for cell phones.
258963
It now feels amazing how we have lived without this particular feature since ages now. Google introduced desktop searching to the world in spite of the fact lesser-known products existed since a long time.
210855
Leading search companies Google and Yahoo didn&#39;t appear to have a presence at the CTIA Wireless I.T. &amp; Entertainment conference in San Francisco this week, but their startup competitors and smaller rival AOL were all angling for influence over mobile search.While&#160;Google&#160;and&#160;Yahoo&#160;have been pursuing what is perceived to be a large opportunity in mobile search and advertising, they&#39;ve met resistance from mobile operators in the U.S.&quot;Some are concerned about Google and Yahoo being stronger competitors, that [the operators] will become in effect the dumb pipe that the ISPs became,&quot; said Greg Sterling, an analyst following mobile search as part of a joint venture between Sterling Market Research and Opus Research. &quot;I think that&#39;s a valid fear.&quot;That creates an opportunity for companies such as JumpTap and Medio, which offer technologies to operators to present self-branded search tools for their mobile users.Operators tell JumpTap that they don&#39;t want Google and other online search brands to siphon away search traffic, and with it, the opportunity to earn revenue from advertising, said Adam Soroca, vice president and general manager of search services for JumpTap.But operators and startups face a steep challenge: Any mobile user can simply type the URL for their preferred search provider into a browser on a mobile phone. Users will do that if they think that the search from the online giants is better and if they want to access connected services such as mail and calendars, Sterling said.If the carriers manage to offer a better search experience, and one that may be easier to use because it is placed predominantly on the phone home screen, which the operator controls, then people may use it. &quot;But if their experience is lackluster or sub par or comparable, then they&#39;re at a disadvantage, because the brand strength and other tie-ins [from Google or Yahoo] are greater,&quot; he said.JumpTap said its technology is superior to other mobile search offerings because it uses proprietary algorithms that are mobile-specific. In addition, JumpTap knows the search history and location of users, so it can display more relevant results and advertising, Soroca said.In addition to the startups, competitors of Google and Yahoo in PC-based online search are working hard to prevent the search giants from dominating the mobile Internet. Microsoft is pursuing a foothold in mobile search and has an advantage through its Windows Mobile operating system. Phones running the OS feature a link to Microsoft&#39;s Live Search on the start page.Also, AOL made a handful of announcements at the CTIA conference about new mobile services. It even had a booth, which included a small poster for JumpTap in the area of the stand promoting a new AOL mobile search offering. JumpTap said it could not discuss any relationship with AOL. AOL could not be reached for comment.It&#39;s ironic that JumpTap may be fueling AOL, which ranks low among PC-based search offerings but has a strong brand. &quot;The scenario that operators are concerned about, [JumpTap is] enabling&quot; with AOL, Sterling noted. But from JumpTap&#39;s perspective, AOL looks like one more customer, he said.
46306
Researchers create digital paper that emits recorded sound in response to a user's touch.
652895
Smoke and mirrors Comment [ Microsoft calls its multitouch user interface Surface Computing "a new paradigm". We asked a British pioneer in the field to examine the claim. - ed.]â¦
330531
Google anticipa ancora una volta la concorrenza e annuncia di lavorare alla digitalizzazione delle opere di cinque biblioteche, cosÃ¬ da renderle accessibili ai suoi utenti. Google si occuperÃ  di scansionare
315766
Google leads the charge of indexing information outside the web as it turns to TV. Also: Video-game maker Take Two buys a chunk of Sega & hellip;.  Google hiring practices raise eyebrows and speculations on future projects & hellip;. and more.
614228
Googleâs share of the search market keeps growing, and no one seems willing to bet that will change soon. Body:
414396
Googleâs efforts to promote Android, an open and free platform for cellphones, is provoking rivals.
1146
There is some confusion about threats posed by the new search tool. Google says common sense is enough of a patch. By Thomas Claburn.
111413
Mozilla developer Doug Turner outlines two prototypes for better cell phone-browsing.
396733
Touch interface technology has been around a long time, but it may be at a tipping point now. Move over, keyboard and mouse.