Inside Google

Google’s Search “Sting” Is Hypocritical

John M. Simpson

Google is blasting rival Microsoft for copying its search engine results for use on Microsoft’s search service, Bing. Microsoft claims they did nothing wrong and that Google engaged in “a spy-novelesque stunt.”

Does Greed Corrupt Google Search Quality?

Jefferson Morley

Three rants about the decline for Google search quality highlight a phenomenon the better minds of Mountain View can’t afford to ignore, says culture blogger Anil Dash. Or can they?

Press Release

Hard-coding bias in Google “algorithmic” search results

CONTACT: Ben Edelman

Google tells the public its results have “no manual intervention” and result “solely” from “completely automated” “computer algorithms” that “reflect the popular opinion of the Web” “completely objectively”. It’s a lofty promise, but is it true?

Google moves to profit from its “crown jewels” — your data

John M. Simpson

A Wall Street Journal article this week details how Google is increasingly moving to maximize profits from the vast amount of personal data it has amassed in its global network of servers at the expense of consumers’ privacy. Google chairman Eric Schmidt once claimed Google put its money “where our principles are.” The Journal’s revealing article showing how profits triumph over privacy demonstrates the stark reality: Google puts its principles where the money is.

Google-Verizon blueprint: creeping control of Internet by corporate giants

Margot Williams

The Google-Verizon statement on regulating the Internet isn’t business deal, the two companies say. Its a “legislative framework proposal” and a “a path to the open internet.” Web watchers aren’t buying it. It’s an alliance of two companies looking to lock in market advantages with political action.

Fortune says the “search party” is over for Google

John M. Simpson

Google has a stranglehold on search with 65 percent of the U.S. market — and even more in some other countries — but writing in Fortune magazine, Michael C. Copeland, says the Internet giant needs to find new sources of revenue or lose its status as a growth company.

Financial Times examines Google’s ‘secret formula’

Margot Williams

In another Google story, the Financial Times (registration required) punctures some of the mythology around the legendary algorithm that powers Google search. First of all, it’s a work in progress. There were some 500 tweaks to the algorithm last year alone, some of which radically effect online businesses, some of whom are Google competitors.

Press Release

Expedia is worried about Google/ITA deal

CONTACT: Margot Williams

More fallout from Google’s proposed purchase of Internet advertising powerhouse ITA Software, which was announced earlier this month.

New Google option: look like Bing home page

Margot Williams

Google is known for the “clean simple look” of its home page at Google.com. Bing has earned praise for the gorgeous photos changing daily on the Bing home page, stocked by Microsoft’s Corbis imagery.

Now Google has announced that you will be able to clutter up your Google.com page with a photo too.

Personalized search: Searching in a Bubble?

Margot Williams

My Google search results are looking too familiar. Looking for something new on the web for a topic of continuing interest, I enter some familiar terms. The same old sites keep turning up. OK, so Google is returning the most relevant results, based on the Google algorithm. Why do they seem so stale?