It seems that Seth Godin, among others, are finally noticing the new Google "Click-to-Call" feature in AdWords ads. You click on an add, enter your phone number, and you're connected directly to the advertiser via phone. I blogged about this…
Month: February 2006
Battelle: Never Poke a Dragon While It’s Eating
John Battelle posts his thoughts on the recent rash of search engine v. China incidents. He follows up on Yahoo's call for the search engines to band together and fight Chinese censorship of the web:So what to say about all…
Yahoo! seeks help to fight China censors
Forbes is reporting that Yahoo is trying to form a coalition between the major web search engines (Google, Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft) to work together to counter Chinese censorship on the web. And this Financial Times article notes that Yahoo! is…
Open Letter to the Washington Square News
Gothamist recently reported that Columbia University's student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, was adding blogs to their online offerings. This prompted me of consider some problems with how NYU's student-run paper, the Washington Square News, is experimenting with reader interactivity. Over…
Google on the Cover of Time Magazine
The latest issue of Time magazine features a cover story on Google, and asks "Can we trust Google with our secrets?" Touted as an "inside look" at how success has changed Larry and Sergey's dream machine, the piece offers some…
Yahoo Grapples With Online Rights
Not to be left out of the concern over the role search engines play in people's online rights, this New York Times article points out the growing conflicts Yahoo is experiencing regarding the rights of their users, including censoring search…
Yes, Google Desktop Does Put Privacy in Jeopardy
Rob Sullivan at Search Engine Journal questions whether the new "search across computers" feature of Google's Desktop software really puts users' privacy in jeopardy. Yes, it does. To respond to some of Rob's observations: So what if you have to…
Secure Flight Mothballed
Ed Felton at Freedom to Tinker reports that Secure Flight, the government program for screening airline passengers, has been mothballed by the Transportation Security Administration. The AP story cites security concerns; apparently Congress & the agency weren't confident that the…
Does Targeted Marketing (with Personal Data) Work?
One of the key arguements for collecting personal search histories is that a "perfect search engine" will use this personal information to deliver more relevant advertisements. The supposition is that the search engines benefit from selling a more detailed profile…
Read More Does Targeted Marketing (with Personal Data) Work?
Google Desktop 3.0 Copies Your Hard Drive
Google released a new version of their Desktop software, which includes a feature allowing users to search their files across computers. The service is not activated by default, and (savvy) users can opt to block certain files from being accessible…
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