Articles on Google


Sheer Volume of “Michael Jackson” Searches DOSes Google  312 Views (comments)
The news of Michael Jackson's cardiac arrest, and subsequent death, caused such a tsunami of searches on Google that the search giant's system believed that it was under attack, and triggered Google's attack defense mode, including requiring searchers to solve a CAPTCHA. Searchers searching for information on Michael Jackson were met with an intermediate page which said "Your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application," and apologetically asks them to solve the CAPTCHA.

Google Earth Picture Used to Apprehend Twins Who Mugged Dutch Teen  766 Views (comments)
A Dutch boy who was mugged and robbed last year by a pair of 24-year-old twin robbers just happened to find an image of the moment before the mugging occurred, in the Google Street View on Google Earth.

Google’s New Related Searches “Wonder Wheel” Offers Terms Related to Your Search  379 Views (comments)
Some of you may have already seen the new option which Google offers when you do a Google search - it's called the Google WonderWheel. The Google Wonder Wheel offers you a graphical representation of related searches - that is, searches related to your initial search. It is similar to "mind mapping", which seems to be the newest info-fad.

Website Held Liable for the Way Google Search Excerpted It  521 Views (This article has 1 comment)
A website in Holland - Miljoenhuizen.nl - has been held liable for the summary that Google search turned up for its site. Yes, you read that right - they were held responsible for the fact that Google excerpted and concatenated text from their webpage in a way that suggested that the plaintiff, the BMW dealership Zwartepoorte, had gone bankrupt.

Microsoft Blocks Google as “Not Family Safe”  528 Views (This article has 2 comments)
Perhaps you've heard about Microsoft's WIndows Live new "Family Safety" software, which you can install on your Windows computer, so that your children can safely surf the web without fear of exposure to material that is not family friendly - or 'family safe'. Apparently in Microsoft's view this includes competitor Google, although oddly it does not include their own similar search engine, Live.com.

West-Friendly Islamic Groups Being Trained in SEO to Game Google for Greater Good  416 Views (comments)
The British Office of Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT), has announced plans to provide pro-West Islamic groups with search engine optimization (SEO) training, to help them to acheive higher search engine rankings in Google search than their more radical and terror-focused counterparts.

Criminal Uses Google Maps to Steal Roofs Off Buildings  706 Views (comments)
Forget terrorists using Google maps to find targets; criminals are already way ahead in that game, using Google Earth maps to find their next victims - even stealing the very roofs off buildings that they have found using Google maps!

Proposed Law Would Require Google to Blur Buildings to Thwart Terrorists  641 Views (This article has 7 comments)
Legislators in California - that state of the eternal budget crisis - have decided that it's a good idea to spend money trying to force Google to blur Google Maps images of what are known as "soft targets" for terrorists, such as schools, churches, hospitals, and government buildings, to protect them against terrorist attacks. Because you know, terrorists can't find an address without Google Maps.

Google Settles Class Action Book Scanning Copyright Infringement Lawsuit  1,568 Views (comments)
It's no secret that Google is scanning entire books and putting them on the Internet. In fact, we reported their first wholesale scanning project - scanning books from five major libraries - more than four years ago. That lead to outcries and debates over whether Google's scanning of books was copyright infringement, and sure enough, in what seemed like a New York minute, the Author's Guild sued Google over that scanning.

Gmail Down for Millions of Users  652 Views (comments)
If you were unable to access your Gmail account yesterday morning, you weren't the only one. It turns out that Gmail had a massive outage that affected Gmail users all around the world.

Invasion of Privacy Lawsuit Against Google Street View Van Dismissed  1,042 Views (This article has 1 comment)
The Google Streetview lawsuit filed by Aaron and Christine Boring, claiming invasion of privacy because the Google Street View van snapped pictures after going down their posted, private road, has been dismissed by the Court.

What is the Triple Bottom Line and How it Applies to the Internet  528 Views (comments)
You may have heard a lot of talk about "the triple bottom line" lately, and you may be wondering just what the triple bottom line is. The triple bottom line (also expressed as TBL, 3BL, or "people, planet, profit") is a way of measuring an organization's social and enviromental impacts as well as its financial health. But what about a triple bottom line analysis of the Internet?

Google Accidentally Lists the Entire World Wide Web as Possibly Malicious  1 Views (comments)
"The site you are about to visit may harm your computer" warns a by-now familiar refrain from Google. And usually they have their reasons. But over the weekend, Google said that about the entire Internet. Oops.

Offline Gmail Announced: Use Gmail Offline on Your Desktop or Laptop Even with No Internet Connection  610 Views (comments)
Google has announced today that a new feature is available in the Google Labs: Offline Gmail. With Offline Gmail you can access your Gmail email right on your own desktop or laptop computer, even when you are not connected to the Internet.

Google Captures and Publishes Pic of Woman Urinating in Public  9,909 Views (This article has 2 comments)
Google's controversial Street View feature - often accused of invading privacy - is back in the news again. The Google Street Views are created primarily by compiling thousands of images taken by a team of roving Google StreetView vans equipped ...

Twitter Comes to GMail - Now You Can Twitter Right from Gmail!  778 Views (comments)
For those who are constantly checking both Twitter, and Gmail, now you can have your cake and eat it too! Twitter Gadget is a Gmail gadget that allows you to both read and post to Twitter right from your Gmail interface!

Track Where in the U.S. the Flu Outbreaks are with Google Flu Trends  643 Views (comments)
Want to know the flu picture in your area? Don't wait for the Center for Disease Control to tell you - use the Google flu tracker! According to Google, their new Google Flu Trends service can tell you as much as two weeks earlier than can the CDC!

Google, MS and Yahoo Sign Global Network Initiative to Protect User Privacy in Other Countries  1,499 Views (comments)
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo have all signed on to the Global Initiative Network, pledging to protect the privacy of their users around the world, including - perhaps particularly - users in countries such as China, where demands that ISPs rat out their users are routinely made.

New Mail Goggles from Google Keeps You from Drunk Driveling  832 Views (comments)
Google has just released Mail Goggles (do you have any idea how hard it is to not typo that as "Mail Googles"?), a new enhancement for Gmail designed to keep you from sending that 3 a.m. email while under the influence that you know you'll regret in the morning, but send anyways. The Google Goggles work by requiring you to solve several math problems within sixty seconds before allowing you to effectively hit "send".

The Problem with Site Blocking Browsers and Search Engines is That They Block Good Sites  846 Views (comments)
Firefox and IE both have site blocking (or at least, site warning) built into their current iterations. Google also does site blocking now. All do site blocking based on some metric, known only to them, that tells them that a site is more likely than not to be a malicious site, such as a phishing site, or a site loaded with spyware. The problem with site blocking browsers and site blocking search engines such as Google is that sometimes they get it wrong.

Can’t Access Gmail because “Your Gmail Account is Currently Experiencing Errors”?  2,567 Views (This article has 1 comment)
An untold number of users attempted to log into their Gmail account recently only to be confronted with the chilling message, "We’re sorry, but your Gmail account is currently experiencing errors. You won’t be able to use your account while these errors last, but don’t worry, your account data and messages are safe. Our engineers are working to resolve this issue.

How to ReDownload Email from Gmail After You’ve Already Downloaded It  2,864 Views (This article has 2 comments)
Did you know that if you lose some of your email from your mail client, and you pop your mail from Gmail, that you can actually re-download your email from Gmail again? Not only that, but with this trick you can redownload email from specific dates - meaning you can re-download from Gmail just the email received on the dates that you want!

Is Gmail Rejecting Your POP Password? You’re Not Crazy and You’re Not Alone  2,577 Views (This article has 4 comments)
If you retrieve your email via POP from Gmail, you may on occasion find that Gmail completely rejects your password. Now, having Gmail rejecting your POP password can be very disconcerting, not to mention frustrating! Your mail client keeps prompting you for your Gmail password, you keep entering the password that you know is the right password, and Gmail keeps rejecting it. It's enough to drive you crazy.

"Complete Privacy Does Not Exist" Statement WRONGLY Attributed to Google in Lawsuit  1,316 Views (comments)
The Internet is all abuzz today with a line from Google's response in the invasion of privacy lawsuit filed against Google by Aaron Boring and Christine Boring of Pennsylvania. That line is "Complete privacy does not exist." There's only one problem - Google didn't actually say it.

How to Delete Internet History and Search History from Internet Explorer, Safari, IE7, Firefox and Google Toolbar  13,945 Views (This article has 2 comments)
For any number of reasons, you may want to know how to delete Internet history from your computer. Whatever the reason, here is how to delete the Internet history from your computer if you are using Internet Explorer, Safari, IE7, or Firefox, and also how to clear your search history from Google Toolbar and even Google itself.

Microsoft Says Partnering with Yahoo Search Illegal - IF Google Does it Instead of Microsoft  1,844 Views (comments)
In a move that can only be described as, at best, disingenuous, Microsoft testified this week before the U.S. Congress that if Yahoo were allowed to partner with Google in a search advertising deal, it would, they implied, be an illegal monopoly. Oh, right, but if Microsoft buys Yahoo for the very same reason, that's ok??

Family Guy MacFarLane’s Google Ads Videos Cause Big Stir  775 Views (comments)
There has been a big stir created by the announcement that Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has signed on with Google to create exclusive video cartoon content for their Adsense ad network. But we think that the big stir is no more than a tempest in a teapot.

“Gmail” Outlawed in Germany - To Access Google Gmail in Germany Requires Go-Around  2,143 Views (comments)
Google had its Gmail tail handed to it on a platter when a German court held - not once, but twice (in preliminary and final orders) - that it could not use the name "Gmail" in Germany, as it infringed on a prior user of that name. As a result, Google is banned from using the Gmail name in Germany, and German Gmail users and others in Germany who wish to access the Google email service are banned from accessing the service via the Gmail name.

Pool Crashing: Google Earth and Facebook Used by Teens to Locate and Trespass Swimming Pools  1,321 Views (comments)
Pool crashing is the newest in thing with teenagers in Britain, and could well catch on quickly in other countries. The teens are using Google Earth to locate swimming pools in their area; then setting up the pool crash party by announcing it on Facebook.

Google Earth Now Available Through Your Browser - No Download Necessary!  5,607 Views (This article has 3 comments)
At their I/O developer event held in San Francisco's Moscone Center this month, Google unveiled two exciting enhancements to Google Earth. The first is a Google Earth plug-in enabling you to fly anywhere on Earth, viewing content in your browser. This mirrors the functionality that used to require downloading and installing a desktop application.

Google Gets a New Favicon  976 Views (comments)
Google has a new favicon. It may seem like small news, but when you consider that it's a complete rebranding, even if only in a microspace - it's a space seen by millions of people a day - heck, millions of people an hour.

Blurred Faces for Enhanced Privacy: Google Adds Face Blurring Technology to StreetView Maps  1,328 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Google has responded to privacy concerns about people being recognized from Google StreetView map images, and begun deploying new face blurring technology to mask their identity. So those blurred faces you see aren't an accident, or the result of the subjects having drunk too much the night before.

Google to Connect Friends Across Websites with Google Friend Connect  1,188 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Google has released a Preview Version of Friends Connect, a new service that lets website owners easily add social networking features. For website owners the benefits of Google Friends Connect are clear; adding social networking features to an already popular site encourages visitors to stay longer, engaging with other users and with new and updated content, as well as providing content of their own in the form of comments, reviews and message board entries.

Google Earth Allows World to Look in on Refugee Camps  1,128 Views (comments)
We're sure that our readers are well aware that we live at a time of uncertainty, and in a world in which conflict seems to be constant. Scenes of the displacement of innocent civilians, especially women and children, into refugee camps, in Darfur, Iraq, the Sudan, and Afghanistan, are ever-present on the news. It's extremely heartening, then, to hear about Google and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) jointly making available the Google Earth Outreach project, to raise global awareness of the almost 33 million displaced people that the UNHCR is today helping.

Gmail Available in Many Different Languages  3,370 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Did you know that people from all over the world use Google Gmail, and not all people want to (or can) use Gmail in English? Welcome to Gmail for the global community, because Gmail . com is now distinctly international. Why have your Gmail sign in greet you in English when your Gmail .com account can be set up for any one of dozens of languages? Quiere correo Gmail? No problema! In fact, the top searches relating to Gmail these days are in foreign languages! Speaking of which, can anybody tell us what these mean?: gmail ustvari nov naslov, gmail geslo, gmail prijava geslo, gmail raziskovalec, gmail sprememba gesla, pozabljeno geslo za gmail, zamenjati geslo gmail, sprememba gesla gmail, gmail prijava, gesla gmail, prijava v gmail, or ustvari gmail?

Doppelganger Squatters - They Fool Even Google  1,647 Views (This article has 1 comment)
In addition to the breed of filth known as "typo squatters" (people who register domains which are common misspellings of popular domains, and then put ads on them), and "drop squatters" (people who grab established domains the moment that the domain's registration lapses (i.e. is "dropped") - and set up shop on the domain - again, nothing but ads - to take advantage of the traffic that comes to the domain), we want to bring to your attention a particularly slimy breed that we call the "Doppelganger Squatter".

Google Poisoned Links are Bitter Indeed  1,405 Views (This article has 5 comments)
Reports emerged this week from a Holland-based internet security consultant, Dancho Danchev, of a new technique - known as poison Google links - being used by hackers attempting to use legitimate Google searches as a vector to smuggle malware onto the machines of unsuspecting users. So far the poisoned Google links all contain the string "IFRAME SRC=//" followed by an IP address, most recently and commonly 72.232.39.252, but that could change in a heartbeat.

The Company Behind All That Address Book Scraping that Flixster, Facebook, and Others are Doing  3,914 Views (This article has 3 comments)
According to a tip received by the Internet Patrol, the resident evil behind the throngs of social networking and other sites that are tricking people into logging into their AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Gmail accounts, and scraping their address book, has a name, and that name is Sigma Visual Technologies. Sigma Visual Technologies provides software that allows sites to get their users to import and email all of their contacts in their address books. Put another way, it lets these sites scrape and spam your contacts. In your name!

Why Use the + When Searching on the Internet?  4,037 Views (comments)
Here's a good question: Why use the + when searching on the Internet? (I.e., why use the plus sign when searching on the Internet?)

Scam Gmail Verification Email is Identity Theft Effort in Disguise  4,040 Views (This article has 2 comments)
A Gmail confirmation scam email is going around, asking you to verify your Gmail account. "Dear Account User," the request starts out - and goes on to say that you need to confirm your Gmail account, or it will be closed down. Of course, the language is wrong, and it wasn't even necessarily sent to your Gmail account, but still, people will be taken in by this scam, which asks for your account username and password, your date of birth, and your country of residence. Here's the scam reproduced in full - if you get this, don't reply!

Using a Gmail Account in Conjunction with Your AntiSpam Program as the Perfect Spam Folder  2,331 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Massive Gmail storage plus the awesome folder view provided by a Gmail account equals the perfect spam folder! If your anti-spam program can forward all detected spam to a separate email address, then you can create your own Gmail spam folder account too! Gmail mail is the perfect way to scan all of your spam for mail that you actually want, because the Gmail email folder view shows you the first sentence of the email along with the subject, making it super easy to determine if the mail is really spam or not without opening it! First, set up a Gmail account (sign up for Gmail at gmail . com here), then forward your spam to it. Now check Gmail mail to easily scan the contents of your spam folder to determine if there is any email you actually want. Here are step-by-step instructions, and a view of our Gmail spam folder account!

How to Opt Out of Google Gmail Chat and Turn it Off  6,625 Views (This article has 2 comments)
If you are one of those people who aren't the least bit interested in using Google Gmail Chat (Google's instant message chat program in Gmail, similar to AIM and iChat), you probably want to know how to sign out of Gmail chat. So here's the information you need to disable Gmail chat - to turn the Google chat "feature" off, and deactivate Google Gmail chat instant messages.

Facebook Joins Ranks of Sites Scraping Your Address Book and Spamming Your Contacts - This Time It’s AIM  4,580 Views (This article has 4 comments)
The mega popular Facebook site has joined the ranks of social networking sites that trick you into providing your password so that they can steal your AOL , Yahoo, MSN, or other address book, and spam all of your contacts. Only this time it's with a twist - they are actually spamming your AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) contacts in your Buddy List! The spam starts out like this: "According to his Facebook status, Friend's Name (their username) is now "Friend's Nickname". Friend invites you to join Facebook and keep up with what he and your other friends are doing." What we want to know is WHY are AOL, Yahoo, and MSN continuing to let this go on?

Google Rolls Out YouTube Video Identification Video Fingerprinting to Nail Copyright Infringement on YouTube  2,154 Views (comments)
Perhaps nobody is more glad than Google itself that Google this week rolled out its You Tube Video Identification (You Tube Video ID) program - which does video fingerprinting in order to identify copies of copyrighted video material as it is uploaded to YouTube.

Google’s New Web History - What “View and manage your web history” Means for Your Privacy on Google  3,687 Views (This article has 3 comments)
With very little fanfare, Google has unleashed their relatively new web history feature on their users. If you had any doubt that Google has the ability to store and track your every move you make - at least through them - let this put all doubts to rest. Here's what's really behind that "New! View and manage your web history" link you're seeing on the Google page.

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.  2,548 Views (This article has 2 comments)
A new round of phishing spam, phishing for Gmail account information, along with your date of birth and citizenship, was unleashed on the Internet this week. "Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account within Seven days of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently," reads the subject.

Google to Build Massive Undersea Internet Cable Across the Pacific Ocean  3,319 Views (comments)
Project Unity cable - a plan by Google to build a massive, undersea Internet cable across the Pacific ocean, was outed this week as sharp-eyed Google watchers pieced together clues which lead to the discovery of the Unity cable project.

Hotmail Down Yet Again - Third Time in Three Months  7,697 Views (This article has 7 comments)
For the third time in as many months, Hotmail is down, and users across the country cannot get to the Hotmail servers to read and retrieve their email. Users across the world are flocking to our site, searching for information and help with queries such as "hotmail down", "hotmail down?", "hotmail is down", "is hotmail down", "is hotmail down?", "hotmail servers down", "hotmail down today", "hotmail servers", and "hotmail outage". If this has affected you, then it probably really is time to switch to Gmail or Yahoo.

How to Make Money on the Internet  6,067 Views (This article has 3 comments)
We are asked all the time "How can I make money on the Internet?" or "Where can I learn how to make money on the Internet?" In fact, we're asked often enough about how to make money online - and we have a vested enough interest in making sure that people do it appropriately, without spamming and following the rules and observing best practices - that we now offer this article.

Gmail “Message left on server” Message - What it Means  4,606 Views (This article has 1 comment)
If you use Gmail, it is likely that on occasion you will get an email that says something like 'Message left on server: "(no subject)"' or 'Message left on server: "Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender"', or 'Message left on server:" followed by some random subject. The message, which comes from "Gmail Team ", will then invariably instruct you that the message "contained a virus or a suspicious attachment. It was therefore not fetched from your account" and that it has "been left on the server." Here's what it means.

Why You Should Switch from Hotmail to Yahoo, AOL, or Gmail  7,576 Views (This article has 7 comments)
If you must have free email, we strongly recommend switching from Hotmail to another free email service provider such as Yahoo, AOL, or Gmail. We personally recommend either Yahoo or AOL.

How to Whitelist in Gmail  16,778 Views (This article has 3 comments)
Now that you're all set up with your gmail.google.com account, you're going to want to know how to whitelist something, or how to whitelist someone, in Gmail. It's not difficult to whitelist with Gmail - in fact, it's much harder to figure out how to whitelist with Gmail than it is to actually do it! So here's how to whitelist in Gmail. (P.S. It's actually mail.google.com, but gmail.google.com will get you there.)

Use Gmail as a Spam Filter for All of Your Email!  3,854 Views (This article has 2 comments)
Did you know that you can use Gmail as a spam filter? Among Gmail's many wonderful features, one of the most useful is the incredible spam filtering. I've not come across any spam filtering solution that's as efficient as Gmail's and there are a number of ways you can take advantage of this free service without having to change your current email address!

It Doesn’t Take a Google Scholar to Go to Google and Get these Cool Google Gadgets for Everyone from Google.com!  5,483 Views (comments)
Did you know that Google,com offers more than 600 cool Google gadgets and Google widgets for your use, for free? And you don't even need to put them on a Google desktop or your Google home page! You can put them on your own website (or put them on a Google homepage and your own website! And it doesn't take a Google scholar to go to Google and get these cool Google gadgets from Google. com! It's easy! (By the way, gmodules.com is the Google gadgets domain.)

How to Set Up Google Adsense Referrals - the New Way to Get Top Paying Google Adsense Payouts  4,766 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Google Adsense Referrals is a new program with the potential for top paying Google Adsense payouts. The Google Referrals program allows Adsense publishers to hand-pick the Adsense ads that they want to appear on their site, and get paid per action (i.e. sale or sign-up) rather than per click. Setting up your Adsense Referral ads is not hard, but the site is not as straightforward as it could be, so we're here to help you figure it out.

Is Flixster a Big Fat Spammer? Are They Accessing Your AOL or Hotmail Address Book? The Answer to at Least One of These is Yes!  28,773 Views (This article has 61 comments)
Recently I started getting invitations to join Flixster from complete strangers. Obviously, this was spam, but why were these complete strangers sending it to me? And why were they always from AOL and Hotmail? Now people are asking - is Flixstr accessing your AOL and Hotmail contacts list and spamming them in your name?

Google M for Murder - Google Search Results Help Identify Alleged Murderess  7,006 Views (This article has 4 comments)
Melanie McGuire is currently on trial for the murder of her husband, William McGuire. And while many people now know that your Google and other search engine searches can be discovered, apparently back in 2004, Melanie McGuire did not. For among the searches that the prosecution has found on her computers - searches which she conducted on the days leading up to the murder - were searches for "instant poisons", "undetectable poisons", and "fatal digoxin doses." And while those alone don't necessarily prove intent, another search, "how to commit murder" is pretty unambiguous.

Zooming Google Maps  4,990 Views (This article has 10 comments)
This week it was discovered that you can zoom Google maps by zooming Google Earth to a degree that you can actually see people's faces, and lots of other interesting stuff. Zooming Google Maps and zooming Google Earth is possible in several areas, although not in all locations, but finding the locations in which you can zoom Google maps is half the fun. Check out these pictures of camels in Chad and secret of the famed Treasure Island boat in Las Vegas for examples!

Has Your Gmail Email Disappeared? You’re Not Alone  5,416 Views (This article has 9 comments)
Over the holidays, many people logged in to their Gmail accounts only to find that their email had vanished. Gone. Nowhere to be found. Their Gmail email had completely disappeared.

Online Maps and Directions Blamed for Man’s Death in Snowy Oregon  2,345 Views (This article has 6 comments)
James Kim, his wife Katie, and his two daughters, found themselves snowbound and stranded on Bear Camp Road, between Grants Pass and Gold Beach, Oregon. But were they mislead by an online mapping service such as Google Maps?

Is Google Eavesdropping? Is it True that Google Can Listen In to Your Room Through Your Computer’s Microphone?  4,542 Views (This article has 4 comments)
Is Google eavesdropping? Google researchers recently announced a method to allow them to listen in to your life by listening in through your computer's microphone. Is Google listening? Will they?

Spammers Use Google URLs in Spam to Trick People  4,562 Views (This article has 7 comments)
There has been a recent increase in the number of spammers who are using Google URLs in their spam in an effort to trick people. They way they do this is to camoflage their URL so that it looks like a Google URL. After all, nearly everyone knows, recognizes, and trusts Google. How sinister could clicking on something which appears to be a Google search result be?

The Site You Are About to Visit May Harm Your Computer! Google Warns Searchers of Malware-Infested Search Results  2,899 Views (comments)
If your search results during a Google search turn up sites which Google has reason to believe may attempt to shove malware (spyware, adware, etc.) onto your machine - and if you click on one of those result links - Google now serves up an intermediate page warning "the site you are about to visit may harm your computer!"

Google CEO Eric Schmidt Seems to Think Click Fraud No Big Deal in the Long Run  1,337 Views (comments)
During a discussion at Stanford University a few months ago, Google CEO Eric Schmidt indicated that he thinks that the "perfect economic solution" to click fraud is "to let it happen."

Orkut Users Being Silently Scammed and Robbed by Orc.Malware - Google’s Orkut Service Hotbed of Brazilian Malware  1,550 Views (comments)
The Spyware Guide has broken wide open a story involving Google's Orkut service. Having discovered what it has dubbed "Orc.Malware", the Spyware guide has investigated and found that Google's Orkut is infested with the malwaree.

Google Pays $319million for Mountain View Headquarters to Go Along with Building at Nasa Ames  1,348 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Google has just announced that they are buying their Mountain View headquarters and a neighboring complex in a $319million dollar deal, adding the Mountain View campus along with their Nasa Ames property to their California holdings.

Google Nears Completion of Massive Secret “Project 02″ Googleplex in The Dalles at Oregon Washington Border  2,256 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Google has been secretly building a massive complex - Code name: Project 02, and being dubbed the Googleplex (naturally) - in The Dalles, Oregon, at the Oregon/Washington border, along the Columbia river.

Google Sued for Purveying, Profiting from, Child Pornography  5,573 Views (This article has 2 comments)
Google has been sued by New York politician Jeffrey Toback, who claims that Google intentionally provides and promotes - indeed that Google's business plan includes - child pornography.

Google, the Default Search Engine for Firefox, Opera and Safari, Complains that MSN is the Default Search Engine for IE7  7,179 Views (This article has 5 comments)
Google is complaining loudly that Microsoft has made their own search engine, MSN Search, the default search engine for Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) - well they would now, wouldn't they? This despite the fact that Google is the default search engine for Firefox, Safari and Opera.

Google Introduces 3D Modeling with Google SketchUp  1,728 Views (comments)
Google SketchUp is the latest from those whacky guys at Google Labs. Google Sketch Up is a new 3d modeling service from Google. And you can drag your Google Sketch-Up models into Google Earth!

Google to Start Selling Books Online  1,708 Views (This article has 3 comments)
Google has announced that they are going to start selling downloadable books online, putting them in direct competition with Amazon's plans to do the same.

GDrive - Google Plans Infinite Storage and to be Your Data Storage Center  1,342 Views (comments)
Through the unintended publication of some internal notes, Google this week inadvertantly revealed their plans for "infinite storage", a project they call GDrive, and keeping all of your files on their server for you.

“Net Neutrality” Explained  2,325 Views (This article has 7 comments)
What is "net neutrality"? We've been getting a lot of questions asking us to explain what this new term, "net neutrality" means. So we will. It all started with the introduction of the "Internet Nondiscrimination Act of 2006".

Google Desktop’s “Search Across Computers” Copies Your Personal Data to Google’s Servers  1,663 Views (This article has 1 comment)
The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) is warning that a new feature of Google's Desktop, called "Search Across Computers" copies entire documents and an enormous amount of data from your hard drive to Google's servers.

Feds Demand Your Search Records from Google in Lawsuit Where Your Privacy Gives Way to Witch Hunt for Child Porn Searchers  2,062 Views (This article has 3 comments)
The Feds want your search records from Google, in a lawsuit designed to prove how much searching there is being done for child pornography. Should you be worried? You bet you should. And guess what. AOL, MSN and Yahoo have already given those records up.

Microsoft and Google Settle Kai-Fu Lee Case  1,313 Views (comments)
Microsoft and Google have settled the lawsuit which resulted from Google's poaching of top executive Kai-Fu Lee. Is this the end of it?

Free Google Wifi for Mountain View, California  1,613 Views (comments)
Google free wifi is coming to Mountain View, California. While no date has yet been announced, Mountain View mayor Matt Neely says that the free Google wifi will come to Mountain View "in the very near future."

Free Email Worth a Lot to Yahoo and Gmail  1,785 Views (This article has 2 comments)
Free email providers get far more out of free email services than do the users of the free email services.

What is a Splog? Splogs Explained  1,816 Views (comments)
A splog is a garbage website put up for the sole purpose of either displaying ads or linking to another target site to give that target site more inbound links. In that way splogs serve to artificially inflate the page rank of the target site.

Google Classifieds with Google Base - is Google Going to Take on eBay?  1,484 Views (comments)
Google has been quietly testing a new service, called "Google Base", which allows you to list items on Google. Leaked screenshots of Google Base show a form where you can enter your listing, and which says: "Post your items on Google. Google ...

Is Google Controlled by the Pentagon?  1,315 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Google is controlled by the Pentagon! At least according to one group.

Google Reader Brings RSS Feeds to the Masses  1,151 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Google Reader is a new RSS reader which aims to bring RSS feeds to everyone. RSS feeds are a way for a content-based website to tell you when new content has been published without your having to go to the site itself and check.

Google Quietly Launches Google Wifi - Free Urban Wifi  2,164 Views (comments)
Google Wifi, or Goog-Fi, has been quietly launched, along with Google Secure Access, a free piece of software you can use with Google Wifi to help make the connection more secure.

Google Sued by Authors Guild for Copyright Infringement in Scanning Books Online  1,374 Views (comments)
Google has been sued for copyright infringement over the book scanning under their Library Program. The class action lawsuit was filed by the Authors Guild, and authors Herbert Mitgang, Betty Miles, and Daniel Hoffman.

Google’s Scanning Books Online - Copyright Infringement?  1,732 Views (comments)
Google is in the process of scanning books from libraries around the world and putting them online. But is it copyright infringement? Should Google be allowed to scan books and put them online even when the books are not in the public domain, and are subject to copyright protection? Some say yes, others say no.

Microsoft Issues Lawsuit Challenge to Google: Settle  1,337 Views (comments)
Microsoft to Google: "We can settle this lawsuit tomorrow if Google will agree to take today's preliminary injunction, keep every word without a single change, and enter it as a permanent injunction..."

Kai-Fu Lee Can Work at Google, Says Judge  1,541 Views (comments)
Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, the former Microsoft executive who left MSFT to join Google, and over which Microsoft sued Google, may start his job at Google pending the outcome of the trial, the Court says

2Search Spyware - How It Works, How to Get Rid of It  2,715 Views (This article has 4 comments)
2Search spyware is nasty stuff. It shows up uninvited on your computer, and then hijacks your web browser, taking you places you don't really want to go, and exposing you to even more spyware.

Google Talk Instant Messenger to Launch This Week  1,837 Views (comments)
Google Talk is Coming! According to News Reports, Google is launching a new instant messenger service, called Google Talk, some time this week. Says the LA Times, "According to a person who has seen the service, Google plans to let users chat using ...

Fun New Time Waster: Guess the Google Game  1,833 Views (comments)
Well, thanks to Grant Robinson, I have a new time waster: Guess the Google. Guess the Google should be more properly named "Guess the keyword which resulted in these images being returned in a Google image search", but I guess that ...

Google to Take Over the Free Wifi World? Google Wifi Goog-Fi Rumoured  2,110 Views (comments)
Is Google Wifi around the corner? Rumours are flying that Google is secretly setting up a unbiquitous free wifi service (which Aunty now officially christens "Goog-fi") which would allow users anywhere to access the Internet (and Google, of course) for free from ...

Google Asked to Delete Images of Nuclear Reactor  1,400 Views (comments)
Lead by terrorism fears, search engine giant Google has been asked by no less than the head of Australia's nuclear energy agency to please remove images of Australia's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor from Google's database of satellite images. The fear is that ...

Google Throws Snit Over Being Googled  1,746 Views (comments)
This would actually be funny if it weren't so seemingly petty. No, wait, I take that back. It's funny anyways. Back on July 14th, CNet News reporter Elinor Mills wrote a story on Google and privacy. As an example of the ...

What is Baidu, and Why Should I Care? (BIDU)  3,053 Views (comments)
I've received a lot of questions asking what Baidu is, and why all the hoopla over Baidu? Well, Baidu (Nasdaq symbol "BIDU" - more on that in a moment) is the Chinese search engine which is being tauted as the next Google, and ...

Giving New Meaning to “Searching for a Soulmate”  1,798 Views (comments)
According to a survey done by AdultMatchmaker.com (which begs the question, are there sites out there devoted to matchmaking for children?), as many a third or more of all online daters will do a Google search of their intended before going out on ...

Adult-Themed Website Perfect 10 Sues Google, Amazon Over Search Results  2,082 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Perfect 10, an online and offline publisher of adult content, has filed a lawsuit against Google and Amazon, claiming that by turning up images of Perfect 10's... um... "models"... in searches for, oh, who knows, maybe "nekkid women", Google and Amazon's A9 are ...

Court Stops ex-Microsoft Kai-Fu Lee from Starting Job at Google  1,448 Views (comments)
In an at least temporary victory for Redmond giant Microsoft, in a lawsuit which defending Mountain View giant Google is calling "a charade", a Washington state trial court has ordered ex Microsoft employee Kai-Fu Lee to refrain from starting his new job at ...

A Collection of Fun and Interesting Google Search Tips  4,309 Views (This article has 2 comments)
Every so often Aunty runs into some interesting things which make her life a little bit easier, and her Google searches a little more productive or, sometimes, fun. So here are a few which Aunty is going to pass on to you today. I ...

Does IE7 Banish Google and Yahoo Search? Vista Testers Lose Toolbars  2,490 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Along with the limited beta release of Microsoft's new Windows Vista came a beta version of IE7 (Internet Explorer 7). Almost immediately, Vista and IE7 users began reporting that their Yahoo! and Google toolbars had..vanished, while other less, um, competitive toolbars (pop-up ...

Click Fraud Can Mean Big Money, Legitimately  1,287 Views (comments)
Aunty has told you about the evils of click fraud. And how Google was sued over click fraud just last month. Now comes this company, which offers to track all of the pay-per-clicks on your site, giving you a full report ...

Microsoft Sues Google for Stealing Employee Kai-Fu Lee  1,438 Views (comments)
Is it a case of sour grapes, or good business? Microsoft this week has sued Google. Not over technology or copyright. Nope. Over poaching one of their top executives, Executive Vice President Kai-Fu Lee. It's no secret that Microsoft has ...

Google Wins Rights to Typos  2,090 Views (comments)
This just in: Google wins rights to typos. Seriously. According to their recent press release, the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) has issued a ruling giving to Google the rights to the Internet domain names "googkle.com", "ghoogle.com", "gfoogle.com" and "gooigle.com". Google had filed a complaint ...

Google Sued for Not Protecting Adsensers from Click Fraud  1,286 Views (comments)
You may recall that earlier this year Aunty lectured you about click fraud, and even mentioned that Google was suing an outfit over their alleged click fraud. In fact, last month Aunty showed you a news release from a company which tracks ...

MSN Blocks Porn Better Than Google and Yahoo  4,574 Views (comments)
A report released this week by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that when it comes to Internet searching, and turning up adult content, MSN is better at blocking such results than either Google or Yahoo. Whether this is a bug or a ...

Beware Google Archiving Your Entire Google Search History  2,884 Views (This article has 7 comments)
Google sure does a lot of nifty things with their search and archive capabilities! And one of those things is that it now archives your search history. Meaning that if you are logged in to Google, and perform a Google search, ...

New Gpic AIM Worm Invites Users to Look at Pictures on Google  1,952 Views (This article has 3 comments)
A newly discovered worm dubbed "Gpic.aol" and being transported via AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) arrives as an instant message along the lines of "damn this looks just like me lol" and proffering a link which claims to be a link to pictures.google.com However, as ...

‘Lost Clicks’ Web Site to Track Click Fraud (News Release)  1,588 Views (comments)
DALLAS, May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Online advertisers who are concerned about click fraud have a new online clearinghouse, http://www.lostclicks.com , where they can learn more about a pending class action lawsuit against the major search engines and Internet corporations, and about recent developments in what is now ...

Google Ads for Cheap Airline Tickets Actually Phishers?  7,311 Views (This article has 4 comments)
A new, and oh-so-simple and deviously obvious scam has hit the Internet. According to a report in iAfrica, phishers are now purchasing ads on search engines such as Google, offering cheap airline tickets, and then sitting back and waiting for unsuspecting bargain ...

Google X - Google with OS X Appletude - Killed and Resurrected  1,864 Views (This article has 4 comments)
If you blinked you might have missed it. Google's labs had put up "Google X", a Google search home page which emulated Apple's Mac OS X look and feel, particularly with respect to the dock function. When you used the Google ...

Google Nips Mark Lucovsky - Distinguished Microsoft Engineer - from Microsoft  1,902 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Mark Lucovsky may not be a household name in your household, but his name is well-known among Microsoft pundits and geeks. However soon his name will be associated with Google, and not just because "Lucovsky" turns up more than 13,000 hits in ...

Google Apologizes for “Jew” Offensive Search Results  2,634 Views (This article has 2 comments)
Google has taken the unusual step of apologizing for its search results. But only, it seems, for results obtained by searching on the word "Jew", the results for which have been deemed offensive. Linked from the top result obtained by searching the ...

Click Fraud: It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Google  1,532 Views (comments)
Have you heard about Adsense "click fraud"? It's one of the latest Internet scams. Click fraud has been in the news a lot lately, and with good reason. Click fraud accounts for 10-20% of all clicks on Internet ads such ...

Coming Soon to an Internet Near You - the Library!  1,709 Views (This article has 2 comments)
First the library brought you the Internet. Now the Internet is bringing you the library. Google has just announced exclusive deals with five libraries, including the New York Public Library, and university libraries at Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and Oxford, to ...

Google Sued By Pornographer for Their Search Engine Working…Too Well?  1,849 Views (This article has 1 comment)
Just when you think that you have heard everything. Perfect 10, a website which offers nude photos of women, has sued Internet search giant Google, claiming that Google's search engine allows people to access lists of Perfect 10 usernames and passwords, and that it ...

The Great Google Wall of China  1,841 Views (comments)
Reuters is reporting today that China has blocked its citizens' access to the English-language version of Google News, instead providing access to a special, sanitized Chinese-language version which it has arranged with Google. According to media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders, China has been ...

Tempted to Click on a Friend’s AdSense or Have Them Click on Yours?  1,501 Views (This article has 3 comments)
Are you ever tempted to click on a friend's AdSense, or to have them click on yours? Well, don't do it! Google takes doing this, which is known as "click fraud", very seriously. Why just last week, Google filed a lawsuit against someone for ...

Gmail for Outlook and Other POP Clients  3,359 Views (This article has 6 comments)
Google has announced that their Gmail service is going to start offering POP access to users' email accounts, meaning that rather than having to log in through Gmail's web interface, users will be able to download their Gmail to their own computer using ...

I’m Sorry Teacher, the Spam Filter Ate My IPO  1,914 Views (This article has 2 comments)
Two things are now clear to Aunty about Google's upcoming IPO: 1) They are moving forward with their somewhat novel concept of making their initial offering directly to individuals, by email, and 2) they are worried about that email being zapped ...

California Senate Sends Gmail a Message  1,724 Views (This article has 1 comment)
The BBC reports today that the California Senate has passed SB 1822, aimed at limiting Google's ability to scan email coming in to the users of their Gmail system, and also limiting Google's ability to archive and sell the resulting information. Now, Aunty is ...

A Gaggle of Google Giggles (Gmail)  2,094 Views (comments)
As many of you know, Aunty was one of the people blessed with a Gmail account early on (relatedly, she was also 'blessed' with everybody and their brother coming out of the woodwork asking her to please get them a Gmail account, too). After ...

Gmail’s Spam Filter Isn’t So Hot, But We Can Get You to Zimbabwe Cheap!  2,293 Views (This article has 2 comments)
I've been testing Google's Gmail for 5 days now, since April 18th. Woohoo. In addition to openly soliciting email to the account, and even posting the address on the web (shedevil@gmail.com), I've forwarded all of my email coming to my other accounts to ...

Gmail Ad Nauseum II: Those Wacky AdSense Ads  1,453 Views (comments)
As I've mentioned elsewhere, Google's Gmail's "sophisticated spam filtering technology" isn't. And I'm beginning to wonder about their AdSense technology as well. So far Gmail is (not) batting 1000 - all spam has ended up in my inbox, and the only two pieces ...

Gmail Ad Nauseum I: EFF Issues Gmail Alert  2,096 Views (comments)
For those playing along at home who are interested in, or even concerned about, the privacy issues being raised by Google's new Gmail service, the EFF raises some fairly thought provoking issues, to wit: with the advent of Gmail, along with a ...

Stalking the Wild Gmail Account: First Impressions  1,529 Views (comments)
Somehow, I lucked into having a Gmail beta account (who knew I had friends in those high places?) Here are my first impressions: First, Gmail doesn't work with Safari; very annoying. It does, however, work with Firefox. I also found it frustrating ...

Gmail: email Gspot or Gmen?  10,093 Views (This article has 17 comments)
Much has been made in the past dozen days about Google's announcement of their new service, Gmail. First, the press release was leaked on April 1st, leading to wide speculation: was it an April Fool's gag, or was it not? (It wasn't.) Then ...
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