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Search Engine Vanity Overload (Web Pro News)

“Charlene Li points to Ziggs, a new search engine thats [sic!] helps users find business professionals and helps professionals massage their ego.”

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Hacked Web Sites Used To Install Parasites
(Spyware Info)

“Security researchers are warning of a new method of installing unwanted parasitic software onto the computers of unsuspecting victims who use Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE).

Any of the following parasitic software may be installed on the victim's computer:

180solutions
BlazeFind
BookedSpace
BullsEye Networks
CashBack (Bargain Buddy)
ClickSpring
CoolWebSearch
DyFuca
Hoost
IBIS Toolbar
Internet Optimizer
ISTbar
Power Scan
SideFind
TIB Browser
WebRebates (TopMoxie)
WhenU (VVSN)
Window AdControl
WindUpdates
YourSiteBar”

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Top Search Engine Toolbars Reviewed
(Search Engine Lowdown)

“CNet reviews the top 7 search engine toolbars and looks at compatibility and features.

For those of you who don't have time to click on the link, the winner is Yahoo.”

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Correction:

The [official] Yahoo! Search Blog’s URL is http://www.ysearchblog.com/ and NOT http://yahoo-search.blogspot.com/ as it was listed in my post Major search engines’ OFFICIAL Weblogs
on Nov. 19, 2004.

Mea culpa.

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Rating Search Engine Disclosure Practices
(Search Engine Watch)

“Which search engines are adequately disclosing their paid placement and paid inclusion practices?

Which ones are failing to do so?

A new report offers some surprising insights.”

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Copernic Desktop a Better Option than Google Desktop? (Search Engine Lowdown)

“PC World compares Copernic Desktop Search and Google Desktop Search and looks at the features of each.

The last sentence seems to sum it up well.

Desktop search is a wonderful concept. Using either of these products can save you time. However, Copernic's tool offers certain protections, thanks to the way its software is structured. With Google's tool, you might do better to wait until its security flaws are addressed.”

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Are Bigger Search Engines Better? (New York Times)

“Last week, Google announced that it had doubled, to more than eight billion, the number of Web pages its search engine can find.

The announcement — a search engine version of trash-talking — came one day before Microsoft introduced its search engine, which has indexed about five billion pages.

That makes Microsoft a distant second — for now —in the race to cover the largest swath of the Internet.

Yahoo does not make the number of pages in its index available to the public. SearchEngineWatch, a Web site that covers the industry, estimates, however, that Yahoo ranks third with about four billion pages.”

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Search wars - which is the best? (BBC NEWS)

“As Microsoft enters the internet search engine market, users find themselves overwhelmed with options. We compare the big players [Google, Yahoo, MSN Beta, Ask Jeeves and A9] on five key areas.”

·
Babelplex Multilingual Search Engine - the C3PO of Search (Search Engine Journal)

“Think of Babelplex as plugging a Babelfish into a search engine to do bilingual search, it’s quite useful. Babelfish + Multiplexed Search = Babelplex.

For best results on Babelplex, it’s important to choose your Language Pair exactly. For example, if you choose “English query in Simplified Chinese", the translation service expects your search terms to be in the English language.”

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Preventing Malicious Spyware or Adware from Hijacking Your Computer (Agora-Business-Center.com)

“Tips for Protecting You and Your Computer

- Do not click "yes" when an Active X dialog box keeps popping up unless you know exactly what you're downloading.

- Do not open and delete all suspicious email messages.

- Do not fill out any web forms asking for your social security number, driver's license, email passwords, bank account information, or your mother's maiden name.

- Do not download or install any software unless you know and trust the source 100%.

- Do not give your email address to anyone you don't know.

- Clear out cookies and other tracking data on your computer.

- Try using disposable email accounts when filling out forms on the Internet.

- Do not enter any sweepstakes or contests online. Most of them capture your personal information and sell it to third party vendors.

- Install software to counter-attack Spyware, Adware, Spam and pop-up ads.

- You can file a complaint about unsolicited spyware software with the FTC at: www.ftc.gov. Click on "File a Complaint."

.
Major search engines’ OFFICIAL Weblogs:

Google Blog
The Yahoo! Search Blog
msnsearch's WebLog

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Blog Site For Careers In Search Engine Industry
(Web Pro News)

“JobsInSearch.com has launched a blog site aimed at providing news, views and information about careers in the search engine industry.”

See also Monster for the query search engine*.

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What is Search Engine Optimization?
(Search Engine Journal)

“Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of studying the search engines in an effort to determine how to get your web site to rank high on user searches. Depending on the statistical information reviewed, search engines account for over 80% of the visitor traffic to web sites.”

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The media covers Firefox; or, links to collections of links
(The Unofficial Microsoft Weblog )

“The release of our favorite web browser hasn’t gone unnoticed by the media; in fact, many fine publications provided their readers with several articles on Firefox. If you’re lookin’ to find a surfeit of Firefox, you’ve come to the right place, matey.”

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Organic "Natural" SEO Vs. PPC Search Engine Advertising
(Web Pro News)

“When you purchase visitors or "clicks" from a search engine, this is called "pay-per-click" (PPC) search engine advertising (or PPCSE).

Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Advertising allows you to quickly get top search engine placement by "bidding" (paying) for keywords related to your product or service.”

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Microsoft New Search Engine using Google? (Addict3d.org)

“VOLE WATCHERS are alleging that Microsoft is cooking the books when it comes to their search operations.”

“However, Dowdell said that there is evidence that Microsoft is using even more Volish behaviour to populate its search database.

He said a developer friend was watching IP 65.54.188.86, which is registered to Microsoft, scan his site. This visitor was not sending the normal header information associated with a crawler to the web server such as an http robot name or identifying info or even a browser name.

The spider was looking for pages that were not there any more, which indicates that it was checking out a database from somewhere else.”

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Speegle launched as first talking search engine
(The Herald, UK)

“A SCOTTISH computer speech technology company has launched what it claims to be the world's first talking search engine.

CEC Systems, which operates from Edinburgh, has based its Speegle search engine on the look of Google and on its own PanaVox computer speech technology, which it launched last year.”

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Google to Certify SEM Pros (DMNews)

“Google will begin certifying search marketers as "Google Advertising Professionals" if they pass the search giant's entrance exam, the company said yesterday.

The program, similar to those run by Microsoft and Cisco for developers and engineers, requires search marketers to pass an online aptitude test to prove their knowledge of Google advertising policies and product details.

The test, which includes about 100 questions, costs $50. The passing grade is 75 percent.”

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Google's index nearly doubles (Google blog)

“You probably never notice the large number that appears in tiny type at the bottom of the Google home page, but I do. It's a measure of how many pages we have in our index and gives an indication of how broadly we search to find the information you're looking for.

Today that number nearly doubled to more than 8 billion pages.”

REALLY?

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Mozilla Firefox: The Searcher's Browser (Search Engine Watch)

Firefox, Google and Web Search (Search Engine Watch)

More Search and Browsing Fun with Firefox (Search Engine Watch)

"Bottom line: Firefox is a killer browser, offering features and enhancements that leave Internet Explorer in the dust."

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Gmail Snooping In Your Inbox? (InsideGoogle)

“A poster on spdrivers.net reports that his Gmail account was terminated because of suspicious files stored in his account. I am waiting on a response from Google to see if Gmail does search for what this guy had, namely cracks and key generators.

Even though that sort of activity violates the TOS, it sure makes me uneasy, knowing that Gmail's bot searches for more than just ad-relevancy. Didn't Google promise us that it would never scan for content, just ads?”

Google Snooping Gmail Accounts? (spdrivers.net)

“Darknest sends word that his Gmail account has been terminated by Google because of suspicious files stored in his account. According to the user, he admits to having a few cracks and key generators on his account but is unsure how Google found out about it.

Darkrest suspects that the Google bot which searches for certain key words for advertisers is doing more than just searching advertisement phrases; he claims that the bot is also searching for words that are associated with illegal files, such as key generators and cracks.

"I was never told why my account was cancelled, once I logged into my Gmail account I noticed that my files were missing....two days later, my account was terminated. This sux man!" The user doesn't deny having illegal files stored on his PC, however states that Google has no business looking at his emails.”

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WebmasterWorld´s World of Search Conference Attracts Over 70 Industry-Leading Speakers to Las Vegas (FindLaw)

“LAS VEGAS, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The WebmasterWorld's World of Search Conference scheduled for November 16-18 in Las Vegas has published a final speaker roster and announced over 24 sessions with more than 70 industry-leading speakers. The line up features speakers from such companies as Google, Yahoo, Kanoodle, Ask Jeeves, Ebay, Overture, Mirago, InfoSearch Media, Quigo, FindWhat, IBM, Urchin, GenieKnows, and ClickTracks.”

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The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine (Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page - The Stanford University Database Group)

The Google Pagerank Algorithm and How It Works
(IPR Computing Ltd. - England)

Google's PageRank Explained (WebWorkshop)

The Google Page Rank Algorithm (Rank for Sales)

Is Google Page Rank Still Important? (Search Engine Journal)

The decreasing importance of Google PageRank (Axandra)

Can PageRank Be Taken Away (Web Pro News)

Google Page Rank Is Dead - Or Is It? (Web Pro News)

PageRank is Dead (Jeremy Zawodny's blog)

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Google hits $200 a share
(The International Herald Tribune)

“Shares of Google, owner of the world's most-used Internet search engine, briefly rose above the $200 mark Wednesday, less than three months after the company first sold shares to the public at $85.”

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What Posting Articles Online Did For My Google Page Rank In 90 Days (Web Pro News)

“When I started submitting articles to ezines and directories I was happy just to get an occasional article written and widely posted online. I assumed that was the point. But I've since learned about equally important considerations--like the Page Rank of the site where it appears.”

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Impressions of Search Engine Strategies Stockholm
(Search Engine Watch)

“Last week, Search Engine Strategies made its debut in Sweden, drawing attendees from all over Scandinavia, Europe and even Africa and India.”

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Update to Google Search Operators (BeSpacific)

“Courtesy of Tara [Calishain], this link to the updated
Google Help: Cheat Sheet.

See also Google Q-card for more search operator tips.

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Ten Steps To Higher Search Engine Positioning
(Internet Search Engine Database - ISEDB)

“There is perhaps no more level playing field in business than the Internet. It is this fact that has created millionaires from paupers. The amount of money that can be made depends of course on your industry and your products and/or services but to be sure, if it can be sold at all, it can be sold online.”

“I have been ranking websites highly on the Internet for quite a few years now and there are some essential rules that, if followed, will insure that over time your website does well and holds solid and profitable positions on the major search engines.”