Google continues to be the biggest search engine in the US
Nielsen/NetRatings reports that Google accounted for 50 percent of all US searches conducted in April, followed by Yahoo! and MSN, with 22 and 11 percent. However, Google is not the leading web site of the US, nor does it control the social networking scene.
According to their press release [PDF file] Google has gained another three percent market share during the previous 12 months. Not much, maybe, but enough for us to conclude that the Google hegemony is far from over.
This doesn’t mean that all should be doom an gloom at Yahoo! and Microsoft headquarters. Search activity continues to grow, and according to NetRatings Yahoo! increased its number of searches with 27 percent last year, MSN 10 percent.
Security risks when using search engines
McAfee has published a study on the security risks involved when using search engines.
By Lars Våge, Internetbrus
The well known Internet security company McAfee has published a study on the security risks of Internet searching together with the spyware-expert Ben Edelman.
The study covers the period January - April 2006 and the search engines Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, Ask and AOL Search. The report The Safety of Internet Search Engines is available online.
In a press release the authors says that this is the first comprehensive of search engine security issues.
Recommended search engine reading
Here are some of the articles Pandia has found useful during the last two weeks.
Pew: Nearly 50 MM Americans Create Web Content
Forty-eight million American adults have contributed some form of user-generated content on the Internet, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reports (ClickZ May 30 2006)
Yahoo Video Social Sharing : YouTube & MySpace Features
All the major portals and engines are chasing breakout video star YouTube (the “MySpace of video”) and don’t really want to have to buy the site if they can avoid it. (SE Journal June 2 2006)
The New Yahoo! Video – Discover, and Be Discovered!
Yahoo! Video introduces Channels, which are groups of videos created by a common source, and more (Yahoo! Search Blog May 31 2006)
Live Local - What's REALLY New
MSN Search Blog announces some new features at MSN's Live Local search. Now 30 countries are covered. (May 30 2006)
Gnoos Blog Search Launches
A new blog search engine is born i Australia (Micro Persuasion June 1 2006)
Yahoo Defends China Cooperation
On giving user data to the Chinese government Yahoo's Terry Semel says: " I continue to be pissed off, outraged, and feel very very bad about it. But you have to follow the laws of the country you’re in.” (WSJ May 31 2006)
Yahoo boss faced with Nazi question
YAHOO boss Terry Semel got the "question from hell" from media hacks as he tried to justify his company's turning over data to the Chinese authorities. (The Inquirer June 2 2006)
Yahoo makes Web video search more like TV channels
Yahoo Inc. is making it easier for Web surfers to find videos by upgrading its search system to become more like saving favorite TV channels with a remote control. (Reuters June 1 2006)
Natural Backlinks - Getting backlinks without even asking.
Jim Boykin on how to get people to link to you without even asking them (May 31 2006)
Web Decay and Dead Links Can be Bad for Your Site
This patent application points to a number of ways for search engines to identify and use the concept of link decay to reduce the rankings of pages that exhibit significant link decay. (SEO by the Sea May 30 2006)
AllYouCanUpload from CNET - Free Photo Upload Site
A totally free, fast, and easy photo hosting service (SE Journal May 30 2006)
Have a green summer
Earth Day Network and Google identifies environmental friendly holidays via Google Maps (May 31 2006)
Googlearchy or Googlocracy?
While search engines do not make for a level playing field, their use partially mitigates the rich-get-richer nature of the Web, giving new sites an increased chance of being discovered. (IEEE Spectrum via Battelle Feb 2006)
Share Earnings via Google AdSense API?
Google is apparently working on a new API that will allow content sites to distribute AdSense earnings to individual members (Blogoscoped May 31 2006)
Google aims to take over your TV screen
Google to prepare electronic programme guides (EPGs) for broadband Internet TV? (The Business Online May 28 2006 via SE Watch)
Picture this: Picasa for Linux
Google Blog on the new Linux version of Google's picture publishing service (May 24 2006)
Google Registers GoogleCheckout.com: an Answer to Yahoo + eBay?
The speculations on a Google PayPal killer continues (SE Lowdown May 28 2006)
SEO Considerations for AJAX Development
Creating unique URLs for search engine crawling when using Ajax (SEO Speedwagon May 24 2006)
Google makes some missteps as it finds its way in corridors of power
Google is finding political calculus in Washington, D.C., hard to solve. (The Seattle Times May 29 2006 via SE Watch)
Google thinks Borderless Adsense is Better
Google recently sent a note to all their publishers about changing the default google theme. The new theme has no border. (The SE weblog May 28 2006)
What Does 'Write Naturally' Mean for SEO?
Google does not want to show the most optimized content. They want to show the most relevant content. What to do? (SEO Book May 25 2006)
Opting Out of Open Directory Listings for Webmasters
Do you want MSN to stop using your ODP description in its listings? The MSN Search Blog has the answer (May 22 2006)
Top Ten SEO Mistakes
Peter Da Vanzo on search engine optimization essentials (v7n May 24 2006 via SE Blog)
Trying out Open Source Content Management Systems
SEO by the Sea takes a look at opensourcecms.com (May 25 2006)
Google Algo = Get Links = Good Rankings
Brett Tabke with a useful reminder: SEO is much more than getting links (The Bot Blog May 18 2006 -- yes, it is his robots.txt file!)
Google Blog Search Adds Date Searching
Tara welcomes date searching, but finds it annoying that default ranking is still by relevance (ResearchBuzz May 20 2006)
Google's video exchange ambitions
As early as Friday, Google Inc. will be letting anyone create an advertisement no longer than two-minutes and upload it onto the search engine's site. (MarketWatch May 25 2006)
Yahoo, eBay Announce Multi-year Partnership
PayPal, which is owned by eBay, and has 73 million accounts in the U.S., will become Yahoo's payment service and online payment system. (TechWeb May 25 2006)
Dell Will Google Its PCs
Wired reports that Dell will pre-install Google software on its PCs, including the tool bar and a co-branded internet home page (May 26 2006)
