Third-party advertising on Google home page

It is the first time it has happened, and only lasted 1 day, but an ad appearing for Internet Explorer users promoted the Firefox Toolbar. More...

Adwords Abuse Video

This video goes into explicit detail of a couple different forms of adsense abuse including Made-For-Adsense sites and multiple accounts bidding on the same words both violations of Google Policies.

It is up to every advertiser to be vigilant and report naughty ads to Google! Watch the video

Google hires student, gets new algorithm?

Ori Allon, student at the University of New South Wales in Australia, created Orion, which provides relevant results and suggested topics. On the surface this has been done before, but perhaps it is extra good, coz Microsoft was after him as well. More...

Google Maps became Google Local, became Google Maps again!

Back to the better name.

I can't believe Google listened to public opinion! Perhaps a union of Google Fans could be created, and we could send Google petitions with thousands of signatures whenever we feel they have erred...

GOOG profits rise 60% over last year

Google Inc.'s first-quarter profit rose 60 percent, soaring past analyst estimates.

Net income rose to $592.3 million, or $1.95 a share, from $369.2 million, or $1.29, a year earlier.

More...

New Google Interface being tested

Read about it here.

Google: Da Vinci Code Contest

Solve puzzles, win prizes!

Beginning on April 18th you will embark on a quest that requires skill, intellect, and perseverance. For 24 days, you will encounter unique challenges. These daily puzzles will pull you deeper into the world of The Da Vinci Code. Answer all 24 puzzles correctly for a chance to win untold riches.

The Da Vinci Code Quest on Google is a contest that you access from your Google personalized homepage.

More here: http://flash.sonypictures.com/movies/davincicodequest/

Google Calendar launched

Beta, of course. http://calendar.google.com - a simplified version of what you get in Outlook, with features to be slowly added, I presume.

I wish Google had just admitted, years ago, that they were going to become a personalised portal. Because what I want, and I'm guessing most users, is a single login, and a single page, where I can access all my Google products. At the moment it is all over the place, and the MUST eventually unify the lot. How much easier it would've been to design it around a single page and login from the very beginning...

...but that would've required an admission that they want to be the new Yahoo.

Yet another test interface

Click on a blue wedge alongside a search listing, and expanded info about it appears. Other search services have done this before. I get the feeling that Google keeps testing interfaces, and keeps finding out that the majority of searchers prefer things to stay as they are (otherwise things would have changed by now, you'd expect...). More at Scripting News.

Google Circles Shut Down

Although it clearly says it is a parody, and acted like one, the owner still received a Cease & Desist letter from Google. More...

Gmail Emergency Dept responds slowly

I know that other support departments at Google can be a bit slow (why can't thye get some staff to work weekends?), but this takes the cake:

...an anonymous Gmail user who was "trying to contact Gmail regarding fraud" only to get bogged down in a "nightmare of switch boards and receptionists unwilling to help".

In the process, however, he stumbled across "Google's fantastic automated messages at +1 650 253 3422". In the "requiring access to a Gmail account that is not yours" bit, he was informed: "If it is an emergency and you require the intervention of law enforcement, including bomb threats and suicide attempts, you simply have to report through the normal security form with the words 'URGENT' in it."

And the response to such a vital missive? As our correspondent puts it: "Well it's now the next day after my urgent request went through...I'm sure several buildings have been blown up by suicidally depressed people in the meantime..."

More...

Google Maps API2 will have Ads

New changes to the Google Map API:

• NO PAGE VIEW LIMITS "If, however, your site gets more than 500,000 page views per day, we ask that you talk to us before you launch so that we can prepare in advance to handle your traffic."
• 90-day notice before any advertising-related changes, ability to opt-out of ads on your maps
• custom map controls
• custom map types
• Much smaller JavaScript download "improves performance and stability"

More...

Google Testing Mobile Ads in Japan

"Mobile internet usage is fairly high'' in Japan, Deep Nishar, a Google product manager, said today in an interview at the CTIA Wireless 2006 trade show in Las Vegas. ``We've had a fairly successful trial of mobile text ads there."

More...

April Fools, Google Style!

The official Google joke is Google Romance.

The Register reports that "The People's Republic of China has acquired a controlling stake in the United States' fastest growing technology company, Google."

And VNU.net claims that "Google plans to brand its logo into the surface of the moon so that it is visible from Earth."

Should Amazon have 172 Million links in Google?

There is a debate on this topic at WebProWorld

Google Mail accounts mistakenly deleted?

Google denies it is their fault, more here