Google sends email about Google Print

This showed up in my email today...

Many thanks to those of you who took the time to write notes of
support about Google Print. There have been some incorrect
characterizations about this program in the press, and we want to
be sure you have a clear understanding of the program, and of your
options relating to it.

The goal of the Google Print Library Project is to create an
electronic, full-text card catalog of books (just as we've done with
web pages). Our goal is to help people discover books online, not
read them online; a user who finds a copyrighted books that was
scanned through the Library Project can't view even a single page
from this book, unless the copyright holder has given us explicit
permission through the Publisher Program to show more. At most
we show three examples of where the user's search term appears in
the text, along with basic bibliographic info and links to online
booksellers and libraries.

Here's what an in-copyright book scanned from a library looks like
on Google Print:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/
LibraryProject_screenshot-745613.JPG

It's also important to bear in mind that, just like web search, any
copyright holder can ask to have their books excluded from the
Library Project by following these instructions:

http://print.google.com/googleprint/publisher_library.html#options3

We realize that you may have more questions about the Library
Project, and we're always happy to answer them. You can read
more about our thoughts on our blog:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/google-print-and-authors-guild.html
or can check out what other folks are saying about
Google Print: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/buzz-about-google-print-and-lawsuit.html.
Feel free to email us at print-support@google.com.

Once again, thanks for writing. We hope and expect that continued
dialogue with the publishing community will help us build a
program that benefits everyone.

Sincerely,

The Google Print Team

A Microsoft response on search engine ads

NEW YORK Microsoft was to unveil Monday its own system for selling Web advertising, as it struggles to compete with Google and Yahoo in the expanding Web search business.

The system, to be used by MSN, is meant to improve on those of Microsoft's rivals by allowing marketers to aim ads on Web search pages to users based on their sex, age or location.

The move is part of Microsoft's broad response to the threat from Google, which is using its powerful advertising sales network to support an expanding range of free software products and Internet services. Last week, Microsoft announced a broad reorganization that placed MSN in the same group as its Windows operating system, indicating that it saw software delivered over the Internet - and possibly paid for through advertising - as central to its future


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MR SEO launches new site and services

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Joe Balestrino
www.mr-seo.com
joe@mr-seo.com


New York, NY -- September 20, 2005 -- Online businesses searching for website development, search engine optimization and other web services can now save time and money by enlisting the services of Mr. SEO. Mr. SEO, a giant in search engine optimization, has now expanded their business to meet the needs of clientele who require a full range of web-based services. A longstanding and well respected SEO firm in the online community, Mr. SEO has launched a new website detailing their SEO, search engine submission, blog building, content writing, press release, PPC, article creation and link exchange services.
The ability to provide additional services as part of an overall package that includes top-notch SEO is a boon for those looking to develop and optimize their web presence.

According to Joe Balestrino, President of Mr. SEO: “Despite increased awareness of the necessity for SEO, it’s still often an afterthought in web-based business development. Unfortunately, it can be a very costly afterthought for businesses with pre-existing sites that are not search engine friendly. After years of providing SEO while working with various developers, we decided to expand our services to offer the option of having websites retooled or created from scratch with an emphasis on SEO. The benefit to our customers is that they can now have a site developed specifically for their individual business needs that is search engine friendly from the ground up, and at a substantial savings.”

Mr. SEO offers a free site evaluation for traditional SEO services, as well as a free quote for website development and redevelopment proposals. Services can be purchased separately or in combination.

Time Warner's AOL May Dump Google Search Engine, Use Microsoft

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- America Online, the world's biggest Internet access provider, may replace Google Inc.'s search engine with a rival product from Microsoft Corp., said a person familiar with the matter.

Microsoft also is considering taking a stake in America Online, a unit of Time Warner Inc., as part of a broader agreement the two companies are discussing, the person said. The person declined to say how large the potential investment might be.

company, to shore up its position in the search market and revive its MSN Internet business. Google controlled 56 percent of global search queries in June, Yahoo! Inc. had 22 percent and Microsoft had 11 percent.

``Microsoft's problem is that despite having all this stuff, they haven't really budged their share of search,'' said Danny Sullivan, editor of London-based SearchEngineWatch.com, which tracks the search industry.

Time Warner Chief Executive Richard Parsons said this week he is considering options including a proposal from investor Carl Icahn that the company spin off its cable unit and buy back more stock. The shares have fallen 61 percent since AOL acquired Time Warner in January 2001. The company lost more than $100 billion in 2002 after the Internet bubble burst.

Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman in Redmond, Washington, declined to comment, as did Time Warner's Ed Adler in New York.

``Google and AOL have a healthy global partnership and AOL remains a valued partner,'' Google spokesman Michael Mayzel said. He said he was unable to comment further.

Time Warner shares rose 58 cents to $18.50 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Microsoft fell 4 cents to $26.27 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Google rose 53 cents to $302.62.

Instant Message

AOL and Microsoft also talked about making their instant messaging services compatible and jointly selling online advertising, the person said. The talks were reported earlier today in the Wall Street Journal. The New York Post earlier today reported that Microsoft may take a stake in Time Warner.

AOL, which has lost 6 million dial-up subscribers since 2002, this year added a free Web site with videos, news and a search engine powered by Google. The free service marked a key part in a plan by Parsons and AOL Chief Executive Jonathan Miller to bolster sales as subscription fees fall.

``Time Warner's not a technology company,'' said Richard Steinberg, president of Boca Raton, Florida-based Steinberg Global Asset Management, which owned 38,000 Time Warner shares as of June. ``It's a content company.''

Google provides Web search technology for AOL and sells the text-ads that appear alongside AOL's search results. The companies signed the agreement in May 2002.

Online advertising and other fees generated by America Online accounted for about 11 percent of Google's revenue in the six months ended June 30, Google said in a Sept. 8 regulatory filing


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Google Launches "Blog Search"

Every day millions of bloggers use the web to express themselves - sometimes to just a few friends, sometimes to a worldwide audience. We wanted to create a better way to allow people to find out what's being written in blogs, as it's being created.

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Meta-search engine to help locate displaced people after Katrina hurricane

Louisiana Tech has reached further in its help to Katrina victims, this time through technology.

Dr. Box Leangsuksun, an associate professor of computer science, along with five computer science graduate students, has created a new Web site aimed at locating people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

His hope is that the site will help streamline the search process. Other sites are available that perform similar tasks, he said, but they contain so much information that users can be stymied.

"Our job is to simplify (the process) so the user doesn't have to navigate through so much data," he said.

Leangsuksun said work on the search engine began because he couldn't ignore his desire to help others.

"After the hurricane hit, I kept watching TV and feeling depressed," he said. "I was in Thailand during the tsunami, and I felt bad because I had to come back to teach and couldn't help. I thought we should do something here to help the hurricane victims in some way. I feel like this is my second chance to help people."

Leangsuksun and the Extreme Computing Research Group began working on www.searchkatrina.org Sept. 2, and it was up and running five days later. The group members are Anand Tikotekar, Kshitij Limaye, Kiriti Munganuru, Sunil Sudhakar, Yudan Liu and Arpan Darivemula. All are originally from India except Liu, who is from China.

Though the team put in long hours and worked nonstop through the weekend, Leangsuksun said they feel good.

"If we can help one or two people find their loved ones, it's worth the hard work," he said.

Noting the site's user friendliness, Leangsuksun said, "Simple is beautiful."

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New legal threat to Google over GMail

Google, the internet search engine, is facing a renewed threat of legal action from a company that claims to own the intellectual property rights to its GMail e-mail service.

Independent International Investment Research, a British company that specialises in research and has several leading City investment banks as clients, argues that it launched "G-MailTM web based email" in May 2002.

IIR's version of G-Mail was developed by one of its subsidiaries, Pronet, which specialises in research about the currency markets for banks and other financial institutions.

The idea was that subscribers to its research could use G-Mail to disseminate it and discuss it over the web confidentially.

The development came nearly two years before Google unveiled its own branded e-mail service, known at "GMailTM".

Google's GMail services give subscribers their own web-based e-mail account with the benefit of vast amounts of storage space.

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MSN Developer Center...Coming September 13th

New MSN APIs To Be Offered

MSN is to offer series of APIs for MSN Search, MSN Virtual Earth, MSN Messenger and MapPoint for developers who wish to tap into or enhance these products. The program and information isn't live yet, but it will go up in the near future here.

Microsoft says the new area will "give developers one-stop access to a full range of tools, technologies and guidance for greater success in building powerful applications that interact with MSN services and data. Resources include technical articles; newsgroups, forums and blogs; software developer kits (SDKs) for MSN Search, Windows Desktop Search and MSN Messenger." News.com also has a story here: Microsoft Web plan takes aim at Google. Below is the further information MSN has sent us:

MSN will be unveiling a development platform of new application programming interfaces (APIs), Web services and other components designed to help developers build more innovative search, mapping and instant-messaging capabilities. MSN is focused on developing innovative, software-driven and globally scalable communications and information services that will provide consumers with the most useful online experience. The third party developer ecosystem is a key component of delivering on this objective. By opening up our platform to the developer community we hope to extend the opportunity to innovate and create new services and applications thereby providing an even more useful experience for our customers. Below are the specific details for each API by product:

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Online Casino trying to take advantage of SEO companies and bait them with a few dollars to do their bidding.

(I-Newswire) - MSN Search Engine Optimization Contest Online Casino BTDino is a scam. If you are a top of the line Search Engine Optimization company you know how this is being played. They are scamming us for our expertise to try and pump their site up to the top of the search engines for the phrase Onlin0 Casin0 Gamblin' ( you noticed I did not even consider doing this name )

Fact is that if they can get 50 sites to the top of the Online Casino BTDino search listing using Onlin0 Casin0 Gamblin' as the anchor text they will increase their power to get to the top of Onlin0 Casin0 Gamblin'

This is the lowest from of a Search Engine Optimization Contest. This is the lowest form of taking a good enterprise and tossing it in the trash. Online Casino BTDino is attempting to take good companies at the top of their game and toss peanuts to them, use them and use their good name.

I suggest that those companies that join in this contest for Online Casino BTDino should wait and see how their good name is spoiled, all for a few dollars. This will make a mark on your name and company by showing how you are willing to support gambli.. and most of all willing to "sell out" your great services to any site. This you cannot do.

They are doing this under the name of MSN, as if this company approves of them using their name. I wonder if MSN approves of them taking a "search engine optimization contest", turning it around and using it to pump up their site. If MSN approves, I feel sorry for the integrity of the company. If they don't approve they will ban this site forever from their database and encourage Google and Yahoo to do the same.


Source...

View the Damage by Katrina on Google Earth

A natural disaster brings out the need for up-to-the-minute maps and images, and Google Earth community members have created more than 100 overlays in the last 24 hours that tell the story of Hurricane Katrina's effect. These overlays drape on top of existing satellite images, and NOAA has been posting these flyovers so people can actually see the incredible devastation.

If you don't already have Google Earth, download it to see some of the overlays that illustrate the change from previous images to the way things are now. Click on any of the overlays, which will open the application.

Here's an aerial "before" image of the Superdome area.


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WebmasterRadio.FM to Air Exclusive Search Engine Strategies Conference "Wrap-Up" Radio Special

The live special will discuss the features and highlights of August's Search Engine Strategies conference, the largest and most important conference dedicated to the search engine and search engine marketing industries.

Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) September 1, 2005 -- WebmasterRadio.FM, a free, 24/7, internet business radio network, announces an exclusive "wrap-up" radio special covering the highlights of the Search Engine Strategies conference held August 8-11 in San Jose, California. The SES "wrap-up" radio special will be broadcast live, Friday, September 2, 2005 at 10 a.m. EST on http://www.WebmasterRadio.FM and will also be available in Podcast format.

The exclusive special will provide insight into this month's hugely successful Search Engine Strategies conference, including seminar highlights and after-show tips.

The SES "wrap-up" radio special will be hosted by Search Engine Strategies Conference Chair and Organizer, Danny Sullivan; Brandy Shapiro-Babin of WebmasterRadio.FM; and Sarah MacKay, also known as Ms. Write of WebmasterRadio.FM.

The exclusive radio special will provide information and tips to both conference participants and those interested in further involving themselves in the search engine community. Interviews with trade show contributors and exhibitors will help to unravel the SES experience and provide what attendees "need to know" to maximize this month's event.

"After the dust settles from an event like this, it's important to get a good perspective on what you learned and what you will take with you," explained Brandy Shapiro-Babin, WebmasterRadio.FM's Vice President of Marketing. "This month's Search Engine Strategies conference was a huge hit, and our radio special will enable participants to get the most out of their experience."

Special guest interviews will include Monte Cahn, CEO of Moniker.com; James Speer, Vice President Marketing and Products, IAC Advertising Solutions/AskJeeves and the Vice President from Who's Clicking Who.

About WebmasterRadio.FM
WebmasterRadio.FM strives to lift the "veiled curtain" of the Internet to bring the business community together through an interactive radio network. Its listeners are a global group comprised of everyone from corporate executives and decision makers to individuals who work for themselves, small and mid-sized businesses to those just starting out. The WebmasterRadio.FM listening audience has a vast appeal to anyone looking to learn industry-specific information from the most successful marketers and technology experts in the world. These Internet "influencers" create, learn and listen in a true community destination.

New and archived online business radio shows are now available in podcast format on WebmasterRadio.FM's re-designed Web site. To tune into WebmasterRadio.FM's live content, or to check out the show lineup, please visit www.webmasterradio.fm.

Media Contact:
Brandy Shapiro-Babin
303-882-5246

Source emediawire

SEOBook Blogger Sued Over Comments Seeking Legal Donations

August was one hell of a month for Aaron Wall, who was sued by the dodgy Traffic-Power company over comments left on his SEOBook blog by readers. Aaron’s story has become national news as the Wall Street Journal covered his situation yesterday and bloggers all over the world have supported Aaron as this lawsuit has the potential to go all the way to the supreme court. Aaron’s blog has reader comments, which makes it a public forum. The public posted comments on SEOBook about Traffic-Power, which is speech. Traffic-Power wants those comments shut down. Why?

Well, a search in Google for their company name may be part of it. The blog entry with negative comments on Traffic-Power in question is ranked #5 on a search for Traffic Power. Aaron’s blog was ranked #3 in Google two days ago for “traffic power", however, due to all of the attention SEOBook has been getting after being sued by Traffic Power, other sites covering the suit are popping up in the Google results. Oh yeah, talking about judging a book by its cover, the alledged shotty SEO agency’s site is no where to be found in the Google results because Google banned them and many of their clients last year for SEO spamming.

Back to Aaron. Given the support from the blog, SEO, and even law community, Aaron is going to fight the Traffic-Power suit and is looking for help to pay some Las Vegas commercial lawyers who are versed in web speech suits. Aaron posted his acceptance of donations on the SEOBook today.

This suit is not about Traffic Power. This suit is not about this blog. This suit is more about free speech, which is the very fabric that holds the web and democracy together. An issue far more important than I could ever pretend to be.

If I do not face this suit, then it is easier for the next person to get trampled. After all the support people have offered I do not think it is the right decision to tuck tail and run, especially since I am still unaware of what specifically is wrong - and never once has there been an attempt to tell me.

Tomorrow I will try to hire a lawyer (as I have already talked to a few, so I can’t imagine it will be hard to get one of them to accept the case if I have enough money, which I think I should - at least to get started). There are some people who have already helped me a bunch for free. There time and attention is worth money and their help was available only via donations from others.

I am not sure how much people will donate, but if direct donations exceed legal costs for the Traffic Power case the remainder of the donations will be sent to organizations such as EFF, ACLU, and Public Citizen.

If you have more web reach than money a brief mention of what is going on may help more than a direct monetary donation.

If you have some spare cash, and/ or your livelihood or quality of life depends on free speech online please consider donating directly to one of the above listed charities, or via donation if you want to help me out with this case.