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SearchNewz
Daily Focus: 
Google
Calls For Gadgets...
Somebody needs to talk to Google about what's sexy. Google Desktop Developer T-shirts
are not aphrodisiacs, not even in the right environment. There, I said it. Not
sexy. Not at all. But if you want to impress the geek posse, winning Google's
Desktop Gadget Designer contest is a good start.
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News |
Microsoft
Exec Sees The Google Light
Another Microsoft executive has succumbed to the allure of Google and will join
the search advertising company after spending his non-compete year in philanthropic
pursuits.
Vuitton
Bags Win In Google Case
Selling trademarks to competitors with AdWords may be a practice seeing its end
of days at Google, as luxury brand Louis Vuitton declared victory...
Web
Giants to Court: Craig's Our Buddy
Craigslist received a boost in court last week from its giant Internet friends.
Google, Amazon, AOL, and Yahoo! filed an "amicus brief" on behalf of the online
listings site...
TeachersPayTeachers:
Cheating?
Most educators frown heavily upon the practice of students "sharing" their work
with each other. Whether someone gives an old paper to a friend, or sells an essay
online, instructors reject such forms of plagiarism.
Dell
Brings IT Mgmt Down to Google Earth
Dell has given midsized businesses an upgrade in status with the launch of a new
IT services plan called Platinum Plus. The service will also feature the capabilities
of Google Earth Pro for real-time tracking of IT issues.
Adobe
Flex 2 Shows Its Muscle
The new Flex 2 environment represents Adobe's effort to clean up browser-based
development and make Flash Player 9 an even more desirable place for delivering
business applications to consumers.
Microsoft
Buys A DAM Company
Digital asset management (DAM) company iView Multimedia has been acquired by Microsoft,
according to an announcement from iView founder Yan Calotychos yesterday. The
acquisition was completed on June 22.
AdWords
Gets A Keyword Position
A new report unveiled by the Google Analytics team for AdWords clients shows useful
information about keywords for their sites.
Google
Chimes In On Child Safety
The search advertising company's efforts to fight child pornography were the focus
of Google's testimony before a House subcommittee. When a collection
of Internet companies including AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo, took their places
in a coalition of firms...
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Thursday June 29, 2006 |
The Google Checkout process officially launched, offering its users a unified
shopping process that emphasizes safety and user control of the online retail
experience.
Editor's Note: Google will waive at least part of the fees for Google Checkout if you are an AdWords client and implement Checkout on your site. Is that enough to make you sign up for the service? Sign on at WebProWorld and tell us more.
"Want a faster, safer and more convenient way to shop online? You got it,"
Google says on the main page for Google
Checkout. The service allows its users to shop from multiple online stores
with a single login.
Google also addressed consumer confidence with the debut. It has a fraud protection policy in place to protect against unauthorized purchases made through Checkout. Also, Google said it does not share full credit card numbers or purchase history with sellers.
The Checkout homepage also displays a cross-promotion opportunity with credit card issuer Citi. Holders of Citi credit cards can optionally register them with checkout in exchange for $5 or 1000 ThankYou points.
Logging in to Checkout with a Google Account prompts the visitor to register a credit card and personal information like name, address, and phone number. Submitting the registration means agreeing to Checkout's recently updated terms of service.
(Hey Google, in section 4 of the TOS, it should be "bona fide" not "bone fide." Just trying to help.)
Once registered, Checkout returns its welcome screen and explains how to use the service. When searching Google for items, a green shopping cart icon next to a search result means the store accepts Google Checkout.
The user can shop as normal, and when it's time to checkout, clicking the Google Checkout button starts the process to complete the order.
On Checkout's welcome page, Google has listed a handful of retailers, like Timberland and Dick's Sporting Goods, that accept its payments. Also, a number of stores have coupon codes for $10 off a $20 or more purchase posted on the page.
The Account view of Checkout shows the default shipping address and payment method registered by the user. Any purchases made through Checkout will be listed in the Purchase History. The Account page also tracks the sellers the user has reviewed previously.
Debuts of new Google products always generate Apple-like buzz online, and Google Checkout is no exception, despite being a pretty mundane service at its core. Search Engine Watch editor Chris Sherman observed that Checkout isn't GBuy, the rumored PayPal killer some expected to debut this week.
Saul Hansell's report in the New York Times noted that Google CEO Eric Schmidt does not mind the prospect of Checkout being a loss leader if it leads to more advertiser spending with AdWords. Google will waive some or all of its 20 cents plus 2 percent of the purchase price fees for AdWords clients who sign on to accept Checkout.
Google's official blog entry emphasizes how Checkout speeds up the purchase process online. That streamlining should benefit buyers who use it.
To drive adoption of Checkout, and serve as a gateway to its AdWords products, Google offers features for sellers. The blog noted Google has worked to keep integration of Checkout into websites simple, and crafted "a range of integration alternatives such as cut and paste buy buttons, pre-integrated ecommerce partner offerings, and an API that supports more advanced integration."
About
the Author:
David is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. |
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Google
Iceberg (beta)
 By
Jim Hedger
Ever seen an iceberg? They are magnificent ice mountains, frozen floating islands
bobbing around the most northern and southern oceans.
Aside from the fact they are frozen, the coolest thing about an iceberg is that only about 1/10 th of the mass of the berg is visible above the water. Knowing the other 9/10 th of the mass exists below the surface adds oomph to the awe.
Google is like an iceberg. There is so much happening beneath the surface that even the most well informed observers can find themselves confounded and confused when contemplating the full Google's spectrum of services. Apparently, a similar sensation is felt around the Googleplex where an initiative to refocus on the core mission, "... to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," is said to be underway.
Google has grown and diversified as rapidly as the web environment around it has, often placing itself on or even beyond the cutting edge of communication technologies. Its impact on our society and economy is hugely helpful and distressingly disruptive at the same time. Through its own innovation and a series of acquisitions, Google has managed to make an entry in most, if not all, major online marketing venues and is in the business of creating an ongoing stream of online marketing assets. It also has ambitions to venture into the traditional print, radio, and video ad markets, anticipating the inevitable migration to digital delivery of these mediums.
Much of Google's tremendous growth was spurred by its wildly successful stock
offerings. The company went public in August 2004. Before their initial public
offering, Google was the most important search engine on the Internet. Slightly
less than two years later, Google has become one of the three most important and
influential media companies in the world. Google is going where the big-media
money is, a place known for its dramatic effect on the attitudes of those who
inhabit it.
Read
the Full Article
About
the Author:
Jim Hedger is the SEO Manager of StepForth Search Engine Placement Inc. Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, StepForth is the result of the consolidation of BraveArt Website Management, Promotion Experts, and Phoenix Creative Works, and has provided professional search engine placement and management services since 1997. |
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Stuck On Google?
Recently, a WPW member posted a discussion about Google losing marketshare (not
true) and how the public was hankering for a replacement engine, something
else I don't necessarily agree with. While the ideas in this initial post are
more of a wishful thinking style of approach, that didn't stop the thread from
growing at an exponential rate, while members debated the validity of the first
post. There was one post defending Google that stood out to me, so I decided to
highlight in today's spotlight section. Check it out and see if you agree or not.
|| Chris||
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Google
Sticks Like Glue
No one is going to "nudge" Google in the search world because once a
user starts using Google they start using other Google products that are integrated
with the search. These other products are integrated into the user's web browsing
environment and become an essential part of the user's interface.
Furthermore, if it is done right, the user will not even know if they are using
Google's search engine because that engine is working beneath the scenes. Google
has been very smart about understanding that the search engine is just the mechanism
(the guts) and they put development money into building applications that use
that mechanism.
Sure, I'm ticked off because my sites are not ranked very high in Google and the
fact is that I currently get more hits referred from Yahoo and MSN but Google
does the following things (and more) that separate it from the competition.
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WebPro Question: |
I have been doing some design work on this
page and when I tested it with Firefox it looked funny. Any suggestions why?
- JuniorOnline
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