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Google Takes Maps to Next Level
May 16, 2013

Google Maps, already the de facto standard for online and mobile maps, is breaking new ground with added capabilities announced on Wednesday at the Google I/O Conference in San Francisco. Maps will get 3D views, speech recognition, enhanced voice search capabilities and will leverage artificial intelligence. Google Maps for mobile is also being enhanced.

Klout Gives Bing Some Expert Advice
May 09, 2013

Content aggregation site Klout has expanded its partnership with Microsoft to provide Bing users with access to answers from Klout experts. The site, which pulls data from Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+, Blogger and other sources, rates an individual's influence, based on a 100-point scale. Klout seeks out those who have real clout -- that is, who are influential about certain topics.

The Real Mozilla Stands Up to Firefox-Cloaked Spyware
May 02, 2013

Mozilla, the creator of the Firefox browser, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Gamma International, a German company that sells spyware to governments and law enforcement agencies. The move was a reaction to the news that a booby-trapped Microsoft Word document -- sent out for upcoming Malaysian elections -- embeds a copy of Gamma's FinSpy spyware that masquerades as a Firefox executable.

Study: Google Trends Doubles as Dow Jones Crystal Ball
April 29, 2013

Data from Google Trends could be useful for predicting the ups and downs of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, according to new research published in Scientific Reports. The new information from study authors Tobias Preis, Suzy Moat and H. Eugene Stanley looked at investing based on certain finance-related trending search terms, and how it could yield much higher returns than the average portfolio.

EC May Go Easy on Google
April 26, 2013

The EU Competition Commissioner has revealed more information about the remedies Google has proposed in order to settle a brewing antitrust case over its search operations. Among other things, Google has offered to more clearly label its own promoted content from YouTube, Google Shopping and Google+ Local in order to better differentiate it from organic search results.

Google Now May Find Its Way Home
April 23, 2013

A page of computer code being tested by Google may be pointing the way toward future integration of the Google Now mobile virtual assistant into the search company's famously minimalist home page. The code was first found by Google Operating System, a blog that labels itself as "unofficial news and tips about Google." The page includes user options for setting home or work locations.

Mobile Ads Show Life in Google Q1 Earnings
April 19, 2013

Google released a quarterly earnings report Thursday that beat estimates and also showed the company may be coming to grips with the problem of monetizing its mobile platform. The tech giant reported net income of $3.35 billion, or $9.94 per share during the first three months of the year, a 16 percent jump from the same time a year ago. Google's first-quarter revenue was $13.97 billion, a 31 percent increase from a year earlier.

Google Takes Another Step Toward Omniscience
April 16, 2013

Google has engaged the Behavio team in a "hiring exercise." The startup uses mobile sensors to collect data and predict behavior. Its technology recognizes data such as location, contacts, nearby destinations, recent phone activity, daily movement, and surrounding physical information. Data can be analyzed to let consumers know anything from whether their morning coffee stop is unusually crowded to which traffic routes are clear.

Google, EU Reach Meeting of the Minds
April 15, 2013

In an effort to appease European regulators, Google for the first time has agreed to make legally binding changes to its search results. The changes stem from a two-year investigation into whether Google abused its online search dominance in Europe. The changes will not force Google to amend its algorithm, but instead will require it to clearly label search results from its own properties.

Bing Tops Google in Malware-Ridden Search Results
April 13, 2013

Bing may be engaged in a "Scroogled" marketing campaign, but an 18-month study by an antivirus security firm shows that Microsoft's search engine may need to play some defense, thanks to results showing more malware-infected links popping up in its search results than for Google.

Google Bends to Dodge European Blow
April 12, 2013

Google has submitted a formal set of remedies to the EU Competition Commissioner, which will be shared with competing companies and customers as part of the settlement negotiations. The remedies that Google has suggested have not yet been made public, but reading between the lines of Commissioner Joaquin Almunia's statement, it appears Google will be offering more choice to users, including content from rivals' sites.

Google Searches for a Fight on National Security Letters
April 05, 2013

Google is reportedly challenging a government request for private information on its users, just weeks after it became the first major tech company to release information about the security probes it receives from the FBI. The tech giant is mounting a court challenge against a National Security Letter (NSL), a highly secretive demand issued by the FBI that asks Google to provide private information on certain users.

In A Blink, Google Ditches WebKit Browser Engine
April 05, 2013

Google announced this week that it is going to replace the open source WebKit browser rendering engine with a fork of WebKit's WebCore component known as Blink. The move means that Google and Apple will no longer share development of WebKit. WebCore is a layout, rendering and document object model library.

6 Euro Nations Scream at Google Over Privacy
April 03, 2013

The six leading European markets -- France, Spain, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany -- announced on Tuesday that they will take joint legal action against Google over its privacy policies. The action will involve an investigation and possible fines. This follows the company's decision last year to consolidate more than 70 privacy policies for products and services into one policy.

LinkedIn Lets Users Cast Wider Search Net
March 26, 2013

LinkedIn revealed revamped search features this week, making it easier for professionals to identify and engage with possible contacts on the networking site. The company added auto-complete and suggested search functions designed to give LinkedIn users a more complete set of results.

Marin Software Rocks Wall Street
March 25, 2013

As initial public offerings go, Marin Software couldn't have asked for much better than its Friday debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Late Thursday, it priced its stock at $14 per unit, higher than the anticipated range of $11-$13. Then it sold 7.5 million shares -- half a million more than originally expected -- raising about $105 million.

German Lawmakers Get Weak on Google
March 04, 2013

Google and other aggregators won a partial victory Friday in the lower house of the German parliament, where lawmakers approved legislation that would allow publishers to protect their digital copyrights by charging to fully reproduce their content. Questions remains about whether other countries -- particularly the U.S. -- could follow Germany's example.

Yahoo's New Home Page Goes for Lean, Clean Look
February 20, 2013

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is putting her money -- or rather her shareholders' money -- where her mouth is. Mayer has been proclaiming Yahoo's mission of becoming a must-visit daily portal equally accessible via PCs and mobile devices. To that end, the company unveiled a redesign of its website on Wednesday.

All Things Appy: 5 Best Chrome Web Reference Apps
February 13, 2013

The Dictionary.com extension is distinct from Dictionary.com's app for Chrome which merely opens a Web page. The extension lets you double-click on any word, on any Web page, to see the definition in a pop-up box -- or you can enter the word in a search box. Both are fast ways to look up words, and are infinitely superior to having to launch a tab and flip between dictionary tab and text that you're reading.

Of Apps and Antitrust: FTC Monitoring Kicks Into High Gear
February 13, 2013

Periodically we are reminded that the Federal Trade Commission plays a major role in regulating the Internet. For instance, the FTC is in charge of protecting privacy on the Internet in the U.S. and continually starts new privacy initiatives as the use of the Internet evolves.