Today in Tech: Should Microsoft sell Bing?

• A-Google-a-Day quiz includes a helpful tool

  The introduction of the Google game also adds a search tool to the Googler's arsenal.

  Yesterday, Google (GOOG) introduced "A Google A Day" –a game that produces a question a day and encourages users to solve the puzzle using Google's search engine.  I'm not a crossword puzzle type but I imagine some people find this interesting.  Obviously, it encourages people to use Google's search engine -which is clearly beneficial to Google both in MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Apr 12, 2011 10:38 AM ET
  Posted in: Crossword, Google, New York Times, Search, Search Engines, Trivia, Web search engine, Web search query

• Government shutdown puts Google-ITA deal on fast track? (Update: Approved)

  The Google-ITA merger is now on a fast track approval process and we could see an announcement as early as today.

  Update: The merger has been approved with significant stipulations including licensing of the software:

  WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice announced today that in order for Google Inc. to proceed with its proposed acquisition of ITA Software Inc., the department will require Google to develop and license travel software, to establish MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Apr 8, 2011 12:29 PM ET
  Posted in: Federal Trade Commission, Google, ITA Software, Travel website, TripAdvisor, United States Department of Justice, Washington Post, Web search engine

• Google tries to buy its way out of patent problems

  $900 Million for Nortel's patents could put some of its patent questions to an end.

  Image via Ottawa Citizen

  Google (GOOG) and its Android partners are, like the rest of the industry, engulfed in patent disputes from Oracle (ORCL), Nokia (NOK) Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and others over Android, and to lesser degree, Chrome.

  As a younger company with only a relatively recent focus on mobile communications, Google has a shallow patent MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Apr 4, 2011 5:34 PM ET
  Posted in: Android, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nortel, Patent, PatentPortfolio, Web search engine

• Larry Page almost skipped web search for automated cars

  Those automated cars that Google is building aren't anything new – in fact, Google Co-founder Larry Page almost chose to forgo web search and ranking to work on a Ph.D. project in automated cars.

  Here's a little tidbit of information from a talk Page gave at a Faculty Summit in 2009.  He told the audience that he had to choose from three different academic areas to focus his study at Stanford: Telepresence (Google MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Mar 22, 2011 12:28 AM ET
  Posted in: Google, Google Books, Larry Page, PageRank, Sergey Brin, Terry Winograd, Web search engine

• Did Google just crowdsource webspam removal?

  Google could use the new personal search blocks to better its search algorithms globally.

  Google (GOOG) today announced that it would allow all users to block certain sites that that they didn't want to appear in their search results.  This is a great tool for eliminating bad search results.

  You've probably had the experience where you've clicked a result and it wasn't quite what you were looking for. Many times you'll head right back MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Mar 10, 2011 6:44 PM ET
  Posted in: Block, Cache, Chrome extension, Computer Science, Content farm, Google, Matt Cutts, Web search engine

• Google cuts its content farm subsidy

  An algorithm change in Google's search will affect almost 12% of searches by cutting out low quality content, or "content farms".

  Image via KeyboardCat

  On the Google Blog and simultaneously expanded upon by Danny Sullivan,  Google (GOOG) engineers Matt Cutts and Amit Singhal reported that the company has made significant changes to its search algorithm which would change almost 12% of its results.

  Many of the changes we make are so subtle MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Feb 25, 2011 8:19 AM ET
  Posted in: Amit Singhal, Content farm, Danny Sullivan, Facebook, Google, Matt Cutts, Search engine optimization, Web search engine

• Is Google really interested in ridding its results of spam?

  Matt Cutts via Wikipedia

  Spam sites are mostly benefiting from Adsense advertising...and so is Google.

  Today, Google's (GOOG)  Matt Cutts blogged that they were aware of the recent complaints about spammy search results and were taking actions to correct them.  But complaints aren't just that Google is showing spammy sites in the search results.  There is concern that the reason those spam sites are showing up higher than the original content MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Jan 21, 2011 3:46 PM ET
  Posted in: AdSense, content farms, Google, Matt Cutts, Search, Spam, User-generated content, Web search engine

• Facebook's #3 advertiser is Microsoft search hijacking page

  1.75 billion Facebook ad impressions were purchased by the Microsoft proxy.

  In a post called "Facebook Books $1.86B in Advertising; Muscles In on Google Turf," Adage details Facebook's growing advertising pool. Here's a chart of social networking's biggest ad sources. Obviously, Facebook is most of that.

  Two notables stand out...

  Interestingly, Google itself was the fifth-biggest advertiser for the same period, as it was looking to market its Chrome web browser. Curiously, the third-biggest advertiser MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Jan 18, 2011 4:04 PM ET
  Posted in: Advertising, Advertising Age, Affiliate marketing, Bing, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Web search engine

• Google and MySpace finalize search and advertising deal

  Myspace will use the Google Display Network and DoubleClick Ad Exchange going forward.

  Google (GOOG) and MySpace (NWS) today announced a continuation of their advertising and search partnership.

  In August of 2006, Google and MySpace first joined forces in a $900 million deal that expired this year. News Corp-owned MySpace  no longer commands the power it once did, having been overtaken by Facebook long ago, so the deal won't be nearly as sweet MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Dec 16, 2010 11:22 AM ET
  Posted in: Facebook, Google, MySpace, Nada Stirratt, News Corporation, Search advertising, Searching, Web search engine