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My 2 featured articles for the week ending January 14:

News archives for the week of Jan. 10, 2005:

701 - January 14, 2005 - 10.10 AM EST

Are Google apps in permanent beta?

From December's security concerns over Google's Desktop Search feature, there now appears to be a new flaw surfacing in Gmail, Google's new email system.

However, this is not a big problem: small amounts of other people's email surfaces at random if you type just the wrong thing. Google has fixed it now. Gmail is still in beta. You knew the risks when you signed up.

Google is taking the art of the public beta to new levels. Its popular Google News service was launched in beta form over two years ago: it's still there.

Posted on Businessblog™

700 - January 14, 2005 - 7.33 AM EST

Google off the hook with the SEC

Google was successful in settling with the SEC and federal and state regulators over allegations the company may have violated securities laws in the management of its employee stock options.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also confirmed Thursday that it will not proceed with any enforcement action against Google over a high-profile interview with company co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin in Playboy magazine before they filed for their initial public offering.

Posted on Businessblog™

699 - January 13, 2005 - 2.42 PM EST

Gmail security flaw opens up access to others' emails

Warning: Wrongly formatted email addresses within Google's Gmail have been found to enable access to emails sent by other users on Google's network. A problem with Google's email service, Gmail, let any user query the company's servers for information on the last message sent, two programmers announced on Wednesday.

The programmers, part of a community site dedicated to the Unix-like FreeBSD operating system, found that an improperly formatted address allowed Gmail users to retrieve the message body of the last HTML-formatted email processed by the server.

"The result is a compromise of the privacy of communications over Gmail," the two programmers stated in their write-up of the problem. "Message content and address information are easily -- if somewhat randomly -- available to unintended recipients."

Google acknowledged the problem on Wednesday and said it had been fixed. It is unclear how long the glitch lasted.

For users that don't have a domain name but must depend on reliable and secure emails, may I recommend a low-cost email service that works: Email Relay. I've recommended it to many people so far and it seems as a good substitute. Their feedback has been very positive so far. (Disclaimer: I am an associate of Email Relay).

Posted on Businessblog™

698 - January 13, 2005 - 11.35 AM EST

2005 Online ad spending to grow by 30 percent

According to a study of media planners and buyers conducted recently by Deutsche Bank, Online marketers and Internet advertisers are expected to boost their overall Internet advertising spending by as much as 30 percent this year.

For the study released today, Deutsche Bank, in conjunction with MediaPost, questioned 100 media executives in December about their clients' experiences with Internet advertising in 2004 and their plans for this year.

This survey, which was conducted online by InsightExpress using members of the MediaPost advisory panel, is the first of an ongoing series of quarterly studies of media professionals by MediaPost and Deutsche Bank.

Posted on Businessblog™

697 - January 13, 2005 - 10.17 AM EST

Microsoft to start testing RSS aggregator

Microsoft's MSN is to begin testing its RSS aggregation and blog search technology Tuesday evening (PST).

Reports indicate that the new service has been developed in partnership with Moreover Technologies, and will include aggregation and search to MyMSN.

Posted on Businessblog™

696 - January 12, 2005 - 2.21 PM EST

Apple wants to put Google in the second spot

In an effort to catch up with certain desktop search applications from Google and MSN, Apple President Steve Jobs has highlighted the company's new Spotlight search technology to be soon introduced.

During his opening keynote at MacWorld Jobs claimed he will outperform the competition, allowing users search data on their hard drives such as documents, email messages and photos.

Google and MSN "are nowhere near to Spotlight. Because we build it into the core of the operating system," Jobs said.

Posted on Businessblog™

695 - January 12, 2005 - 12.04 PM EST

RSS feeds and MSN Search

MSN Search has been experimenting with RSS Search results on their live servers and their testing was discovered by Greg Linden, Gary Price & many others.

This is an experimental alpha feature that is still under development.

Paid Inclusion

Since this is an experiment, be aware that we will be changing it and making it better. We are planning to keep the feeds up during the experiment, but will not if they are abused.

Posted on Businessblog™

694 - January 11, 2005 - 11.55 AM EST

Online advertising gaining venture caps' interest

Online marketing and Internet advertising continue to attract substantial venture capital dollars.

Larry Marcus, general partner of venture capital firm WaldenVC, and a former Deutsche Bank analyst, said there is "massive" opportunity in the burgeoning ad market. "Internet advertising is now a $10 billion industry. That's an incredible thing for content providers," he said.

Mark Stevens, a partner at the law firm Fenwick & West, said he couldn't agree more with Marcus "about the power of the advertising model."

Posted on Businessblog™

693 - January 11, 2005 - 9.07 AM EST

Using Google to search for security holes in websites

This news story is particularly troubling...

SiteDigger 2.0 searches for information about a site's security features by sending specific queries to Google's database. Known as Google hacking, such queries can turn up easily exploitable security holes and some sensitive information, including such things as credit card numbers and user account information.

The free service should help Webmasters stay informed about what information is out there regarding their sites, said Chris Prosise, vice president of worldwide professional services for security technology company McAfee.

Posted on Businessblog™

692 - January 10, 2005 - 11.05 AM EST

Infomercials

Microsoft claims it has 1 million users for MSN Spaces

In an interview with News.com, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has claimed that MSN Spaces has “close to a million users", an amazing figure given the short length of time since the launch of the English speaking service.

However, Gates indicated that this figure may include the Japanese and South Korean services, which were launched earlier in 2004.

Posted on Businessblog™

691 - January 10, 2005 - 00.10 AM EST

Google fixes Kraft technical glitch

Web searches that wrongly implied that Kraft Foods was an alleged sponsor of a white supremacist website flagged important alarm signals recently about the potential risks of certain online advertising mediums.

The operators of whiterevolution.com included a free search-engine feature from Google Inc. on their Web site that late last year generated results making it appear Kraft was an advertising sponsor.

Kraft executives were alarmed when they were alerted last month by a Connecticut newspaper reporter who had discovered the problem. The Northfield, Ill., food giant wants to be known for peddling its cookies and macaroni and cheese, not hate.

Posted on Businessblog™

Copyright © Serge Thibodeau 2005. All rights reserved.

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