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My 2 featured articles for the week ending Nov. 24, 2006:

Archived blogs for the week of Nov. 27, 2006

1276 - Nov. 29, 2006 - 10.30 AM EST

PageBull, a new search engine?

Meet PageBull, a new metasearch engine. Like most other metasearch engines, PageBull samples results pages from several major search engines and delivers them in one consolidated and simplified list.

PageBull actually displays results more or less as screenshots of the listed Web sites. However, what really makes it different from other search engines is that all results are presented as graphics of the search results pages. It isn't just a question of adding simple thumbnails to regular search results since it completely eliminates text alltogether.

PageBull shows the search results in a 3 by 4, 2 by 6 or 4 by 3 image grid, depending on your Internet browser window size and depending on the exact screen resolution of your pc monitor.

If desired, you can also use a drop down menu to customize the image grid to your specific taste. It's exciting to see the rather large amount of data that can be contained in small graphics such as this.

Posted on Businessblog™

1275 - Nov. 28, 2006 - 5.31 PM EST

More on Google's dMarc Broadcasting acquisition

It's almost a year that Google has acquired dMarc Broadcasting, a long-term investment to accelerate Google's desire to offer targeted and measurable advertising to the entire world, not just the Internet, this time using radio as the medium.

The Mountain View company is close to its promised launch date for Google Audio Ads Beta. However, prior Google radio advertising launch dates have come and gone.

Michael Mayzel, a Google spokesperson has said several weeks ago that Google Audio Ads would indeed be on schedule for an official 2006 launch.

Posted on Businessblog™

1274 - Nov. 28, 2006 - 2.36 PM EST

Security hole found in Google appliance

Yesterday, Internet security observers said a design flaw in Google's search appliances could expose websites that use the products to information-stealing phishing attacks.

The Google Mini and the Google Search Appliance are widely used by companies' websites and organizations, even including some banks and universities to add search features to their Web sites.

A security hole in the way the systems handle certain characters makes it possible to craft a Web link that looks like it points to a trusted site, but when clicked serves up content from a third, potentially malicious site.

"Such a vulnerability affects a lot of very large Web sites," John Herron, a security expert who maintains the NIST.org site, said in an email. "It basically allows a virtual defacement of a Web site when following a malicious link."

The security vulnerability provides cybercrooks a "hook" for phishing attacks, scams that try to trick people into giving up sensitive information such as credit card data and Social Security numbers.

Phishing scams typically employ emails with a link embedded in them to a fraudulent Web site. Reportedly, Google found out about the security risks last week, a spokesman for the Mountain View, Calif. company said in an email yesterday. "We have notified all our customers and provided them with clear instructions on how to protect their search appliances," he wrote, adding that no Google Search Appliance or Google Mini users have reported any exploits of the flaw as of yet.

Google sent an advisory note to all customers on November 22nd, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, the spokesman said. The security vulnerability will also be addressed in the next release of the products, he said.

Posted on Businessblog™

1273 - Nov. 27, 2006 - 1.40 AM EST

Google criticizes mobile phone operators

Some of Google's senior executives have reportedly criticised mobile phone operators for attempting to prevent their mobile users from accessing some of Google's Internet applications.

Chris Sacca, head of special projects at Google, revealed today that mobile phone operators have strongly lobbied the search giant, asking it to stop users from accessing Google Mobile Maps (GMM).

GMM offers people access to interactive maps and satellite images, and also includes search results and details about specific local businesses. It also provides detailed physical directions to a location specified by the user.

Today, Sacca told a crowd at an event at Oxford University's Said Business School that "we've been getting notes from some of the telco carriers who are saying you need to stop our customers from downloading this thing."

"They're inserting themselves in between you and an application that you want. I think that has scary, scary implications," added Sacca, who was appearing on a panel titled Silicon Valley Comes To Oxford.

Posted on Businessblog™

Copyright © Serge Thibodeau 2006. All rights reserved.

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