Category Archives: Search

The Secret Behind Google’s Success: The Instant Massage

Google’s profits are indeed impressive, and if my local newspaper (no link available, I’m afraid) is right, it’s clear clear why: the company is offering a service no right-minded person could refuse: But the introduction of new products, such as instant massaging, and upgrades to existing services, such as mapping, helped Google attract more summer… Read More »

Undermining the Browser

If it was from any other company it wouldn’t really matter, but Google’s Desktop Sidebar is important, not because it’s particularly new, but because it undermines the primacy of the browser. Loose Wire ‘s WSJ.com column in June looked at desktop widgets like Konfabulator and Klips before, as well as existing sidebars like the Desktop… Read More »

Murdoch’s Search Engine

It’s interesting to see how Rupert Murdoch has come around to the Internet, although it does have something of the feel of the late 1990s to it: Bloomberg.com reports that News Corp., the fourth-largest media company, is in talks to buy a controlling interest in an Internet search engine as the company seeks to build advertising… Read More »

The Google AdWord Vultures

It’s interesting to watch how Google’s ‘Sponsored Links’ capture aspects of the business process, in particular the plundering of customers from a company in trouble. Take CardSystems, for example, facing a class action suit, the loss of its main business and other indignities as a result of the theft of large amounts of credit card… Read More »

Greasemonkey’s Slippery Side

Just in case you haven’t seen it elsewhere, it’s being recommended you uninstall Greasemonkey, a Firefox (and Opera) script tool, because of a serious flaw that serious flaw that leaves all your files vulnerable: In other words, running a Greasemonkey script on a site can expose the contents of every file on your local hard… Read More »