Yet another week in search (this is our 6th one) and as always time seems to fly by….anyway here is what we have been reading this week.
Yahoo steel a lot of the headlines (and our attention) so I think it would make sense to begin with these…
Yahoo-Microsoft tie-up may challenge Google
Well our busy week tracking what Yahoo were doing in the news started on the weekend when The Times reported that Microsoft were to purchase Yahoo. If this deal went ahead it would be absolutely huge.
Yahoo’s New Homepage Gets Personal, Tests Search Filters
We also blogged about this as we thought it was about time Yahoo updated. I think the redesign looks and works quite well…
Yahoo to Acquire Xoopit for About $20 Million
Then we had the news that Yahoo was to purchase Xoopit in an effort to revamp their most popular product Yahoo Mail by integrating Xoopit’s way of integrating social networks. When we wrote about this the deal was almost complete and since then it has been finalised and you can see confirmation on Xoopit’s homepage.
Push for ‘instant-on’ web search
Last of all it has been reported that Yahoo are to team with Splashindex to bring instant search to PCs. A new (and arguably lazier) way of using search whereby the Yahoo search box will appear as soon as you switch on your computer.
Right moving on from Yahoo…
Google not liable for defamation in search results, rules high court
We also posted about this as it is quite a big story. Google were deemed not liable for any offensive content published on its search results. If the opposite happened (which I very much doubt would have) then this could have changed the face of search as we know it.
Now for a bit of Twitter news
This is Twitters guide for businesses using Twitter. A major step for Twitter and a signal of the direction in which it may be moving. It’s definitely well worth a read.
Following on from the above I thought this was a great post on how to use Twitter (or rather how not to use it). There are a few good points in here so well worth the read.
Twitter purges site of spammers
The other day our Twitter followers declined by about 20 after showing a steady increase which naturally confused us for a bit. However after reading this I found out that Twitter are kicking off site spammers (well that’s our excuse for the drop anyway)
Bing is hosting a viral video contests asking people to submit a jingle about Bing via YouTube. The contest is named the “Bing Jingle Contest” and the prize is a $500 American Express gift card.
Daring to Dream of a Resurgent AOL
AOL seems to have gone quiet of late however with Tim Armstrong –former president of advertising sales for Google- taking over as chief executive there seems to be some big plans ahead with plans to make AOL the biggest creator of premium content on the Web and the largest seller of online display advertising.
What about the Risk of Social Media?
I found this to be a good post about the risks of social media. Apparently it is not social media we should fear it is us! (so true)
Webmaster Tools gets a “Summer Shine”
It’s always worth realising the changes made to Google’s tools and the recent changes to Google’s Webmaster tools is no exception.