Has the Google bubble burst? (Herald Sun, Australia)

GOOGLE'S stock price sank overnight in the wake of a report hinting that boom times may be over for the internet darling's money-making advertising.

It may be Google's data, but it's you they'll arrest
(Computerworld Malaysia)

Right now, Google feels like a much bigger threat to my privacy than Microsoft and Yahoo combined.

For example, try asking Google what it's planning to do with all the user information it collects after it has fully digested DoubleClick? Or why it needs to retain IP addresses for Google searches? Good luck getting any response at all.

In fact, Google's biggest privacy accomplishment in the last year has been deciding to hold onto users' IP addresses for only 18 months instead of 24. Gee, I feel more anonymous already. Don't you?

Last week, Google's Public Policy Blog posited the argument that IP addresses are not personal information, because they are often shared between machines and users. (Though, personally, my home office has a static IP.) This makes sense until you think about it for 15 seconds. Strangers have also occupied my home address in the past, and probably will do so in the future. But if you ring my doorbell today, I'm the one who answers.

Of course, Google won't share this information with anyone... unless they have a court order. Or a National Security Letter. Or maybe the spooks have already tapped into one of the Network Access Points outside the Googleplex.

SEOs of the World, Unite!
(Search Engine Watch Forums)

January was a bad month for SEO reputation. Will February be SEO Groundhog Day?

Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, along comes "SEO Expert" the world's most evil cartoon character.

We don't know whether we should sue, or just let him do battle with Cartoon Barry. Danny calls these attacks "SEOs are scumbags" incidents. He says, "I find myself with little energy to push back against them with yet another defense of the industry."

So SEOs of the World, Unite!

How Does One Find New Clients for Search Engine Optimization? (Search Engine Roundtable)

A High Rankings Forum member is starting his own SEO consultancy firm and wants to know how to find clients. Where would you look if you're just beginning?

EU: Search Engines Under EU Rules (PhysOrg.com)

European data privacy regulators said Thursday that Internet search engines based outside Europe must also comply with EU rules on how a person's Internet address or search history is stored.

Germany's data protection commissioner Peter Scharr, who has just stepped down as the head of the group, said last month that IP addresses, a string of numbers that identifies a computer, should generally be regarded as personal information.

Treating IP addresses as personal information would have implications for how search engines record the data they need to understand search patterns and correctly bill online advertisers for the number of times their ad is viewed.

The Black Swan, Or You Can't Predict The Next Google
(Information Week)

If you read one book this year, make sure it's Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable." Taleb's thesis is that everything the experts think they know about forecasting is wrong, and if you think you can predict the future performance of the stock market from a study of past trends, you're gonna be losing lots of money. And don't go looking for the next Google, either, because it's going to come out of left field.

Bill Gates vows fight to finish with Google
(IBNLive)

Microsoft Corp plans to invest heavily in Web search to compete against Google Inc, even if it fails to acquire Yahoo Inc, the company's chairman Bill Gates said on Monday.

"We can afford to make big investments in the engineering and marketing that needs to get done. We will do that with or without Yahoo," said Gates in an interview with Reuters.

hooeey: Track All Your Browsing History From Any Search Engine (EFY Times)

Supporting both Internet Explorer and Firefox, the free Web application allows users to track their browsing history from multiple browsers and multiple computers in one place.

Report: EU To Curb Search Engines (MediaPost)

EUROPEAN AUTHORITIES ARE REPORTEDLY POISED to impose new limits on how long search engines can retain data tying users to search queries.
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Does the Government Have the Right to Read Everything on your Computer? (WXPNews)

[...] And when we say "government agents," we aren't just talking about regimes in countries that don't have constitutions or bills of rights.

Most people aren't aware of the power that U.S. Customs has to search you and your things when you cross a border.

Think you're protected from searches without probable cause by the sixth amendment?

Think again - that prohibition doesn't apply to "border searches" by Customs agents.

They can search your person - and your computer - just because they want to.

Don't assume that the information you store on your computer can't or won't be perused by government agents at some time or another.

Chinese Democracy Advocate To Sue Google, Yahoo
(WebProNews)

You guessed it: they're still censoring things.

China's Baidu Search Engine Sued over MP3s
(Short News)

Three major record labels, Sony BMG Entertainment Hong Kong, Universal Music and Warner Music Hong Kong, have all sued Baidu, China's largest Internet search engine, claiming that it allowes illegal downloads of mp3 files.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said: "All of the Chinese companies involved operate similar services based on delivering music to their users via 'deep links' to hundreds of thousands of infringing tracks..."

The IFPI said that around 99% of music downloads in China are illegal, causing billions of dollars of damage to the music industry every year.

Google offers Yahoo lifeline to thwart bid
(DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE, Japan)

Google Inc. offered help to Yahoo Inc. in any effort to thwart Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited 44.6 billion dollars bid for Yahoo, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Sunday.

However, industry data shows Google has an about 60 percent share in the Internet Web search market in the United States, whereas Yahoo has an about 20 percent share, meaning the two firms would have the combined share of about 80 percent if their businesses are merged.

As such, antitrust regulators are highly likely to bar integration of the two Web search companies, making a Google takeover of Yahoo or merger of the two companies unlikely, according to industry sources.

Google is believed to be considering forming a business alliance with Yahoo or helping the firm tie up with any other companies and maintain Yahoo as an independent company.

Microsoft want to buy internet search engine Yahoo! for £22billion (Mirror.co.uk, United Kingdom)

Microsoft plans to buy internet search engine Yahoo! for £22.4billion to go head-to-head with rival Google.

The software giant founded by Bill Gates said the deal would allow it to challenge a market "increasingly dominated by one player".

The offer follows predictions online advertising will double to £40.2billion by 2010.

World's Web Users Are Shopping Online
(eMarketer)

More than 85% of the world's Internet users surveyed have purchased something online, according to The Nielsen Company's "Global Online Survey on Internet Shopping Habits," conducted in October and November 2007.