And just like that one of the supposedly anonymous AOL searchers has been identified. As reported in the New York Times this morning searcher number 4417749 has been identified as Thelma Arnold of Lilburn, Georgia. Her identity was found simply by following the trail of searches assigned to the ID. That didn’t take long.
Google To Provide Search And Advertising To MySpace
The bidding war to provide search and advertising to MySpace is over with Google emerging as the winner. The deal for MySpace search and advertising, also includes other sites owned by News Corporation, which purchased MySpace last year. Google will pay a minimum of $900 million over three and become the sole provider of search and advertising on MySpace as well as other News Corporation websites.
Be Careful What You Search For
We’d all like to believe that anything we do in the privacy of our own homes is truly private. Sadly this isn’t true. With data being collected by every search engine, data about the queries we type, the sites we visit, even our email how can we possibly believe that any part of our lives is private anymore. Maybe it’s something we all simply accept as part of life in an online world, but the recent AOL screw up should make us all think once again about simply accepting things.
Yet Another Matt Cutts Video Post
Yes it’s yet one more post about the Matt Cutts Videos. You’re probably sick of hearing me talk about them all week so I promise this will be the last. I’ll even do my best to refrain from mentioning his name for awhile, though of course now that I have he’ll probably release the Google algorithm over the weekend. I suppose if he does you won’t mind one more mention.
The .edu and .gov myth?
One of the theories that has been gaining ground and generating discussion in the seo community is that links from .edu and .gov sites carry more weight. The main theory goes that since both domains have requirements in order to get one that the search engines consider them a more trustworthy link. But is that really the case? Are .edu and .gov domains better than the ordinary .coms and .nets of the world? Not according to Matt Cutts.