There's a site called webstatsdomain that purports to be "a free online service that collects and analyzes any data about domains and keywords they are optimized for". Basically, it sucks, polluting the web with lots of broken links. Read more
I rather like Google Apps. Especially Google Mail and Google Docs can be of great use to small teams and could really be all you need. Unfortunately, though understandably (they are a business, after all), Google have been limiting the free offering a bit. Whereas it used to be free for 50 users, you now get at most 10 before you have to switch to a paid plan, like Google Apps for Business. Read more
Today, another story was posted about how a startup, which depended on Google AdSense for a large portion of its income, suddenly found their account blocked and funds in the account frozen. This isn't the first such story. Google, as PayPal tends to do can block accounts and freeze funds pretty much without warning or chance for appeal. That's a scary thing as it allows these large companies to cause huge financial troubles for smaller companies or even individuals. Read more
This past week, Google has rolled out a new feature for Google Image Search. Now, you can search the web for images similar to one that you upload yourself (or by simply entering the URL for an image that is already online). I love that feature, but it occurred to me there could be some interesting side effects. It will now be much easier for photographers and other artists to see who is using their images without being properly licensed. Read more
During the fifth week of my search experiment, I have used Cuil as my primary search engine. Cuil is apparently pronounced "cool", although, like with Teoma (pronounced "chawmuh") I really can't bring myself to say it that way – to me it looks French and I keep thinking "queel" in my head. Anyway, the odd name aside, Cuil was launched with great fanfare as a "Google killer". That is quite the bold ambition and if you want to beat Google at their own game, you had better bring some seriously innovative ideas to the table. Even more important than great ideas is a great, near flawless implementation of those ideas. This is where Cuil not just falls short, but fails miserably. Read more
