Yahoo! and Microsoft join forces to create powerful search

Yahoo! and Microsoft have been granted permission to shake up the search market and have teamed up to create a ‘competitive choice in search for advertisers and consumers.’

The initiative has been created to improve the search user experience by speeding the search process up and making the service much easier to use according to the Yahoo! Search Blog.

So what’s changing? It would appear from initial comments that Microsoft will now provide the basic search listings and ads for Yahoo! users, while Yahoo! continues to enhance search results listings.

Perhaps the most interesting observation coming from this is the rumour that Microsoft AdCenter will form the backbone of the new combined entity, as the advertising interface for Yahoo! and its partners. Microsoft AdCenter has only been around for a couple of years and is relatively new in comparison with the former technology used to power advertising on Yahoo! which has existed for over a decade.

The Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance will utilise the combined audience of nearly 577 million, which is obviously appealing to advertisers. Not to worry though, the transition is said to be as seamless as possible and will not be taking place until late 2010/early 2011.

More information can be found on the Search Alliance website.

Google Goggles Lets Users Search by Sight

Google Goggles is the clever new application that lets users search the internet by simply taking a picture. Meaning no more gawping at a foreign menu you don’t understand or pondering over the relevance of an impressive monument.

The application is available on phones that run Android 1.6+ but is still in the very early stages so is not quite at its full potential. Google have stated it ‘works well for some things, but not for all.’

Another great feature of Google Goggles is the ability to find out what local businesses are nearby simply by pointing your phone at a shop.

This new piece of technology was showcased by Google at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week and even though it can only translate from German to English as of yet, Google believes it will eventually be able to translate everything from road signs to foreign novels in 52 languages.

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Google launch Buzz to rival Facebook and Twitter

Google has launched a new social networking application showing its hunger for a piece of the tasty social media pie.

The new application called Google Buzz allows Gmail users to create a profile page and write status updates, similar to that of Facebook and Twitter.

But Google’s competitive move has sparked criticism from rivals including Microsoft and Yahoo!, which say Google Buzz isn’t needed and isn’t new.

Unlike Facebook and Twitter however, Buzz allows the entire web to see profiles of its users if desired, not just friends of that particular person.

Social networking is fast becoming a part of everyday life, confirmed by the fact that search engines now include social media data into search results. The power of communication through these sites is quite phenomenal, with people being able to communicate for free across the globe.

The challenge for the business and marketing industry up until now has been finding a way to extract gain from social networking. Only recently has an understanding and successful campaigns been brought to the forefront.

For more information about Google Buzz visit The Official Google Blog.

Petition calls for ‘outdated’ Internet Explorer 6 to be scrapped

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) should be phased out and replaced with a more modern browser according to a Downing Street petition, which calls for the UK government to move away from the old browser.

As reported by the BBC, IE6 uses outdated technology and has security flaws which create a burden for developers.

Web firms are claiming the software which was first released in 2001 is “holding the web back,” but some firms and government departments are using systems that require the use of IE6.

The petition states that “creative and software development companies are forced by government department clients to build websites for IE6 when most of the industry has moved on.”

The petition was initiated by Dan Frydman of web firm Indigo and currently has 44 signatures.

Read the whole story on the BBC website.