Google Add-On Blocks Web Analytics

Google has launched a new version of its search facility with an add-on allowing users to opt out of having their Web usage tracked. This has sparked some concern for internet marketers who rely on web analytics for their industry.

Google reported in their official blog that the encrypted version of its web browser; Google SSL, will effectively inhibit third parties from intercepting a user’s web usage information. For web masters, this will mean less information about how a user came to visit a particular website. If a user is using Google SSL, it is unlikely their keyword data will be stored in web analytics.

As a result this could have serious implications for search engine optimisation as information about how users reach a site, and which key terms they used, is unavailable.

Google SLL does not offer complete anonymous browsing however, Google will still collect search data in order to improve its search service.

Google Merges Web and TV

Google has unveiled the ‘smart TV’ which lets users watch television as well as surf the net. The Google TV service will be available via special TV sets or through Google TV boxes which can be attached to a normal television.

Users will be able to watch live TV, while having the option to access content websites such as YouTube and Facebook, as well as being able to download applications. Google predicts the first TV sets, produced by Sony will be available in the US this autumn, and in Britain next year.

The majority of Google’s revenue comes from selling advertising on its website; analysts are suggesting that Google’s move into television will be a further extension of its business.

Yahoo! Buys Associated Content To Boost News

Yahoo! is competing to be one of the top news providers by buying a freelance news site. The web giant is hoping this will help it better connect with users and create “avenues for advertisers to engage with consumers”.

Associated Content publishes news from over 380, 000 freelance contributors and Yahoo! has announced plans to supplement its own traditional news content with independently produced material.

Yahoo! says it will integrate the Associated Content articles with articles written by dedicated Yahoo! staff and those from other media outlets as well.

Google Announce Change To Search Results

Google has announced it will incorporate millions of ‘short answers’ at the top of its search results pages in response to fact seeking search queries. Questions asking for a celebrity’s date of birth for instance, will be presented with a date above all the other search results and the source from where Google found it.

Google has just launched its redesigned version of its results pages and hopes the latest changes will help to keep it in competition with the likes of Bing which also introduced a similar feature, incorporating ‘instant answers’ into search results.

Microsoft Launch Office 2010

Microsoft today launched their latest version of Office software- featuring a free online component, Office Web Apps. Office 2010 has been launched to businesses and is being seen as retaliation to Google Docs.

Google Docs offers free online business tools which had been detracting core business from Microsoft. With the launch of Office 2010 and the free Web Apps, Microsoft has to be innovative to keep up with the ever present competition from other providers.

Microsoft is also offering the software to users of social networking site Facebook.

Google Gets Multi-Lingual

The Google Goggles application for the Android camera phone has now incorporated a tool to translate foreign languages. Back in February we blogged that the application was able to translate from German to English, but the newer version now includes French, Italian and Spanish as well.

Users of the Android phone can simply take a picture of an object and almost instantly receive information regarding that object or query. With the translation tool, the phone allows users to take pictures of signs, menus, instructions they don’t understand, and have them translated into a language they do!

Microsoft Develop Social Media Aggregator

Microsoft has announced plans to develop a social media aggregator tool allowing web users to see and access all of their social media activity in one place. Spindex will place a user’s social stream from each social networking site; Twitter, Facebook, Bing etc on one page, removing the hassle of having to log in to each individual page.

Spindex works in a similar way to products such as Friendfeed and is currently only available to those at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, with hopes of rolling it out in the near future.

For now, social media advertising remains a popular stream for internet marketers. It will be interesting to see what, if any, effect Microsoft’s Spindex will have on the social media advertising sector.