Crenk Technology » Search Engines http://crenk.com Web Apps, Mobile Apps and Reviews Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:07:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Larry Page Lacks Eric Schmidt’s Personality and Public Speaking Skills http://crenk.com/2011/09/28/larry-page-lacks-eric-schmidts-personality-and-public-speaking-skills/ http://crenk.com/2011/09/28/larry-page-lacks-eric-schmidts-personality-and-public-speaking-skills/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:51:51 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=17991 Larry Page Lacks Eric Schmidt’s Personality and Public Speaking Skills originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Larry Page and Eric Schmidt take the stage at Google’s Zeitgeist. We havent heard much from Larry Page since taking the CEO job at Google. It seems as though he lacks the public speaking and charisma of Eric. Shame!

Larry Page Lacks Eric Schmidt’s Personality and Public Speaking Skills originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/09/28/larry-page-lacks-eric-schmidts-personality-and-public-speaking-skills/feed/ 0 Create Your Own Search Engine With Yioop http://crenk.com/2011/08/31/create-your-own-search-engine-with-yioop/ http://crenk.com/2011/08/31/create-your-own-search-engine-with-yioop/#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:16:15 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=17788 Create Your Own Search Engine With Yioop originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Yioop! is an awesome free search engine product. Yioop is open source and its a search engine built with PHP and MySQL.

Yioop has many amazing algorhythms and it can even be set to crawl at any rate or page. Additionally, Yioop can be used in a similar way to Google Custom Search and only run with certain URLs.

A standard setup can crawl and index millions of pages per day and this number can be increased by running more crawlers. Index also supports many files types including HTML, PNG, DOC and more.

Create Your Own Search Engine With Yioop originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/08/31/create-your-own-search-engine-with-yioop/feed/ 0 Crenk Still Being Punished by Google for NO REASON! http://crenk.com/2011/07/14/crenk-still-being-punished-by-google-for-no-reason/ http://crenk.com/2011/07/14/crenk-still-being-punished-by-google-for-no-reason/#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:52:27 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=17631 Crenk Still Being Punished by Google for NO REASON! originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Here at Crenk you may have noticed a lot of changes in the past month or so. Crenk has gone back to the old theme we had on the site, so we can keep the quality of articles at a high. Crenk was previously allowing articles to be publish by anyone within the community. We have had a few issues with this model and we have had to put it on the back burned. We have also removed a huge amount of low quality content from the site with the aim of helping how Google ranks our site. However, Google seems to have not noticed the changes!

This morning we wrote an article about Wibiya being acquired by Conduit. The article has been quite popular and I wanted to just check how it was being ranked in Google.

As you can see from the above screenshot we seem to be ranking 4th with our original article. This would be quite good, but it seems as though the sites ranking above us are just scraping our content! Google why haven’t you sorted this out yet!!

Someone please explain to me why this is happening. Im not an SEO expert, but I understand Google aren’t providing good quality results.

 

Crenk Still Being Punished by Google for NO REASON! originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/07/14/crenk-still-being-punished-by-google-for-no-reason/feed/ 5 Breaking: Google Release New Search Design Worldwide http://crenk.com/2011/06/30/breaking-google-release-new-search-design-worldwide/ http://crenk.com/2011/06/30/breaking-google-release-new-search-design-worldwide/#comments Thu, 30 Jun 2011 07:35:55 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=17264 Breaking: Google Release New Search Design Worldwide originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Yesterday Google announced the launch of Google+ their social networking project. A lot of people were talking about the slick design of Google+ and that it was developed by an ex-Apple employee. Now, Google has decided to release this design principle across their search engine worldwide!

As you can see from the image everything has been simplified and pastel-ised from a colour point of view. I’m a big fan of the design as it makes everything a lot more appealing to the eye and draws away from the ugly blue links for every entry.

What do you think?

Breaking: Google Release New Search Design Worldwide originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/06/30/breaking-google-release-new-search-design-worldwide/feed/ 1 SearchBlox: Amazing Search Engine Tool for Your Linux Computer http://crenk.com/2011/06/10/searchblox-amazing-search-engine-tool-for-your-linux-computer/ http://crenk.com/2011/06/10/searchblox-amazing-search-engine-tool-for-your-linux-computer/#comments Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:13:31 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=17167 SearchBlox: Amazing Search Engine Tool for Your Linux Computer originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Google is an amazing search engine service, but there are many other options if you would like to use a search engine on your site or computer.

SearchBlox is a great search tool that allows users to search shared drives, feeds and more.

SearchBox amazingly searches your server and can index all of your documents, PDF files and more. SearchBlox is completely open source and is available in 37 languages.

SearchBlox: Amazing Search Engine Tool for Your Linux Computer originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/06/10/searchblox-amazing-search-engine-tool-for-your-linux-computer/feed/ 0 Google Panda Got It Wrong! Scrapers Out Ranking Original Content: Crenk Example http://crenk.com/2011/05/18/google-panda-got-it-wrong/ http://crenk.com/2011/05/18/google-panda-got-it-wrong/#comments Wed, 18 May 2011 09:02:26 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=16881 Google Panda Got It Wrong! Scrapers Out Ranking Original Content: Crenk Example originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> There are thousands of blogs that have been effected by Google’s recent Panda update. After viewing the 3,300 comments on this article via the Google Help Forum it seems as though they dont caremuch about feedback on their results.

I wanted to write a quick article here on Crenk to show how Google’s Panda update has hurt our site. I’m hoping that someone from Google actually reads this article and notices that there is still a big issue here!

Yesterday one of our authors wrote an amazing how to article titled: How to Download and Burn Hulu Movie to DVD.

The article is completely original, it’s over 400 words in length and provides a detailed step by step guide. This article is the epitome of original content!

I wanted to see where this article was actually ranking within Google for the keywords: burn hulu movie to dvd.

I would have thought that the original Crenk article would have been in the top 50 at least. However, after searching the top 100 article we didn’t appear. Bad times!

Then, I discovered that 4 websites scraping our content are ranking within the top 100, one even ranks just outside the top 10. How is this providing good search results?

It would be great if someone from Google could please take a look and let us know why this is happening!

Google Panda Got It Wrong! Scrapers Out Ranking Original Content: Crenk Example originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/05/18/google-panda-got-it-wrong/feed/ 3 Topix Partners with Blekko To Power Their Search http://crenk.com/2011/05/11/topix-partners-with-blekko-to-power-their-search/ http://crenk.com/2011/05/11/topix-partners-with-blekko-to-power-their-search/#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 19:18:04 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=16796 Topix Partners with Blekko To Power Their Search originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Topix has just partnered with Blekko to power their in-site search functionality. Topix is a very large and well established local news aggregator, so this is a great with for Blekko. Blekko is a new player in the search market and any partner of this size is really going to help in their fight to gain some market share.

Blekko has already gained a few other big partners including StackOverflow and Merchant Circle.

Topix Partners with Blekko To Power Their Search originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/05/11/topix-partners-with-blekko-to-power-their-search/feed/ 0 Optimising Images For Search Engines http://crenk.com/2011/04/19/optimising-images-for-search-engines/ http://crenk.com/2011/04/19/optimising-images-for-search-engines/#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:26:48 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=16458 Optimising Images For Search Engines originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> As a web developer I want to build each website to be as stable as possible so as it looks the same across all browsers while remaining accessible and validating to W3C requirements. There are a lot of hoops to jump through and with a large build some of the finer details can slip through the net if you’re not careful. Images are used extensively on many websites with some contributing to design and some contributing to content. When it comes to optimising images for SEO purposes it’s the images in the content you need to concentrate on. Google image search has the potential to bring in a fair amount of traffic to your website, and as such optimising your images can have a positive affect on your visitor numbers. In this article we will explore some best practices for SEO image optimisation.

File Type

File type can be a subjective matter. Site speed has become one of the many ranking factors in the Google algorithm. As such, the larger file types should be avoided. Gifs will offer you a small file size but at reduced quality. They are perfect for background images, gradients, shadows, etc. However, for larger images such as logos and images that accompany the main content they are not ideal, in these cases a jpeg is the better option. If your designer is a little fussy then he or she may want images to be in PNG format to support vector images. Compromise is the key in this instance.

Image Size

Once again, with site speed being one of the many ranking factors, image size can play a huge part in reducing your websites load times. Avoid using unnecessarily large pictures and use the appropriate file type for the images. Using the ‘Save For Web’ feature in Photoshop can also help toward reducing file size. From a user experience perspective, unnecessarily large images may contribute to a bad user experience. If a larger image is needed, consider linking from a smaller image or employing a JavaScript / jQuery light box plugin.

Image Location

Avoid placing images in the root folder of your site. It’s always appropriate to have a folder called ‘images’ in the root of your website and to locate all of your images there. You may also find it useful to have category folders within the image folder for organisational means. Avoid saving your images to an eternal location, this will increase the load time for your site.

Image Naming

It is good practice to name your images appropriately. You can use your targeted keywords to name images to give an accurate reference to what’s in the image. Avoid using generic names such as ‘photo1.jpg’ or a non-relevant structure ‘catpic22356.jpg’. As an example, if you are naming a photo of a car, a naming structure of ‘manufacturer-type’ is appropriate. E.g. ‘volvo-saloon.jpg’

Alt Tags

The alt attribute is a key element to accessibility and is there to give end users who have images turned off or who use screen readers an accurate description of what that images depicts. As such the alt attribute should be used correctly. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t include a couple of keywords to the description.

Content Placement

Once you have your image in place on your page, placing relevant text before and after the images is essential. This can be a perfect opportunity to target long tail key phrases, the traffic obtained from long tail phrases will be much lower than a glamour term but you will find that the conversion rate from long tail traffic will be much higher.

Robots.txt

Finally, insure that your robots.txt file it not excluding access to your image folders.

Guest post by: Alex is a dolphin trainer and swimming pool owner who loves swimming pools and replacing swimming pool filters. You can find him on Twitter here @harvey1dash8.

Optimising Images For Search Engines originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/04/19/optimising-images-for-search-engines/feed/ 1 Say Hello to +1: Google Like Button That Directly Influences Search Results http://crenk.com/2011/03/30/say-hello-to-1-google-like-button-that-directly-influences-search-results/ http://crenk.com/2011/03/30/say-hello-to-1-google-like-button-that-directly-influences-search-results/#comments Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:37:23 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=16141 Say Hello to +1: Google Like Button That Directly Influences Search Results originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> It seems like Google has just started a very interesting experiment. Google is pushing a new feature called “+1″. +1 works in the same way as the Facebook “Like” button. If you find search results that you like then you can click +1 and it will let everyone know that you like that search result.

Previously, with the last search algorithm update Google added a remove button, which helped to weed out the terrible content on the web. Its great to see that Google are offering more customisable results to the world.

Starting Wednesday, users who opt into the +1 button experiment in Google Labs will start seeing a +1 icon next to each link in Google search results.

Beyond showing up in search results, Google plans to offer to publishers a +1 button that lets readers +1 something without leaving the publisher’s site. Facebook has a big head start here with its Like button — some 2 million sites and counting have it installed — but Google’s button will instantly have a lot of appeal, given the company says +1 data will directly influence its market share dominating search rankings.

Say Hello to +1: Google Like Button That Directly Influences Search Results originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/03/30/say-hello-to-1-google-like-button-that-directly-influences-search-results/feed/ 2 Bing Partners with Angry Birds for Search Integration http://crenk.com/2011/03/12/bing-partners-with-angry-birds-for-search-integration/ http://crenk.com/2011/03/12/bing-partners-with-angry-birds-for-search-integration/#comments Sat, 12 Mar 2011 05:27:47 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=15845 Bing Partners with Angry Birds for Search Integration originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]>

Microsoft and Bing have just partnered with Rovio and Angry Birds. Bing will have search integration between the game and the search engine.

Angry Birds will also feature search integration with Bing providing over a hundred clues to speed you through the levels and help squash the porcine thieves. Featuring Bing Image Search, Bing Maps, and Bing Shopping, the videos show Angry Birds fans how they can advance in the game, featuring the lovable Angry Birds characters.

For some reason Angry Birds has over 200 millions of minutes played by gamers all across the world. Thus, Microsoft is very happy to get that dedicated user base interacting with Bing in any way shape or form.

 

 

Bing Partners with Angry Birds for Search Integration originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/03/12/bing-partners-with-angry-birds-for-search-integration/feed/ 0 Google: Crenk Isnt a Content Farm! http://crenk.com/2011/02/28/google-crenk-isnt-a-content-farm/ http://crenk.com/2011/02/28/google-crenk-isnt-a-content-farm/#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:48:50 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=15655 Google: Crenk Isnt a Content Farm! originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Last week Google released some major changes to their search algorithms. The aim of this update was to push content farms and low quality content sites further down the list.

Amit Singhal and Matt Cutts wrote on the Google blog:

This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.

Since that time we have noticed that our organic traffic from Google has nosedived. Crenk isnt a content farm and we aren’t a low quality content source!

Can someone at Google please get in touch and let us know why we are being heavily punished!

P.S. This seems to have changed our traffic numbers, but somehow the content scraper that is HuffingtonPost hasn’t lost any traffic at all.

Google: Crenk Isnt a Content Farm! originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/02/28/google-crenk-isnt-a-content-farm/feed/ 7 Google Social Search Update is Live http://crenk.com/2011/02/18/google-social-search-update-is-live/ http://crenk.com/2011/02/18/google-social-search-update-is-live/#comments Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:58:05 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=15540 Google Social Search Update is Live originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Google has just updated their social search feature and here is what you can expect.

Google social search results will include published information from your friends, whether they’re publishing on YouTube, Flickr or their own blog or website.

Remember you only get social search results when you are logged in to your Google Account.

Google Social Search Update is Live originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/02/18/google-social-search-update-is-live/feed/ 4 Google Release Chrome Extension to Help Users Block Content Farms http://crenk.com/2011/02/15/google-release-chrome-extension-to-help-users-block-content-farms/ http://crenk.com/2011/02/15/google-release-chrome-extension-to-help-users-block-content-farms/#comments Tue, 15 Feb 2011 10:25:21 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=15475 Google Release Chrome Extension to Help Users Block Content Farms originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]>

Google has been listening to the community and released a Chrome extension so that people can delete content farms they dont like from search results. If installed, the extension also sends blocked site information to Google, and we will study the resulting feedback and explore using it as a potential ranking signal for our search results.

You can download the extension and start blocking sites now.

Once a user blocks a site the results wont be seen in searches. Users can always revoke a blocked site at the bottom of the search results. You can also edit your list of blocked sites by clicking on the extension’s icon in the top right of the Chrome window.

This early test is available worldwide in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.

The average person can now influence Google’s search algorithm.

Google Release Chrome Extension to Help Users Block Content Farms originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/02/15/google-release-chrome-extension-to-help-users-block-content-farms/feed/ 1 Blekko Starts Blocking Content Farms from their Search Engines http://crenk.com/2011/02/02/blekko-starts-blocking-content-farms-from-their-search-engines/ http://crenk.com/2011/02/02/blekko-starts-blocking-content-farms-from-their-search-engines/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:59:27 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=15250 Blekko Starts Blocking Content Farms from their Search Engines originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Blekko is the newest search engine on the block and they have decided to take a step ahead of Google and ban content farms. Blekko has banned the following sites from search results:

ehow.com
experts-exchange.com
naymz.com
activehotels.com
robtex.com
encyclopedia.com
fixya.com
chacha.com
123people.com
download3k.com
petitionspot.com
thefreedictionary.com
networkedblogs.com
buzzillions.com
shopwiki.com
wowxos.com
answerbag.com
allexperts.com
freewebs.com
copygator.com

It will now be interesting to see if Google does the same. This may affect Demand Media’s recent IPO, in which the majority of their revenues come directly from Google.

Blekko Starts Blocking Content Farms from their Search Engines originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/02/02/blekko-starts-blocking-content-farms-from-their-search-engines/feed/ 2 Google Starts Censoring Its Search: No More BitTorrent, RapidShare and More http://crenk.com/2011/01/27/google-starts-censoring-its-search-no-more-bittorrent-rapidshare-and-more/ http://crenk.com/2011/01/27/google-starts-censoring-its-search-no-more-bittorrent-rapidshare-and-more/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 11:09:18 +0000 Steven Finch http://crenk.com/?p=15145 Google Starts Censoring Its Search: No More BitTorrent, RapidShare and More originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Without a public notice Google has compiled a seemingly arbitrary list of keywords for which auto-complete is no longer available. Although the impact of this decision does not currently affect full search results, it does send out a strong signal that Google is willing to censor its services proactively, and to an extent that is far greater than many expected.

Among the list of forbidden keywords are “uTorrent”, a hugely popular piece of entirely legal software and “BitTorrent”, a file transfer protocol and the name of San Fransisco based company BitTorrent Inc. As of today, these keywords will no longer be suggested by Google when you type in the first letter, nor will they show up in Google Instant.

To read the rest of the article head over to TorrentFreak.

Google Starts Censoring Its Search: No More BitTorrent, RapidShare and More originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2011/01/27/google-starts-censoring-its-search-no-more-bittorrent-rapidshare-and-more/feed/ 2 [infographic] The Brutal Decline of Yahoo! http://crenk.com/2010/11/27/infographic-the-brutal-declive-of-yahoo/ http://crenk.com/2010/11/27/infographic-the-brutal-declive-of-yahoo/#comments Sat, 27 Nov 2010 21:00:33 +0000 Augusto Alvarez http://crenk.com/?p=13819 [infographic] The Brutal Decline of Yahoo! originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]>
From scores.org comes a very well explained infographic about the raise and fall of Yahoo! From good all times where each Yahoo! share cost was U$S125 to the GeoCities deal which had a cost of U$S4 billion and then closed down.

The Brutal Decline of Yahoo!

Research by Scores.org

[infographic] The Brutal Decline of Yahoo! originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2010/11/27/infographic-the-brutal-declive-of-yahoo/feed/ 0 [infographic] Google’s Appetite http://crenk.com/2010/08/29/infographic-google%e2%80%99s-appetite/ http://crenk.com/2010/08/29/infographic-google%e2%80%99s-appetite/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:18:03 +0000 Augusto Alvarez http://crenk.com/?p=12183 [infographic] Google’s Appetite originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Scores.org created a complete infographic representing the timeline for Google’s acquisitions in their short life. A simple way to see what they bought, when and in what product this acquisition transformed.

We should know by now that any of the largest companies in the world right now are in fact the most important ones because of their appetite and their capabilities to buy other companies. Google indeed took some great decisions in the last 10 years about this: YouTube, FeedBurner, Postini and Picasa are just a few of those.

Take a look to the complete list. Take note that this infographic divides the acquisition in time and type (technology, market and talent):

Google Acquisitions.

[infographic] Google’s Appetite originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2010/08/29/infographic-google%e2%80%99s-appetite/feed/ 0 Bing Shows us a New “Thelma & Louise” Ending http://crenk.com/2010/08/15/bing-shows-us-a-new-%e2%80%9cthelma-louise%e2%80%9d-ending/ http://crenk.com/2010/08/15/bing-shows-us-a-new-%e2%80%9cthelma-louise%e2%80%9d-ending/#comments Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:18:05 +0000 Augusto Alvarez http://crenk.com/?p=11959 Bing Shows us a New “Thelma & Louise” Ending originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> How many times did we wondered about “Thelma & Louise” ending? Thinking: “What if these girls could use a smartphone and Bing?”… None? Ok, me neither. But apparently Microsoft does.

If we think about one of the most dramatic endings in a movie, “Thelma & Louise” finale should be in the top 5. But fortunately Bing created a new ending, and while they were at it, they mentioned Google’s “inefficient” way to find places.

Take a look to this publicity from Microsoft’s Bing:

After I saw the car flying in the air, I thought this is a terrible way to use a movie reference; but after seeing the car didn’t get smashed I think the publicity is not horrible, just lame :)

Bing Shows us a New “Thelma & Louise” Ending originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2010/08/15/bing-shows-us-a-new-%e2%80%9cthelma-louise%e2%80%9d-ending/feed/ 0 Flock Changing Out Firefox Framework for Chrome http://crenk.com/2010/06/16/flock-changing-out-firefox-framework-for-chrome/ http://crenk.com/2010/06/16/flock-changing-out-firefox-framework-for-chrome/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:40:05 +0000 Luis Sandoval http://crenk.com/?p=10926 Flock Changing Out Firefox Framework for Chrome originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Two years ago I wrote an article on the major updates made to the Flock browser and the impact it would have on social search

Flock logo.

Flock, the social browser, is not built on Chrome.

and browsing. Since then Flock, the social browser, has always been that fringe browser that a few people used but didn’t grab the audience it was hoping for. What did help Flock was the fact that it was built on the Firefox browser framework which made it easy to develop for since it was open source. The Flock browser allowed for many unique plug-ins very similar to Firefox, thus offering a seamless user interactive experience with the added bonus of social networking.

This week a huge announcement was made that Flock was leaving the Firefox backbone and moving to Chrome. Touted as a social browser there is definitely something to love about it, but does it really know where it wants to go? The interface has undergone a drastic overhaul moving away from the complex menus and tabs and moving more towards a simple interface with fully customizable group and friend options.

In a world where social platforms like Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and Hootsuite have been integrated into desktops and/or browsers, it feels like Flock is still running too many steps behind. Has Flock lost its luster? Perhaps, but there’s nothing wrong with reinventing yourself.

Flock Changing Out Firefox Framework for Chrome originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2010/06/16/flock-changing-out-firefox-framework-for-chrome/feed/ 1 Google Now Offers Secure Searches http://crenk.com/2010/05/29/google-now-offers-secure-searches/ http://crenk.com/2010/05/29/google-now-offers-secure-searches/#comments Sat, 29 May 2010 15:44:42 +0000 Augusto Alvarez http://crenk.com/?p=10641 Google Now Offers Secure Searches originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Google released recently, in beta, https://www.google.com/ which is of course the secure website using SSL for Google Search.

So, what is SSL? Secure Sockets Layer represents a secure protocol which provides us secure connections in a public network, like the Internet. This protocol uses cryptographic communications to guarantee privacy and authentication between client and server; basically using this type of connection, when you are connecting to a SSL site the protocol is confirming you that the answering server is who he say he is.

Sites without SSL could be victims of eavesdropping (someone else is looking the information you are using) and phishing (the server is not who says he is). That is way all of the web mails available, shopping sites, etc, use SSL sites for client’s connections.

Google only offered us SSL connections for Gmail and Google Docs; and I guess with this new experiment they are extending us the way to avoid any possibility for someone realizes we are actually searching for porn most of the time :)

Google Now Offers Secure Searches originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2010/05/29/google-now-offers-secure-searches/feed/ 2 Twitter and Yahoo Team Up for Real Time Tweets in Search Results http://crenk.com/2010/02/28/twitter-and-yahoo-team-up-for-real-time-tweets-in-search-results/ http://crenk.com/2010/02/28/twitter-and-yahoo-team-up-for-real-time-tweets-in-search-results/#comments Sun, 28 Feb 2010 09:12:51 +0000 Dean Sherwin http://crenk.com/?p=9042 Twitter and Yahoo Team Up for Real Time Tweets in Search Results originally appeared on: Crenk
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Twitter is steadily climbing to reach the 50 million tweets per day mark. This huge social network now represents a large proportion of the information shared on the web. More and more people are discovering breaking news through its trending topics (millions found out about the Haitian earthquake via Twitter).

Now Yahoo! have just signed a deal to be put on what Twitter calls it’s Firehose. This means Tweets will now be continually indexed by Yahoo!.

“Similar to the partnerships we have made with other large internet companies, Yahoo! will receive what has been dubbed “Firehose”—a full feed of public tweets sent to Twitter and our partners every second of every day from all around the world.”

Through this arrangement, you’ll be able to find tweets through Yahoo! Search amongst other Yahoo! services Mail and Sport. It is also said that Yahoo! will be building unique Twitter clients to enable people to tweet from inside the Yahoo! network.

Twitter hit the nail on the head when they discussed how Tweets are vital to the social news scene and their inclusion in other big Internet services is vital:

“Tweets may be short, but they have proven over and over again to contain valuable information. As the Twitter information network grows and expands, it becomes more valuable for everyone who participates. Our open approach helps us get closer to providing universal connectivity to a global network of immediate information.”

Twitter and Yahoo Team Up for Real Time Tweets in Search Results originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2010/02/28/twitter-and-yahoo-team-up-for-real-time-tweets-in-search-results/feed/ 0 Google Attacks Definitely From China http://crenk.com/2010/02/23/google-attacks-definitely-from-china/ http://crenk.com/2010/02/23/google-attacks-definitely-from-china/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:10:08 +0000 Dean Sherwin http://crenk.com/?p=8945 Google Attacks Definitely From China originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> chinese flag Two universities, funded by the Chinese military to train computer scientists for use in their forces, have had their computers used on the recent cyber attacks on major companies such as Google. This news comes as Google contemplates its withdrawal from China following disagreement with the Chinese government over censorship.

Interestingly enough, the universities are also part of a network which is operated by Baidu who stands to gain millions of users upon Google’s departure.

The Chinese government has denied any involvement of sanctioning of these cyber attacks upon US-based web companies and stressed it has been the victim of many cyber attacks itself.

“Computers at Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School in China reportedly played a role in the attacks, according to unnamed sources cited in The New York Times.” reported Information Week.

Cyber attacks are on the increase and are frequently becoming a method for governments to send diplomatic messages to one another. When the US asked Twitter to keep the service up (as apposed to taking it down temporarily for maintenance) during the Iran elections, it became clear that social networks and internet giants are the key targets in all of this. But how long will it be until utility companies and government databases are targeted on a big scale?

Google Attacks Definitely From China originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2010/02/23/google-attacks-definitely-from-china/feed/ 3 Google Can Now Buy and Sell Energy http://crenk.com/2010/02/23/google-can-now-buy-and-sell-energy/ http://crenk.com/2010/02/23/google-can-now-buy-and-sell-energy/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:10:33 +0000 Dean Sherwin http://crenk.com/?p=8934 Google Can Now Buy and Sell Energy originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> Need proof that Google can simply barge into whatever industry they want to and be given the go-ahead? Take one look at how they’ve been given clearance to buy and sell energy having just put in a request to do so a little over a month ago and you’ll see what I mean..

Basically, Google can now buy and sell energy just like any other electricity company in the US. This could involve targeting the commercial market or even residential. As for now though, it appears as though they will be using their new found rights to get some cheap energy for their own use. Running huge servers and data centres uses up a lot of energy so getting it at wholesale prices wouldn’t be bad for business at any rate.

That said, it might not be too long until we have Google bills coming through our letter box as they’re currently toying around with the idea of becoming an ISP too!

Google Can Now Buy and Sell Energy originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2010/02/23/google-can-now-buy-and-sell-energy/feed/ 0 Google New Launches New … Scarves? http://crenk.com/2010/02/10/google-new-launches-new-scarves/ http://crenk.com/2010/02/10/google-new-launches-new-scarves/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:18:48 +0000 Dean Sherwin http://crenk.com/?p=8642 Google New Launches New … Scarves? originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> google scarf I know, I thought it was weird when I first read it but the story checks out. Last year, fashion designers who participated in a designer program in partnership with big industry publications and organisations such as Vogue were asked to design scarves which were inspired by the massive internet giant Google. Well, the results are in and the top three scarves have gone on sale, amongst other items.

To me, they look like a badly stitched, rushed attempt at making some sort of double-ended sock. But then I don’t know fashion. I mean, they must look good if they’re selling for $300!

Flora Gill designed an oversize, multi-yarn, intarsia hand-knit scarf incorporating silk bias trim with wool and nylon yarn. Inspired by Google’s multi-functionality and diversity, the scarf features Google’s signature colors and is designed to be worn in several ways.

Even more bizarrely, Google are also pedalling things like a ‘Vintage T-Shirt’ which is inspired by Google Maps and an old fashioned magnifying glass which will cost you $200. Well, I guess every company has to diversify their income stream.

Google New Launches New … Scarves? originally appeared on: Crenk
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]]> http://crenk.com/2010/02/10/google-new-launches-new-scarves/feed/ 0 ‘Parisian Oops’ Video Mocks Google’s Super Bowl Ad http://crenk.com/2010/02/10/parisian-oops-video-mocks-googles-super-bowl-ad/ http://crenk.com/2010/02/10/parisian-oops-video-mocks-googles-super-bowl-ad/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:34:39 +0000 Dean Sherwin http://crenk.com/?p=8733 ‘Parisian Oops’ Video Mocks Google’s Super Bowl Ad originally appeared on: Crenk
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Yesterday, we posted the advertisement which Google aired during the 3rd Quarter of the Super Bowl. Since then, it has become a hit. And when anything becomes a hit on the Internet you’ll have the obligatory knock-off videos.

This one comes from UCB Comedy. Some of the clip is just recycled from the original, but rest assured, they’ve put their own little spin on things. They’ve named the video “Parisian Oops” and given it the tagline “Romance, Consequences, Awkwardness. Search On.” All will become clear when you watch the video. Check it out below.

‘Parisian Oops’ Video Mocks Google’s Super Bowl Ad originally appeared on: Crenk
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