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Google Gets Patent for Location-Based Advertising

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So last week Facebook won a rather “vague” patent for news feeds. Now, it’s Google’s turn. This time it’s a patent for location based-advertising which if compared with Facebook’s patent is very clear as to what intention Google will use this patent for.

Actually, Google may have set the pattern already when it acquired mobile ad company – AdMob. It is clear that Google wants to dominate the mobile advertising market, what with the recent launch of its Google branded phone, the Nexus One. AdSense on the other hand have implemented mobile ad serving a long time ago.

And now this patent for location in an advertising system, which is actually the emerging business model for most consumer-facing location startups today.

We must also consider Google’s long-standing  priority over location-enabled search. In fact, just last week a location filtering option for search was rolled out by Google.

Interestingly, this development has to come amidst the proliferation of location-based mobile applications such FourSquare, Gowalla, Yelp and even Google’s own Buzz in its mobile version. [Read more…] about Google Gets Patent for Location-Based Advertising

Google continues to push image features with Image Swirl

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How did we survive without Google Image Search? I frequently use it when someone utters the name of some “celebrity” I’ve never heard of, or I think is actually someone else, to make sure I’m thinking of the right person (like it really matters).

Now, not only can we check out similar images of those Z-list celebs, but thanks to a new feature being tested in Google Labs, we could see a whole swirl of related images.

Google Image Swirl uses advances in computer vision research to group together a dozen images based on a certain keyword.

Google gives the example: “if you search on Image Swirl for [washington], you’ll see 12 image thumbnails including President Washington, the Washington Monument, a map of Washington D.C. and the Capitol Building”

google-image-swirl-1

The “swirl” comes when you click on one of those thumbnails, which expands to show similar and related images based on that image. It’s Google’s own mashup of related images and the Wonder Wheel that you might have used for text-based search queries.

google-image-swirl-2

It’s interesting to see image search evolve, and presumably if enough people provide positive feedback this will eventually graduate from the labs and become part of the standard Google search.

Via

Google introduces lockable SafeSearch

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Google’s SafeSearch, while not completely safe (depending on what you define as “safe”, that is) is certainly a great tool for helping to keep kids from viewing inappropriate material online, but it has suffered from being easy to unlock — even without a child actively trying to circumvent it.

That’s why Google has just announced an updated version of SafeSearch that requires a password in order to be removed.

The look of SafeSearch has changed, so when it’s engaged a set of big coloured Google balls are displayed top-right. This makes it easy for a parent or teacher to quickly see that it’s still engaged.

Of course, this is just one thing and won’t block dodgy sites on its own, but it’s a start.

Trying To Get Your Sites Ranked? Check SheerSEO

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Browsing on the web last week I came across a company called SheerSEO, and I was impressed with the SEO software that they created. It basically packs a wide range of SEO tools on a single user interface.

sheerseo

Here are some of the features that you will find inside:

  • Search rankings tracking
  • PageRank tracking
  • Referring sites tracker
  • Keyword density checker
  • Indexed pages tracker
  • Backlinks checker
  • Social media tracker

If you are trying to get your website ranking well in Google, tracking your performance along the way is vital. Ever heard the saying “You can’t improve what you can’t measure”? Well, it is true.

The service is also not that expensive, with the basic plan starting at $7 per month. On top of that you can also try it for 90 days free of charge. We will give it a run and report back to you guys how it will work out.