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Upcoming Seminars: Search Marketing 2008: What We’ve Learned, Where We’re Headed Paid Search for Big Sites, Big Brands

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Stories Discussed In The Show

• Google Buys Wiki Maker, JotSpot
  The Google Blog announced that they have bought JotSpot, a Wiki maker software solution. JotSpot updated their site to include an FAQ on Google, while Google has turned off signup for the service and locked it down to invite only. You can sign up for JotSpot at the www.jot.com, luckily, I am already signed up with them. Gary Price explains that the "financials are NOT being disclosed."...
• SideStep Buys TravelPost
  SideStep acquired TravelPost for a combination of cash and stock. TravelPost will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SideStep. According to the press release, "TravelPost.com has grown into a leading source for unbiased user-generated hotel reviews and ratings, travel news, information resources and travel blogs. The company has excelled at organizing travel information to improve the way people research and shop for travel." TravelPost, with over 500,000 hotel reviews on its site, might be the smartest little travel site you've never heard of. The coolest feature is the ability to filter hotel reviews by Age, Gender, Budget, and Trip Purpose....
• Belgium Slaps Google With $43.2 Million Fine
  Gary Price points to a Poynter.org report showing that Google has been fined €34 million (about $43,231,000 USD) for not removing all of the Belgian publisher's content based on a court ruling. Google claims they could not find all the publishers and asked the publishers for help in identifying the content that has to be removed....
• Judge To Rule By End Of Year On Kinderstart Case
  Reuters reports that Judge Jeremy Fogel said he will take until the end of this year to rule on the Kinderstart case. The case was about how Kinderstart's ranking and PageRank fell and Kinderstart sued Google on numerous counts for the ranking drop. The judge recently said, "Assuming Google is saying that KinderStart's Web site isn't worth seeing. Why can't they say that? That's my question." So he will consider this and other questions in his ruling....
• 15GB Gmail Accounts?
  Google Operating System reports that some users of Google Apps for Your Domain are noticing that they have 13GB more space then they originally had. Google Operating System asks if Google is just being "generous" or is this an initial "promotion for a paid service."...
• More Details On YouTube & Google Acquisition
  Blog Maverick has some intimate details on the Google YouTube Deal from a "trusted anonymous author" in a message board. Here are some of the excerpts:...
• Google Video Shares Ad Revenue With Video Authors
  News.com reports that Google is sharing most of the ad revenue earned on select Google Videos with the contributors of those videos. Specifically, the authors of the "The Diet Coke & Mentos Experiment II" (which is really cool) will be getting "most advertising revenue generated by the latest video." Pretty cool....
• Yahoo Adds Yahoo Store Authentication For Site Explorer
  The Yahoo Search Blog announced that if you run a Yahoo Store, you can now easily authenticate your site with Yahoo's Site Explorer. The step by step how to can be found at Authenticating your Site for Yahoo! Site Explorer....
• Garrett French Leaves MarketSmart Interactive
  Andy Beal reports that Garrett French has left MarketSmart Interactive. Garrett, I believe, is the last of many well-known and respected individuals who have worked at MarketSmart Interactive to leave. Jason Dowdell was first then highly respected Andy Beal was second, then Heather Lloyd Martin left, then Mike Grehan resigned and now Garrett has left. You can keep up with Garrett at http://www.garrettfrench.com/....
• Health Searchers may be Getting Bad Medicine
  Most health searchers don't bother checking the source or date of the information they find online, according to a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Even so, a majority say that they are comfortable using this information to alter their own health-related behavior or to share with others. More on the findings released in this report in today's SearchDay article, Rampant Malpractice Among Health Searchers....
• Ask.com's Revenue Increases 62 Percent
  IAC posted Q3 earning results, and part of that included results for Ask.com. Bloomberg reports that Ask.com's revenue increased 62-percent but at a cost of $2.1 million. The $2.1 million more than doubled from their previous operating cost....
• Google Asks Microsoft To Give Users A Choice
  Forbes reports that Google meet with the European Union the other day about antitrust issues. They asked Microsoft to give users a choice when selecting their default Internet search engine. The article explains, "Google refused to say if changes Microsoft has already made to its upcoming operating system, Vista, have gone far enough." You may also want to read Danny's long write up on the release of IE7 and search engine default battle....