Fusion: Googlespoof
5/29/2004GOOGLESPOOF
The top result on Google from typing in “waffles” was Democratic candidate John Kerry s official campaign site last week. The phrase appears nowhere on Mr. Kerry s site. But conservative bloggers skewed the search engine results by posting the phrase on their own Web pages and linking it to the Kerry site, in a technique called Google-bombing. Google s search results are partly based on how many times the searched-for word appears on sites around the Web. Liberal bloggers wasted no time getting even, apparently succeeding in making the Bush-Cheney campaign site come up as the third result when “waffles” was entered on Yahoo s search site.
99 PERCENT
The days of chief executives taking pride in not using a computer are gone. A survey released by the Wall Street Journal reported 99 percent of company chairmen, presidents, CEOs and other senior-level executives use the Internet at work, up from 96 percent in 2000. Time spent online has also increased 20 percent, to 13.4 hours per week. Ninety-five percent of the respondents said they read business news online, and 25 percent consider the Internet their most important news source.
EBAY BAY
The first Trading Circuit outlet has opened inside a Circuit City store in Atlanta. It is the first of 10 test stores where the electronics retailer plans to offer customers drop-off points for selling items on eBay. The stores will list, photograph and manage auction sales of items in exchange for a fee of at least 25 percent of the selling price. The drop-off service will help make use of extra warehouse and retail space that s become available since Circuit City dropped major appliances, the report said. The stores-within-a-store will have their own entrances and staffs.
WHO S BLOGGING?
Who s reading those millions of blogs? Henry Copeland, founder of Blogads, wants to be able to tell advertisers using his network of Weblogs who s reading them. Last week, he used SurveyMonkey to collect information. Here s what he found: 61 percent of the responding blog readers were over 30 years old, 75 percent make more than $45,000 a year, 79 percent are male, and half of them have contributed more than $50 to a cause or candidate. Mr. Copeland makes no claim that his research is thorough or even reliable. Responses came from 17,000 volunteers.
http://www.blogads.com/survey/blog-reader-survey.html
24-HOUR WEB CNN
CNN is in the early stages of development of a 24-hour broadband news channel for Internet users, according to CableNewser.com, a DC-area based Web site that reports on cable news channels. CNN NewsStream Live is expected to be offered to Internet service providers in the first quarter of next year. ABCNews.com has offered a 24/7 news channel on the Internet for more than a year.
RATE A RECORD
In the last six months, recording companies have begun releasing singles for online sale within hours of giving them to radio stations for airplay. In the past, music fans had to wait for the release of a CD to get the hit tracks. Or, they could download them from peer-to-peer networks after contributors recorded the songs off the radio and uploaded them.
TOLEDOBLADE.COM
Ron Musselman covers college sports for The Blade. His online column on the Detroit Tigers and catcher Brandon Inge will appear Monday on toledoblade.com.
FROM THE BLADE S WIRE SERVICES AND STAFF.
CONTACT FUSION AT KCESARZ@THEBLADE.COM