Top Items:
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Google: Now Using Online Merchant Reviews As Ranking Signal — Earlier this week, the New York Times spotlighted how a merchant with bad reviews nonetheless was ranked well in Google. Today, Google has announced that merchant reviews are now part of its ranking system, to prevent such things from happening again.
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Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Google Changes Its Rank Algorithm In Response To DecorMyEyes Story — more info (via: Wylio)Over Thanksgiving weekend a New York Times story, “A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web” clued a lot of people in to some of the drawbacks of Google, namely that negative attention online and complaint links …
Discussion:
Examiner, Social Studies Blog, Search Engine Land and Media Maverick
Amit Singhal / The Official Google Blog:
Being bad to your customers is bad for business — A recent article by the New York Times related a disturbing story. By treating your customers badly, one merchant told the paper, you can generate complaints and negative reviews that translate to more links to your site; which, in turn, make it more prominent in search engines.
Discussion:
New York Times, InformationWeek, PC Magazine, Ars Technica, Digital Trends, VentureBeat, L.A. Times Tech Blog, The Atlantic Online, Bruce Clay Blog, Relevant Results, Erictric, WebProNews, SelectStart, Gawker, John Battelle's Searchblog, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, The Huffington Post, ReadWriteWeb, paidContent, The Next Web and Techie Buzz
Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:
How Lieberman Got Amazon To Drop Wikileaks — Early this week, after hacker attacks on its site, Wikileaks moved its operation, including all those diplomatic cables, to the greener pastures of Amazon.com's cloud servers. But today, it was down again and mid-afternoon we found out the reason …
Discussion:
Daring Fireball and ReadWriteWeb
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Alexia Tsotsis / TechCrunch:
Sen. Joe Lieberman: Amazon Has Pulled Hosting Services For WikiLeaks — WikiLeaks was briefly down this morning not only because of ongoing DDoS attacks, but because it was actually taken off Amazon Web Services by Amazon and moved back to a Swedish provider, according to a statement from Senator Joe Lieberman:
Discussion:
Computerworld, Agence France Presse, Ars Technica, ReadWriteWeb, paidContent, Techdirt, Gawker, Between the Lines Blog, BoxBinary Blog, OSNews, Gizmodo, Techie Buzz and CircleID
Peter Svensson / Associated Press:
WikiLeaks site, pummeled by attacks, leaves US
Discussion:
Guardian, Electricpig.co.uk, BGR, Neowin.net, SAI and NEWS.com.au, more at Mediagazer »
Peter Baldwin / Official Google Reader Blog:
The Android Google Reader app is here! — It's been a long time coming, but the official Google Reader app for Android is finally here. Let's jump into the features, shall we? — The app supports all the basics you'd expect like unread counts, friends, sharing, liking, and starring, but it also has a whole lot more, including:
Ina Fried / Mobilized:
Windows Phone 7 Update Is No iPhone Killer — Since it is bubble-bursting Wednesday here at Mobilized, let me assure you that the forthcoming update to Windows Phone 7 is neither “massive” nor an iPhone killer, despite some reports to the contrary. — On the other hand, the software update …
Discussion:
Mobility Digest, IntoMobile, Technologizer, The Next Web and Appolicious Advisor
9 to 5 Mac:
Apple opens up new business with POS systems — Late last year there were rumors that Apple would release their EasyPay point-of-sale system as a commercial product to third parties. Last month Apple's first customer, Gap Inc's Old Navy subsidiary began piloting them.
Discussion:
SAI and Daring Fireball
David Sarno / L.A. Times Tech Blog:
Verizon to switch on 4G network on Sunday, but not for smartphones — Verizon Wireless said Wednesday that it would turn on its 4G wireless network Sunday in 38 U.S. cities, though the new network will not support smartphones until the first half of 2011. — Instead, the 4G network …
Discussion:
Examiner, Gizmodo, Engadget, BGR, Computerworld, 9 to 5 Mac, MobileCrunch, Reuters, CNET News, Wi-Fi Networking News, GigaOM, lalawag, Ars Technica, Techland, IntoMobile, eWeek, AnandTech, mocoNews, LaptopMemo, Digits, Mashable!, The Next Web, Sidecut Reports, The Seattle Times, VentureBeat, DSLreports, Technologizer, Electronista, Liliputing, TechFlash and BetaNews
Mike Melanson / ReadWriteWeb:
Netflix Boosts Streaming Catalog With First-Run Movies — Netflix announced today that it has signed a multi-year deal with newly-formed film distribution company FilmDistrict to bring first-run films to its streaming catalog. — Last week, Netflix introduced a streaming-only subscription plan …
Discussion:
PR Newswire, NBC Bay Area, BGR, Media Maverick, GigaOM, Digital Daily and Between the Lines Blog
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Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Amazon Poised to Make a Major Strategic Investment in LivingSocial to Counter Groupoogle Threat — With the red-hot acquisition dance between Google and Groupon sucking up all the attention, it's easy once again to ignore the No. 2 player in the fast-growing social buying space-LivingSocial.
Discussion:
Screenwerk, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Mashable!, SAI, PE Hub Blog and The Next Web
Federal Trade Commission:
FTC Staff Issues Privacy Report Offers Framework for Consumers, Businesses, and Policymakers — Endorses “Do Not Track” to Facilitate Consumer Choice About Online Tracking The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's chief privacy policy and enforcement agency for 40 years …
Discussion:
The Register, Search Engine Land, New York Times, internetnews.com, PC World, GigaOM, Technology Liberation Front, Between the Lines Blog, Ars Technica, Faster Forward, L.A. Times Tech Blog, GottaBeMobile, Post Tech, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, paidContent, Inside Google, eWeek, Gov 2.0, ABA Journal Daily News, Electronista and GamePolitics News, more at Mediagazer »
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Alex Howard / Gov 2.0:
FTC online privacy report endorses “Do-Not-Track” mechanism for Web browsers
Discussion:
PC Magazine, ReadWriteWeb, TechNet Blogs, Wall Street Journal, paidContent, Associated Press and USA Today, Thanks:digiphile
Gmail Blog:
New in Labs: Smart mute and easier ways to unmute — If you subscribe to a lot of mailing lists and like to keep an empty inbox, muting (or preventing a conversation from re-entering your inbox) is an essential feature. We just made a few changes that should make muting even better.
Discussion:
The Next Web
Dan Frommer / SAI: Silicon Alley Insider:
If Net Neutrality Is Coming, So Is The End Of All-You-Can-Eat Internet Access — It looks like FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and the lobbyists from Google will get their way: Net neutrality seems surer than ever, for better or for worse*. — But this will likely mean the end …
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Arik Hesseldahl / NewEnterprise:
No One Happy With FCC Chairman's Speech, Except Broadband Investors
Discussion:
The Register, Between the Lines Blog, GMSV and Reboot FCC Blog, more at Mediagazer »
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Is “Google Me” Codenamed “Emerald City”? And Why Is Google Baraza Copying Quora? — Follow the yellow brick road... It's no secret that Google is working on a new social project that is thought to be a layer which will be spread over many of their properties. Actually, it is supposed to be a secret.
Kat Hannaford / Gizmodo:
Motorola Olympus Found at Flea Market Poses For Hi-Res Photoshoot — Of course, we're never too sure that what our tipsters have told us is the truth, but this one claims he bought Motorola's unannounced new flagship at a market. The very same Android that's leaked all over the place recently.
Discussion:
GottaBeMobile, AndroidGuys, IntoMobile, Erictric, Techie Buzz, Pocket-lint, Android Phone Fans, PhoneArena, LaptopMemo, BGR and Android and Me
Simon Mackie / GigaOM:
Evernote 2.0 Beta for Mac Features Notebook Stacks and Sharing — Note-taking app maker Evernote released the beta of the next major version of its client for Mac Wednesday. It includes a couple of great new features: in-app notebook sharing and notebook stacks.
Discussion:
Evernote Blogcast, The Next Web, ReadWriteWeb, Computerworld, MacStories and Mashable!
Nielsen Wire:
U.S. Smartphone Battle Heats Up: Which is the “Most Desired” Operating System? — According to October 2010 data from The Nielsen Company, 29.7 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers now own smartphones that run full operating systems. — The most popular smartphones are the Apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry …
Discussion:
Examiner, Digital Daily, SAI, Daring Fireball, GigaOM, GottaBeMobile, Computerworld, eWeek, AppleInsider, 9 to 5 Mac, Android Tapp, CNET News, PC World, Engadget, Electronista, MediaFile, The Microsoft Blog, Edible Apple, IntoMobile, Internet2Go, Techland, App Advice, Pulse2, TiPb, Yahoo! News, TUAW, L.A. Times Tech Blog, Android Phone Fans, MobileBurn.com, Mashable!, Fast Company, TechFlash, internetnews.com, Between the Lines Blog, MacRumors, Tech Trader Daily, ReadWriteWeb, Gearlog, Geekword and VentureBeat
Leena Rao / TechCrunch:
Boom! 5 Million Users Check-In To Foursquare — It appears that Foursquare has just passed 5 million users if new user account numbers are correct. — It's taken just a month and a half for the location-based social network to accumulate one million more members.
Discussion:
All Facebook and About Foursquare
Michael Calore / Webmonkey:
Chrome Browser to Start Sandboxing Flash Player — The latest developer channel release of the Chrome browser now supports sandboxing for Adobe's Flash Player on Windows 7, Vista and XP. — This feature should provide extra protection against malicious browser exploits through the Flash Player.
Discussion:
Chromium Blog and eWeek
Kara Swisher / BoomTown:
Exclusive: Silicon Valley Go-To Guy Peter Currie Joining Twitter Board — According to sources close to the situation, well-known Silicon Valley power player Peter Currie is joining the board of directors of Twitter. — It's an interesting choice to bring the well-regarded moneyman …
Naval Ravikant / Startup Boy:
There is No Angel Bubble. There are Many Angel Bubbles. — A common meme floating around right now is that there is an Angel investing bubble. — In the sense that an enormous amount of capital is being placed at risk, and its popping will have grave macro-economic consequences, No.
Don Clark / Digits:
Qualcomm CEO Comes Clean About Mobile TV Miscues — Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs almost escaped having to talk about the company's ill-starred mobile television effort at an event in Silicon Valley Tuesday night. But not quite. — The topic wasn't raised until the audience question …
Jason Kincaid / TechCrunch:
YouTube Officially Launches Ads You Can Skip — Yep, you read that right. Today, YouTube is officially launching TrueView, a new ad format that lets users skip over ads they aren't interested in — and advertisers are actually okay with it. — It's a new format that YouTube has been testing …
Discussion:
GigaOM, Softpedia News and SAI
Erica Ogg / CNET News:
Apple patents glasses-less 3D projection — A diagram of how Apple's proposed 3D projection system would work. — It's not that much of a surprise that Apple thinks watching 3D content with plastic glasses is dumb. — And the company that's all about sleek, cool, and simple has actually …
Discussion:
The Register, TechCrunch and Electricpig.co.uk
MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Strobe Gets $2.5 Million To Make The Mobile Web Dance With Apple-Like JavaScript And HTML5 Moves — In June of 2008, we wrote about SproutCore, and open source framework that was demoed that year at the WWDC event put on by Apple. The reason they were demoing it was because it was going …
Discussion:
BRYCE DOT VC and CNET News
