With the competition among wireless service providers increasing, Verizon is certainly in need of a good Search Partner, and has been talking to others such as Microsoft also.

Google on the other hand is equally keen to tie up with a carrier like Verizon as the Mobile Search market is expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the near future. Such a deal would help them to improve the relevance of their ads by making them location specific etc.

Needless to say this would boost revenues for both companies.

The deal would also simplify matters for mobile search users. At present users have to go to different sites for different services, such as ring tones, hotels restaurants etc. If this deal is finalized, everything would be available under one roof.

Shares of both Venison and Google went up by 2.1% and 0.8% respectively after The Wall Street Journal reported that the two companies were close to a deal.

Yahoo already has a similar deal with AT&T.

How long such deals would be beneficial, remains to be seen, as, once the markets open up, it will be possible for users to use the search engine of their choice irrespective of the handset they use.

This tool which was first launched in June 2008 will help to fill in details of the locations on the relatively empty Google Maps of some nations. Initially the tool will be used only in certain developing nations, where sophisticated data mapping techniques are not available.

They have now decided to use this tool in India also.

At a later stage they hope to be able to use this facility all over the world.

By using Map Maker it will be possible for anybody to add or edit information about roads, forests, tourist destinations etc. Even factories, restaurants, airports etc can be marked. There is a drop down list, consisting of several options, from which, one can select the most appropriate label, so that even though several people would contribute to the map of a given place, the tagging system will remain consistent and simple. It will also be possible to identify individual neighborhoods through satellite imaging.

The creator of this tool, Dr. Lalitesh Katragadda, says, “Google Map Maker solves an inherent need especially for countries such as ours (India) where maps data is sparse. This product embodies our passion to empower people everywhere, to share knowledge of the places they know best by creating maps.”

Although the changes made by people will be incorporated automatically into Google Maps, Google will of course be able to moderate entries if necessary.

Third party developer, lastminute.com a well known travel site in Europe has added this new feature, which will help users to find restaurants in the area they are in, without having to type in where they are. All a user needs to do is click on ‘Find your location’ on the home page and select the type of restaurant he wants. He will receive the required information shortly.

Another site, which has also opted to install this feature, is Rummble. Rummble a social discovery engine, recommends places to visit along with personalized recommendations from friends. A user has to access ‘m.rummble.com’ and then click on ‘update location with gears’, in order to get suggestions about nearby places to visit.

The new Gears Geolocation API allows users to find out their location, based on the nearest cell phone towers or GPS.

This service is available for free, on both mobiles and laptops. The facility can be accessed through IE Mobile for cell phones and through Internet Explorer and Firefox for desktop computers.

As of now Gears Geolocation API is accessible through Windows Mobile or any other GPS supported device. It should be available on other mobile platforms such as Android in the near future.

It must be mentioned that Google has warned users to use the Gears Geolocation API only through websites they trust, as they have the option to allow or deny gears the permission to find out their location. It is possible for users to check the privacy policy of a website.

Content owners will now have the prerogative to decide for themselves, what they wish to do with these unauthorized clips. They can either block the videos, or promote them. In fact, if they choose to promote the videos, they will now be able to make some money through it, by inserting an ad in the video clip.

Over the last few months, Google has come to the conclusion that the vast majority (90%) of their partners, have chosen to monetize their videos, instead of blocking them.

It has become quite clear to most of Google’s Video ID partners, including CBS, Universal Music, Lionsgate, Electronic Arts etc. that, with this new technology, they will be able to encourage creativity, while also being more accessible to their fans, and at the same time make good use of a great opportunity for monetization.
Google said, “These partners now have a new way to successfully distribute and market their content online”.

Most content owners now seem to have realized, that instead of fighting YouTube, which is after all the number one video sharing site, it would be better to join hands with them and promote their videos, while at the same time making some money, which after all has to be the primary reason to fight piracy.

Come September, they will roll out an ‘Engagement Ad’ format, with some select advertisers, in such a manner, that users can continue with their usual practice of commenting, giving gifts and befriending.

When a user sees one of these ads, he will be interact with it in any of the above mentioned manners, and this interaction will then be visible to all his friends, who can also further interact with it.

Blake Chandlee, Commercial Director for Europe, says, “The whole concept of viewing and sharing is what Facebook is all about.” Thus they want to introduce an ad format in keeping with this policy. They would not like to impose the ads on their clients.

With this trial, Facebook will try to coax its users to interact with the ads as they do with their friends.

For instance an ad which runs as a short video film or animated gift or still, will be accompanied by a blank space, in which the viewer can post his comments, which will then be relayed to his entire list of friends as and when they see the ad, and they can further add their comments to it.

Another type of ad which is being planned, is to give gifts. This is a common feature of Facebook, but now instead like flowers etc. one will be able to present advertiser-created gifts to their friends. The gift will be charged on a CPM basis as usual with an additional fee according to the level of targeting.

Yet another manner of advertising will be in the form of an invitation to become a fan of a particular brand, which will help the brand to get new clients, among the young and tech savvy users of social networks. Users will be able to see which of their friends have also befriended that brand.

Other social networks, have not done very well, with ads in the past, but according to Mike Murphy, V.P. of Media Sales at Facebook, that is because social networks are using the same forms of advertising as other traditional sites like Google.

Facebook hopes to succeed, where other social networks have failed, by generating good ad revenues through this new format. It is important to remember however, that Engagement Ads may not work for all advertisers, as there is not much awareness about this system. It may be easier for well known and famous brands to get a clientele, but it will not be easy for the others.

More Accuracy to Quality Score: So far the per-query Quality Score was a static pre-determined factor, but will now be made variable. The ad’s quality and relevance will be adjudged each time it matches with a search query. Through this system, AdWords will be able to select the most appropriate and relevant ads for display. This should be a win-win situation for both users as well as advertisers, as users will get to see only the ads which are most accurately matched with their keywords, while advertisers will receive highly qualified leads.

Keywords will no longer be inactivated: With this new quality scoring system, keywords will not be marked as ‘inactive for search’ in the advertisers account. All keywords will now be capable of relaying the ad on Google web Search and the search network, unless the advertiser chooses to pause or delete a particular keyword from his account. However since it is likely that the previously inactivated keyword did not have a very high Quality Score and bid, it is doubtful if it would now be capable of generating much traffic.

Minimum Bids to be replaced by First page Bids: It is expected that first page bids, will be a more effective tool than minimum bids. As the name suggests, First page bids would give advertisers an indication of the amount required to get their ad to reach the first page of search results. The bid will be based on the closeness of the match with the keyword used the Quality Score, and the extent of competition on that keyword. The first page bid should help advertisers to get a good idea of the bid required to get the ad placement they are looking for.

The effectiveness of this new system will of course vary between advertisers. While some may find a substantial change, others may find no significant change. At present Google is working to update the AdWords API and AdWords Editor, to support first page bids, and till that is done, minimum bids will continue to show up, based on the per-query Quality Score.

Google will inform advertisers when these changes are finalized.

The lead singer, Bono, was playing some new songs from U2’s forthcoming album, which fans speculate might be named “No Line On The Horizon”, at his Beach home in Eze-sur-Mer, in the South of France.

The music was apparently loud enough for a passerby on the beach nearby to hear and record on his mobile phone. The Dutch U2 tribute band member, Ben van Riemsdijk, later discussed this with other fans on U2 fan site, Interference.com, and eventually proceeded to post four of the songs on YouTube.

YouTube, as usual scrambled to delete the songs from their website, fearing yet another lawsuit for copyright violation. Reuters reports that the quality of the recording was extremely poor due to external disturbances. The songs, however, are still being circulated privately via emails and other file-sharing sites, according to the Irish Independent newspaper.

A few months ago, U2’s manager, Paul McGuiness, had lambasted Internet Service Providers for allowing pirated music to exchange hands and not taking on the onus to fight piracy.

This however, is not the first time, that U2’s music has been stolen. They have lost their albums several times in the past, to muggers, chambermaids and eavesdroppers. This is also the third time that fans have managed to tape new songs, while they were being played very loudly by Bono.

The band were reportedly not too bothered by the leaked recording due to its poor quality. Given the number of times such leaks have happened to the group, one would expect such complacency on their part. It can’t be denied that the same fact also might indicate a cheap publicity method that U2 fans repeatedly seem to fall for!

Barack Obama and John McCain are now making good use of the wide reach of the Web 2.0 sites and also search and social networking sites to reach out to their electorate.

Barack Obama had announced that while he had decided on who his Vice President would be, he would only declare that name via email and SMS. This was a great idea, as it meant that he would be able to collect a huge database of email addresses and mobile phone numbers, which would then become an excellent means to reach out to the common man.

This is also a clear indication that the methods of communication used by the White House are likely to change in times to come.

Already several sites are available through which ordinary U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens as well can gain information about various subjects such as laws and legislation, discuss policy matters, learn about where the tax payers’ money is being spent and so on.

Even the Libertarian Presidential candidate, Bob Barr, went online on August 21, to talk to the public about his policies and answer their questions to him.

One of the major disadvantages of online campaigning, however, is the ease with which politicians and campaigners can use dirty tricks and spread malicious gossip about their opponents. While this is nothing new in politics, the use of the Internet, will make it easier to spread such false information, while making it more difficult to catch the culprits.

There will be a range of widgets at the bottom of the TV screen, which can be accessed, at the click of a button on the TV remote. This docket will contain various web applications, from which one can select the one which they wish to use, while the TV program, one was watching earlier, continues to run alongside.

Users will now be able to perform various actions such as accessing their favorite web sites, such as Yahoo, Flickr, watch movies on demand, and get information about the weather etc. on the TV, by using the remote.

These innovations, have been carried out by Intel, in association with Yahoo! In the form of a ‘Widget Channel’, this is an open widget based platform, for the development of applications on television. The widgets run along the bottom of the TV screen, just like the ribbon which runs along on news channels. When one clicks on a particular widget, a side bar appears, with various options to choose from. It is a very simple process really, just like operating the remote, for selecting various channels or settings of the TV.

The widget gallery is similar to the Apple App Store, of the iPhone.

This combination of the TV and IT industries will be made possible by a new chip, the ‘Intel Media Processor C3100’ which is a very versatile piece of technology, capable of several functions at the same time.

It will be known as the ‘Intel Media Play’ technology, and apart from all the new applications, will also be capable of running other software, such as Java, html etc.

Google’s advertising partners will also be able to learn about user preferences, thus allowing advertisers to target audiences for various categories of products, as millions of users access YouTube on their mobiles regularly.

This move will be beneficial for both, content producers as well as users, since content producers will be able to use this facility as a means of generating revenue, while at the same time, significantly bringing down costs for users who wish to access music and videos on their mobiles.

Product Marketing Manager for YouTube, Christine Tsai, says, “This is our first step, in testing mobile advertising for YouTube – it will give you a new way to interact with content on the go, while allowing us to learn, how video viewers engage with mobile advertising. Our test advertisers will also have an additional branding tool at their disposal and the opportunity to reach the millions of people who visit YouTube everyday on their phones”.