Tuesday, October 14, 2008

WorldVitalRecords Blog » FamilyLink.com, Inc. Announces New Guidebook for Free Online Genealogy— Google Your Family Tree

WorldVitalRecords Blog » FamilyLink.com, Inc. Announces New Guidebook for Free Online Genealogy— Google Your Family Tree: "ROVO, UT, October 8, 2008 — FamilyLink.com, Inc. announced today the availability of Google Your Family Tree, a new book that teaches family historians how to unlock the hidden power of the Internet’s most popular search engine. Written by Daniel M. Lynch, the book received an enthusiastic reception in Philadelphia last month when it was unveiled at the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) annual conference. Pre-orders for the book have been brisk, and it is expected to ship within two weeks.

“This book is well positioned to become the best-selling genealogy book of all time,” said Paul Allen, chief executive officer of FamilyLink.com. “It is the right content, by the right author, at the right time. We couldn’t be more pleased to be releasing this book this month as millions of people in the United States celebrate Family History Month.”

FamilyLink.com, Inc. and Lynch agreed to the deal in March of this year. “Dan has done an exceptional job documenting the hidden power Google offers to family history enthusiasts worldwide,” Allen said. “It is the first such book written specifically for genealogists by an accomplished genealogist and technology expert.”"

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

"Planet Google" | Salon Books

"Planet Google" | Salon Books: "Stross provides particularly vivid accounts of several Google train wrecks. There was its troubled foray into digitizing books by the library-ful, which ran headlong into publishing industry fears about losing control of copyrighted assets. Its misbegotten plan to build a Web video service focused on carefully vetted professional content failed spectacularly, leading to the company’s $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube in 2006. Then there was the difficulty Google faced in persuading users of its Gmail service that machine-scanning their e-mail messages in order to display relevant advertisements didn’t constitute snooping on their personal correspondence.

In each of these stories, Stross presents a different Google from the one we think we know. As a search provider, Google is confident, competent and a master of “scale” — the ability to keep its results flowing speedily and accurately even as demand skyrockets. But as the company tries to branch out, it miscalculates, makes beginner’s mistakes, and fumbles seemingly obvious maneuvers — like, if you’re planning to digitize the contents of the world’s books, perhaps some conversations with the companies that publish them might be in order?"
Randall Stross “Planet Google: One Company’s Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know.” - Google Search

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

AdSense for search

YouTube - AdSense for search: "AdSense for search is now powered by Custom Search, meaning publishers have more advanced customization options for their search results and ads. Options include keyword tuning, vertical search,"