Google Bits: WiFi Ad Patent, Google Base Showing Up in Search, More
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Written By Reprise Media | March 23, 2006 | Share This
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Our feeds are strangely quiet this morning; maybe a little too quiet. Luckily, we have Google.
Now that’s a neat idea Threadwatch spotted a new patent filed by Google that outlines a plan to advertise to users over WiFi access points (WAP). Even more interesting, Google could share ad revenue with WAP providers in return for passing along the savings to users, potentially making the cost of a quick dip in the WiFI ether as affordable as simply viewing an ad.
Google search getting Base-ic Over the past day or so, some types of Google searches - mainly related to real estate - have been returning a Google Base search box in between the paid and organic search results. GoodROI blogged it first, and he has a screen shot of the invitation to “Refine your search for ‘homes for sale’” (we also got it to work with ‘apartments for rent’).
GoodROI comments on the clutter: “If [Google keeps] this up it will not matter if you rank #1 since no organic search results will be above the fold.” Search Engine Journal rounds up more blogger opinions, including one from a Webmaster World user who fears that the new feature will cause real estate agents to glut the system with “a load of duplicate content.”
“Where’d you say you were from again?” Garrett Rogers put the word out on a new version of Local Chat for users of the Google Personalized Homepage. The module now explicitly breaks down users by location, and tells you how many users in each location are currently active. He’s got a screen shot, too.
Topics: Google |