Author Archives: Adam Russell

Are Google about to buy Admeld and complete the stack?

Michael Arrington has reported that Google have just acquired publisher ad optimisation platform Admeld over at TechCrunch. Whilst AdExchanger.com are reporting that AdMeld have confirmed no deal has taken place so far, the rumours certainly suggest some sort of deal may be about to happen. If true, this would give Google access to solutions that operate throughout the whole supply chain for display advertising.

Is Google’s +1 enough for them to join the social party?

Last week Google announced their +1 service to the usual mixed fan fair of simultaneous excitement and derision. Gordon has already given an overview of the product- in essence Google are attempting to replicate the success of Facebook’s ‘Like’ functionality by giving users the ability to ‘+1′ content they like. Whilst initially constrained to Google search results (both natural and paid) the plan is to roll it out to other Google properties as well as third party sites. Read more »

Google’s accusation that Bing is copying labelled ‘Silly’

You can imagine a few red faces at Mountain View right now. It is one of those stories that refuses to go away – Google accuses Microsoft of copying search results yet they are the ones who end up looking silly.

Originally broken by Search Engine Land the story detailed how people within Google had harboured suspicions for a year that their search results were being copied by Bing after they found both engines were returning similar results for unusual misspellings. Unlike Google, Bing seemingly makes no attempt to correct the misspellings yet still somehow returns the same list of sites, even though these contain no references to the misspelled words. You can understand why Google’s suspicions were raised.

Image: Jeffrey Beall

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Has Digg become a victim of its own Digg-effect?

There was a time where social news website Digg appeared to have the world at its feet. Back in 2006 social was the next big thing and a service that floated stories to the front page of a site based on their popularity appeared remarkably democratic. Yet last week, faced with a user revolt, Digg founder Kevin Rose stepped down as CEO – the second CEO at Digg to do so this year. Read more »

If the web is dead is neutrality the next victim?

Wired editor Chris Anderson, famous for saying that the nature of digital abundance (as opposed to physical scarcity) would create a race to the zero-price-point has now come out proclaiming the web dead. Read more »

Flipboard points the way forward for social media

One application created such a storm when it hit Apple’s iPad last week that you could easily have missed the news that the BBC have finally released apps for the iPhone and iPad. So what app managed to create such a storm that even those without iPads were talking about it? Read more »

New Facebook film not to be promoted on Facebook

In  ironic but sadly unsurprising news Boom Town have confirmation from Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that Facebook will not be used to promote David Fincher’s new film The Social Network that depicts the early days of, you guessed it, Facebook. Read more »

Google and Facebook gear up to fight for social search

Recently it seems that Google can’t make enough enemies – once their primary target may have been Microsoft but if Google’s attitude to Apple is anything to go by Redmond’s lot seem positively irrelevant these days. And if the rumours surrounding Google Me are anything to go by it sounds like Facebook just made the top of the hate-list. Read more »

Apple pulls then reinstates Pulse iPad app

After a storm that has been brewing over the past few days pressure from the New York Times has lead to Apple pulling the popular Pulse iPad app from the iTunes store and then, confusingly, reinstating it. And this despite Apple’s Steve Jobs praising the app in Monday’s WWDC keynote. Read more »

Apple announced what we all expected…biggest (TV) news yet to come

iPhone 4

Image courtesy of Ars Technica

You would have to live under a small rock to have missed the fact that yesterday saw another Apple WWDC event, another Steve Jobs keynote and predictably, another truck load of speculation. Read more »