Google buys Orion an advanced text search algorithm invented by Ori Alon

Ori Alon an Israeli student developed this algorithm whilst at our own Uni of NSW in Australia. The 3 majors chased this technology with Google winning in the end. Ori went to Monash then did his PhD at University of NSW. His search engine is designed to complement the results returned by search engines i believe. I first heard of this in Septmeber last year. Ori now works for Google in California.

Yahoo trials new search model code named Panama

Yahoo has notified high volume buyers of search traffic that it will be testing a new ad model. Supposedly this will result in higher click through rates. Using methodology like Google, who uses a CTR * quality score ad model, rewarding ads that get good CTR. No release date has been published as yet.

Google is building speciality Search Engines

There is no doubt Google is taking over the internet, we all wondered what Google Base was all about. Now we have Google Real Estate, in the US if you do a search for "homes for sale" a whole bunch of information is presented. Searching for Real Estate may never be the same again. Go here to see what Shimon and Avi uncovered. http://www.shimonsandler.com/?p=126

Google testing click to call

That phone icon in search results is a new facility Google is testing, click to call. More info can be found here; http://www.google.com/help/faq_clicktocall.html