Google to Open R&D facility in Tel Aviv

Google Inc. said on Tuesday it will open a research and development centre in Tel Aviv[, the second largest city in Israel,] in early 2007 as part its strategy of expanding global R&D operations.

Google Hires Former GSA Official

Google has hired M.J. Pizzella, a former official at the General Services Administration who had overseen the government’s official search engine, FirstGov.

Click Fraud Rate on Google, Yahoo Down

According to a new report on the scope of fraudulent clicks on search-related ads, the click fraud rate among top-tier search sites like Google and Yahoo is dropping. It fell to 11.9 percent in the third quarter, compared with 12.8 percent in the previous quarter.

Ask.com Advertises On Google

While they certainly aren’t the first search engine to use Google’s advertising program to promote their search service (Yahoo has done this in the past), Ask.com is the latest to do so. However, Ask’s approach is a little different from previous campaigns.