Googlified

Yahoo! today announced that they will be showing Google’s AdSense for Search on their search engine for “up to two weeks and will be limited to no more than 3% of Yahoo! search queries” originated from the U.S. As described in the press release, Yahoo’s doing this to find “alternatives to maximize stockholder value”, but states that they are not joining the AdSense for Search program or “any further commercial relationship with Google”.

My theories are:

• Panama failed to delivered what it promised - this is obvious
• Google and Yahoo! are now BFF
• Yahoo! just want to slap Microsoft in the face

Well, they probably will join AdSense for Search after all, and history agrees: Yahoo! selected Google in 2000 as their default search engine after a beta trial.

[thank you Christian :D]

Google has tons of pranks for this year’s April Fool’s Day, including Gmail Custom Time, Virgle: The Adventure of Many Lifetimes, Google Wake Up Kit, and more!

• Gmail Custom Time: It enables you to send email back until April 1, 2004.
• Google Human Search (Chinese): searches 250 million volunteers by their personal characteristics.
• Virgle: Virgin and Google team up together to create Project Virgle to build a second Earth on Mars - just in case Earth gives up on us - in the next 100 years.
• Google Wake Up Kit - The kit from Google Calendar is designed to wake you up by whatever means possible - including “a bed-flipping device … for forceful removal from your sleeping quarters.” Google Calendar also added a “I’m Feeling Lucky” button that sets you up for dates with celebrities.
• gDay - Brought to you by the Google Australia team, it let’s you to search contents on the Internet even before it’s created! - “Hi guys, I am from the future.”
• Scratch-and-sniff books - Google Books is “now able to capture some of the smells during the scanning process” and you can smell them in the preview pages!
• Greener Google Talk: To reduce the amount carbon dioxide produced by instant messaging, Google Talk will now shorten the number of characters used in a IM message by “abbreviating words and dropping vowels” - the so-called IM-speak.
• Google Dajare (Japanese): The mission of this project is “to organize the world’s laughter, (allow) people around the world (to) have access to what(ever) they want.”
• YTRickRollsYou - “We’re no strangers to love, You know the rules and so do I … Never gonna give you up, Never gonna let you down … We’ve know each other for so long” - click on any feature videos on YouTube (no, this is not rickroll).
• Google Cash (Russian) - Now you can install the Google Cash portable right from your office or home and make payments for advertising cash roubles - designed exclusively for Russian AdWords users. (I thought the machine is designed to print money to pay for the users’ online advertising campaigns…)
• Yogurt: the new Orkut!
• Google Docs Airplane: Stop typing the boring documents, fold an airplane instead! Go to Google Docs and create a “New airlane!“
• Google Weblogs - New service from Blogger that “Publish text to the web in reverse chronological order.” OMG, this is going to be SO COOL!
• AdSense for Conversation: AdSense will display ads that are relevant to the conversations that you engage in on a headgear that Google provides for you to wear. Also AdSense for Phone Calls (Portuguese).
• FrankRank: a new AdWords ranking algorithm inspired by Frank the hand turkey.

Happy April Fool’s Day everyone! :)

The Associated Press reports that Google is going to announce a partnership with Gilbarco Veeder-Root, a leading producer of gas pumps, to bring Google Maps to “thousands of gasoline pumps across the United States beginning early next month.”

There will be about 3,500 gas pumps at the initial offer but will “expand based on retailer demand.” These pumps have small screens displaying Google Maps, which enable motorists to “scroll through several categories [of locations] selected by the gas station’s owner.” Google won’t include any ads along the maps, but they will split money with participating retailers by offering coupons from other merchants.

Gas station “emits a strong foul odor“.

UPDATE: Officially announced on the Google LatLong Blog. I can’t believe that they use the image from Engadget in their blog post instead of using their own!

Kai-Fu Lee, president of Google China, said in a recent interview that the company will “acquire one or two companies in China, and invest in four to five companies” over the next year and has “plans to start social-networking services in China [… from …] partnerships or buy local companies to reach that goal.”

Just a few days after the interview, Google and its Chinese partner Tianya launched a new social networking site - Laiba - on top of Tianya’s mega-forum. Laiba is “come here” or “come bar” in Chinese, depending on the context. (The name of the service is “come here” but individual communities, or bars, are called “come bar”.)

Like other social networks, Laiba allows you to have your own (profile page), upload your photos, create groups (bars), and interact with your friends. The only thing I found unique about this is that it lets you to see your friends’ locations (not IP based) and let you to locate yourself on a map, if you choose to. Think of it as Frappr.

Oh, by the way, this is the much speculated Google Fensi Social Network.

I promised that I will say, “Oh, yet another social network?” :P

related: Google Answers China

AdWords for “Ultimate Search for Bourne” with image and video.

As noted earlier, Google works with Universal Studios to promote the upcoming film “The Bourne Ultimatum“. The competition is called the “Ultimate Search for Bourne with Google“, where users from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. can participate.

To get started (become an “agent”), go to this website and click on the “Get Started” button, which you send you to a Google sign-in page, which you will need to give Google permission to “provide Universal Pictures with the primary email address associated with your Google account for verification purposes.” Once you agree, you will be ask to register for the game with your personal information. The rules states that you will need to be at least 18 years old.

I am playing it anyways. LOL. Today’s mission is to confirm that Agent Godot is in Paris.

Have fun. :)

UPDATE: Not only that the site isn’t available for Linux users, it also appears to be REALLY buggy. Ahh! The map isn’t working for me either. :(

Google recently put up a “Google Council Bluffs Data Center” site to let the Council Bluffs residents know more about the $450 million data center Google is going to build there…

We anticipate opening the Council Bluffs data center in Spring 2009. Eventually, we plan to employ approximately 200 people, ranging from technology assistants to experienced data center managers. We’re confident this $450 million investment will be good for Council Bluffs, Google and our Internet users.

The construction of this data center is in process on the 55 acres of land near the Lake Manawa.

By the way, the Google guy in the video, Paul Froutan, is Google’s Director of Hardware Operations.

[via SeekXL->GoogleWatchBlog]

Starting today, Google will be responsible for handling CNN.com’s searches, replacing Yahoo! Search. (Google cache, Web Archive)