Googolopoly

Earlier today I wrote about my eagerness for Google GDrive, a cloud-based file management service that has been rumored for years now.

The idea that Google could swoop in and dominate the online storage market certainly doesn’t help the founders of several startups sleep better at night. But they aren’t without their arguments for why a Google solution would be bad for consumers.

Box.net has come up with the following clever response to the idea that Google should control all of our information, including our files (click for a bigger view).

As the company describes it:

The goal of the game is to use Google shares to buy as many properties as you can without landing in the deadpool and losing your stock. As with any great board game, there’s a very real metaphor to what’s going on…. What happens when the Google monster gobbles up all that is left in the web world, is present on your cell phone, desktop, and even controls your health information? For all their product excellence, the threat of amassing this much data is too serious to ignore.

So the real question is, does placing Box.net on the board (between none other than LinkedIn and Facebook) mean the company sees itself as Google acquisition bait? And how do fellow startups Loopt and Scribd feel about being placed on Mediterranean and Baltic?

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New iPhones rumors a-swirlin: iPhone shuffle?

What’s the most ridiculous thing you can imagine? An “iPhone Shuffle” with no video playback? Funny, that’s what I was thinking too! That is why this rumor is, at least partially, completely ridiculous. The thicker, 3G iPhone with a super-battery is much more likely, though it would be the first time Apple made their flagship product bigger.

But an iPhone Shuffle, half the thickness of a regular iPhone but with the same screen, with 4GB of memory and (it bears repeating)no video playback? Does it come with a manticore?

Hit the “more” for the full details from hot tipper Doug.

Just as the iPod lineup developed and branched out, so does Apple have plans for the iPhone lineup. Here’s some of what is being considered:

A “Pro” or “Max” model, that is noticeably thicker than current model (over 15mm, versus 11.6mm for existing iPhone), to incorporate a battery with almost triple the duration of the existing iPhone. This model is also the 3G model. It is targeted for power users and enterprise, meaning people who may use their phone 2-3 days in a row (on a business trip) without accessing a PC or having the time or opportunity to charge it.

Existing iPhone stays the same, along with no 3G, just Edge.

Also being considered, and with engineering and development basically done, is a new entry model, that is slimmer than the iPod Touch (an amazing 6.2mm versus iPod Touch’s already amazing 8mm), and slightly less wide (58.6mm versus 61.8mm for iPod Touch). Screen size is the same; this width reduction comes from the casing. It does not offer video playback and has only 4GB. Could be as low as $159. Name to be determined, internally referred to as iPhone Shuffle, definitely not the final name. Edge, of course.

-”Doug”

They say he’s “faithful,” but that’s a long way from being right.

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Making harmonious use of Webmaster Tools and Analytics

Written by Reid Yokoyama, Search Quality Team

Occasionally in the discussion group, webmasters ask, "Should I be using Google Webmaster Tools or Google Analytics?" Our answer is: use both! Here are three scenarios that really highlight the power of both tools.

1. Make the most of your impressions
One of my favorite features of Webmaster Tools is that it will show you the Top 20 search queries your site appeared for along with the Top 20 clicked queries. The data from the Top Search Queries allows you to quickly pinpoint what searches your site appears for and which of those searches are resulting in clicks. Let's look at last week's data for www.google.com/webmasters as an example.


As you can see, Google Webmaster Central is receiving a great number of impressions for the query [gadgets] but may not be fully capitalizing on these impressions with user clicks. Click on [gadgets] to see how your site appears in our search results. Does your title and snippet look appealing to users? As my colleague Michael recently wrote, it might be time to do some "housekeeping" on your website -- it's a great, low-to-no-cost way to catch the attention of your users. For example, we could work to improve our snippet from:

To something more readable such as "Use gadgets to easily add cool, dynamic content to your site..." by adding a meta description to the URL.

And what are users doing when they visit your site? Are they browsing your content or bouncing off your site quickly? To find out, Google Analytics will calculate your site's "bounce rate," or the percentage of single-page visits (e.g. someone just visiting your homepage and then leaving). This can be a helpful measure of the quality of your site's landing page and the traffic your site receives. After all, once you've worked hard to get your users to visit your site, you want to keep them there! Check out the Analytics blog for further information about "bounce rate."

2. Perform smart geo-targeting
Let's imagine you have a .com that you want to target at a Japanese market. Webmaster Tools allows you to set a geographic target for your site, where you would probably pick Japan. But, doing so is not an immediate solution. You can confirm the location of your visitors using the map overlay of Analytics, right up to the city level. You can also discover what types of users are accessing your site - including their browser and connection speed. If users cannot access your website due to an incompatible browser or slower connection speeds, you may need to rethink your website's design. Doing so can go a long way toward achieving the level of relevant traffic you would like.

3. Control access to sensitive content
One day, you log into Analytics and look at your "Content by Title" data. You shockingly discover that users are visiting your /privatedata pages. Have no fear! Go into Webmaster Tools and use the URL removal tool to remove those pages from Google's search results. Modifying your robots.txt file will also block Googlebot from crawling that section of your site in the future.

For more tips and tricks on Analytics, check out the Analytics Help Center. If you have any more suggestions, feel free to comment below or in our Webmaster Help Group.

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Google’s Don’t Be Evil Not “Ordained Motto” Says Marissa Mayer

Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” motto, first uttered by Googler Paul Buchheit (now founder of FriendFeed) in 2001, has long been the pillar of their self-imposed code of conduct. It was amended somewhat in 2006 when CEO Eric Schmidt, under fire for entering the Chinese market with censorship restrictions, said “We actually did an evil scale and decided not to serve at all was worse evil.” He turned it into a sort of evil minimization algorithm.

But the core motto is still displayed prominently on the Google Investor Relations site, and the company appears to be supporting it up 100%.

Not so, apparently. Last week, however, Google’s Marissa Mayer said “It really wasn’t like an elected, ordained motto” during an interview in Australia, adding “I think that ‘Don’t Be Evil’ is a very easy thing to point at when you see Google doing something that you personally don’t like; it’s a very easy thing to point out so it does get targeted a lot.”

There’s a certain disconnect between paragraph two above and what Marrissa says in paragraph 3.

This is most likely not a precursor to an official move away from the motto. I imagine it’s little more than a venting of a frustration that Google continues to be held to a promise made six years ago, when they were under significantly less scrutiny than they are today. Google can’t ditch the motto (the press would eat that up), and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to live up to it. What can they do? Not much. They made this bed. It’s too bad they couldn’t get Buchheit to take it with him when he left to found FriendFeed.

(Hat tip to reader Asher Moses for pointing this story out to us).

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