central

Sage Advice to Webmasters and SEOs from a Google Support Engineer

Recently I had the chance to sit down with Maile Ohye from Google in this podcast interview (6 MB, 25 minutes). Maile is a Senior Support Engineer on Google's Webmaster Central team. I got to know her at the AMA Hot Topic: Search Engine Marketing conference, where we were both speakers. Maile not only supports webmasters and users, but also implements changes within Google's code based on feedback from newsgroups like Google Webmaster Help, forums like Webmaster World, and blogs like Google, I Suggest.

The recently revised and expanded Google Webmaster Guidelines was a hot topic in this … Read more

Mom's brain as the family's Web 2.0

Among two-parent, Mom and Dad families, most women feel that the "Mom" role means that her brain becomes not only the family's collective memory store, but its search engine as well. Even Google can't answer questions such as:

"Mom, where's Princess Leia's shoe?" (At the bottom of the blue box in the playroom.)

"Honey, are we out of toilet paper?" (Look in the kids' bathroom.)

When are our property taxes due....when is my next dental check-up...what day is the dog's birthday?… Read more

It's official: Google acquires GrandCentral

Google has just announced the much-rumored acquisition of communications service GrandCentral. TechCrunch broke the news about the acquisition last week and is now reporting the deal is rumored to be somewhere in the range of $50 million. Details about final price and terms are confidential.

This is Google's latest move into the telecommunications market and one of their biggest. For current GrandCentral customers, service will go uninterrupted. For users interested in signing up, GrandCentral is now limiting sign-ups to invitation only.

The other big change in place as of today is GrandCentral's RingShare service. Previously, users were able … Read more

Even Google.com Could Use Some SEO

In chairing the AMA's Hot Topic: Search Engine Marketing conference on Friday, I had the pleasure of hearing the presentation of Trevor Foucher, Software Engineer at Google. Not only did Trevor explain the value of Google Webmaster Central as well as some webmaster do's and don'ts, he also gave us attendees an inside glimpse of Google.com -- through statistics provided in Google Webmaster Central to verified sites, and Google.com was a verified site! So we got to see, for example, that Webmaster Central reports 19,818,383 total links to www.google.com and 1,… Read more

Google buying GrandCentral, report says

Google is in talks to buy GrandCentral, which offers a way to merge all phone calls into one number, according to TechCrunch.

"We have a high degree of confidence that the deal has actually been closed. We are trying to nail down the acquisition price," writes TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, who speculates that Google could use the technology with its Gmail and Google Talk applications.

Google representatives said they do not comment on rumor or speculation and GrandCentral did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

GrandCentral

Category: Communications

GrandCentral is a catchall voice mail and messaging service that you can monitor right in your browser. When you sign up, you get a new phone number. When people call this number, the system takes their names (the first time they call; after that, it remembers), and rings all of your telephones for you at the same time--your desk, your mobile, your home--and lets you pick up the call from any of them.

GrandCentral allows you to reject calls after you hear the name of the person calling; define which of your phones ring based on who is … Read more

Grand Central goes mobile, barely

Universal phone service company Grand Central (review) released last night a version of its browser-based control panel designed for mobile phones. It gives you access to your Grand Central voice mail and can connect you to people in your Grand Central address book as well.

Grand Central does its magic via the Web, not through a downloadable app on your phone, which makes the service a bit of a hack on a mobile. When you want to play a voice mail, you have to download an MP3, which on all the phones I know of will bring up a separate … Read more

'Daily Show,' 'Colbert Report' headed to Xbox Live

Got a hankering for the latest episodes of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report but don't have cable? You may no longer need to go scrounging around the Internet for clips.

Microsoft announced Tuesday that starting immediately, all new episodes of the shows will be available for download on Xbox Live 24 hours after airing.

The company didn't say how much the episodes would cost to download, but Microsoft has tried to keep downloads competitive with those available on other networks, such as iTunes. To date, it has offered hundreds of hours of movies and TV shows … Read more

Adobe gets Flash-y with mobile design platform

Creative types everywhere are sure to take note of Adobe's release of Creative Suite 3 on Tuesday, but there's also a new component aimed specifically at mobile content creators.

Adobe Device Central is integrated across each of the upgraded Adobe products like Photoshop, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator and more, and is compatible with both the Windows and Mac OS.

Developers creating Flash-based content for mobile handsets are given a lot of control with Device Central. They can now see how their work will appear on more than 100 brands of phones before loading it onto any device. … Read more