Strictly Search

Here’s what the engines were doing while you were finalizing your upcoming Memorial Day plans.

It has begun. Emails entitled “Important Legal Notice Regarding Your Google AdWords Account” are being sent to advertisers involved in the Google click fraud lawsuit. We recommend AdWords users carefully read the settlement notice and settlement FAQs found on the www.clicksettlement.com site to get a better understanding of what this means for them. And be on the lookout for a post coming from Bruce himself regarding the matter.

It seems the clever TV commercials may not be enough. comScore released their latest stats today that shows Google increasing its market share while the rest of the major engines suffered drops, including our beloved Ask. According to the new data, Google has gained another .4 percentage points since March, while Yahoo! dropped 2.7; MSN 3.2 points and Ask .1 percent, placing them in the number five position behind the Times Warner Network. Get bloggin’, boys!

Symantec, the antivirus company and the guys suing Microsoft, warned users yesterday of a ‘yet-to-be-fixed’ security hole in Microsoft Word that reportedly exposes computers to ‘cyberattacks’. The New York Times reported that hackers have already tried to take advantage of the flaw, attempting to compromise a Japanese government agency. Symantec warns users to be cautious when opening unexpected email attachments. And we ask why you’re opening unknown email attachments anyway. Delete that stuff.
And because they listen to their users (or at least to Danny and Dave), MSN Search has designed a new Meta tag that allows Webmasters to decide if they want to use the Open Directory title in their MSN search results or not. Hear that? The ability to opt-in or out means no more forced upon descriptions created by third-parties. Cool.
More Microsoft-induced cool: The upcoming ‘pay as you go’ computer for countries like Brazil, India, Mexico, Russia and China.

The Yahoo! Publisher’s Network has made a bunch of new friends with the launch of a direct deposit feature for Y!PN advertisers. The feature will give advertisers a payment cycle 10 to 15 days shorter, added withholding options and automatic responses for those rare occasions when they may have ‘trouble’ with your bank (we know how it is). This should make a lot of people very happy.

Thanks to Nathan for pointing out what could be a cool new blog. Ben Maurer, who defines himself as a Noogler aka New Googler (I like him already), is a new Google intern working for the AdWords anti-fraud team. His Blogger profile is seriously lacking so at first glance all I can tell you about him is that he goes to Carnegie Melon (I think) and has recently begun blogging about his Google adventures. A new kid in the AdWords anti-fraud team? Tell me that doesn’t pique your interest.

Also interesting, Barry points us to a tool created by the folks at Text Link Ads that calculates the value of links on your page. Type in the URL of your favorite website (or, you know, your own) and the tool will calculate how much that link is worth. Apparently, this tool also has a sense of humor. Typing in seorountable.com brings up a cartooned version of Barry, while Google is marked ‘fuh-get about it!’ and a link from MySpace has been deemed ‘priceless’. Well, okay then.

And finishing things up, Robert Scoble is causing trouble again with his reasoning on why there are no A-list female bloggers (present company excluded, I’m sure) out there. His commentary is interesting, but his readers’ comments are more interesting and are what make it worth the read.

Lisa Barone is a writer, content marketer & VP of strategy at Overit Media. She's also a very active Twitterer, much to the dismay of the rest of the world.

See Lisa's author page for links to connect on social media.