Industry News

Google spurns RSS for rising blog format
Google's Blogger service is bypassing Really Simple Syndication in favor of an alternative technology, a move that has sparked more discord in a bitter dispute over Web log syndication formats. [CNet]

Lycos works to rebrand itself
Terra Lycos, trying to carve a niche in a Web portal realm dominated by its rivals, hopes an overhaul will make it a major player in the trendy Internet field of "social networking." [News Press]

Google bans environmental group's ads from Web site
Online search engine leader Google has banned the ads of an environmental group protesting a major cruise line's sewage treatment methods, casting a spotlight on the policies of the popular Web site's lucrative marketing program. [The Ledger]

MSN bans pop-ups on global sites
Microsoft is to phase out pop-up and pop-under web adverts on most of its global MSN websites by the summer. [BBC]

Search Beyond Google
Google reigns supreme as the search engine of choice - but for how long? A pack of startups -and Microsoft - are developing technologies to find what you want, faster. [Technology Review]

Google Achieves More Than 6 Billion Items
Google today announced it expanded the breadth of its web index to more than 6 billion items. This innovation represents a milestone for Internet users, enabling quick and easy access to the world's largest collection of online information. [PR]

Yahoo! dumps Google
Yahoo! dropped Google as their default search technology provider for its US-based sites late Tuesday, signaling the beginning of the end for the web's most high-profile marriage of convenience. [Silcon]

Google Grumbles
Teoma last year introduced something it calls "Subject-Specific Popularity." More weight is given to links between authoritative sites than to other links.[eWeek]

Women overtake men as the internet's top shoppers
Women's enthusiasm for shopping on the high street has finally transferred to the internet, according to a study published yesterday. [The Independent]

Google AdSenses six languages
Google has extended the number of languages their content sensitive AdSense program supports.