As the sun gives way to rainclouds in the true style of a British summer, the weather for many digital denizens has also been affected by an unsteady climate. And right in the midst of the summer stormage is, as ever, Google. Could the search engine be feeling the heat with the launch of Microsoft's new decision engine Bing?
Although the Mountain View colossus maintains that it is unconcerned by Microsoft's competition, it looks like Google still felt the need to announce its confidence - meaning that Microsoft may have just managed to burrow under the search goliath's skin.
The Californian company has also set its eyes on esteemed microblogging site Twitter and appears to be working on developing its own Google-branded microblogging search service.
Meanwhile, Twitter continues to fly high. Last week's London tube strike, in which the underground rail service rolled to a standstill for 48 hours, saw thousands of commuters tweeting furiously about the inconvenience of the strike.
While everyone welcomed the end of the strike, the possible demise of the age of PageRank Sculpting - where webmasters distribute importance between links on a webpage in order to boost the relevance of some - may not prove as popular.
The same might be said for the departure of the spunky founders of music streaming site Last.fm, who plan to step down from their roles later this year. But change breeds innovation, as software giant Microsoft is more than aware.
While Microsoft is enjoying the limelight Bing snatched, the tech giant has still had to chase up three click-fraud offenders it claims have been manipulating clicks on its adverts. Meanwhile a Flikr co-founder has a hunch that she can take the popular decision engine format a step further and has launched Hunch, an intelligent engine that not only helps users make decisions but actually gets to know them too.
Crammed with the highest highs - and the lowest lows - this last week has seen big changes whizzing through the digital world. Enjoy the digital rollercoaster ride with the always-sunny bigmouthmedia newsletter.
New decision engine has a Hunch it can help
Hunch, a new decision making search engine, helps users make choices by analysing their responses to specific questions - and gets to know them in the long run by creating user profiles for future use.
Microsoft to tackle click-fraud in court
Click-fraud is one of the scourges of the modern day net and, after a yearlong investigation, Microsoft has filed its first lawsuit over the manipulation of paid advertising clicks.
Google to reveal Twitter, sorry microblogging, search function?
It looks as though Google could have worked out its gameplan when it comes to microblogging services.
Microsoft: Windows 7 to be released without a web browser
Following on from European Commission ruling, Windows 7 will come without Internet Explorer when it is released in Europe
YouTube helps you share
A new social-media-friendly feature that makes it even easier to share has just been added to YouTube.
Founders to move on from Last.fm
The triumvirate responsible for music recommendation site Last.fm are set to step down from their roles at the company later this year.
Google: Bing won't bring us down
With the web abuzz with reports of Microsoft's recent search offering Bing, it's no surprise that Google has spoken up about its competitor - and dismissively at that.
Mapping the tube strike through Twitter
Today's tube strike in London is causing chaos on Twitter, as well as on the roads.
PageRank Sculpting: The Fall of PageRank Sculpting
Recent changes by Google could see PageRank Sculpting - the practice of distributing importance to links on a webpage to favour some - decline as the search engine moves towards equal value for all links.
EU proposal may threaten affiliate marketing, bid management and web analytics
Proposed amendments to EU directives governing privacy and electronic communications could pose a risk to the future of certain aspects of digital marketing.
