As a new week dawns in the digital world, once again we are reminded that it's the early bird that grasps the online worms - not matter how frosty the ground. Sink your teeth into the juicy bigmouthmedia newsletter this week to discover which big players have been singing the dawn chorus and which have been ruffling feathers.
The seemingly never-ending dance between two of our favourites search engines seemed to be gearing up to its grand finale this week as Microsoft and Yahoo! finalised their 10-year search deal while Google kept a dignified silence on the matter.
The Mountain View giant didn't stay quiet when it came to innovations however, as this week saw the launch of new Google Analytics Annotations feature as well as the first Google rich snippet product reviews making their way into the wild.
Facebook got in on the revamping act as the social networking darling unveiled new privacy settings, while French president Sarkozy announced that the country would digitalise its own literary back catalogue, thank you very much, as he hit back at Google's book scanning project. The search whizz continued to rush ahead with new features in other spheres however, as Google unveiled a url shortening service.
This week also saw a supermarket take a swipe at top mobile phone companies as it was announced that Tesco Mobile it is to sell the iPhone and advertising company Branchr launched a new CPM ad network in the hope it will attract a wide range of publishers.
Some bad news for Microsoft has cropped up in the headlines though, as Asian microblogging site Plurk claims the software giant has stolen code and design aspects from the start-up. The matter is being investigated but potential legal papers are hardly the kind of package you hope for in the post at this time of year. Unlike the bigmouthmedia newsletter, which is a virtual digital-news-present deposited in your inbox each and every week.
Google launches custom URL shortener
The Mountain View giant has launched its own Goo.gl URL shortening service to compete with services such as Bit.ly
Plurk accuses Microsoft of theft
Chinese social networking and microblogging website Plurk has accused Microsoft of ripping off around 80% of Plurk's code and design.
Branchr Advertising launches CPM ad network
Advertising company Branchr has launched the CPMForest network, designed to attract a wide range of publishers.
French president Sarkozy says no to Google book scanning
The French President has declared his intentions to fight against Google's plans to digitise classic books from the world over, stating that France would not lose its heritage for the profit of any company.
Tesco Mobile to offer iPhone
Tesco enters the iPhone fray with a 12 month contract that could tempt customers away from the big mobile brands.
First Google rich snippets product reviews spotted
Product reviews have started to appear in Google's rich snippets, providing consumers with more information on products and services.
Facebook unveils new privacy settings
Social networking site Facebook has revised its privacy options to allow users to customise their security.
Microsoft and Yahoo! finalise 10-year search deal
The Microsoft-Yahoo! partnership has now been cemented, but is still awaiting approval in the US and Europe.
Annotations - the new Google Analytics feature
An exciting new feature has been launched for Google Analytics - the ability to annotate reports and files with notes for colleagues and clients to see.
