The Father of All Data Centers
Google has finished rolling out Big Daddy, its new, giant data center. One of the key benefits of Big Daddy is that it is intended to improve the way Google handles redirects, including 301 and 302 redirects. Big Daddy is also expected to be better at treating www and non-www versions of a website as a single site (i.e., www.website.com versus website.com). In the past, some sites had been unfairly penalized for mistaken duplicate content issues or had their link popularity split between two versions of the same site. We will keep an eye out to see if these issues have been resolved. Regardless, Big Daddy is watching you.
Speaking of Penalization ...
The website www.kinderstart.com is suing Google for penalization without notification. The website claims that it lost 80 percent of its revenues after being removed from Google. Kinderstart.com is seeking monetary damages as well as access to Google's methodology for ranking sites. Do they have a chance? Not really, but it is amusing that a company that specializes in information on babies is acting so childish.
Google Finances Google Finance
Day traders rejoice! Google has launched a new financial site that will provide stock prices, news, and information from the financial world. The site, which is still in beta, follows the well-known Google minimalist design. The top of the home page consists of the current values of the NASDAQ, Dow Jones, and S&P 500, and below the market numbers are text links to financial news. The site also features a search box that pulls up detailed financial information on companies and investments. This is actually the feature that sets the new site apart from the competition, as the rest of the information is already easily obtainable elsewhere.
Yahoo Maps out a New Revenue Source Yahoo has thrown its hat into the crowded map imagery ring, joining Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, who all launched their respective mapping services several months ago. Yahoo differentiates its mapping software by including roads and cities to give users a better understanding of what they are looking it. Yahoo plans on integrating sponsored ads and other forms of advertising into the maps to generate additional revenue. The new maps program is also being integrated with the new travel search engine that Yahoo recently debuted. Now you can find out where to go and how you are going to get there.