Happy Birthday to Google! The search engine turned 7 last month. I can't think of many other 7 year olds that are worth billions.
Google's Free WiFi Experiment
Sergey and Larry have recently announced Google Secure Access. This new software will allow users to establish free, secure, wireless, Internet connections. However, it is not available to everyone just yet. The software is still in beta and is only available at certain locations in San Francisco. Google's primary motivation for this new service is collecting data. All of the traffic is routed through Google's servers and will give them access to users' online habits and information. This could raise some red flags for privacy groups, similar to the way that Gmail was criticized. Regardless, this information could help Google develop a valuable working knowledge of consumer behavior.
Look out, Instant Coffee! Here comes Instant Search
Yahoo has debuted a new beta program called Instant Search. The program works the way a typical search engine would, but instead of waiting for you to hit enter, the search results are displayed on the fly as you type in your query. The program works best for popular topics. For example, if you type in "NFL," a link to nfl.com pops up, but if you continue to type "NFL scores," a link to Yahoo! sports is displayed. This new program increases the importance of a #1 position; however, I do not see this program becoming very useful. It offers less than a standard search engine and really does not save any time. (See also: This month's "Check This Out" section featuring Google's version of Instant Search.)
R.I.P. Jeeves
Jeeves has gone the way of the pets.com sock puppet. The company has decided that Jeeves must go because "research shows use of the character as the prominent symbol of the brand may inhibit people from recognizing that our search engine has changed." Ask.com is trying to get away from being known for natural language search. The days of asking Jeeves a question are over.
MSN's New PPC Program
MSN has rolled out its PPC (Pay Per Click) program in France, and its U.S. version should be available shortly. The company is calling the program adCenter, and it appears to function very similarly to Google and Yahoo's paid listings. The paid results are going to appear alongside the natural results. Microsoft is currently running Yahoo Search Marketing ads alongside its results, but it is expected to switch over to its own new program very soon.