Google Layoffs, Kinda Sorta

CNET confirmed layoffs, but was able to clarify that it's their "contractor workforce" that will be cut.

Webguild.org's headline "Google Layoffs - 10,000 Workers Affected" might have been slightly misleading, but let's look at the bigger picture. It doesn't matter whether these 10,000 are temps or independent contractors and not "full-blooded employees" - letting go 1/3 of the overall "help" is pretty significant. Proving search isn't "recession-proof", maybe "recession-resistant".

Google's New Search-based Keyword Tool

Google announced a Search-based Keyword Tool, leverages "search query data relevant to your website's content. In other words, this new tool gives you keywords that are highly relevant to your site but are not part of your AdWords campaigns."

I see that it says "keywords not already in your account", yet a lot of them are? And bids don't appear to be accurate. I guess it could be useful to build out keywords for content, still playing around with it.

No Micro-hoo, But Potential for Search Partnership

MSFT CEO Steve Ballmer says they're "done with all acquisition discussions". However, they may be open to a search collaboration once Yahoo chooses new CEO.

"Some analysts have interpreted Ballmer's public comments about a Yahoo buyout as negotiating posturing, and suspect Microsoft might still want to grab Yahoo at a low price, in hopes of improving their joint position in online search and advertising."

More Google Ad Testing

Google - "great supporters of experimentation" or "we need more revenue STAT"? Yet another announcement from Google about testing more ad formats across their sites. Not surprising really, as noone immune to the pains of the economy.

Google is testing ads on the results pages of Google Image Search and, "in the very near future", will also test text ads on News results pages

Gmail Introduces Themes

I just checked and don't find any Hello Kitty Gmail Themes (under Settings) - what gives!!!

"We wanted to go beyond simple color customization, so out of the 30 odd themes we're launching today, there's a shiny theme with chrome styling, another one that turns your inbox into a retro notepad, nature themes that change scenery over time, weather driven themes that can rain on your mailbox, and fun characters to keep you in good company. There's even an old school ascii theme (Terminal) which was the result of a bet between two engineers -- it's not exactly practical, but it's great for testing out your geek cred. We've also done a minor facelift to Gmail's default look to make it crisper and cleaner -- you might notice a few colors and pixels shifted around here and there."

Oh, I meant to mention Soovle as well.

Soovle is a great search tool I just discovered last month at SearchEngineLand. It's a new spin on the meta-search engine concept in that when it pulls search suggestions from the top engines (e.g. Google, Yahoo, Ask, etc.) it displays auto-completion phrases that each search engine recommends.

I'm Baaaaaack!

Well, it's been awhile since I posted. Not that anyone would know since I'm the only one that reads this thing! I just got back from MarketingExperiments Landing Page Optimization Workshop and am VERY excited to apply what I learned.

Some recent news:

Google Puts Ads On Google Finance

Jerry Yang Quits CEO Post & Yahoo Shares Soar: So, is Micro-hoo back on the table? MSFT certainly helped put the final nail in the coffin of the Google-Yahoo partnership, so doling out mucho moolah on antitrust lobbyists appears to have paid off!