Yahoo will give users a preview of what it will be like to use a new and improved version of Yahoo Messenger on Microsoft's Windows Vista at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show this year.
Yahoo will show off an early version of Yahoo Messenger optimized for Vista, with new features that take advantage of some of the user interface enhancements Microsoft has added to the OS.
"It feels very much at home as though it's living and breathing in Windows Vista," said Joshua Jacobson, a Yahoo senior product manager, of the version of Messenger built for Vista. The company plans to release a beta of the application in the second quarter of 2007, and a final version should be available four to six weeks after that, pending feedback, he said.
New Features
Windows Vista is already available for business users, and is expected to be available to consumers on Jan. 30.
Yahoo used the new GUI (graphical user interface) development framework in Vista called Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) as the basis for several of the new features of Messenger. New abilities to scale up in size the avatar and contact information for people in a user's contact list, a color wheel that allows users to choose a new color for Messenger's skin, and a feature that shows a large-sized emoticon that goes beyond the boundaries of the Messenger window before shrinking to its normal size all use WPF, Jacobson said.
Yahoo also has added a feature called Yahoo Show and Tell that allows users who are connecting via voice on Messenger to share photos so they can converse or send IMs (instant messages) about them while they are talking. Eventually, Messenger will allow users to share videos this way as well, Jacobson said.
Tabs Similar To Firefox
Another new feature in the Vista version of Messenger follows the lead of both Internet Explorer 7 -- the browser included in Vista -- and Mozilla's Firefox browser. Like those applications, which allow users to create tabs for new browser windows to more efficiently keep track of where they are surfing, Yahoo Messenger will do the same for instant messages, Jacobson said.
The application does not automatically create tabs as some IM software does, however; it lets users create the tabs themselves so they have control over which conversations they would like tabbed, he said.
Voice Visualization
Finally, Yahoo has added a new "voice visualization" feature to Messenger that lets Vista users see their voice on the IM window coming through as a visual sound wave, Jacobson said. This will help let them know if the person they are speaking with can hear them and if their voice is at an appropriate volume level, as well as to make the connection between users a more "intimate" experience, he said.
"We're trying to let people express themselves through Messenger and make it more engaging to communicate," Jacobson said.
Yahoo will be exhibiting at CES, which is being held this week through Thursday in Las Vegas.
Friday, March 2, 2007
The easiest way to share photos is to publish them online, and the new Picasa Web Albums (from Google) and Yahoo Photos make that easier than ever. I liked aspects of both beta services, but I give Yahoo's service the early edge for its solid search features.
In what Google describes as "pre-beta" form, Picasa Web Albums feels as polished as some of its longer-running rivals. Google ties the site to beta version 2.5 of its Picasa software. You edit and organize your photos in Picasa, and then click the Web Album button to post them online. Picasa's defaults make albums public--so anyone with an invitation can browse them--but switching albums to private viewing is easy. You can upload photos at their original resolution or let the service downsize them to save storage space. Google offers 250MB of space free; you can pay $25 per year for 6GB.
Google's site layout is attractive and functional. You can switch freely among your entire collection, your public albums, and other people's bookmarked albums. You can also see photo metadata like the camera model and exposure information for a selected image, view slide shows, and download photos (yours or others') to your PC.
Strangely, Picasa Web Albums forgoes Google's search prowess, and the company will not say whether such a function is coming later. Currently you have no way to tag photos or search for images.
In contrast, the single best feature of Yahoo Photos is its search function. You can easily add Flickr-like tags to your images so that you can find specific photos via a search box at the top of the page. And whereas Google's photo editing tools are all in the Picasa software, Yahoo's site includes exposure adjustments, cropping tools, red-eye reduction, and even fancy border effects.
Yahoo Photos' biggest weakness is its design. The interface is cluttered with ads and tiered menus that I had to experiment with--even then, I never really felt at home.
The upload system lacks an organizer application. And Yahoo sets images to private by default--odd, since the Web is all about sharing. Also, it's easy to miss the fact that you can upload images at their full size, because that feature is hidden behind a check box that describes the settings in terms of upload speed. At least for now, Yahoo supplies free, unlimited storage.
What Picasa Web Albums lacks in features it makes up for in polish and charm. On the other hand, Yahoo Photos will appeal to folks who like the idea of sharing and editing their photos, all online.
Google Picasa Web Albums
Beta Product, not rated
Desktop photo organizer combined with Web sharing is elegant, but why is there no search or tagging?
Price when reviewed: Free (250MB storage), $25 per year (6GB storage)
picasaweb.google.com
Yahoo Photos
Beta product, not rated
This powerful but cluttered photo organizer is a virtual replacement for your desktop photo apps--and it has a strong search function.
Price when reviewed: Free
photos.yahoo.com
Google Maps on Windows Mobile(tm) devices
Those of you with Windows Mobile(tm) devices can now search for local
businesses and get real-time traffic reports using Google Maps. This
edition also includes some custom features: contacts integration, GPS
support, draggable maps, and tap and hold menus. And since Google Maps
for mobile is available on more than 300 phone models, chances are
good everyone can download the application and always know where they
are when they're on the go.
http://www.google.com/gmm
businesses and get real-time traffic reports using Google Maps. This
edition also includes some custom features: contacts integration, GPS
support, draggable maps, and tap and hold menus. And since Google Maps
for mobile is available on more than 300 phone models, chances are
good everyone can download the application and always know where they
are when they're on the go.
http://www.google.com/gmm
Share videos on orkut
A new feature of orkut makes it easier to share funny and memorable
videos. Instead of sending video links via instant message or emailing
them to your friends and family, from orkut you can add video links
from YouTube or Google Video to your video playlist to share with
anyone who visits your profile. And if you find videos that you like
on your friend's profile, all you have to do is click the "Add to my
favorites" button to make them appear on your playlist.
http://www.orkut.com
videos. Instead of sending video links via instant message or emailing
them to your friends and family, from orkut you can add video links
from YouTube or Google Video to your video playlist to share with
anyone who visits your profile. And if you find videos that you like
on your friend's profile, all you have to do is click the "Add to my
favorites" button to make them appear on your playlist.
http://www.orkut.com
North America Updates on Google Maps
We're often freshening up the map data available on Google Maps. This
month, we've added building footprints for the urban cores of 38 U.S.
cities, giving Google Maps a better sense of scale, providing extra
visual detail and enabling you to navigate using buildings as
landmarks. For example, search for [empire state building] and zoom in
all the way to get to the heart of New York City. We've also added
transit information for 8 major U.S. cities (New York, San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington
D.C.), as well as nationwide Amtrak coverage.
http://maps.google.com
month, we've added building footprints for the urban cores of 38 U.S.
cities, giving Google Maps a better sense of scale, providing extra
visual detail and enabling you to navigate using buildings as
landmarks. For example, search for [empire state building] and zoom in
all the way to get to the heart of New York City. We've also added
transit information for 8 major U.S. cities (New York, San Francisco,
Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington
D.C.), as well as nationwide Amtrak coverage.
http://maps.google.com
No more waiting for an invitation: You can now sign up for your own
Gmail account. Sign-ups are open worldwide in more than 40 languages.
Now everyone can get the benefits of Gmail: fast and accurate search,
a ton of free storage, chatting within Gmail, and access from your
mobile phone. You can still invite your friends, but now you can also
just tell them to visit the Gmail homepage. Don't miss the 4-part
Gmail Theatre video, featuring our engineers and a cast of puppets,
now playing on YouTube.
Go to Gmail
Go To Youtube
Gmail account. Sign-ups are open worldwide in more than 40 languages.
Now everyone can get the benefits of Gmail: fast and accurate search,
a ton of free storage, chatting within Gmail, and access from your
mobile phone. You can still invite your friends, but now you can also
just tell them to visit the Gmail homepage. Don't miss the 4-part
Gmail Theatre video, featuring our engineers and a cast of puppets,
now playing on YouTube.
Go to Gmail
Go To Youtube
Search KMLs on Google Earth
KML is the XML file format people use to create overlays to enhance
the geographic imagery with a vast array of detailed information. For
instance, open up Google Earth, type in a query like [lord of the
rings], and the results from the web (in KML files) for your query
will appear in a folder below the local results as placemarks. The
placemarks are based on the area in your view, so searching for [lord
of the rings] while you're viewing South Africa will get you no
results - but when you're viewing New Zealand, the same query will
show you top 10 placemarks (green icons) from the region and by
clicking on "see more" you can find tons more placemarks. With the
latest version, you can search across all of the KML available on the
web using either keywords or geographic locations. Our users have
created millions of KML files, so start searching today.
http://earth.google.com
the geographic imagery with a vast array of detailed information. For
instance, open up Google Earth, type in a query like [lord of the
rings], and the results from the web (in KML files) for your query
will appear in a folder below the local results as placemarks. The
placemarks are based on the area in your view, so searching for [lord
of the rings] while you're viewing South Africa will get you no
results - but when you're viewing New Zealand, the same query will
show you top 10 placemarks (green icons) from the region and by
clicking on "see more" you can find tons more placemarks. With the
latest version, you can search across all of the KML available on the
web using either keywords or geographic locations. Our users have
created millions of KML files, so start searching today.
http://earth.google.com
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Google Sharpens Malware Alerts for Webmasters
Google Inc. has enhanced the way it notifies webmasters that their sites contain malware, improving on a service the Mountain View, California, company launched in November of last year in a partnership with The Stop Badware Coalition.
Google has begun providing more detailed alerts and to send these notifications via e-mail to webmasters, according to a posting Monday on an official Google blog.
Previously, Google only informed webmasters that their sites had been identified as having malware and made generic suggestions for fixing the problem. Now, the company also points webmasters to specific offending pages from their sites that Google has determined contain malicious components.
"This can be helpful when the malicious content is hard to find," the posting reads. "By providing example URLs, webmasters are one step closer to diagnosing the problem and ultimately re-securing their sites."
Before, Google notified webmasters by placing a note in the site's summary page in Google's Webmaster Tools site, but now it is sending the alert via e-mail as well.
Google flags Web sites according to guidelines set by The Stop Badware Coalition. Webmasters who feel their sites have been incorrectly flagged as having malware need to contact the coalition and request a review.
In August, and also in conjunction with The Stop Badware Coalition, Google started displaying malware alerts for users of its search engine.
When users attempt to click over to a Web site considered to be potentially dangerous, Google shows an alert page that informs them of the possible risk and gives them the option to click back to the results page or continue on to the questionable Web site. However, these alerts sometimes anger webmasters who are convinced their sites don't contain malware.
The Stop Badware Coalition is a nonprofit organization led by Harvard University and the University of Oxford and backed by Google, Lenovo Group Ltd. and Sun Microsystems Inc.
A study published in May of last year by security vendor McAfee Inc.'s SiteAdvisor unit found that U.S. Internet users land on malicious Web sites about 285 million times per month by clicking on search results from the five major search engines, which are operated by Google, Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN unit, IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ask.com and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL LLC.
Malicious Web sites are those that download spyware and adware to visitors' PCs, exploit security vulnerabilities and attempt to scam users and include them in spam lists, among other dangers.
Google has begun providing more detailed alerts and to send these notifications via e-mail to webmasters, according to a posting Monday on an official Google blog.
Previously, Google only informed webmasters that their sites had been identified as having malware and made generic suggestions for fixing the problem. Now, the company also points webmasters to specific offending pages from their sites that Google has determined contain malicious components.
"This can be helpful when the malicious content is hard to find," the posting reads. "By providing example URLs, webmasters are one step closer to diagnosing the problem and ultimately re-securing their sites."
Before, Google notified webmasters by placing a note in the site's summary page in Google's Webmaster Tools site, but now it is sending the alert via e-mail as well.
Google flags Web sites according to guidelines set by The Stop Badware Coalition. Webmasters who feel their sites have been incorrectly flagged as having malware need to contact the coalition and request a review.
In August, and also in conjunction with The Stop Badware Coalition, Google started displaying malware alerts for users of its search engine.
When users attempt to click over to a Web site considered to be potentially dangerous, Google shows an alert page that informs them of the possible risk and gives them the option to click back to the results page or continue on to the questionable Web site. However, these alerts sometimes anger webmasters who are convinced their sites don't contain malware.
The Stop Badware Coalition is a nonprofit organization led by Harvard University and the University of Oxford and backed by Google, Lenovo Group Ltd. and Sun Microsystems Inc.
A study published in May of last year by security vendor McAfee Inc.'s SiteAdvisor unit found that U.S. Internet users land on malicious Web sites about 285 million times per month by clicking on search results from the five major search engines, which are operated by Google, Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN unit, IAC/InterActiveCorp's Ask.com and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL LLC.
Malicious Web sites are those that download spyware and adware to visitors' PCs, exploit security vulnerabilities and attempt to scam users and include them in spam lists, among other dangers.
Google Adds Security to Hosted Applications
Google's enterprise collaboration suite unveiled last week includes security options that let companies tie it into their existing corporate directories and extend single sign-on to the online provider's hosted applications .
The result is that corporations can manage users of hosted applications just like they manage users behind the firewall .
Google is teaming with Sxip to provide Sxip Access, an identity-management platform for managing authentication, authorization, single sign-on and provisioning/deprovisioning.
Sxip Access, which is priced on a subscription basis, can be run itself as a hosted service or deployed within the corporate network and linked to corporate directories. The hosted version is US$5 per user, per year. The appliance is $5,000, which includes a pair of appliances, plus $5 per user, per year.
Google Apps Premier is a suite that includes e-mail, document editor, spreadsheet and other collaboration tools. It is being targeted at corporate users and as an alternative to Microsoft Office even though the Google package offers no where near the feature set of Office.
With Google's security features, corporate users can evaluate the platform without worrying about having to manage users in two different places.
"The problem is that the enterprise has been working on identity management, so it can centrally manage all of its users across applications and have one directory for storing all that data," says Dick Hardt, founder and CEO of Sxip. "But then they go acquire an application that is hosted, which has its own set of profile data, authentication and provisioning. So we built Sxip Access to essentially integrate the application in the sky with what an enterprise is doing in the directory."
Hardt says when users add someone to a group in the directory that Sxip Access detects it and provisions the users.
"When the user is deleted, we do the deprovisioning on the hosted application. So the enterprise is always the authoritative source around whether or not a user's security credentials are valid," Hardt says.
Sxip is providing the service to about 22 companies running Salesforce.com, a popular hosted CRM application.
Sxip Access, which can be used with Google Apps Premier or Education Edition, supports the use of tokens based on the Security Assertion Markup Language ( SAML ). Sxip uses something it calls "delegated authentication," which essentially relies on the corporate network to provide credentials.
The model is advantageous for companies, because they can provide those credentials in the form of a SAML token, which means a user's true corporate authentication/authorization credentials never move beyond the walls of the company.
In addition to having Sxip host the identity service, companies can deploy a high-availability appliance at the edge of their network or run the Sxip software on a VMware Player virtual machine running on an internal server.
Last week, Google unveiled Google Apps Premier for $50 per user, per year, which includes integration with Google Docs & Spreadsheets, support for Gmail on BlackBerry mobile devices, 10GB of e-mail storage per user, round-the-clock phone support and service-level agreements promising 99.9% uptime. It also includes a set of APIs for integrating the tools of the suite with other corporate data sources.
The result is that corporations can manage users of hosted applications just like they manage users behind the firewall .
Google is teaming with Sxip to provide Sxip Access, an identity-management platform for managing authentication, authorization, single sign-on and provisioning/deprovisioning.
Sxip Access, which is priced on a subscription basis, can be run itself as a hosted service or deployed within the corporate network and linked to corporate directories. The hosted version is US$5 per user, per year. The appliance is $5,000, which includes a pair of appliances, plus $5 per user, per year.
Google Apps Premier is a suite that includes e-mail, document editor, spreadsheet and other collaboration tools. It is being targeted at corporate users and as an alternative to Microsoft Office even though the Google package offers no where near the feature set of Office.
With Google's security features, corporate users can evaluate the platform without worrying about having to manage users in two different places.
"The problem is that the enterprise has been working on identity management, so it can centrally manage all of its users across applications and have one directory for storing all that data," says Dick Hardt, founder and CEO of Sxip. "But then they go acquire an application that is hosted, which has its own set of profile data, authentication and provisioning. So we built Sxip Access to essentially integrate the application in the sky with what an enterprise is doing in the directory."
Hardt says when users add someone to a group in the directory that Sxip Access detects it and provisions the users.
"When the user is deleted, we do the deprovisioning on the hosted application. So the enterprise is always the authoritative source around whether or not a user's security credentials are valid," Hardt says.
Sxip is providing the service to about 22 companies running Salesforce.com, a popular hosted CRM application.
Sxip Access, which can be used with Google Apps Premier or Education Edition, supports the use of tokens based on the Security Assertion Markup Language ( SAML ). Sxip uses something it calls "delegated authentication," which essentially relies on the corporate network to provide credentials.
The model is advantageous for companies, because they can provide those credentials in the form of a SAML token, which means a user's true corporate authentication/authorization credentials never move beyond the walls of the company.
In addition to having Sxip host the identity service, companies can deploy a high-availability appliance at the edge of their network or run the Sxip software on a VMware Player virtual machine running on an internal server.
Last week, Google unveiled Google Apps Premier for $50 per user, per year, which includes integration with Google Docs & Spreadsheets, support for Gmail on BlackBerry mobile devices, 10GB of e-mail storage per user, round-the-clock phone support and service-level agreements promising 99.9% uptime. It also includes a set of APIs for integrating the tools of the suite with other corporate data sources.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Yahoo to Google: It's usability, stupid!
Google may have an overwhelming market share in the online search market, the company has been famously incapable of making as much as a dent in areas such as web mail, or instant messaging.
Yahoousability Yahoo's Jeff Bonforte today offered some free advice on what caused this failure: a complete lack of usability.
Google is ruled by engineers, but they make for a lousy target audience because they will try any new application that has a blinking light and makes rattling sounds. The challenge is to get to the masses.
In the video below Bonforte explains the challenges that Yahoo is facing, as well as Google's faillure in web usability.
Yahoousability Yahoo's Jeff Bonforte today offered some free advice on what caused this failure: a complete lack of usability.
Google is ruled by engineers, but they make for a lousy target audience because they will try any new application that has a blinking light and makes rattling sounds. The challenge is to get to the masses.
In the video below Bonforte explains the challenges that Yahoo is facing, as well as Google's faillure in web usability.
Yahoo Slams Google’s Usability
I guess Yahoo felt they needed to be in the news this week - no matter what the reason. It’s the only explanation I can think of for Yahoo’s Jeff Bonforte, senior director of real time communications, attacking Google’s usability efforts.
“[Google] definitely is lacking in usability,” Bonforte said in a meeting with reporters at Yahoo’s corporate headquarters.
“They don’t have this intimate connection in usability with consumers that Yahoo has had for 10 years. When it comes to consumer applications, no-one is more successful than Yahoo hands down. And it happens over and over and over again. In every application, we are number one or two.”
I can’t resist pointing out something interesting about Bonforte.
Bonforte joined Yahoo 18 months ago and heads up the company’s messenger product…Online application providers should focus on limiting the number of features that they deliver, he argued. Where adding features will alienate users, the company found that removing them can increase the time that users spend using them.
Is this the same messenger product that tries to hijack your browser settings and change your default search engine to Yahoo? Well, I guess removing clear indications that Yahoo’s about to hijack your settings, is one way to “increase the time that users spend using them.”
“[Google] definitely is lacking in usability,” Bonforte said in a meeting with reporters at Yahoo’s corporate headquarters.
“They don’t have this intimate connection in usability with consumers that Yahoo has had for 10 years. When it comes to consumer applications, no-one is more successful than Yahoo hands down. And it happens over and over and over again. In every application, we are number one or two.”
I can’t resist pointing out something interesting about Bonforte.
Bonforte joined Yahoo 18 months ago and heads up the company’s messenger product…Online application providers should focus on limiting the number of features that they deliver, he argued. Where adding features will alienate users, the company found that removing them can increase the time that users spend using them.
Is this the same messenger product that tries to hijack your browser settings and change your default search engine to Yahoo? Well, I guess removing clear indications that Yahoo’s about to hijack your settings, is one way to “increase the time that users spend using them.”
Yahoo!, Google and Bloglines Dominate Web-based RSS Reader Market
Yahoo!, Google and Bloglines Dominate Web-based RSS Reader Market
Recent discussions on changes in RSS subscriber reporting at FeedBurner as a result of Google’s starting to report Google Reader and Google Personalized Homepage subscribers have prompted Rick Klau at FeedBurner to post an analysis of how people are reading feeds and interacting with them.
The FeedBurner analysis is based on 604,533 feeds managed by FeedBurner on behalf of 347,000 bloggers, podcasters and commercial publishers. FeedBurner notes that the service sees more than 3,000 feed reading clients on a regular basis. There is adequate data in a sample of this size to gauge the impact of the various aggregators whose subscriber data FeedBurner publishes.
Because FeedBurner provides stats on item views and clicks, the service can provide a sense of audience engagement level based on the client used. Are users of one client reading the posts more than users with a different client? Are these users clicking back to the original site in smaller or greater numbers? Rick Klau of FeedBurner addresses these issues in an extended post filled with documentation. He notes that:
Looking at engagement across the top web-based aggregators, several top readers are driving the lion's share of clicks and views back to our publishers' content.
In clicks, Yahoo! (54%) leads the pack. This is not surprising since users of Yahoo! are presented just headlines with links to the content. My Yahoo!, Google Reader/Personalized Homepage, Bloglines and Netvibes - account for 95% of all web aggregator clicks to FeedBurner publisher's content.
For views the FeedBurner sample shows that Google Reader, Bloglines, NewsGator and Netvibes - account for 98% of all item views. It should be noted that how an aggregator chooses to display a feed in the reader can influence the number of views recorded.
There are several conclusions can be drawn from this data. First, the Google Reader has rapidly grabbed a significant share of the market. The intricacy of the data shows that there are number of variables that must be taken into consideration in reporting feed consumption. Finally, this post just looks at users consuming feeds in Web-based aggregators. Feeds are so flexible that these readers just cover a small portion of the consumption methods available. Today readers consume content in a number of different places -- directly from the content provider’s site, through a feed-reading client, within a widget, via resyndicated headlines on another site, or on a social-networking site.
Recent discussions on changes in RSS subscriber reporting at FeedBurner as a result of Google’s starting to report Google Reader and Google Personalized Homepage subscribers have prompted Rick Klau at FeedBurner to post an analysis of how people are reading feeds and interacting with them.
The FeedBurner analysis is based on 604,533 feeds managed by FeedBurner on behalf of 347,000 bloggers, podcasters and commercial publishers. FeedBurner notes that the service sees more than 3,000 feed reading clients on a regular basis. There is adequate data in a sample of this size to gauge the impact of the various aggregators whose subscriber data FeedBurner publishes.
Because FeedBurner provides stats on item views and clicks, the service can provide a sense of audience engagement level based on the client used. Are users of one client reading the posts more than users with a different client? Are these users clicking back to the original site in smaller or greater numbers? Rick Klau of FeedBurner addresses these issues in an extended post filled with documentation. He notes that:
Looking at engagement across the top web-based aggregators, several top readers are driving the lion's share of clicks and views back to our publishers' content.
In clicks, Yahoo! (54%) leads the pack. This is not surprising since users of Yahoo! are presented just headlines with links to the content. My Yahoo!, Google Reader/Personalized Homepage, Bloglines and Netvibes - account for 95% of all web aggregator clicks to FeedBurner publisher's content.
For views the FeedBurner sample shows that Google Reader, Bloglines, NewsGator and Netvibes - account for 98% of all item views. It should be noted that how an aggregator chooses to display a feed in the reader can influence the number of views recorded.
There are several conclusions can be drawn from this data. First, the Google Reader has rapidly grabbed a significant share of the market. The intricacy of the data shows that there are number of variables that must be taken into consideration in reporting feed consumption. Finally, this post just looks at users consuming feeds in Web-based aggregators. Feeds are so flexible that these readers just cover a small portion of the consumption methods available. Today readers consume content in a number of different places -- directly from the content provider’s site, through a feed-reading client, within a widget, via resyndicated headlines on another site, or on a social-networking site.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Inspect-our-Gadget – Yahoo! Search Gadget for Vista
Hi, I’m Jonathan from the Yahoo! Desktop Products team. The Yahoo! Search team invited me to write about our latest collaboration, the Yahoo! Search gadget for the Windows Vista Sidebar. My team’s mission is to enable users to access Yahoo! services from anywhere on their personal computer desktop. And while we have quite a few Yahoo! products already available for Windows Vista, today I wanted to focus on our first Vista-only product, the Yahoo! Search gadget.
The Windows Vista Sidebar is a new feature in Vista that, similar to our own Yahoo! Widgets or Apple’s Dashboard, allows you to run mini applications (called gadgets) on your desktop that are connected to the Internet without having to open a browser. Since Yahoo! Search is one of our most popular services, it was a logical choice for our first ever Windows Vista Sidebar gadget. We designed the Yahoo! Search gadget to feel at home in Vista’s new visually rich environment with animations and four shiny colors to choose from. And whether docked in your Sidebar or floating on your desktop, the Yahoo! Search gadget puts Yahoo! Web Search, Answers, Local, Video, and more at your fingertips. Of course, there are a number of other ways to integrate Yahoo! Search into your Vista experience, including search plug-ins for IE7 and Firefox as well as the Yahoo! Toolbar also for IE7 and Firefox.
We’ve got a lot of stuff in the Vista pipeline, including more gadgets and a new Yahoo! Messenger client, which you can preview here. Stay tuned…
The Windows Vista Sidebar is a new feature in Vista that, similar to our own Yahoo! Widgets or Apple’s Dashboard, allows you to run mini applications (called gadgets) on your desktop that are connected to the Internet without having to open a browser. Since Yahoo! Search is one of our most popular services, it was a logical choice for our first ever Windows Vista Sidebar gadget. We designed the Yahoo! Search gadget to feel at home in Vista’s new visually rich environment with animations and four shiny colors to choose from. And whether docked in your Sidebar or floating on your desktop, the Yahoo! Search gadget puts Yahoo! Web Search, Answers, Local, Video, and more at your fingertips. Of course, there are a number of other ways to integrate Yahoo! Search into your Vista experience, including search plug-ins for IE7 and Firefox as well as the Yahoo! Toolbar also for IE7 and Firefox.
We’ve got a lot of stuff in the Vista pipeline, including more gadgets and a new Yahoo! Messenger client, which you can preview here. Stay tuned…
Keeping Ad Tracking and Dead URLs out of Yahoo! Search
We’re often asked how Yahoo! Search determines which pages get indexed and which pages are left un-crawled. First and foremost, we honor the industry-standard robots.txt file format, which gives Webmasters several layers of control over which sites, pages and specific URLs should be indexed. Lately we’ve heard from a number of Webmasters asking how best to prevent ad tracking URLs and dead URLs from getting indexed, so we thought we’d respond via this post.
Ad tracking URLs
Ad tracking URLs are used by Webmasters to help determine what traffic is coming in from advertisements (e.g., Yahoo! Sponsored Search and Yahoo! Publisher Network) but aren’t necessary to include in the Yahoo! Search index. Sometimes you might notice that these URLs still appear in the index. That’s because they’ve appeared on pages that are “crawlable” or may have been copied over to crawlable pages by users. If you don’t want Yahoo! Slurp, our Web crawler to index these URLs you can use wildcards in robots.txt. For example, if you are using the parameter 'ref' to track ad sources, you can use a rule like the one below to keep your tracking URLs from being Slurped:
User-Agent: Yahoo! Slurp
Disallow: /*ref=YahooPublisherNetwork
Dead URLs
The best way to remove dead URLs from the Yahoo! Search index is to return an HTTP Error 404 when our crawler requests the page. If you want to act before the 404 discovery and URL removal process completes, you can use Site Explorer to quickly delete the URLs from the index. One advantage to using Site Explorer is that you can delete multiple URLs including an entire subpath so long as the URL prefix is the same. As Danny Sullivan points out in his deep-dive post on the delete function, if you delete http://domain.com/subarea1/, then all the pages that begin with “domain.com/subarea1” will get removed. E.g.:
http://domain.com/subarea1/page1.html
http://domain.com/subarea1/page45.html
We’ll continue to visit the Yahoo! Search blog to give Webmasters like you pointers on how to better manage your sites in the Yahoo! Search index. Be sure to visit us at the Site Explorer Suggestion Board if there are specific areas that you’d like us address in more detail.
Ad tracking URLs
Ad tracking URLs are used by Webmasters to help determine what traffic is coming in from advertisements (e.g., Yahoo! Sponsored Search and Yahoo! Publisher Network) but aren’t necessary to include in the Yahoo! Search index. Sometimes you might notice that these URLs still appear in the index. That’s because they’ve appeared on pages that are “crawlable” or may have been copied over to crawlable pages by users. If you don’t want Yahoo! Slurp, our Web crawler to index these URLs you can use wildcards in robots.txt. For example, if you are using the parameter 'ref' to track ad sources, you can use a rule like the one below to keep your tracking URLs from being Slurped:
User-Agent: Yahoo! Slurp
Disallow: /*ref=YahooPublisherNetwork
Dead URLs
The best way to remove dead URLs from the Yahoo! Search index is to return an HTTP Error 404 when our crawler requests the page. If you want to act before the 404 discovery and URL removal process completes, you can use Site Explorer to quickly delete the URLs from the index. One advantage to using Site Explorer is that you can delete multiple URLs including an entire subpath so long as the URL prefix is the same. As Danny Sullivan points out in his deep-dive post on the delete function, if you delete http://domain.com/subarea1/, then all the pages that begin with “domain.com/subarea1” will get removed. E.g.:
http://domain.com/subarea1/page1.html
http://domain.com/subarea1/page45.html
We’ll continue to visit the Yahoo! Search blog to give Webmasters like you pointers on how to better manage your sites in the Yahoo! Search index. Be sure to visit us at the Site Explorer Suggestion Board if there are specific areas that you’d like us address in more detail.
Google Earth 4
Six months after it was first introduced as a beta product, Google
Earth 4 is now out. Along with a new interface, we've added tons of
multimedia content that's been created by online communities plus
content from such established sources as Discovery Networks and
National Geographic. Be it photo-sharing through Panaramio, hiking
trails from Tracks4Africa, Wikipedia articles, or restaurant reviews
from Yelp, you can explore all this information in Google Earth's 3D
view. And it now also includes the highest-quality textured 3D models
of buildings from the 3D Warehouse as a layer ("Best of 3D
Warehouse"). For example, check out Canary Wharf in London, landmarks
in Manhattan, or the entire Denver downtown.
http://earth.google.com/
Earth 4 is now out. Along with a new interface, we've added tons of
multimedia content that's been created by online communities plus
content from such established sources as Discovery Networks and
National Geographic. Be it photo-sharing through Panaramio, hiking
trails from Tracks4Africa, Wikipedia articles, or restaurant reviews
from Yelp, you can explore all this information in Google Earth's 3D
view. And it now also includes the highest-quality textured 3D models
of buildings from the 3D Warehouse as a layer ("Best of 3D
Warehouse"). For example, check out Canary Wharf in London, landmarks
in Manhattan, or the entire Denver downtown.
http://earth.google.com/
Google SkectchUp 6:
Design enthusiasts take note: there's a new version of Google
SketchUp. This 3D modeling software tool is easy to learn, simple to
use, and lets you place your models in Google Earth. One of the cool
new features is Photo Match, with which you can trace a photo to
create a 3D model of the photographed object or match an existing
model with a background photo. To stylize your models, there are
features for adding fog, creating sketched effects, watermarks, 3D
text, and more. And now the integration between Google Earth, 3D
Warehouse and SketchUp is seamless, so that you can easily share and
reuse models from other 3D Warehouse users. And as noted above, Google
Earth now has the "Best of 3D Warehouse" layer that showcases the
highest quality models from SketchUp users.
http://sketchup.google.com/
SketchUp. This 3D modeling software tool is easy to learn, simple to
use, and lets you place your models in Google Earth. One of the cool
new features is Photo Match, with which you can trace a photo to
create a 3D model of the photographed object or match an existing
model with a background photo. To stylize your models, there are
features for adding fog, creating sketched effects, watermarks, 3D
text, and more. And now the integration between Google Earth, 3D
Warehouse and SketchUp is seamless, so that you can easily share and
reuse models from other 3D Warehouse users. And as noted above, Google
Earth now has the "Best of 3D Warehouse" layer that showcases the
highest quality models from SketchUp users.
http://sketchup.google.com/
Google Groups out of beta
Google Groups doesn't just have a new look; now there are additional
features that make it easier to manage and share activities and ideas
online with your friends, family, colleagues and teammates. You can
create and edit web pages with other group members, customize the look
of your group, upload and share files and photos, and view member
profiles. The next time you need to organize your soccer team, family
reunion, knitting club or pretty much anything else, look to Google
Groups for online collaboration.
http://groups.google.com
features that make it easier to manage and share activities and ideas
online with your friends, family, colleagues and teammates. You can
create and edit web pages with other group members, customize the look
of your group, upload and share files and photos, and view member
profiles. The next time you need to organize your soccer team, family
reunion, knitting club or pretty much anything else, look to Google
Groups for online collaboration.
http://groups.google.com
Google Video + YouTube
Google Video + YouTube
Recently, we've added YouTube videos to the Google Video search index.
Now you can search Google Video to find content hosted on both Google
Video and on YouTube. This is part of our overall goal to give you the
highest quality search results possible. Give it a try: search for
[Labradoodle] on Google Video to watch some incredibly cute puppy
footage from YouTube.
http://video.google.com
Recently, we've added YouTube videos to the Google Video search index.
Now you can search Google Video to find content hosted on both Google
Video and on YouTube. This is part of our overall goal to give you the
highest quality search results possible. Give it a try: search for
[Labradoodle] on Google Video to watch some incredibly cute puppy
footage from YouTube.
http://video.google.com
Power Tip(Google Pack)
If you were lucky enough to get a new PC over the holidays, you may be
wondering what kind of interesting things you can do with it. Might we
suggest the Google Pack? It's a free collection of essential software
for your Windows PC. With the programs in Google Pack, you can explore
the world in 3D, organize your photos, removespyware and viruses, and
more. You can download and install the whole Google Pack in just a few
clicks, and the Google Updater (included) helps you discover new
programs and keep your current software up to date.
http://pack.google.com
wondering what kind of interesting things you can do with it. Might we
suggest the Google Pack? It's a free collection of essential software
for your Windows PC. With the programs in Google Pack, you can explore
the world in 3D, organize your photos, removespyware and viruses, and
more. You can download and install the whole Google Pack in just a few
clicks, and the Google Updater (included) helps you discover new
programs and keep your current software up to date.
http://pack.google.com
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