EricEwe.com

The Google ToolBar, one of the most widely downloaded toolbar is in the news when it was mentioned in a lawsuit, citing that it violated a users’ privacy rights because its Toolbar software allegedly transmits surfing habits and transmit those activity back to Google without the users’ consent.

The complaint ‘Weber v. Google, 10-05035′, filed on November 5, 2010 in federal court in San Jose, California, claims Google has misled users who download the software, used to search and browse the web, to believe they can disable features that transmit personal data to the company. The case, which seeks class-action, or group, status, was filed on behalf of Jason Weber of Brooklyn, New York.

“With products such as Toolbar, Google acquires a great deal of information about users’ Internet activities, adding to the already substantial information it acquires by providing a search engine, network advertising, and more,” according to the complaint.

Google says its Toolbar can be set up to not share personal information unless used in conjunction with a Google account.

Google ToolBar was relased on Aug 13, 2003 with these basic features.

• Pop-up Blocker: Blocks distracting pop-ups while users surf the web.
• AutoFill: Completes web forms with information that’s saved securely on a user’s own computer.
• BlogThis: Makes posting links to Blogger.com weblogs quick and easy.

With these additional features:

• Google Search: Access Google search from any web page.
  Search Site: Search only the pages of the site being viewed.
  PageRank: See Google’s ranking of any page on the web.
  Highlight: Highlight search terms as they appear on the page – each word in its own color.
  Word Find: Find search terms wherever they appear on the page.

Less than one week ago, Google Inc settled a class action lawsuit for Google Buzz amounting to $8.5 million.

I just got a noticed in my Gmail that Google settled a lawsuit regarding Google Buzz which pertained to user privacy. Google Buzz was sure an expensive application for Google to release. The lawsuit preliminary statement states it all.

1. This is a class action lawsuit, brought by, and on behalf of, a nationwide class of
individuals whose privacy rights were violated by the actions of Google Inc. (“Google”) through
its Buzz program.
2. Google automatically added the Google Buzz service to the accounts of all users of Google’s “Gmail” service.
3. Google Buzz made private data belonging to Gmail users publicly available without the users’ knowledge or authorization. This information included some or all of the following: personal contact information, place of residence, occupation, and a list of the users’ frequent email contacts.
4. Google Buzz searched for and acquired pictures, video, text and other data that
users had posted to websites such as Picasa and YouTube. Buzz automatically sent those posts to the email accounts of the users’ frequent email contacts without the users’ knowledge or authorization.
5. When launching its Buzz service, Google failed to provide users with clear information detailing the nature of the new service, including the automatic application of the
Buzz program and its provisions for default disclosure of personal information and default
sharing of posts previously made to other websites.
6. Google has publicly admitted that its Buzz program presents privacy concerns,
and Google has made several waves of modifications to the program. However, Google’s
modifications do not go far enough to address the problem. Furthermore, Google’s actions have already caused damage because the Buzz program disclosed private user information the moment Google launched the service. The bell of breached privacy cannot be un-rung.
7. Google’s public disclosure of private user data violates users’ rights under the Federal Wiretap Act, the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Federal Stored Communications Act, and California common law.

Here is the email I received:

Subject: Important Information about Google Buzz Class Action Settlement
From: Google Buzz

Content:
Google rarely contacts Gmail users via email, but we are making an exception to let you know that we’ve reached a settlement in a lawsuit regarding Google Buzz (http://buzz.google.com), a service we launched within Gmail in February of this year.

Shortly after its launch, we heard from a number of people who were concerned about privacy. In addition, we were sued by a group of Buzz users and recently reached a settlement in this case.

The settlement acknowledges that we quickly changed the service to address users’ concerns. In addition, Google has committed $8.5 million to an independent fund, most of which will support organizations promoting privacy education and policy on the web. We will also do more to educate people about privacy controls specific to Buzz. The more people know about privacy online, the better their online experience will be.

Just to be clear, this is not a settlement in which people who use Gmail can file to receive compensation. Everyone in the U.S. who uses Gmail is included in the settlement, unless you personally decide to opt out before December 6, 2010. The Court will consider final approval of the agreement on January 31, 2011. This email is a summary of the settlement, and more detailed information and instructions approved by the court, including instructions about how to opt out, object, or comment, are available at http://www.BuzzClassAction.com.

——————————————————————–
This mandatory announcement was sent to all Gmail users in the United States as part of a legal settlement and was authorized by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Google Inc. | 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway | Mountain View, CA 94043

When Google made enhancements to the “Related Search” algorithms back in June 2008, it promised to be faster with better tangible results.

Over the Halloween weekend, Google released an improved version of the ‘Related Search’ functionality without much fanfare. There is little mention in search world other that a thread on webmaster world with 8 posting as of today. Google Extended the ‘Related Search’ results by adding these three categories (Brand, Stores, Type) immediately after the search box.

When I searched for a generic and broad term of “paint”, Google enhanced the related search by serving some of these suggestive brands, stores and types which linked to other search results on Google.
Related searches for paint:
Brands: Behr Benjamin Moore Sherwin-Williams ICI Valspar
Stores: Home Depot Lowe’s Ralph Lauren Walmart Ikea
Types: automotive spray exterior chalkboard car

What does this mean to the consumer?
It definitely help web users if they have the vaguest idea as to what they are looking for and the “brand, stores, types” should help the user with their search experience by slicing the information to small bits and pieces. Note that this only occurs for broad terms such as “paint”, searching for “red paint” does not yield the “brands, stores and types” related search functionality.

What does this mean to the businesses?
In this example, I would be ecstatic if I run Home Depot’s online division. Google picked me as one of the winners when it comes to the word “paint”? If a user would to search for “paint” and click on “Stores: Home Depot”, Google would serve information and deep link to Home Depot’s Paint category page.

What does this mean to Google
It would help the web user with more options as this only works for broad generic keyword searches. At that same time, we can argue that Google is favoring the big retailers and squeezing out the smaller players. Going to the paint example, these companies (Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ralph Lauren, Walmart, Ikea) would be getting much more exposure, but if I worked for Sherwin Williams, I would be wondering, what about us? Don’t we live, breath paint?

Also, most traffic would leave Google once they click on the search results, but with the “Brand, Stores, Type” feature, it would help keep the traffic on Google while improving time spent on site and pages/search queries served for Google.

As a whole, I think this functionality is a big improvement but being a marketer, my question is “How do I get listed as one of the “Stores”? Preferably as the first link.

This functionality is not affected by a web user’s geographic location as I tried a few zip codes but it still served the same results. It is also not affected by a Google Product Feed, nor does it matter if it is an eCommerce website as “Ikea” was listed too and it is not an eCommerce website when searching for “Paint”. Here are some of the other broad terms I search for which had the “Google Related Searches with Brand, Stores, Type”

Search Term: DIGITAL CAMERA
Related searches for digital camera:
Brands: Olympus Canon Sony Nikon Kodak
Stores: Best Buy Amazon Overstock Walmart Circuit City
Types: waterproof slr touch screen underwater compact

Search Term: BLU RAY
Related searches for blu ray:
Brands: Sony Samsung Panasonic Pioneer PlayStation
Stores: Amazon Best Buy Walmart Target Circuit City
Types: netflix laptop network dvd 3d

“This Halloween the most popular mask is the Arnold Schwarzenegger mask. And the best part? With a mouth full of candy you will sound just like him.” – Conan O’Brien

Here are some pictures from my company’s Halloween Costume Contest.

Babies "R" Dead

The Transylvania Bunch

Cute but Scary

The Painted Face crowd?

The Grave digger that Got Jumped while digging