I was bummed to hear that Microsoft backed away from the option to purchase Yahoo. I thought this deal, if it had gone all the way, would have been just the right thing to shake up Google’s strangle hold on the internet search business. The powerhouse combo of Microsoft + Yahoo would have equaled major competition for Google. I’m saddened to see it’s not going to work, because this means Google can tighten the choke hold it’s got on market share.

Yahoo isn’t going to sell for cheap to Microsoft. A new article on Yahoo today (is that biased news? LOL) stated that they want Microsoft to pony up at least $45 million. Will Microsoft do it in order to enter the Google game? Forecasters predict that Yahoo revenue will go up over 70% during the next three years, totaling $8.8 billion in 2010. That would mean that not only would Microsoft be giving Google a run for their money, they’d be MAKING money in the long run. Yahoo shares are over $27 right now, while Google sits at $439. Might be...

In the newest case of the pot calling the kettle black, Google said that Microsoft’s bid to purchase Yahoo would hurt the internet. Umm…yeah. Because Google isn’t a HUGE monopoly doing things to make things tough on the internet already, right? I read the article and what I took away from it is that Google is scared of the competition. They know with Microsoft behind Yahoo, that Yahoo would actually be able to do something about Google’s monopoly on the internet. Competition like this is beneficial to bloggers like me, and people...

I came across this Google search result page last night and found it to be a neat example of Google bombing. I grew up not too far away from the Scientology headquarters in Clearwater, FL, and now live not too far away from where John Travolta makes a home in Ocala, FL. (He has to be close enough to commute for his audits!) Let Google deny that Google bombing exists, but this proves that it does! By the way, did you know that the very first Google bomb that became well known as the search term “more evil than Satan himself” linking to Microsoft.com?

I can only hope! If Microsoft buys Yahoo, maybe Yahoo can in turn grow to rival Google, which would mean the end of the Google monopoly. I’m a long time Yahoo user, from my email to Yahoo groups (remember when it was eGroups?) and I love Yahoo news. I even use my Yahoo email to download my pop3 email from other accounts. If the sale goes through, this could mean big changes for the internet – more search engine competition, maybe new ways to rank websites, and new models of online advertising. Take that, Google!

Do you ever Google yourself? If so, you’re in good company. 47% of adult American internet users have Googled themselves at one time or another. I’ve googled friends, family, and other people as well. It’s absolutely amazing what you can find out about people online. I can find out what you paid for your house, if you’ve been arrested, or see a copy of your wedding license. Thanks to Google, I know that my high school prom date was arrested 3 times last year, and I’ve seen a co-workers vacation pictures on Flickr. I’ve...

As I was in bed last night, trying to drift off to sleep, I started thinking about the big Google smackdown on bloggers who have accepted money for paid posts. Since Google frowns on that practice, it bears to reason that they would have smacked down likes like PayPerPost.com and Text-Link-Ads.com, right? Why not punish all involve? Google has punished Text Link Ads in the SERP’s. Go ahead – search for “text link ads” on Google. The site doesn’t appear until page 2, with sites like Matt Cutt’s personal blog appearing...

The powers that be at Google posted two interesting blog entries this week about their official stance on paid links, or links that pass pagerank. The first contains details about buying and selling links, and the second is a follow up by Matt Cutts on selling links that pass Google juice. With the new platform from IZEA / PayPerPost, dubbed SocialSpark, not set to debut until at least January, this leaves bloggers who have accepted payment for posts in a pickle. The way I see it, we’ve got two options, if we wish to continue blogging for money: Change...

I came across this absolutely hilarious site this morning that asks, “What if Google had to design their website FOR Google?” Meaning, what if the Google guys had to work as hard as the rest of us poor schmucks on SEO and pagerank? I never thought about it before, but Google’s site, if it wasn’t created by Google, would be a PR 1 and one of the least visited sites on the net, due to the fact that it doesn’t follow any of the Google rules the rest of us have to follow.

I’ve been in Google meetings at work for the past 2 days. Unfortunately, there weren’t any reps from Google AT the meetings, so I wasn’t able to learn how to magically increase my pagerank. We’re going to be using the Google search engine software internally at my office for our staff, which I didn’t even know was possible. Guess AdSense isn’t the only way Google is making a buck, these days.