Google Blogoscoped http://blogoscoped.com Google, the World, and the World Wide Web, Weblogged en-us By Philipp Lenssen, with some rights reserved: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ Fri, 4 Jul 2008 14:51:50 +0100 Google Homepage Now Links to Privacy Policy http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-04-n18.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-04-n18.html Philipp Lenssen Fri, 4 Jul 2008 14:51:50 +0100 The Google homepage saw a little change: instead of "©2008 Google" the footer now reads "©2008 - Privacy", with the word "privacy" being linked to Google's privacy policy help center (which contains videos, legal texts, explanations and so on). Perhaps there may have been legal considerations to do so, too. Google's Marissa Mayer at the official Google blog says, "Larry and Sergey told me we could only add this to the homepage if we took a w ... Technology Internet Google Search

The Google homepage saw a little change: instead of “©2008 Google” the footer now reads “©2008 - Privacy”, with the word “privacy” being linked to Google’s privacy policy help center (which contains videos, legal texts, explanations and so on). Perhaps there may have been legal considerations to do so, too. Google’s Marissa Mayer at the official Google blog says, “Larry and Sergey told me we could only add this to the homepage if we took a word away – keeping the ’weight’ of the homepage unchanged at 28.”

There’s also a more fictional look at Google’s privacy policies.

[Via TechCrunch.]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Homepage Now Links to Privacy Policy | Comments]


[Advertisement] Google Me - The Movie ]]> Google Employee Data Stolen http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n20.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n20.html Philipp Lenssen Thu, 3 Jul 2008 21:17:39 +0100 ZDNet today writes: Google has confirmed that personal data of US employees hired prior to 2006 has been stolen in a recent burglary. Records kept at Colt Express Outsourcing Services, an external company used by Google and other companies to handle human-resources functions, were stolen in a burglary on 26 May. An undisclosed number of employees' details and those of dependents, such as names, addresses, and social security numbers, were on the stolen computers. Credit card numbers were reportedly not among the stolen data. ZDnet's Brendon Chase adds that it is understood "that Colt did not employ encryption to protect the information." According to ZDnet, Google has offered employees to pay for a one-ye ... Technology Internet Google Search ZDNet today writes:

<<Google has confirmed that personal data of US employees hired prior to 2006 has been stolen in a recent burglary.

Records kept at Colt Express Outsourcing Services, an external company used by Google and other companies to handle human-resources functions, were stolen in a burglary on 26 May.

An undisclosed number of employees’ details and those of dependents, such as names, addresses, and social security numbers, were on the stolen computers.>>

Credit card numbers were reportedly not among the stolen data. ZDnet’s Brendon Chase adds that it is understood “that Colt did not employ encryption to protect the information.” According to ZDnet, Google has offered employees to pay for a one-year subscription to a credit report and identity theft monitoring service, something which Colt Express was not able to cover. In no relation to this particular incident, Google is not using the services by Colt Express these days... a decision made “long before this incident,” as Google says.

[Via Simon at Friendfeed.]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Employee Data Stolen | Comments]


[Advertisement] Find the right keywords for your campaigns at KeywordDiscovery.com ]]> Google Closing Dallas, Denver Office http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n34.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n34.html Philipp Lenssen Thu, 3 Jul 2008 18:15:44 +0100 Google is closing its office in Denver and Dallas, as someone at Friendfeed posted today. "Employees have to choose relocation or severance," a former Google employee (according to her blog's about page) wrote, adding that the reason was consolidation; "Someone decided the ROI wasn't there." I asked Google for a statement and they say: Following an operational review, we are consolidating our offices in Dallas and Denver, as we currently have at least two offices in each of these markets. This reorganization is designed to ensure we are serving the needs of our customers, stakeholders and Googlers [Google employees] efficiently. These are the only two cities affected by this review, and all affected Dallas and Denver Googlers will be offered opportunities within the company. Technology Internet Google Search Google is closing its office in Denver and Dallas, as someone at Friendfeed posted today. “Employees have to choose relocation or severance,” a former Google employee (according to her blog’s about page) wrote, adding that the reason was consolidation; “Someone decided the ROI wasn’t there.” I asked Google for a statement and they say:

<<Following an operational review, we are consolidating our offices in Dallas and Denver, as we currently have at least two offices in each of these markets. This reorganization is designed to ensure we are serving the needs of our customers, stakeholders and Googlers [Google employees] efficiently. These are the only two cities affected by this review, and all affected Dallas and Denver Googlers will be offered opportunities within the company.>>

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Closing Dallas, Denver Office | Comments]


[Advertisement] Want to advertise here? Your ad will show in the blog and feed. ]]> Google Talk for iPhone http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n69.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n69.html Philipp Lenssen Thu, 3 Jul 2008 12:14:35 +0100 Google Talk, Google's chat program, is now available for the iPhone, Google announced in one of their blogs. Google says it's enough to just point your iPhone browser to www.google.com/talk and then sign in for this to work. Google says you'll then be able to chat, view your contacts and search for them, and update your status message. [Thanks Colin! Screenshot by Google, edited to remove minor noise.] Technology Internet Google Search

Google Talk, Google’s chat program, is now available for the iPhone, Google announced in one of their blogs. Google says it’s enough to just point your iPhone browser to www.google.com/talk and then sign in for this to work. Google says you’ll then be able to chat, view your contacts and search for them, and update your status message.

[Thanks Colin! Screenshot by Google, edited to remove minor noise.]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Talk for iPhone | Comments]


[Advertisement] Want to advertise here? Your ad will show in the blog and feed. ]]> Google Ordered to Hand Over YouTube User Data http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n66.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n66.html Philipp Lenssen Thu, 3 Jul 2008 12:04:55 +0100 The Wired blog writes that a judge ruled that Google will have to "turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users' names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube." Viacom allegedly likes to have that data to prove "that infringing material is more popular than user-created videos." Seems like a clear user privacy violation. Besides, Viacom don't need actual IPs [edit: ... or login names ...] to validate their claims -- it would be enough to get a made-up but consistent user ID for that (if they would need some way to count users in the first place). I wonder if Google can go into some rev ... Technology Internet Google Search

The Wired blog writes that a judge ruled that Google will have to “turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users’ names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube.” Viacom allegedly likes to have that data to prove “that infringing material is more popular than user-created videos.”

Seems like a clear user privacy violation. Besides, Viacom don’t need actual IPs [edit: ... or login names ...] to validate their claims – it would be enough to get a made-up but consistent user ID for that (if they would need some way to count users in the first place). I wonder if Google can go into some revision asking for this order to be changed?

[Thanks Juha-Matti Laurio!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Ordered to Hand Over YouTube User Data | Comments]


[Advertisement] Google books at eBay: background info on Google, AdWords, AdSense, Blogger and more... ]]> Google Street View Live in France http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n82.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n82.html Philipp Lenssen Thu, 3 Jul 2008 11:47:38 +0100 Google Street View -- those panorama photos part of Google Maps -- has now been released for France, as second country in the world after the US. However, the pics taken are just from the Tour de France route, as Luka from the French Zorgloob blog explains. The faces of people are blurred as they are in other Street View locations nowadays, Luka explains. In the meantime, Google's cars continue to drive around other places in Europe -- like in Germany -- so we have reason to expect more Street View countri ... Technology Internet Google Search

Google Street View – those panorama photos part of Google Maps – has now been released for France, as second country in the world after the US. However, the pics taken are just from the Tour de France route, as Luka from the French Zorgloob blog explains. The faces of people are blurred as they are in other Street View locations nowadays, Luka explains.

In the meantime, Google’s cars continue to drive around other places in Europe – like in Germany – so we have reason to expect more Street View countries to be added in the future...

[Thanks Luka!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Street View Live in France | Comments]


[Advertisement] Want to advertise here? Your ad will show in the blog and feed. ]]> Traces of Google China's Music Service http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n83.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03-n83.html Philipp Lenssen Thu, 3 Jul 2008 11:34:10 +0100 In February this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google wants to "crack" the Chinese market with a music-related offering. "The U.S. search giant is in the late planning stages of a joint venture with a Chinese online music company that would permit it to provide free -- licensed -- music downloads in China," the WSJ wrote. (Please note the logo above is just for illustrative purposes with no relation to the service...) Now, several traces of Google Music started to surface. First of all, there's a bunch of additions to Google's robots.txt file, ... Technology Internet Google Search

In February this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google wants to “crack” the Chinese market with a music-related offering. “The U.S. search giant is in the late planning stages of a joint venture with a Chinese online music company that would permit it to provide free – licensed – music downloads in China,” the WSJ wrote. (Please note the logo above is just for illustrative purposes with no relation to the service...)

Now, several traces of Google Music started to surface. First of all, there’s a bunch of additions to Google’s robots.txt file, which is the file responsible to block search crawlers from indexing certain content. To quote from the update of the file:

<<Disallow: /musicad
Disallow: /musicas
Disallow: /musicl
Disallow: /musics
Disallow: /musicsearch
Disallow: /musicsp
Disallow: /musiclp>>

What’s more, when you currently try to access google.cn/music/, you will be redirected to a search URL for “周杰伦"*, a popular singer in China, according to Xujie in the forum. The page itself then reads:

<<Your HTTP Host header www.google.cn doesn’t match the whitelist Host headers: music.google.cn,.*\.(borg|prod)\.google\.com\.?:\d+$ .

We would have denied your request but since you are coming from an internal IP we thought this page would be helpful for you.>>

Mind you, that’s the public page – you don’t need any internal IP.

[Thanks Brian, Keith Chan and Xujie!]

*The Google translator translates this to “Jay Chou”.

Update: As Ionut and Tony point out in the comments, the robots.txt change that happened is not relevant because it relates to an older Google music service. However, the google.cn/music/ site still seems relevant as a trace of a potentially upcoming new Chinese Google Music service (or an upcoming new feature for China integrated into Google’s existing music services). And as another update, the “you are coming from an internal IP” message has now been replaced by a more regular “not found” page. [Thanks Ionut and Tony!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Traces of Google China's Music Service | Comments]


[Advertisement] Find the right keywords for your campaigns at KeywordDiscovery.com ]]> Strange Gmail Square http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03.html#n74 http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-03.html#n74 Philipp Lenssen Thu, 3 Jul 2008 10:39:43 +0100 Many of us are noticing an odd black-to-gray ink spot at the top left of Gmail, like in Firefox. Does anyone know what this is? (Tony Ruscoe suspects it's a zero-width inline frame...) [Thanks Mrrix32 and Jarred!] Technology Internet

Many of us are noticing an odd black-to-gray ink spot at the top left of Gmail, like in Firefox. Does anyone know what this is? (Tony Ruscoe suspects it’s a zero-width inline frame...)
[Thanks Mrrix32 and Jarred!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Strange Gmail Square | Comments]


[Advertisement] Google Me - The Movie ]]> Cross-domain Google Sitelinks http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n28.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n28.html Philipp Lenssen Tue, 1 Jul 2008 19:36:36 +0100 Google's sitelinks are the navigational links displayed below a main result; they're automatically picked by Google, and just show for some sites/ queries. Now it seems Google also shows other sub-domains among these links.... like uk.ask.com below www.ask.com in a search for ask (oddly enough, the subdomain link seems to use a different font, too). Does anyone know if this is new? [Update: Apparently not new then, except perhaps the font issue... thanks all!] [Thanks Russell!] Technology Internet Google Search

Google’s sitelinks are the navigational links displayed below a main result; they’re automatically picked by Google, and just show for some sites/ queries. Now it seems Google also shows other sub-domains among these links.... like uk.ask.com below www.ask.com in a search for ask (oddly enough, the subdomain link seems to use a different font, too). Does anyone know if this is new? [Update: Apparently not new then, except perhaps the font issue... thanks all!]

[Thanks Russell!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Cross-domain Google Sitelinks | Comments]


[Advertisement] Google Me - The Movie ]]> Sex Sells (or How to Get Someone to Subscribe to Your YouTube Channel) http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n65.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n65.html Philipp Lenssen Tue, 1 Jul 2008 12:35:17 +0100 This particular YouTube video has a couple of things going for it which might make more people subscribe to the creator's video channel or view more of their videos: The first part of the video is basically a still telling viewers to click the Subscribe button to "see Tania naked." To not see her naked, you are told you also need to click the Subscribe button... The customizable channel banner graphic itself has an arrow pointing to the Subscribe button. The graphic is animated, too -- I might be wrong, but it seems this is a hack as they've uploaded an animated GIF but using a JPG extension (letting the browser figure out it's indeed a G ... Technology Internet

This particular YouTube video has a couple of things going for it which might make more people subscribe to the creator’s video channel or view more of their videos:

  • The first part of the video is basically a still telling viewers to click the Subscribe button to “see Tania naked.” To not see her naked, you are told you also need to click the Subscribe button...
  • The customizable channel banner graphic itself has an arrow pointing to the Subscribe button. The graphic is animated, too – I might be wrong, but it seems this is a hack as they’ve uploaded an animated GIF but using a JPG extension (letting the browser figure out it’s indeed a GIF).
  • The video creators are using YouTube’s new video annotations feature to create a “Click HERE” link (pointing to another video of them)... complete with an ASCII art nude!

Furthermore, perhaps to popularize the video, it is added as a “video response” to seemingly unrelated other videos... like a Diablo 3 teaser video they posted.

[Thanks P.R.G.!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Sex Sells (or How to Get Someone to Subscribe ... | Comments]


[Advertisement] Google books at eBay: background info on Google, AdWords, AdSense, Blogger and more... ]]> Better Flash Indexing for Google? http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n88.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n88.html Philipp Lenssen Tue, 1 Jul 2008 12:15:08 +0100 Google announced they improved their handing of Flash files in search results; they say they now have a better ability "to index textual content in SWF files of all kinds," including buttons, gadgets and so on. Google were already able to find and read Flash files to some extent, but now, to quote them (my emphasis): We've developed an algorithm that explores Flash files in the same way that a person would, by clicking buttons, entering input, and so on. Our algorithm remembers all of the text that it encounters along the way, and that content is then available to be indexed. We can't tell you all of the proprietary details, but we can tell you that the algorithm's e ... Technology Internet Google Search

Google announced they improved their handing of Flash files in search results; they say they now have a better ability “to index textual content in SWF files of all kinds,” including buttons, gadgets and so on. Google were already able to find and read Flash files to some extent, but now, to quote them (my emphasis):

<<We’ve developed an algorithm that explores Flash files in the same way that a person would, by clicking buttons, entering input, and so on. Our algorithm remembers all of the text that it encounters along the way, and that content is then available to be indexed. We can’t tell you all of the proprietary details, but we can tell you that the algorithm’s effectiveness was improved by utilizing Adobe’s new Searchable SWF library.>>

Additionally to finding text, Google says they’re also finding URLs to feed them to their “crawling pipeline.” Apparently, all with a little help from Flash-maker Adobe.

Limitations

Google write they may not be able to execute some types of JavaScript, though, so “if your web page loads a Flash file via JavaScript, Google may not be aware of that Flash file”. Also, external resources loaded into the Flash – say, an XML content file for a cross-language Flash application – while perhaps being separately indexed, will not be considered part of the main Flash content. Google additionally suggests there are some problems at the moment with bidirectional languages used in Flash.

Note that Google’s stated JavaScript limitation may not apply to all types of inclusions. For instance, a search for site:sketchswap.com filetype:swf (replace the domain with your own to check) reveals that Google indexed the Flash file my friend and I included via the popular, JavaScript-based SWFObject library (not to say that this was the route Google took to discover the SWF).

[Thanks Beussery and Miss Universe!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Better Flash Indexing for Google? | Comments]


[Advertisement] Want to advertise here? Your ad will show in the blog and feed. ]]> Google Ends Referrals Program http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n12.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n12.html Philipp Lenssen Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:44:31 +0100 Google just announced they are ending their AdSense referrals program. In the past -- and until August 2008 when this will officially stop -- AdSense referrals allowed you as a webmaster to include links from different kinds of products; health, real estate, shopping, computers, travel, Google-suggested products like Firefox or the Google Pack download, and many more. When a user to your site bought something via that link, you'd get a commission of the sale. But now the AdSense page shows a red warning with a link to the help center covering the subject. Also, the following mail was sent to publishers: Technology Internet Google Search

Google just announced they are ending their AdSense referrals program. In the past – and until August 2008 when this will officially stop – AdSense referrals allowed you as a webmaster to include links from different kinds of products; health, real estate, shopping, computers, travel, Google-suggested products like Firefox or the Google Pack download, and many more. When a user to your site bought something via that link, you’d get a commission of the sale. But now the AdSense page shows a red warning with a link to the help center covering the subject. Also, the following mail was sent to publishers:

<<We’re writing to let you know that we will be retiring the AdSense Referrals program during the last week of August. We appreciate your patience during this transition and here are some alternative options to consider:

   * Google Affiliate Network: As part of the integration of DoubleClick, the DoubleClick Performics Affiliate Network will now operate as the Google Affiliate Network for advertisers targeting users located in the United States. Similar to the AdSense Referrals program, the Google Affiliate Network enables publishers to apply for advertiser programs and get paid based on advertiser-defined actions instead of clicks or impressions. For further details, please visit:
www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork.
   * AdSense for content ads: If you have less than three AdSense for content ad units on a page, you may wish to replace the referral ad units with standard AFC ad units.

If you currently use referral ads, either to promote Google products or offerings from AdWords advertisers, AdSense Referrals code will no longer display ads beginning the last week of August. We encourage you to take the following steps before the product is retired:

   * Remove the referral code from your site(s): Please take a moment to remove all referral code from your sites before the last week of August, so you can continue to effectively monetize your ad space.
   * Run and save all referrals reports on your desktop: Create and save all reports related to the referrals program on your desktop, so you continue to have access to your valuable campaign information>>

As usual Google is rather quiet about their real reasonings for ending this service, and the little they say on it may be taken with a grain of salt. Here is their explanation:

<<Why is this happening?
We’re constantly looking for ways to improve AdSense by developing and supporting features which drive the best monetization results for our publishers. Sometimes, this requires retiring existing features so we can focus our efforts on the ones that will be most effective in the long term. For this reason, we will be retiring the AdSense Referrals program.>>

Other products or features which landed in Googleland death valley include Google Answers, Google X, paid Google Videos, the Google SOAP API, their related links service, and more. I have a question: Who of you is using Google referrals at the moment, and how well did it work for you?

[Thanks Brian, Haochi and Justin Pfister!]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Ends Referrals Program | Comments]


[Advertisement] Google Me - The Movie ]]> Bullitt Chase Scene Google-Mapped http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n68.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-07-01-n68.html Philipp Lenssen Tue, 1 Jul 2008 01:49:33 +0100 Seero.com allows users to mash and sync videos with a Google map. One user mapped a car chase scene from the movie Bullitt with Steve McQueen: to the left you'll see the video, and to the right the related San Francisco locations. (If you're wondering why there's no jet fighters or transforming robots in this car chase, note the movie's from 1968.) [Via Boing Boing.] Technology Internet Google Search

Seero.com allows users to mash and sync videos with a Google map. One user mapped a car chase scene from the movie Bullitt with Steve McQueen: to the left you’ll see the video, and to the right the related San Francisco locations. (If you’re wondering why there’s no jet fighters or transforming robots in this car chase, note the movie’s from 1968.) [Via Boing Boing.]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Bullitt Chase Scene Google-Mapped | Comments]


[Advertisement] Find the right keywords for your campaigns at KeywordDiscovery.com ]]> Fred, YouTube Sensation http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-06-30-n40.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-06-30-n40.html Philipp Lenssen Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:06:39 +0100 This video has over 2.7 million views on YouTube. And over 23.000 comments. It's by YouTube sensation Fred, 14-year old Lucas Cruikshank's fictional 6-year old with "anger management issues", as his channel explains -- and this is by far not his most popular video. Some of his other videos, done in a high-pitched voice, fast cuts, and about lots of teen problems, are titled "Fred Gets Bullied", "Fred Loses His Meds", "Fred Goes to the Dentist", and "Fred on Christmas". Adding up ... Technology Internet

This video has over 2.7 million views on YouTube. And over 23.000 comments. It’s by YouTube sensation Fred, 14-year old Lucas Cruikshank’s fictional 6-year old with “anger management issues”, as his channel explains – and this is by far not his most popular video. Some of his other videos, done in a high-pitched voice, fast cuts, and about lots of teen problems, are titled “Fred Gets Bullied”, “Fred Loses His Meds”, “Fred Goes to the Dentist”, and “Fred on Christmas”. Adding up the views of his 17 videos, I’m getting the result 45,012,257. The LA Times covers Fred, writing:

<<That an act with millions of fans could escape the popular attention is more evidence of the digital fissuring of our culture. As we ensconce ourselves ever further in our respective demographics, personal and professional, we continue to drift apart from the people right next to us, until even an iceberg holding 4 million tweens can float by unnoticed.

Not that we should’ve noticed. If you’re past a certain age, Fred’s appeal is essentially inscrutable. (...)

“They just think he’s the funniest thing ever,” said Valerie Moizel of the L.A.-based WOO ad agency, which found out about Fred after it conducted kid-centered focus groups for its ZipIt instant messaging product – which later showed up in Fred’s videos. “We watched them watch him – they fall on the floor hysterically laughing. They’re just mesmerized.">>

[Via Waxy.]

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Fred, YouTube Sensation | Comments]


[Advertisement] Find the right keywords for your campaigns at KeywordDiscovery.com ]]> More on Google and "Family Guy" Creator Teaming Up For Cartoon Ads http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-06-30-n52.html http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-06-30-n52.html Philipp Lenssen Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:20:59 +0100 The New York Times reports Google will be teaming up with the creator of the US cartoon series "Family Guy" to distribute short original episodes of a show called "Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy."* The first news of this came in last year already. Instead of creating a new microsite where people can view these episodes, in this model the new cartoons will be shown in AdSense spots, those automated Google ads third-party webmasters include on their sites. From the NYT: Advertising will be incorporated into the clips in varying ways. In some cases, there will be "preroll" ads, which ... Technology Internet Google Search

The New York Times reports Google will be teaming up with the creator of the US cartoon series “Family Guy” to distribute short original episodes of a show called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy."* The first news of this came in last year already. Instead of creating a new microsite where people can view these episodes, in this model the new cartoons will be shown in AdSense spots, those automated Google ads third-party webmasters include on their sites. From the NYT:

<<Advertising will be incorporated into the clips in varying ways. In some cases, there will be “preroll” ads, which ask viewers to sit through a TV-style commercial before getting to the video. Some advertisers may opt for a banner to be placed at the bottom of the video clip or a simple “brought to you by” note at the beginning.>>

The NYT later says:

<<Each installment is different, but a typical one is titled “Mad Cow Disease.” The clip, which is 38 seconds long, opens with a news anchor reporting on an outbreak of mad cow disease in a dry fashion, detailing the debilitating effects of eating tainted beef. The clip cuts to a shocked male and female cow seated in a tidy kitchen with giant steaks on their plates.>>

Revenue from these ads will then be shared among the webmaster, the cartoon creator Seth MacFarlance (pictured above), the production company Media Rights Capital, and Google. A spokesperson from Google, the company who once said they don’t pre-announce products and whose self-proclaimed core values include “Think and act like an underdog”, is quoted with the majestic statement “We feel that we have recreated the mass media”... but I suppose we’ll first have to see how well this model works.

[Thanks Colin! Photo by Eric Appel with some rights reserved.]

*"Cavalcade” means “A ceremonial procession or display” or “A succession or series,” Answers.com says. It also means “A procession of riders or horse-drawn carriages,” from the Italian “cavalcare,” to ride on horseback.

[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: More on Google and "Family Guy" Creator Teami ... | Comments]


[Advertisement] Google Me - The Movie ]]>