Google may be preparing to launch its own blog commenting system to compete with Facebook and Disqus. The rumor originated on the Saudi Arabian website Tech-WD and was later reportedly confirmed by TheNextWeb’s unnamed sources. Google’s comment system will reportedly incorporate the company’s search product, Google+ and other web services. The introduction of a comment system could help the Mountain View-based company bolster interest in its Google+ social networking service, which has reportedly seen a relatively slow adoption rate. According to Tech-WD, the upcoming comment system was originally discussed during Google’s G-Saudi Arabia conference, along with numerous other unannounced services.

Read [Tech-WD] Read [TheNextWeb]

Google's Flight Search -- which was conjured up after its acquisition of ITA -- has been giving Kayak and Bing Travel a run for their respective dollars here in the States, but an airline search engine is only as good as its reach. This week, the company announced that over 500 airports outside of the US are now being included in the results (but, sadly, only if you start in the US), and while no specific promises were given, Google says that it's "working hard on expanding [its] global coverage and adding more routes in the future." Oh, and for those looking to disconnect in Samoa, APW totally made the cut here. Happy trails!

[Thanks, sciwiz]

Google's Flight Search engine adds 500 international destinations, more on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Jeff Huber (Google+)  |  The Official Google Search Blog, Google Flights  | Email this | Comments

Google isn't one to rest on its laurels, and over the coming months it plans to massively overhaul its search system. Expect to see far more than just a page of links; Google is planning to push the boundaries of semantic search to give you answers directly. More »

The FTC has subpoenaed Apple as part of an antitrust probe of Google, in order to determine how search is incorporated into iOS devices. The request for information specifically asks for details about agreements that made Google the default search engine on Apple's mobile devices. More »

I swear, sometimes Google search is a little too helpful. I prefer my search engines not try to out-think me so normally I just use quotation marks to force it into strict searches. But now, Google Verbatim does that for me automatically, sans the quotes. More »

There's an interesting glitch on Google's search page that'll misalign the page content when you search for the string "${". It doesn't appear to be serious; just surprising to see Google's mighty coders make a mistake like this. More »

Google's South Korea offices have been raided by federal authorities once again -- this time, over alleged antitrust violations. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) stormed Google's Seoul offices on Tuesday, amid claims that the company unfairly stifles competition by making its search engine the default option on Android handsets. South Korea's largest mobile search operators, NHN and Daum Communications, filed a complaint with the KFTC in April, claiming that Android is "systematically designed" to discourage users from switching to different portals, and that Google excludes competitors by delaying OS certification for phone manufacturers that attempt to pre-load devices with other search engines. Similar charges, as you may recall, fueled an FTC investigation in the US, where anti-competitive allegations have been flying around for a few months, now. Google neither confirmed nor denied that yesterday's raid took place, but a spokesperson said the company would "work with the KFTC to address any questions they may have about our business," adding that its OS does "not require carriers or manufacturers to include Google Search or Google applications on Android-powered devices."

Google's South Korean offices raided over alleged antitrust violations originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 04:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google announced on Friday that it has improved the search experience for users accessing www.google.com from a tablet. Search results are now simplified and text, buttons and other areas are now larger and easier to tap. In addition, Google has created larger image previews, faster loading thumbnails and has a new continuous scroll feature. The new search page will begin to roll out in the “coming days” and can be viewed on devices running Android 3.1+ (Honeycomb) and on the iPad in 36 different languages.

[Via Gizmodo]

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Google took the wraps off of Google Maps 5.7 for Android devices on Wednesday, and the software update adds quite a few new features. The most noteworthy addition is Google’s Transit Navigation beta feature, which provides navigation instructions for public transportation in more than 400 cities around the globe. You don’t have to leave it open, either. Once you’ve started your trip, Transit Navigation will automatically remind you with an alert when your stop is coming up. Google also made it easier to find driving or walking directions in one click, improved search suggestions with category icons, and added a photo viewer to the Places feature of Google Maps. The update is available free from the Android Market for devices running Android 2.1 or newer. Hit the jump for a video of Transit Navigation beta in action.

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Google has updated its brand new Google Music application for Android application with one change that will be welcome to many users. It’s now possible to delete songs directly from your microSD card — an option that was frustratingly missing from the original launch — and it should include bug fixes as well. The search engine announced Google Music in tandem with its new Music Beta cloud storage platform earlier this month, and if you haven’t given it a try yet we highly suggest that you do. The app’s user interface is a large improvement over the default Android music player. The update is free and is available in the Android Market now.

Verizon Wireless just took the wraps off of the Samsung DROID Charge, its latest Android 2.2 smartphone capable of running on the firm’s 4G LTE wireless network. The DROID Charge sports a 4.3-inch Super-AMOLED Plus display — which made its debut on the Galaxy S II — an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash, and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for voice chats. It’s powered by a 1GHz processor and is also capable of sharing its 4G LTE connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi enabled devices (while connected to LTE). The DROID Charge will launch on April 28th for $299.99 with a new two-year Verizon Wireless contract. Hit the break for the full press release.

VERIZON WIRELESS UNLEASHES DROID CHARGE BY SAMSUNG

DROID Charge Joins Verizon Wireless’ Android Family as Samsung’s First 4G LTE Smartphone

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced that the DROID Charge by Samsung will be available for purchase on April 28 in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com.

The DROID Charge is designed with Samsung’s 4.3-inch Super AMOLED™ Plus display, setting a new touchscreen standard for brightness, clarity and outdoor visibility.  The DROID Charge is equipped with both a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera with LED flash and front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for both stills and video chatting.  The smartphone’s 1 GHz application processor and HTML 5 Web browser maximizes high-speed 4G LTE connectivity for faster downloads and graphics processing.

Additional features:

• 4G LTE – Customers can expect download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G Mobile Broadband coverage area
• Android 2.2 platform – Support for Google Mobile Services including Gmail^â„¢, YouTube^â„¢, Google Talk, Google Search, Google Maps and access to more than 150,000 apps available to download from Android Market^â„¢
• Adobe^® Flash^® Player compatible
• Mobile Hotspot capability – Share 4G connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices or a 3G connection with up to 5 devices
• Samsung Media Hub – Samsung’s own content service, offering a vast lineup of critically acclaimed films and TV programs for rent or purchase
• Virtual QWERTY keyboard featuring Swype technology

Pricing and data plans:

• The DROID Charge by Samsung will be available for $299.99 with a new two-year customer agreement.
• DROID Charge customers will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plan and a 4G LTE data package.  Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access.  Unlimited 4G LTE data packages start at $29.99 monthly access.  Mobile Hotspot feature will be included for a limited time at no additional charge.

Find the DROID Charge

Beginning April 21, anyone over the age of 18 can participate in an exclusive DROID Charge Scavenger Hunt.  Follow the online clues to find hidden locations in 16 different U.S. cities to win a DROID Charge by Samsung.  For additional information about the DROID Charge Scavenger Hunt, visit: www.chargelanding.com.

For more information about the DROID Charge by Samsung, visit www.droiddoes.com/charge.  For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

Google on Thursday announced the availability of a new feature that allows users to block specific domains from appearing in their search results. Google has taken several measures lately in an effort to improve the quality of its search results, which can often become devalued by “content farms” and other sites that make it their business to game Google by churning out low-quality search friendly content. Beyond changes that Google has made to its algorithms, users can now take it upon themselves to weed out the junk that Google misses. When users click on a search result and then return to Google, they will now see an option to block domain that was clicked. The result is a customized search experience that will continue to improve over time as users block more domains. Google is currently in the process of rolling out the new feature, which should be available to all users soon.

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You could say Bing is taking a cue from its competition, but it seems to be more literally taking search results as well. Google Fellow Amit Singhal is claiming so much and has provided some amusing (if not totally clever) results from its "Bing Sting." Here's how it works: find a search term that returns no matches for either site, make a "honeypot" page manually appear for the term, then have about 20 Google employees make the search (and click the top link) using Internet Explorer with both Suggested Sites and the Bing Toolbar on. Within two weeks, Singhal claims, a handful (about 7 to 9) of the 100 or so "honeypot" results were popping up in Bing. Bizarre choices, too, like mbrzxpgjys, hiybbprqag, and indoswiftjobinproduction.

So, is this "cheating," as Singhal specifically alleges? The experiment had to be run with Bing's toolbar and / or Suggested Search feature activated, which it explicitly says are used to collect data and improve services. And more popular search terms do return different results, It's not as if Microsoft is using non-public information, but is this an example of taking an unfair shortcut? That's a debate we imagine with rage for quite some time.

Google accuses Bing of 'cheating,' piggybacking off its search results originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like search giant Google has started to roll out a new feature to its Gmail users that also utilize Google Voice. The new functionality allows Google Voice users, receiving a call from within Gmail, to record the voice conversation. Blog TechCrunch is reporting that some users have begun to see a new “record” button show up in Gmail’s call window. The feature has been available to Google Voice users for quite some time by hitting the number “4″ on your phone’s dial-pad after receiving an inbound call. After activating call recording, both parties are notified that the conversation is being recorded with a verbal queue. Google has yet to publish a press release announcing the feature or detailing when it will be rolled out to all users. Anyone have the new feature in Gmail yet?

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Analytics company ComScore has released its October search engine market share numbers and… instead of making you fire up your search-site of choice and finding the information yourself, we thought we would just put it right there for you. October’s search numbers are as follows: Google 66.3%, up from 66.1% in September; Bing 11.5%, up from 11.2% in September; Yahoo 16.5%, down from 16.7% the month prior; Ask.com 3.6% down 0.1% from the previous month; and AOL 2.1%, down from 2.3%. We are curious to see how/if the recent release of Windows Phone will help Bing’s search numbers. We’ll find out next month.

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Here’s a shocking statistic. California based search giant Google accounts for 6.4% of all Internet traffic. That’s right, every time you google something, compose an email in Gmail, or watch a YouTube video you’re helping the Mountain View company generate 6.4% of the Internet’s traffic; a number that is up more than 1% since January. The information comes courtesy of online security company Arbor Networks who also note that “only one global ISP handles more traffic than Google.” Arbor speculates that Google’s share could be even greater — somewhere between 8 and 12 percent — if you included traffic handled by Google’s “Global Cache deployments.” That is a lot of traffic.

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Today, search extraordinaire Google, Inc. announced earnings for the third quarter of 2010. The Big G posted revenues of $7.29 billion, up 23% year-over-year, a net income of $2.17 billion, had an effective tax rate of 20%… oh yeah… and $33.4 billion in cash. Yikes! The company also reported 23,331 full-time employees; roughly 1,500 more than the previous year. Google’s strike price was down 0.44% at today’s market close, but is currently up 8.9% — around $49 per share — in after-hours trading.

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