google-seo-dance

Although most professional search engine optimizers agree that the green PageRank display has little to do with the actual performance of a website in Google and other search engines, many webmasters still focus on websites with a high PageRank when it comes to link building and website promotion.

How to fake the PageRank of a website

The PageRank of a web page can be faked with a combination of a 301 redirect and cloaking. It works like this:

• When a search engine spiders visits a web page URL, the server redirects the spider to a web page with high PageRank.
• Google assigns the high PageRank to the page with the redirection because it thinks that the pages are identical.
• When a human web surfer visits the web page URL, the server does not redirect the surfer. That means that the web surfer sees the web page of the faker and the Google toolbar displays the PageRank of the redirected URL:

To web surfers, it looks as if the web page has a very high PageRank although it hasn’t. Note that this method doesn’t increase the rankings of the page in any way. It just influences the PageRank display in Google’s toolbar.

Google doesn’t like cloaking at all so you risk the rankings of your website if you use the method above.

How to check if a website has a faked PageRank

If you think that a web page might have a faked PageRank then you can do the following simple check:

• Search Google for “info:domain.com” (without the quotation marks, replace domain.com with the domain that you want to check).
• If there are no results or if the returned URLs don’t match the original URL then it’s likely that the PageRank has been faked. If Google returns only one URL for the query and if the URL is the same as the checked URL then the PageRank is okay.

What about the PageRank of your own website?

The green pixels in Google’s toolbar are not important. It’s important that your website has high rankings for keywords that convert to sales. Website promotion is about getting leads and sales. It’s not about getting green pixels.

Don’t focus on the PageRank display in Google’s toolbar but try to get good rankings for keywords that are relevant to your website. High rankings for relevant keywords that convert to sales are much better than having a lot of green pixels.

It’s easier to get high rankings on Google with older websites than it is with new websites. Why is this so and what can you do to get high rankings on Google if you have a brand new website?

Brand new domain names are often used by spammers to make a quick buck. These spammers buy hundreds of domains, fill them with automatically created scraper content and hope to make some money with the ads that appear on these sites.

In addition, some webmasters use new domains to test new search engine spamming techniques.

As it is difficult for Google to find out whether a new domain can be trusted or not, Google invented a set of filters that downranks new websites until Google thinks that they can be trusted.

What can you do to overcome Google’s filters for new websites?

It’s very difficult to get high rankings before Google trusts your website. For that reason, do things that make your website trustworthy:

1. Start with the right keywords

   It’s not possible to get a top 10 ranking for highly competitive general search term such as “cars” for a new website. However, it is possible to get high rankings for terms such as “used car dealer atlanta”.

   It’s not just easier to get high rankings for more specific search terms, these terms are also much more likely to convert to sales. Take some time to find the right keywords for your site.

2. Get links to your website

   It is not possible to get high rankings on Google without good incoming links. Try to get as many links from related websites as possible. If the right websites link to your site then Google will trust your website more quickly.

3. Optimize your web pages

   While more links to your website greatly increase your chance of getting high search engine rankings, you must also tell search engines for which search terms you want to have high rankings. Optimize the content of your web pages to make sure that Google lists your website for the right search terms.

   Search engines should be able to parse the content of your web pages easily. Consider this when creating a new website from scratch.

4. Wait

   A website that has been online for several years is much less likely to game Google’s ranking algorithms than newer sites. For that reason, your Google rankings will also increase just by waiting (given that you followed the steps 1 to 3).

If you do it correctly, getting high search engine rankings for brand new websites is possible. It’s important that you do the right things in the right order.

The term ‘Google bowling’ has been floating around the Internet for a while now. The practice is one of many that can be put under the heading of negative SEO, and while I’m not a proponent of these methods, they are worth noting.”
Google bowling: As Google attempted to curb link-popularity exploitation by penalizing Web sites that purchase link ads across the entire site, it also created the environment in which Google bowling came to be. As a form of negative SEO (search engine optimization), certain unscrupulous entities began buying sitewide links for competitor sites, thus causing them to incur the Google penalty. Simple, evil and a very real practice.

Spam in another’s name: This form of negative SEO is even more simple. If spam gets Web sites in trouble with search engines, then creating spam on behalf of a competitor might lower their search engine results. In addition, a Web site’s URL can be used for spamming in online forums, social-network sites and blog comments. It’s hard to prove that the victim is innocent, and social-network sites might ban that Web site regardless. This can have a negative effect on the link neighborhood of a site.

Tattletaling: Did you buy links on other Web sites to improve your search engine rankings? Google doesn’t like that at all. If your competitor finds out that you use paid links, he might tell Google and your rankings might drop! Of course, you can tell on your competitor, too.

Faux copyright complaint: If a search engine is notified that a copyright infringement exists (or might exist) on a Web site, then the search engine must remove the reported page from its index for 10 days. Snarky, but effective if someone wants a page out of the search engine results page (SERP) system for a spell.

Faux duplicate content: If someone creates duplicates of a competitor’s Web pages, these duplicate pages will split rankings with those of the original site. Again, this isn’t theory. This is something that is done in practice regularly.

To be clear, I am NOT promoting these tactics, and some of them will put you in legal hot water. But it is good to be aware of them so you can protect yourself against such practices, or at least identify these attacks when they are occurring. And, if someone is pulling one of these stunts on you–well, all’s fair in love and war.

Originally posted at Searchlight.

In a recent test, a webmaster optimized his site for a four word keyword. After about three weeks, Yahoo and MSN showed the website in the top 10 results.

Even after several weeks, the same website was nowhere to be seen in Google’s top 10 results. The highest result that the website could obtain on Google was position 30:

What does this mean for you?

It looks like Yahoo and MSN are much faster to list new websites in their result pages. The test confirmed that Google has filters for new websites.

For webmasters, the results of this test mean that they have to overcome Google’s filters for new sites if they want to have top 10 rankings.

It’s difficult for new websites to get high rankings on Google but it is possible. You have to make sure that Google trusts your site.

For searchers, the results of this little test mean that Google might not always have the best search resaults, particularly when it’s a search for new content. Yahoo and MSN might be the better choice for some searches.

Is your website still not listed in Google’s top 10 for your keyword?

Is your website still not listed in Google’s top 10 results although your site is several months old?

Your keywords might be the reason for the problem. If you target very competitive keywords, then it will take much longer until your website is listed in the top 10 rankings.

If you want to get high rankings for competitive keywords, then you need very many good inbound links that contain your keyword in the anchor text.

If you target keywords that consist of one or two words then you might want to reconsider them. One word keywords usually don’t lead to sales because these keywords are too general.

Keywords that consist of four words are much more likely to convert to sales than shorter keywords (source: Oneupweb Research).

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - October 18, 2007 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) today announced financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2007.

“We are very pleased with the impressive growth we experienced across our business,” said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. “Our core search advertising business experienced continued momentum driven by growth in monetization and traffic, and we are creating a wider and deeper ads system through our focus on innovation, bringing more ad formats to our advertisers. Our efforts to offer more products and services in international markets as well as effectively grow our technology infrastructure and add to our deep talent base during the quarter helped to deliver growth by enabling Google to reach more users around the world.”

Q3 Financial Summary

Google reported revenues of $4.23 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, an increase of 57% compared to the third quarter of 2006 and an increase of 9% compared to the second quarter of 2007. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting traffic acquisition costs, or TAC. In the third quarter of 2007, TAC totaled $1.22 billion, or 29% of advertising revenues.Google reports operating income, net income, and earnings per share (EPS) on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. The non-GAAP measures, as well as free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, are described below and are reconciled to the corresponding GAAP measures in the accompanying financial tables.

• GAAP operating income for the third quarter of 2007 was $1.32 billion, or 31% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $1.10 billion, or 29% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2007. Non-GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2007 was $1.52 billion, or 36% of revenues. This compares to non-GAAP operating income of $1.35 billion, or 35% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2007.

• GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2007 was $1.07 billion as compared to $925 million in the second quarter of 2007. Non-GAAP net income in the third quarter of 2007 was $1.24 billion, compared to $1.12 billion in the second quarter of 2007.

• GAAP EPS for the third quarter of 2007 was $3.38 on 317 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $2.93 for the second quarter of 2007 on 315 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS in the third quarter of 2007 was $3.91, compared to $3.56 in the second quarter of 2007.

• Non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP EPS are computed net of stock-based compensation (SBC). In the third quarter of 2007, the charge related to SBC was $198 million as compared to $242 million in the second quarter of 2007. Tax benefits related to SBC have also been excluded from these non-GAAP measures. The tax benefit related to SBC was $31 million in the third quarter of 2007 and $43 million in the second quarter of 2007. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to GAAP operating income, operating margin, net income, and EPS are included at the end of this release.

Q3 Financial Highlights

Revenues - Google reported revenues of $4.23 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, representing a 57% increase over third quarter 2006 revenues of $2.69 billion and a 9% increase over second quarter 2007 revenues of $3.87 billion. Google reports its revenues, consistent with GAAP, on a gross basis without deducting TAC.

Google Sites Revenues - Google-owned sites generated revenues of $2.73 billion, or 65% of total revenues, in the third quarter of 2007. This represents a 68% increase over third quarter 2006 revenues of $1.63 billion and a 10% increase over second quarter 2007 revenues of $2.49 billion.

Google Network Revenues - Google’s partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $1.45 billion, or 34% of total revenues, in the third quarter of 2007. This represents a 40% increase over network revenues of $1.04 billion generated in the third quarter of 2006 and an 8% increase over second quarter 2007 revenues of $1.35 billion.

International Revenues - Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $2.03 billion, representing 48% of total revenues in the third quarter of 2007, compared to 44% in the third quarter of 2006 and 48% in the second quarter of 2007. Had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the second quarter of 2007 through the third quarter of 2007, our revenues in the third quarter of 2007 would have been $24 million lower. Had foreign exchange rates remained constant from the third quarter of 2006 through the third quarter of 2007, our revenues in the third quarter of 2007 would have been $121 million lower.Revenues from the United Kingdom totaled $661 million, representing 16% of revenue in the third quarter of 2007, compared to 16% in the third quarter of 2006 and 15% in the second quarter of 2007.

Paid Clicks - Aggregate paid clicks, which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of our AdSense partners, increased approximately 45% over the third quarter of 2006 and approximately 5% over the second quarter of 2007.

TAC - Traffic Acquisition Costs, the portion of revenues shared with Google’s partners, increased to $1.22 billion in the third quarter of 2007. This compares to TAC of $1.15 billion in the second quarter of 2007. TAC as a percentage of advertising revenues was 29% in the third quarter, compared to 30% in the second quarter of 2007.The majority of TAC expense is related to amounts ultimately paid to our AdSense partners, which totaled $1.12 billion in the third quarter of 2007. TAC is also related to amounts ultimately paid to certain distribution partners and others who direct traffic to our website, which totaled $105 million in the third quarter of 2007.Other Cost of Revenues - Other cost of revenues, which is comprised primarily of data center operational expenses, credit card processing charges as well as content acquisition costs, increased to $441 million, or 10% of revenues, in the third quarter of 2007, compared to $412 million, or 11% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2007.

Operating Expenses - Operating expenses, other than cost of revenues, were $1.25 billion in the third quarter of 2007, or 30% of revenues, compared to $1.21 billion in the second quarter of 2007, or 31% of revenues. The operating expenses in the third quarter of 2007 included $659 million in payroll-related and facilities expenses, compared to $625 million in the second quarter of 2007.

Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) - In the third quarter of 2007, the total charge related to SBC was $198 million as compared to $242 million in the second quarter of 2007. In the second quarter of 2007, we launched our employee transferable stock option (TSO) program and, in connection with this launch, incurred an SBC modification charge of $62 million.

We currently estimate stock-based compensation charges for grants to employees prior to October 1, 2007 to be approximately $801 million for 2007. This does not include expenses to be recognized related to employee stock awards that are granted after October 1, 2007 or non-employee stock awards that have been or may be granted. We currently anticipate that dilution related to all equity grants to employees will be at or below 2% this year.

Operating Income - GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2007 was $1.32 billion, or 31% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $1.10 billion, or 29% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2007. Non-GAAP operating income in the third quarter of 2007 was $1.52 billion, or 36% of revenues. This compares to non-GAAP operating income of $1.35 billion, or 35% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2007.

Net Income - GAAP net income for the third quarter of 2007 was $1.07 billion as compared to $925 million in the second quarter of 2007. Non-GAAP net income was $1.24 billion in the third quarter of 2007, compared to $1.12 billion in the second quarter of 2007. GAAP EPS for the third quarter of 2007 was $3.38 on 317 million diluted shares outstanding, compared to $2.93 for the second quarter of 2007, on 315 million diluted shares outstanding. Non-GAAP EPS for the third quarter of 2007 was $3.91, compared to $3.56 in the second quarter of 2007.

Income Taxes - Our effective tax rate was 27.3% for the third quarter of 2007 compared to 25.5% in the second quarter of 2007.

Cash Flow and Capital Expenditures - Net cash provided by operating activities for the third quarter of 2007 totaled $1.63 billion as compared to $1.23 billion for the second quarter of 2007. In the third quarter of 2007, capital expenditures were $553 million, the majority of which was related to IT infrastructure investments, including data centers, servers, and networking equipment. Free cash flow, an alternative non-GAAP measure of liquidity, is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. In the third quarter of 2007, free cash flow was $1.08 billion.

We expect to continue to make significant capital expenditures.

A reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by operating activities, the GAAP measure of liquidity, is included at the end of this release.

Cash - As of September 30, 2007, cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities were $13.1 billion.

On a worldwide basis, Google employed 15,916 full-time employees as of September 30, 2007, up from 13,786 full time employees as of June 30, 2007.WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

A live audio webcast of Google’s third quarter 2007 earnings release call will be available at http://investor.google.com/webcast.html. The call begins today at 1:30 PM (PT) / 4:30 PM (ET). This press release, the financial tables, as well as other supplemental information including the reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, are also available at that site. A replay of the call will be available beginning at 7:30 PM (ET) today through midnight Thursday, October 25, 2007 by calling 888-203-1112 in the United States or 719-457-0820 for calls from outside the United States. The required confirmation code for the replay is 2070643.FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on information available to us as of the date of this press release and our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements relating to our expected stock-based compensation charges, the expected dilution related to equity grants to our employees, and our plans to make significant capital expenditures. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted include, among others, unforeseen changes in our hiring patterns, the amount of stock-based compensation we issue to our service providers, our need to expend capital to accommodate the growth of the business, as well as those risks and uncertainties included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2007, which is on file with the SEC and is available on our investor relations website at investor.google.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will also be set forth in our report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, which will be filed with the SEC in November 2007. All information provided in this release and in the attachments is as of October 18, 2007, and should not be unduly relied on because Google undertakes no duty to update this information.

ABOUT NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which statements are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, we use the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP EPS and free cash flow. The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned “Reconciliations of non-GAAP results of operations measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures” and “Reconciliation from net cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow” included at the end of this release.

We use these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Our management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance and liquidity by excluding certain expenses and expenditures that may not be indicative of our “recurring core business operating results,” meaning our operating performance excluding not only non-cash charges, such as stock-based compensation, but also discrete cash charges that are infrequent in nature. We believe that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to our historical performance and liquidity as well as comparisons to our competitors’ operating results. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors both because (1) they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making and (2) they are used by our institutional investors and the analyst community to help them analyze the health of our business.

Non-GAAP operating income and operating margin. We define non-GAAP operating income as operating income plus stock-based compensation. Non-GAAP operating margin is defined as non-GAAP operating income divided by revenues. Google considers these non-GAAP financial measures to be useful metrics for management and investors because they exclude the effect of stock-based compensation so that Google’s management and investors can compare Google’s recurring core business operating results over multiple periods. Because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types that companies can use under FAS 123R, Google’s management believes that providing a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes stock-based compensation allows investors to make meaningful comparisons between Google’s recurring core business operating results and those of other companies, as well as providing Google’s management with an important tool for financial and operational decision making and for evaluating Google’s own recurring core business operating results over different periods of time. There are a number of limitations related to the use of non-GAAP operating income versus operating income calculated in accordance with GAAP. First, non-GAAP operating income excludes some costs, namely, stock-based compensation, that are recurring. Stock-based compensation has been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant recurring expense in Google’s business. Second, stock-based compensation is an important part of our employees’ compensation and impacts their performance. Third, the components of the costs that we exclude in our calculation of non-GAAP operating income may differ from the components that our peer companies exclude when they report their results of operations. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from non-GAAP operating income and evaluating non-GAAP operating income together with operating income calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Non-GAAP net income and EPS. We define non-GAAP net income as net income plus stock-based compensation, less the related tax effects. We define non-GAAP EPS as non-GAAP net income divided by the weighted average shares, on a fully-diluted basis, outstanding as of September 30, 2007. We consider these non-GAAP financial measures to be a useful metric for management and investors for the same reasons that Google uses non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin. However, in order to provide a complete picture of our recurring core business operating results, we exclude from non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS the tax effects associated with stock-based compensation. Without excluding these tax effects, investors would only see the gross effect that excluding these expenses had on our operating results. The same limitations described above regarding Google’s use of non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP operating margin apply to our use of non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS and evaluating non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP EPS together with net income and EPS calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Free cash flow. We define free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities minus capital expenditures. We consider free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business that, after the acquisition of property and equipment, including information technology infrastructure and land and buildings, can be used for strategic opportunities, including investing in our business, making strategic acquisitions and strengthening the balance sheet. Analysis of free cash flow also facilitates management’s comparisons of our operating results to competitors’ operating results. A limitation of using free cash flow versus the GAAP measure of net cash provided by operating activities as a means for evaluating Google is that free cash flow does not represent the total increase or decrease in the cash balance from operations for the period since it excludes cash used for capital expenditures during the period. Our management compensates for this limitation by providing information about our capital expenditures on the face of the cash flow statement and under Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Form 10-Q. Google has computed free cash flow using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter and year to year.

The accompanying tables have more details on the GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations between these financial measures

read more here>>>

http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/revenues_q307.html

Baidu.com, China’s largest web search engine, is preparing a New York listing that could raise more than $200m and test the appetite of international investors for Chinese internet stocks.

The company, in which Google holds a stake, is backed by US venture capitalists and is believed to have appointed Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman Sachs to manage the initial public offering. It is likely to take place on Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.

The planned sale of a stake of about 25 per cent could value the company at about $800m and make a multi-millionaire of Robin Li, the chief executive who co-founded the company in 1999 after working in Silicon Valley.

The company and the two banks declined to comment yesterday. But people close to Baidu said the IPO was scheduled for the second half of the year, although it could be delayed or scaled back according to market conditions.

Nasdaq-listed Chinese internet stocks, led by portals Sina Corp, Sohu.com and NetEase.com, have had a volatile ride in recent years as enthusiasm over their profitability has given way to worries about the fast-changing market. Sina’s shares, for example, are now nearly 50 per cent below their peak in January last year.

An IPO by Baidu, which controls nearly half of China’s web search market, would present international investors with a choice between the vast potential and huge risks of the country’s internet sector.

With only 94m of its 1.3bn population using the internet, according to official figures, analysts expect web penetration to surge over the next few years. But it is unclear whether Baidu can retain its current hold on the market, as Google’s own Chinese search engine and three different Yahoo! search services have been making inroads in China. Baidu, which averages more than 30m text searches daily, has said that it recorded its first profit in 2003 and increased revenues by some 150 per cent in both 2002 and 2003.

The company does not disclose financial results but Shanghai iResearch, a research firm, estimated the company had revenues of Rmb100m ($12m) in 2003. Some 80 per cent of revenue comes from sponsored links, in which clients pay to have their websites appear alongside a search.

Google’s purchase of an undisclosed stake last June, alongside other investors including Venture TDF Group which is backed by Singapore’s development board and Shanghai’s municipal government was Baidu’s third round of financing.

MySpace is going into the news business with a service that will scour the internet for news stories and let users vote on which ones receive the most exposure.

This approach blends elements of Google News and sites such as Digg and Netscape, which rely on readers to submit stories and determine their prominence. It also marks the site’s ambitions to become a web portal like Yahoo!, providing its users with a front door to the internet.

MySpace, which is owned by News Corp, also the parent company of Times Online, will display headlines from external new sites, a practice that attracted legal challenges when Google used it for its news service.

The search engine recently reached a settlement with Agence France-Presse after the news agency claimed that Google had infringed its copyright.

Dan Strauss, who headed the group that developed MySpace News, said that publishers would be able to opt out of the service if they didn’t want their stories to appear on it. He also said that media outlets owned by News Corp would not receive favourable treatment.

The feature, which is expected to be launched as a ‘beta’ test feature, uses technology developed by Newroo, which News Corp bought last year.

Google confirmed this weekend that it had acquired in-game advertising specialist, Adscape for $23-million (£11.8m). This puts it in direct competition with Microsoft, following MS’s $400-million (£205m) purchase of Massive in 2006.

“Whoo-dee-do!” we hear you cry, “More in-game ads!” but wait, there’s more.

While Microsoft’s Massive has deals in place with such publishing heavyweights as THQ, UbiSoft and Take-Two, Adscape has deals in place with… no one.

But wait again, as the US patent office holds some pretty interesting information on the intellectual property owned by Adscape – and now, Google. Take US Patent numbered, 232324 (series 2) filed on September 3, 2002 for example. Called rather tediously

An interactive gaming system comprising a gaming console and a gaming service provider is disclosed. The gaming console contains a storage medium, on which data relating to a configuration of the gaming console are stored. The gaming console further contains a processor in communication with the storage medium for retrieving data therefrom and executing the data, the data relating to the configuration of the gaming console. A gaming service provider provides instruction data to the gaming console, and a connecting network enables a connection between the gaming console and the gaming service provider. Further, a gaming client is stored on the gaming console. The gaming client establishes a connection between the gaming console and a gaming service provider and controls events taking place on the gaming console. The configuration of the gaming console is established by the gaming client according to messages sent to and received from the gaming service provider and to messages stored within a personal profile.
The object, in short, of the whole thing is:

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for interactive on-line gaming that is automatically adjustable to changes in gaming environments and user preferences.

OK, so one the surface, this is a simply a way to ensure that adverts are targeted at specific areas within gameplay, and (by using personal profiles (’cookies’, really)) - that once an end-user has seen an ad’ a certain number of times, it does not reappear.

However, with Google’s backing – and an incentive to go up against what appears to be its arch-rival – this could be extended to a full-blown, tailored, gaming network such as, well, Xbox Live.

The main issues, of course, are that currently Adscape has no clients signed up; and games publishers may well disinclined to piss off one of the major platform holders. On the other hand, if Google starts to take this patent seriously, it could provide those same publishers with a large, knobbly stick to use in negotiations with the platform holders.

We await the outcome of yet another Google vs Microsoft scrap with interest

Msn indexing in there new windows live. Well i not even try to worry about msn yet still trying to get togrips with google and yahoo there are so many search engines but i think 75% are prob no good at all. So any help here for all us post away

There is a lot of talk about this subject how to get index by yahoo we all no yahoo are very slow at indexing sites even when you search for your site name it prob wont show up in the resaults so here are so small tips that may help i may be wrong as i no expert at all

Yahoo like real content fresh conten so adding a rss fead will help you here all so mata tags are a big factor with yahoo even thow yahoo are slow at indexing sites as this is a big problem for a lot of web masters.but make sure each page has its own mata tags add rss feads your own or any body elses as long as it the same content will allways help.  If you have more ideas then post here