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Google Declares Jihad On Blog Link Farms — A major Google page rank update has punished large scale blog link farms and similar sites indulging in heavy cross linking by dramatically cutting their Google page rank scores. — There is some suggestion that the changes may be related …
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Digg Favorites Slapped By Google — For a company such as Google with a stock price based extensively on anticipated growth and public sentiment, it doesn't take a huge swing in goodwill to have a dramatic effect on valuation. Google has just slapped their biggest fans.

Google's PageRank Update Goes After Paid Links? — Seems like there is a PageRank update taking place now that seems to be impacting sites that sell links. Can't say that we were not warned about this? Danny Sullivan wrote Official: Selling Paid Links Can Hurt Your PageRank Or Rankings …

ProBlogger - PageRank 4 — Wow - this is an interesting one. — ProBlogger's page rank is currently at a 4 - and so is Digital Photography School. — I'd heard blogs had been penalized in their page rank recently for selling text links - bizarre thing is that neither of these two blogs sell links.
Discussion:
Daily Blog Tips, Technosailor, the Constant Observer, Dan Blank, SYNTAGMA and John Chow dot Com

Google Drops PageRank For Many Sites : Paid Links or New Algorithm?
Discussion:
Google Blogoscoped

Source: Microsoft wins Facebook bid battle — Update: 12:30 p.m. see bottom. — After weeks of speculation, Microsoft appears to have won a battle with Google over who would get a stake in Facebook, according to a source familiar with the situation. — Microsoft and Facebook were close to a deal, according to the source.
Discussion:
Valleywag, Webware.com, Between the Lines, Tech Trader Daily, Scobleizer, Mashable! and ParisLemon
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ONLINE FACEOFF — M'SOFT AND GOOGLE DUKE IT OUT OVER HOT SITE — Google is threatening to once again beat rival Microsoft to the deal punch, this time in the white-hot Facebook investment sweepstakes. — Microsoft and Google are each vying to take a stake of between 5 percent and 10 percent …
Discussion:
WebProNews, Good Morning Silicon Valley, Valleywag, Epicenter, Inside Facebook, Download Squad, Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog, Read/WriteWeb, The Social Web, Between the Lines, HipMojo.com, Webware.com, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Deal Journal, RADAR, Seeking Alpha Internet stocks, Microsoft News Tracker, All Facebook, Screenwerk, Search Engine Land, MediaBytes with Shelly …, Mashable!, paidContent.org, John Battelle's Searchblog and ParisLemon

Facebook Is Close to Choosing Microsoft or Google for Deal — SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook Inc. is close to choosing between Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to sell ads for the social networking service outside the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter.

Sorry, Microsoft, Google Has Already Won Facebook War — The Post suggests that our prediction of a month ago is coming true: Either Google will run off with Facebook, leaving a jilted Microsoft (MSFT) fuming at the altar, or Microsoft will have to pay a king's ransom to win the bidding war—just as it did with aQuantive:
Discussion:
Valleywag


Facebook opens developer platform for mobile — Facebook has announced that third-party developers can integrate features from web-based applications to work on mobile devices. — Most of the world uses mobile devices, and in many countries, people use cell phones more than they do computers.


Sync your inbox across devices with free IMAP — There are two online petitions I've signed in my life. One was for a "Xena: Warrior Princess" movie. The other, which I signed a few months before starting at Google, was for Gmail IMAP. As some of you know, IMAP is the best way to access …
Discussion:
Good Morning Silicon Valley, Download Squad, greg hughes, Lifehacker, MacUser, blognation USA, PalmAddicts and BetaNews
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Free IMAP for Gmail — When I joined Google a little over a year ago, I'd been working in the same field for several years and I wanted to do "something different." It seems I got my wish: together with an excellent team, I helped develop IMAP for Gmail. And today, we're starting to roll it out on every device, for free.

Interop: Citrix XenSource Flys as Google Crashes
Discussion:
Mashable!

Gmail gets IMAP
Discussion:
Ars Technica, Googling Google, DailyTech, Between the Lines, CNET News.com, Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim, Google Blogoscoped, The Register, Engadget Mobile, Gadget Lab, Zoli's Blog, The Mobile Gadgeteer, jkOnTheRun, TechBlog, Search Engine Land, ParisLemon, TechCrunch, The Tech Report, Tom Raftery's Social Media, Googlified, TECH.BLORGE.com, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Compiler, Gear Live, CyberNet, GottaBeMobile.com, franticindustries, How To Split An Atom, RossCode.com and Joseph Scott's Blog

In Foray Into TV, Google Is to Track Ad Audiences — Google, which dominates the market for advertising on the Internet, seems to be hoping to do the same thing on television. — The company is set to announce a partnership today with the Nielsen Company, the voice of authority …
Discussion:
Insider Chatter, TechCrunch, NewTeeVee, Associated Press, Mashable!, p2pnet, WebProNews, Silicon Alley Insider, MarketingVOX and Beet.TV
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The Nielsen Company and Google Establish Strategic Relationship — Nielsen to Provide Demographic Data for Google TV Ads — Gary Holmes at The Nielsen Company: +1 646 654 8975 — The Nielsen Company and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that the companies have established a multi-year, strategic relationship.
Discussion:
last100, IP Democracy, Epicenter, Business Week, Podcasting News, Search Engine Land, Screenwerk and Google Blogoscoped

Let open access reign: Verizon relents on legal challenge to FCC — In a surprise move, Verizon has dropped its lawsuit challenging the open access requirement for next January's 700MHz spectrum auction. Earlier this week, the telecom filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the case filed …
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Google Analyst Day: Jonathan Rosenberg On Search, Apps; New Versions Of iGoogle, Gmail And More — The first session at Google (GOOG) analyst day is focus on search and apps. CFO George Reyes is giving the introduction. He'll be followed by Jonathan Rosenberg on search and apps …

Why Enterprise Software Sucks — Khoi, who's consistently one of the best writers on the web, recently took a swipe at enterprise software. Who can blame him? We agree. … Then he opines: … The people who buy enterprise software aren't the people who use enterprise software.