Caffeine: Google's New Search Engine

Seems like Google is feeling a bit of pressure. Two weeks after the Microsoft-Yahoo search deal, Google is announcing a new-renewed search engine, code named Caffeine.

Although Google claims this is NOT a counter-move that comes as a response to any other company, it seems a bit more than a coincidence that the might search giant has chosen to release its new search engine now.

Google's logo in 1998

Google has been having some problems lately - some of its services weren't a big success and were closed; Google's image as a censor doesn't help either; AdSense and AdWords users are reporting problems and clashes with Google; Twitter is getting stronger and Google has no real answer to real-time searches - and much more.

The new Google search engine is still in Beta version, and Google claims that regular users might not notice the difference between the old Google and the new Caffeine. Power users, however, might see the differences in speed, accuracy, relevancy and more. Google invites users to send it feedback regarding the new search engine.

A bit of testing and tinkering with Google's new search engine revealed the following:

• Caffeine is faster than the regular Google search. That might change after the entire internet will knock on its doors.
• The results are displayed differently - there are more images, clips and news.
• Much more Site Links.
• Rankings are different. I am regularly monitoring some search terms (both in Hebrew and in English), and I could see some significant changes. SEO experts are in trouble - it seems that at least some modifications will need to be made.

The war just got more intense. It will be interesting to watch, of course.

Some relevant links regarding the new Google search engine:

• Caffeine - The new Google Search Engine
• Matt Cutts writes about the new Google search engine
• A post in Google's Webmasters Blog about Caffeine
• The Twitter Buzz about the new engine
  

Flickr Video on its Way?

Reports and rumors around the net are talking about an upcoming Flickr Video service.

CNET reports that Flickr Video is due this April (Which is 2 weeks from now, mind you). Flickr Video is not supposed to replace Yahoo Video. So, is Yahoo/Flickr going to compete directly with YouTube? Can it be done via Flickr at all?

Flickr isn't just a photo-sharing site. It's a community, and a very vociferous one, as well. Will they accept the addition of videos, or will they bail on Flickr, looking for a quieter realm for storing their photos?

I have been a Flickr and YouTube user for a while. If Flickr launches a good video service, I might start using it instead of YouTube - but winning over the regular YouTube user isn't going to be easy. Users don't switch easily between services, even free ones. I wonder if pro-Flickr users are going to get some benefits, and how all of this is going to look.

In any case, it's always good to hear about new developments and new services. Keeps everything more interesting and dynamic. I guess I'll be following this subject as well.

Yahoo's Top Pictures of the Year

Contrary to the bullshit behind the end-of-the-year-top-searches, I found Yahoo's top pictures of the year rather interesting.

Here you can see the most viewed pictures of 2007, and surprisingly enough, the first 5 do not include any women in bathing suits (just women on high heels).

The most e-mailed pictures are different. The top one is of crocodile at a zoo in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung, that holds the forearm of a zoo veterinarian in between its teeth. It's a rather gruesome picture. I guess people enjoy shocking their friends - or maybe they need to SHARE the shock. The second picture in line, by the way, is of Villagers boil rats in Suphan Buri province. So, we like animals and death, don't we?

The 4th image on this list, finally, shows some booty. Thank god!

Play, Play, Play: 10 of the best online-gaming sites on the net

One of the best things to do on the net is play stupid, addictive, time-wasting games. The coolest things about web-based games, is that you don't have to download anything, it's usually for free, and the games are relatively simple to master and enjoy.

There are many game sites and game lists out there. Here are some of the best:

• Kongregate: A huge selection of games, and a thriving community. Home to some of the most addictive flash games known to man. Don't forget to try the chat-rooms - there's a lot of fun going on there.


• Miniclip: Tons of games, mostly simple and short. You can embed the games in your site or blog.


• Orisinal: Probably the cutest game site ever made.


• One More Level: A collection of many flash games from various sites.


• friv: A huge, graphical list of 200 games. Nicely done.


• Crazy Monkey: Cool, smart games. Boxhead is the main hit, naturally.


• Online Retro Games: For the grown-ups who miss their gaming past.


• Oldgames.dk: Another excellent retro site.


• Yahoo Games: Sounds corny, but Yahoo still has some of the best flash games out there - including Yahoo Pool and Backgammon.


• Popcap: Some of the most addictive games known to mankind. Beware.

Have fun and remember - the minimize button is your friend! ;-)

End-of-the-Year Search Trends Bullshit

Britney Spears rules again - this is the conclusion from Yahoo's Top Searches list of 2007.

Britney spears was at the top of many search lists in the last few years. It's really hard to believe that in an ever changing, dynamic world such as the internet, something like that stays so stable. This is Yahoo's list:

1. Britney Spears
2. WWE
3. Paris Hilton
4. Naruto
5. Beyonce
6. Lindsay Lohan
7. Rune Scape
8. Fantasy Football
9. Fergie
10. Jessica Alba

You can dig deeper, if you feel like it, and look at Yahoo's Search Trends for 2007.

These lists represent almost nothing at all, because they are edited and mutated by the editors of the sites that offer them. Last year, Google published a VERY weird top searches list for 2006, and after a lot of bashing and criticism, was forced to admit that the list was heavily edited and basically didn't reflect any trends at all. I suppose that's why Google stopped publishing their Zeitgeist, and moved to the more flexible, web 2.0-style of Google Trends.

Yahoo says that they remove sexual queries and navigational queries - and the list is compiled by some sort of formula they conjure.

These lists serve no one but the PR of the specific site that publishes them. They are almost meaningless. The real data of searches is very interesting, but also very valuable. That's why we will never see it - but only the distorted image the big search engine choose to project.