Download Squad

Googleholic for July 4, 2008

Christina Warren — 2008-07-04T00:04:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix for everything Google, the July 4th column! Happy 4th everyone!

In this edition:

Google C++ testing framework
Google Talk for iPhone
Google Maps voice search for BlackBerry Pearl
Use Spotlight to find online Google Docs
More ways to earn revenue from YouTube

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Adobe makes Flash searchable, Flash designers rejoice

Patrick Beeson — 2008-07-01T15:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Developer, Adobe, Google, Yahoo!, Search

UPDATE: E.W. Scripps SEM Manager Paul Petersen weighs in on the SEO impact of Adobe and Google's announcement.

Adobe's Flash technology has long been the bane of efforts to create a Web site or application that can be indexed by Google, Yahoo! or other search engines. What it lacked in search engine optimization (SEO), Flash made up in offering designers an infinite playground for creating rich-media apps, games and video.

But what good is an application that users can't find?

Yesterday, Adobe and the two search engine leaders came out with an answer: A special Flash player that opens up content within applications and translates it for search engines. Flash content owners and search-engine users should notice results immediately.

This news was also mentioned in today's Googleholic.

Continue reading Adobe makes Flash searchable, Flash designers rejoice

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Googleholic for July 1, 2008

Christina Warren — 2008-07-01T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix for everything Google!

In this edition:

Google crawls Flash
AdSense Referrals and AdWords pay-per-action retired
Is Picasa being rebranded?
Google teams up with Seth MacFarlane
Google Mac Playground
Farewell, Googlified

Continue reading Googleholic for July 1, 2008

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Googleholic for June 27, 2008

Christina Warren — 2008-06-27T19:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Google, Googleholic

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google!

In this edition:

New Google Mobile homepage
Improved search results for BlackBerry
Free Google webinar for webmasters
Google Finance data API released
Google Media Server gadget

Continue reading Googleholic for June 27, 2008

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Google gives Blogger a long overdue facelift

Brad Linder — 2008-06-26T23:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Blogging, Google

Google has rolled out a whole slew of new features for Blogger, the company's user-friendly blogging software. In order to enable the new goodies, you'll need to login to draft.blogger.com instead of www.blogger.com. This is where Google rolls out tools that might not be quite ready for prime time. But once you try out the new version, you'll probably never want to go back.

First up, Google has redesigned the post editor. It's still a what you see is what you get editor, but the toolbar looks much cleaner and placing images got about a thousand times easier thanks to a new drag and drop image handling. You can also easily resize images by clicking (or double-clicking in Firefox 3) to bring up a box that asks if you'd like an image to be small, medium or large.

Blogger in Draft also has better support for HTML and enables tables and other advanced HTML code to be placed in a post. And the preview feature brings up a new window so you can preview your post without leaving the editor window.

One thing to note is that Google has turned off the autosave feature, so you'll need to click the save button periodically if you don't want to lose your work. Autosave should be restored in a future update.

Continue reading Google gives Blogger a long overdue facelift

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Google Browser Sync: I'm not dead yet!

Brad Linder — 2008-06-25T16:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Google, Open Source

Google may have decided to cease development of the Google Browser Sync plugin for Firefox, but that doesn't mean the utility will never see another update. Because rather than simply boxing up the source code and packing it away, Google decided to release the source code publicly under the BSD license.

Google Browser Sync is a utility that lets you synchronize your Firefox bookmarks, preferences, and cookies across multiple computers.

Now anyone can check out the source from the Google Code project page. While nobody's done anything really cool yet like make a version of Google Browser Sync that works with Firefox 3, it may just be a matter of time.

One thing that's particularly interesting is the fact that Ars Technica reports Google posted the source code online on June 13, the same day that Lifehacker confirmed the death of the official project. It's not clear which came first, the chicken or the egg. But either way, we're not complaining. If Google isn't going to continue developing this useful utility, then we're just glad that someone else may be able to pick up the torch.

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Googleholic for June 24, 2008

Christina Warren — 2008-06-24T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Productivity, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix for everything Google!

In this edition:

Google Finance gets more real-time quotes
Google Map Maker
Google Doc creation shortcuts
Customize Google forms
Personalized YouTube homepage

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Google takes on Compete, Alexa

Brad Linder — 2008-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Google, Search

Everybody knows that Alexa, Compete, and other web services that track web site traffic are inherently flawed. Because they compile third party data instead of looking at your actual server data, you can never be sure that the statistics you're reading are accurate. But hey, if you really want to see whether Engadget is more popular than Gizmodo, they're the only game in town, right?

Now there's a new player in the web traffic comparison game. Google has added the ability to search for websites in Google Trends. While there's no guarantee that the stats Google spits back are any more accurate than the ones you'll find from Alexa or Compete, the service does give you one more source for comparison.

Search Engine Land reports that Google grabs its numbers from a combination of sources including search traffic, anonymous Google Analytics figures and other third party marketing data.

[via VentureBeat]

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Googleholic for June 20, 2008

Christina Warren — 2008-06-20T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Finance, Internet, Web services, Google, Social Software, Googleholic, web 2.0

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google!

In this edition:

Upcoming AdWords system maintenance
Sites gets new features
YouTube tries long-form
YouTube introduces Screening Room
Google Docs on ultraportables
Google Finance adds cash tracking

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Googleholic for June 17, 2008

Christina Warren — 2008-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google!

In this edition:

Get the Google Toolbar for Firefox 3
Improve efficiency with Google Docs
Google Code Jam '08
Googolopoly, the game
Gmail and Google Reader tips

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Checking your email obsessively? It's costing you money, time, and probably sanity

Drew Olanoff — 2008-06-16T15:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Utilities, E-mail, Productivity, Google

Check this out y'all:

A NYT article says that Americans waste $650 BILLION dollars over-checking their email obsessively. BILLION. Not Millions. Not Thousands. BILLIONS. Crazier? We waste $650 BILLION dollars trying to get back into the groove of work after checking our email obsessively.

Why do we do it? Are we that afraid of missing something?

Some of us here can say that we too check our email obsessively. Even going so far as to click on the Gmail logo over and over to refresh the page. Does this sound familiar to you? If so, you're apparently not alone.

How do we stop? How do we combat this problem? Do we love email that much? We hear people complaining all of the time about information and email overload, so maybe we're trying to get a jump on controlling it before it controls us?

Many questions and not a lot of answers, but if these numbers from the NYT are true, oh boy do we have to change some things.

First things first.

Stop. Look, and Listen.

Stop checking your email so often
Look and notice that Gmail already refreshes itself
Listen for emails to come in automatically via POP or IMAP

You won't miss something.

What's your favorite way to catch email? We find that checking email on the mobile slows us down a bit. Unless you get too obsessed with that...can you say Crackberry?

Lets hear your thoughts in the comments.

[via silicon valley insider]

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Google discontinues Google Browser Sync

Brad Linder — 2008-06-13T17:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Google, Mozilla

If you've been waiting patiently for Google to update Google Browser Sync to run on Firefox 3, it looks like you can stop waiting. Lifehacker reports that the company has decided to discontinue development of the product.

Google Browser Sync provides Firefox 2 users a way to synchronize their bookmarks, history, cookies, and saved passwords across multiple browsers on multiple computers. In other words, you can use the program to make sure the settings on your home browser are identical to your settings on your browser at work.

According to a Google representative, the folks who had been working on the browser plugin had moved onto other projects. But honestly, we're not surprised to see that Google Browser Sync is no longer a priority for Google. Mozilla is now working on its own synchronization service called Weave, which lets you synchronize bookmarks and browser history across multiple computers.

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Googleholic for June 13, 2008

Christina Warren — 2008-06-13T17:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google! In this edition:

Upload PDFs to Google Docs
Google I/O sessions now online
Edit the Google Mobile page
Easy way to export gCal ICS files
Use Google Docs for Craigslist ads
Google's agreement with Yahoo!

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Gab your life away on Facebook and Google Chat with Gabtastik

Drew Olanoff — 2008-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Fun, Internet, Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Web services, Google, Social Software, AOL, web 2.0

Facebook has put out their chat service, Google has Google chat. There's no desktop app for Facebook, but there is one for Google chat.

Confusing, and annoying. It's also confusing and annoying to have to use those services in separate programs or multiple tabs in a web browser.

AIM is probably the most popular IM service known to man and woman, iChat for Mac...these are both desktop experiences.

Enter Gabtastik.

For Windows XP and Mac OS X, Gabtastik wants to take your browser chatting to the desktop where a lot us feels that it should stay. The program takes you to a page just like a web browser would to log in. It did seem a little slow to pull in Facebook data. That could be an issue.

You can switch back and forth between Facebook chat and Google, as well as change the opacity of the application itself so that it doesn't become an annoyance by overpowering your desktop. Make it invisible if that floats your boat.

This is a great way to not be tethered to either site via browser 24/7 and still be in contact with your friends who either are tethered or are cool enough to use something like Gabtastik. The downside is that you still have to have AIM or iChat up along with this if you use them too.

Gabtastik calls itself a "Site Specific Browser" for web chat services, so will other services be included as they pop up as well? Let's hope so!

Gabtastik is not the first to do pull these services away from their respective sites, Digsby handles it, and so does a sweet Firefox trick.

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Now that Microsoft's out of picture, Yahoo! rebounds with Google

Brad Linder — 2008-06-12T23:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Business, Internet, Google, Yahoo!, Search

Now that Yahoo! has finally decided things are really over with Microsoft, the company has found room in its heart for a new love: Google. The two companies today announced an advertising partnership that will basically place Google AdSense advertisements alongside Yahoo! search results.

The deal isn't exactly comprehensive. It covers "some of" Yahoo!'s web properties, and the ads will only be displayed in the US and Canada. The agreement is non-exclusive, which means that Yahoo! may display its own ads or ads from other parties as well.

In a press release, Yahoo! says it expects to raise about $800 million in revenue per year from the deal. Google, in return, posted a blog entry saying the deal is "good for users, advertisers, and publishers." The US government isn't quite convinced yet. Back in April, the Justice Department responded to a test run of a Google/Yahoo! partnership with an investigation. And today the chairman of the US Senate Antitrust Subcommittee said the Senate will be closely examining the deal.

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Google Friend Connect spotted in the wild

Brad Linder — 2008-06-12T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Blogging, Google, Social Software, Beta, web 2.0

It's been about a month since Google announced its new Friend Connect platform which lets you add social widgets to any blog or web site. If you've been waiting patiently to see these widgets start popping up on the wild, wild web, it looks like the wait is over. Tech blogger Orli Yakuel has added a widget to her blog, Go2Web20.

The widget looks a lot like the recent readers widgets you find from services like MyBlogLog. But Friend Connect offers users the opportunity to interact with their contacts and communities more deeply without leaving the current web page. For example, Yakuel has added a comment widget that lets FriendConnect users who sign up to be members of her blog to leave comments that are visible to other members.

When you visit a site with a FriendConnect widget you can invite your Google contacts or friends from other sites including MySpace, Hi5, Orkut, or Plaxo to join the community.

Yakuel says there are only a handful of Google gadgets available at the moment, but says there is a section where you can grab gadgets from third party developers, much like the gadget gallery for iGoogle and Google Desktop.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

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Googleholic for June 10, 2008

Christina Warren — 2008-06-10T17:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Google, Googleholic, web 2.0

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google! In this edition:

Street View expands
Docs gets PDF storage
Feedburner's new address
Google Reader, Contra-style
Grand Theft Google
GBroswer rumors

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Add HTML signatures to Gmail using a bookmarklet

Brad Linder — 2008-06-09T16:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Internet, E-mail, Web services, Google

For some baffling reason, Gmail still doesn't officially support HTML signatures. In other words, you can't add links, graphics, or adjust your fonts.

There are a handful of Greasemonkey scripts that add support for HTML signatures, and the latest version of Better Gmail also lets you create HTML signatures without installing Greasemonkey. But what if you don't want your signature to show up on every single message? Or what if you want to create multiple signatures that you can use in different situations?

GeekFG has developed a web service that lets you create and HTML signature and then save it as a browser bookmarklet. All you have to do is click on the bookmarklet when composing a Gmail message in Firefox or Internet Explorer and your signature will be added.

This utility comes from the same guy who brought us DomainFinder, a web service that lets you break up any word or phrase into possible domain names like downlo.ad/squad or downloadsq.ua/d.

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Googleholic for June 7, 2008

Christina Warren — 2008-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Productivity, Web services, Google, Googleholic, Search, web 2.0

Welcome to Googleholic, your bi-weekly fix of everything Google!

In this, day late, dollar short edition:

Inside the Google favicon redesign
Get transit schedules from Google Maps for mobile
Explore the Magic Kingdom in 3D
Location-aware Applications now available to 3rd party developers
Round-up of other Google stories we covered this week

Continue reading Googleholic for June 7, 2008

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Google to launch Gmail labs: Allow you to test beta features

Brad Linder — 2008-06-05T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: E-mail, Google, Beta

Sure, Gmail's been in beta since is launched almost four years ago. But you know that Google has thoroughly tested the email service at this point. And before publicly rolling out any features, the company conducts thorough internal tests. But now Google is getting ready to let the general public get in on the action with the launch of Gmail Labs.

Here's how it works. Starting tonight at 6pm PST, you should notice a new tab in your Gmail settings marked "Labs." When you click that tab, you'll have the option of adding new beta services that have not yet been extensively tested. As of tonight, there should be about 13 new features, including:

A tool that lets you bookmark specific gmail messages
Superatars tool that lets you choose custom stars to label your mail
Mouse Gestures
See profile pictures in Gmail chat
An "email addict" option that lets you ban yourself from checking your email for 15 minutes

Right now all of the features will be created by Gmail engineers, but eventually Google may open the project so that third parties can create Gmail features that will be available to the general public. In the meantime, anyone can send feedback to the developers behind each add-on. Eventually the most popular add-ons will be added to Gmail.

[via WebWare and TechCrunch]

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