Oodles Love Google, But Wouldn't Exactly Call It 'Fun' by Laurie Sullivan

Drum roll, please. Search engine Google topped Forrester Research's survey of consumers' favorite online brands, but it appears the company has a few weak points. Consumers gave Google low ratings on qualities like "relevance," "trustworthy" and "fun." Though if you want to know where the fun is at, according to those 18 to 24 it's in social brands. ...Read the whole story

  • Could Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Give Google A Leg Up? by Laurie Sullivan

    Microsoft and Yahoo could ink their Web search and ad agreement announced in late July by the end of the week. Ad industry execs had expected Microsoft and Yahoo to seal the deal in October. But when that date passed, industry insiders began to scrutinize the structure of the deal and whether the real winner would become Google. ...Read the whole story

  • Judge Green-Lights Class-Action Against Citysearch by Wendy Davis

    Dealing a blow to IAC, a federal judge has decided that disgruntled online marketers can proceed with a class-action click-fraud lawsuit against the company. U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder in Los Angeles ruled that the search marketers could be certified as a class because their complaints against IAC stemmed from the same type of alleged conduct. ...Read the whole story

  • Study: Consumers Value Traditional Attributes In Online Brands by Gavin O'Malley

    While Google remains consumers' favorite online brand, Yahoo and Amazon are not far behind, according to a new report from Forrester Research. "In the minds of their fans, the top online brands exhibit very traditional attributes such as trustworthiness, helpfulness, and relevance, all at the expense of more-predictable tech-friendly characteristics such as innovation and speed," reads the report authored by Forrester analyst David Card. ...Read the whole story

Search Insider Sneak Peek: The Three-For-One Keynote by Gord Hotchkiss

Avinash Kaushik, Google's Analytics Evangelist, will be kicking off the Search Insider Summit in just two weeks. I had the opportunity to chat with Avinash last week about what might be in store. As anyone who has heard him before would agree, it won't be-sugar coated, it will be colorful and it will probably wrench your perspective on things you took for granted at least 180 degrees. Here are the three basic themes he'll be covering. ...More