Google's latest technology experiment paid tribute to Apple Computer, but the Mac OS X-themed version of the search king's Web site was taken down a day after its debut. Google software engineer Chikai Ohazama played up his work, Google X, on the company's blog on Tuesday. Located on Google's test site, Google X featured an alternate way to connect to various services, allowing people to click on a series of graphical icons in a method inspired by a feature in Apple's operating system.

Atmosphere BBDO, New York, will handle online creative for Mitsubishi Motors North America. The agency gained the assignment courtesy of its BBDO parent. BBDO's Los Angeles office was named the new agency of record for Mitsubishi in a review involving TM Advertising, Publicis West Seattle and Hal Riney, San Francisco.

Yahoo is stepping into social networking and blogging, with a new service that promises to offer a simpler way to keep in touch with people. According to a page on its Web site, the company is inviting members to sign up for a beta test of a new product, dubbed Yahoo 360.

Mobile search is on the move. Fast Search & Transfer ASA, a search-technology company, on Monday introduced Fast mSearch, a mobile search application designed to help users find content that's relevant and functional for cell phones and PDAs. MSearch won't have its own branded consumer service like Google or Yahoo, and instead will try to sell telecom carriers on the technology, which they can offer to their customers. While mobile users can do Internet searches today with tools such as Google SMS, the market for search customized for mobile content is just emerging.

Google opened up its Gmail Web mail service to a wider scope of users this week by randomly offering, for the first time, accounts to some visitors of the main Google.com page. Until Monday, to get a Gmail account, a user had to be invited to the service by either Google or an existing Gmail user.

"Blair Witch Project" director and co-creator Daniel Myrick has come a long way from the spooky woods of Maryland to the sunny bike paths of Venice Beach. On Tuesday Myrick launches "The Strand," a live-action experimental series set on Venice's famous beachfront sidewalk, once again harnessing the Internet to connect him with his audience.

Seven bloggers have been named to The Media 100 - Media Magazine's annual list of the people "to know" in the media world. They are: Jessica Coen (Gawker), Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette), Nick Denton (Gawker Media), John H. Hideraker and Scott W. Johnson (Powerline), Glen Reynolds (Instapundit) and - believe it or not - me.

Microsoft will on Wednesday signal a direct assault on one of the main profit-generators of Google and Yahoo when it unveils an advertising service that lets users link their messages to the results of internet searches.

A session at the recent Search Engine Strategies (SES) conference was "Dealing With Contextual & Other Non-Search Ads." In it, representatives from Google and Overture described the benefits of their contextual offerings. An audience member asked, "Do you have any plans to give advertisers control of the sites on which their ads are displayed?" The response was, "That's a good idea, but no, we don't have any plans to do so at this time."

When Subaru was plotting how to build awareness for its upcoming B9 Tribeca luxury SUV -- a new model, in a new space -- the carmaker went online to build and maintain excitement for a 6-month pre-launch campaign. The campaign was developed by New York interactive agency R/GA, part of Interpublic Group. It aims to introduce prospective buyers to Subaru's first 7-passenger luxury vehicle. The online campaign includes a mini-site at b9tribeca.com, and an online sweepstakes. Site visitors are encouraged to opt-in to receive information by e-mail as it becomes available. An online B9 Tribeca giveaway incites users to sign …