So, “Allegedly”, there’s this kid named Ori Alon who supposedly invented a more relevant search algorithm who now works for Google. Alon is said to be an Israeli doctoral student.

From haaretzdaily.com:

Search engine giant Google recently acquired an advanced text search algorithm invented by Ori Alon, an Israeli student. Sources believe Yahoo and Microsoft were also negotiating with the University of New South Wales in Australia, where Alon is a doctoral student in computer science.

Google, Alon and the university all refused to comment, though Google confirmed that “Ori Alon works at Google’s Mountain View, California offices.”

So let me ask you this… what kind of world do we live in, that I couldn’t have thought of that, and hired someone to create the algorithm for me? Yes. The sound you hear is me turning green with Jealousy. And on Palm Sunday. Bad Tinu!

Orion, as it is called, which Alon developed with faculty, relates only to the most relevant textual results. In addition the software, which currently operates only in English, offers a list of topics directly related to the original source.

“For example, if you search information on the War of Independence, you’ll receive a list of related words, like Etzel, Palmach, Ben-Gurion,” he explained. The text will only appear on the results page if enough words relevant to the search and the link between them is reasonable. Orion also rates the texts by quality of the site in which they appear.

You see? It’s so simple that it’s freaking brilliant. So go read the rest of the article, Google buys search algorithm invented by Israeli student, to get the rest of the story.

“Cuz I ain’t one to gossip. So you didn’t hear that from me.”

Update 7:50 pm Eastern – Looks like ZDNet was onto this story as well.

The News

There’s an article over at Yeald.com that raises an interesting point: Since A9.com uses Google results, and is a Google partner, doesn’t it stand to reason that Google would be studying customer behavoir data through them?

The Gossip

Logically, it makes sense.

Some people start with the privacy concerns, and in a way I agree with you, but think about this.

How much do we mere mortals study our client base to make our products better and more useful to them? Are we out towards some Big Brother end? No. So why do we think that the big corporations have any other intention besides making money.

I’m not saying give your information out willy-nilly – there are still spammers out there.

I just think some of us are getting a little too shaken by the whole cookie/privacy thing. If you don’t want your specific details revealed, make another Amazon profile. You can have as many as you want, from any email. They get the needed information to make the web easier/better and you get your privacy.

And if you’re going to reveal yourself, vote with your identity. If you’ve got an Amazon profile, and you buy from Amazon, tell them what they’re doing right and what sucks. For one thing, I hate that little Gold box. If you want me to click on it, put some cashback in there. I don’t want just a coupon. As much money as I spend at Amazon, I should have my own line of credit. Partner up with Visa and give it to me.

Whoops. Tangent.

Back with more Google news n tools n stuff in a few. Watch the Trackback link for more….

And comment. You can put your link in there you know.

The Gossip

I’m sure you read the New York Post story stating that they might be launching their own browser.

And some people scoff – “please. The New York Post? Like they’re a credible paper. I’ll believe that when I see it on Google Tuesdays.”

Well guess what….

The News

A little bird told me that Google has registered the domain name GBrowser.com. It’s a matter of public record. (Be sure to check my trackback links later for where I got this juicy little tidbit.) This was registered back in April.

My Own Wild Theories and Speculations

Honestly, do we really need a Google Browser? What would make it the best thing since Mozilla Firefox?

I’ll tell you what.

#1 Gmail in my browser.

How curse-word-ing sweet would that be? instead of a Gmail tab dedicated to Gmail like the one my work necessitates, they could have a sidebar, or give Thunderbird users special sidebar access that behaves like POP email which we can read offline if we so desire.

#2 A Google version of Mozilla Firefox. Mozilla could use the backing, and Mozilla Firefox is the best damn browser on the planet. It is perfect? Hell no. But they listen to their user base and make appropriate changes quickly.

For example, with version .92, my browser froze when I went to work on the beta version of one of my RSS Sites. Now, with version 1.0, I have absolutely no problems with it.

And it’s open-source – snatch up the code and make your own modifications. Or join the bug team and help them spruce it up.

#2B Easy feeds.

I’m a sucker for a creative man or a really smart one. If Mozilla falls under the wing of Google, that would keep me from the need to have two husbands and a fiancee.

Why am I so excited?

Mozilla Firefox makes feed reading as easy as Bookmarks. Here’s what happens. I have a folder called Feeds in my bookmarks. I browse to a site like Echievements.com. Well looky, looky, in the bottom left hand corner of my browser, an orange button labeled “RSS” appears. I click it and all the available feeds for that site pops up. i subscribe to the one I want (There’s only one right now.)

So far, sounds a lot like subscribing with a reader right?

Watch this.

I go back to the folder where I bookmark the feeds – and Mozilla Firefox has already made me a folder and fetched my feeds for the day AND I can click on open in tabs and read all my news.

In my GD browser. I LOVE this feature.

So what does that have to do with Google and a possible browser?

Are you kidding me? Picture this.

Google.

Plus the power of feeds.

Equals bliss.

What if, in my browser address bar, I could type google investment feeds, and I would automatically be subscribed to the top 30 feeds for investments, all in a nice little folder? If the top 50 sites for investments didn’t have feeds, maybe it could keep searching until it found 30 sites with feeds.

Google my love… I implore you to throw some money at Firefox and make this happen. I’ll be your love slave. I’ll plaster my entire site with AdSense ads. I’ll name our son Google junior. Just do this one thing for me.

Okay…. I’m back from fantasy land… sorry…

#3 The Google technology attached to my browser period.

If a site was down I could click a browser button and fetch the Google cache, if there was one, and browse that instead. If I was at a site before looking for a certain page, maybe Google would already have crawled the site ahead of me and I could Google the pages they found for exacly what I was looking for. I know, I can do all those things from Google itself, but at all times I’m either busy or lazy. Make my life easier.

I’ve got a dozen more ideas, but I have other news to get to – maybe a Google browser wouldn’t be a bad thing, maybe I’m overlooking some way in which it’s inherently evil. Why don’t you tell me what you guys think?

Oh, and don’t forget to check back when the Trackback link below this post starts to show numbers to see any updates and links I have.

Man, have I got some Google Gossip for you folks today! This will be the most fun I’ve had with Google Tuesdays in a minute.

Two notes before we continue: – We had server problems this morning while I was asleep but we’re all fixed now.

Secondly, if you’re not popping through to the site to read the posts, you’re missing out on the comments feature and the trackback links, where I often post additional information and links that are related to the story I’m covering. I know a minority of you subscribe to the full summary version, but you should still stop by once a week. I’m saying this now so you won’t be asking me “where’s the link?”.

There are some early speculations that perhaps a change in Google’s algorithms could take place soon. I didn’t pay as much attention to them, until i saw it in SEO Scoop, a fairly consistent source.