As Microsoft promised during its BUILD developer conference earlier this year, the company today launched a first preview of its new maps app for Windows 8.1. The highlight of this release is the addition of 3D imagery, something Microsoft tried a few years ago with Bing Maps online but then shelved after it moved away from its proprietary Silverlight technology. The new app is now available in the ...

When Apple introduced the iPod in 2001, the idea of holding 30 million songs in your pocket was a little bit unrealistic. Back then, 500 or 1,000 songs was sufficient, as the dancing silhouettes needed no more than a dozen albums to get them through the day. As we’ve progressed through the plodding, insecure years of the iTunes era into something more tangible. yet equally ephemeral, digital radio ...

Google has significantly penalized another underground link network over the weekend and we believe that one of the link networks targeted by Google is named Ghost Rank 2.0. A few weeks ago, Matt Cutts, Google’s head of search spam, tweeted “Thinking of ghost-related puns for a spam network. “They try to look super natural, but using them will dampen your spirits.” Then I noticed a nice number ...

This evening, Microsoft announced and has started to roll out a range of new features for Bing — some cosmetic, some more structural. Prominent among them is a new logo and identity, which is symbolic of Bing’s deeper integration across the Microsoft’s products and devices. The company has devoted a lengthy blog post to the new “One Microsoft” logo and its meaning. Beyond this there are ...

Yesterday Microsoft and Local Corporation announced a deal in which the latter’s Krillion local product database will be provided to Bing for display in search results. Local Corp. will supply in-stock product data from a range of mostly national-local retailers. The list of participating retailers includes BestBuy, Costco, Express, Fry’s, Home Depot, Kmart, Lowe’s, Nordstrom, Orchard Supply, ...

Today’s Google logo celebrates Jane Addams, a woman of many disciplines, including social worker, peace activist, settlement house founder, suffragist and author. Included in her extensive list of accomplishments, Addams was the first American woman awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. The Google logo illustrates Addams’ civic-minded roles, highlighting Hull House, a settlement house co-founded by Addams ...

Today, Marin Software release a new study that finds Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs) continue to see increased adoption among retailers. According to the study, over one billion products were being promoted through PLAs as of May 2013. PLA impression share, when compared to text ads, has slowed some since its holiday season peak in December 2012. Marin points out that the dip seen in June and July ...