In its first major upgrade ever, Google Blogsearch just relaunched and looks radically different. Instead of the blank page look of Google.com, Blogsearch now looks like Google News (but uglier) - with the hottest topics from the blogosphere aggregated on the front page. Readers can drill down in 11 different categories, from technology, business, sports and entertainment. Google says you can use Blogsearch to see what the world is talking about.

The user interface isn't nearly as nice as leading tech blog memetracker Techmeme, but the new Blogsearch has some major advantages.

Read more: readwriteweb.com 

Labels: blogging, blogs, Blogsearch, search

In a post on its newly opened blog, Too, Sergey Brin, one of the two co-founders of Google, has decided to speak about a sensitive issue: he carries a specific gene mutation that increases his likelihood of contracting Parkinson’s disease.

Sergey Brin has discovered through 23andMe, the genetics testing start-up co-founded by his wife, Anne Wojcicki, that he carries a particular mutation of the LRRK2, the gene responsible for Parkinson’s. The mutation, known as G2019S, is rare even among people with the disease, but in some ethnic groups, accounts for a substantial proportion of familial Parkinson's.

Based on these findings, Sergey Brin said that he has higher chance of developing Parkinson's in his lifetime than the average person.

“In fact, it is somewhere between 20% to 80% depending on the study and how you measure,” he wrote.

Brin’s mother, who already has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, carries the same genetic mutation.

Read more: efluxmedia.com 

Labels: Blogger, blogging, blogs, Blogspot, Parkinson’s, Sergey Brin

Google Weblogs, or “GWeblogs,” or “Gblogs,” which will launch later this year in a public beta, is the next revolution in personal publishing. Here’s what you can expect:

Don’t limit yourself to “reverse chronological” publishing. Our advanced Google algorithms put your best content at the top of your blog. Even if your later work goes downhill your previous posts will still shine.

No more template languages to mess with or sidebars to get right. Our advanced Google algorithms automatically populate your blog’s sidebar with the most relevant possible content.
Stop worrying about your PageRank or your search engine optimization. Post directly into Google search results for maximum visibility.

Save your readers time and effort. We’ll automatically extract the most relevant sentence from your post for the index page, along with any necessary ellipsis. We'll also put some words in bold!

Your blog’s header will stay fresh with new images from our team of artists, each and every anniversary of a scientific achievement.

Unsure of what to post about? Just click “I’m Feeling Lucky” and we’ll “take care” of the rest!

Read more: buzz.blogger.com 

Labels: April Fools, blogging, blogs, Gblogs, GWeblogs, Weblogs

Google has provided the IP address of an anonymous blogger to an Israeli court as part of a defamation case, according to the Globes Online.

The defamation case centers on allegations against three members of the Shaarei Tikva council posted on Blogger, including posts that suggested the council members took bribes, pretended to be disabled to gain tax advantages, and that the councilmen have links to organized crime. The councilmen asked the court to order Google to hand over the IP address details of the anonymous blogger but the court did not order Google to do so. Instead Google entered into an arrangement where by they would contact the blogger and give him or her 3 days to respond anonymously to the allegations. There was no response from the blogger so Google handed over the IP address to the court and plantiffs despite there being no legal requirement for them to do so.

Full story: techcrunch.com 

Labels: Blogger, blogging, blogs, Israel

As you videobloggers already know, you can upload your videos directly to Blogger. But for the rest of the video watchers out there, did you know you can just as easily post YouTube videos to your blog?

All you need to do is set up your YouTube account to post videos to your blog using the "Share" button. You'll enter your Blogger information once, and from then on it's one-click sharing from any YouTube video page!

Read more: buzz.blogger.com 

Labels: Blogger, blogging, blogs, youtube

There's a new feature on Google Maps that enables you to easily embed an interactive map on your website or blog just by copying and pasting a snippet of HTML (much in the same way as embeddable YouTube videos work).

On Google Maps, pull up the map you want to embed-- it can be a location, a business, a set of driving directions, search results, or a map you've created. Then copy the embed code by clicking "Link to this page," and paste the code into your blog or website.

You can
create a map using the map-making tools in the My Maps tab and display it on your website using this embed feature.

Read more: Google Maps 

Labels: APIs, blogs, embed, Maps, Web

Hot on the heels of last week's much-ballyhooed free FeedBurner for everyone, we are very excited to announce the immediate availability of one-click redirection for Blogger Blogspot blogs (note our fine use of both alliteration and first syllable congruence).

If you host your content on a Blogger blog with a blogspot.com address (or use Blogger's “custom domain” feature), you can now redirect your native Blogger feed to your FeedBurner feed (quite easily, might we add). Gone are the muggy, languorous days of wrestling with "autodiscovery" tags in foreboding corners of your Blogger template code or hacking through this tangled discussion thread for a glimpse of configuration clarity. Starting right now, you just log into your Blogger account, select Settings | Site Feed, enter your FeedBurner feed address and click "Save Settings." Zap! Pow! Kraaakkkk! Now you've got the complete picture of how your content is being consumed out here, out there, out everywhere.

Read more: blogs.feedburner.com 

Labels: blogs, Blogspot, Feedburner

Slamming Michael Moore is not company policy

An advertising sales account planner at Google has apologised for comments on a company blog regarding the new Michael Moore film Sicko.

Lauren Turner used Google's Health Advertising Blog to make a pitch to healthcare companies to buy Google adverts opposite the film to get their message across. The comments caused a storm.

Read more: vnunet.com 

Labels: blogs, health, Michael Moore, sicko

At the beginning of 2005, I was Google's lone public policy guy. Today, there's a bigger – and growing - team of us scattered around the world, working on issues like privacy, child online safety, copyright and trademark protection, content regulation, reform of the patent system, and broadband policy. These issues are fundamental to the future of the Internet (and of the individuals it empowers), and are increasingly prominent on the agendas of policymakers worldwide.

We're seeking to do public policy advocacy in a Googley way. Yes, we're a multinational corporation that argues for our positions before officials, legislators, and opinion leaders. At the same time, we want our users to be part of the effort, to know what we're saying and why, and to help us refine and improve our policy positions and advocacy strategies. With input and ideas from our users, we'll surely do a better job of fighting for our common interests.

This blog is part of the dialogue we're hoping to foster.

Read more: Google Public Policy Blog 

Labels: blogs, policy, political, public

Google is overhauling its search system so it returns "universal" results not just those from webpages.

The change means users will also get results from news sites, blogs, video services and other relevant places.

Before now the different categories have been separate which meant searches had to be repeated to pick up all possible results.

The expanded results will be available via a series of tabs that will appear on the results page.

Full article: BBC News 

Labels: blogs, categories, news, service, video