Google Panda has reorganized the way that Google evaluates search results. As a result of this update, some websites have been pushed up in search engines, and others have been pushed down. This new update aims to provide users with the most up to date results. According to Searchmetric, “Google thought that Panda 2.5 was a bit too much,” and rolled back large portions of the update a week later. Then, on Nov. 3, 2011, Google rolled out a “freshness update” that impacted 35% of queries.

“Given the incredibly fast pace at which information moves in today’s world, the most recent information can be from the last week, day or even minute, and depending on the search terms, the algorithm needs to be able to figure out if a result from a week ago about a TV show is recent, or if a result from a week ago about breaking news is too old,” Google says in a blog post announcing the big change.

 This Panda update is estimated to have an affect on up to 35% of all Google searches, specifically those for recent events and hot topics. SearchMetrics has been tracking the effects of the recent update on different sites and it brings both good and bad news.
One of the companies that was hit hard was Demand Media. According the Forbes.com, Demand Media’s site  lost around 29% of their search engine traffic due to the update targeting content farms that contain low quality content. Shares of Demand Media are off more than 70 percent from its year high in March of $26.25 due to worries that Google’s search engine changes have hurt the companies prospects. During the third quarter, Demand said that around 31 percent of their revenue was from Google, compared to the 33 percent in the second quarter of 2011. To fix this issue, Demand is putting more of an emphasis on video and is partnering with YouTube in three new channels on home improvement, pets, and health. It is also evaluating the content of its site eHow.  Ehow brings in about 29 percent of total revenue for Demand, so they are placing a main focus on increasing its content quality.

On the contrary, this update of Panda has helped many news sites such as Washington Post, Rate my Professors, ScriBd, Zappos, and Last.fm. However, the biggest boost was to Youtube and Android, both properties of Google themselves. Google and Android saw a gain by 10%, with YouTube topping the list of absolute gains.

The newly anticipated biography by Walter Isaacson, on the legendary Steve Jobs, just hit the shelves this week to give us a better insight on the man who made Apple what it is today.

In the biography Jobs was quoted to have said that the Android’s use of Apple’s ideas were what he considered to be “grand theft” and that he was “willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

There was no secret to the fact that Jobs in fact had a dislike for the Android operation systems, but the extent of this dislike was unknown until this surfaced.  Isaacson tapped into Steve Jobs thoughts on this topic and what resulted was that Jobs felt that Android’s use of Apple’s iPad and iPhone to create their competition was what he considered “grand theft.” He went as far to say that “thermonuclear war” was a feasible resolution and that he would even be willing to lose money in order to destroy the Android: “I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the ban to right this wrong.”

His objective, as he told Google Chairman Eric Schmidt (then CEO), that he would not settle for monetary benefits since Jobs felt he had “plenty of money,” but instead was to make Android stop using Apple’s ideas. Although Jobs stated this differently to the writer of his biography: “I’m going to destroy Android because it’s a stolen product.” He believed that by the creation of the Android, they were breaching intellectual property because Android was marginalizing Apple’s iPhone and iPad products. It will be interesting to see how Android responds to these claims.

This biography titled “Steve Jobs” has come only a few weeks after he passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56 on October 5^th.  Although, Apple’s lawsuits against everything Android still continues.

Amazon has entered into Apple’s territory with its new Kindle Fire. This Android- based media tablet delivers digital media from the Amazon server right to its users. The new Kindle Fire is now the top selling electronics item on Amazon. One of the main marketing points of the Kindle Fire is its unbeatable price of 199$. Comparing this to Apple’s $499 iPad, this seems like a great deal. At $199, it is very easy to see why this Android is so desirable. It has a multi- touch display, a faster new web browser called Silk, and easy access to Amazon content such as Instant Videos, MP3 music downloads, and applications.

However, there are many differences between the iPad and the Fire that account for this price variance. There are only 15 percent of the number of apps available for the Fire compared to the iPad and also does not offer a 3G service, only WiFi.  Also, there is not a lot of memory space (only 8 GB) which means you will have to be somewhat selective of what you save on your Fire.

“There are two types of companies: those that work hard to charge customers more, and those that work hard to charge customers less. Both approaches can work. We are firmly in the second camp.” Says Jeff Bezos.

It is important to realize that the Kindle is not meant to necessarily compete with the iPad, but rather Amazon is creating its own market for a new, low cost, high quality tablet. Amazon is doing what it does best and using their known strengths of price, convenience, and content.  The Kindle Fire probably will not affect the sales of the iPad much, but Samsung, Motorola, and others will take a hit. “They don’t have the content and services that Amazon has to recoup what they don’t make on hardware sales. It creates a real dilemma for them”.

Google is under attack, but stays calm in the midst of multiple allegations against their Web search services and influence over Android. The Federal Trade Commission along with several state attorneys general have been pushing forward with an investigation of Google’s control over Android’s operating system. Canalys, a company that provides research data, has stated that Android currently leads close to half of new smartphones shipped worldwide in the second quarter of this year.

After serving Google with several extensive subpoenas, the FTC continues to investigate whether the report that Google is preventing Android manufacturers from using other competitor services, is true. Google denies all allegations against them, assuring that none of their practices are unfair or illegal. Google believes that the recent increase in antitrust investigations has been a result of rival competitors who have been affected by Google’s aggressive push toward new business sectors.

In a private lawsuit against Google, the Boston-based company Skyhook Wireless Inc. has tried to prove Google otherwise. Skyhook claimed that Google was using its large market share to pressure smartphone manufacturers to drop Skyhook’s location-sensing technology in exchange for Google’s own competing service. Google replied stating that Skyhook’s allegations were unsupported.

Yelp is among other business-review sites that also agree to disagree with Google’s impartial statement, accusing Google of stealing content from their sites and posting it in the Google’s “Places” service. But so far the FTC has not proven Google guilty, and will not for a while since they are just starting an extensive investigation process that can last up to a year or longer. With several civil subpoenas being readied to send out to other parties in request of evidence against Google, the FTC is one step closer to solving the Google problem.

Not just for elementary school playgrounds anymore, Foursquare, a new online social network/gaming platform, is catching on like the common cold in a fifth grade classroom.  And this isn’t their first venture: just a few years ago, this same crew gave us the mobile social network Dodgeball, which was acquired by Google in 2005, and then later canned.  But unlike Dodgeball, FourSquare presents an expansion to the simple notion of broadcasting your location to your friends.  Foursquare tracks your “check-ins” at various locations like bars, restaurants, museums, retail outlets, and even street vendors, and awards you for such notable achievements as “Gym Rat” (for frequent visits to the gym), “Mayor of ___” (for frequent visits to a certain location), and “School Night” (for checking in late on a weeknight).  These achievements are then published on your personal profile and available for viewing for the whole Foursquare community.

Friends can use Foursquare as a means of finding each other when they’re out as well as compete with each other to get the most badges or Mayor statuses.  One can see how addictive the game could get; similar to Facebook, Twitter, and the likes, users can easily become preoccupied with the number of “check-ins” and forget the real reason they even go out.

The team has also partnered with Twitter as another broadcasting channel for their check-ins, a partnership which spurred some chatter about the similarities between the two social networks.  Mashable blogger Pete Cashmore commented on Robert Scoble’s observation: “Go back three years ago. Twitter was being used by the same crowd that is playing with Foursquare today.”

The application also allows for highly targeted marketing initiatives for participating locations, such as drink specials for the “Mayor” of a bar or reduced ticket prices for those who frequent a specific art gallery.  The novelty in this could quickly wear out, though, as many perceive to be the fate of Twitter’s marketing abilities.

With key competitors including Gowalla, Loopt, Brightkite and Google’s Latitude, Foursquare’s path to success won’t be smooth sailing.  But their unique offerings will surely give them a head start against the rest of the pack, and I’m sure we can expect many more great things added to the Foursquare platform in the near future.