This summer several people in Google's quality group have pulled back the curtain on how people think about search quality at Google. We've had Udi Manber give an overview of search quality and the groups that work on it. Then my office-mate Amit Singhal discussed some of our principles of core ranking . Amit followed that with a post about how we understand pages, queries,

So, there you go, amidst some tongue-lashing and verbal beating more particulary thrown at Roy Bostock, Yahoo's nominees to the Board of Directors, all of them were re-elected by the stockholders. The stockholders also approve the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as Yahoo's independent registered public accounting firm but rejected the proposed pay-for-superior performance principle for executive compensation,

In the boldly headlined blog entry, " Search quality, continued ," Googler Ben Gomes explaines in greater depth what search quality means to Google. It's too bad Google didn't publish the post before the Un-Search Engine, Un- Cuil, launched . Gomes has written a clear overview of factors that Google considers to improve search user experience. Those are some of the same factors SEOs take into consideration when consulting on site design: 1. A small page.

Will the undead nudge Batman from atop the Buzz Multiplex? Can Kevin Costner break his streak of mediocrity with a swing? And have audiences at long last found this year's hit documentary? Tune in... now. 1. " The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon " (PG-13). Critic-proof and plot-resistant , the third installment of "The Mummy" brings the next archaelogical generation ( Luke Ford ) and his suspiciously young-looking parents ( Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello ) into the top 4,

by Jennifer Laycock Last night I had the pleasure of meeting up with a couple dozen other Columbus bloggers for a preview of the new Experience Columbus marketing campaign. The campaign was touted as having a heavy social media component and since I'm in the process of promoting Columbus myself with our upcoming Small Business Marketing Unleashed conference , I was excited to see what they had put together. Unfortunately,

During today's Yahoo Shareholders meeting, Yahoo Prez Sue Decker called DoubleClick "a very old technology" ??" an obvious jab at Google's choice to buy the firm. Her aim was to differentiate the ad management platform Yahoo is developing from that of DoubleClick, an industry leader. Rather than buying DoubleClick (she hinted Yahoo did consider that), she continued, "It was our conclusion that to build a Web-based open solution'was the best approach.

Jim Goldman, who writes Tech Check at CNBC, is live blogging the Yahoo shareholder meeting. The turnout was light and much lower than expected. So far there have been no fireworks, with only a facetious request that Yahoo Board members punch time cards to prove how long they're working. (Roy Bostock said, no problem.) Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock reiterated the standard Yahoo strategy and said the company was hitting its targets. He noted,

When it comes to tracking your affiliates, should you use a manager or do it yourself? To be sure, there are pros and cons to both approaches. If you do it yourself and you have a lot of affiliates you could find yourself spending most of your time managing affiliates and not running your business. On the other hand, if you hire a manager to oversee your affiliate program for you then you could have some out of pocket expenses,

Once again we provide you with all the little weekly tidbits that are talked about at our summer search industry cocktail parties, golf outings, and yachting regattas. If one feels that they want to repeat these morsels amongst one's co-workers, superiors or (heaven forbid) inferiors, then we understand of course. One must do what one must do dahling. Just leave my name out of it.

Do you love to stay in the know but hate having to dig around for the latest news and gossip? The new Hot Searches Widget from AOL Search is just what you've been waiting for. Everyday we compile the days hottest searched stories into one easy-access list just for you. All you have to do is download the widget and add it to your desktop or favorite personal page (Facebook, Blogger, Yahoo! and many of your other faves). Download the widget by clicking "Copy Me." It's free,