Newspapers by their nature tend to be local. Their location is even part of their name in most cases. Even so, certain newspapers are so influential that their reach extends beyond their location to other parts of the country and even the world. I thought it would be interesting to see how this might be reflected in Google's dandy new toy, Insights for Search. I picked four of the best know daily papers in the United States, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal ,

by Sage Lewis Stoney deGeyter is in the hot seat this week with his article "An End To Ranking Reports Is An End To Analysis." Stoney discusses the pros and cons of Google's ban on Web Position Gold's SERP reports. Whereas everyone fights to be in the top ten, Stoney also points out that all reports show different numbers, so the accuracy and consistency of your ranking is not necessarily there. Focus on sales and spend more time in your analytics program.

Emails can be so boring. Next time you have something to say, say it with an eCard. Whether it is "thank you" or "I miss you," AOL greeting cards are the best way to send a message and brighten up the recipient's day. With AOL greeting cards, you can search through our collection of hundreds of cards until you find one that's perfect for you. Just search greeting or eCard to see our new one-click with categories made especially to help you find what you are looking for.

I just got done talking with a pretty sharp reporter about some SEO stuff. He had done far more research than most reporters I talk to, but still had one big misconception about the field of SEO...thinking it was largely about mechanical processes, hidden text, and other such tricks. Market research, site structure, and on page optimization are important. Doing them well can double or triple the earnings of a site,

I was in Chicago last week (anyone who knows me knows not to get me started on my former city: the lake, the food, the Cubs') to participate in ad-tech . If you've never attended, the event is exactly that: a conference for digital marketing. The content and speakers struck me as particularly good this time around, with a major focus on social media.

by Molly McCall The bride wore white. The groom wore a brown plastic mask with yellow googly eyes. And the officiant looked wrinkly and green. It was a "Star Wars" wedding , and everyone was united in the force??"and the outfits. In July, a Portland-area couple joined in matrimony in a full-on George Lucas-themed affair. This wasn't the first time that people sympathetic to the ways of the Jedi walked the aisle together.

There's nothing like a little healthy competition! When you reach a certain level of expertise at some discipline, adding a little competition against others can help you to develop new skills and improve your "game" more than anything else. And it can be a lot of fun! That's why we're hoping you'll grab your laptop, hook up your favorite mouse, stretch out your fingers, and join: The Web Analytics Championship!

Posted by Amanda Kleha, Google Apps Security & Compliance Team In July, our Postini datacenters saw the biggest volume of email virus attacks so far in 2008, with a peak of nearly 10 million messages on July 24. One of the more prominent attacks in the month involved a spoofed UPS package-tracking link that was intended to lure recipients into clicking on it and downloading malware. Our zero-hour virus protection technology first started catching these emails on July 20.

by Jennifer Laycock Yesterday at BarCamp Ohio I sat listening to a conversation among people who were trying to balance the need to be involved in social media outreach with the need to run their businesses. Their frustration was based on the fear that as they finally embraced a social network or site, the masses would move some place new. For a company focused on running a business instead of playing in the social media sphere, it's a valid concern.

by Claudine Zap ...Gamers, grab your avatars. " BlizzCon " (+626%) is coming. The gaming convention website was so besieged by the vid crowd wishing to e-purchase tickets for the October spectacle in Anaheim that web sales had to go temporarily offline today, according to Eurogamer . . . . If you're having trouble with tickets, you could always sneak in under cover of an " invisibility cloak " ( +6,858%). Time Magazine , in a story buzzing up,