Part of learning about business, search and technology is learning about those who have done well in each respected field. While SEJ generally concentrates on search marketing or search optimization, there are many other fields of search that prove of interest. People Search is the cornerstone of many different search related business models, from the White Pages of Yahoo & Verizon and the social networks of Facebook & LinkedIn,

A coalition that includes Google and Microsoft is aiming to get the Electronic Communications Privacy Act updated to reflect the needs of today's technologically fast-paced world, where much consumer and business data resides in the cloud. I listened in on a conference call this afternoon, which featured several members of the coalition, including representatives from both companies. Jim Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology led the discussion,

by Claudine Zap Our top picks from the day's hottest searches. Chechnya (Searches increased by +3,626%). A website associated with Chechen separatists claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks on two Moscow subway stations. Erykah Badu (+2,069%). The singer has just come out with a controversial new video . Levi Johnston (742%). The father of Sarah Palin's grandchild is shopping around a competing reality show, which he says will be about the " real Alaska .

Google results were blocked for (at least) some in China for the past few hours... this includes the search results of all types of Google country domains (e.g. google.de just as much as google.com or google.com.hk) but not the homepage of the service itself, and not an app like Gmail or Google China Music. Casual users may now feel like going elsewhere for results,

In a radio interview on 29 March, Australia's communications minister Stephen Conroy had some strong things to say about Google: "Notwithstanding their alleged 'do no evil' policy, they recently created something called Buzz and there was a reaction. People said 'well, look aren't you publishing private information?'," Senator Conroy said. The founder of Google said the following: 'If you have something that you don't want anyone to know,

Where have all the Google Buzzers (or is it Buzzees) gone? New research from Chitika and Google's own insights tool shows that Google Buzz, the controversial social network app, has quieted down since its Feb. 9 launch and subsequent privacy brouhaha. Upon launch, the Chitika network saw some1,500 searches for the term "Google Buzz," approximately 15 times the number of searches for "Twitter." Buzz rocketed to glory at launch, but Chitika said searches fell to 580 on Feb. 10,

Following up on last week's post, The New MSN Homepage Launch: More Bing Integration = More Opportunity for Advertisers , I thought I'd take a minute to call out a couple of specifics related to the new MSN.com and how they affect Microsoft adCenter.

eBay said today it is launching two iPhone selling apps, one for its online marketplace and one for its new classifieds site. With the new eBay Selling and classifieds apps users can photograph and list an item in less than a minute. On April 3, the company will introduce a new version of the eBay app for iPad. "The eBay Selling app makes it easy for sellers to bring even greater value and selection to eBay and offer more great deals for buyers," said Lorrie Norrington,

Cliqset shared some pretty interesting news with WebProNews today. They say that for the first time ever, the users of two independent, public web entities are able to communicate with each other, without being on the same service as the person they are communicating with. Cliqset and Status.net have accomplished this using Salmon, but this isn't just big news for these two services. It's big news for the open web.

While eReaders are still becoming mainstream, the Amazon Kindle leads its competitors in brand recognition, with 61 percent of consumers having heard of the device, according to a new report from PriceGrabber. More than half (55%) of consumers said they had heard of the Apple iPad. Thirty-four percent indicated they had heard of the Sony Reader, and 28 percent of consumers were aware of the Barnes & Noble nook. While more consumers are familiar with the Kindle,