Microsoft Says Don’t Get Scroogled This Holiday Season, but Bing Is Not So Scot-Free

Bing zings: “Don’t get Scroogled this holiday season.”

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Visa’s Blueprint for Targeted Advertising

Visa has filed several patent applications that provide a blueprint for using credit-card transaction data to target digital ads and personalize other content, such as search results.

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Site Claims to Loosen Google “Death Grip”

Since Google in February began changing the way its search engine ranks sites in order to weed out “low-quality” content and “article vomit,” thousands of negatively affected website publishers have scrambled to recuperate. HubPages.com says it may have found a solution.

News Byte

New Filter Tip From Google

Google today started rolling out a new feature that allows users to block any site they choose from appearing in their search results. The feature aims to further personalize the search experience by letting users eliminate sites they find offensive or useless. Google said it won’t be factoring that data into its search rankings–for now, at least.

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Plastic Surgeon Figures in Google Face-Off in Spain

In 1991, the Spanish newspaper El País published an article centered on a dispute between Madrid plastic surgeon Hugo Guidotti Russo and one of his patients over an allegedly botched breast surgery. The headline: “The Risk of Wanting to Be Slim.”

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Google on Bad Search Results: "We Can Do Better"

Have you been frustrated lately by search results on Google? If so, you’re not alone, and Google knows it.

News Byte

Google Tightens Copyright Protection Efforts

Google today announced four changes aimed at making copyright protection easier: Copyright takedown requests will be acted upon within 24 hours, AdSense anti-piracy review will be improved, terms “closely associated” with piracy will be prevented from appearing in autocomplete and the company will endeavor to make authorized preview content more available in its search results. The changes will take place over the next few months.

Apple’s New Job: Marketing Apps Through Google

Google and Apple may be fighting each other on multiple fronts, but they’re deeply linked, too. Another example: Apple is filling up Google search results with the contents of its iTunes store.

China: We Are in Talks With Google. Also, We Are Not in Talks With Google.

Like so many of its services, Google’s so-called “New Approach to China” appears to be in perpetual beta. Though Google has said repeatedly that it is in discussions with Chinese officials about its plans to end censorship of search results in the country, the Chinese govenment claims Google hasn’t yet initiated talks.

Google Tries Redialing “Click to Call” Again

Here’s an interesting side note to GPhone (a.k.a. “Nexus One”) day–Google is still experimenting with its “click-to-call” program for advertisers on “high-end mobile devices.” Coincidence?

Ask.com’s Newest Offer: Discount Search

Verizon Searches for Google