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Why Google when you can Scoogle?

Thanks to an interesting post on the More Visibility blog, this week I discovered that not only can you Google but you can also, if you so desire, Scroogle!

OK. So what is Scroogle? It's a private search engine which, unlike the vast majority of mainstream engines, does not keep a record of who you are and what you've been looking at...(let's just rewind that slowly shall we)...keep-data-on-what- you've-been- looking-at- together- with-data-on-who -you-are...! Feeling a little uneasy? I know I was and I'm a good boy. Yes. Search engines do keep your personal info etc for up to 18 months and they can be requested by a court to release it...

Scoogle however does not give you that sweaty, palpitating feeling that you might have done something wrong when you haven't (Think: the first time a policeman asked you your name when you were six) because it's completely private and within an hour of using the site, the search terms are gone forever. Phew!

Is there a lesson to be learned from Scroogle's success? Yes - privacy is important to real people. So when you're undertaking any search engine marketing make sure that you adhere to the Data Protection Act, but also that you demonstrate clearly on your website what's private and what isn't - ie get yourself a privacy policy page - and make sure it's not just words.

As an aside – a rather topical one – Daniel Brandt, founder of Scroogle is also behind Wikipedia Watch a site dedicated to...well...watching Wikipedia...very closely indeed...

Another New Google Service

Late last week Google launched a new service. What, another one?! Yep! This one is called Google Ad Manager and it is, to quote Google: "a hosted ad management solution that can help you sell, schedule, deliver, and measure all of your directly-sold and network-based inventory."

OK. So what does it do? Basically, if you have advertising on your website – blocks of space that you sell to other companies on a regular, say monthly or weekly, set basis – then your sales team can use Google Ad Manager as a tool to manage the workflow. One blogger likens it to a dashboard. Plus if you can't sell all your space that week or month then you can fill it with AdSense without leaving the Ad Manager interface.

Google Ad Manager features include:

• Inventory management
• Yield optimisation
• Ad targeting
• Trafficking, ad delivery and order booking
• Creatives and rich media management
• Reporting
• User interface navigation
• Account administration

Is it great? It certainly is for Google. The jury is still out as to whether it's great for everyone else... watch this space!

And The Award Goes To - Tamar Weinberg (Yeeeeaaahhhh!)

Who??

OK. So this isn't the Oscars or BAFTAs or the Sundance Film Festival or even Cannes – damn! But the best blog post of 2007 has to go to a wee girl from New York called Tamar Weinberg. Who, and this is no mean feat, has put together a list of more than 250 of the best, most useful, most brilliant and most timeless blog posts of 2007.

Now then. There are lots of great blog posts out there: The art of polystyrene cement; Total & complete plastering; Traffic Jams: The quantum mechanics; Kit homes in 20 minutes; Your First Spacewalk - a beginner's guide; Caravanning for cool people; Hot tips for septic tanks; Flat fish - the future... The list is endless.

But Tamara's list, unlike the one above, is a carefully researched series of business critical blog posts that impart useful, practical, professional information you can use in real life covering subjects including internet marketing, viral strategies, reputation management, search engine optimisation, web development and pay per click.

So go to her blog now: Techipedia. You won’t be disappointed!