Ben Charny

The official U.S. government Web site this week significantly expanded the number of federal, state and tribal documents its search engine can scour. About 8 million documents were available before the upgrades were unleashed. The U.S. General Services Administration, which operates Firstgov, now estimates that 40 million government documents are available. To make the five-fold […]

Google now says it’ll be censoring information available through its newly-launched China Web site. In this way, the search giant’s appeasing the Chinese government enough to win a business license. In return, it gets a local Web address that, in theory, creates better access to the China search market. China’s abundant population, and growing economic […]

Google Inc. says it has added more personalization facets to Google News, a news feature struggling to match the soaring popularity of competitive offerings. As of Tuesday, Google News automatically lists recommended reading. The news stories are chosen based on Googles interpretation of someones news preferences based on their previous sessions. Theres also a listing […]

Enterprises could be hurt by the recently-disclosed fact that search engines turned over users’ key words to the feds. Those firms where Internet search is an integral part of the work flow are particularly at risk. Here’s the logic: The search engines’ new level of cooperation makes Internet search terms a routine part of federal […]

Yahoo unveiled Monday the companys first-ever research facilities located outside the United States. The labs, in Santiago, Chile, and Barcelona, Spain, exemplify how Internet search interests are looking internationally for new talent and innovation. The new Yahoo centers are led by Web search expert Ricardo Baeza-Yates, who is based at the Yahoo Barcelona facility. Baeza-Yates […]

During the weekend, the price of Google’s stock dipped below $400 a share for the first time in at least two months, due to concerns about its new fight with the Bush administration, and rival Yahoo Inc.’s disappointing recent financial report. Share price was creeping back to more than $400.

Microsoft now acknowledges it complied with a controversial U.S. Department of Justice subpoena for a look at its MSN search customer activity. The Microsoft admission, in a recent blog by MSN Search Dev & Test General Manager Ken Moss, assures MSN search users that “absolutely no personal data” changed hands. Microsofts participation is not a […]

I’m pretty sure Patriot Search is a hoax. But the recent hubbub about search engines turning over user data to the feds makes it seem all-too-real.

In the name of science, Columbia University behavioral scientists recently dissected every e-mail sent by every Columbia student for a year. During the year it took to procure the e-mail and the ensuing months of research on the 14 million or so missives, the 43,000 correspondents never knew they were the subjects of such a […]

Thought no one was brave enough to take a stand against the prying eyes of the federal government? You’re wrong. Meet Google Boy, the teen-aged superhero in tights with a blue, red, yellow and green “G” stitched across the chest. He was more shaped by events than born into this world like you or me. […]