Matthew Hicks

America Online Inc.s local search service is open for business. AOL on Thursday publicly launched its local search after previewing its plans earlier this month to incorporate more geographically targeted business information into its Web search site. The initial launch focuses on integrating content from a range of AOL Web properties to provide 13 million […]

As Web search engines gain more clout among advertisers, they also are spawning a potential wave of vertically focused search sites trying to snag a share of marketing dollars. A report released Wednesday suggests that vertical search could become the next major target for online marketers. Meanwhile, another startup company, Become Inc., entered the vertical […]

Weblogs are spreading more than opinions and observations across the Internet. Some are beginning to propagate malicious software downloads that can alter browser settings, track users and serve pop-up ads. Dozens of blogs hosted by Google Inc.s Blogger service can install programs that are widely considered to be spyware and adware onto visitors computers, warn […]

A Google Inc. tool bar feature introduced this week is rekindling a debate over who should control what appears on a Web page—the sites creator or the software used to view it. Google introduced a feature called AutoLink in a beta of its next tool bar version. AutoLink inserts links into Web pages where an […]

Google Inc. is bringing its search engines abilities to retrieve related Web information, check spelling and translate languages to its Web browser tool bar. The company on Wednesday released a beta test of the next version of the Google Toolbar, a software add-on to Microsoft Corp.s Internet Explorer browser first launched in 2000. The newest […]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Emerging forms of online collaboration and social networking foreshadowed an always-connected future during presentations at the Demo conference here. Startup companies this week launched products ranging from free Web conferencing initiated from a Web link and a wiki that reads Office documents to a social-networking service that taps into mobile technologies to pair people […]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—As Weblogs gain more mainstream appeal, new blog-publishing tools are responding with products tailored to enterprise users and to emerging areas such as video blogging. Like last year, blogging captured attention at the Demo conference being held here this week. But it showed signs of reaching deeper into the enterprises as new vendors demonstrated […]

Ask Jeeves Inc. is considering developing a Web browser based on Mozilla Firefox for release later this year and donating at least a portion, if not all, of its desktop-search code to the open-source community. Details of Ask Jeeves Web browser and Firefox plans came out of the companys blog posting late Friday that detailed […]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—Whether typing on a virtual keyboard, turning data streams into applications or creating 3-D models from digital images, users can expect more support for mobility and more real-time data tools from emerging technology companies. During the opening of the Demo conference here on Monday, dozens of companies demonstrated their software and services in hopes […]

NextPage Inc. wants to bring sanity to the chaos of managing Microsoft Office documents. Following almost 18 months of testing and refinement, the Draper, Utah, company on Monday released its namesake document management service. NextPage 1.5 tracks Office document versions and revisions while also notifying users of changes and of where various versions of documents […]