Google's Street View cars could have recorded communications from some members of Congress, involved in national security issues, via unencrypted WiFi connections, according to an investigation by Consumer Watchdog's InsideGoogle.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-CA, chair of the Intelligence Subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee and former member of the Intelligence Committee has at least one wireless network in her Washington, D.C., home that could have been breached by Google.

The consumer group has written Harman and 18 other members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee whose homes are pictured on Google's Street View which suggest their WiFi networks were scanned, and called for immediate hearings.

"This is the most massive example of wire tapping in American history and even members of Congress do not appear to be immune," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, which published the results on its InsideGoogle.com website.

"Whether it's compromising government secrets or our personal financial information, Google's unprecedented WiSpying threatens the security of the American people and Congress owes Americans action."

Over the last week, to gauge the potential threat posed by Google's WiFi activities, the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group "sniffed" some Congress members' networks to see if they were vulnerable to the Internet giant, but avoided gathering any communications. The investigation focused on a handful of members of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Internet issues.

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Thu Jul 08, 2010 12:00 pm

Marketers talk a lot about the beauty of the online advertising and marketing world. The once elusive "proof that this really working" that has been an age old issue for traditional marketing is no longer a problem. There are ways to monitor and manage just about anything related to online campaigns to some degree or another. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot but considering how young the online space is relative to the traditional marketing and advertising channels there is little comparison between the two. For the most part, a marketer can measure online success metrics much more easily and readily than they can the offline options.

Of course, every rose has its thorns, as the saying goes. One phenomenon that I have been witnessing in the online space is the amount of market research that is produced to convince those with control of the corporate marketing purse strings that the online space is a safe bet.

You would think that this would be obvious to the marketers of the world but when you step back and take a real look at the online marketing space it is wrought with pitfalls, potholes, land mines and other places where a marketer can easily make a misstep.
The largest concern seems to be around privacy information of the online buyer and the rights of a marketer concerning vital personal information, for how long and to what degree as well. This keeps marketing executives up at night. The industry knows it and the industry has found a way to overcome it as well.

It's called the sponsored study or report. This kind of research has been around since the dawn of modern market activity to some degree or another. Someone is always sponsoring a survey or report somewhere that helps them make their own business case and get some publicity along the way as well. What is happening in the online space though is different. The pace of production of these studies has accelerated to incredible speeds. If you have a positio/> [...]

Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:45 am

AdSense publishers who live near Boston, Chicago, or New York - or can travel to one of those cities on short notice this summer - should consider filling out an application and maybe packing a bag.  Google's looking for people to participate in what it calls the AdSense in Your City program.

A key note before we get much further: if you don't live near one of those cities, but are interested in the initiative, Google still wants to hear from you.  Talia Brodecki, a product market manager, asked on the Inside AdSense Blog that people leave comments suggesting what other areas the company should take into account.

As for what's at stake, Brodecki wrote that the AdSense in Your City program involves members of the AdSense team traveling "to hear directly from you, as well as to share best practices, top optimization tips, and new products."

Get-togethers are small - think 60 people - and Google's method of determining who's allowed to attend favors the first people to request an invitation.

Recordings of the sessions are supposed to be made available online at some point, however, so don't worry too much if you can't make a meeting or aren't issued an invitation.

This program should just represent a welcome opportunity for AdSense publishers to interact with Google representatives and become better-informed.

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Wed Jul 14, 2010 14:09 pm

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Holiday Shoppers Want Deals Even More Than They Did Last Year

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Google has used its Insights for Search tool to provide some data about consumers' searching behavior when it comes to things like discounts, free shipping for the holidays, coupons, and promotional codes.

Unsurprisingly, there is an uptick in searches for all of these things, indicating that this is the stuff consumers are after for their holiday shopping. Such data serves as a great indicator that e-commerce businesses should be providing this stuff if at all possible. Without such deals, online businesses stand to lose out on sales to competitors that do offer them.

According to Google, 87% of consumers plan to take advantage of price discounts or sales this holiday season and 73% plan to take advantage of free shipping.

"Though not all retailers offer free shipping, discounts, or other rebates, know that these value propositions resonate with consumers so begin thinking about how your company or product is providing value and incorporate that messaging into your online marketing campaigns," says Eric Lopez of Google's Retail team. "Consumers are eagerly looking for a reason to buy from you."

Searches for coupons have been growing this year, even more so than last year when the recession was at its worst level. According to Google, 68% of consumers report that they plan on taking advantage of coupons this season. The same goes for promotional codes, which has increased (as a query) by as much as 55% year-over-year.

"With growi/> [...]

Sat Nov 14, 2009 17:35 pm

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