Google has teamed up with the state of Florida to help residents find information buried deep in local government web sites.

SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, wants people involved with SEM to take its 4th annual State of the Market survey.

In response to my column last week about Facebook, I received an email from Tanya Cottrell, a student at San Diego State University, and her experience struck me as a great example of a ‘small business’ approach to Facebook. With her permission, I’ve excerpted some of her thoughts below. I welcome your stories on how you’re using the network.

Topics for this keynote centered on the notion of the “new P” platforms, video advertising and random references to Gilligan’s Island and weird porn.

Two former students who attended Fresno State have been charged by a federal grand jury for hacking into the schools computer network and altering their grades.

Search and word-of-mouth are by far still the most effective means of advertising and driving website traffic, according to a new survey, but it may not be time to sing the dirge for print just yet.

Yahoo and Google both appear dedicated to growing their presence in the Indian market, and to this end, Yahoo recently announced that it had bought a stake in Tyroo Media.  Call this one a “significant investment” (as Yahoo does) – it’s equal to about 35% of the company’s value.

Perhaps the joke “What’s black and white and read all over?” should be updated to “What’s black and white and in the red all over?

My defense and love of print media is well-documented. But the following scenario seems the exact opposite of smart.

Maine became the first state in the nation to formally recognize the importance of net neutrality. Fellow blogger Lance Duston tipped me off to Maine Is First State in Nation to Pass Net Neutrality Resolve:

Yesterday I was sicker than a dog. I haven’t been that sick since I was in China in 1995. I was a pitiful sight. Just curled up in bed and could barely move. You know I’m sick when I don’t even turn on the laptop.

But, as I started to get better I was playing with my Nokia N95 phone — mostly cause Maryam kept calling me to make sure I was still alive. Many of the mobile apps really have some major holes. It’s like the authors of them don’t really use their cell phones with their own apps.

Concerns about privacy have prompted the New York State Consumer Protection Board to ask the Federal Trade Commission for a delay in approving Google’s proposed purchase of DoubleClick.

Arizona, California, Utah, and Virginia will partner with Google to make their public information more readily available online.