WebProNews

Yahoo Tries To Reroute Navigational Queries

Ask made a rather embarrassing admission earlier this week: its third most popular search term for 2008 was [Google].  Now, although we can't say if a similar exit pattern exists, Yahoo has taken an interesting step towards heading off its own Google-bound visitors.

Here's How Facebook Connect Works

Facebook has just announced the general availability of Facebook Connect, its new service that allows users to login to other sites using their Facebook IDs and share there activities from these third-party sites with their Facebook friends. The service, "makes it easier for Facebook's 130 million users to tap into the social graph by extending their Facebook experience to any participating Website, desktop application or mobile device," a Facebook representative tells WebProNews.

Spitzer Hired To Write Financial Column For Slate

Former controversial New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who was forced to resign amid a call girl scandal, will now have a new job writing a column for Slate.com about finances and the economy.The column is called "The Best Policy," and will run every other week. In his debut column for Slate titled "Too Big Not To Fail" Spitzer takes the U.S. government to task for trying to bailout financial institutions.

Google Buys PaperOfRecord Newspaper Archive

On March 23, 1752, the Halifax Gazette told the story of a tragic romance. The author of the short narrative named neither subject, referring only to them as the Officer and the Lady. A short time after they married, the Officer scolded the Lady for being late for dinner, whereupon she downed a bottle of liquid opium and declared, “Duty and obedience!

SEOs Should Adjust To Recessionary Times

Personal experience speaking: The top three questions a Target employee is likely to hear relate to the location of the restrooms, the location of the seasonal section (Christmas, Halloween, etc.), and - at least in Kentucky - whether or not the store sells cigarettes.  But new Hitwise data indicates that inquiries about layaway may become more popular.

Site Tries to Cash in On "Used" MP3s

A new site has emerged that claims to be a place to buy and sell "used" mp3s. "Stop illegally sharing and start legally selling! Buy drm-free mp3's starting @ $0.25," Bopaboo states on its front page.

Google’s Webmaster Help Group Gets New Look

Google said today that it is introducing a new look to its Webmaster Help Group.Specifically Google is giving its English and Polish Help Groups a makeover. It says the new forums will make it easier for users to find answers, share resources with each other and have their participation acknowledged.

Google Blog Search Indexing Content Differently

Google Blog Search has undergone some changes in how it indexes content. Before, it indexed content from RSS feeds, but now it is going for full content from pages.

Wikipedia Gets Big Grant To Simplify Contribution Process

Back in March, the official article count for all versions of Wikipedia combined hit 10 million.  It was an impressive moment, but one that might have come much sooner if not for some overly complicated procedures.  So Wikipedia has been given a large grant to make contributing to the volunteer-written encyclopedia easier.

eBay Attracts More Complaints

eBay is certainly no stranger to controversy. They even catch hell when they're giving away items (well technically, they're charging a buck....for things like sports cars, jet skis, etc.). The auction site is hosting a contest called "Holiday Doorbusters," which is basically summed up here: