USA today is reporting that online advertising in the United States decreased by 5% in the first quarter of 2009. The decline marks the first negative quarter in Web advertising since 2002, causing some economic analysts to claim that the worldwide economic recession has finally begun to have a marked impact on the Web.
Economic Recession Hits Online Advertising
China Cracks Down Further on Web Surfing
According to a new report on CNN.com, the Chinese government has passed a law requiring all new computers sold in China to include software to block so-called “harmful” web sites and content. The new law will go into effect on the second of July, and the blocking software is allegedly aimed at limiting access to pornographic web sites.
Twitter Fights Celebrity Imposters
Twitter has recently suffered a rash of celebrity impostors, creating phony accounts and claiming to be actors, rappers, reality TV personalities and even cable news reporters. To combat the problem of phony celebrity accounts, Twitter has announced that they will begin offering verified Twitter accounts later this year.
Why Obama May Not Be Twittering
The rise of Twitter is old news by now. The media, celebrities, and nearly every mover and shaker out there has been seduced by the micro-blogging social networking site. But this week, Twitter has been in the news for something other than Ashton Kutcher’s million followers; the company is reporting that Twitter was hacked on or around the 15th of April by someone using the screen name “Hacker Kroll.”
Microsoft Bing: Not a Google Killer, But Quite Useful
Microsoft’s new Bing search engine was announced on Thursday and should be online and available to the public by the time this article is published. There’s been a lot of speculation about just what Bing is, and also about the implications of Microsoft developing a new type of search engine. Of course, Bing will also inevitably be compared to Google, but that’s really missing the point.
Obama Outlines New Cybersecurity Strategy
President Obama has just announced a plan to tighten up Cybersecurity in the US, including the creation of the new cabinet-level position of “Cybersecurity Czar.” The job of the “Czar” will be a tough one indeed: protecting the nation from serious cyber-attacks, and devising responses and preparedness plans in case an unthinkable cyber-shut down should ever occur.
The Google Tax?
Anyone who has even remotely been paying attention will realize that Google has made a fortune online. The reasons for Google’s unprecedented success are many, but there has also been a certain amount of luck involved.
What is WolframAlpha? And Should Google be Worried about It?
Every now and then some industrious soul will invent a new type of search engine. But inevitably, any new search engine is compared to Google. Specifically, “Will this one be the Google killer?” WolframAlpha is a new type of search tool that is causing quite a buzz, but the search engine’s creator, Stephen Wolfram, is not interested at all in comparing his software to Google.
CableVision Plans Ultra High Speed Internet
The lines are constantly being blurred between television, radio, publishing, movie rental and the Internet. Because of this, there is greater and greater demand for high-speed Internet access. Especially considering that portals such as Apple’s iTunes, Hulu, and even YouTube are now offering high-definition video, Web users need a lot of bandwidth to use the net these days.
Iran Bans FaceBook in Front of Close Election
In the middle of the hotly contested election campaign, Iran has banned its citizens from accessing FaceBook. The move is seen by outside observers to be an attempt to weaken the position of reform candidate Mir Hossein Mouavi, who has used the social networking site to great effect during his campaign.
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