sense

Google is joining a $5.75 million investment round in Pixazza, a start-up that hopes to profit by overlaying photos on the Web with links that let people buy the products in the images.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is now launching the technology for general use by advertisers, Web publishers, and the network of self-appointed but screened specialists who identify the products in the photos, said Chief Executive Bob Lisbonne. The company is starting with the apparel industry but plans to expand to home design and furnishings, travel, electronics, and sports starting later this year, he said.

Lisbonne … Read more

Google is expanding its AdSense program--literally.

The Web search giant announced Wednesday in a blog post that it is pitching advertisers on the use of expandable ad units, those adverts that start out as banners or square ads and launch larger ads that cover much of the Web site's content. However, Google says that unlike the most annoying variety, these expandable ads won't enlarge on their own or with a simple mouse-over; users will have to click on the smaller ad to get the larger ad.

Many users may find expandable ads annoying, but as Google points out, … Read more

Google announced Friday that AdSense users will now be able to change the font face of the text in its ad units. According to the company's AdSense engineers, users will be able to choose between Arial, Times, and Verdana in their ads, but they will only be applied to units on pages primarily in Latin-based characters.

To customize the ad units, AdSense users will need to visit the "Ad Display Preference" section in their Account settings and select the custom font they want to use for their ad. Once they pick that font, they can update their … Read more

Continuing its effort to stake out turf in a fast-growing area, Google on Tuesday announced the ability of mobile phones to show Google-supplied advertisements through a program called AdSense for mobile search.

Google sells ads next to its own search results through a service called AdWords, but the newer development involves a separate service called AdSense that lets publishers show Google-administered ads on their own sites. Google launched AdSense for mobile phones in 2007, but now it's seeking testers for a hybrid offering that involves others using Google's own search engine.

With it, mobile phone makers or mobile … Read more

Step aside, Apple and Microsoft. If MIT's little Sixth Sense gadget sees the commercial light of day, we can toss our multitouch devices out the window. Who needs a Surface or an iPhone when the very idea of being able to access information by turning any flat surface into a touch-screen display sounds far more appealing? No surface available? Simply project a screen onto your hand, and voila. Shades of Minority Report?

The folks at MIT have christened their wearable prototype Wear Ur World (WUW), a device cobbled together using everyday gizmos like a mobile projector, Webcam, and mobile phone. Hopefully, when the final product does ship, it'll reveal a sleeker, less clunky rendition without the colored finger bands, and one that has a discreet mode for when you need to access information privately.

As a demonstration of its capabilities, the wearer can draw a circle on his wrist, prompting the gadget to project a digital clock face, especially great for the myopic.

In the near future, WUW could become an indispensible digital wrist companion to enhance your lifestyle. It could provide product and price comparison information when shopping, retrieve flight information to let the wearer know about delays, automatically pull up related information from the Web when requested, and even snap pictures when you frame a subject with your fingers. … Read more

We were really thinking about calling this episode something to do with prehistoric snake. Because Natali is very into the prehistoric snakes. Although she can't kill them. Instead we discuss Bill Gates releasing mosquitoes at TED, the Congress sort of delaying the DTV transition, and Google trying to steal your health information.

Bill Gates Unleashes Mosquitoes On Rich TED Conference Crowd http://www.alleyinsider.com/2009/2/bill-gates-unleashes-mosquitoes-on-rich-ted-crowd http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7871210.stm

DTV delay passes, 264-158 http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/02/dtv-delay-passes-264-158.ars… Read more

Yahoo has thrown in the towel in Europe for Content Match, an advertising partnership program that let people put Yahoo-selected ads on their Web sites.

"Yahoo Europe is closing Content Match as we do not wish to invest further resources in developing this product," Yahoo said in a statement Wednesday. "We have other products which, in the current climate, are attracting a growing proportion of advertiser spend and we would like to focus our efforts on these. These include Sponsored Search and Display, including Direct Response solutions."

Content Match competes directly with Google's AdSense program. … Read more

We live in times when celebrities become mayors, governors, even presidents. They use their good looks and power to speak out about all the important things in the world. Like cancer. And fur.

Which is, perhaps, why Sense About Science, an organization that exists to give a little scientific perspective in the midst of our madness, has published the Celebrities and Science Review 2008.

This delightfully downloadable pdf shows celebrities for what they really are: somewhat deficient. Scientifically speaking.

The report barely conceals its glee at what it sees as some of the magnificent nonsense that has emerged from celebrity … Read more

It will surprise no one that Google accounts for a lion's share of the ad server market. However, it may come as a shock that Microsoft holds only the equivalent of a lion's paw.

Attributor, a content-tracking company, analyzed ad server calls across 75 million domains in October. According to the data Attributor released this week, Google--through DoubleClick and AdSense--accounts for 56.5 percent market share.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's equivalent figure hovers at 3.8 percent. Yahoo came in behind Google with 9.7 percent. If Microsoft and Yahoo ever end up combining forces, they still wouldn't … Read more