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CES - Spotlight on current trends, not tech...
The annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year will focus more on technologies that support current trends rather than those that promise to break new ground for consumers. User adoption of the so-called "connected" digital home and high-definition video didn't take off the way some predicted...
ISP delays ADSL2+ services
Australian Internet service provider Netspace has delayed the launch of ADSL2+ services until February. Last September the ISP announced plans to sell services nationally based on the ADSL2+ standard, allowing speeds of up to 24Mbps, prior to the end of 2006. At the time Netspace told ZDNet Australia it would use a combination of wholesale partners and its...
Mini-satellites on bushfire patrol
A German plan to use miniature satellites to help end the annual destruction wreaked by bushfires in Australia has won the backing of insurers, state governments and firefighting authorities. With bushfires costing almost $100 million a year and claiming an annual average of six lives, authorities are looking for solutions to the summer menace. The $300 million German...
Taunting the scammers
With authorities struggling to keep tabs on the interminable barrage of internet scams, a group of tech-savvy Australian vigilantes decided to take the law into their own hands. They call themselves "scambaiters", fooling the scammers at their own game by pretending to be hapless victims. The goal is to waste as much of the scammer's time and money as possible.
Australian court rules against MP3 link site
Linking to copyright music posted elsewhere online without permission can be illegal, an Australian appeals court ruled Monday. The issue before a three-judge panel at the Federal Court of Australia was whether Stephen Cooper, a retired policeman who ran the now-defunct site MP3s4free.net, was legally allowed...
News Corp., Liberty Media reach deal
Media barons Rupert Murdoch and John Malone ended a two-year battle Friday with Liberty Media agreeing to swap an $11 billion stake in News Corp. for control of satellite TV provider DirecTV and other assets. The deal will secure Murdoch's grip on News Corp., the global media empire he founded from a single newspaper in Australia. It also will mark the return of Malone's...
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01.04.07
How Strong Is Google’s Hold?
 By
Chris Richardson
When you think of searching the Internet, more than likely, the first thing that comes to mind is Google. The familiarity and catchiness of the name alone goes a long way towards securing our loyalty, something Google is undoubtedly aware of.
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However, is Google’s grip strong enough to declare them the winner of the search engine wars? If the name recognition factor is any indication, then perhaps it is time to do just that… at least from some people’s perspective.
In a post that’s received a great deal of buzz, Richard Skrenta suggests the battle for both the search and online advertising markets are done and Google should be recognized as the winner. He even went as far to call them “start page for the Internet,” something I’m sure portal king Yahoo would disagree with. Nevertheless, Skrenta’s point is clear - Google’s position is so dominant that they have essentially “won the Internet”:
“The net isn’t a directed graph. It’s not a tree. It’s a single point labeled G connected to 10 billion destination pages.”
When you consider the fact online business get the majority of their search engine traffic from Google, the idea of them being THE starting point for Internet activity is not farfetched at all. This in no way is a slap to Yahoo, who is still the number one home page for Internet users. They are not, however, the leader in search engine activity even though a fully functional search box sits at the top of their index page.
Surprisingly, Google holds this honor (at almost a 2-1 ratio in the month of November), which means people are actually navigating away from Yahoo in order to conduct web searches.
Another indicator of Google’s grip comes when stock experts make estimates about the Google stock forecast. In a new Reuters article, it was revealed Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy expects the price to achieve or succeed $600 a share. Currently, Google stock is trading at 466.74, while none of Google’s competitors, save Baidu, tops the $100 a share mark.
The question becomes can any of Google’s competitors knock the group from Mountain View of off their pedestal? Would a Microsoft purchase of either Yahoo or AOL give them the necessary war chest to combat Google? Or should MSN Search be more worried about being caught by AOL Search (powered by Google)?
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Using Google As A Hacking Tool
Does using Google Search for malicious purposes affect the application of their “Don’t Be Evil” motto even if the negative activity isn’t actually their fault? Should Google restrict some of their search command capabilities if the results are being used to attack other sites?
If you ask the folks who were victims of these types of attacks, then yes, Google should apply limitations to some of their search query commands.
First off, I’m sure many of you have heard about Shoemoney’s recent hacking incident, something he blogged extensively about. Apparently, some enterprising hackers found vulnerabilities on his server using Google Code Search and exploited them (for more details, Shoemoney’s write-up is quite thorough).
While the mistakes that left his site vulnerable were corrected, Shoemoney then conducted his own Google Code searches in an effort to find other exploitable files. The results of his queries confirmed the speculation - a lot of sites are open to similar types of attacks and these holes aren’t that hard to find if you can enter the proper query into Google Code Search.
Another example provided by blogger IncrediBILL helps support Shoemoney’s fear about hackers using Google to harm other sites, however, this particular incident involved a viral worm conducting Google searches looking for sites with PHP vulnerabilities.
Once these sites were located, a file was installed that continued this process - “When I opened the file my virus scanner claimed it was a Perl.Asan virus so I did a bit of research and Panda claims it’s the Perl/Asan.A.worm or something similar, that locates and infects phpBB systems.”
To combat this, Bill would like to see Google block or limit these types of searches that can help malicious users find vulnerable sites. He also suggests Google should use their limitless financial means to, “have a few security experts on hand, maybe working in conjunction with Panda, Symantec and such, that keep on top of these specific threats and block the specific searches used to locate vulnerable sites.”
Want to add your thoughts?
As always, visitors of WebProBlog are invited to share their comments, suggestions, ideas, and contributions. Visit WebProBlog and contribute your opinion today! |
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Should Google limit the capabilities of some of their search functions? Or should webmasters be more conscientious of the vulnerabilities their sites may possess?
About the Author:
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest search news.
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