Talk about anticlimactic: Billionaire investor and proxy war ninja Carl Icahn isn’t going to bother showing up to Yahoo’s shareholder meeting on Friday.
In a post, Icahn–newly muzzled courtesy of a deal he cut with Yahoo–writes:
I will not be attending. The proxy fight is over and it will not do shareholders or Yahoo! any good to […]
Forrester Research said today that it will acquire the smaller but well-recognized firm Jupiter Research for $23 million in cash, plus assumed liabilities. Jupiter, which has 82 employees and had revenues last year of about $14 million, will be wrapped into Forrester’s Marketing & Strategy Client Group. Last year, Forrester had revenues of $212 million. […]
It looks like foreign tourists are avoiding Beijing in droves. China originally expected 1.5 million visitors. Now that’s down to 450,000.
Still, that’s nearly 450,000 journalists coming to town. Everyone’s a reporter now, thanks to tiny electronics and the Web. Even tourists should regard themselves as such. And don’t think Beijing isn’t watching those who watch […]
Best Buy, Corning, Google and a bunch of other companies are dabbling in prediction markets for corporate decision making and there may even be a little return on investment given that traditional forecasting methods aren’t better.
Prediction markets are speculation hubs where traders predict future events. In the enterprise, prediction markets are a handy way to […]
It’s final. Satellite radio has been given the thumbs up to merge. That doesn’t mean that a satellite TV merger is around the corner, though. The dynamics of TV and radio are different - even though some of the tech’s competitive forces are standing on the sidelines of the satellite TV world.
Motorola posted a small profit excluding charges–a small victory, but enough to top Wall Street estimates calling for a loss of 3 cents a share. The company’s enterprise and networking business carried the quarter.
If you’re Motorola you’ll take what you can get. The company reported second quarter earnings of $4 million, or nil a share […]
by Miriam Ellis
As a Local Search practitioner, I’m a big fan of Google Maps and the brilliant technology behind it. I interact with Maps daily and am always excited when they roll out some new tool or application that makes their index of information about local businesses more thorough or useful. But seeing Google Maps’ newest offering, Street View, didn’t make me feel excited. It made me feel…ticked.
“If I can’t roam around the Googleplex with a camera taking 360 degree photos of anything I want, what gives Google the right to photograph my whole yard, my house, my windows and doors?” my thoughts went along heatedly. “They expect people to respect their privacy at the Plex. What about the privacy of American citizens?”
So, I blogged about it on my blog and heard from quite a lot of people I’ve never heard from before who felt I was being that unforgivable thing…emotional. Actually, I really valued their comments as a gauge of public sentiment and an initiation to the arguments that have only just begun regarding whether trespass has to involve walking onto private land, or whether, in the modern age, we have the ability to commit illegal trespass with our gadgets. The courts will have to decide this as the lawsuits mount up.
Barring the cases that are cropping up in which Google’s Street View drivers went down private driveways and through people’s gates in order to photograph homes, it’s my understanding of current U.S. laws that it’s not illegal to drive down a street taking photos. It’s not even illegal to take photographs of people without their knowledge or consent (think about the media’s relationship with celebrities).
What Is That Word I’m Thinking Of?
So, if Street View isn’t illegal, what is it that is causing such public outcry against this detailed documentation of homes, land and people? I think the word I’ve been looking for is antisocial.
Good social behavior is what prevents many people from swearing in public, spitting on sidewalks or evangelizing religions to unwilling subjects. None of these activities are illegal - they’re antisocial. Good social behavior is the glue of ‘niceness’ that holds society together and makes daily life a little easier for all of us. Antisocial behavior causes discomfort and embarrassment in others, and it’s why ‘nice’ people try to avoid it. Taking photographs of people and their private property without permission is simply very bad manners. As silly as it sounds, Google is being boorish.
My friend, Pierre Farr, exhibited much better manners when he had the opportunity to speak with a Google Street View driver a couple of weeks ago.
‘So I watched as the car reached the end, did a U-turn and drove back out again. However, as it got close to me, the car pulled up into an empty parking spot and the driver came out. He shouted at me saying “I know you want to take pictures but I don’t want to be in them.” I obliged.’
Pierre kindly respected the driver’s (rather ironic) wish not to be photographed, but Google is failing to act with like consideration for the public. Illegal or not, Street View is offending many of Google’s neighbors, and as heavily invested as Google is in Local Search now, stepping on local people’s toes isn’t what I’d call a winning move.
What You Can Do
If Street View’s documentation of your private home or person is striking you as a social blunder on their part, there are some steps you can take in an effort to inform them of their faux pas.
1) Find your home address in Google Maps
2) Click the Street View option
3) Click the Report Inappropriate Image option
This will bring up a form you can fill out, explaining your objections and requesting that the objectionable image be removed from their index.
One of my friends at Google, a gentlemen whom I really respect, graciously pointed me to this video detailing the request for removal process.
And that’s the thing about Google that keeps me rooting for them, even when I get ticked. They’ve got such pleasant people working for them. They invent such fantastic, amazing applications. They set standards and raise bars.
But they are only human, after all, and we all make mistakes. I see the form they’ve provided as a way to let Google know if you think they’ve been boorish. Remember - their business is dependent on your approval as a member of the public. New technology is going to necessitate the creation of new definitions, new laws and new rules of etiquette. Let’s keep the dialog going.
Free White Paper: How to Optimize for Google
A free 10 page white paper on how to optimize a website on Google the right way - so the website succeeds.
by Sage Lewis
Sage lays the smack down on the internet marketing industry as he brings to light the immaturity and name-calling surrounding the Edward Lewis “hubbub”. Having been at the receiving end of scathing, hateful remarks by Shoemoney and his cohorts, Sage identifies with how it feels to be the underdog. He tells the industry to grow up! — and stop acting like the immature children of the marketing world. If we want to play hard ball with the big boys of TV and print, then we have to start acting like a mature professional industry.
Free White Paper: How to Optimize for Google
A free 10 page white paper on how to optimize a website on Google the right way - so the website succeeds.
by Sage Lewis
Sage lays the smack down on the internet marketing industry as he brings to light the immaturity and name-calling surrounding the Edward Lewis “hubbub”. Having been at the receiving end of scathing, hateful remarks by Shoemoney and his cohorts, Sage identifies with how it feels to be the underdog. He tells the industry to grow up! — and stop acting like the immature children of the marketing world. If we want to play hard ball with the big boys of TV and print, then we have to start acting like a mature professional industry.
Free White Paper: How to Optimize for Google
A free 10 page white paper on how to optimize a website on Google the right way - so the website succeeds.
Symantec’s strategy of selling security and storage together is apparently paying off as companies consolidate the number of vendors they use.
The security and storage management software company reported strong fiscal first quarter results (statement) as net income more than doubled from a year ago. Symantec reported first quarter earnings of $187 million, or 22 cents […]