“The Gmail outage that affected many consumers and Google Apps users worldwide is now over. Users should find that they’re able to access their email now without any further problems,” said Acacio Cruz, Gmail site reliability manager, in a blog posting.

“The outage itself lasted approximately two and a half hours from 0930 GMT. We know that for many of you this disrupted your working day. We’re really sorry about this. Our engineers are still investigating the root cause of the problem,” Cruz said.

Google did not say how many clients were affected by the incident, but reports of trouble flooded the internet from all over the world.

Google stressed that problems with Gmail were very rare, but the incident was seen as a major embarrassment for the company, which is trying to persuade computer users to store more of their data online.

When you’re doing business online you need to have a great Yahoo Web Site. Your website is your calling card and your face on the internet. And Yahoo Web Hosting can really help you launch your business or website forward. Your site tells your customers about your business, sells your products, and acts as a virtual storefront or office where customers can go for help when they need it. Your website needs to be multi-functional, but it also needs to be well designed, easy to navigate, and full of interesting and original content. Sounds like a tall order doesn’t it? It can be, and a professional web design company can charge thousands of dollars for an ultra modern website design. But when you choose a web hosting company like Yahoo Web Hosting, you can get reliable web hosting and great site design.

One of the free perks that Yahoo Web hosting offers to customers is the opportunity to choose from a wide selection of design templates to create your site or give your existing site an overhaul. Yahoo web site templates have been designed by professional web designers and they are optimized for the web and give your great flexibility. They offer unique and well put together colors, designs and layout that you can mix and match in order to give your business the unique custom look that you want with the functionality that your customers expect. There is a huge selection of designs that you can choose from to fit almost any industry and you can also use free design tools to create your own site. Yahoo Web hosting design templates are also set up to work with the most popular web-authoring programs like Dreamweaver and Frontpage.

Good design is only one element of creating a highly functional site. One of the ways that your website can help your business is by giving customers easy to find relevant information about your business, your products and your services. Yahoo Web Hosting tools are available free when you sign up for hosting services including point and click FAQ builders and other customizable information sections that are designed to be professional looking and easy to read. Your customers will be more likely to stay and buy when they can get the answers and information they need easily and without having to call customer service. Adding informational sections will make your site look more put together and current instead of making your site look like something that was just thrown together.

Your Yahoo web site serves so many functions for you business. Isn’t it worth paying for a service that will give you great web hosting and all the tools that you need to upgrade your website or create a multi-functional site that will impress your customers? With the eCommerce tools, design tools, marketing tools and business management tools that Yahoo Web Hosting offers you can build a website that will make it easy to run your business and draw customers. If you have been considering paying for a website design company to design your website or give your existing site a facelift, try switching to Yahoo Web Hosting instead. You’ll get great web hosting and the tools you need to create a polished, professional website for a fraction of the cost that a design company would charge.

For most webmasters and SEO websites marketers, gaining a good Google PR (Page Rank) is vital to a websites success. Ranking highly will greatly influence your rank in the search engines, as well as your authority when vouching for other websites. For those of you not too familiar with SEO, gaining backlinks from relative websites into your website is considered one of the most crucial factors in gaining PR (Page Rank). For this reason, webmasters and marketers jump onto the bandwagon in an attempt to gain as much backlinks as possible, but with no visible gain in PR for months. This is believed to be the result of the Google Sandbox Theory.

Affecting New Websites

After the launch of a new website, Google’s algorithm seems to place the website’s ranking factors and inbound links on a probationary status until the website [and linking websites] is proven viable. The idea behind this is to prevent newer websites by quickly gaining high PR from other new and unviable websites. It can take anything from 3 to 6 months before any backlinks will affect the PR rating of your website. For most new websites, the PR stays in 0 for months before they suddenly increase to a much higher PR.

The Fading Effect

The best advice for those trying to increase their PR is to not give up. After a few months the Sandbox’s filters on your website will start to reduce and you will reap the benefits of your hard work and the links reciprocated from other websites will start to have an impact. It is advised that new websites be linked to from authority websites (those with high PR) in order to receive a small vote of viability.

Google’s fifth update to its popular Google Earth software offers something for virtual tourists, planetary exploration enthusiasts and amateur oceanographers. Fans of seeing your favorite places from overhead—not to mention your favorite artwork—those high-resolution images are still there for your procrastinating pleasure.

Available for free download from Google’s Web site, Google Earth 5.0 can plunge viewers as far down as the Mariana Trench, the deepest location in the seven seas; it can also let you roll back the years, showing what areas such as Silicon Valley looked like five or even 50 years ago (a more disturbing aspect of this allows you to watch glaciers shrink); and it provides a three-dimensional view of the Martian surface.

Previous versions of Google Earth included an ocean that was virtually a monochromic blue, with only slight shadings to convey depth.

“We on the Google Earth team had been working hard to build a rich 3-D map of the world, but we had largely ignored the oceans—two-thirds of the planet,” John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Maps, wrote on the Official Google Blog.

The intricate, high-resolution imagery is made possible thanks to Google’s enormous servers, the same that allow endless needle-in-a-haystack searches, and the long-fabled Gdrive, which deliver data to the user on a map-by-map basis.

In addition to the 3-D renderings of the undersea floor (and a few of its more famous shipwrecks), the new Google Earth provides numerous overlays, including maps of the ocean’s phytoplankton. The Mars map annotates significant spots, such as probe landing sites, and high-resolution images where available.

And all that’s interesting to look at, but those who spend the majority of their time on terra firma will probably be more interested in the feature that allows you to upload walking or biking tracks from GPS devices, should you want to show everyone a new route.

Which gives rise to the question, what exactly is Silverlight technology? Well, one thing for sure, it’s more than just a fancy name.

Silverlight is a programmable web browser plug-in that allows media to be played over the Internet. This plug-in gives the user the ability to hear audio, view video and animation that are abundant in rich Internet applications. Basically, it’s a competitor to the Adobe Flash Player and although they’re similar, they’re not exactly the same.

Tech specs

Developed under the codename Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere (WPF/E), it allows the integration of audio, video and interactivity in a single runtime environment, in the same way the Windows Presentation Foundation does. Working in conjunction with XAML, they contents of a Silverlight application can be indexed and is searchable by search engines.

Content-wise, it supports the usual array of WMV, WMA and MP3 formats without requiring Windows Media Player, Active X control or even a Windows Media Player plug-in. This makes it a one-stop centre for Internet multimedia and eliminates the need to download different plug-ins for the same application.

Silverlight is compatible with Windows Vista Home and Professional Edition as well as with the Windows Mobile 6. Mac users can also download this plug-in since it can be used on the Mac OS.

For the average user

The specs might make sense to a web developer, but what about the average man on the street? Normal Internet users won’t care whether the site they’re visiting is made from Flash or Silverlight. How will it affect them?

Well, for one thing, Silverlight can make their application much more searchable. As said before, Silverlight content are displayed on screen through text-based markup language called XAML. Although this might not mean much to the average user, it does to huge search engines such as Google or Yahoo. Unlike Flash sites, which search engines can’t dive into, Silverlight content will be made available as search results just like any other text on a webpage.

Also, for the users who opt for less-used platforms and browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome, this plug-in will endear to them, since most Internet applications run on popular platforms. And although Microsoft doesn’t usually tread the waters of Mac and other operating systems, most web developers have given positive early reviews to Silverlight and this opens a lot of possibilities.

And these possibilities are already evident in Microsoft’s products. Match.com has already created a feature which allows users to chat to each other on the Internet without resorting to a third-party messenger. Video sites such as Netflix and CBS.com has unveiled their new video players which have extra community features. For example, the syncing of two videos by two different users which gives them the sense of watching a movie together on Netflix.

Silverlight technology is already available for download on select platforms. And although it is still new, it is promising to be an important part of Internet applications in the future.

The moment you fire it up, the sparse white design and primary-color logo make it obvious that this is a Google application. When not in use, Google Talk shrinks down to a “speech bubble” icon on the Windows taskbar (for the time being, it’s available for Windows only). Clicking on this opens the main pane, with a searchable list of your contacts, or “friends” as Google optimistically calls them.

Click on a name to initiate text chat, or click on the phone icon next to it to start a voice call. The person you’re calling hears a ringing tone and can answer if they wish. Individual windows open for each voice or text conversation.

A broadband internet connection is essential for voice calling. In my testing, voice quality was very clear, even when calling internationally. Any standard microphone, headphones or headset will work. The software adjusts its sensitivity for your microphone, though you might have to delve into the Windows control panel if your existing sound settings are seriously awry.

Apart from this, Google Talk requires little tinkering under the hood of your PC. I tried it on three different PCs running Windows XP and Windows 2000, and in all cases, it worked fine. It worked perfectly through a Linux firewall, both across the internet and inside a LAN. You can also text chat with people using other programs that are compatible with the open Jabber/XMPP protocol, like iChat and Gaim.

On a couple of occasions, text messages got delayed in transmission and took several minutes to appear, but this was rare. So smoothly does Google Talk work that it’s easy to forget this is beta software.

It’s really the lack of features that telegraphs Google Talk’s prototype status. If you’re familiar with feature-laden competitors like MSN Messenger or AIM, it would almost be easier to describe Google Talk in terms of what it doesn’t have: no cheery emoticons, no fancy fonts and no file transfers, for example. And there’s also no advertising at all, a curious departure from Google’s standard operating procedure and sole source of revenue.

There’s also no way to call to or from traditional telephone networks. That’s a significant difference from Skype, the internet telephony wunderkind, which holds between 30 and 46 percent of that market, depending on which statistics you look at.

So, if you’re already using Skype or a similar program, why should you switch to Google Talk? The program is closely integrated with Gmail (you must have an invite-only Gmail account to use it), which might be nice if that’s your main e-mail provider. The clean, simple interface could appeal to some, and the attempt to adhere to open standards seems worthy of support.

In the future, Google says it intends to add a raft of new features, including support for other operating systems (presumably Mac and Linux), encryption, compatibility with other internet telephony standards, and versions with a user interface in languages other than English (text chat already works in any language supported by Windows).

But for now, there really isn’t any compelling reason to switch. Google Talk certainly doesn’t enjoy the clear advantages over competitors that Google Search or Gmail had at their introductions. Google has to do something to make its new service outstanding. After all, who wants to use a communications service that has no users?

One is the availability of bandwidth that makes the Internet the primary source of content and not just a medium to seek information. The distinction between content and information must be made clear. Content is what drives business. People pay attention to content and people don’t want to pay to seek information.

Then, the next advantage is the resource base. There are smart people at Google doing their jobs with not having to invest in Customer Management routines. Most of Google’s success lies in its ability to automate the processes that do not generate revenues but increase head count. The whole of the AdSense program is an automated system that searches for keywords and posts matching ads from an ad server. Clicks get detected, the dollars flow in.

For Microsoft, that is where the hit comes. Its core products need to be supported. There have to be staff laid out for back end issues. There have to be call centers, support centers and the like. The OS is a huge monolithic piece of complex code and you have to service anyone who pays to use it. Google can continue to dabble in its ‘beta’ products, free from the shackles of support management.

That is what hits Microsoft hardest. But that is where the key lies. Automate your processes. Resource utelization must jump to a higher level. Outsourcing has to kick in. It has to take the initiative and think out of the box to create a web-based business model that can let the dollars flow in.

Recently , Steve Balmer , in all his characteristic boisterous style was commenting over the 4 cycles of a successful business model – get an idea , build it up to a critical mass , milk the idea to all it is worth and create a new offshoot that provides another revenue stream. He said that Google is in the 3rd stage. Milking a great idea that struck the masses. Been there, done that. Also, it is to be seen how much Google can continue to rely on the single source of all its revenues – advertising. The search giant is spreading its wings with the acquisition of YouTube and a company that puts ads on Computer Games.

Looked from that angle, Google is going the same way as Microsoft. While the OS giant is taking its core product on to different gadgets, Google is taking its core idea of targeted ads to different medias. The attempt to sell ads on radio and print too confirms that. The point is, Google does not see Microsoft as a competitor, since Microsoft has not been able to provide a half-good alternative to the targeted ad business model. Important questions to ask at this point are, does Microsoft need to think out totally? What I believe is that Microsoft has to seriously start working on a platform that lets content creators distribute content on a subscription basis and checks piracy.

Lot of options are open here. One would be to acquire a la UTube and the like in the online gaming arena and the other technology media. At the same time , they have to invest in a competent advertising system. Like the old days, they can’t just do a Netscape to Google, because Google has a firm business model in mind and relies on none of Microsoft’s technologies.

As for Microsoft, one thing I believe they have going good is their focus on CRM and Enterprise Software. Thas is one area where at least for the time being Google is not present. However, the world is different now. If Google takes over SalesForce.com, Microsoft will have a lot more to worry about.

Now that Google has opened up their Google Talk servers for federation with other Jabber servers, you can use Google Talk to connect to your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo or ICQ. Here’s how, step-by-step with screenshots.

First, download and install the free Jabber client called Psi. It’s a fine Jabber client, and you might want to keep it, but you won’t need to once you’ve set everything up. The Psi wiki has a great step-by-step for connecting to Google Talk. Follow their instructions and you’ll be able to see your Google Talk contacts.

Next, go to Service Discovery and browse the Jabber server ursine.ca and you’ll see the transports available.

Click on a transport and Psi will gather data.

Right-click on a transport to register. Registration involves entering your username and password for the given IM network. Once you do, Psi will connect to that network and retrieve your contacts. You can also add new contacts.

Once I had “registered” each of my IM accounts, I had a lot (hundreds?) of system messages.

Basically it asked me to confirm that I wanted to add each of these contacts. Once I did, they showed up in my Psi contact list.

Now exit Psi and fire-up Google Talk. You’ll have all your IM contacts right there on your Google Talk contact list.

Once you’ve done so, you can chat with your friends on AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, MSN — all using Google Talk. You can also add contacts directly within Google Talk. Just use the format [screenname]@[transport.dns.name]. For example, to add my MSN screen name you would enter jeff@msn.ursine.ca

What’s the deal with ursine.ca? You can use any Jabber server you’d like — you’ll find a complete list here at Open Jabber Servers — ursine.ca was just the server I used.

This process works, although in my experience, the MSN transport has not been reliable. One of my friends reported an weird “echo” effect. Everything she typed was returned back to her as if from me (I saw none of her messages). I’ve also sent IMs to MSN contacts, only to have them immediately appear “offline.”

As with any of these kinds of hacks, your mileage may vary. But you’ve got to admit — it is very cool to be able to use Google Talk as a universal IM client.

For this article I am going to assume that you know how to create ads in Google, MSN and yahoo. Ok so you have a product or service that you want to sell, so you need people to sell that product to. Let’s find out how to created targeted ad groups in the three “best” PPC engines out there.

We will stick with the make money niche. It’s popular

1.) Generate a highly targeted keyword list

a. Example – How to make money i. How to make money online ii. How to make money online fast iii. How to make money online today iv. Etc

b. Example – Make money taking surveys i. money taking surveys ii. taking surveys to earn money iii. surveys to make money

Create 10 highly targeted ad groups

2.) Build custom landing pages for each keyword set. For example A. you would build a keyword rich website about “how to make money online” then for example B you would build a website built around the keyword ” money taking surveys”.

3.) Now in Google, MSN, and yahoo, you have different options for the keywords, exact phrase and board, you want to select all of these – you will use them later for testing.

Now you have 10 highly targeted keyword list, 10 targeted web pages, and now your ready to turn on the traffic, test and then optimize. Remember to track all your traffic sources, because if you don’t you are leaving money on the table and that is something that no one wants to do.

If you’re like many business owners, you want to get a web presence, but aren’t entirely sure how the whole process works.

The first step is to find and register a domain name for your business. You may use Yahoo every day to search the Web, and fortunately, they’ve also made domain registration very simple. Yahoo Domains is popular among website owners all over the world because of the Internet giant’s reliability and cost effectiveness. Yahoo also offers private registration, which allows you to hide your personal information from spammers and other malicious Web users who mine the domain registration (WHOIS) database for personal information.

When you register a domain name with Yahoo Domains, they also provide services to guide you through the process of building a standard website or an e-commerce site.

For important sites you don’t want to leave to chance, Yahoo domain registration includes security measures to help prevent domain hijacking and other forms of abuse. You can also be assured that your private information will not be shared with third parties or individuals wanting to buy your registered domain name.

The domain name you choose is critical. It should be concise, memorable, and represent your business well. Unfortunately, many domain names are already registered by other site owners. In cases like this, Yahoo’s domain registration process assists you in selecting an appropriate domain name for your site or business by suggesting available domain names based on slight variations of your initial request.

Even if you are on a limited budget, Yahoo domains are affordable, costing less than $20 per year for all top security and customer service features.

Affordability, security, reliability, and great support make Yahoo domains an excellent choice for small businesses and even non-commercial site owners.