Educasting from Ireland

How many clicks from Google to your site

GOOGLE -- How many links does it take to get from Google.com to a page about yourself--without using the search box?

Search for video

SINGING FISH -- Michael Kiely showed me Singing Fish a few months ago and now I'm trying to ensure that search engine records our class tracks.

Blinkx Review

BLINKX -- This little search utility quickly downloads, installs, and watches. Although its results lack the authority of a more comprehensive Google search, its results provide more reach than Google because you can see local documents, weblogs and content not normally among the top 20 results in a Google search. When you visit a page related to a news item or a web reference, a small icon in the upper right hand corner of your screen glows red or blue respectively. But I did not get the same effective response from the local (hard drive) search icon since I store most of my stash on removeable media.

New Yahoo Search

YAHOO -- The new Yahoo search functionality appeared on My.Yahoo.com in mid-June and it's good to see the very functional screen appearing in mainstream use. It appears that the back-end tech pulls log files from past searches and suggests them to improve your search.

Journos begin at Google

CLONMEL -- I just got off the phone with a freelance journalist who went Googling and found something I wrote months ago. Now he wants to write a fresh piece about the item. According to Greg Jarboe, President and Co-Founder of SEO-PR, search engines have become an indispensable utility for journalists. "They've been assigned a story they are going to do some relevant searches," he said. "Do they find you or don't they? Where are they going to go look?"

MSN search

REUTERS -- MSN unveiled several enhancements to MSN Search.

Five-word Google identity

CLONMEL -- I set a final exam question in my Writing Skills class that asked respondents to cite their five-word Google identity. The answers suggest a call to action--starting here with this "Media Studies Classroom" that needs its own identity in Google.

Google Snips

DUBLIN -- I like sharing tips about Google to people who think it's just a search engine. Google does some interesting things besides find information.