When Al Gore first created the internet (hard wink, everybody), we’re pretty sure the plan was for Big Brother to collect your data, not Silicon Valley titans. Now Google, the company that mainly tends the gates to the web’s vast array of information, is stepping up to its “Do No Evil” motto, and making encrypted search the norm — for account users. While Gmail’s long had SSL set as a default login, good ol’ Joe Public’s had to specifically access Mountain View’s dedicated encrypted search page for anonymous surfing privileges. No longer, as Gmail users signed in to Goog’s suite of web services will be automatically redirected to https://www.google.com where their searches and results will be hidden from prying eyes. The protection doesn’t extend out to web advertisements, so those specific clicks will deliver the same metric-relevant info that helps marketers optimize their hyper-targeting. Any of that put you conspiracy theorists at ease? Good, now you can open those curtains again.

Google encrypts search for users, paranoiacs unsure how to respond originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Say hello to your new online friend, wdyl.com. An eagle-eyed TechCrunch tipster spotted this freshly launched Google portal, whose purpose it seems to be to gather up all of the company’s multifarious web services under one umbrella. A Google search for Google products, in other words. Punching in a topic brings up its popularity in Google Trends, lets you set up Google Alerts, plan related events in Google Calendar, email someone in Gmail, or hit up Picasa, YouTube or Google News with the same query. You get the picture. It hasn’t yet been made official and hitting up the site without the “www.” prefix throws up a bad URL error at the moment, but it’s there and seemingly fully functional. Give it a try and let us know which search terms bring up the most humorous results.

What do you love, asks Google with a new portal to its many web services originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 02:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like not even mighty Google itself is able to resist the charms of a bit of widespread internet shorthand. +1, whether used to uprank an Engadget comment or in freehand writing to signify one’s support / approval of something, is making its way into Google search results. You’ll soon be able to throw a single thumb up on links or ads you find useful, which will then be used to inform your buddies about the value of that site. Recommendations are filtered using a typically complex algorithm intended to make them as relevant as possible, with people within your social circle (i.e. Gtalk buddies and Gmail contacts) getting a higher priority. The new +1 button will start off with English Google search and ads soon, to be followed by more products in Google’s portfolio and potentially more social linkups, such as via Twitter. The usual explanatory video follows after the break.

Continue reading Google adding a +1 button to search results, hopes you Like it

Google adding a +1 button to search results, hopes you Like it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What you once knew as the Google Mobile App has been rechristened the Google Search app, signifying a renewed focus for Google’s primary iOS application. Having formerly served as a multifunctional access point to all of Google’s varied web apps, the new software is now geared to serve search needs first, with its other offerings relegated to a secondary “Apps” menu. There’s also the addition of a new toolbar, accessible by swiping left to right, and improved fast-app switching support. The ever-present bug fixes and a few more user interface tweaks complete the list of changes. To get your download on, you may exploit either the source link below or the QR code above.

Continue reading Google Search app for iPhone introduces new side-swipe toolbar and other UI tweaks

Google Search app for iPhone introduces new side-swipe toolbar and other UI tweaks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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