"They really need to fix the search engine, and that seems like that's a March quarter event," he said (while shaking his magic 8 ball).

A while ago I reviewed a ton of keyword research tools, but most of them are lacking in serious user data, which makes them top heavy, and forces people to only see the most common terms.

For the longest time it seemed as though Google was uncomfortable sharing some of their search data, afraid to give competitors the inside scoop, but that is no more. Google recently launched a new Google AdWords Keyword Suggestion Tool [you have to be logged in for the link to work & it may not be available in all accounts yet], which is much more usable than their older Google AdWords Keyword Sandbox.

What features does the keyword tool include?

Features of this tool include:

• Keyword list sorting. Sort the results of your keyword search by popularity, performance history within the AdWords system, cost, and predicted ad position.

• Easy keyword manipulation. Select a few keywords here and there, or add them all at once. Keywords already present in your Ad Group will be marked so that you don't have to worry about them. You can also download your keyword list as a .csv file.
• Search for keywords in three ways. Use keywords you enter, your existing high clickthrough rate keywords, or any webpage URL for your search. You can also expand your keyword search even further to include pages linked to from the original URL. (Note: Site-related keyword searching is currently only available for English language users.)
• More keyword results based on regularly updated statistics. Our advanced search engine technology allows us to provide you with the latest information on potential keywords for your campaigns.

Google also has tips on how to use the tool. I am not sure how well this tool interfaces with their API, but automating keyword selection based on Google's usage data and extracting meaning from page content makes the market a hell of a lot more efficient, especially for large advertisers willing to pay a bit extra for branding. The new tool also makes it easy for newbies to quickly build out targeted keyword lists. Google also has put Google Suggest in their toolbar, which allows them to sell better targeted ads than searches on broad generic terms would, and also helps consolidate the less common search queries (misspellings, etc.) to fewer overall phrases and more predictible patterns (since the search term suggestions are going to be based off of past popular searches). All of these will lead to Google being able to increase their profit margin per search. Combine that with the recent toolbar bundling and the numbers are looking up for Google.

This new keyword tool allows you to:

• tap Google's userbase to select keywords based on past searches

• create keywords from a URL, site, keywords you enter, or the most relevant terms in your account (as determined by CTR)
• shows estimated bid costs and rank based on your bid price
• show advertiser competition and search volume
• makes it easy to manipulate data from any of the sources and add them to a master list
• export terms via CSV (here is an example list for the keyword search SEO)
• From the few terms I looked at their API keyword search volumes are also pretty close to what the AdWords advertisers are seeing.

So long as Google stays ahead of their competition on the technology front, keeps doing an amazing job on the plublicity front, and finances pumping rapidly evolving spam into the competing search networks the search game is pretty well won IMHO.

I think the only thing that can stop them at this point is if they let another network spring up which makes its users feel like they are making the web a better place by searching there.

Good observation here:
Google is worth $30 per share

Funny that, as shares are up more than $30 apiece in after hours trading. Google delivered another blowout quarter. Last earnings call they soften expectations for this quarter, and with the bar set low they easily topped it.

• Google noticed 14% profit growth in sequential quarters

• 96% year over year profit growth (although last year's results included a $201 million charge to account for a legal settlement with Yahoo over the Overture pattent).
• Google saw 20% quarterly increase in profit from Google.com
• 7% growth rate throughout their partner network
• international 39% same last and this
• UK 15% this quarter 14% last
• 4989 employees as of September 30th

Gary has more:

"Although this is typically a slower season for internet properties, we had another exceptional quarter," said Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

"Our focus on end users and on quality of information and advertising worldwide continues to work extremely well. We are very pleased with how well this is working at scale."

Shares eclipsed their all time highs, & were trading at 335.06 when I last checked, with Google up over 10% in after hours trading.

Not that I had many shares, but I sold a few at $326 thinking Google would soften forward guidance, but they never did! I still suspect the stock will come down a bit after the market opens in the morning ;)

Taiwan recently whined to Google about their maps calling Taiwan a providence of China, and recently Google maps changed. Apparently removing the providence of China bit pissed off China:

Shortly after Taiwan's foreign ministry formally complained, the China reference abruptly disappeared from Google's Taiwan map last week. That change has provoked cries of dismay in China and talk of a possible boycott of Google's service in that country, according to Chinese media.

Google has quickly backpeddled about the reasons behind the change, saying they were just trying to clean up the map image.

The change doesn't reflect Google's political opinion on the dispute, according to company spokeswoman Debbie Frost. She said Google wanted to enlarge its map images to make them even easier for users to see, so it removed all text from the left corner of the Web page.

Since when do you rename countries and providences to clean up the map?

DMOZ meta editor Hutcheson likely a fake posts about the fading of DMOZ:

The biggest decline in the quality of the web in recent years can be traced to the devaluation of ODP, and with it, the esteem of the hard-working editors who created the directory. We’re no longer the kings and queens of the web the way we once were. It is depressing, because while it lasted, being an editor at DMOZ was the mountain-topping experience of my life.

Many of use live on disability settlements and workmans comp. DMOZ is a job we can do from home; we feel important and that we are contributing to society; and the volunteer status means any income from the project is off the books and won’t threaten our disability pay.

I truly believed we were the gatekeepers of the internet: those entrusted to identify which sites were worthy. The inescapable truth is that we are no longer as important as we once were, and it is a blow to my self-identity.

I think I was duped ;) hutcheson said it wasn't him.