China Cyber Attack Targeted Google’s Password System

admin    Web Marketing     Attack, China, Cyber, Google’s, Password, System, Targeted

Although hardly a week has passed that we haven’t heard about the Chinese hacking attack on Google since Google announced the accusations in January, but still, we know very little about the attack itself. Aside from the fact that the attack targeted Chinese human rights activists’ Gmail accounts, and that dozens of other companies were also hit, Google has held its secrets close.

The New York Times may have hit upon that secret, though—and it’s a doozy:

a person with direct knowledge of the investigation now says that the losses included one of Google’s crown jewels, a password system that controls access by millions of users worldwide to almost all of the company’s Web services, including e-mail and business applications.

The password system has only been described once publicly (four years ago, says the NYT). Named “Gaia” after the Greek mother goddess (she was the grandmother of Zeus) and Earth personified, the system guards millions of users’ personal information. The hackers did not actually get users’ passwords, but used the system to access parts of their accounts, apparently.

The “lightning raid” took less than two days, said the source. Apparently, a Google employee in China inadvertently allowed the attack. The employee responded to an IM message on Microsoft’s Messenger and followed a “poisoned” link—and if CEO Eric Schmidt had the details correct, the employee used an out-of-date, less secure browser that allowed the hackers access through that link.

Google has declined to comment on this issue. They continue to use Gaia, now called Single Sign-On, the system that allows users to log in on one Google property and stay signed in across many other Google sites.

There’s a possibility that the hackers could have inserted a Trojan horse to make several data centers almost remote log-in points, but it seems unlikely that the attack was quite that sophisticated. Additionally, Google has since tightened data center security as well as the links between data centers.

However, the hackers did know quite a bit about the system already. They knew the names of what employees to target, possibly because they gained access to Google’s internal directory, Moma.

What do you think? Is Google safer now? Will you keep trusting them with your data?

View full post on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim

Google’s Foreign Relations: Blocked in 25 Countries; 10 More Complain About Buzz Privacy

admin    Web Marketing     About, Blocked, Buzz, Complain, Countries, Foreign, Google’s, More, Privacy, relations

As usual, Google is taking flak from both sides lately. They reported yesterday that of the 100 countries they offer products and services in, 25 countries block or filter one or more services. Search, Blogger, YouTube and even Google Docs are blocked in some countries, sometimes based on political or social filtering.

Meanwhile, ten more countries are complaining about Google allowing access to information in a different way—not protecting users’ privacy sufficiently with Buzz. Of course, this is nothing new, since Buzz has prompted privacy concerns since the day it rolled out.

We’ve already seen what Google is capable of in working against censorship, although they’ll continue to comply with democratic governments’ demands (such as removing pro-Nazi content from google.de and google.fr).

But the privacy concerns of the ten countries might be a bit more difficult to address. Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom are hard to dismiss as radical. Reports the AP:

[T]he letter sent Monday to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, privacy and data-protection officials from the 10 countries said they are still “extremely concerned about how a product with such significant privacy issues [Buzz] was launched in the first place.”

Google Street View, a mapping service that includes street-level photos taken by cameras mounted on cars that sweep through neighborhoods, is another area of concern. The officials complained that Google launched it in various countries without “due consideration of privacy and data protection laws and cultural norms.”

“In that instance, you addressed privacy concerns related to such matters as the retention of unblurred facial images only after the fact, and there is continued concern about the adequacy of the information you provide before the images are captured,” officials said in their letter, posted on the Web site of Canada’s privacy commissioner.

Google said it has “discussed all these issues publicly many times before and have nothing to add to today’s letter.”

The countries’ officials are also worried about others sites with similar practices. Frankly, so are we. As I said in February:

Dear Popular Websites: Stop. Test new features with real users. Ask for feedback. Don’t force crap on us—let us opt in, and if we like it, we’ll encourage others to opt in, too. And think about the implications before you get the negative ink and/or lawsuits, for once.

Google Buzz is still reaping the “benefits” of rushing its initially-impossible-to-opt-out-of products. Will they have to make more changes to appease other governments?

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Why I Agree With Google’s CEO About the Value of Newspaper Editors

admin    Web Marketing     About, Agree, Editors, Google’s, Newspaper, Value

“Google’s Schmidt to Bloggers: Drop Dead!”

Well shoot!

What am I supposed to say about Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s comments, now that RWW had already taken the “bloggers can drop dead” angle? How am I supposed to keep Pilgrims entertained, if the sensational has already be discussed?

How about I surprise you by agreeing with Schmidt, but first you need to read what he actually said:

There is an art to what you do. And if you’re ever confused as to the value of newspaper editors, look at the blog world. That’s all you need to see. So we understand how fundamental tradition and the things you care about are.

I totally agree. I guess ole Eric and I are on the same page: newspaper editors simply have little value these days.

Ouch! Did that strike a nerve with anyone?

Look, there are some great newspaper editors out there, but there are also some great horse & carts, transistor radios, record players, and portable devices with–can you believe it–real keyboards! My point is that newspaper editing is pretty much becoming a job that is no longer needed. At least, not as a standalone role.

Bloggers are swift. Bloggers are edgy. Bloggers are, well the envy of newspapers, because they don’t have an editor to worry about. Sure, that means the (very) occasional typo. The grammatical error. The sentence that appears to go on forever without punctuation and you wonder if it will ever end and you hope that it will end because you can’t believe the writer didn’t notice that he’s rambling. Yes, bloggers are guilty of all those things, but here’s why it doesn’t matter much these days.

You see, we live in a world of short pithy comments, 140 character outburst, txt msgs that lve out impt syllbles. The world around us had changed the way it communicates. It has lowered its standards–and that’s what really scares the crap out of traditional editors.

So, yes, I agree with Eric Schmidt. Newspapers should take a look at the blog world in order to get a sense of their value. However, instead of feeling smug that they hold themselves to a higher standard, they should let their benchmark be the year 2010–not 1910. Their value has changed. Newspapers won’t die out altogether, but those that don’t learn from the gritty, speedy, fun style of bloggers will likely spend another 10 years cursing Google–instead of embracing what it’s done for publishers.

Disclosure: I am a blogger.

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Google’s Schmidt Offers Advice to Newspaper Industry

admin    Web Marketing     Advice, Google’s, Industry, Newspaper, Offers, Schmidt

Google and the newspaper industry truly have a love / hate relationship. Google loves the hard news generated by traditional media outlets but hates that the newspaper industry paints them as freeloaders. The newspapers love the traffic that Google sends to them but hates that they are doing it for free. This tug of war has been going on for some time but the inevitable “winner” in any tug of war is the side with the strength and the stamina to pull the team over the line. Right now Google has plenty of strength and stamina while the newspaper industry is in a tailspin.

So when Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt addressed the ASNE (American Society of News Editors) meeting last night there was some interest in just how he would handle this situation. His overall tone was to let the newspaper people know that things would get better. Politico reports

And Google CEO Eric Schmidt told a group of newspaper executives Sunday evening that his growing company will be an integral part of those changes.

Newspapers will make money once again, he said, but it will be from online advertisements and an altered subscription model. Schmidt said his firm is working on new ways to tailor advertisements and content for consumers, based on what stories they read.

“We have a business model problem, we don’t have a news problem,” Schmidt said.

He also took the time to throw a nice barb at bloggers by noting that quality journalism is an art and making that implication that blogging is, well, less of one. Fortunately, I have never claimed to be a journalist so this doesn’t really bug me but I suspect that more than a few bloggers would find Mr. Schmidt’s words offensive.

So how will the newspaper industry heal itself in the world according to Schmidt?

Organizations should refocus their attention on personalizing content and disseminating news through mobile devices – businesses in which Google is heavily involved.

Schmidt told the mostly full ballroom that “new forms of making money will develop,” and that Google is working on those forms. But he declined to divulge many details about that work.

Isn’t it great when a guy blasts a group of people for being less than professional (bloggers) then he just drops a statement to placate a group with no backing to it whatsoever? Maybe Mr. Schmidt is readying himself for political office since it appears that he has plenty of answers but no real details.

Much of Schmidt’s advice seemed to point to changes that might emerge from forms of technology that Google is developing, has developed or could foreseeably develop. Some of those advances in technology, he said, could create new revenue streams for news organizations.

News sites should use technology to predict what a user wants to read by what they have already read, he said – technology his company has. Schmidt said he doesn’t want “to be treated as a stranger” when reading news online. He also said he wants to be challenged through technology that directs readers to a story with an opposing view. Google, he said, can uncover why a news organization doesn’t have readers in specific areas.

Schmidt essentially knows he has this industry over a barrel. Without Google many news sites would see traffic numbers plummet along with the site’s ability to charge for advertising. If you are the newspapers you may be hearing Rupert Murdoch’s cry for paywalls and calling Google on copyright issues but most smart newspaper people are taking the stance of The Boston Globe

Boston Globe Editor Martin Baron told POLITICO after Schmidt’s speech that Google is “already a big part of our presence”: “The reality is all newspaper Web sites get a lot of traffic with Google.”

Baron, whose newspaper has been hit particularly hard in recent years, said Google is having a “dramatic impact” on the news industry, which he said needs to “adapt quickly” to the fast-changing media environment.

Newspaper folks realize they are in trouble and maybe they are also seeing that being cooperative with Google vs. adversarial may help them eventually. Until that time they need to take this very direct and pointed suggestion from Google’s Schmidt.

It’s an equation that’s not easily solved, Schmidt said.

“The fact of the matter is there are not simple answers to any of these questions. And in order to really find them, you’re going to have to run some experiments.”

Boy, I sure hope these newspapers’ editors didn’t pay much to get that advice. Even a silly blogger could have come up with that one.

View full post on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim

Yep: Google’s Hoping iAd Will Get GoogleMob Approved

admin    Web Marketing     Approved, GoogleMob, Google’s, Hoping

Apple finally officially made the leap into advertising on apps on its iPhone and iPad last week with the announcement of iAd. Of course, we’ve all been expecting that since they acquired Quattro Wireless—but it looked like no one was as excited as soon-to-be-full-on-rival Google.

As rumored, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt is already telling the US government what iAds mean for the mobile ad market. And the bottom line for him? iAds mean the FTC should approve Google’s acquisition of AdMob.

Well, of course.

Google’s acquisition was announced in November. The next month, consumer groups lobbied the FTC, saying the deal would stifle competition in the mobile app ad market. Last month, the FTC turned to rival app advertising companies for feedback on the pending deal.

According to Reuters, Schmidt thinks iAds pretty much make his case for him:

Apple’s plan to make a foray into the advertising market with iAd, was “evidence of a highly competitive market.”

“It just seems obvious to me,” said Schmidt.

Of course, Quattro was already a player in the app ad market, so it’s not like Apple’s introducing a totally new entity. However, with Apple’s backing, Quattro may be positioned to truly compete with a giant like Google.

It looks like Google definitely needs the help. According to Reuters:

FTC staff have been canvassing app developers to try to line up support to fight the deal, said one developer, who asked to remain unidentified because he had been interviewed by FTC attorneys.

“It’s been really interesting talking to them because they are so dead set against this,” said the developer. “They have been clearly positioning to try to stop this.”

Google is edging closer and closer to government action. In 2008, Google dropped its search ad deal with Yahoo just hours before the DOJ was going to file antitrust charges. Last year, Schmidt resigned from the Apple board after FTC scrutiny of his involvement in the two companies (and also because they both wanted to buy AdMob).

What do you think? Will this finally be the time Google can’t escape the government’s scrutiny?

View full post on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim

Did Google’s Eric Schmidt Quit Apple’s Board Over AdMob Squabble?

admin    Web Marketing     AdMob, Apple’s, Board, Eric, Google’s, Over, Quit, Schmidt, Squabble

OK, bear with me hear, but I’m going to put some pieces together to explain why Google and Apple went from being great friends, to arch-rivals.

At the time, this looked like a coincidence:

August 3rd, 2009 – Eric Schmidt resigns his position on Apple’s board of directors, citing "conflicts of interest" in some of Apple’s "core businesses."

November 9th, 2009 – Google acquires mobile advertising platform AdMob for a reported $750M.

December 28th, 2009 - Consumer Groups start lobbying the FTC to block the AdMob acquisition on the grounds of decreasing competition in the market.

March 11th, 2010 – The FTC suddenly starts asking Google’s rivals, what they think of the deal.

Yesterday, April 8, 2010 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs let’s the following slip during his Q&A with the press:

"we tried to buy a company called AdMob… but Google snatched it away."

Hmmm. Now it all makes complete sense. Google and Apple both wanted to acquire AdMobs. Google wanted the company bad enough that Schmidt resigned his board seat at Apple. I have no idea if Apple was little voice whispering in the FTC’s ear, but I suspect the company just got a dose of laryngitis, now that iAds is launching to compete with Google.

View full post on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim

Apple to Announce New Mobile Ads, And Google’s the Happiest of All

admin    Web Marketing     Announce, Apple, Google’s, Happiest, Mobile

Apple is hosting an iPhone developer event Thursday, where they’ll most likely talk about adapting to the iPad—and a new mobile advertising platform. While I’m sure the developers and Apple are pretty excited at the prospect of more money, it’s Google that might be cheering the loudest.

Once upon a time, the two companies were friendly, but especially since Google has entered the mobile phone market, the two have become rivals—and that’s exactly why Google will be excited to see a new ad platform from Apple. After Google announced its acquisition of in-app ad platform AdMob in November, they’ve faced scrutiny from consumer groups and the FTC, especially since there appear to be few rivals for

Google has been applauding Apple’s recent advertising moves, from Apple’s acquisition of Quattro Wireless in-app ad platform in January. Quattro is likely part of the pending ad announcement. Google lauded the deal on their public policy blog.

But they’re not just genuinely good-hearted. Their true motivations are obvious from that January post:

When we announced our planned acquisition of AdMob in November, we noted that the mobile advertising space is highly competitive — with more than a dozen mobile ad networks.  In fact, the experts at MobiThinking recently called mobile advertising a “very fragmented” space, in which “no ad network is dominant” and “no one really knows what ad network is biggest.”

Today’s news that Apple is acquiring one of AdMob’s competitors, Quattro Wireless, is further proof that the mobile advertising space continues to be competitive.  And with more investments and acquisitions in the space, including from established players like Apple and Google, that’s a sign that vigorous growth and competition will continue. That’s ultimately great for users, advertisers and publishers alike.

If Google cna prove the FTC that the marketplace is highly competitive—and another major player in the space would help with that—then their acquisition of AdMob is all the more likely to get the green light.

What do you think? Will Apple announce a new ad platform? Will the FTC okay GoogleMob?

View full post on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim

Google’s Chrome Escapes Hack Contest Untouched

admin    Web Marketing     Chrome, Contest, Escapes, Google’s, Hack, Untouched

I will file this under “I didn’t know that although I am not even close to surprised” for obvious reasons. Google gets to make a claim about its Chrome browser that others like Firefox and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 and Apple’s Safari can’t. That claim is that it survived the Pwn2Own 2010. Forbes tells us a little more

The Pwn2Own competition in Vancouver is a yearly demonstration of the software industry’s utter inability to keep its products safe from determined hackers. This year, researchers cracked Firefox, Internet Explorer 8, and Safari in minutes, winning $10,000 each, bragging rights and the hardware those applications were running on.

But more notable is the one survivor of the competition’s browser category: Google’s Chrome.

For the second year in a row, Chrome has left the Pwn2Own competition unscathed even as all of its competitors have been compromised.

In a world where security and privacy are more desired but maybe less available than ever this kind of competition is interesting. We all know there are folks out there who are interested in compromising Internet systems for monetary gain and many other times just for sport. We as end users know it exists and cross our fingers hoping it doesn’t happen to us.

While Google can talk about its victory here there is some skepticism among the researchers who participate in this competition as to just how secure Chrome really is. Apple hacker Charlie Miller was able to win for the third year in a row with his efforts to compromise the Safari browser. He also wonders about Google supposed invulnerability.

Miller argues in an email to us that Google isn’t necessarily more secure than its competitors–just that hackers hack the applications they use themselves. “Researchers tend to just pick on their favorite browser,” he writes.

This is the second year in a row that the Chrome browser was unscathed but there is plenty of speculation that this will not last. Why? As something gets a reputation of being impenetrable it gets the blood of any good researcher / hacker or whatever boiling. Also, there is $10,000 on the line each year at this competition. Which pays better than Google apparently because they have $1,337 limit on payment for security bugs.

So what is Google take on this? Of course, they have a better mousetrap

Google, for its part, would argue that Chrome simply has better security features, namely “sandboxing,” which drastically limits the privileges of a Web site to access your computer’s hardware. Google bought at least part of that sandboxing ability with its acquisition of software firm GreenBorders in May of 2007. Check out its comic book illustration of how sandboxing works.

Now that Google has put a bullseye on Chrome we’ll see just how long this streak will last.

View full post on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim

Google’s SiteLinks Program Very Good …. For Google

admin    Web Marketing     Good, google, Google’s, Program, Sitelinks, Very, ….

Last fall Google made it easy for brands to make their paid search ads around their own branded terms stand out with its SiteLinks program. The idea being that these brands should have some advantage since they are, well, the brand.

Seems like a great idea except when some of these brands have been getting their search bills. The program works so well in some cases that the search spend because of these special ads have gone up dramatically for some.

AdAge reports

A typical search ad contains one link, or sometimes two — one to the advertiser’s home page and sometimes one geographic link. Ad Sitelinks allows advertisers as many as five links in three lines of text. Macy’s, for example includes links to “free shipping deals,” “shop online,” “find a store,” and “account login,” in addition to a link to its home page. Toys “R” Us includes a link that says, “Buy one get one free little tikes!”

An SiteLink ad for Toys R Us looks like the one below.

The trouble is that often times a searcher will click on the paid ad instead of organic ad that they would have clicked on in the past. Google meanwhile gets to sit back and say that their program is a success because the brands are getting their clicks. Of course, they are also pretty excited about the extra search revenue being wrung out of some of these advertisers.

These deeper links bypass the advertiser’s home page but are giving them a huge increase in click-throughs; Google estimates a 30% to 40% increase over standard search ads. That click-through success has caused trouble for some marketers: Consumers searching for a brand using Google will click on the sponsored ad and not on the organic result. And all those clicks on the Sitelinks ad are also driving marketers’ search ad bills up 30% to 40%.

Not everyone is all that upset though because the extra cost, while sometimes capturing their existing customers, are allowing for a brand to take up considerable real estate in the SERP’s. One such brand, Nationwide Insurance, sees the program as a winner because it allows for greater flexibility in their search messaging.

For a company already spending 50% of their digital marketing budget on search, Nationwide is happy to reach existing customers and sell them additional products and services.

“In contrast to the organic results, I control the experience there,” said Chris Cotton, director of interactive marketing for the insurer. For existing customers, he said, “it allows me to demonstrate other products they may or may not have.”

So as with most things Google somehow manages to have its cake, eat it and then do a “burp and blow” over everyone and come away with accolades for innovation and more cash in the coffers. Time and again what looks like a scheme to extract more money from advertisers to some can be a complete advertising blessing to others. Good work if you can get it, right?

How do you view these ads? Are they a good thing or a bad thing for the overall market? We know they can work for the brand itself but what about others?

View full post on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim

Google’s China Exit About to Cause a Revolution?

admin    Web Marketing     About, Cause, China, Exit, Google’s, Revolution

Is Google about to cause a revolution in China?

Seriously! Could Google’s decision to pull out from China become the wake-up call that Chinese citizens have been waiting for? Could they be willing to revolt against their communist heritage and demand democracy and free speech?

OK, maybe not, but that’s not stopped a few Chinese "netizens" from publishing a very stern open letter to both Google and China. The letter calls for answers to such questions as:

• Did Google meet the requirements of Chinese law in censoring material related to porn, violence, and gambling?
• How were the Chinese government’s censorship demands communicated to Google? From which ministry? According to what legal processes? Were there any mechanisms for correcting mistakes or channels for appeal?
• What content did the Chinese government require Google to self-censor? Aside from sex, violence and gambling, what else was included? How was the censorship decided for topics such as mining disasters, the brick kiln slave children, Yilishen, violent evictions, Sanlu milk powder, Deng Yujiao, the governor’s confiscation of a journalist’s recorder, the Shanxi vaccine scandal, and other incidents? We cannot accept violation of the public’s right to access such public interest information.

There’s a long laundry list of demands by the authors, but just when you think that they’re willing to stand their ground, the whole letter seems to concede defeat with an acceptance of censorship but with a request for some new guidelines.

Of course, this letter’s not so much an open letter to the Chinese government–seriously, does anyone think the government will respond?–but a list of talking points that might help Google win further public support. It will be interesting to see if Google responds or at least starts picking up on some of these talking points.

View full post on Andy Beal’s Marketing Pilgrim