Google Site Search Gets an Upgrade, DeepDyve, YouTube Sponsored Videos, GirlInaShirt, Browser Extension Friday: Microformats - Free Line 11/14/08
Google’s Site Search has been updated. Previously known as the “Google Custom Search Business Edition,” Site Search is a specialized engine that allows users to search for material with a chosen website. The big news this time around is the addition of On-Demand, a new feature that lets you add new sites to the search queue as soon as they go live. Many within the industry are thrilled with the update, with some wondering when (or if) the new feature will be added to the base Google search engine. The new and improved Google Site Search is available now.
Elsewhere in the world of search engines, there’s DeepDyve. DeepDyve is a new tool that finds information in the places that others fear to tread — the so-called “dark web.” While the dark web is available to most users, its content remains goes unindexed by the likes of Google and Yahoo. The reason for this due to the dymanic, query-specific way the content is housed on the root server. DeepDyve gets around this by partnering up with the organizations that control these servers. “More than 42 million consumers spend 25 hours per month online researching business and personal information,” said CEO William Park in a press a release. “DeepDyve gives information-savvy consumers unparalleled access to quality information found only in the deep web.”
In other news, the top spot on all YouTube searches are now available to the highest bidder. The popular video service now features several “sponsor videos” in their video list. “Any will be able to promote videos in a relevant, democratic way,” YouTube founder Chad Hurley said Thursday. “You simply determine what you’re willing to pay for a view, then only pay when someone clicks to watch it.” Critics say that the new plan will add mass amounts of spam to otherwise relevant searches. Sponsored videos are up and running on YouTube now.
Thoughout the existence of the Free Line, we have seen some pretty wild ways to advertise your business. With all due respect to the others, we have found one of the the strangest, “left-field” service designed to get your name out there — GirlInYourShirt. The premise behind GirlInYourShirt is a simple one: for $75, a woman named Jenae will wear a shirt adorned with your company’s logo on her online television show. Jenae’s program is then syndicated on many popular services, including YouTube, Twitter, and Seesmic. Bizarre yet interesting, GirlInYourShirt is perfect for those who enjoy using more “unorthodox” methods to bolster your ad campaign.
And to finish out the week: To many of the so-called “web geeks” out there, there are few emerging technologies more interesting than that of microformats. For those unaware, microformats are a specialized set of tools designed to make XHTML work “properly.” In laymen’s terms, the new coding structure is designed to “put human readability first.” On this edition of Browser Extension Friday, we have three tools designed to bring microformats into your life.
- Oomph - For Internet Explorer. Write, edit, and use microformats with relative ease. Oomph is also compatible with the Windows Live Writer blogging software.
- Operator - For Firefox. Awaken the microformats that are “sleeping” within ordinary websites.
- Safari Microformats - For Safari. Alerts you to when a website uses microformats in its code.
…And remember: If there are any extensions that you would like to see covered on Browser Extension Friday, tell us. As we’ve said before, the Free Line is all about the free exchange of information.











