----------------------------------------------------------------- SearchReturn Discussion List "Understanding Internet Search Technology" ----------------------------------------------------------------- Moderator: Published by: Detlef Johnson SearchReturn http://www.searchreturn.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- January 24, 2005 Issue #032 ----------------------------------------------------------------- SEND POSTS: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Refer a friend: http://www.searchreturn.com/subscribe.shtml ----------------------------------------------------------------- .....IN THIS DIGEST..... // -- NEW DISCUSSION -- // "First Amendment" ~ SearchReturn // -- CONTINUING DISCUSSION -- // "v7ndotcom elursrebmem" ~ Jennifer Laycock ----------------------------------------------------------------- // -- NEW DISCUSSION -- // ----------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everyone, Last August, the US Justice Department (DOJ) subpoenaed Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL to collect a week's worth of queries, and a random sampling of one million websites from each company index. They want to build their case defending against defeat of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). The new law was passed in 1998, but challenged and found to be unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. A Philidelphia court will now hear the case and determine the next fate of the new law. This story broke on Friday when several news outlets ran sensational headlines (because Google refused to hand over the records). "Spy War" and other headlines cashed in on domestic spying and privacy fears. US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to clarify the government position saying the DOJ was not interested in any personal information, but was looking for "subject matter information with regard to these communications." In other words, they want to use these data in the arguement for restricting access to adult content by minors, and for COPA to be the means. Danny Sullivan was on NPR's All Things Considered talking about the records search engines keep, and he made an appearance on ABC's Nightline Friday night. Danny followed up with several in-depth posts at Search Engine Watch about privacy issues. Check out http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060123-074811 for a great rundown. Find the NPR January 20th archive for All Things Considered at http://www.npr.org for audio and more information. One thing is certain, regardless of the important issues this story brings up, the whole matter has brought a new level of attention to the search industry. This is especially true for Google, whose stance against the DOJ may actually have cost it with WallStreet on Friday's trading. The other search engines gave data to the government, though not necessarily everything that was asked. Statements reiterated that no private information was shared, and they generally related having a cooperative attitude with the DOJ. Why would Google not provide these records then? If the request was that problematic for Google, why would the other search engines cooperate? Is there anything truly sensitive about the data? One pundit wrongfully suggested that obtaining a million websites from Google would allow the reverse engineering of Google search, and that violates a trade secret. There was a good measure of bad information such as this, and yet the most salacious part escaped everyone's attention. If you are a search engine, the case for providing the data is: no private information is being revealed. The best reason for cooperating? Resistance is futile. You wouldn't want the DOJ in your office confiscating machines because you held out for civil liberties. If WallStreet punished Google on Friday, it was because they fear such things at the GooglePlex. Privacy advocates are happy about Google now, but they may be surprised to learn Google could hand over private information if the government requested it for national security reasons. Sergey Brin found the DOJ request "troubling" because they were not asking for data in response to national "security or anything." That's a privacy question closer to the current domestic spying case controversy. Maybe Google would reach its limit with the DOJ if it's requesting data for reasons of national security. Google's response may be more based on having chosen sides in the other fight. Google wants to stop short of helping the DOJ in the defense of COPA. There's good reason for Google to choose the side of the First Amendment. The ACLU argues that compliance with COPA is practically impossible, and the law violates freedom of speech as protected by the First Amendment. It is no secret that a big portion of search advertising profits are collected from adult site owners. If the DOJ wins the case in Philidelphia, it would hamper adult content providers and slow profits for Google. In resisting the DOJ request, Google gets to champion the First Amendment, appear to be defending your privacy, and at the same time ensure their profits continue unabated. It's a thing of beauty that Google can reinforce its wunderkind image while under the microscope of the DOJ with their subpoena. They deserve credit for their fight that information wants to be free. It's important to remember they are fighting for free speech in all its glory. It's their mission to make all the world's information available to everyone, and to conduct good business doing it. COPA enforcement would be an annoyance to this. Stay tuned. -SearchReturn ----------------------------------------------------------------- // -- CONTINUING DISCUSSION -- // ----------------------------------------------------------------- ==> TOPIC: v7ndotcom elursrebmem "Is the competition just an exercise in juvenile SEO?" From: Jennifer Laycock Juvenile SEO? I don't know about that... I'm sure we'll see some quite advanced SEO work being done... unless you meant "juvenile SEOs" which is a whole other issue... Overall, I think what could have quickly gone south has managed to turn into something sort of interesting. The counter-challenge between the old-school crowd of Boser, Friesen and Grehan to the 'newer' group from V7N does make it seem a bit like a school-yard challenge, but at the same time, maybe some of what's missing from search marketing these days is that "anyone has a chance" attitude that was so prevalent in the late 90's. Could make search marketing sexy again. It is interesting though to see this coming on the heels of the talk about A and B list SEOs and the first, second and even third generation optimizers. I doubt you'll see many first or second gen players out there really trying to win this thing, but maybe this is what will spark the fourth generation to get some recognition. We've come along way since the last contest... blogs, tagging, Google Base, bookmarking systems like Digg and de.licio.us, there's way more to the game than there used to be. Heck, just watching the creative use of AdWords shows that we've moved beyond direct response and into branding. It could all get very interesting. -Jennifer Laycock Editor - Search Engine Guide http://www.searchengineguide.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Got feedback?: http://www.searchreturn.com/feedback.shtml Archives: http://www.searchreturn.com/digest-archive.shtml Alternate formats: http://www.searchreturn.com/info-formats.shtml Manage Subscriptions: http://www.searchreturn.com/help/manage-subs.shtml Problems unsubscribing? Contact the postmaster: mailto:postmaster@searchreturn.com Information on how to sponsor this publication: http://www.searchreturn.com/help/advertise.shtml Published by SearchReturn http://www.searchreturn.com Website Membership: http://www.searchreturn.com/register.shtml The contents of the digest do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SearchReturn or Detlef Johnson. SearchReturn and Detlef Johnson make no warranties, either expressed or implied, about the truth or accuracy of the contents of the SearchReturn Digest. 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