How Will Google Use GrandCentral?

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1. How Will Google Use GrandCentral? - 2007-07-03 08:44:52-04
   

   I am sure many of you know by now that Google has confirmed that they have acquired GrandCentral - www.grandcentral.com.

   What is GrandCentral?
   

   GrandCentral offers many features that complement the phone services you already use. If you have multiple phone numbers (e.g., home, work, cell), you get one phone number that you can set to ring all, some, or none of your phones, based on who's calling. This way, your phone number is tied to you, and not your location or job. The service also gives you one central voice mailbox. You can listen to your voicemails online or from any phone, forward them to anybody, add the caller to your address book, block a caller as spam, and a lot more. You can even listen in on voicemail messages from your phone while they are being recorded, or switch a call from your cell phone to your desk phone and back again. All in all, you'll have a lot more control over your phones.

   Why does Google want GrandCentral?
   Google said, "We think GrandCentral's technology fits well into Google's efforts to provide services that enhance the collaborative exchange of information between our users."

   But how so? Google Talk? Google Click to Call? Google Maps? Google 411? Google Mobile? A Google mobile OS or phone?

   Some people feel it is more about leverage phone with social technologies, like YouTube, MySpace, blogging and so on.

   See a lot of the coverage at Techmeme.

   Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

   

   
   
   
2. Google AdWords Phising Attempt Via Google Legal Subpoena - 2007-07-03 09:02:50-04
   

   A WebmasterWorld thread asks if an email his cousin received was legit. It basically looked like it was coming from Google Legal Support and made a claim that there was a civil subpoena between two companies.

   Due to this, they have requested his cousin to hand over information related to his Google AdWords account.

   I find this very hard to believe to be a real email from Google. Typically legal subpoenas are sent via signature request mail. Also, they would never request your account information - they already have access to that.

   So beware of these unusual phising attempts.

   Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

   

   
   
   
3. No Clicking on Your Google AdSense PPA (Referral) Ads, Says Google - 2007-07-03 09:18:28-04
   

   Google recently launched a version 2.0 of their referrals program, also know as pay for action ads.

   AdSenseAdvisor posted at a WebmasterWorld thread to clarify what Google publishers can and cannot do with these ads.

   Yes, you can encourage people to click and view those ads. This is unlike Google AdSense's contextual product and only applies to the referrals (PPA) product.

   But, you as the publisher of the site, cannot click on your own ads. You can't click on the contextual ads and you can't click on the referral ads.

   Publishers aren't allowed to click on their own live PPA ads, including both referrals 1.0 and 2.0, for any reason.

   Unlike PPC ads, you are allowed to actively promote your referrals, but like PPC ads, clicking your own PPA ads or creating your own conversions is prohibited.

   Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.