WebSideStory says that Google.com is sending more traffic then ever to websites.

On average, nearly 41% of website search engine traffic referrals came from Google according to the company. That is up from 35.99% last year. Yahoo was the second biggest referrer sending approx. 27% of traffic and MSN was third with approx. 19.5%.

If you havn’t noticed already, Google has changed the look of their interface. It’s not quite the re-work that Shepard Fairey proposed but it’s a nice revamp.

Some of the major changes include:

- elimination of the “tabs” for images, directory, etc.
- addition of Froogle (Google’s comparison shopping engine) to the main categories
- cleaner, more airy design that makes the advertising really stand out

If you were a Google tab lover don’t dispair, you can still see them at Google’s Swedish Chef version located at: www.google.com/intl/xx-bork/

Never a dull minute for the chefs in Google’s kitchen. This time they’ve cooked up a personalized web search feature and an alerts service.

Personal search delivers search results based on your interests. When you fill out a profile at Google and select your areas of interest.

“Users can control the degree of personalization in their results using a slider, and see the results change dynamically as the degree of personalization changes. For example, music enthusiasts will see different relevant sites for a search on [bass] than people who indicate an interest in the outdoors.”

Web Alerts will send you a daily or weekly email letting you know when new pages or links have been added to Google for your topics of interest.

“For example, Google Web Alerts can be used to follow the progress of a favorite sports team or a business competitor, all without having to perform searches repeatedly.”

A recent study shows that online advertising lifts sales.

The “Advertising Accountability Study” was geared toward consumer goods companies and showed online advertising increased sales from 7 to 12.5 points. Participants included Nestle, Kraft Foods, and Neutrogena.

In a seperate study by ACNielson, 51% of small businesses said the Internet has improved their profitability and 15% said it was essential to their survival.

Good news all around!

ClickZ offers some tips on growing an opt-in e-mail list including:

- offering contests and incentives
- use online advertising to attract interest
- pay close attention to abandonment and try to decrease it (less information, remove intrusive questions)

Ballmer, that’s Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, says Microsoft will have its own search engine within the next 12 months.

Steve also said “there’s no magic about search; all it takes is good, hard work,” and that when Microsoft’s engine is released, “you’ll see good competition in the search arena.”

Part of the MS search strategy includes Newsbot, a news aggregator, Blogbot and Answerbot. Blogbot will enable searchers to find blogs featuring topics of their choosing. Answerbot will attempt to answer questions like “Who’s the richest man in the world?”

The company currently uses Yahoo search technology at its’ MSN.com website.

Amass a couple billion dollars wealth and change the way the world finds information and all of the sudden you’ve got competitors crawling out of the woodwork!

- Biz Report: Competitors Lining Up to Crash Google’s Party
- MSNBC: All Eyes On Google
- C|net: Search Upstarts Storm Google’s Gates

Opera, the little Norwegian browser company that could, announced today that they will include voice capabilities in their new browser using IBM’s ViaVoice technology.

According to the company, “users can navigate, request information and even fill in Web forms using speech and other forms of input in the same interaction.”
There is no doubt that voice is the most natural and effective way to communicate. But the real question is how long will it take for voice standards to be set and how long until developers start building web pages with voice support?

Microsoft is saying that they will unveil a revamped search interface on July 1 to more clearly distinguish paid listings.

I like this move by Microsoft and am excited to see how it will look. Competing with Google and Yahoo is not going to be easy, but it seems Microsoft is committed to delivering unbiased results. Even if it means giving up some valuable ad space!

Lycos has launched a free desktop search product using HotBot. The tool not will not only search the Internet - it will search email folders (Outlook, Outlook Express) and documents on your hard drive.

Other features include a pop-up blocker and RSS browser for those who wish to subscribe content feeds in RSS format.