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Silicon Valley-based company claims industry-first UL certification for solar modules made from thin-film CIGS material which are making their way to market from multiple suppliers.

A slew of Android tablets is on the way; push notification is coming to Twitter soon; and Craigslist self-censors its Adult Services section.

DOJ is determining whether Google's acquisition of the online travel firm will unfairly hurt competition and drive people to Google's travel services instead of third-party sites.

Scott Stratten is not your normal marketer.

Actually, he may even take offense at being called a “marketer.” Instead, he’s known as the “UnMarketer” and his book UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging, just hit bookstores today.

I had the pleasure of seeing Scott keynote PubCon South and I’ve been in constant awe of this enticing, engaging, and …Canadian unmarketer ever since. His book will be a bestseller, there’s no doubt about it, and the book’s description should give you an idea why:

For generations, marketing has been hypocritical. We’ve been taught to market to others in ways we hate being marketed to (cold-calling, flyers, ads, etc.). So why do we still keep trying the same stale marketing moves?

UnMarketing shows you how to unlearn the old ways and consistently attract and engage the right customers. You’ll stop just pushing out your message and praying that it sticks somewhere. Potential and current customers want to be listened to, validated, and have a platform to be heard-especially online. With UnMarketing, you’ll create such a relationship with your customers, and make yourself the logical choice for their needs.

As I said, the book launch is today, but three lucky winners will get their hands on a free copy thanks to our pestering collaboration with Scott.

Want a copy?

How to enter this contest: Simply leave a comment below and we’ll randomly pick 3 winners (deadline for entry is 6pm ET this Wednesday).

That’s all you need to do! And, if you don’t win, you can grab a copy from Amazon.com

Time is running out on early bird rates for Search Marketing Expo – SMX East! Register by September 10 and you’ll pay only $1295 for three days of exceptional content and invaluable industry connections. Join us October 4-6 in New York City for actionable tactics, best practices and strategies for all skill levels – whether [...]

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We know Google is having a big search event tomorrow and we suspect that is why Google is showing the Google Balls logo today. Google told me "today's doodle is not related to a birthday but is fast, fun and interactive, just the way we think search should be."

So what will Google be announcing tomorrow? Well, based on that comment and what I have been seeing some people report, let me venture some guesses.

(1) AJAX powered search results. Yes, I believe Google will go forward with the AJAX powered search results tomorrow. Yesterday, I and others began noticing 30 results per page, but when I look deeper, it is driven by the AJAX like results. I can search, the URL doesn't really change, it just adds on parameters, which makes me believe that it is done for analytics software. Why? This is something Google tested in February 2009 and stopped when complaints about referrer data not being sent using these AJAX results. Is it time for Google to go full force now with the AJAX results? It is "faster" for the user, which is a clue from the line above.

(2) 30 results per page is something I personally see myself and so do others. People are reporting it at WebmasterWorldand Google Web Search Help. It does make the results a bit more in your face, giving you more room to scroll. I am not sure if that makes things all that faster, but I guess it does. Is it more "fun," I don't know.

(3) Streaming Results As You Type. We know Google has been testing updating results as you type for the past few weeks. Many more are now seeing it, which is even more of a sign that this is coming soon. We have new reports of it at Google Blogoscoped Forums and WebmasterWorld. It does make the search results more "interactive" and a bit "faster." More useful, I am not sure.

Update: Now people are reporting Google is showing you search results as you type the search query on the Google home page. I have more details about that over here. This is amazing.

Bottom line, I really think tomorrow we will see Google's AJAX power search results be launched fully to the public. It will mean AJAX results, showing more results on a single page as opposed to just 10, and it will mean the results updating as you type a query. I am sure I am missing some changes, but we will find out tomorrow.

But as the Google Balls logo represents, it is about an HTML 5 revolution.

Later today, Google tweeted yet another hint:

.bbpBox23258891556 {background:url(http://a3.twimg.com/profile_background_images/6219441/bg-google-white-75.gif) #ffffff;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}

Boisterous doodle today. Maybe it's excited about the week ahead...less than a minute ago via Tap11A Googler
google

This is our ongoing monthly summary of the changes that took place at Google from a webmaster/SEO perspective. You can read the August 2010 report from last month.

The comments from SEOs and Webmasters in the WebmasterWorld include:

• Fresh pages of content getting a ranking boost,
• Sites impacted by MayDay seeing a little reversal
• Google liking academic results more
• Site operator failing for past 24 hours
• and much more.

Here are the most important Google related topics we covered from the past month:

• Google Adds Better Error Reporting For Rich Snippets & Breadcrumb Markups
• Possible Google MayDay Algorithm Tweak?
• Google Now Indexing SVG, SEOs Don't Care
• GoogleBot Crawling Less or More Efficiently?
• Google Thinks Some Searches Are Worth A Single Domain Of Results
• Google's International Filter Loosened Up?
• Google Updating Search Results As You Type
• Google Showing 20+ Results Despite Search Setting
• Google Adds Video Sitemaps Errors To Google Webmaster Tools
• Google Adds Blog Filter To Help Find Blogs On Subjects
• Google Gives Real Time Search A Home & More Features
• Google News Changes Again, Adds Collapsible Right Side

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

There are many rumors about today's Google Balls logo, but we know it is not birthday related. Google in the past have celebrated their birthday on September 7th but not anymore. Danny has good history on Google's Birthday over here.

Google celebrated their 11th birthday on the 27th, the 10th also, 9th, 8th but the 7th and 6th birthday logos were on the 7th.

This year, you can expect the 12th birthday logo to be live on the 27th at google.com/logos/12th_birthday.gif. In fact, when it goes live, you will see the logo below:

So you have 20 more days to wait for it. Until then, enjoy the Google Balls logo.

Forum discussion at Google Blogoscoped Forums.

What better way to get back from your Labor Day weekend break than to hear about more Google legal concerns. This time there is a mix of the old and the new as an old nemesis shows up in Texas while the online travel industry has some questions about Google proposed purchase of ITA Software. By the way, Google is hiring law related talent so this is a “growth” area for the search giant .

First we are revisited by the group headed by the vertical search engine, Foundem. You remember these guys, right? They were given editorial space in the New York Times to rant about the unfairness of Google’s algorithm. Well, if you can’t succeed in Europe and your pleas go unheard in the NY Times the next obvious stop is Texas. Yup, Texas.

Techdirt tells us

Late Friday, the news broke that Texas’ AG was “investigating” Google for antitrust violations, using the trio of companies that have been mentioned for a while now — Foundem, MyTriggers and TradeComet — who have all been making a stink about how Google is somehow violating antitrust laws because those three sites don’t like their rankings in Google. All three claim that they’re competitors to Google, and Google is somehow trying to hold them down. This is, frankly, ridiculous. As has been explained over and over again, rankings are an opinion, protected by free speech rights. And, furthermore, if Google was really trying to keep competitors down, wouldn’t it actually focus on players that actually matter in the space?

Couldn’t have said it better myself so I won’t. Why can’t these guys just go away? Where will this tired act show up next time? Singapore? Tasmania? One of the former USSR “ikstans”?

The second legal inquiry is being started as Google’s purchase of ITA Software is making the online travel space antsy thus inviting regulators to have a closer “look-see”.

The Wall Street Journal reports

The Justice Department is trying to determine whether Google Inc. would gain too much sway over the online travel industry by acquiring ITA Software Inc., which powers the Web’s most popular airline-ticket search and booking sites, said people familiar with the department’s review.

The merger investigation is at an early stage, but according to people familiar with the situation, Justice antitrust authorities are focusing on two potential areas of concern: whether rivals would continue to have access to ITA’s data and whether Google would unfairly steer Web searchers to its own travel services.

Whether this inquiry has any merit is up for debate but since it’s so early let’s save the debate for another time.

I am not a lawyer, I have never played one on TV and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so I have no interest in getting into the details here. In fact, I am of the belief that unless there is really some smoke then giving companies like Foundem any more free publicity isn’t worth the time or effort.

If you like this kind of stuff join the Google legal team. It looks like there will be plenty of job security there.

The Berlin show is for regular folks, not just industry insiders. About 230,000 attend to see the electronics products, some of them freshly announced.

In what is becoming an annual ritual Google announces a dramatic acquisition, pundits speculate about the potentially market-changing impact and anti-trust investigators give it a long, hard look — only to allow it in the end. Last year the transaction in question was AdMob; this year it’s ITA software. Since the roughly $700 million deal was [...]

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The Berlin electronics show is filled with TVs, PCs, Blu-ray players, home theater systems, and new Android-based tablets. Here's a slideshow of IFA sights.

A very revealing leaked Google document was published, in part, at adAge yesterday. The report uncovers Google AdWords customer spending for the first half of 2010. Google seemed to collect or bill $574 million in the first half of 2010. The document reveals Google's top advertisers and distribution of ad spend for customers spending over $10,000 per month with Google.

The data is very interesting, but one thing I find historically interesting is eBay's number. eBay reportedly spent only $4.25 million in June 2010. Only? Yes, well, if you see reports back in 2007, 3 years ago, some estimated eBay's AdWords spend was closer to $26 million. I highly doubt eBay is spending that much less than it did 3 years ago! But maybe I am wrong. We suspect that over the years CPC prices have increased and eBay is advertising more than in the past, but who knows - maybe they are more efficient now?

So who are Google's top advertisers in June 2010?

AT&T, Phoenix University ads, Expedia, Amazon, eBay, BP, Hotels.com, and so on. Here is a chart from adAge:

Apple, compared to AT&T, spent just under $1 million on search during the month.

How about the distribution of advertisers, how much do they spend per month? Here is the breakdown:

Note, the top advertisers individually accounted for "less than 1% of Google's U.S. revenue in June." The top 10 advertisers in the document collectively accounted for just 5% of Google's U.S. revenue during the month. That might be the most revealing information right there.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld and DigitalPoint Forums.

Company's new models are scheduled to arrive in consumer homes by the end of the week.

Today if you visit Google you will see a Google logo made up of crazy balls. The logo moves around based on your mouse cursor, similar to the buckyballs doodle from a few days ago. But this one is really all over the place.

Here is a video I made of the logo:

Here is a static picture of the balls forming the Google logo:

I personally find this logo very nice. I asked Google why? I asked was it birthday related, as some suspect. They said no. Google told me, "Today’s doodle is not related to a birthday but is fast, fun and interactive, just the way we think search should be." Maybe this is a prelude to the big Google Search Event that takes place tomorrow? I don't know. I suspect they will clue us in at that event.

Many searchers are upset. There is thread after thread with complaints in the Google Web Search Help forum. And most people in the US aren't up and on their computers yet.

Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help, Google Blogoscoped Forums & Google Webmaster Help.

Update: Here are my thoughts on why Google is so secretive of this logo and what we can expect Google to announce in conjunction with the explanation of this logo tomorrow.

AdAge’s Mobiliby site has been doing a little investigative reporting by obtaining a document from Google that apparently shows the Adwords spend level of some of the biggest players in the Adwords ecosystem (HT to @Ed). The numbers are not shocking as a whole but seeing BP in those numbers is. It’s like one of those kids game where you are asked “Which one of these doesn’t belong?” In this case, BP looks a bit like a fish out of water considering the ad spend company they kept in June. Of course, when you triple your average overall ad spend after a major crisis involving the company like BP did around the Deepwater oil spill, you want to find the best bang for all of those bucks, right?

I doubt BP’s epiphany that search was a good play was a coincidence. In fact, it’s pretty obvious that BP decided that Adwords offered a decent chance at them doing some online reputation triage. Why you ask? Well, let’s just say that the $3.5 million plus in spend was a slight increase over their average monthly spend

How much did BP spend on search? In two months, BP went from spending very little on search advertising — about $57,000 a month — to becoming one of Google’s top advertisers, dropping nearly $3.6 million in the month of June alone, according to an internal Google document obtained by Advertising Age. That pushed BP into the upper echelon of search advertisers, in a league with Expedia, which spent at least $5.9 million in June, Amazon, which spent at least $5.8 million, and eBay, which spent at least $4.2 million.

As one might expect Google’s response to this information about their advertisers getting outside of the Googleplex was not by design. It sounds as if the Googler responsible for this leak may need to polish the resume a bit.

“We can’t comment on these figures because we haven’t seen the document in question or determined what these numbers represent,” said Dennis Woodside, VP of Google Americas Operations. “We’re now looking into the possibility that someone improperly disclosed confidential information about our clients, and [we] will take all appropriate action.”

So the Adwords as ORM tool could be a nice play for Google. Considering how many corporate screw-ups there are and just how frantic the attempts can be to cover up any indiscretions, it only makes sense to get the corrective message out where people are looking for information directly: through search.

BP’s increase underscores how important Google has become for reputation management, and in the battle for public opinion. In the wake of the spill, Google was a natural first stop for people seeking information, and BP bought up dozens of keywords associated with the disaster such as “oil spill,” “leak,” “top kill” and “live feed” as it vied for clicks with news stories, images of oiled wildlife and plaintiff attorneys trolling for clients.

BP apparently determined that going the “broad match” route would be best so that they would be assured of tuning up anywhere where the words oil, spill etc showed up as well. I wonder how many people looking for cooking oil information were treated to BP’s pleas for forgiveness?

So the message must have gotten through to some. People were clicking on the ads. Since a surprisingly large number of people who are not in the Internet marketing industry still don’t know that some of Google’s results are “pay to play”, I doubt this was a concerted effort to drain BP of cash through clicking on the ads just to ding their corporate coffers.

Whether this play was an effective one will never totally be known. As marketers though it is important to take note that Adwords and ORM are part of an effective ORM strategy to “get the word out”. We are sure that Google would agree.

Visiting the Google homepage today may make you go “wow.” It has one of the most wild and explosive special Google logos I have ever seen. There are dozens of balls that make up the Google logo, and they bounce around the screen all to come together to form “Google.” The balls in [...]

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If it weren't for smart automated processes and powerful computers, Google wouldn't exist. That doesn't mean individuals aren't shaping Google search results.

Starting this fall and stretching into early next year, big-name gadget and PC makers are readying their own touch-screen tablets.

A raft of recent search engine developments in the Far East means the picture is not so wonderfully clear anymore. In Japan, Korea and China there have been signficant search engine market changes. Let's try and figure out what's going on?

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