Check these great videos introducing some of the features of Chrome.  Why is Google Chrome fast? How tabs work in Google Chrome? How Themes work in Chrome?

Via Digital Inspiration

Google recently announced  “Sidewiki“, a new feature that lets users leave comments about any website they visit. With this feature, of course, you will also be able to read the comments other people have left before you.

“The impacts are far reaching, now every web page on the internet is social and can have consumer opinion –both positive and negative.”

Read the full article at WebStrategist

On the 9th of September Hasbro will launch the live worldwide game Monopoly City Streets using Google Maps as the game board.

“It would appear that Hasbro, makers of the Monopoly game, is attempting to turn the franchise into a massively multi-player online game”

More on the blog

Via TechCrunch

I’m sure you have already heard about the Mayan prophecy regarding the supposed end of the World on December 21^st, 2012. Despite of the veracity of this interpretation, there is already a trailer of a movie about this subject.  It is interesting to notice that at the end of the trailer, instead of giving a URL for a website, they suggest you to Google: 2012.

The results, as Daniel reports on his post, are a set of different websites and content even on social networks to start making buzz around the movie. As you have noticed, this is a completely new way of introducing a movie, and yes, it is viral.

For details read Adverblog

Net Neutrality has ruled the Internet since its creation and it’s understood as “the principle that Internet users should be in control of what content they view and what applications they use on the Internet“. In other words, it is about equal access to the Internet.  Not only in the US, but in Europe, there has been a lot of activity regarding the intention of  telecommunications companies (carriers) to take control over the content that is transmitted through their networks.

Companies that have made their way based on Net Neutrality -such as Google, Amazon or e-Bay- are against this intention, and have joined with others to conform the Open Internet Coalition with the aim to protect an open Internet where everyone can access what they want when they want.

Artists such as Moby and REM have also joined the cause through Save the Internet, another coalition that has the same purpose of maintaining the freedom over the Internet.

Nowadays, the issue is not only discussed in the US. According to BusinessWeek, in Europe “Sweeping new telecom rules in the European Parliament could permit differing classes of service on the Internet—but Google and others are fighting back “.

As time passes by the threat is being widely discussed and content is also distributed to explain the complete issue:

For more information:

http://www.google.com/help/netneutrality.html
http://www.savetheinternet.com/
http://www.openinternetcoalition.com/
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2009/gb20090327_025568.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_top+stories

It is not always so easy for a company to figure out its own online presence or the one from their competitors.  When building an Online Marketing/PR strategy it is always necessary to know who is talking about you and what they are saying.  It is also important to know who is talking about your competitors and what it is been said.

I recently collaborated in a Digital Footprint study for a well known software company, the study was focused on Mexico and Latin America and it was intended to identify the blogs, sites, and at the end, people, who were talking about the company and its brands.  The results are confidential, but they will enable the company to generate a strategy to start a relationship, or even a direct conversation with them.

The tools we used were almost all from Google, but there are also other online tools out there that can help you figure out what size your (or your competitors’) Digital Footprint is. Bryan Eisenberg compiled last year a set of 14 Tools to Legally Spy On Your Competition:

1. Statbrain – To determine the number of visitors a website has based on an algorithm an different information sources.

2. AideRSS – To find out which blog posts and topics are engaging people.

3. FeedCompare – To compare the size of  your feed to others.

4. Xinu Returns – To get a report on how well a site is doing on popular search engines.

5. Google Trends For Websites – To find how often a set of topics have been searched in Google over time.

For the rest of the list, click here.

It is true that sometimes Google isn’t the best option to find specific content on the web. MakeUseOf published a list of 15 great alternative search engines that will help you search faster and more efficently.

For example:

• MP3Realm- Audio search with streaming and download option.
• TuneFind – Find names of artists/songs appeared on TV shows.
• MuviBee – Music videos finder.
• Cookstr – For recipes and cooking.

To see the complete list click here.

One of the leading car rental companies in Europe, Sixt, have found ways to be remarkable when they experimented with a new way to make their Google Adwords ads stand out from the crowd.  As Coolz0r said, pretty clever.