Mozilla Exec Moves To Bing’s Corner

Mozilla's director of community development is not at all happy with Google.  Following an eyebrow-raising comment from CEO Eric Schmidt on the subject of privacy, Asa Dotzler has, in fact, pretty much suggested that everyone use Bing instead.

Here's what set Dotzler (along with a whole lot of other people) off: on the subject of whether or not folks can trust Google, Schmidt told Maria Bartiromo, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."

Schmidt also said, "We are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities."

That represents a fairly significant departure from the spirit of past statements (and new tools) out of Mountain View.  It may (or may not) indicate that Google's becoming more likely to turn over users' search histories upon request.

So Dotzler wrote, "That was Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, telling you exactly what he thinks about your privacy.  There is no ambiguity, no 'out of context' here. . . .  And here's how you can easily switch Firefox's search from Google to Bing.  (Yes, Bing does have a better privacy policy than Google.)"

Firefox controls a 24.72 percent share of the browser market, by the way, according to Net Applications.

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YouTube Promoted Videos Branches Out Again

It should now be easier than ever for advertisers to get their videos in front of YouTube users in different countries.  Today, YouTube's Promoted Videos program launched in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.

In return for a little money, Promoted Videos allows advertisers to have their clips stuck at the top of YouTube's "Related Videos" lists.  The clips get a yellow background to help them stand out, too.

YouTube hasn't shared any specifics, but it's easy to believe that the Promoted Videos program is successful.  Following a period of time during which it was only available to advertisers in the U.S., it became available in seven more countries on October 14th and in another two on October 27th.

Now, the total's at 16, which would be pretty impressive even without the fast expansion.  What's more, Jay Akkad, a product manager, wrote on the YouTube Biz Blog, "We hope to roll out Promoted Videos to additional countries early next year."

Promoted Videos may not take YouTube to profitability all on its own, but it looks like the program is at least helping it bring in some revenue and cozy up to advertisers.

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Google And Yahoo To Kick Sex Offenders Off Social Networks

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said today that 13 additional social networking sites, including those owned by Google, Yahoo and AOL, have agreed to remove sex offenders from their sites.

The move follows Cuomo's announcement from last week that Facebook and MySpace had removed more than 3,500 registered sex offenders from their sites.

As of today, 15 major social networking sites have agreed to use New York's e-STOP law, which requires sex offenders to register their online information with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. That information is then passed along to social networking sites which then remove the sex offenders.

"It is no secret that sexual predators abuse social networking Web sites to find and manipulate victims and to insinuate themselves into their victims' lives," said Attorney General Cuomo.

 

. "e-STOP allows social networking Web sites to identify these sex predators and help prevent them from harming again.

"The country's most popular social networking sites have taken an important step in making the Internet safer by using e-STOP to purge sex offenders from their sites. That some companies are continuing to ignore the e-STOP database is not only inexcusable, it is potentially dangerous."

Attorney General Cuomo said he applauds Google (Orkut.com), Yahoo! (Flickr.com), AOL (Bebo.com), BlackPlanet.com, Classmates.com, Flixster.com, Fotolog.com, hi5.com, MyLife.com, Stickam.com, Multiply.com, Tagged.com and Imeem.com for their use of the e-STOP data and their demonstrated commitment to safety online.

 

 

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Whole Foods Launches Mobile Website

Whole Foods Market has unveiled a new website aimed at mobile users.

The company says it provides users with the same features as its non-mobile site. Visitors to the mobile site can access Whole Foods selection of over 2,000 recipes, store information including hours, driving directions, store specials and a calendar of events for their local store.

"Whether they are at home, work, or out and about, our customers can now easily access store information and what's on sale at their local Whole Foods Market," said Bill Tolany, global coordinator of integrated media for Whole Foods Market.

"Shoppers can also use their handheld devices to create shopping lists and save their favorite recipes to 'My Recipe Box,' a popular feature on our website."

The mobile site also features a store locator where customers can use a ZIP code search to find the nearest Whole Foods Market store.
 

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