Google Facing Lawsuit Over 'Android' Platform

Illinois based software development company, Android Data, has filed a lawsuit against Google and other company's for what it say's is an act of "steeling first and asking questions later".

Google is among 48 international corporations being sued for infringing on the use of Android Data's trademarked name, for which it has owned for over 6 years. The company is seeking a total of $96 million or $2 million for "each use of the trademarked term by each defendant." in compensation.

Along with Google, well-known international organizations such as, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Motorola and Texas Instuments are accused of the trademark violation.



According to sources, Google left themselves exposed to potential legal problems in October of 2007 when it's original application to trademark Android was denied. Since then, it has filed objections and asked the Trademark office to suspend the trademark until further clarification of its use could be determined. The reason for the denial was because "consumers are likely to conclude that the goods are related and originate from a single source." But in Google's rebuttal, the Register reported that Google said that the "Android Data" trademark hadn't been used for more than three years, that the company has been dissolved for more than four years, and that there couldn't be any confusion between the two names.

Despite the suspension, which was granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office, Android Data has decided to pursue the case.

We will keep you posted of developments. Sphere: Related Content

Google gets the Flu!

With the number one subject being on everyone's lips and minds over the past few days, being Swine Flu, Google, Wikipedia and other web properties are really benefiting from the curiosity and morbid fascination surrounding the fast-moving epidemic.

"As the number of swine flu cases continues to climb, so does public interest in the (flu) outbreak. Americans are looking for more information on the outbreak and specifically for symptoms to look out for," said Heather Hopkins, analyst for Hitwise, which tracks Internet usage.

Online searches for the phrase "swine flu" during the past week have sent millions of Internet users to Wikipedia, Google and other websites according to online tracking experts.

Although Barack Obama and other senior government officials are suggesting that this is not a time to panic, it is clear that the heightened sense of alert being driven by the extensive coverage of the mass media and school closures across the United States is turning people to search engines to find out all they can regarding symptoms, vaccines, number of cases and the effect on their communities.

Meanwhile, has released an experimental version of Google Flu Trends to track the spread of the swine flu in Mexico. Google on Monday said flu activity remained low, as seen by its flu-tracking system, but the country-specific version published Wednesday shows a spike in flu activity.

Google says it is able to track swine flu levels in Mexico bylooking at how many people search terms such as "aches and chills."

Google is cautioning they haven't yet been able to verify the data.

An expansion to their existing flu trends tool for the U.S., Google says its data showed a small increase in many parts of Mexico before swine flu hit the news last week.

Jeremy Ginsberg, the lead engineer for Flu Trends, says his team is looking at the potential to use the approach in a number of other countries.

Ginsberg says Flu Trends is able to distinguish people just searching for information on swine flu from people who think they may have the flu.

Some of the search terms they look for include stomach problems, aches and chills and searches on where to buy a thermometer.

"For Flu Trends US we found a set of terms that, going back a number of years in different places across the U.S., really matched," Ginsberg said in a conference call Wednesday.

"The popularity of these terms increased exactly when official surveillance data said more people were experiencing flu-like symptoms."

Although this technology is very young and unproven, it really does show that by capturing and analyzing certain search data, it is possible for Google, working with government and the World Health Organizations to better equip themselves in the prevention or limitation of epidemics like Swine Flu Sphere: Related Content

Is The Hype Over Google AdWords Quality Score Justified? - By Craig Danuloff at Search Engine Land

Really fantastic article offering an insight to the 'big black box' and Search Marketers major headache - AdWords Quality Score.

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The focus of the paid search world, if you measure it by tweets, blog posts and conference sessions, has turned squarely to Google’s AdWords Quality Score over the past few months.

Google first introduced Quality Score years ago, but changes they rolled out in August of 2008 recently increased visibility of the score in the AdWords interface and via their API, and a great new video by Google Chief Economist Hal Varian has pushed the discussion to a fever pitch.

Part of the appeal clearly is the fact that it’s a numeric value judgement Google is making about our keywords and account configuration. Like PageRank before it, as a search community we’ve proven the ability to go slightly bonkers about Google numbers that indicate and/or drive our success.

But just how important is Quality Score, and how significantly should it factor into the way PPC campaigns are managed?

It turns out Quality Score actually is a big deal, one that you ignore at your own risk and expense. The reason boils down to its inclusion in two formulas that Google uses to determine where (and if) your ads appear and how much you pay for clicks.

To read the full article, CLICK HERE Sphere: Related Content