Posts Tagged ‘News’
Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) Bing posted higher search-engine growth on a weekly basis in June than its three main rivals, according to online Web site measurement researcher Hitwise, though Google Inc. (GOOG) continued to distance itself from its rivals.
The software giant’s search engine has gained market share on a weekly basis since it was launched last month, going from 3.4% in the first week of the month to 6.63% by month’s end, according to Hitwise. Microsoft, long an also-ran to Google, is hoping Bing becomes a bigger player in the lucrative online-advertising arena.
Still, Google accounted for 74% of all U.S. searches conducted for the four weeks ended June 27, up fractionally from May and the prior year’s 69%. Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) accounted for 16% last month, up a bit from May but down from 20% last June. Microsoft’s sites dipped a bit from both periods, to 5.3%, while IAC/Interactive Corp.’s (IACI) Ask.com slid to 3.2%.
Longer search queries have increased in popularity over the past year, said Hitwise. It noted average searches of five to more than eight words in length increasing 8% from a year ago. Searches of eight or more words increased 16%. At the same time, shorter search queries – those averaging one to four words long – fell 2%.
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PETALUMA, Calif. — An 18-year-old Petaluma man was injured when a pipe bomb exploded in a portable toilet located in a public park on the Fourth of July.
At about 10:35 p.m., Officer Matthew Capitelli was flagged down at Lucchesi Park to assist with someone who had been injured.
“The officers found… the subject had a puncture wound to his back,” said Petaluma police officer Tim Lyons.
The injury was severe and the victim was losing a large amount of blood, police said.
Medical personnel arrived while Capitelli was assisting him and transported him to the hospital.
The man said he was walking by the portable bathroom located near the park when he heard a loud bang and felt the injury to his back. The portable bathroom had evidence that a pipe bomb had been detonated inside, according to police.
The shrapnel from the pipe bomb had blown through all the walls and the roof of the portable bathroom. A piece of shrapnel from the pipe bomb hit and injured the victim.
“We don’t have any witnesses to the crime. No one reported it or called in any loud explosions,” said Lyons. “The female that flagged down the officers just found the injured subject.”
The man is in stable condition and an investigation is ongoing, according to the Police Department.
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PETALUMA, Calif. — Petaluma police and animal control personel were on the lookout Thursday after multiple reports of a black bear roaming the city’s streets.
The animal has been described as a black bear weighing about 200 pounds. It’s been seen in the area of East Washington Street and Maria Drive.
Animal control calls the sightings credible. Those who saw it said the bear walked down the street, then ducked into a creek and disappeared.
Before dawn Thursday the search was on. The sheriff’s chopper was up in the air and guns were drawn down on the ground. The search lasted a few hours but was called off before the sun came up. Within a few hours, the bear sighting slowly became the talk of the town.
“I’ve been in Petaluma 40 years. I’ll be truthful, I’ve heard of mountain lions up in the mountains, but bears? I’ve never seen a bear,” said local resident Mike Alvardo.
Animal Control officer Jeff Charter said he’s been in Petaluma for five years and never had a bear call. Then he had one resident tell him of a black bear sighting on Tuesday and then three more sightings late Wednesday night.
Charter said the callers told police the bear was walking along East Washington Street jumping from the adjacent creek, to the street, and back to the creek.
“He was just around. He wasn’t on anybody’s car from what I’ve been told. Didn’t get into anyone’s trash or after anyone’s pets.” said Charter.
The city of Petaluma is known to many for its quaint downtown, river, and rolling hills… but a bear sighting? That had people chatting.
Raul Lopez was more than surprised, “I was shocked a bear around these parts?”
Petaluma Animal Services said there’s been 12 bear attacks since 1980 in California, but not one in Petaluma.
And Petaluma native Mike Alvarado doesn’t foresee one in his lifetime. “To me it’s a gimmick. To me, like I say, I hunt every year. Hunting with my father since I was five years old so bears down this low I’ve never truly heard of it.”
Petaluma Animal Services said it received one more call Thursday.
Officers went to the northwest part of town to check it out and officers discovered a bear track in a driveway, but no black bear.
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Microsoft’s new Bing search engine has eked out a slight gain in market share, according to statistics released Wednesday, but it has a long way to go before it catches up with industry leader Google.
Microsoft had 8.23 percent market share in June ” the first month its Bing online search engine was available, according to StatCounter Global Stats, a Web site traffic analysis firm. That put Bing not far behind Yahoo’s 11.04 percent market share but far behind Google’s 78.48 percent.
Microsoft, which is trying to grow its online services business against Google, had a 7.21 percent share of the search market in April with its MSN Search and Live Search properties, according to StatCounter. Google’s market share in April was 79.07 percent ” meaning its share dropped slightly between April and June.
“At first sight, a 1 percent increase in market share does not appear to be a huge return on the investment Microsoft has made in Bing, but the underlying trend appears positive,” said Aodhan Cullen, StatCounter’s CEO, in a statement. “Steady if not spectacular might be the best way to describe performance to date.”
Microsoft, for example, has been running a series of television advertisements that show zombielike people spouting nonsensical facts and data as a result of search overload ” an effort to portray Bing as providing Web surfers with more of the information they are looking for.
Initially the market share of all Microsoft’s search properties (Bing, Live Search and MSN Search combined) increased to 9.21 percent right after Bing debuted June 1, dropped back the next two weeks, then grew to 8.45 percent during the period of June 22 to 28, leading to the overall 8.23 percent market share for the month, according to Dublin, Ireland-based StatCounter.
The market-share numbers are based on an analysis of 1.3 billion search engine referring clicks worldwide (336 million from the U.S.) collected from StatCounter’s network of 3 million Web sites.
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My name is Kyle Kazak and I am the CEO and President of Kazak Media, a local Internet marketing firm that specializes in web design, local SEO, and pay per click management. We are located in Petaluma, CA, USA.