InternetGoogle to make real-time judgment of ad quality (CNET)

CNET - Google plans to update its mechanism for ad quality scoring, a critical measurement that influences whether advertisements are placed next to search results so that judgments of ad quality are made immediately.

Google plans to update its mechanism for ad quality scoring, a critical measurement that influences whether advertisements are placed next to search results so that judgments of ad quality are made immediately. Google uses an auction system to determine which advertisers' ads are placed next to search results, but the winners of the auction are determined by more than how much an advertiser is willing to pay. Google also effectively raises minimum bid requirements for ads that don't meet its quality criteria, such as a good click-through rates or, in a newer addition, the speed at which an advertisers' Web page loads. But changes are coming to this system. With coming updates, ad quality will be judged at the time a user searches, Google said Thursday on its AdWords blog. Google will begin testing changes with a small set of users "within the next day or two," before deploying the changes for everyone. "We are replacing our static per-keyword Quality Scores... [ Read more on www.yahoo.com ]

InternetAmazon Opens 'Block Store' in the Cloud

Web services provider pushes new "block" system for storage cloud.

InternetOops! I Fixed the Linux Kernel

Make no mistake: Efforts like "oops" show the Linux community's focus on improving code quality, fixing bugs and even enlisting non-technical users to help the cause.