Marketing Pilgrim

I wouldn’t normally bore you with details of the inner workings of a computer server, but, well, this is Google and the company has finally revealed details of the cheap computers it uses to power the world’s most sophisticated search engine.

Et voila!

Purty ain’t she?

I agree, she’s the kind of server that only a mother could love. CNET’s Stephen Shankland has more patience to go through the server’s specs than I do, so you can head over there for the full details. For those of us that just want the vitals, here you go:

• Each computer has its own battery back-up built-in–which Google says is more efficient than using a central UPS.
• Google houses its servers in standard shipping containers–1,160 in each, consuming 250 kilowatts.

Reason #253 why you should subscribe to Marketing Pilgrim: Back in October we had the exclusive on the new user interface for Twitter. Today we learn that selected Twitter users will indeed start seeing this new layout.

Twitter admits its recent test of the search box at the top of the interface was a flop, so instead, it’s going back to the drawing board. Well, actually its original redesign drawing:

Here’s how the new design will look:

A subset of users will start seeing the above interface soon. In addition, Twitter is testing a feature that should be welcomed by many:

Spammers are stepping up their efforts as the “industry” recovers from the loss of McColo, a web hosting company whose clients generated some 75% of the spam e-mail we get to enjoy on a daily basis. It seems that these folks are back up to their old levels again according to a report from Postini, which provides the security for the approximately 15 million users of Google’s enterprise e-mail offering.

The rate of growth for spam is higher than ever

Overall spam growth is the highest it’s ever been, increasing 1.2 percent a day in the first quarter of 2009 (compared with 1 percent a day in the first quarter of 2008, which was a record at the time).

A lawsuit that was originally filed in Santa Clara in 2005 which claimed Google overcharged search marketers by charging over their daily spend limit was settled for about $20 million as reported by MediaPost.

The two plaintiffs in the case, printing company CLRB Hanson Industries of Minnesota and Howard Stern of New Jersey (not the shock jock) will receive $20,000 each. The class action suit is based on the claim that Google charged 120% of the daily budgeted amount on AdWords campaigns.

U.S. District Court Judge James Ware in San Jose had earlier ruled that only search marketers who advertised for fewer than 30 days could proceed with the lawsuit.

Google had argued in court papers that it sometimes charged up to 120% of marketers’ budgets, but only to make up for days when it under-delivered ads.

Shouldn’t pretty much all serious news be delayed until tomorrow? Apparently Yahoo disagrees, since they’ve chosen to release their latest mobile offering today. Called Yahoo! Mobile for Web, the new offering is set to be the starting point for the mobile web as well as an iPhone app. Soon, a Yahoo! Messenger app will also be available for mobile devices.

The new mobile portal is now available at http://new.m.yahoo.com. The press release says that the new site features:

• Discover: via results from Yahoo!’s award-winning mobile search and editor-selected content;
• Stay Connected: through access to email and social network accounts from the most popular Web providers, as well as instant messaging, address book and calendar tools;

There are two things that are certain of 99.9% of bloggers.

1. We tend to write things that could get us in legal trouble
2. We can’t afford an attorney to help us understand libel laws

Public Citizen is aware of both of these certainties and has created a free document that should help us all stay out of libel courts: Guide for Bloggers and Non-Profit Organizations About Writing With Libel in Mind.

Instead of wasting this April Fools day reading less than funny attempts to fool you, why not spend an hour reading this great primer on what you can and cannot say about a company or individual. I thought I had most of this stuff buttoned-up but after reading the guide, I’ve learned some things that I didn’t know. For example: