While Google may be looking into making Twitter searchable, Microsoft has already started implementing its own real-time search into Bing.

At present it’s a fairly limited offering, indexing “some of the more prominent and prolific Twitterers from a variety of spheres”.

It seems that you can only search for the latest tweets from certain people who have been indexed, using syntax such as “[name] Twitter” or “[name] Tweets” or “@[name]”.

As a concept, it’s a good start though I’m not interested in using any search engine to find anyone’s latest tweets — I use Twitter or one of its desktop clients for that. read more

When I logged into my Google AdSense control panel last night I found a new option to have my earnings listed in local currency (UK pounds) from now on.

This has been developing for some time but it’s the first time I’ve been prompted by Google to change to local currency.

What appears to be new is that, once the change has been made, it’s not possible to change back to US dollars (either reporting or payment method). Before, Google had said that “you can still choose to receive payments in US Dollars”.

Does this make any difference to international publishers? read more

After receiving a lot of feedback two weeks ago regarding the need for new blog*spot template designs, the boys and girls at Google are seeking help for new template designs for Blogger.

(Message via @Blogger)

Google should have very little trouble finding web designers for Blogger/Blog*Spot, as there are plenty of talent out there pumping out blogger templates for free. read more

File this one under ‘we knew it was coming.’

There are unconfirmed reports that Google will build a search engine that will allow users to better filter results – similar to the process currently used for a Google blog search.

With a growing number of people relying on Twitter (and other micro-blogging sites) for the latest news and trends, a universal search solution is desperately needed.

It is probably safe to assume that the priority of search results will be determined by Twitter prowess, including the number of tweets and retweets you have, the frequency in which you post, current events, frequently used keywords, and, of course, the number of followers you have.

We already know that Google is crawling Twitter, now we just have to sit back and wait for the other shoe to drop.

As if you needed another reason to become a more active Twithead!

These don’t come often in the archilepago in South East Asia. June 12 2009 (GMT +8 so they’re advanced) is Independence Day in the Philippines. And Google is first to greet. The logo today represents the colors of the Philippine flag, three stars and the sun. The sun’s design is quite reminiscent as well of the tees made for WordCamp Philippines ‘08 (video).
Very nice.

You can see this by going to www.google.com.ph today.

Recently I’ve added a new tool to my blogging arsenal. I’m relying on Google Voice. There are two primary ways I am using it to help me in my blogging endeavors. read more

Happy Monday, folks! We’ve got a few new and updated plugins this week, so let’s start there.

Byrne Reese released a new version of the Photo Gallery plugin. This version includes two new options for the “front door” of your gallery. You can now choose a grid or blog layout, and you can display a featured photo. Byrne also released an updated version of the plugin’s documentation.

SetOffset, written by Shinichi Nozawa, is an enhancement to the Movable Type admin. On the Manage Entries screen, it allows you to “jump” to a specific point in the list of entries, rather than have to page through them to find the one you want. read more

While I like OpenID as a concept, I think it has been a bit too technical for the average user. Not that it is very hard to understand or use, but rather clunky and more of a hassle than something that truly helps out. There just wasn’t incentive enough for the user.

No more, potentially at least, because now Facebook is an OpenID relying partner. That means that you can use your Gmail account to login to Facebook, once you have authenticated it, and that in turn means that when you’re logged in to Facebook you’re also logged in to every site using Facebook Connect.

That could be your blog. read more

You might not have noticed, but there is a silent war going on, and it is all about how you will engage with other people on websites. Facebook Connect has gotten a lot of press, and with Twitter’s new OAuth functionality, we’re looking at Twitter Connect too. On the sidelines we find OpenID, which is still too bulky but might just get there, and Google Friend Connect. The latter pops up here and there as a widget mostly, but so far without the thunder of its Facebook equivalent. Well, that’s not quite right, they don’t really do the same thing since GFC is more of a widgety thing that adds functionality, whereas FC is an actual login method, but nevertheless they are competing in the same space. read more

Google has announced that it’s to hold a series of AdSense training webinars, based on feedback received from publishers. They’ll be interactive, allowing attendees to ask questions of AdSense professionals, and focused on improving revenue.

Topics covered will include using custom search engines with AdSense, using AdSense effectively (optimisation), a general product overview with focus on product updates that have been rolled out over the last three months, and two webinars about Google Ad Manager.

There is limited space on these so interested publishers need to sign up quickly via the AdSense help centre.