> There's been some reports about
> how Google is trying to stop people
> from using the term, googling. When
> I heard about it, I was like, "Hello,
> gift horse, mouth!"

Tara, I've heard a nice comment on this somewhere:

Yahoo wants everyone to use their brand name, but no one does. Google wants everyone to stop using their brand name, so everyone does.

(I could probably yahoo this to find out the source...)

And who knows? It might be strategy on Google's part. An Ex-Googler hinted at this...
http://xooglers.blogspot.com/2006/07/this-word-just-in.html

You know -- Gmail isn't unsuccessful because it's restricted to invite-only registrations. That actually made Gmail "hot" when it launched. We desire most what we can't have...

Hi Tara! I loved the song lyrics, and it's handy that Yahoo has added a link to your yodel from the front page. I'm sure you already know this, but those letters from Google aren't really breaking news--we've been sending the same letters for several years now. See
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060815-065410
for more background. Doug Edwards, an ex-Googler, also wrote about this subject well before it became "news" again:
http://xooglers.blogspot.com/2006/07/this-word-just-in.html

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed your post. :)

Great post Tara!

Hey Philip and Matt! Thanks for stopping by and shedding some light on this. May all your yahoos be cheery and bright. :-)

Hi Tara

I'm delighted to see this post. I google away to my heart's content, possibly in ways that Google wouldn't approve. I would have yahooed but I wasn't sure about the etiquette, or is it grammar. Should it be yahoo!ed or is yahooed allowed. That '!' has really spooked me on this one. Perhaps you can let me know what the Yahoo! Style Guide says on this one. :)

If Google does not actively protect and defend its name, does it risk losing the rights to it? I believe the general rule is: if you dont actively defend the right to a trademark/copyright, then it maybe turned over to public use?

Indeed, the word is already in the dictionary. So, could Microsoft launch "MSN Google", since "google" means "to search"?

If this was the case, Google's action - while bad PR - is very understandable.

Any laywers out there care to comment?

Come now Tara,

Surely YAHOO knows the word YAHOO has been around for centuries........minus the (!).....Tusk Tusk

I find saying Yahoo on things weird...for example:

'Need something? Yahoo it.

Amazing how Matt Cutts, Google's web master mouth piece, found time to comment on this post within an hour of it being posted, despite Google's claim that they "do not focus on the competion"; which is of course as bunk as their claim of not being evil :-)

I'd be careful what you wish for Tara as many companies have lost their trademark much to the detriment of their brand.

At any rate anyone who wants some more examples/cases of brands that lost their trademark due to it's becoming generic check out my latest post:

http://itsontarget.blogspot.com/2006/08/do-you-yahoo.html

I expect Yahoo! to do as much as it can to build its brand and boost its revenues. I do wish you'd clean up your act and get out of the habit of using the BUTT UGLIEST promos, adds and photographs you can come up with! If you're after shock value, it's not working.

I would have yahooed but I wasn't sure about the etiquette, or is it grammar.

Philipp, I think that was me.

I agree that using "Yahoo" as a verb doesn't sound right at all. Sorry, but I just don't think I'll ever get used to doing that!

Howdy, fg! It showed up in my RSS yahoo on a Friday yahoo, so I stopped by. The notion that this issue is in any way new is pretty yahoo, so I wanted to correct that misconception. :)

Annoying Stuff,

I in no way meant (nor did I ever state)that Yahoo should encourage infringement or simply look the other way. Yahoo does clearly care about intellectual property rights(I'll be sure to clarify that since it was unclear), and the point was that they shouldn't aspire to be the next "googling."

Hi, everyone. Google seems to point at a public who at least know what they (we) are looking for.
But take a look a Yahoo!'s homepage: silly news about Paris Hilton, the new video game or emoticons. To me, either Yahoo! thinks that's all that matters to most people on the Internet, or they try to catch people who don't have a clue of the amazing things they could be learning and doing online, and instead settle with Paris' new album.
I guess Yahoo! just won't reach enough people as to become a new verb ;)

"You can Yahoo! to your heart's content, any way you want to. Heck, you can even build your own Yahoo! Search engine." Sounds marvellous :-) I'm a programmer, I like to Yahoo by making code to recombobulate my search results in ways that make them more useful. Or funnier. More with more cows. Sometimes I share these with people on my website. Does this new (excellent) free and participatory stance mean Yahoo! layers will stop sending me nasty nasygrams?

Can someone at Yahoo please suggest/implement a feature where Yahoo info is hyperlinked into a Y! search query?

For example:
finance.yahoo.com
(drilling down to a specific company's income statement). Link the words "Cost of Goods Sold" either to Y! finance's glossary for a definition (giving a chance to serve more ads and keep user longer), or place the aformentioned words in Y! search query for the user to gain depth of knowledge about the specific concepts found throughout Y! Finance. The "Key Statistics" section would be another area there the content there could lead to searches.

Thanks!

Anybody having any problems with the new Yahoo home page? When I do a search on new page, it directs from Yahoo.com to search.yahoo.com. Thus, I have to enter search parameters twice. Now, when I do a search, gives the wrong results asking me to enter a city or a name in the search box. Anybody having similar problems?

Google "WAS" my favorite search engine, but as of late, their search results have turned up more and more irrelevant links. I don't know, but I hate getting results without "bolded" words being shown. If I couldn't google what I wanted, I usually yahoo it, or vice versa.

Yahoo has been delivering better organic results lately. I've almost abandoned Google.