Law X.0

Google Ordered to Disclose YouTube User Data

A federal judge in New York has ordered Google to turn over to Viacom a database that links users to every video they've watched on YouTube by login name and IP address. In this NPR podcast, Jennifer Urban, director of the USC Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic, discusses the implications this ruling has for online privacy. Additional information at Law Librarian Blog. [JH]

The Google Quality Rater's Handbook

The Google Quality Rater's Handbook (version 2.1 dated April 6, 2007)(pdf) was leaked recently. Download while you can! Essentially, the Rater's Handbook tells you what Google deems important when judging the quality and relevance of a webpage.

As Pandia Search Engine News reports "in spite of what many say, Google does not entirely rely on automatic computer-based algorithms in its search engine rankings. They do employ human editors that control the quality of selected sites and they may give a boost to sites these reviewers deem especially useful." See also Spying on Google: What is Spam? What is Relevant? Read This to Find Out and SearchEngineLand's synopsis of the handbook.

Hat tip to Ron Jones. [JH]

Google Discloses 2008 Plans For Google Apps

USC law school students and others who attend colleges and universities that use Google Apps for Education will be happy to hear that next year they will be able to work offline with Google Docs, Gmail, and Calendar using the Google Gears plugin. TechCrunch's Michael Arrington also reports that Google Sites will launch in 2008. An evolution of Google Page Creator, this app will allow allow businesses to create intranets, project management tracking, extranets and other custom sites.

But still no word on the release date of the much anticipated Google Brain. [JH]