I sure hope the folks at “Cuil” (pronounced “Cool”) have thick skin. The search engine upstart debuted on Monday to mostly scornful reviews which had to be a little bit of surprise. They must have wondered where all the folks were that had been clamoring for a Google killer.

Cuil says they index 120 billion Web pages (Google says they’re still bigger,) 3x more than any other search engine. And privacy advocates will be pleased that Cuil doesn’t retain personal user information. They’re definitely worth a look. http://www.Cuil.com.
Source: Cuil/PRNewswire

Oh, and each episode will include a segment highlighting Ocean Trust, an award-winning ocean conservation foundation that builds science, conservation and industry partnerships for the sustainability of the oceans and provides a link to sustainable fisheries, wildlife and the environment. Nice, integrated green strategy that goes way beyond the predictable. Green or not, who wouldn’t want to tune in?
Image credits: Jason Mraz talks about his career and life on the road during the taping of Bonefish Grill's "Notes from the Road,
Denver. (PRNewsFoto/Bonefish Grill)
Bonefish Grill logo. (PRNewsFoto/Bonefish Grill)
Source: Bonefish Grill/PRNewswire)

Alas, things aren’t  looking quite as sunshiney for other restaurant brands as food and labor costs, bloated market share, high gas prices and anemic consumer spending kick Metromedia to the curb. The company has filed for Chapter 7 and shut down 50 or so Steak and Ale restuarants and 150  Bennigan’s. About 138 domestic and international franchisee-owned restaurants will remain open, and the closures don’t affect Ponderosa and Bonanza restaurants which operate under a different company.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, 7/29/08, (May require Subscription), Bennigan's Franchising Company, L.P.; Steak & Ale Franchising Company, L.P./PRNewswire

Oh please---another brand goes [yawn] green. But wait…it’s not what you think: Researcher comScore is planting $1 million+ trees in developing nations retain Internet users in its global panel. Anything’s better than the “and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win” spiel that many online research companies use to try to draw you in.
comScore Press Release 7/29/08

More bad news from Starbucks. The company is  cutting 1,000 jobs in addition to the 600 store closures announced earlier this month in what AdAge says insiders are calling a “bloodbath.”
AdAge, 7/29/08

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See Cross-Channel.

Cross-channel shopping, also referred to as ‘precision shopping,’ ‘multi-channel shopping,’ or ‘web-influenced offline sales,’ describes the practice of shoppers researching a product or service online, e.g. keyword search, retail websites, etc., and then purchasing the product or service at a bricks and mortar store.

Both eMarketer and Forrester Research highlight the growing importance of utilizing web marketing to reach cross-channel shoppers because of the appeal of cross-channels shopping to buyers; they can obtain a product immediately, see and touch it before they buy, and avoid shipping costs.

Excite is a metasearch engine and among the Internet's most personalized portals featuring a completely customizable start page. Excite features comprehensive search tools, a popular Webmail platform and robust content and resources from over 100 leading providers.

Excite is a property of IAC Search & Media

Dogpile is a metasearch engine whose searches include Google, Yahoo! Search, Live Search, Ask.com, About, MIVA, LookSmart and others.

Clusty queries several top search engines, combines the results, and generates an ordered list based on comparative ranking. This "metasearch" approach helps raise the best results to the top and push search engine spam to the bottom.

Clusty then groups similar results together into clusters. Clusters help you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you’re looking for or discover unexpected relationships between items.

Ask.com’s innovative search technologies deliver fast and relevant information for millions of people every day.

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AskCity combines Ask.com’s maps with local content (information, reviews, etc.) from CitySearch with search and map technology.

Key categories are Businesses and Services, Events, Movies, and Maps & Directions.

Blogs & Feeds
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Google provides web search as well as specialized search.

Google News (including archives)
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Google Special Searches (including Public Service & Government)
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Yahoo! provides search services as well as a variety of marketing products.

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Business.com is a business search engine and directory and pay-per-click ad network serving more than 40 million unique business users and thousands of advertisers every month.

Business.com helps business decision makers quickly find what they need to manage and grow their businesses, and enables advertisers to reach these users wherever they are across the business Internet through premier partners, including Forbes, BusinessWeek, Hoovers, Financial Times and Internet.com.