[Something snappy!] Ooh, shiny! Google Enables Local Reviews From Mobile Phones . Too bad when I last "upgraded" my phone, it downgraded my mobile browser )and my battery life, and my T9 and my . . . anyway( and I can't do jack anymore. ) via ( Google confirms the new contact-adding system for Gmail , but not everyone is happyor less creeped out. Plus, it's confusing, apparently. Yeah,

I think I've made a terrible mistake. Somehow, by using every cliché in the book, I think I just guaranteed that I'll always have get to be the one covering Microsoft/Yahoo/Google deal news. Well, today we'll go with mixed sport metaphors. Mixing metaphors is even more fun than just using them! Okay, so let's hit one out of the park, shall we? There's a new letter to Yahoo shareholders todayfrom Yahoo itself. It's quite long,

While Yahoo is busy slurping , Google keeps sucking market share like an out of control turbine powered Hoover vacuum cleaner. Sucking the ad dollars right out of Yahoo's pockets, that is. Great news for MSN though! In Q2 2008 versus Q2 2007, Microsoft Live Search only lost $0.01 on every search dollar spent while Yahoo lost $0.09! Guess who picked up that additional $.10? Why, it was GoogleVac! This according to Mountain View , California based Efficient Frontier .

Whenever I need to take a quick break from my day, I sit and stare at my fish tank. I thought I'd pass on that opportunity to you, Pilgrims. Now you're relaxed enough to take in today's Picks: If you're using Google Docs, you can now select from a number of handy-dandy templates . Search Engine Journal has a list of free SEO tools , I know you'll want to bookmark )and they'd love for you to Sphinn, Digg, etc(.

Could it be that a new partnership with film studio Lionsgate holds a clue to how YouTube plans to finally make a little money? A first glance the deal seems pretty straightforward: While details of the deal are still being worked out, the revenue-sharing agreement will formalize the creation of a Lionsgate-branded channel where advertising will be placed on clips of Lionsgate assets ranging from the "Saw" franchise to classics like "Dirty Dancing.

If you decide to sell your company to Google, keep this in mind: you will be forced to give up the English language and will only be able to speak Klingon . I kid, I kid'mostly. Nik Cubrilovic explains that something akin to the above, does actually happen to companies acquired by Google. One of the first main challenges for a company that has been acquired by Google is adopting the proprietary technology stack used within the company. Google does use Linux and open source,

A very Googly goodness for today! The followup on Amit Singhal's basic post on Google ranking : Technologies behind Google ranking FINALLY. I've only complained about this all the time herenow Gmail will give you the ability to opt out of automatically adding every person you've ever emailed to your contacts . I didn't mind having them in my contacts so much, but having all their addresses pop up when I type in an email address,

Sigh. Andy, Andy, Andy. Always taking the good stories and leaving me to cover Yahoo/Google/Microsoft and their latest flings. Well, let's get to it, shall we? Let's spin the wheel of metaphors and see what we'll use today . . . Mixed sportsno, sailing! Sailing it is! )Apologies in advance if I go a little overboard. Oops, I think I already have.( Back on the Eastern front )oops, sorry, yesterday's metaphor(in the capital,

There's still space )and an early bird discount( for my upcoming Online Reputation Management Workshop . If you want to learn reputation management for your company, or perhaps want to add ORM to the list of client services you offer, you might want to secure your spot ! After you've done that, you can take in these Picks: Securiteam found an interesting Gmail vulnerability . Microsoft told congress that Yahoogle would control 90% of the ad market .

Leave it to a lawyer to come up with a new Google complaint and then turn it into a class action lawsuit. InformationWeek reports that attorney Hal K. Levitte is suing because his ads were shown on Google's Adsense for Domains and AdSense for Errors partners. Levitte spent $136.11 for ads on parked domains and error pages, which works out to 15.3% of his $887.67 ad campaign. In seeking class certification for the lawsuit,

I'm shocked that video search engine Blinkx has not been acquired by a larger company. It seems like Blinkx is continually in the news, is constantly innovating, had a UK IPO in 2007, yet appears not to be an acquisition target for one of the "big boys." Maybe Blinkx is feeling the frustration of not being invited to the big dance. Today it announced the launch of Red Label ,

The official Microsoft adCenter blog announced the beta testing of a desktop utility for their paid search platform. For paid search managers, this software will function much like Google's Adwords desktop application. Basically you will be able to manage your adCenter campaigns from the convenience of your desktop without the use of a browser. The positives of software like this are numerous.

Oh, it's the ides of July! How ominous. Do you think it'll bode poorly for any of these headlines? Twitter says it's official: they've acquired Summize , the Twitter search tool. Not everyone wants to tell Yahoo they're doin it wrong. BusinessWeek has found people taht actually think Yahoo's doin it AWESOME . Or at least somewhat right. We love to tell you about what a difference testimonials and user reviews can make to your visitors.

Yahoo is in the midst of a three-front warand yet not one of these fights is for dominance in any field of operations business. The Eastern Front Dateline Washington, DC. Yahoo is facing a Senate hearing on the Yahoo/Google search ads deal today. paidContent reports : Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond will point out . . . that the agreement does not expand Google's share of the search market, and that the alternative outcome, Yahoo selling to Microsoft,

The "red light" is on! If you live near a Krispy Kreme, you'll know what that says about today's Picks. If you live near Amsterdam, then my apologies for that connotation. I've evangelized the importance of good customer service in the hotel industry, but this might be taking things too far . Google announces it has automatically transcribed the audio from videos of presidential candidates. Why is this not a standard YouTube feature? Speaking of videos.

Is it just me, or does Carl Icahn shake-up the Board of Directors at every company he invests in? News today suggests he's hell-bent on replacing Yahoo's board at the August 1st annual meeting. Icahn filed the final nominating papers for a slate of candidates that will oppose Yahoo's current nine directors in a showdown scheduled for an Aug. 1 shareholder vote. In separate letter to Yahoo shareholders,

It is now safe to return to your normal YouTube viewing habits. Viacom will not be getting its hands on your personal data . According to the YouTube blog ' We are pleased to report that Viacom, MTV and other litigants have backed off their original demand for all users' viewing histories and we will not be providing that information. In addition, Viacom and the plaintiffs had originally demanded access to users' private videos, our search technology,

"Psst! Kid, wanna be number one on Google? Guaranteed?" While many companies have heard similar snake oil pitches, it might soon become possible to ensure your web site is #1 in Google-albeit for your browser only. Eight months after it was originally spotted in the wild , Google's Digg-like voting buttons have returned, this time with a new look. Here's what was sent to TechCrunch : Google's always testing new features,

Google announces a new program today to work with web hosts to integrate Google Webmaster Tools for their users. The Google Webmaster Tools Access Provider program features APIs to enable web hosts to offer their subscribers access to Webmaster Tools. Subscribers will be able to create Webmaster Tools accounts and submit sitemaps without leaving hosts' control panels. In all, this is a boon to web hosts, since they'll be able to add value for their subscribers.

If you're a fan of the "just give me the links" format of Pilgrim's Picks, you may want to follow my Twitter updates . I share a lot of stuff that is exclusive to my 2,850 Tweeps. In the meantime' Speaking of Twitter. It seems Republicans and Democrats are using Twitter to argue over new proposals that could limit legislators social media activity. Viacom doesn't want to know if you've uploaded copyright content.