Internet service providers love to talk about how much traffic is rapidly increasing by the year and how they'll either need to charge more or create a different business model for it. Even Time Warner is running a test in Beaumont, TX to meter internet use and charge by usage. But the claims by cable companies and other service providers may be overblown. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have released data showing that traffic growth is actually slowing.

Google has announced new features that are coming to the Content Network. They said the new features are part of the integration process with DoubleClick, since finalizing the acquisition of the company earlier this year. The new features are: Frequency Capping : Enables advertisers to control the number of times a user sees an ad. Users will have a better experience on Google content network sites because they will no longer see the same ad over and over again.

Yahoo has officially appointed Carl Icahn to its board of directors, and board member Robert Kotick has officially resigned. The moves were all part of a previously reached agreement by Yahoo and Icahn following months of drama resulting from an unsolicited bid by Microsoft to buy Yahoo. But with the track record of Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostick, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Icahn and Microsoft, this game is not nearly over. Instead,

How often do people use a search engine? The percentage of Internet users who use search engines on a typical day has soared from about one-third of all users in 2002, to a new high of just under one half )49%(, according to the latest study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. How often people search is one of the key questions in understanding the success of Google and other search engines. Search has become embedded in our daily lives.

Microsoft has just released an update to their Webmaster Tools. It's a significant update, with lots of new functionality in it. My guess is that a large number of SEOs will adopt this new tool as a part of their tool set. Let's take a look at the opening screen: As you can see, you start with a nice clean look. Note that this is a screen shot for Microsoft.com. Not every site has 186 million pages indexed ... One of the new features is the "Crawl Issues" report.

Google has sold its Performics search marketing business to the Publicis Groupe. Chicago-based Performics has about 200 employees in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, London, Hamburg, Sydney, Singapore and Beijing. The business will report into Curt Hecht, president of Paris-based Publicis' VivaKi Nerve Center. Hecht is the former EVP Chief Digital Officer, GM Planworks,

Newsflashr.com launched a new type of search engine for news stories today. Users are prompted to enter keywords and the search results are polled and displayed in real-time from many of the leading news services such as MSN Live, Ask Big News, Google News, Yahoo News, MSNBC, Digg and Twitter to name a few. Newsflashr will also feature the Techmeme Leaderboard. The site is the first to add a social twist to news reporting,

After months of speculation, Time Warner has confirmed that it will split AOL's media and internet access divisions. Despite TW's revenue increase of 5%, the internet property's operating income dropped a whopping 36% in the second quarter of 2008, a loss of $230 million. The loss is due primarily to a decline in subscription revenues. Subscriptions are down based on AOL's decision to allow members to keep their emails for free. They lost 604,

Google has released a new version of their hardware product, Search Appliance. The new version can hold up to 10 million documents in a single box, as much as a previouis version held in a 5 box rack. The box holds Google software that powers search services and runs on Dell storage hardware. Other new features in the updated version include greater encryption powers and notifications of new documents stored by colleagues.

If you keep up with politics, then you know that a recent McCain ad portrayed as Obama as simply a celebrity, and included pictures of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Paris Hilton has responded to the ad with a hilarious video on FunnyOrDie.com , a popular online video sharing and voting site, where many celebrities have appeared before. Hilton broke from her normal persona to reveal the intelligent side of herself. Yes, you read that correctly.

Google has launched a new metric geared towards marketers: Google Insights for Search. The tool is very similar to Google Trends , but includes "Rising Searches" and a map representing Regional Interest, which is also broken down by ballpark figure numbers. Check out these screenshots for a better idea of what the tool is like, then go try it for yourself . )Don't forget to come back and leave a comment about your first impressions of the tool!

Yahoo has confirmed that a 'tabulation error' occurred in the shareholder vote count conducted by Broadridge Financial Solutions, the independent firm hired to do the job. Turns out, just over half of the shareholders felt the need to vote Chairman Roy Bostock and CEO Jerry Yang. It's probably a good thing )for them( that they reached that settlement with Carl Icahn , or else the vote may have turned a worse outcome for the two.

There's one book every search engine marketer will be reading this fall: Planet Google : One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know. Based on unprecedented access he received to the "Googleplex," New York Times columnist Randall Stross takes readers deep inside Google. His revelations demystify the strategy behind the company's recent flurry of bold moves,

Infospace's Dogpile.com has been selected as the search partner for Petfinder.com. Additionally, the partnership will see both parties producing and promoting widgets and toolbars for Dogpile as well as promoting Petfinder's listing of over 250,000 pets. "This partnership is a great extension of the Dogpile brand," said Bruce Allenbaugh, Chief Marketing Officer of InfoSpace.

Today, Yahoo announced that Right Media Exchange will feature LucidMedia's patented ClickSense contextual advertising . The targeted ad solution has been testing since May, culminating in a partnership between the two. Buyers and publishers will be able to contextually categorize 60 vertical channels in Right Media Exchange's display advertising inventory.

Friendster has named Google's regional managing director of South Asia, Richard Kimber, as its new CEO. It has also raised $20 million in funding. Despite the waning of its popularity in the United States, Friendster is the #1 social network in Asia, and the 9th largest website in the world. "Friendster is growing at an enormous rate in Asia Pacific and is clearly leading the competition. I believe this is partly because the Internet is transforming the lives of everyone,

If you're noticing changes in your Yahoo rankings, you're not alone. Yahoo has released an update to their search index. The last update was released about a month ago. One commenter on the Yahoo Search blog said that Yahoo's results look a lot like Microsoft's Live Search results. What are you seeing? Leave a comment and tell us what you're seeing!

Search Engine Strategies today named 43 search engine marketers as finalists for the SEM conference's first annual SES Awards. The 16 winners will be announced throughout SES San Jose during Orion and keynote panels, which are being held August 18-21 at the San Jose Convention Center.

It's so simple in description, but has unlimited potential. The scientific method can apply to any type of experiment, be it chemistry or Web site marketing. In today's small business SEM column, " Increase Web Site Conversions with the Scientific Method ," Carrie Hill outlines the process involved, and shows you how it can help improve your SEM campaigns.

Our industry still has a lot of growing up to do. Participating in advertising programs masquerading as objective ratings services is not going to help us do that. In today's natural search column, " Top SEO Firms Paid for by the Following... ," Mark Jackson issues a plea for the SEO industry to mature, become more responsible corporate citizens, and educate the masses, in a non-commercial way. Perhaps, then,